Tag Archive for: Business Success

Remember the Scary Times?

Recently, I reread a book by Strategic Coach Co-Founder Dan Sullivan entitled the Scary Times Success Manual. The original version of this material was written for a group of entrepreneurs, following the 9/11 attacks. As Dan states in his book:

“As I was preparing for a special client event in New York City, I thought, ‘When something like this is happening, you have to forget about some things and focus intently on other things.’ I started writing and came up with a list of ten ‘forget about this, focus on that’ strategies, which turned into a four-page document that I called ‘The Scary Times Success Manual.’”

I thought it was so true that I wanted to share the ten points with you, because, interestingly, we seem to be in some scary times again with the advent of high interest rates, elevated inflation & falling commodity prices. The economics of business are changing, and we can either respond negatively or proactively to these challenges.

As Dan so accurately states: “While the shock and disruption of scary times can leave a lot of people feeling paralyzed to respond and act, entrepreneurs have some experience in dealing with scary times in their normal lives simply because they’ve chosen the entrepreneurial path and the challenges that come with it.”

Here are Dan’s 10 points:

·       “Forget About Yourself; Focus on Others” – When these scary times arrive, how can we help others? For example, what fears do your employees have & how can you assist them?

·       “Forget About Your Commodity; Focus on Your Relationships” – Stay in touch with your Vendors and Banker. You will definitely need them in the long term, so be sure to focus on the future and ask them what they think.

·       “Forget About the Sale; Focus on Creating Value” –  Motivation is key here, so be sure to key in on what you can offer to create additional value.

·       “Forget About Your Losses; Focus on Your Opportunities” – You must capture opportunities that arise by focusing on what is currently working and what might create more success in the future. What does the future hold and where can we grow & improve?

·       “Forget About Your Difficulties; Focus on Your Progress” – Treat this time period as one where you can make your biggest progress. Stay prepared, or you won’t be ready when your prices start to rise again. Instead, create a better you and as a result, better business outcomes.

·       “Forget About the Future; Focus on Today” – What can you do in the next 24 hours? Plan for positive results on everything. Send positive messages and always measure your outcomes, because if you measure something, you will understand it. If you understand it, you can better control it, and if you have more control, you can improve it.

·       “Forget About Who You Were; Focus on Who You Can Be” – Reinvent yourself and set bigger goals. Make the best use of technology to do so, especially with the advent of Ai.

·       “Forget About Events; Focus on Your Responses” – It is important to remember that we cannot always control the events that happen, but we most certainly can control our responses. When major events occur, a new normal will arrive, and you will be prepared for it.

·       “Forget About What’s Missing; Focus on What’s Available” – Recognize what changed. What areas do you need to clean up? Are there items you should simplify or change to set a new course for your business?

·       “Forget About Your Complaints; Focus on Your Gratitude” – Be grateful for what you do have and what you have been able to accomplish. Stay positive, because no one ever erected a statue for a pessimist!

I hope Dan’s 10 points help you as you move forward. Apply them as often as you can, and I believe your outcomes will be awesome!

 

“Don’t wait on perfect conditions for success to happen; just go ahead and do something.”

Dan Miller

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

 

Was It Time for a Wakeup Call?

I have recently been hearing about organizations that are under “financial duress.” According to reports, they have been losing money for over 10 years and just recently decided to make some adjustments… Of course, there were plenty of “excuses.” First there was COVID, then we couldn’t hire sufficient help, then we saw inflation, the Fed raised interest rates, and, alas, now we are being subjected to tariffs…

As I said, they have now decided to make serious adjustments and develop a plan. Actually, their lenders likely decided that the company needed a plan for change. They may have been reaching a scary point on their “Burn Rate.” This is the amount of time a company has left, given their current rate of losses, before all their equity is gone. For example, if we have $1,000,000 of equity and lose $200,000 per year, we have five years left before all our equity is gone, assuming nothing changes.

This is not a fun position to be in. I also recently learned of a Homeowners Association that plans to assess each of their homeowners $25,000 to compensate for “deferred maintenance” in their community. This is a prime example of how past decisions, or lack thereof, can hurt future generations, because eventually the “toll will get paid…”

It reminds me of the old Sunoco gasoline commercials, where the mechanic suggested that we should be using their high-quality gasoline to minimize engine repairs later. While it was more expensive per gallon, he stated that you can “Pay me now or pay me later.”

I have one question for you to consider. Are there decisions or actions that you have been deferring into the future? Given the current economic situation that has resulted from COVID, hiring challenges, inflation, higher interest rates and/or tariffs, do you need to rethink how & when you might address some challenges in your life or business? If so, start to address them today. The future success of your family, the availability of necessary financing, or your organization’s very survival will be dependent upon it!

As I stated in my last blog, you will be better prepared for success, i.e. “Ready for the Big Dance” when better times arrive, instead of sitting on the sidelines, wishing you were more prepared. If I can assist you with this process, please let me know. It’s what I do best!

“All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.”

                                                            Earl Nightingale

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

Will You Be Ready for the Big Dance?

There seem to be a lot of downtrodden businesspeople these days. They are discouraged about inflated costs, high interest rates and difficulty getting employees to perform.

When things get tough, “Cost Cutting” often becomes the mantra. To an extent that is fine. However, we cannot simply save our way to prosperity by only cutting costs. If it were true, all we would have to do is reduce our expenses. On the contrary, I suggest that you only cut costs to the extent that it does not hurt the performance of your business.

In 2009, I watched some dairy producers cut back on feed costs to offset the greatly reduced milk prices. While that may have looked okay in the short term, in the long term, it really stymied their operation’s performance. When milk prices rose again, they were not prepared to respond, and cows did not come back into their maximum production very quickly. They were lackluster, at best. Profitability suffered for at least another year.

We are going through another trying period of inflation, high interest & tighter margins. With that in mind, let’s limit our cost reductions to the items that do not directly impact productivity of your business.

Motivational speaker Les Brown tells the story of how, early in his career, he had wanted to be a DJ, a disc jockey. An experienced adult told him that he had to be hungry & ready to take action. He went to a radio station in Miami and was rejected for a DJ position numerous times.

However, on the advice of his mentor, he studied and practiced being a DJ, because he was advised that it was far better to be prepared & not have a job, than to be unprepared when an opportunity did come along. One afternoon, his chance surfaced when another DJ was drinking heavily and could not finish his show. Les Brown stepped in, completed the show, and, as the saying goes, “The rest is history.” However, what would have happened if he, not having a current opportunity, had just not bothered to be prepared?

My point is this. Be prepared. These challenging times with high inflation and higher interest rates won’t last forever. Tough times don’t last, but tough people do!

Watch your costs and adjust them where you can. Just don’t stifle your operation’s productivity in the process, and you will be prepared for success, i.e. “Ready for the Big Dance” when better times arrive, instead of sitting on the sidelines, wishing you were more prepared.

“You gotta be hungry!”

                      Les Brown

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

What Is the Key to Success?

During a recent trip to Florida to participate as a judge in the North American Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge contest, my wife and I had a unique experience. On the way to Florida, we stayed in the Nashville, Tennessee area and were on our way out of our hotel when we faced a daunting challenge.

As we were entering the elevator from our third-floor room, she handed me the car keys and suggested that I should drive. That was great, except during the handoff, we didn’t quite connect, and the keys went sliding across the hallway. In fact, it was worse than you might imagine.

The keys slid across the hallway and fell down the elevator shaft. Oops! First, the good news – we had a second set of car keys with us, so we were not “car disabled” for four days. However, my Bride quickly reminded me that our house keys were on that set of keys, along with her nice leather key FOB that we had purchased during a trip to Italy…

Please recall that in prior blogs I have advised you to first outline the objective – in this case, recover the keys.

Then, identify the hurdles and find ways to get around them:

·       Hurdle #1 – It was Sunday afternoon, and no elevator company is open on Sunday, so we talked with the Hotel Manager and were advised that the maintenance man might be helpful.

·       Hurdle #2 – The maintenance man was off until Tuesday… Our solution was to talk with him ASAP Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, he had car problems and came in later than usual. Eventually, he was unable to assist us…

·       Hurdle #3 – While constantly checking with the Manager each day, no one had any suggestions or results for us. Remember – Stay the Course!

·       Hurdle #4 – We asked the Manager Wednesday morning if she had heard back from the elevator company. She claimed she had never said she would call the elevator company, but “Let me check with them today.” Sheesh…

·       Hurdle #5 – We needed to head to Florida for the contest I was supposed to judge. Our departure was scheduled for Thursday morning…

·       Hurdle #6 – In response to our request, the Manager said getting the elevator company to come out and recover the keys from the elevator shaft may cost up to $300. Ouch! However, we reasoned, it might cost that much to duplicate our car key and change the door locks on our house.

·       Hurdle #7 – Always the waiting! We set out and took care of other business that was necessary that day. We felt we had initiated the necessary steps to reach a successful outcome.

Lo and behold. When we returned to our hotel on Wednesday evening around 6 pm, the keys were in an envelope at the front desk with no charge from the elevator company. Wow!

What was the key to our success? Perseverance. Even when we had doubts, we stayed on the task at hand, and kindness & success eventually prevailed. The same holds true for you and your business endeavors. Stay focused. Stay engaged with your goal, and you will get there!

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

What Ever Happened to Cost Control?

Peter Drucker once stated, “In cost control, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This has never been more true than it is today.

Since the joyous period of Covid and the intense & the extensive damage that it inflicted upon us, costs for many businesses have simply been out of control. How could this have happened?

Well, I would suggest that the damage stemmed from well-intentioned interventions. It suddenly came into vogue for our government to throw money at the challenge to keep our economy going. Initially, this helped as businesses struggled to keep their doors open (or add a drive through window…).

Unfortunately, their last $10 Trillion infusion pushed us over the edge, financially. The result was severe levels of inflation. While we have now been able to get this under control, as the saying goes, “the damage is already done.” Typically, once the price of various items goes up, they tend to not come back down. Who pays for this?

The end user or consumer, and it becomes a difficult cycle to manage. While you may already have solid cost controls in place within your business, we cannot afford to take our eyes off the goal.

Drucker cited a pharmaceutical company which, during a highly inflationary period from 1965-1995, grew almost eightfold, adjusted for inflation. They simultaneously held their cost increases to a fixed percentage of their increase in revenues. They controlled their costs by limiting the rise in costs to 6% for every 10% increase in revenues. After several years, they also strove to make sure that their costs went down in the same proportion as their sales decreased in any down periods.

Not to oversimplify this process, but begin by asking yourself the following question: “If my sales were to decrease by 10% this year, where can I decrease my costs to offset this, without impacting the productivity of my operation?”

It is only a start, but it can be the beginning point for vastly improved profits. If you need assistance with this process, please let me know.

“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.”

                                                            Stephen Covey

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

Where Have All the Lenders Gone?

We have been facing a tough business environment these past four years. We have seen ridiculous inflation as a direct result of the enormous “spending packages” during the post Covid period. This inflation, in turn, led the Federal Reserve Board to increase interest rates by 5% over a two-year period.

This was the foundation of their efforts to rein in inflation, but, as usual, “they were late to the game” and now appear to have over-corrected in their actions. They have suggested that we are “almost there” on controlling inflation, but the pain seems to be spreading throughout the entire economy.

I’m not seeing prices of most inputs drop, even though they may be rising at a slightly slower pace. In this scenario, I have noticed that the process of acquiring new financing or even completing annual renewals for Clients has taken extremely long, in comparison to the past. I wonder why…

We have more information available to us on all businesses than we have ever had. There is nothing hidden, especially with the power of the internet and more recently the advent of Ai and all its opportunities.

With all the information we have at our disposal, what could be the hold-up on loans? Is it information overload on the part of Loan Officers? Is it extreme top-down management at banks, where no one has any authority to approve loans. Anytime there is a committee involved, it seems like the approval process grows exponentially. Could it be the “fear of making a mistake?” Consider the following:

“Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.”
Winston Churchill

I recently had a Client for whom I was seeking refinancing. Their approval took over a year. They have excellent equities, solid inventories, have been profitable in three of the last 4 years but were caught in the tumult of a bank buyout where their lender got absorbed by another lender. It was challenging, and, at times, I felt like I was leading the new loan officer through a finance course. I can assure you that it was taxing.

To avoid this, I suggest you always have the following information available, and this is something I helped this Client to develop:

  • CPA Prepared Financial Statements
  • Inventory Reports
  • An updated Cash Flow Budget
  • Responses to FAQs of bankers, regarding management decisions & plans.

What is the Next Step for you? Is it time to “Reset?” In my next blog, I will address that process.

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

Is It Time to Go?

I recently had a conversation with a good friend of mine about having him start a new business. Of course, he was concerned about numerous items – recent events with Ai, continued concerns about inflation and high interest rates.

I suggested that he focus on what he wanted to achieve with his customers and, as the saying goes, not “let the smoke get in your eyes.” While the recent concerns about Ai are relevant, I cannot let that stop me from moving forward with my life and neither can you. In fact, the advent of Ai will likely assist many businesses to streamline their operations and become more efficient. Recent Ai events were probably a “wake up call” for the U.S. tech industry…

Now, regarding inflation and its effect on the Federal Reserve Board raising interest rates to slow down our economy, we have had inflation for a long time. Why do you think the “purchasing power” of the U.S. dollar has decreased so much over the last 50 years?

Instead of worrying about the impact of these forces, I suggested that he spend more time focusing on what he wanted to do for customers. Additionally, consider what he needed to get started. Let’s consider these outside forces and then focus on the positives of what he could offer.

In the book “Start Up Nation” authors Dan Senor and Saul Singer state that “Without start-ups, the average annual net employment growth rate (1980-2005) would actually have been negative. Economist Carl Schramm, president of the Kauffman Foundation, which analyzes entrepreneurial economics, told us that ‘for the United States to survive and continue its economic leadership in the world, we must see entrepreneurship as our central comparative advantage. Nothing else can give us the necessary leverage.’”

So, after shifting my friend’s focus, I suggested he consider the following. If he knew that he could not fail, what would he do? Once identified, that is where he is most likely to succeed.

What is the Next Step for you? Please let me know if I can help you. You can reach me at john@success-strategies.com, and consider the following advice:

“The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why.”

Anonymous

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

What is Your Mission This Year?

As we begin a new year, I believe it is crucial that we identify what our primary objectives are for the coming 12 months. I understand that the challenges of inflation, higher interest rates and general over-regulation of most industries today have helped to create a sense of malaise.

However, in the words of Greco-Roman Philosopher Epictetus:

“The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.”

In other words, focusing on these items can create a sense of helplessness. This is a myth. You have more control over your outcomes than you give yourself credit for. While all of these variables can impact your results to some extent, you have the ability to boost your outcome.

You can control your results, and it helps to have a plan. Can you control every step? Of course not, but once you have set your objective, decide what your first step will be.

And isn’t this a great time of year to start outlining your objectives for the year?

Along with your first step, identify the potential challenges you will face and what your response will be to each one. Be sure to get your Team involved as you lay out the plan. Their support will be instrumental to your success.

Then, as you move forward, start to identify each of your next steps and refine your plan accordingly. Ultimately, the combination of your belief and a sound planning process will assist you to “Make It Happen!”

What is the Next Step for you? Please let me know if I can assist you. You can reach me at john@success-strategies.com, and consider the following advice:

“A good plan is like a roadmap: it shows the final destination and usually marks the best way to get there…”

H. Stanley Judd

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

Are You a Visionary Entrepreneur?

What are the qualities of a Visionary Entrepreneur? This was the leading question asked at my most recent Strategic Coach workshop. It is actually an interesting and thought-provoking question.

Some of the answers that participants offered were “the ability to see future opportunities, an ability to plan the future, and using your imagination to think about the future.” These are all great answers. The Oxford Dictionaries describes visionary as “the ability to think or plan the future with imagination or wisdom.”

As we start a new year, what ideas do you have in mind to dramatically improve your current operation? Are there areas in your current operation that should be boosted? If so, what will be required to achieve this level of improvement? Does it require an investment in people, equipment or other items? Start by listing these necessities and then consider their level of payback. Does the required investment make sense for you?

On the other hand, would you be better off designing a completely new vision for the future? In either case, you need to see it, build it and articulate it to your Team and your Lender. Their feedback and support will prove invaluable to you.

As I have stated many times before, being visionary will require you to:

  • Identify what, specifically, you want to achieve.
  • Develop an outline of how you can best accomplish the desired result.
  • Recognize the potential challenges you will face, and yes, there will be some.
  • Formulate your strategy to overcome these challenges.
  • Move forward with the first step and develop a system to track your progress.
  • Adjust your course, as needed.

All of us are visionary, to some extent. The key to your success is developing your ideas, maintaining a system to measure your results and then adjusting your course as new challenges arise.

What is the Next Step for you? Please let me know if I can help you. You can reach me at john@success-strategies.com, and consider the following advice:

“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!

What is the Secret to More Positive Cash Flow?

After eight years in the banking industry and 26 years of consulting on finance & strategy with Success Strategies, Inc., I have concluded that achieving positive cash flows in your business revolves around several key items.

First, I absolutely believe that if you measure it, you will understand your cash flow far better. If you understand it, you can manage to get better control over it. Undoubtedly, if you gain better control over it, you will be positioned to improve it. While this set of principles may sound simple, it can be rather evasive at times. Additionally, you are constantly being faced with changing variables or factors that, sometimes, you were not expecting.

Regardless, all success in this arena begins with measuring your cash flow. We have a software tool for the dairy industry called the Success Strategies Advantage™. It will measure your financial results and provide you with a budget that is based upon your region of the country, i.e., the “Averages” of various Revenue sources & Costs per 100 pounds of milk. In a moment, I will explain what other tasks it can fulfill for you.

Second, you must know your Break-Even levels. In other words, what could you change on your multiple Revenues or Costs, while all other variables remain the same, and still not lose money. This is extremely valuable information to have at your fingertips. Why?

Well, if you are losing money, your Break-Even numbers will tell you what you need to change in order to stop losing money. Another approach would be to ask yourself, “What are potential items I can increase (on the Revenue side) or decrease (on the Expense side) to achieve a Break-Even level and, better yet, start making money!

I have had Client situations where we have literally boosted revenue and/or cut their costs $1.00-2.00/cwt, and the program clearly showed us where they were spending too much money, in comparison to other producers in their region of the country. Would that help your operation to be more profitable? Absolutely! It would in most businesses.

Using the program, you can also run some “What If” scenarios to measure the potential impact of adding more cows in your dairy herd, boosting their production per cow or adding new equipment or automation tools that can lead to lower costs. This knowledge can assist you to make better decisions. If you have a more solid grasp of what you are investing in and the potential impact of that item or variable, you can feel more confident about the choices you are making.

Hopefully this overview has been helpful to you. I would urge you to check out the Success Strategies Advantage™ software at www.success-strategies.com and start a free trial. It’s on our Home Page – just look for the Milk Cans.

What is the Next Step for you? Please let me know if I can help you. You can reach me at john@success-strategies.com, and consider the following advice:

“Success… seems to be connected with action. Successful men keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”

Conrad Hilton, Entrepreneur

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!