10. March 2011 by Noel Guilford.

Let’s face it, if you are in business, it’s for the money plain and simple. While I’m sure that there are some people out there who feel like business is a good hobby they like to engage in, those people are few and far between. So, lets talk about you and your desire to increase your profits, or to have any profit at all. What I’m going to ask that you do is think of profit as something that already exists out there in the market. Guess what? Even at times like these, someone somewhere is making a profit, someone has always made a profit. Why? Because consumers have always consumed something that they wanted or needed. Let’s start with the assumption that you have something people want or need. All you have to do is create a business where the profit is going and collect it.

• Take Inventory of Your Resources

Pop Quiz! If one hundred of your customers were polled what would most of them say they like best about your business? Who are your strongest employees and why? Constantly reflect on the condition of your business as well as the level and condition of your resources. Reading  SWOT ‘Em and using the method is a good way to reveal many of your resources and their condition.

• What’s the Plan?

Where are you going? How are you growing your customer base, your employees, and your operations? If you only plan just to make it through the day then your business will reflect that. Planing your business’s future is one of those things that if you can’t do, or don’t have the time to do can affect the chance of your business being successful long term.

• Business is Your Business

Don’t be surprised by the statement that many business owners have very little training or experience in owning a business. With that, its difficult for them to know what it is that they need to know unless they have a very inquisitive nature. Want to know why your cost of business is going up? One of those reasons could be that the cost of business went up for one of the business’s you interact with. Well what made that happen? It could be the cost of a raw material, taxes, or other factors. Knowing more about how businesses relate to each other helps to anticipate some changes that can impact your business.

• Ride the wave

Choosing not to evolve is a gamble that many good businesses lose everything on. If you look around i’m sure you can see where the profit is going. We are in the Age of Communication where the ability to spread information quickly around the globe can transform a society. The next time you travel along a major highway take a look at the billboards and have a moment of critical thought. Yes, some can change the advertisement digitally! There is a big old tsunami of technology coming and you can get on the boat or drown.

• Make the waves

Sometimes the situation requires a “hail-mary” play. What can you do when riding the wave wont get you noticed? When the competition has had more time to refine their rendition? The only answer at that point is pure innovation. Tap into the pulse of your customer base and give them what they didn’t know they wanted yet. In business when you mix great innovation with outstanding marketing I call that “Profit Bait”.

• Talk to weirdo’s

You know when you go to purchase a game or movie, that one person you regret asking for help because now after the ten minute explanation you are even more confused. That person is a walking Wikipedia, or knows someone who is so talk to them. If you want to know what the new trend, fad, technology, or to brush up on your terminology trust me they know. Use that information to help you anticipate where the profits are going. When you get there just make sure you brought your product or service that is wanted or needed and “voila” like shooting fish in a barrel.

Posted in Creating the Culture, Being the Boss, Saving Money, Making Money | Print | 455 Comments »

6. November 2010 by Noel Guilford.

In the seventh season of Seinfeld, a very memorable character nicknamed the “Soup Nazi” was introduced.  This character was based on a real soup vendor out of New York that I actually had the pleasure of meeting. Notably portrayed as a business owner with a high quality product, and low quality service. For the record, while the low quality service displayed on television may be the product of a little embellishment, the high quality of the product is spot on. I’ve never had shrimp bisque so good but that’s beside the point.

What does this have to do with you and your business? Well, I’ll tell you. On the front lines of many service oriented industries you will find the “Coupon Nazi”. The Coupon Nazi as we will call them here is that front line representative that acts as a warden preventing customers from taking advantage of their company and its policies. They serve to make sure that no eleventh item makes it through any ten items or less isle, that no offer is taken after its expiration date or at the wrong location, and that each and every surcharge, add on, up sale, and hidden fee is applied and accounted for.

As a business owner I’m sure that you agree that policies and procedures are in place for a reason. In many cases this is true with the exception of customer conflict. For example, let’s say that a customer needing to perform vehicle maintenance decides to use an offer sent through the mail for 20% of their total cost. The customer is looking to spend roughly 800 dollars on various repairs and maintenance. The Coupon Nazi notices that the coupon expired several days prior and immediately notifies the customer that the coupon is expired. In some cases the customer is very apologetic and accepting of the policy. For the sake of argument let’s say that the customer is not so understanding and the inflexibility of the Coupon Nazi drives the customer away.  The Coupon Nazi’s victory just cost that business owner an immediate $640 dollars and any residual sales generated from repeat business over the lifetime of that customer. In addition they also have ensured that those sales, immediate and repeat, will go to one of your competitors. Looks like employee of the month material to me (note the sarcasm).

In the previous example it may seem easier to see the effects of our Coupon Nazi because the immediate sale is high. In an instance where the immediate sale is low you may have a higher number of customers who will leave and yet it is more difficult to see the effects because it takes longer for the consequences to add up. Consequently, Coupon Nazi’s are created by the short leashes of upper management. It is possible to identify and deter this behavior but policy change must start from top to bottom. Here are some general rules to go by:

1. If a policy is causing the loss of customers it may be time to evaluate the priority of that policy.
2. Never assume (especially openly to the customer) that customers are attempting to somehow manipulate your policies for their own gain. Is it ever true? Yes. Is it always true? No.
3. Policies should reflect customers buying and shopping habits not conflict with them.
4. Company policy should make your company and its employee’s competitive customer service experts not offensive “customer service napalm”.
5. Empower employees to go the extra mile in the name of customer service without the fear of punishment from management above them.

Simple steps will help grow your business. Ignoring the issue is costing you!  Bulldog Rule #8 - Re-examine your business often.

Posted in Marketing, Customer Service, Creating the Culture, Training, Making Money | Print | 59 Comments »

26. July 2010 by Noel Guilford.

Volume 1: Employee’s

All employers will at some instance experience their fair share of the typical issues when dealing with employees. Undoubtedly some employers’ will have more issues than others. These issues can range from a constant ache to an unmanageable thorn in one’s side. I’m sure that many of you are eagerly nodding in agreement. On that note let me say the white unicorn does exist. Yes, there are employers that presently experience very few issues if any. Rest assured that it is by no coincidence, or random happenstance, but a result of someone’s diligence. For the rest, it’s time to treat the cause of the problem, and not the symptoms.
Any of these sound familiar

High Absenteeism

High Turnover

Low Productivity

Increased Employee Injuries

Customer Dissatisfaction/Retention

Low Employee Referral

Research organizations and corporations have sought to find the correlating factor since the 1980’s. Interestingly, in a report by The Corporate Executive Board in 2003, all paths lead to employee satisfaction and employee commitment. The important thing to understand is what “employee satisfaction and employee commitment” mean to you and your organization. I encourage those readers that are business owners or leaders in business that now need this answer to begin a journal if you do not already do so. Bulldog rule #5 says “Every business is a people business” and the journal will log your progress as you become an employee driven business.

“You don’t even know me!”

Do you? Have your leaders, if you have them, and yourself list each person that they are responsible for managing. Now for each person list those things that do and do not motivate that employee. This should be enough to show most that they have no idea how to help each employee reach their full potential. Have a human resources department, great, but what do you do if you don’t. Creating and using an employee poll and survey to determine the cultural health of your business costs you time and effort and earns loyalty and commitment.

“Managing is managing and leading is leading”

You will get one or the other. A manager is only going to go so far as to make sure that the requirements of their position are met, if that. If you want someone innovative with self initiative and drive, then you want a leader. Expect a manager to direct your workforce and a leader to develop your workforce. Not all cases call for a leader and it’s up to the vision of the business to determine that. To place the responsibility of employee satisfaction and employee commitment into the hands of a manager is a vital mistake for everyone involved.

“You can’t kill weeds with a lawn mower”

Good luck at getting rid of your employee issues by punishing or threatening to punish those that break the rules. My personal favorites are memo postings that are clearly meant to cause compliance through intimidation. If employees possess some sense of investment then anything that brings harm to the business also brings harm to them.
To simplify, connect with your employees find out who they are. Provide collected information to someone that can support that connection. Address issues proactively and preventatively that result in the employee’s desire to integrate themselves because it is mutually beneficial.

Posted in Creating the Culture | Print | 1 Comment »

28. March 2010 by Noel Guilford.

If you ever wanna know what it feels like to be Chicken Little then just spend some time talking with a room full of business owners. Oh, don’t get me wrong, the blame is totally human nature. We struggle with planning what we are going to get when we go to the grocery store, so it’s no wonder how the day to day of a small business owner can consume all reason. This type of “business on the fly” can pass for common place until you realize that the lack of sleep has warped your sense of reality just a little bit.

Those few businesses outside this crazy world seem like an oasis but let me tell you that it was no accident.  You wonder how so and so is still doing so well, or what the big secret is right? Here it is, how to fortify your business.

Quality Product and/or Service

If you have something to sell make sure its worth you selling it, and make sure it’s worth buying. As tempting as it may be to tap the well of the latest fad you will find that well dries up very quickly. Stick with the oldies but goodies, give customers what they want, when they want it and how they like it.

*NOTE* address this area for difficulty with generating leads or traffic into the business 

Build a Reputation of Consistency - Earn consumers trust

Consumers/customers expect, no they “demand” that if they are required to pay a specific cost, that they will receive quality that matches, and most times exceeds their expectation. If  customers are provided with consistency, they will respond with consistency and that goes both ways.

*NOTE* address this area when dealing with the frequency of repeat business 

Customer Service/ Interaction that is remarkable

With any luck your customers are talking about you to someone who is a potential customer. The question is what are they saying as your spokesperson. If your business is strong in this area many customers will forgive your slips in consistency as people spend money at businesses they like. Equally if they are unimpressed or unsatisfied with your personnel and the service they provide, be sure they feel the same about the business and it’s owners.

*NOTE* address this area when dealing with the decline in customer counts/ lost customers

Business Economics with Priorities

I’m assuming that for those in business ownership, server boredom did not drive them to the decision. So with the objective of making a profit in mind let’s get our priorities strait. First in line is paying for the expense of doing business, next is paying your employee’s. Third is paying the business itself, and lastly you get paid. If you are an employee then you get paid a lot sooner. Lastly if there is very little wiggle room due to an enormous overhead you are in a losing battle and need to reformat your business model or call it quits as soon as possible.

*NOTE* address this area when there are problems showing a profit in spite of acceptable numbers in sales and customer counts.

Can you still run a business without building a foundation of these four things? I’m sure its possible. I’m also sure that its possible for a mule to win a horse race, but its not likely that I will see that either.

Posted in Being the Boss | Print | 95 Comments »

10. January 2010 by Noel Guilford.

OK, so now you’ve found your way down that long path to business ownership. First, congratulations! You have done something that many only dream of and even fewer have the courage to pursue that dream. Over that rise, past your opening day, lies a expansive land full of responsibilities and challenges…many of them daily. For those people with enough foresight and vision it gets easier over time. The reality is that most business owners have no experience and often feel lost even after many years of running their first or even second business. If any business owner should find themselves in this position there is no shortage of assistance out there for those that look.

Of all the obstacles faced, nothing compares to how difficult people-management can be, especially in today’s work force.  You can go absolutely mad trying. The most commonly used tactic is to find someone else to deal with it. Sounds easy right, well who is going to manage that person? If anyone needs sound and consistent leadership it’s the middle management. To manage a strong leader takes an even stronger leader. This is all considering that the right person can be found, hired, trained, compensated, and retained. I wont take the time here to discuss the possibility of doing that when there is a more effective and rewarding option available.

Unfortunately the “no wait, right now” society that we have become totally conflicts with the time and effort needed to effectively mentor anyone. Yes I said it! That person with the extensive resume and years of experience didn’t crash land in your lobby.  They were made just like me, just like you. Someone molded and honed the well qualified professional aspirant looking to fill a position in your business. Good thing you found them and they you. If you haven’t yet found a gem of a worker for yourself then make one.

Take the hand of an employee with the determination and drive to excel and push them. Some of my most rewarding experiences has been laboring over the spark of potential and watching it grow. The biggest benefit to hatching your own egg is you get the desired experience necessary to fit your needs and the needs of your business with the added factor of the earned loyalty.

This is the real world and these eggs hatch and sometime move on to bigger and better opportunities. What I will leave you with is this - If a protege of yours needs to grow beyond you and your organization and has the chance to do so consider it the highest compliment to your ability to lead that you will ever receive. So find an employee worth the effort and sit on them.

Posted in Hiring Process, Creating the Culture, Being the Boss, Training | Print | 632 Comments »