Small Business Development Blog

Encouraging Employees

Following on from my previous article on setting goals for employees, you have told them what to do, they should just do it; Right?

So you have sat down with your employees and created plans for them to follow...

You now have a clear picture in your head of what should be done and when it should be completed. Unfortunately, it's time for a reality check. Have you made sure that during this process you have asked your employee to get their perspective on what they should be doing, how they should be doing it and when it is possible to have it done by?

Why do I need to do that?- communication

The simple fact is that during any communication process there is room for error. We have all played games as children where we pass messages to each other and somehow by the time it gets to the last person the message is definitely not the same message as it was at the beginning.

Why do I need to do that?- knowledge

This is an opportunity for you to tap into the knowledge of others and learn something new. We know that successful business owners are constantly looking to increase their knowledge and some of the greatest sources of untapped knowledge may be walking past you every day in your workplace (your employees!). Always have an open mind to accept new ideas and listen to the thoughts of others to find areas for improvement in your business.

Why do I need to do that?- reality

Everyone has a different perspective on reality and on what can be achieved within a specific timescale. During the planning phase it is critical that you are both on the same page on what can realistically be achieved within the provided time limit.

As you demonstrate this understanding of the situation your employee will become more and more comfortable with the fact that you trust them to complete the task or project and subsequently feel empowered in their role.

It´s so easy to be a critic

As an employee gets underway with the task or project there is a tendency for the business owner or manager to interrupt the process and undermine the confidence of their staff. We all know that if we are doing something and someone comes along and tells us that we aren't doing it properly we get frustrated, disheartened and unmotivated.  Criticism is all around us every day and is one of the easiest ways for people to believe that they are "helping" the situation. In reality the effects can be catastrophic to the results of a business.  Criticism is a disease that can eat away at the confidence and success of an enterprise and destroy team moral - I have witnessed this and it is painful to see.

The cold hard truth is that if an employee is not doing their job properly we should look at who was leading, training and educating that person in the workplace. In small to medium businesses this is often the business owner. If it wasn't you then take a moment to think to yourself "but am I really responsible for the training of this person?" The answer will always be a resounding - YES!!! So take it upon yourself to front up and do something about it.

Isn´t it nice when someone says something nice?

Instead of being critical (the easy path) why don't you step up to the next level and find something nice to say about someone. Saying something positive, makes people feel better, boosts moral and inspires people to keep up good behaviours and hopefully discard bad ones. It is this positive encouragement that can really lift up a team member and raise them to a level of energy and commitment that you may not have even thought possible.

You know yourself that if someone gives you a compliment you get a smile on your face and end up feeling better about yourself and the situation that you are in.

How to "Catch people doing something good"

As you observe going about their daily tasks or activities, this is the perfect opportunity to congratulate them on the great work they are doing. A simple "wow, that looks fantastic" or " you were excellent with that customer, and I really appreciate that" will be incredibly effective at providing motivation and keeping people focused on their goals.

Be spontaneous and random with your praise, there is no set program for this but I do encourage people to find at least two opportunities every day to praise their staff.

In summary...The end result of:

• making sure that you and your employee are on the same wavelength
• not being critical
• ensuring that you provide leadership throughout the activities
• providing positive reinforcement for good behavior will be higher productivity and happier employees.

Now get out there and make sure you put these steps into practice with your people.

 

 

Lifestyle Design Plan - Overview

Lifestyle Design Plan - An Overview for Small Business Owners

How to operate your business remotely from anywhere
in the world working only 8 hours per week...

Thur 15^thOct 09 | James Cooper ... Current location Stavanger, Norway.

If you want to design a better lifestyle for you and your family, then this article is for you.

It's good to be back writing articles, this is my first article in more than a year. Why? Well, I've been experiencing exciting new things and enjoying life... living my preferred lifestyle by choice, by design. In fact over the last 6 months I've been living abroad and operating my business remotely. Why? Because I wanted to live in a tropical location in another country and go sailing for 3 months working only 8 hours a week while still keeping my business running smoothly. Too many people say that they would love to do something but can't do it because....[insert excuse]. I decided to prove to myself, clients and other small business owners that this is possible, so I booked a one-way flight, implemented some changes and just did it.

In this article I'll share with you some key lessons I've learnt and a 3-6 month Action Plan we've created to help other business owners design their business to deliver the lifestyle they want, we call it our Lifestyle Design Plan.

Background

I first heard about the term ‘lifestyle design' when I read Tim Ferris' great book The 4 Hour Work Week. Tim talks about how insane the whole current way of working is for 99% of the population, you know... the whole 40-80 hours per week gig for 40 years until you retire. Tim asks, why not have some fun during your life and experience whatever it is you want to do now not later. He goes on to talk about how he turned his business into a vehicle that he could operate from anywhere in the world while working only 4 hours per week. I thought to myself, "I can do that, that would be great fun, and what better way to show other business owners that you really can achieve whatever it is you want through your business", so I got less than a ¼ way through the book, and I knew what I wanted to do... it had something to do with living in a tropical location, plenty of hot sunny days, idyllic blue waters and sailing. I got online, and found that the Whitsundays, Queensland, Australia fit the bill, and booked my one-way flight.

I wanted to enjoy the summer in Auckland, New Zealand (my home at the time) first, so on the 1^stof Oct 08 I booked my flight for exactly 6 months out, leaving on the 1^st of April 09. This meant; 1) I could enjoy the summer at home first and keep the sun rolling on by leaving just when Autumn was about to kick in, 2) it also meant I had 6 months to implement the changes required in my business.

So, for 3 months I lived in the Whitsundays and operated my business on 8 hours a week via systems and processes. The rest of the time I relaxed in the sun, did some sailing and contemplated my place in the universe. I then moved to Sydney, Australia for some more excitement that city life can offer, I ripped back into working some more hours because I had many ideas to implement and plenty of energy (thanks to 3 mths of time to relax, think and recharge), and I'm currently in Europe for 6 weeks.

Ok, now for the good stuff....

How can you implement changes to your business so you can do whatever it is that you want to do? The answer... the mimosaPLANET Lifestyle Design Plan!

(NOTE: you don't have to live abroad, remote working can be at home or at a holiday home or it could just mean far greater flexibility in your business giving you the ability to take a week or 2 off at short notice or long weekends or spending much more time with family or becoming really good at your favorite hobby or whatever you want)

The mimosaPLANET Lifestyle Design Plan

We are currently working with clients implementing Lifestyle Design Plans in their business. We've developed an 11 Step Process which can be implemented over 3 or 6 months. Heck, if you're really keen it could be implemented over a couple of weeks.

But first set some specific goals for how you want your lifestyle to be in 3 or 6 months time. Specific goals in 3 areas; what you want to DO, what you want to HAVE, and who you want to BE.

Over the next few weeks I'll post more blog articles focusing on the different steps. But first here are the overall steps of the plan...

Step 1: Time Log (capture what it is that you do with your time for a week)

Step 2: Time Audit (analyse your tasks to determine what is important and what is costing you time)

Step 3: Document Business Process - Current Work Flow (record, in flow chart form, how you do everything now; your marketing process, order or sales process, service fulfilment or product delivery process, accounting process, etc)

Step 4: Eliminate | Automate | Delegate (take what you have discovered so far and determine what you will do with each Role, Process or Task; Eliminate, Automate or Delegate)

Step 5: New Business Architecture (design the high level make up of your business, how will it work mostly without your time. Don't worry about the exact details yet)

Step 6: Document Business Process - New Work Flow (now link together the details into your new business processes, recreate new business processes that run without you)

Step 7: Supporting Documents, Forms, Templates, Collateral & How To's (create all the necessary collateral for the new business architecture and processes)

Step 8: Implement (implement the new Business Architecture & Processes across your business)

Step 9: Trial - 1 or 2 Weeks (take a holiday for 1 or 2 weeks, only working the scheduled number of hours you have set for yourself, 4 or 8 or 20 or 0 or whatever)

Step 10: Review | Tune | Implement (take the lessons you have learnt from your 1 or 2 week trial and adjust as required to iron out any mishaps or bottle necks)

Step 11: Execute New Schedule (Start living your new lifestyle)

Key Lessons in Lifestyle Design

Here are a few lessons I learnt...

• IMPLEMENTING CHANGES IN YOUR BUSINESS:
• Less is more. So much of what you do on a day to day basis just doesn't matter. You can most likely cut your working hours in half immediately by not doing half of what you normally do and still get the same results. In fact my business expanded while cutting the hours to 8 per week.
• LIVING YOUR NEW SCHEDULE:
• Get a new hobby or two. With all this free time you'll get bored very quickly.
• Find some new friends. You'll find most of your friends are busy working and "can't" join you.

In summary, this was my experience, and it'll be different for everyone. Here's a point I'd like to stress:

Others will say that "this won't work with my business"... but this is exactly the point.... If this is you saying this... well... of course it doesn't work with your business otherwise you'd be doing it now, right? ... you need to change your business, change its architecture, its design! I named mimosaPLANET after the mimosa tree, the mimosa tree is very adaptive in nature, it will change to suit the environment. This is true, now more than ever before, in business. We must change and adapt to the ever changing environment in which we operate. Change and adapt or get the same average results or worse... face extinction!

Take away Action Points

• Read Tim's book The 4 Hour Work Week.
• Recognise THINGS CAN BE DIFFERENT and ANYONE can do whatever they want to in this world.
• Set a goal for what you want your life to be like in 3 or 6 months time. What you want to DO, what you want to HAVE, and who you want to BE.
• List then implement changes; TODAY, TOMORROW, and OVER THE NEXT 3-6 MONTHS

Go for it!

 

Motivating Employees

It´s time to step it up a level.....

Last time I talked about how to motiviate employees and how your direction and behaviour affects your employees and more specifically their behaviour. People tend to reflect the attitudes and actions of both their leaders and their peers. Therefore what you do will be accepted as a way to operate within your business.

In this article I would like to cover how you and your employees can now "step up to the plate" and establish a way that you want to work together in the future.

But before we do this I would like to tell you a story that a man I once met told me about how he got his 15 year old son to do what he asked him time and time again without complaint. He achieved this amazing feat; not through threats or bribery but through the simple application of creating expectations.

 

Creating expectations 

The example that he used when he told me this fantastic technique was about how he would get his son to mow the lawn by a specific time on a specific day. Quite an achievement when I think of some of the teenagers that I have me recently. The conversation went as follows:

Dad- Hey Jason can you mow the lawn this weekend?

Jason - Sure no problem. I´ll get on to it later.

Dad - We are having guests over late on Saturday afternoon do you think you could have it done by 5pm?

Jason - ah... yeah I guess.

Dad - What time do you think you need to start if you need to be finished by  5?

Jason - Well it takes about 2 hours so I suppose if I start at 3pm then it should be done on time.

Dad- Fantastic, what do you think you will need to make sure that the mowing goes smoothly?

Jason - I guess you could check there is fuel for the mower and that it starts.

Dad- Sure, no problem, I´ll do that for you, and hey Jason, thanks in advance, I know you are going to do a great job!

 

What happened here? 

Within this story there are some very subtle but powerful, positive, motivating behaviours being demonstrated by the father. Initially he raises a challenge - mowing the lawn. He then creates a time frame without being forceful or too demanding - Saturday by 5pm. But perhaps the most important thing he then does is figures out if there are going to be any challenges to completion of the project. This is where he demonstrates real leadership, understanding the needs of his son and that there may be obstacles to getting this done on time. As the relationship develops, he may even pass the potential obstacles back to his son so that he becomes even more able to get things done successfully on his own.

Is this method completely fool proof, the answer is no. But is this father creating a person that is able to think on his own, create solutions and work to a deadline? The answer is a resounding yes! Any mistakes along the way will be part of the development process, but the end result will be more rounded, forward thinking individual.

So how can this be applied to you and motivating your employees? The answer lies in the creation of expectations with your staff. Take a moment now and think back to when you last sat down and created a specific series of goals and milestones for a project or behavioural change initiative.

 

Simple goal setting 

This type of planning is best achieved in a one page document that quite simply outlines the goals, milestones, potential obstacles and an action list with specific target dates. You should be able to read this in less than a couple of minutes and will give you a great opportunity to discuss and resolve issues before they occur.

The end result will be employees that know exactly what is expected of them and how they can go about achieving the goals. If they have problems, then they will be able to talk with you about them specifically, and allow you to focus on what is important to make sure that the project goes ahead before any catastrophes occur.

I know myself, when I have specific goals with timeliness I am much more focused and able to concentrate on the most important tasks. I am very confidant that your employees will feel the same way too.

How To Motivate Employees

Are You Having Trouble With Unmotivated Employees? 

The Problem - Unmotivated Employees

"The younger generation just don't want to work"

"I can't seem to get my employees interested in the business"

"I talk to them and tell them what to do, but they just don't do it"

Do you ever find yourself using any of the above lines when you are talking with your friends, colleagues or associates?

So many of the business owners and managers that I meet repeat comments like this to me. They continually struggle with unmotivated and disengaged employees.

The results of having a workforce that lacks motivation are generally a high level of staff turnover (which tends to be costly), poor employee moral and very critically; poor customer service.

So now we have identified the problem we can work to kick their butts and get some improvement, Right?

Wrong!! We need to start at the source of the problem, which unfortunately is more than likely YOU, the business owner or manager. Sorry to break this to you, but the way that the staff behave is actually a reflection of you as a leader and how you conduct yourself.

 

Be Critical about the Problem

It takes a big person to admit that they are at fault, but I want you to think critically about the two following issues that dramatically effect the motivation of your staff:

• What vision and direction do you provide for the business on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly basis?
• What kind of example are you setting for your staff and how your behaviour may be influencing them.

Firstly - One of the key issues we nearly always find when working within a business owner or manager is the lack of vision and direction within the organisation. A strong vision is what provides a general sense of direction and purpose for people, if this is lacking then where are they going? Have you ever watched a group of people that are lost? They stand around looking for someone to give them directions. In a business situation that person MUST BE YOU. You are the leader and must step up to the plate and take responsibility for the vision and direction that you want the organisation to take.

Secondly - How you behave will be copied, mimicked or reflected by your employees. If you are disorganised, untidy, aggressive, impatient, lazy, ineffective, verbose, absent, rude etc etc..... your actions will be picked up on by your employees and there will be repercussion (normally negative ones for your business).

The two issues identified above are integral to how your employees behave and perform within your organisation. It is therefore necessary for you to take action and do something about it before the problem gets out of control and your business starts to suffer.

So, What Steps Can You Take?

• Sit down in a quiet place with no interruptions for 1 hour and think about the vision and direction for your company. Write down what you come up with and at your next weekly meeting communicate it to your employees, discuss it with them and listen to their comments and thoughts on what you have created. Once everyone is fully aware of what you are aiming to achieve, hang it up on the wall where everyone can see it. 
• Take a moment to contemplate your behaviours and actions. The process of changing how you behave will take time, so start by writing down 3-5 behaviours that you want to stop doing e.g. late for meetings, untidy, no time for staff etc. Then write down 3-5 behaviours that you are happy with and want to continue doing e.g. Only look at emails two times daily, follow my ideal diary etc. Keep the list with you and reflect on it at the start of every day to keep you heading in the right direction!

Next time I will be discussing how to set goals for your staff and make sure they understand your expectations.

Good Luck

Systematization Process - Phase 6: Making it Happen

Making Business Systematization Initiatives Stick

How to ensure that your efforts to systematize your business (so that it is more self sustaining and automated to be less reliant on you) don't fade...

Phase 6, the last phase of the mimosaPLANET^TMSystematization Process is; Making it Happen. This is completely about making sure that this systematization process is not just a one or two week initiative. It is about putting in place a structure that will see it through to completion of a first run through the entire process and place value on business development in perpetuity. This is where I have seen countless business owners get frustrated. Learn how to keep the momentum going, momentum that leads to critical mass, critical mass that supports change and produces results...

What are the strategies used in this Phase?

The Making it Happen phase is all to do with taking action or activity... but the key point to remember is activity must be justified, it must be worthwhile... activity for activity sake leads you and your team to doing pointless tasks or doing the tasks that are unimportant first and leaving the truly important tasks that aren't urgent never to be completed. To make sure activity and busyness is worthwhile we must do two vital things .... Record & Report! We must highlight the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each area (and/or role) in your business. If you and your team then know what it is that truly matters, and these KPIs are recorded and reported on, you and your team will instantly find your activity and behavior (the decisions and actions) you take on a daily basis will instantly be more effective.

Once you and your team have a good understanding of what is important (the KPIs), then you can set a course of action to improve them, ‘action' points or ‘doing' points if you like. Below are the basic strategies I recommend that will yield fast results in the short term and... continued growth & automation (business systematization so you as the business owners aren't needed as much) in the long term. This long term (by long-term why not 6mths or 12mths instead of 5 years, what's stopping you?) automation goal comes about only if a regular schedule is adhered to, too many business owners will set weekly development meetings, they happen once or twice then two people are away the next week so it doesn't happen, then the week after "we are busy and have no time"... or some other lame excuse (admittedly, excuses that I've in the past used). The point is when something is set as just part of the routine, like dinner ... it always happens!!! While we are on meetings...the second point to make is; meetings don't work! Huh, meetings are crap time wasters... well they are for most people unless you and everyone in that meeting leaves with a clear list of decisions, and actions points to be achieved by who & by when.... Oh, then it's vital they actually do them and are held to account at the next meeting. Here are those strategies in phase 6;

6) MAKING IT HAPPEN

The Basics

• Weekly Role Based KPI Dashboard (Activity and Results)
• Weekly Team Business Development Meetings (Not WIP (Work In Progress) Meetings)
• Monthly KPI Reports (Executive KPIs, Marketing KPIs, Sales KPIs, Operations KPIs, Finance KPIs, HR KPIs)
• Monthly Directors Meetings (KPI Target vs Actual review, Actions as a Result of)

More ...

• Quarterly KPI Reports & Individual Evaluations
• Quarterly 2 Page "DOING" Plan (KPI Targets, Strategy Selection)
• Yearly Plan (Directions, Goal, KPI Targets, Quarterly Milestones, Initiatives/Projects)

For KPI examples see Record & Report

It's that simple...

It's too easy to over complicate things, so keep it simple...

"Everyone, here's a visual representation of our team, it's called an organizational chart.... Bob this is you, and these are the two points that are important in your role, they are called key performance indicators or KPIs, they let you and everyone else know if you are doing a good job, a crappy job, or an excellent job . If we focus on making sure you all improve your specific KPIs we can all have a lot more fun. Here's an example of one of Bob's KPIs.... This is what we are going to do to improve results in this area...."

There are much better methods to ‘train' people, than telling, but the above statement is the basic message you want to get across. Better training methods include asking specific questions to get them to come up with the answer rather than just telling them... which doesn't get your team to use their own brain.... Oh, this is a huge point, if you tell your team how to do everything, how can you EVER expect your business to be systematized?! To automate your business so that it runs without you, you must setup systems and empower your team to make decisions by trusting them, mistakes cost way less than you might think to fix.

This week's Action Points...

The key is one; your belief and resolve, and two; the schedule.... I talk with clients weekly at the same time, we finish with a list of action points... we move forward. Set a schedule for your internal report completion and for meetings... then stick with it!

Systematization Process - Phase 5: Knowledge Base

Build a Knowledge Base for Operations Manuals

Create Manuals for your business so that anyone can fulfill the roles and tasks in your business...

Phase 5 of the mimosaPLANET^TMsystematization Process is; Knowledge Base. This is all about pulling together the collective knowledge that you and every member of your team have about all aspects of your business. In other words, it's a way of protecting the ‘know-how' of your business, to make sure that if someone learns a lesson we transfer that knowledge from their mind to a company knowledge base; an operations manual, a policy manual, a technology manual, a troubleshooting database, etc. Learn how to get your own knowledge base setup so; new employees get up to speed faster, you ensure processes are followed, you protect and build company knowledge, and add value to your goodwill, plus more...

What is a Knowledge Base?

A knowledge base by definition is simply a database for managing knowledge. It gives you the ability to collect, organize and retrieve knowledge. They are most useful in training purposes because they allow people to retrieve specific knowledge and use it. For businesses, some of the best uses are for; user manuals and troubleshooting.

What structure and content can form a Knowledge Base?

Anything can form part of an organizations knowledge base. One of the most important aspects of making sure the knowledge base can be used is the ability for people to easily find the information they are looking for... so the format in which the content is organized is of primary importance. You'll need to ask yourself, how am I going to classify the data? Here's just one suggested classification system:

User manuals

• Operations Manual
  • Marketing Department
    • Marketing Manager
    • Marketing Assistant
  • Sales Department
    • Sales Manager
    • Sales Person
  • Operations Department
    • Operations Manager
    • Team Leader
    • Team Member
  • HR Department
    • HR Manager
  • Finance Department
    • CFO/Financial Controller
    • Office Manager
    • Office Administrator
  • Executive Department
    • GM/CEO
    • Director
    • Personal Assistant
• Policy Manual
• Technology Manual
• Marketing & Sales System Manual

These user manuals are basically just user guides. They use written words and associated flowcharts and/or images to give people assistance to use a particular system, task, or to fulfill a role. More and more often video can be used, and should be used, to capture these 'how-to' experiences. You can use software to record the screen of a computer to capture a computer task (this is much easier and quicker for people to learn that trying to make sense of just plain text or plain text with screen shots). You also can use a camcorder to record just about anything else.

Troubleshooting

• Case Solutions

e.g. A help desk operator has a database of all the customer ‘cases' every lodged and the ‘solution' that was used to resolve that ‘case'. Over time, a huge ‘solutions' database is built which ensures that knowledge is collected in a database not just the employees head. This has massive benefits in small business!!!! How often are you, as a business owner or manager, interrupted by your team asking you "how do I solve this problem?". From my experience talking with business owners, they say it's all the time. Having an internal database of the common ‘SOLUTIONS' that you deal with 90% of the time, will help free up your time by empowering your team to handle the issue.

•  External Help

This is the next step beyond having an internal database of solutions (helps anyone in your team fulfilling the role of customer services become capable to resolve 90% of issues by themselves). Having an ‘External Help' system lets your customers try to resolve issues themselves first before calling your business. In big business, this has saved many companies millions, in small business this can be the difference between having 1 administrator and needing 2. It is now possible, through the internet (private or public), to provide ‘external help'. It is widely used in the software industry. Obviously nearly everyone has used Microsoft's Help to attempt to resolve an issue or find out how to do something, but even small providers have been smart enough to give their customers ‘self help'.

•  Internal Help

This is more of a ‘solutions' database for an organisations own internal systems, roles and tasks. It's where anyone can go first to get help to something that might not be covered in the user manuals.

How do I put a Knowledge Base together?

If you haven't figured it out yet, the best place to build your knowledge base would have to be an intranet. What is an intranet? It's simply a private computer network where you can securely share your company's knowledge base and systems. It is built using the same concepts as the internet; basically it's like having a website that only you and your employees can see (you can also give access to others if you like i.e. strategic partners or customers).

Traditional paper based operations manuals can still be printed out and created in ring binders if you wish but there are many advantages to having everything online;

• It is always up to date with any of the latest changes. A printed file changes can become out of date quickly and will need to be checked and updated.
• Anyone from anywhere (with permission) can access the same information. If you have team members that need flexibility to work from home or if you have multiple branches this keeps all the knowledge gained from one location accessible to all the locations.
• It's easy to make changes, update or add to.
• It can be protected and backed up.

There are many different platforms or ways to make this happen.

1)   Personal Computer: At the very base level you can create a Knowledge Base on your personal computer, copy it to CD and upload to each team member's computer. This would simply be your classifications of files saved in folders.... A content tree, if you like.

2)   Networked Computers: The next level of sophistication you can have is computers in the office networked together so people can have permission to view the ‘knowledge base' folder and sub folders. Normally 1-5 users.  

3)   Server Computer: Like networked computers but no user limits.

4)   Intranet Software on a Hosted Server: This is where you and your team can access your knowledge base by logging in to a website. There are many providers of software that is specifically designed to have the basic structure and components that will form your database of company knowledge. All you need to do is upload your content.

5)   Intranet Software on Internal Server: As above but on a server (computer) your company owns.

6)   Client Relationship Management (CRM) Software - Contact Centre Module: This is where you can store a troubleshooting knowledge base of ‘solutions'. And also provide a customer portal for ‘self help'.

I strongly recommend option 4 for small business owners and also option 6.

What about the actual Content?

Once you know what structure your knowledge base will form and what platform you'll keep it on, you'll then have a better idea of what;

• content you currently have and there for just need to upload it to your new ‘knowledge base' system... or
• content you are missing so it will need to be created.

For the content that needs to be created, get each person in your business to contribute. Get them to complete a ‘how-to' for each task they have. Each role in your business should have a list of tasks associated with it. If each role had about 50 different tasks they were responsible for and you got everyone to capture (in writing, with images, with screen recording software, with a camcorder) 2 tasks a week... in 6 months you and your team would have created your company knowledge base!!!!!

I understand that this is often the hard part. Getting a structure and platform set up can be confusing and then creating the content for each task can be overwhelming. So at mimosaPLANET^TM we are working hard to make this easier for people. We are creating a system you and your team can just plug into to form this platform & structure. Plus we'll provide business development tools and templates so you can edit and adapt to use for your business... watch this space... Until then you can create your company specific content as a first step.

This week's Action Points...

Understand the value that transferring knowledge out of your mind and on to a reusable knowledge base will provide you with. A knowledge base of user guides and troubleshooting resources will empower your team and free up your time. It will make sure when key people leave, your down time is minimal. It will increase the multiplier used in the formula to calculate the goodwill value of your business come sale time. So;

1)      decide on a structure and classification system,

2)      decide on an entry level platform at least,

3)      have team meetings and set actions that each person (including you) is to capture the ‘how-to' for 2 of their tasks each week until completed.

Systematization Process - Phase 4: Re-Write the Rules

Design Your Future Business

Design what your business will look like when it is finished and map out a path of stepping stones along the way.

Phase 4 of the mimosaPLANET^TMsystematization Process is; Re-Write the Rules. Who said your business has to look like it does today? Who said your business needs to conform with the industry average? Nobody! Because in business your get to write your own rules. So, what happen? Take back that feeling, that desire for control of your own destiny you had when you first started your business and design what it will look like in the future...when it is delivering on the promise of ‘freedom of choice'. Find out the areas you should be designing and re-writing the rules of your business in...

Earlier in the mimosaPLANET^TMsystematization Process, phase 2) DISCOVER & DOCUMENT, we analyzed and documented the current situation. This included; the work-flow processes, organizational chart, volume capacities, the profit model, and utilization rates. In the 4^th phase, RE-WRITE THE RULES, we focus on taking the new work-flow processes, determined from any technology advantage found in phase 3, to create a clear picture of what the business will look like when it is finished. How do we define that ‘clear picture'? By using the following strategies;

• Our New Company Structure - organization Chart Goals (Now, Qtrly, 1yr, 3yrs, 5yrs)
• Our New Company Structure - Position Descriptions (Roles, Responsibilities, Tasks)
• Our New Company Structure - Position KPIs Identification
• Our New Company Structure - Position Volume Capacities
• Our New Company Structure - Profit Model
• Our New Company Structure - Position utilization Rates
• Our New Company Structure - Position KPIs Specification Targets (Below, On, Above)

Specific outcomes of this process will differ for every business and business owner... you see, it's completely based on your outcomes from phase 1 and 3. A business owner with huge personal goals & business goals is going to need a very different business design (i.e. size, shape, profit, etc) when compared with a business owner with relatively modest goals. Whatever the specific goals of the business owner and business, no matter their size or shape, the process is the same. It becomes vital to build a clear picture of the business in a specifically defined time period.

Over time I have found people work well with a 5 year goal for when the business is to be finished (i.e. the business is delivering the owners written personal goals of money (pa income to live the lifestyle desired) and time (free time available to live the lifestyle desired)). Let's look at how 3 different people might approach phase 4 differently based on their desired outcomes....

3 Examples of Business Owners 5 year Goals

Name	Yearly Disposable Income	Hrs worked each week	Notes
Person A	$500,000	0 hrs	Willing to work hard for the next 5 years to sell business and have the option of not working again while still living a lifestyle of $500,000pa.
Person B	$300,000	32 hrs	Happy to work 4 days a week, leaving 3 day weekends for spending time at the holiday home with the family.
Person C	$200,000	20 hrs	Only wants minimum input has a General Manager looking after the day to day. Must have the ability to take 3 month holidays.

 

How Will This Affect Our Thinking When We Design Our Future Finished Business?

Let's look at Person A

Person A, wants to have the option of not working ever again so they are looking to sell their business and let's assume they can get 10%pa return on the invested funds from the sale of the business. They will need (assuming no other assets or investments, & that 10% is after inflation...so they are really getting 13%pa) to sell the business for $5 million. A business that has a goodwill value of $5 million is likely to be producing $1 million pa EBIT (Earnings Before Interest & Tax).

So everything that is ‘designed' in this phase (the organizational structure, all the different roles and volume capacities, etc...) needs to be from the view point of what does the business look like at $1 million pa EBIT? You see, most people work from a sales or revenue figure and then ask... ‘what profit is left?'. Challenge that way of thinking. Build the shape, size and structure of the business based on what profit you want.

Person A's current business could be something like this:

Revenue	$1,750,000
COGS	$1,105,000
GP	$700,000 (40% - GPM%)
Exp	$400,000
NP	$300,000 (17% - NPM%)
# of Total Team	15
# of Admin Team	2
# of Production Team	12
# of Managers	1
Goodwill Value	= $900,000 (EBIT x Multiplier)
	= ($300,000 x 3)

New Business Design

Let's say during phase 3 Person A found a new way of doing things and through a series of calculations based on volume capacities of each person in the team doing their job they determine the following design for the business in 5 years time so that they can sell in for $5 million....

Revenue	$4,000,000
COGS	$2,200,000
GP	$1,800,000 (45% - GPM%)
Exp	$800,000
NP	$1,000,000 (22.2% - NPM%)
# of Total Team	26
# of Admin Team	4
# of Production Team	20
# of Managers	2
Goodwill Value	= $5,000,000 (EBIT x Multiplier)
	=($1,000,000 x 5 (better systems))

All this can only be determined by running numbers on different structural options then reworking the numbers again and again until you find the right mix.

The tools to do this are the same as the tools highlighted in the phase 2 article Discover & Document

Simply start with the end game... 5 years from now, get a really clear picture of what your business will look like then... work backwards and set a picture for 3 yrs, then 1yr.... and I highly recommend breaking the 1yr into Qtrly goals. Now you have the setting stones... a path if you like to map out your growth.

This week's Action Points...

If you did phase 1 and set the vision of where you and your business want to be; if you've done phase 2 and you have faced the facts about your current situation and whole business model and structure and determined things have got to change; if you have looked into phase 3 and realize the opportunities you have to do things dramatically better.....if you have done all this you'd be mad not to do phase 4 because this is the point you get to see the future. Never under estimate what clarity can do for you... good luck...

 

Systematization Process - Phase 3: Initiate a Revolution

Revolutionise Your Business With Technology

Find your new Technology Advantage, the Edge that will see you leap frog the competition!

Phase 3 of the mimosaPLANET^TM Systematisation Process is; Initiate a Revolution. Revolution? Strong word? Yes, you bet it is... "Kaizen", the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement that helped propel Japan from post WW2 ruin, to become the worlds' most prolific manufacturer till the early 1990's, is old news and no longer enough. In 2008 and beyond we live in a world where a company can find new technology and go from nothing to a giant in years, with it changing and effecting the very environment in which everyone operates. Your options are to embrace it and find your own Technology Advantage to thrive or cling to what you know now and start to struggle as you watch your business become extinct.

Quantify This Word Dribble Please....

Ok, where's the proof? It's all around you! I can see two ways this is happening currently;

• Current Industry Revolution: In every industry there are companies creating a revolution, going against the status quo, doing things in a new way, delivering better solutions. Think Dell in the 1990s. Before Dell, IBM sold heaps of PCs through the normal distribution channels, you know, things like... a direct channel for big corporates, a merchant channel (retailers) for Joe consumer, and partner channel for companies. Dell came along and totally revolutionised the distribution model by providing mail, phone and internet ordering abilities to ‘build your own pc' and have it shipped to you in days at a fraction of the cost.
  
• New Industry Creation: This is a fascinating area, companies that are creating the industry, not just doing things in a new way, but actually creating value where previously there was nothing. Think Microsoft creating the software industry when IBM was the king pin of the computer world. Think Google creating the paid-per-click search advertising industry and becoming the biggest threat to Microsoft and the big 4 Advertising Agencies and media companies.

Methods To Find Your Technology Advantage

• Surf the Net; when it's focused on strategic research it's not a distraction.
  
• Take an interest in new ideas, concepts, & technology; if you continue to learn new things you'll be much more prepared to do battle in the present and future, if you don't learn anything new, well you're perfectly equipped to handle a world that no longer exists!
  
• Talk with ICT people; many information and communication technology people get to see the future often years before others, shouldn't you be at least having interesting business discussions with people like this?
  
• Network with other business owners from outside your industry; chances are you'll find someone doing something cool, then... just ask; "how can I apply this idea, this concept to my business to get a huge edge?"

Warning, this can all be very hard at first. Sometimes ICT people and technology websites seem to speak another language, heck they actually do, but if you persevere and learn enough of the basic jargon you'll start to build a picture of new possibilities, of new concepts, of different applications of these concepts and capabilities.... Once this happens you'll start to "get it"..... you'll start to get the huge value to be had from finding your own technology advantage. A technology advantage that will have you and your business revolutionise your market... whether your market is your suburb, your city, your country or the world. Heck there are even enough ideas going on around the world for you to just apply them in your local market and see a huge advantage over your local competition... you don't even need to revolutionise the world if you don't want to, just revolutionise your business and you'll do way better than before.

From Idea to Initiation

What will likely happen is you'll end up finding 10 new ideas that are really cool and you can see huge advantages in implementing them in your business. But the challenge is resources to get the project started and implemented... you'll need to decide which of these ideas will turn into a project that ‘improves' things and which ideas will ‘revolutionise' things. Focus on the one project that is earth shattering .... The ‘MIND-BLOWING PROJECTS'... and ditch the rest.. see what I mean by reading my previous article on MIND-BLOWING PROJECTS >> .

The Main Point!

Technology changes everything! It always has done and it always will do. Year after year the way of doing things changes, results change, outcomes change.... This means businesses that do things (read, all businesses) must change. The biggest difference now is that phases on planet earth in the past were thousands of years; the Bronze Age, then hundreds of years; the industrial revolution, then decades; the plastic age, now it's years.... We are beyond the Information Age now and everything is speeding up... above all else FIND TECHNOLOGY TO REPLACE PEOPLE & YOURSELF... this is technologies role to do people out of a job!!! This is a GREAT thing, it means your business has become efficient, that person should be put to work in your business doing higher value work... adding value in a way that a machine cannot. Machines have taken over dozens and dozens of blue-collar roles in the last 200 years.... so as humans we respond ... we re-focus ourselves in higher value jobs (white collar) ... increasing the education people have to make decisions... now we are seeing machines make these decisions for more and more white collar jobs... so we start to see another refocusing of people... in the area of design and innovation and creation of new concepts... in the area of development.

This week's Action Points...

Embrace it and thrive!

Systematisation Process - Phase 2: Discover & Document

Build Business Systematisation From The Truth

Get Visual Representation & Confirmation Of Your Current Workflow Processes, Organisational Structure, Volume Capacities, Profit Model, and Utilisation Rates!

Phase 2 of the mimosaPLANET^TM Systematisation Process is; Discover and Document. Discover and Document is all about facing the facts! It's about taking a good look at what you are currently doing and writing it down in a way that it stares you in the face and shouts ... "this is the truth about our current situation and the results we are getting, and if we continue to use ‘this way' of doing business what is the best result we can expect based on our current and future resources" . Get the facts so you can make great decisions about ‘how' you will achieve your business (and ultimately personal) goals...

systemBOOST^TM

 

Discover & Document

The whole idea in this phase is to build understanding and clarity of your current situation. It is also vital to remove the list of excuses or ‘reasons' you and others may have about why things are the way they are. Ditch the denial and face the cold hard truth. Nothing does that better than taking stock of where you are currently and actually determining what the capabilities (and limits) of your business are. Here's a list of the tactics in this phase...

• Our Current Work-flow Processes (Flow-chart and time delivery)

We do this by first documenting flowcharts of your current work-flow processes... you know, the steps from phone call to sales, from order to delivery, from invoice to cash in the bank, etc. It is also about getting copies of the different forms and paperwork involved at each step (or software functions), and the different classification types of work (or options) involved... that each cause a different series of events, tasks, steps, and outcomes.

• Our Current Company Structure - Organisation Chart

Again we simply record the current Organisations structure, every company has a CEO, a Marketing Manager, a Sales Manager, an Operations Manager, a Finance Manager.... (and assistances' and team members in each of these ‘departments' .... The real question you need to ask yourself is "who fills each of these roles?" Do you, as the business owner, have the title of Managing Director but really, like many businesses, you have most of your team focused in the operations area (doing what it is your business does) so you are also the; Marketing Manager, the Sales Manager, the Operations Manager and the Finance Manager?

• Our Current Volume Capacities

Now that you have documented your Work-Flow Processes and Charted the Positions and who owns them in your business... you can start to determine, based on past & current workloads, what the volume capacities of each person, role and then the organisation is in the businesses current format.

• Our Current Profit Model

We can input into a ‘Profit Model Spreadsheet' some basic financial details (found in your Statement of Financial Performance (Profit & Loss)), plus sales & marketing KPIs (Key Performance Indicators like; conversion rates, number of items/units/transactions/ or invoices for the period etc). This data will help to serve as a base model. We can then simulate what different results are possible with increases or decreases in each of the recorded areas. This is a very powerful visual representation tool every business owner should have & review, get your copy in Profit Margins & Pricing Strategy

• Our Current Utilisation Rates

By asking questions we can then run some calculations to determine how efficient we are currently from different perspectives; over all, at each position level and for each of the tasks. This information gives valuable insights into HOW to get better results and WHERE to focus your energy. It also raises big questions about the viability of the whole structure and model of your business and challenges the ability of your business structure & model to become the vehicle that delivers you the results required to meet your personal goals and lifestyle dreams.

i.e. If we are only running at 50% utilisation we can be sure that we have lots of capacity to increase sales or production or output with our current resources. Whereas, if we were running at 95% it is fair to say we are running at, or close to, maximum capacity so if we want to increase sales and profits we would have to first invest in additional resources (another team member or perhaps a new machine or new premises). This assumes we will be running the same ‘way' of doing things.... The next phase of the mimosaPLANET^TMSystematisation Process is to ‘Initiate A Revolution'. Basically... to challenge your whole way of doing business, because chances are that you could be doing things the hard way! After all.... you don't know what you don't know.

Details

I have covered all of the above strategies in more detail in previous issues of the mimosaWEEKLY TIP^TM , follow the below links for more details...

Systematize Your Business Processes

• Our Current Work-flow Processes (Flow-chart and time delivery)
• Our Current Company Structure - Organisation Chart

Profit Goals

• Our Current Volume Capacities
• Our Current Utilisation Rates

Profit Margins & Pricing Strategy

• Our Current Profit Model

Now is the time for you to link the thinking of each of these strategies together to really drive the systematisation of your business. Remember strong systems can be the difference between; working 60 hours per week with no chance of a holiday ... and ... working 32 hours per week taking 8 weeks holiday a year.... Or not working at all even. It is also the difference between selling your business for 2 times EBIT and 4 times EBIT. If your EBIT is $300,000, that's the difference between selling for $600k and $1.2m. It's the difference between, settling for average results, and reaching your desired personal goals.

This week's Action Points...

Set aside 5 hours a week for the rest of your business ownership life and use this time for Business Development, the oldie cliché could never be more relevant .... Working ON your business not IN your business. Why not move the cliché from empty words to reality by quantifying it?.... 5 hours per week is what I ask of my clients. If you needed more inspiration or proof and want to see some of their successes and results (from taking this approach of working ON their business)... 

Systematization Process - Phase 1: Direction

Starting Your Systematization Process With Direction

Gain Personally Clarity & Huge Buy-In From Your Team Through Defined Company Values, Vision, Mission And Goals!

Systems only work if people use them or implement them or set them up in the first place. People are the gateway to great systems and for you and other business owners and managers, people means you and your team. People get enrolled and inspired to do great things when they have a clear direction and understanding of why we are doing something and what we are aiming to achieve. A great place to start your systemization process is with your team. Get you and your team firing today...

So, in last week's issue of the mimosaWEEKLY TIP^TM we listed strategies (grouped in phases) which effectively mapped the mimosaPLANET^TM Systematization Process. In this article we are going to focus on the first phase in that process, DIRECTION. Under DIRECTION we have;

• Owner Clarity (Goals & Purpose)
• Our Company Values
• Our Company Vision
• Our Company Mission
• Our Company Goals (1,3,5 yr)

Background, Definitions, Understanding & Examples

Let's get a clearer picture on each....

Owner Clarity (Goals & Purpose)

Read "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"..... just do it! If you don't know clearly where you ‘personally want to go, what you personally want to achieve, want is personally important to you, and why you feel like that' then.... you'll likely just drift from day to day, and year to year without achieving your dreams. You get to design your life.... and your business is simply a vehicle which you can use to live your dream life. i.e.

Person A: Wants to spend all their time with family and friends. They want to be remembered as a trust worthy, honest, and family focused person. Likes fishing with mates and kids, holidays in a holiday home during summers. To live the life of their dreams they require $200,000 pa in income and only 20 hours per week for work.

Person B: Wants to spend their time experiencing new things. They want to be remembered for changing the world for the better. Like fine things from architectural homes to exotic holidays...a designer lifestyle. To live the life of their dreams they required $800,000 pa and 0 hours per week for work, thus require an approx net worth of $8m+ based on $8m invested to return 10%pa.

Quite clearly person A and person B have different personal goals and driving purposes in life. To achieve what they want to, using their business as the vehicle, both require different outcomes...and with that different businesses. Person A is happy to continue working but for the most part the stress is removed and someone else is likely to running the day to day operations so they can take holidays and days off often. Person B on the other hand wishes to not work at all and perhaps is more willing to work hard for a number of years to then sell their business for the $8m+ figure. Obviously person B needs a significantly bigger business in annual revenue and profit and perhaps likely team structure to fulfill such profits. As such, the company Vision is likely to need to be much bigger than person A's vision.

Design your own life....then as we said... Grow Your Business and Have a Life^TM

Our Company Values

Values define what is important to your organization. Is it quality at any cost? Is it affordability? Is it tried and tested? Is it innovation? Values guide the way your team interact with your customers, values guide your decisions from strategic focus to the way you handle a customer complaint. Ultimately values will define the ‘get feeling' people get when they see, hear or experience your brand. Believe me your customers and prospects have this ‘get feeling' already....shouldn't you and your team be concerned about what that is and define how you want it to be.... after all how you and your team interact with your customers will determine what your customers experience and feel about your organization.

I like to pick out values and group them together in 3, 4 or 5 groups then define each group.

(Companies sometimes refer to this listing and grouping of headings and meanings as The Company Culture.... I feel these are really in fact Values, as Values drive Culture.... Values are an internal function to drive an external outcome, Culture. You can't define Culture and expect it to happen.... Culture is the result of peoples Values being experienced)

Our Company Vision

Vision is a short and inspiring statement of what your company intends to become or achieve at some point in the future.

Vision defines your company's great big goal; it should be large... almost unobtainable or at least a 10 year super stretch goal. It describes the collective big goal that everyone in your company is striving to achieve. Many examples from companies include vision statements like "to be the number one retail clothing company in the US" or "to be the preferred provider of home cleaning services in the greater Auckland area".

Over time I've come to believe that the best Company Visions are the ones that don't state what the company wants to become but what the company wants to achieve. He's an example from Microsoft - "To enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential". Vision's which state what they wish to achieve highlight a change an organization is trying to achieve in the environment in which they wish to operate. A vision should enroll and inspire all stakeholders.... customers, employees, managers, shareholders, and suppliers. A great vision will drive everyone in the same direction.

Our Company Mission

What is the difference between Vision and Mission? Simply, where Vision is the goal, Mission is the guide that defines how you will achieve your visions...and it can be made up of 4 parts. 1) Who you are as a team, 2) What business are you in, 3) Who are your clients, 4) What makes you unique.

Our Company Goals

Company Goals reflex directly back to the Vision, they are the road map ahead and the milestones along the way. Using our person B from above, they could start off alone these lines below then drill down to become more specific and tangible....

• Current: NP = $100,000. Rev = $1m @ 10% NPM. 10 Production Team. 2 Admin Team.
• Year 1: NP = $200,000. Rev = $1.5m @ 13.3% NPM. 10% Price Increase + 13 Production Team. 2 Admin Team. Invest in re-brand and position.
• Year 3: NP = $400,000. Rev = $4m @ 10% NPM. Invest heavily in Launching 2 Overseas Markets. (hence NPM erosion).
• Year 5: NP = $600,000. Rev = $6m @ 10% NPM. Install GM. Begin Margin Focus.
• Year 10: NP = $1.6m. Rev = $8m @ 20% NPM. Goodwill Value 1.6m x 5 = $8m.

Creating & Executing

Most business owners and managers attempt to create a vision on their own then force it on to the team buy telling them "this is our new Vision, now get inspired". Naturally the team is skeptical and believe that this vision only serves the interests of the business owner, buy making them more money..... "why should I work harder and get inspired by you making more money and working less" ...is the common employee reaction from such a misguided approach. From working with business owners over the years we have found the best results come from involving the team in the whole process. This way they come up with the company values & vision, and they can take ownership and accountability for their behavior and actions toward it.

You can still guide the overall direction and outcome of this by either a) being the KNOCKOUT LEADER you should be, or b) getting a specialist facilitator to run some of your team workshops.

Any new potential employees are told right at start of the interview process about your company's Values & Vision and you can hire those that are enrolled and inspired buy it and leave more skilled candidates if they aren't excited by your company's direction.

Buy getting you and your team 100% clear on the direction you will get buy-in to transform your business... because odds are that to achieve your vision you will need to get everyone on-board to continue, or really ignite, the systemization process which will greatly assist you to achieve your company vision.... and in turn your personal goals.

Example of mimosaPLANET^TM's Vision, Mission & Values

Our Vision
 "Freedom of choice for business owners across the globe through knowledge and actions"

Our Mission

We will always strive to make further gains in the effectiveness of all people and businesses that we come in contact with. We believe it is business effectiveness that is the key to fulfilling the main desire of people that go into business for themselves, freedom of choice to be in control of their own future and create their life as they wish. Our clients will be proactive and keen to get results. We will service people who are first starting out in business, right through to people that have been in business for years. Our team will always have the highest levels of integrity and thought. We will live our brand values in every decision, interaction, product and service. We at all times give value to all that we come in contact with. We promise to deliver Solutions and not just theory, and to be a trusted source of wisdom the world over.

Our Brand
Experience & outcome focused
Our role is to be the brand of choice with business owners, entrepreneurs, and the self employed. We do this by focusing on and delivering our founding brand values. We created the mimosa brand with these values and principles in mind. It is the underlying depth from which mimosa gets its strength, and delivering on these values is at the forefront of every decision and interaction we make.

Our Brand Values
More than just words

This week's Action Points...

I have said it before, but did you do it? Book out a regular 2 hour weekly team training / workshop session, or fortnightly at least. This is not a once off, "let's create a Vision in this special meeting then move on"... it is a regular commitment to driving business development as there will always be something each week to work on. I suggest starting with the direction phase of the systematization process, so book that time in your diary and LEAD your team. If you believe a third party would be best to help facilitate this change contact us about how we can add value, our focus is the same as any business development you would initiate yourself; to drive the desired outcome and deliver return on investment. Investing $1,000 to gain $10,000 or $30,000 to gain $300,000 is a no brainer, right?

Take action today!