Business Bulldog

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Jan
31

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Embrace Your Fears

Category: Being the Boss, Creating the Culture, Customer Service, Making Money, Training 1 Comment

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There are many motivating factors that have been thrown your way last year.  The economy is one of the big ones.  Whether or not your customers can keep buying from you made a huge impact on your business.  The fear of the unknown is what held you back or moved you forward with the hope of getting ahead of your competition.  Fear is a process, not just an emotion.  When you learn to use it to your advantage, you will find more success in business and in your personal life.

Readers of this blog know that we have a specific philosophy that we follow to grow businesses.  Having the right mindset to make changes happen is the key to all growth.  Knowing that fearful situations is one thing that most people run from, we are going to make using fear an advantage and create small wins.

Let’s start with what scares you.  Speaking in front of a crowd is still one of the top three fears in the world.  When you are forced to speak to a large group of people, do you seize up or do you use the anxiety to give more energy to your speech?  My bet is that most of you are using that energy to drive your words to connect with your audience.  That anxiety, that fear of failure in front of a group of peers is a driving force.  When you finish speaking and sit down you have a small win.  The event happened, you did well, and now you can reap the rewards of having lead the conversation.

Now, let’s move from one fear to another.  When you have to open your business for the day, do you have any idea how many customers you will have spend money with you?  Of course not.  There is a fear inside that no one will show up and you will be stuck with rent to pay, payroll to cover, and have stock sitting on shelves getting dusty.  Do you open for business anyway?  Yes you do.  Small Win!  Too simple?  Not for all the people who give up on their business and walk away.  It happens every day.

I mentioned earlier that embracing fear is a process.  Let’s start on that now that you know you handle fear every day and survive.

Step One:  Know what scares you

I have spent time with some of the most powerful people in business.  They know everything about themselves and use their strengths to keep their power in business.  They also know what they are not good at or just dislike.  They would never call it fear, but that is what it is.  Donald Trump is a prime example of a guy who is terrified of not having millions and millions of dollars.  Take the money away and he is a pushy guy with bad hair.  The fear of being without money is what gives him the drive to make money.  What scares you?  Have you thought about it or do you just walk through your day without knowing what motivates you?

Step Two:  Surround yourself with successful people

You have to look at the fact that you are not the big man on campus when you are surrounded with great people.  Especially if you hire them to help you be successful.   I recommend you hire as many successful people as you can.  There is power source that comes from pushing past the fear of coming in second place to someone who works for you.  Remember, they work for you.  You pay these outstanding people and have seen something in you that makes them want to help you be better.  It isn’t just a compliment, it’s a reward to be around great people.  How many businesses fail because the leader won’t hire someone who could push them out of a job?  It happens at every company.  Fear holds people back.

Step Three:   Be clear on your vision

Remember, we hate mission statements here at Business Bulldog but, we love vision statements.  Visions statements tell the story of why you want to be successful.  It draws a map of how you are going to get to your goals and paints a picture of what it will look like when you are there.  How many bosses did this for you since you started working?  Would it have taken a lot fear out of the job you were doing if you have a clear picture of how you fit in?  Of course it would have and you would be the biggest fan of the company and that boss if he had.  OK, so what are you going to do?  Take the time to sit and think things through.  Don’t just make a list of needed items and people for a project, goal, etc.  Maps, timelines, and stories go hand-in-hand.  It makes you have to think about how to explain why you want something rather than just dictating that it gets done.

When you start getting worried about things this year, start thinking about how you can use that fear and why you have it in the first place.  Fear isn’t a bad thing, not facing your fear is.

Jan
2

By

Welcome to 2012!

Category: Creating the Culture Leave a Comment

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I have always been the guy to look around the next corner to see what new things are coming.  This new year is no different.  There will always be new technology and new trends to check out.  There will be tough times and times when things go perfectly.  I am interested in all of it and you should be too.  It’s the looking that matters most.

My Dad had a saying that I mentioned in a prior article.  He said, “You will always find what you are looking for.  The trick is to keep looking.”  That is all the wisdom you need as you start the long road from January to December.  The more you stay focused on the right things in your life, the better a life you will have by the time 2013 rolls around.

What is it that you want?

Do you want money?  Money is not that hard to find.  Sell something, get another job, or offer your services for a fee.  I didn’t say it would be a lot of money, but it is there for the taking when you do the right things to get it.  On that note, are you doing the right things to earn your money?  If it all comes from one place, you are probably doing it wrong.  If every financial planner says to diversify your long-term income, then why are you not doing the same with your monthly income?  I am not saying drop what you are doing to find something else.  What I am saying is that this is a new year and there are new lines of products for you to sell, new ways to get to new customers, and new people to help you bring in more profits.  Are you ready to look?

Do you want a bigger business?  How big?  What does a bigger business look like?  Is it adding more outlets or is it expanding the location you already have?  If you can’t paint the picture clearly, you can’t find it.  If it is more outlets, there are plenty of spaces open to rent to add another store.  If it is online, adding a new webpage or buying another site name is as cheap as it will ever be.  If you want to expand what you already have, you need to look at the use of the space.  What are you paying to grow versus how much more will you earn by growing.  In a brick and mortar business it is easier to see the usage.  How many more square feet are you adding and how much more can you sell per square foot?  Focus on the cost when you focus on growing a bigger business.  It has to be worth the cost.

Do you want to lower costs?  Look at your P&L Statements.  There are as many people who do not keep up with their profits and losses as there are people who dig through them like they are searching for buried treasure.  What are your biggest costs?  Payroll and all the costs associated with hiring others is one of the biggest and most controllable costs on that statement.  If you are going to focus on lowering costs, you have to start with the cost of being a boss.  After that, you have rent that can be renegotiated and utilities that can be curbed.  There is some money to be saved in those monthly statements.  Are you going to look?

Do you want more customers?  They are there waiting to be invited.  What is your message?  Does it look inviting to someone just learning about your business or are you focused on existing customers and leaving the rest to chance?  If your advertising doesn’t educate, inform, and invite, then you need to make changes.  Also, brick and mortar friends, go outside.  If you have more than one message plastered to the front window of your store, you need to start scraping until you do.  Also, if any advertising has been up for more than one year, it needs to come down.  Focus the way a customer would and you will get more customers.

Finally, do you want a better you?  That better person is there to look back at you in the mirror.  What will you change in 2012 to make yourself smarter, healthier, and more productive?  Like I started with, there is new technology and trends to check out.  Get organized with your efforts.  Your time is your most valuable asset.  What you do with that time is what makes it priceless.  Start by looking at how you are spending your time each day.  Log it into a journal.  Once you have the time wasters listed, you will see where you can cut out the things that don’t help you and start using that time to get a better you.

As for me, this year my goal is to publish my first book.  It is something I have been writing and re-writing for years.  It is time to get it out there.  That is the success I am looking for this year.  

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