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We need your thoughts and experiences on change and achieving your goals

We are looking for input from people like you to answer some questions on how you were able to change something in your life or set out and achieve a goal.   We want to understand how you were able to lose weight, get a promotion, start a new hobby, eat healthier, change a bad habit, start a new positive habit, complete a project, etc…).  We are trying to uncover the underlying factors that help people purposefully changed a behavior or attitude.  This research will be used as input to a model of change that we are developing as well as possible inclusion in a book we are writing on the subject.  In the comment section, please share the following:

1) What did you purposefully set out to change or achieve?

2) What was your motivation that drove you to that do this (was their a specific trigger or was it something that you had focused on for a long time)?

3) What were the key actions that you took to achieve that change or result?

4) Did you change things in your environment to achieve this (i.e., move the treadmill into the bedroom or hang a progress chart on the wall)

5) Did you tell people (or a single person) what you were trying to do?

6) Did you set milestones to your goal?

7) Did you measure your progress against those milestones?

8) What was the hardest part about the process?

9) What was the most important part of your change journey?

10) What tips would you give for someone else who is trying to change this aspect of their life?

Leave your response in the comment section 0r send me an e-mail at kurt@lanterngroup.com   – Thank you!

Top 5 survival tips for small businesses – guest blog by Paul Schoening (2 of 3)

The following is the second of 3 posts from our guest blogger Paul Schoening, President of Plan C.  He is bringing a unique perspective on what it takes for a small business to survive.  In his first post (here) he talked about the difficulty of starting a business based on passion and how that passion is both good and bad.  He discussed how entrepreneurs need to look at building a sustainability plan and not a business plan.  In this blog are his next two tips.  Over the next few weeks, the final post will outline the final two survival tips.  Enjoy!

2.  Show me the money:  When starting a new business, oftentimes entrepreneurs focus on sales revenue or profit figures to assess how they are doing.  I know I did.  In fact, we had record sales in our final quarter as a business and yet we couldn’t make it last.  money

While it is good to be profitable and increase sales – it is absolutely critical to have a positive cash flow!  You need to have enough cash flow to give yourself time to get off the ground and pay your ongoing bills. Fast growth and increased sales are great, but this can create a sense of overconfidence that can skew your decision-making especially with early business success. Conversely, when times are challenging and a business owner is under pressure we can easily make rash decisions fueled by emotion, not logic (i.e., “how the hell am I going to pay for this?”).

One example of cash flow issues was custom cabinet seller M&J Kitchens – who had survived the Great Recession even when its revenue from homeowners and builders dropped by more than half in 2009.  They weathered the storm.  Then, late in 2011, with sales almost 42 percent higher than the prior year, they were unable to pay their bills and owner Drew Davies was forced to shut the  26-year-old company down. What happened?  M&J highlights how important cash flow is.  The issue was a “cash-flow crisis precipitated by his bank and trading partners, who Davies says, abandoned payment agreements that had been in place for decades.”  M&J’s cash inflows were coming in slower and it’s payments still needed to be made. In this instance “M&J had to float their customers—builders, architects, and home remodelers—who had slowed their payments, typically from 30 days to 60 or 90. At the same time, his own suppliers changed agreements that had been in place for decades by cutting credit lines or requiring deposits, which Davies says could tie up between $60,000 and $120,000 per month.”  After more than 25 years of business, the company was forced out of business, not because sales were down, but because it couldn’t cover its cash flow.

Source: Businessweek.com February, 2011

What happened to M&J is not atypical.  It can happen to all of us.  Which is why we need to have cash flow plan.  One way of looking at this to think about how much cash is required to make payroll, pay suppliers, and cover other expenses each month – then figure how many months of cash reserve you will need to have if things don’t go smoothly.  In my case with the bike business, I usually looked out 3 to 4 months.  I should have been looking out 6 to 9 months.  Each business is different – so think hard about what a downturn or change in situation would mean to you.  How fast do your customers pay?  How long can you push out your own payments.

One way to avoid these mistakes is by finding a great accountant or financial consultant and using them to map out a plan for this.  Look at ways you can collect money faster by offering discounts for payments early or requiring a deposit.  See how you can restructure payments on goods and services that you use.  Look at payroll differently – offset high bi-weekly pay by using quarterly or annual bonuses that provide flexibility for you and rewards your employees for great work.  If  you can’t afford to hire an accountant full-time, there are many firms that you can outsource part of the accounting of the business to or hire in for consulting.  The voice of reality (a shrewd accountant) will keep you in check.

3.  Double the time you think it will take:  Time is a resource that is often underestimated when starting a new adventure.  In the passion of developing out this great new idea, we forget about how long things can take.  Particularly the little things.   You can celebrate that you are the President or CEO of your business and be very happy to have the title. But you are also the janitor, the sales person, marketer and customer service rep. You need time to handle all of these responsibilities, take time to do research and to ensure that you are continuing your education and staying on top of the latest trends and facets of the marketplace.

Here are a few examples of some rough time estimates that an entrepreneurial friend put together for me for some of the things that he does that are not part of his core business.

  • Accounts payable: 2 hours per week
  • Accounts receivable: 1 hour per week
  • Payroll: 1 hour per week
  • Social Media Outreach: 3 hours per week
  • Developing marketing campaign: 2 hours per week (varies, but this is an average)
  • HR: 1 hour a week (up to 8 hours a week when issues arise with employees or when hiring)
  • Scheduling: 1 hour per week
  • Responding to sales requests: 1 hour per week
  • Networking: 2-4 hours per week
  • Miscellaneous (IT trouble shooting, equipment purchase/repair, responding to solicitations, etc..): 2 hours per week

This totals up to over a day and a half out of the week for work doesn’t even include business development, sales, or anything that has to do with the work that drives value for his customers (granted, he could probably reduce his Social Media Outreach – I mean really, 3 hours on Twitter, Linked-In and Facebook?).

One way to overcome this time crunch is to look at outsourcing some of the functions of your business so you can focus on the areas of which you have immediate control and greatest value-add. This might require you to increase your outflow of cash (which can be troublesome – see #2) but if it can allow you the time to focus on the important things for success, then it is worth it.  Another option is to think outside of the “box” and look at creating partnerships and alliance where you can trade services or leverage each others core competencies.

Top 5 survival tips for small businesses – guest blog by Paul Schoening (1 of 3)

The following is the first of 3 posts from our guest blogger Paul Schoening, President of Plan C.  He is bringing a unique perspective on what it takes for a small business to survive.  Over the next few weeks, the remaining posts will outline the other survival tips.  Enjoy!

In today’s climate, it seems like we are seeing more people start their own businesses. Often this first business is based on something that they are passionate about.  That isn’t always a bad idea, but sometimes it can cloud our judgment.

I launched my first startup in 2004 in an industry that was also my passion: Cycling. I assumed if there were enough people like me who were passionate about high-end European bike products, my business would thrive. But just because you like cupcakes, doesn’t mean you will thrive in the cupcake business.

As they say, proof is in the data…

Less than 1 in 3 new companies are still around at the 10 year mark.  The chart below shows the proportion of new businesses that were founded in 1992 that were still in business each year for the next 10 years*.

Source; www.smallbiztrends.comIllusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths that Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live ByApril 28, 2008

*While these data look at the 1992 cohort of new single-establishment businesses, the failure rate percentages are almost identical for all the cohorts that researchers have looked at. So, these are pretty much the one through ten year survival rates of new firms.

For me, my passion skewed my business planning and although we had great success in the first 2 years, the final 2 were difficult, ultimately resulting in my divestiture out of the business.  Technically, we did just about everything right: created a business plan, networked effectively, and continually grew sales.  However, we didn’t focus on a sustainable business model that took into account how we’d overcome changes in the marketplace.  For me, it was a fluctuating (i.e., rising) exchange rate that we couldn’t overcome.   Here are the five, sometimes contrarian thoughts, on small business survival based on what I’ve learned:
1. Don’t build a business plan: Wait a minute — aren’t business plans supposed to be Entrepreneurship 101? What about all those popular books telling you that you can’t get to first base without a plan? Not always. To survive, you definitely need to understand the market. You need to know who your competition is, what are the products/services available in the marketplace, who are your potential customers and what is your differentiating value proposition.  But that doesn’t mean you have to create a business plan to achieve that.

One question in a 2002 survey of Inc 500 founders asked whether they had written formal business plans before they launched their companies. Only 40% said yes. Of those, 65% said they had strayed significantly from their original conception, adapting their plans as they went along.  That means that less than 15% built a business plan that they followed.   In a similar vein, only 12% of this year’s Inc 500 group said they’d done formal market research before starting their companies.

Source: Inc. Oct 15, 2002

More important than a “business plan”, you need a sustainable business model that ebbs and flows with your success and growth.  Something that allows you to quickly adapt to new opportunities or threats (i.e., rising exchange rates).

Neither Bill Gates nor Mark Zuckerberg had business plans. They did however create sustainable models for continued growth and survival.  To do this, you must understand what drives your business, your profits and your sales – and understanding what the potential hazards are.   You can help achieve this by forming a small advisory group who meet regularly to bring a “non-passionate” perspective to the table.   These people can provide you with a sounding board so you don’t get stuck in a quagmire because you are only looking at things from your “passion” base.

It is important that this group of advisors has people on it who are willing to be contrarian and point out flows in reasoning and judgment.  The group needs people who are willing to challenge your opinion and assumptions.  It is also nice to have advisors who can advise you in areas where you are not as strong or familiar (i.e., finance or marketing).   Finally, the group needs people who will also bring in ideas and create synergies with other ideas.

Focus on getting the right mix of advisors to take on these roles.  Sometimes that means a bunch of people – other times many roles can be filled by just a few or even just one.  Make sure that you set up regular check-ins with these people.  It doesn’t have to be formal – you can get together with one or two over lunch every month or quarter.  You can go to a basketball game with them.  But make sure that it happens more than just by happenstance.

Confusing your hobby and passion with a good business model is a common mistake. With my “Cycle Import” company I soon learned that it’s not always passion that creates success, but a flexible business model that is sustainable beyond the terminal 3-5 year window.   I could have used a few trusted advisors to help me look out at that time horizon before it was too late.

Comment:

Please let us know what you think by leaving a comment.  Our next blog posting will be up first part of next week…part II.

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