Tag Archive for: Future Strategy

What’s Your QTR?

Last week, I heard a new term, or at least it was new to me… QTR or Quality Time Remaining.

Of course, I have heard of Quantity Time Remaining. If you are 50 years old and plan to live until you are 80, your Quantity of Time Remaining would be about 30 years.

So, what is this term Quality Time Remaining? It is not only how much time you have left, but it is also what can you offer? How much time do I have left to contribute positive output that can impact others for the better?

I was talking with a prospect last week, and he said that, for the first time, he was being asked to provide his bank with an Annual Budget. I did not consider this an unreasonable request, but after 50 years with the same lender, the prospect was slightly offended. The loan officer’s quantity of time was 30-40 years (before he retired), but his Quality of Time was currently low on this measurement. He was new to this role and did not know how to create a budget with the customer. I’m not sure how he will interpret it when he receives a new one… Nonetheless, never having generated one before, the borrower did not know how to complete the process either.

Ultimately, it created an opportunity for me to build a budget for them. While the borrower “reacted” to the situation, I wanted to take a different approach. Have you noticed that “reactive” and “creative” contain the same letters? If I view this as an opportunity to be creative, the entire process will go much more smoothly.

My suggestion for you? Boost the amount of times when you can be creative and minimize the times when you are reactive. Life will be far better, and you will boost your QTR as well! Stay focused, and you will be prepared for whatever arrives, instead of wondering what just happened.

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, MAKE THEM.”

                                                George Barnard Shaw

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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!

 

Were They Planning to Fail?

Recently, I visited a business prospect who suggested that, frankly, he did not know how they arrived in the challenging situation they were currently facing. After looking at their situation, I made two quick suggestions that may yield an additional $100,000 of profit.

Their situation reminded me of the cartoon with the two cowboys leaning on a fence and a starving cow standing next to them. They said, “Gee, just don’t know what happened, but she just suddenly took a turn for the worse…” The reality is the cow had been starving for weeks. They just hadn’t been paying attention…

This is all too common in business today, and the resulting downturn for some is coming faster than ever. While we cannot control the impact of variables like COVID, inflation, higher interest rates or tariffs, we can structure our business operations to build some “cushion” for these types of impactful events.

We know these various challenges will arise at times, sometimes when we least expect them. With this in mind, let’s develop a plan to overcome them. Remember, tough times don’t last; tough people do!

What can you do? First, develop a plan for what you want to achieve, or as Stephen Covey often stated, “Begin with the end in mind.” What are the obstacles you will potentially face, and how can you mitigate these? Set dates for the steps you will need to take and determine who will be implementing these tasks. Otherwise, you could end up like the four people: Everybody, Anybody, Somebody, and Nobody.

Everybody agreed that a task was essential. Anybody could have implemented the next step. Somebody should have taken charge, but, in the end, Nobody did. The result? They were “painted into a corner” with no way out…

Don’t get caught in this trap. Develop a plan, monitor its implementation closely and adjust it when necessary. Stay the course, and you will be “Ready for the Big Dance” when good times arrive, instead of sitting on the sidelines, wishing you had made some changes.

“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!

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!

Is It Time to Reset?

I recently finished reading a new book by Dan Heath entitled Reset.  It is an excellent book, and I would highly recommend it. The book contains a tremendous amount of change management and outlines methods we can use to make huge improvements in our processes.

One area where I hear the most complaints from Clients is “Labor Challenges.” Heath points out that “there is no emergency, only choices.” The key to making improvements on labor or any other issue, he suggests, is to identify “Leverage Points & Restack Resources.”

In one business, for example, the management team was having difficulty with employee motivation. As a result, they shared a questionnaire with employees that asked four questions that they could answer anonymously:

·       What makes a good workday for you?

·       What makes you proud to work here?

·       When we are at our best, what does that look like?

·       What are any impediments to your performance?

Then, in response, the same management team addressed these issues quickly, especially the small ones. For example, the coffee machine did not always work properly. It was relatively low cost and got replaced right away. They leveraged this item (at a reasonably low cost, too).

Additionally, they put three clear, plastic boxes at the place where their employees exited at the end of their workday. One box had orange ping pong balls, one had white ping pong balls, and the third one was empty. As they left work, the employees were asked to put orange ping pong balls into the empty box if they had experienced a difficult or unreasonably challenging day with conditions that needed to improve. If their day was solid, they were requested to place a white ping pong ball into the empty box, likewise giving management some immediate feedback on the day.

If you think about it, this process was very practical and provides a good example of participative management by asking the employees: “What matters to you?” It identified leverage points that were important to the crew and allowed management to “restack resources,” often at very low cost, to create a better outcome.

Give this some consideration in your operation, and if I can assist you with this, please let me know.

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”

Zig Ziglar

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 Does Your Future Hold?

Whenever you stay in business for a long time, the day will arrive when you must consider, for many potentially different reasons, whether you wish to stay in the business or leave.

Many agricultural producers are in this situation today. It could be due to their advancing age, a recent lack of profitability, health concerns, high interest rates or a combination of these variables. The lack of available credit from banks is also putting pressure on producers, as most lenders continue to seek the perfect business to lend money to.

If you are faced with this situation, here is what you should do. Literally, get away and THINK. Your next step is a big decision, so you want to make sure you make a wise, well-informed choice. Despite what your first boss told you when you were 15 years old, it really is not a crime to get away and think…

Consider what you would do: 1.) If money was not a limiting factor. 2.) If you could operate your “dream business.” 3.) If you had all the financing and Family support you desired. Then consider if you possess the health, stamina and desire to move forward with your plan. Saying “Yes” or saying “No” are both acceptable answers. Just be certain that saying “No” isn’t just because you were scared to do so.

In the movie “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” the main character was hesitant to enter a car race, and his driving coach stated: “There is no shame in competing and then losing the race. There is only shame in not entering the race because you were afraid you might lose.” That is excellent advice for all of us.

One final point in considering whether you should stay in your current operation is to look at the tax implications with your Accountant or Tax Adviser. Please do not execute your plan without considering the tax implications, especially if you decide to completely exit your industry. Is it better to go now or after December 31st?

Once you know these implications, you can refine your plan for success. Additionally, if you continue your business, consider this thought. If you knew you could not fail, what is the next action you would take? Recognize that there will be obstacles. That’s why so few people run their own businesses. Overcoming hurdles is not something they want to deal with.

Be sure to set some deadlines for action and move forward. Today is an excellent time to establish your plan for the new year!

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:

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

Winston Churchill

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!