SME Do Not Give up

To SME Owners

Times can and will get TOUGH, so here are a few guidelines to keep you FOCUSED.

- relook at the simple things to change in your business and can you do it quickly, move with speed.
- relook at your market, is it growing, relook closely at your key clients, are they at the right level of profitability and are they good payers.
- who are your top two key staff members, why are they good at what they do, chat to them about their views, it is good to listen?
- are you carrying to much stock, check how quickly your " slow moving stock" is moving.
- look closely at your Habits, do they need reviewing, are you setting the example.
- are you still having fun in your business, a key issue if you want to give up.

NEXT, go take a few days off, go and think about your business in quite time, in a new setting.

NEXT, when you get back to your office go visit some of your clients.

Till next time may the FORCE be with you.

Staff Excuses

To the SME Owner

There are THREE types of Staff,
-Those who wonder what happened,
-Those that watch what's happening,
-Those that MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Staff excuses then should be irrelevant, HOW many excuses did you hear this week, painful, all bullsh-t.( cool, ok , there are some exceptions to the rule)

Lack of Consistent, great LEADERSHIP, is a big opportunity in SME businesses, it is so underrated,
you know why, it is hard work, it is every hour of the day, not just now and then.

When you implement a new, policy, system,etc, there are those MAVERICKS, "kick butt Joe".
it is your business, you are on the line.

Till next time may the Force be with You.

Turning Your Business Around Part 2

To the SME Owner,

Last blog we chatted about cash/ collection management, next step

- What is your sales plan,
    - for the next week
    - for the next month
focus on the above, 5 days at a time, and 20 days in terms of your sales pipeline, important to do this if you as the owner run the sales team, or if you are the only sales person in your business,
KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Here is info from a book published in 1990 by J Shaw, till me if some things have changed?

In the 1990s' it will be of no value to run your business 'by the seat of your pants', Competition will be intense, only the strong will SURVIVE. Formalize a sales plan to cope with the demands of the new DECADE.

Yep for SME businesses what has changed in this regard.

Till next time may the Force be with you, I am your silent partner helping you work on your business.

Turning your Business Around Part one

To SME Owners
Good to back at my blog, 2013 had the opportunity to help turn Four businesses around, so blogging time was limited.

In every SME I hear the words : I have cash flow problems.

When I check it out 95%, do not have cash flow issues ( I hate that word problem with a passion)
95% have COLLECTION MANAGEMENT issues, the business has money in its Debtors age analysis schedule. But is not being collected fast enough!

Most businesses pay their reps Comm, so the Rep should be part of the collection process, if the rep only gets paid once the deal is closed ,ie money in the BANK!

You only have a cash flow issue if you have less in your debtors to collect vs  the amounts owing to your supplies and the amount going out in a certain period for monthly operating costs.

So get you collection management on its game, yep you must spend time on this area.

Till next time may the Force be with you.

Are you Getting Ahead

To SME Owners

So business life has been marginally better this year or has it, all depends on your approach, has it changed.
-Changed in what way GUY?

-what demands are you placing on yourself,
-are you communicating your objectives, daily weekly monthly to your team,
-how well do you know your client base,
-how do you use Pareto's Law, the famous 19th century Italian economist(80/20)
-are you innovating inside your business,

I have found focusing on Five Key point's. areas etc, is manageable, keep it simple, most people get to complicated.

Till next time may the Force be with you, I am your silent partner helping you work on your business.

SME Reality Check

To SME Owners

Here's some interesting stuff, some learning points regarding start ups and businesses that have been going for awhile, I hear these comments, MAYBE it is the SME Owner trying to motivate himself ?,
I think there are other ways to do that.
- I have a great new product it will make me wealthy,
- I will list my business within x years,
- I know my business backwards, no one can show me a better way?
- I will get investors and all will be good?

Ok there are always exceptions to the rule.

Many Sme owners do not know what it takes to build WEALTH from their businesses. so through my Reality Check 303 model, I try to rearrange the way they SEE and THINK ABOUT THEIR Business.
Here's a trick or two,
- Keep things SIMPLE in your business,
- Make sure your staff know what, how your business works,
- Client/ Customer relationships, do not take as a given , make contact with them OFTEN,
- Understand your businesses CAPACITY

Till next time my the Force be with you, I am your silent partner helping you work on your Business.

Relationship between Speed, Risk and Emotional IQ

To SME Owners

Six months done and dusted in your sme business, six to go. A great time to review how you stand,
re the above and how they relate to each other, interlink.

Being a Sme, one of the competitive advantages is to move with speed, quick decision, in conjunction with level of risk that you will take from making business decisions.

I had a client, asked them how quickly do they make a R5000.00 once off decision vs R5000.00 per month, interesting discussion?

Speed, does not mean, getting busier and busier, remember the notion of busy is not working,or moving fast, makes sense?

Add emotional IQ to the mix, which in some ways is about your personal competence level, also of your staff. Emotional IQ is about your awareness, reaction to any given situation.

So give some thought to the above, you will be better positioned when you address the above as part of your Business model.

Till next time may the Force be with you, I am your silent partner helping you work on your business.

Make the TOUGH Calls

To SME Owners

Are you making those tough calls to sort out your sme business, and are you moving with speed in making such calls.
Many sme's fail because they do not implement the above, you must be Ruthless, it is your business,
you carry the risk.

Yep every day you solve problems, (I Hate the word, haven't used it for years) better to use, opportunity, challenges.I have a client who has banned the word P, great stuff.

You need to accept that you need to be great at looking for solutions, you must thrive on challenges.

Success comes from sorting out challenges, be focused and disciplined, these are great habits to have, it sets you apart from the run of the mill owners.

Be flexible, but being stubborn and tough could save you a whole lot of sh one t,

I am helping a business, turn around needed, owners asked me what one thing you would change in the business, answer, no more adhoc leave for you and your partner, only at Xmas time, and the one partner must spend at least 5 hours a day, selling/marketing.(the business has been going for 10 years!)

Till next time may the Force be with you, I am your silent Partner helping you work on your business.

  

Business Life Cycle

To SME Owners

It is always Important to look at where your business is in what we call the BLC, trying to identify where you are, is the trick. To do this set certain benchmarks, on those key areas you believe are
critical.
Here's a few pointers-
-your strategy challenges, the issues that are affecting your growth,
-what business controls do you have in place, or don't
-do you need more capital to grow your sales
-the structure of your business
-are you and your team becoming complacent/arrogant

To name a few, each stage of the BLC has it's own Challengers, over the years I have developed a BLC model, which helps me focus very very quickly on how to react/ act when looking at the big picture in Positioning businesses for BETTER RESULTS.

Till next time may the force be with you, I am your silent partner helping you work on your business.

Your Business Gift

To SME owners
So what is this thing I call, your business gift,
-To me it means never lose sight of why you started your business,
-Look at what good gifts your business gives you every day, every week, every month, every year,
-Create good Karma gifts, ie how you operate your business, how you think about your staff, how you think about your clients, how you think about your suppliers, how you think about your partner.
-Here's the deal if you have negative thoughts about the above, it will create untold, sh-one-t in your life.
-So if you have negative thoughts you need to take quick action to sort out the problem, yep you are a problem solver every day of your life, simple stuff.

Take time out to really, really reflect on the above 5 areas,
          your business,
          your staff,
          your clients,
          your suppliers,
          your partner.
Till next time may the Force be with you, I am your silent partner helping you work on your business.