Entrepreneur to Enterprise

Talk To Your Sales People - How To Get Started

2012-01-23T13:30:00.000-05:00

This is the time of year when Revenue Projections have been completed and your sales staff is turned loose to reach those stretch goals.

The following is a great approach to start dialogue and connect with staff, support them and keep them focused on the right things to Make Sales Happen!

Ask them what they would like to talk about that would have the highest impact on their

Paycheck
Performance This Year
Career

As they are considering what they want to talk about, ask "them" to keep the following THREE C's in mind:

Concentrate in Silence - Disciplined Thinking
Choice - from all the options ... what will and won't they do.
Commitment .... what will they publicly commit to .... affirmation

Listen for how you can support their success......listen for obstacles before them that they will need your help with. Help them be successful and new revenue projections won't feel like such a stretch!!

Transition Leadership - Align Expectations

2012-01-20T17:42:00.001-05:00

Excerpt from Your Next Move by Michael D. Watkins

The following 5 Areas of Conversation that transitioning leaders should have with their bosses along with guiding questions that can help both sides come to some agreement about organizational-change challenge the new leader has been brought in to tackle.

The Style Conversation

How can we best work together?
How do you prefer me to communicate with you?
What level of detail do you want concerning my organization or unit and the issues I'm confronting?
How do you prefer to make decisions?

The Situation Conversation

How do you see the STARS situation in my organization as a whole? In important subcomponents? (STARS is an acronym for 5 common situations leaders may find themselves moving into .... Startup, Turnaround, Accelerated Growth, Realignment - drifting into difficulty, Sustaining Success - successful but confronting maturity).
On what do you base these assessments?
What's your level of certainty?

The Expectations Conversation

What am I expected to accomplish, and in what time frame?
What would constitute "early wins" for you?
What outcomes do I most need to avoid?

The Resources Conversation

What financial and other resources are available to me?
What scope do I have to make changes in my team?
To what extent will you visibly support me in making the case for change?

The Course Adjustment Conversation - this typically should begin not later than the ninety-day mark

How are things going so far?
What am I doing well?
Do you have areas of concern?

Take on a Partner or Go It on Your Own?

2011-12-28T17:54:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from Effortless Entrepreneur by Nick Friedman & Omar Soliman

Should You Take On a Partner?

When you consider taking on a partner, ask yourself, "Can I do it on my own?" Have a clear picture of where you want to take your business, how you'll get there and how quickly you need to arrive. If you can realize that picture by simply hiring people to help, it may be okay to ride solo. However, you need to consider all aspects of doing it alone, including the pitfalls of having only employees with no vested interest in the company's success.

Ask yourself, "Even if I can do it myself, do I want to?" There is both an emotional and a practical aspect to consider. They often aren't aligned. The emotional one requires you to look inside to determine what's really important. Even if you achieve greatness by yourself, would you like to share the triumphs with a teammate who has a similar vested interest. Emotionally you may choose a friend or relative, since it feels comfortable. But if that person's values, vision and culture aren't aligned with yours from a business perspective, any adversity could cause a huge rift, both business and personal.

On the practical side, even if you can do it on your own, would you prefer not having to do 100 percent of the work? Some people don't mind sharing a portion of the company to keep from doing it all. The question then becomes, "How much do I share and do I know what this person will contribute?" When you identify your strengths, weaknesses, and unique abilities, try to partner with someone who can balance your weaknesses and share the load evenly.

Before you agree to work with a partner, ask yourself these questions and think hard about your answers:

Can I share the spotlight or be under a microscope?
Am I willing to share the decision-making power?
Am I able to lead by myself?
Am I willing to respect the boundaries and needs of someone with ownership in the company?
Am I willing to take a minority stake in the company or do I need a majority?
What are my strengths? What do I not like to do?
What are my ultimate goals for this business?
Am I able to bear the entire weight of the business on my shoulders?

Any venture you embark on involves risk from unknown variables that come with a new business. Adding a partner increases those unknown risks. A person can get lazy and not uphold his end. Neither of you is wholly accountable for what could go wrong, so partnering creates a false sense of security that you don't have when you start solo. If you and your partner don't work as hard as possible together to launch the business, it can fizzle and die. Unless who is accountable for what is spelled out in your partnership agreement, there is no captain to steer the ship of the business. Fingers pointed at each other do no good. You and your partner must both be fully committed and ready to do whatever it takes to succeed.

Don't jump into bed with the first person who gets excited about your business plan or who has cash to invest. Spend time together to assess the kind of personality you'd be working with. Does anything annoy you? If so, will it only get worse under pressure? Make sure it's someone who can be a team player and complement what you bring to the company. Check references. Ask why this person wants to be your partner. The wrong partner can sink your dream fast. The right one can create a harmonious team, making the game much more enjoyable, rewarding and productive.

Systemize Your Business for the Long Haul

2011-12-28T17:09:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from Effortless Entrepreneur by Nick Friedman & Omar Soliman

Use a Franchise Model Even if You Don't Franchise!

Following a franchise model is an essential step for every business owner, whether you plan to franchise your business or not. The best way for any entrepreneur to make the final jump from working IN the business to working ON it is to organize it and set up systems as if you plan to franchise it.

This doesn't mean you will franchise your business. Franchising is great for some businesses but doesn't make sense for many others. Either way, going through the process of making it franchisable is the best way to create systems that allow you to step outside the day-to-day operations of your business and deal with issues you'd rather focus on, without affecting productivity or profitability.

Having systems in place increases the value of your business and enables you to be replaceable, which adds to the appeal if you choose to sell it down the road.

Building systems for your business builds the value of your business!!

Execution - The Discipline of Getting Things Done

2011-12-10T12:13:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from Execution-The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan

Organization's don't execute unless the right people, individually & collectively, focus on the right details at the right time. For any leader, moving from the concept to the critical details is a long journey. You have to review a wide array of facts and ideas, permutations and combinations of which can approach infinity. You have to discuss what risks to take and where. You have to thread through these details, selecting those that count. You have to assign them to the people who matter, and make sure which key ones must synchronize their work.

Such decision making requires knowledge of the business and the external environment. It requires the ability to make fine judgements about people --- their capabilities, their reliability, their strengths and their weaknesses. It requires intense focus and incisive thinking. It requires superb skills in conducting candid, realistic dialogue.

Every great leader has had an instinct for execution. he or she has said, in effect, "Unless I can make this plan happen, it's not going to matter." But the selection, training and development of leaders doesn't focus on this reality. A high proportion of those who actually rise to the top of a business organization have made their mark --- their personal "brand" ---- as high-level thinkers. They are the kind of people who get caught up in the intellectual excitement of each new big idea that comes out and adopt it with enthusiasm. They are articulate conceptualizers, very good at grasping strategies and explaining them. This, they know, is what it takes to get ahead. They aren't interested in the "how" of getting things done; that's for somebody else to think about.

Judging a person's intelligence is easy for people who hire and promote others: it's harder to research a person's track record and gauge their know-how about getting things done, particularly when the performance is the result of many people working together. But the intelligent, articulate conceptualizers don't necessarily understand how to execute. Many don't realize what needs to be done to convert a vision into specific tasks, because their high level thinking is too broad. They don't follow through and get things done; the details bore them. They don't crystalize thought or anticipate roadblocks. They don't know how to pick people for their organizations who can execute. Their lack of engagement deprives them of the sound judgement about people that comes only through practice.

Leadership without the discipline of execution is incomplete and ineffective. Without the ability to execute, all other attributes of leadership become hollow.

Money - The Easy Scapegoat

2011-12-02T11:55:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from Marketing Outrageously by Jon Spoelstra

Does this sound familiar? "We don't have the budget to be the best." Or "We don't have the budget to dramatically improve our market share." Or " We don't have the money to increase our revenues by staggering amounts."

Money. The reason for not becoming the best company in the industry is always related to money. It's Never. "We don't think big enough." It's Never "We don't have enough moxie." It's Never "We don't have enough good ideas."

When I ask businesspeople the "What's it gonna take?" question and get the Money answer, I always ask, "How much money would you need to become the best?" The answer is usually a little vague. They've never really thought about it; they're usually focused on making their budget goals or improving a little bit. But they're also a little afraid.

What if they did have enough money to become the best, and they still didn't make it? It's safer to be mediocre.

Often it is NOT about MONEY .... don't let money be the scapegoat!

Pricing: A Lesson from Picasso

2011-11-30T12:25:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith

In many services ... overnight delivery, dry cleaning, fast foods ... the "product" of the service has become a commodity, and commodity pricing rules prevail: To the low-priced go the spoils.

But in millions of other services, pricing is a not-so-simple matter of "What Will the Market Bear?"

A lot it often seems. A friend marvels at his older brother, who earns a million dollars a year telling companies like Coca-Cola what the future might be. Someone else charges $750 an hour to read, think and occasionally argue cases before the Supreme Court. Film directors, great photographers, top consultants, and many others charge enough to buy Monets.

What is talent and thought worth .... and why is some worth so much? What can you reasonably charge? Good questions. Before you answer them, consider this story about Pablo Picasso:

A woman was strolling along a street in Paris when she spotted Picasso sketching at a sidewalk cafe. Not so thrilled that she could not be slightly presumptuous, the women asked Picasso if he might sketch her, and charge accordingly.

Picasso obliged. In just minutes, there she was: an original Picasso.

"And what do I owe you" she asked.

"Five thousand francs," he answered.

"But it only took you three minutes," she politely reminded him.

"No," Picasso said. " It took me my whole life."

Don't charge by the hour: Charge by the years.

The Most Compelling Selling Message

2011-11-30T12:03:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from Selling The Invisible by Harry Beckwith

What Sells?

The most compelling selling message you can deliver in any medium is NOT that you have something wonderful to sell.

It is: "I understand what you need."

The selling message "I have" is about you. The message "I understand" is about the only person involved in the sale who really matters: the buyer.

Find out what they want.
Find out what they need.
Find out who they are.
It will take extra time, but it can make the sale.

Don't sell your service. Sell your prospect.

Why Should I Do Business With You

2011-11-30T11:48:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from Selling The Invisible by Harry Beckwith

Give Me One Good Reason

You want the strongest argument for a single focused message? Ask your prospects.

Your prospects have one basic question: What makes you so different that I should do business with you?

Your prospects are making the classic statement: Give Me One Good Reason Why.

It is a simple request that begs for a simple response. A complex response will just give your prospect another problem to sort out. Your prospect does not want more to think about; your prospect wants less.

An example from retailing shows the importance of a simple message. Go to a good men's store. Ask for a blue-striped oxford shirt. A savvy salesman will show you one nice shirt, which you will probably buy. But if he isn't that smart and shows you three shirts, there is an excellent chance you won't buy any shirt. The salesperson has complicated your decision and confused you with choices. And it is very hard to sell to a confused person.

Meet your market's very first need: Give it one good reason.

The 1st Rule of Marketing Planning

2011-11-30T11:25:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from Selling The Invisible by Harry Beckwith

Unless warned otherwise, the people responsible for marketing a service almost always will take up where they left off the last time they thought about marketing.

Everyone will assume the company is in the right business, basically organized in the right way, and staffed as it should be staffed, give or take a few thorns in everyone's side.

And everyone's focus for marketing for the year immediately will turn to "How do we sell this?"

Instead, everyone should start at ground zero. They should ask. "Is this viable anymore? Is this what the world wants?"

Have we added capabilities or skills that suggest we should enlarge our scope, to serve new markets? Should we develop or acquire related skills and capabilities? Or should we narrow our scope, and leverage these specialized skills and services we are developing to prospects looking for those specialities?

Whatever questions you ask, you should consistently follow the first rule of marketing planning:

Always Start at Zero

A New Role - 6 Mistakes to Avoid

2011-11-21T17:08:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from Harvard Business Review - December 2011

Six Mistakes to Avoid in Your Next Move

Defining success but forgetting to identify the people who will help you get there.
Failing to identify the true questions, problems and roadblocks to be addressed, which may be quite different from what you assumed.
Dominating conversations as you introduce yourself and your plan; if you speak for more than 30% of a meeting, you are hearing but not listening.
Letting perspectives you've heard before you start overly affect your views.
Relying on old power dynamics, which may have shifted with the new role.
Focusing too narrowly rather than incorporating diverse perspectives.

Managing Transition - Essential Steps

2011-11-16T13:22:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from On Leading Change - Insights from The Drucker Foundation's Award-Winning Journal

The details of a transition management plan are unique to each situation, but the following essential steps should be considered in all situations:

Learn to describe change and why it must happen, and do so succinctly -- in one minute or less.

Make sure the details of the change are planned carefully and that someone is responsible for each detail. Ensure timelines for all the changes are established and a communication plan explaining the change is is place.

Understand (with the assistance of others closer to the change) just who is going to have to let go of what .... what is ending and what is not in people's work lives & careers....... and what people (including the leader) should let go of.

Make sure that steps are taken to help people respectfully let go of the past. These may include "boundary" actions (events that demonstrate that change has come), a constant stream of information, and understanding & acceptance of the symptoms of grieving, as well as efforts to protect people's interests while they are giving up the status quo.

Help people through the neutral zone with communication (rather than simple information) that emphasizes connections with and concern for the followers. To keep reiterating the "4 P's" of transition communication:

The Purpose: Why we have to do this.

The Picture: What it will look and feel like when we reach our goal.

The Plan: Step by step, how will we get there.

The Part: What you can (and need to) do to help us move forward.

Create temporary solutions to the temporary problems and the high levels of uncertainty in the neutral zone.

Help people launch the new beginning by articulating the new attitudes and behaviors needed to make the change work ...... and then modeling, providing practice in, and rewarding those behaviors and attitudes.

Key to Entrepreneurial Success - Constant Learning

2011-11-15T09:55:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from Leading at the Speed of Growth - written by Katherine Catlin & Jana Matthews

Entrepreneurial leaders begin with an intuitive leadership style. In the early stages of your company, you ride the Start-up wave, put out fires and make decisions on the fly. In this Start-up phase, your business is still new enough, and generally small enough, for you to manage all its needs on a day-to-day basis and to improvise as needed. You know all the jobs to be done, make all the decisions, work from a plan that is more or less developing in your head as you go along, and make changes as opportunities present themselves.

In other words, you operate in a do-it-yourself mode. You are the Doer and the Decision Maker. But once the company begins to grow past this Start-up stage, you must alter your style from seat-of-the -pants, intuitive leadership to a more deliberate approach: growth by design. Yet as your company reaches new stages of growth and you shift roles, you need to retain the best of your entrepreneurial characteristics and lead with consistent goals. That's one tall order, calling on you to continually accomplish these tasks:

Develop markets, products/services, customers and strategies to win.
Develop internal processes for planning, management and work flow, as well as the infrastructure to sustain expansion and growth.
Develop teams and people to perform the tasks that produce exceptional results.
Develop the cultural environment so that it aligns and motivates those teams and people to work together as effectively as possible.
Finally, and perhaps most difficult, monitor the evolution of your company and change your leadership style to match its current stage of growth.

None of these tasks will be easy. You will face challenging personal transitions. But since the ability to change grows with learning, constant learning is the most critical behavior you need to develop.

Assessing Threats

2011-11-12T13:14:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from Business Model Generation - Written by Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur

As you consider threats specific to your business model, ask yourself these questions as you think about ways to address each threat.

Value Proposition Threats

Are substitute products & services available?
Are competitors threatening to offer better price or value?

Cost/Revenue Threats

Are your margins threatened by competitors? By technology?
Do you depend excessively on one or more Revenue Streams?
Which Revenue Streams are likely to disappear in the future?
Which costs threaten to become unpredictable?
Which costs threaten to grow more quickly than the revenues they support?

Infrastructure Threats

Could you face a disruption in the supply of certain resources?
Is the quality of your resources threatened in any way?
What key activities might be disrupted?
Is the quality of your activities threatened in any way?
Are you in danger of losing any partners?
Might your partners collaborate with any competitors?
Are you too dependent on certain partners?

Customer Interface Threats

Could your market be saturated soon?
Are competitors threatening your market share?
How likely are customers to defect?
How quickly will competition in your market intensify?
Do competitors threaten your channels?
Are your channels in danger of becoming irrelevant to customers?
Are any of your customer relationships in danger of deteriorating?

Assessing Opportunities

2011-11-09T19:27:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur

You can assess the opportunities that may lie within your business model. Here are some questions to help you identify these opportunities.

Value Proposition Opportunities

Could you generate recurring revenues by converting products into services?
Could you better integrate your products or services?
Which additional customer needs could you satisfy?
What complements to or extensions of your value proposition are possible?
What other jobs could you do on behalf of your customer?

Cost/Revenue Opportunities

Can you replace one-time transaction revenues with recurring revenues?
What other elements would customers be willing to pay for?
Do you have cross selling opportunities either internally or with partners?
What other revenue streams could you add or create?
Can you increase prices?
Where can you reduce costs?

Infrastructure Opportunities

Could you use less costly resources to achieve the same results?
Which key resources could be better sourced from partners?
Do you have unused intellectual property of value to others?
Could you standardize some Key Activities?
How could you improve efficiency in general?
Would IT support boost efficiency?
Are there outsourcing opportunities?
Could greater collaboration with partners help you focus on your core business?
Are there cross selling opportunities with partners?
Could partner channels help you better reach customers?
Could partners complement your value proposition?

Customer Interface Opportunities

How can you benefit from a growing market?
Could you serve new customer segments?
Could you better serve your customer segments through finer segmentation?
How could you improve channel efficiency or effectiveness?
Could you integrate your channels better?
Could you find new complementary partner channels?
Could you increase margins by directly serving customers?
Could you better align channels with customer segments?
Is there potential to improve customer follow-up?
How could you tighten your relationships with customers?
Could you improve personalization?
How could you increase switching costs?
Have you identified and "fired" unprofitable customers? If not, why not?
Do you need to automate some relationships?

Qualifications of a Successful Company

2011-08-22T08:22:00.000-04:00

Qualifications of a Successful Company

1. Outstanding Market Leadership Supported By:

a. Product Innovation

b. Quality Products

c. Outstanding Customer Service

i. Pre-order

ii. Pre-delivery

iii. Post delivery

2. Professionalism in Management at All Levels

a. Competence in Strategic Planning

b. Tangible Objectives for All

c. Rewards to Those Who Produce & Make The Difference

d. Honest Communications

e. Climate of Trust

3. Good Measurement Systems For:

a. Product Performance

b. Customer Satisfaction

c. People Performance

4. Cost Improvement – A Way of Life

5. Emphasis On Human Resources

a. Systematic – Careful Recruitment

b. Only The Competent Are Promoted

c. Management By Example

d. Good Corporate Citizen

6. They Have Fun

Characteristics of an Effective Team

2011-08-18T10:26:00.000-04:00

What do you think the characteristics of an effective team are? What would you add or adjust to the following?

An Effective Team ……

Has a clear understanding of its purposes & goals
Is flexible in selecting its procedures as it works toward its goals
Has open communication & understanding among its members
Initiates & carries on an effective decision making process
Maintains a good balance between group productivity & the satisfaction of individual needs
Shares leadership among its members
Has a high degree of cohesiveness
Utilizes its members abilities fully
Is not dominated by its leader or any of its members
Reviews its own processes objectively
Keeps emotional and rational behavior in balance
Has a positive attitude

Defining an Effective Organization

2011-08-18T10:15:00.000-04:00

How do you define an effective organization? Some thoughts for your consideration.

An Effective Organization Is:

A logical arrangement of organization units
Structured to accomplish the overall vision (Goals & Objectives)
Performing as a single entity in the most effective manner
With controlling mechanisms which keep each organization unit working together in harmonious fashion

Controlling Mechanisms

Management Style
Planning & Budgeting Process
Standards/Performance Objectives
Communication Process
Effective Feedback & Evaluation

Defining an Effective Manager

2011-08-18T10:06:00.000-04:00

How do you define an effective manager? Some thoughts to get you thinking!

A strategic thinker with an outward focus.
A flexible, innovative risk taker.
Open to new ideas.
An effective communicator and delegator.
Able to assess data and make decisions quickly.
Able to manage and create change.

Encourage all managers to:

Gain a Global Perspective. Traditional markets are no longer enough. A broader perspective is needed to identify and understand customers and prospects ... at home and abroad.
Let Go. In flatter organizations, managers have to relinquish some authority to staff. This approach actually makes managers more important to the organization. They lose authority based on hierarchical position and create their own authority based on their ability to be effective coaches and mentors.
Adjust to a New Span of Control. Organizations today require managers to have more direct reports and spend more time coaching. To find the time, managers wean themselves from micromanaging subordinates work. With many more direct reports, you can focus only on key issues .... not trivia.
Collaborate Across Functions. Today's management decisions must incorporate many different perspectives. managers need negotiation skills to deal effectively with different parts of their organization and with people over whom they have no authority.
Acquire New Skills. Managers have to learn to achieve strategic goals in a fast moving, ever changing environment. They still have to plan, coordinate, direct, implement and control. Yet they also have to know when control is counterproductive and become more innovative, creative and flexible.

Listen To Your Customers

2011-08-08T10:46:00.000-04:00

Ask your customers the following questions:

When and why did you do business with us the first time? What were the circumstances?
When doing business with us today, what is it about our relationship that you enjoy the best?
To improve our working relationship for the long-term, what would you like to see us improve?
If you were to move business from us to a competitor, what would be your single biggest reason to do so?
In the last 12 months, which individual in our company consistently serviced you?

After gathering this information, what actions should you take?

Adding Leadership - Insider or Outsider?

2011-08-01T13:44:00.000-04:00

Source: A Leader to Leader Guide - On Leading Change, Ram Charan Chapter

Insider or Outsider?

One of the first and most difficult questions in a search for a new senior executive is whether to look inside or outside the organization.

An insider is best when

The organization is on a good trajectory. No radical changes are required in the company's direction, organization or people.

An outsider is best when

The business portfolio requires transformation. An insider, particularly someone from the operating side, is less likely to have the necessary skills in deal making and negotiation.
The company must make a dramatic shift in strategy to adjust to a discontinuity, such as e-commerce. An insider will have a harder time breaking away from business as usual and may lack experience in the new arena.
The organization must adjust to industry consolidation or the convergence of several industries. An insider will have a harder time adopting a highly objective frame of mind. An outsider is more likely to be able to reinvent and reposition the business.
The company lacks credibility with investors. A marquee name may be needed to allay concerns about company performance. An insider would most likely be viewed as a continuation of the previous regime.
The internal workings of the company require wholesale change. An insider, with long-term relationships and psychological bonds, will not have as much freedom to break from the past.
The company must make a major shift, such as going from a domestic to a global business. Experience is key. It is best to look for someone who has led another company through such a shift

Is Your Company a Growth Business?

2011-07-19T19:31:00.000-04:00

Excerpt from Profitable Growth by Ram Charan

Some questions to ask yourself to determine if your company is a growth business ... get yourself ready to get started growing your business tomorrow morning!!!!

What % of time and emotional energy does the management team routinely devote to revenue growth?
Are there just exhortations and talk about growth, or are there actually many meetings and brainstorming sessions about how growth is going to happen? How good is the follow through?
Do managers talk about growth in terms of home runs? Do they understand the importance of singles and doubles for long-term, sustained organic growth?
How much of each management team member's time is devoted to making effective visits with customers? Do they do more than listen and, probe for information and then try to "connect the dots"?
Does the management team come in contact with the final user of your product?
Are people in the business clear about what the specific future sources of revenue growth will be? Do they know who is accountable?
Would you characterize your company or business unit's culture as cost-cutting or growth oriented? If the answer is one or the other, you need to start doing both. Do people in leadership positions have the skill, orientation and determination to grow revenues?
Does the company practice revenue productivity, that is, does it think through whether there are ways to more effectively use current resources to generate higher revenues?
How well and how regularly does your sales force.....and others in the organization.....extract intelligence from customers and other players in the marketplace? How well is this information communicated and acted on by other parts of your organization, such as product development?
How good are the upstream marketing skills....that is, the ability to segment markets and identify consumer attributes..... in your business?
Is the head of marketing in your business an upstream marketing expert?
How good is the relationship and information flow between upstream marketing and product development? Between upstream marketing and R&D?
Do you have an explicit growth budget in your organization's traditional budget document? How well is the growth budget connected with revenue growth and the current fiscal year? Are there funds allocated in the growth budget for medium and long-term revenue growth?
How skilled are the people in your business in creating value propositions for each major customer segment of your business? How effective is your organization in using cross-selling to accelerate growth?
How often and how effectively is information shared simultaneously among people who make decisions about resource trade-offs?
How good is the flow of ideas in your business?
How good is the process of selecting ideas that will be funded as growth projects?
How well defined are the steps of the nurturing process in getting revenue growth projects ready for launch? How effective is the process?

Run through all these questions for yourself ...
As you consider answers ... ask yourself ....
Is your company growing or declining ..... starting tomorrow morning.....
What actions will you take?

Are You a Collaborative Leader?

2011-07-19T18:43:00.000-04:00

Source: Harvard Business Review

Are You a Collaborative Leader?: HBR Idea in Brief

A hyperconnected business world, spurred on by social media and globalization, demands a leadership style that can harness the power of connections. Leaders need to shed the command-and-control and consensus styles in favor of collaborative leadership.

Research shows collaborative leaders who get results do four things well:

	RATHER THAN
Make global connections that help them spot opportunities	Focus on internal connections
Engage diverse talent from everywhere to produce results	Rely on homogeneous teams for new ideas
Collaborate at the top to model expectations	Serve corporate politics and parochial agendas
Show a strong hand to speed decisions and ensure agility	Let groups get mired in conflict or attempts at consensus

Collaboration

2011-07-19T18:31:00.001-04:00

Source: Harvard Business Review

COLLABORATION is the natural by-product of leaders who are

Passionately curious—who crave new insights and suspect that others have them
Modestly confident—who can bounce ideas off brilliant collaborators, without turning it into a competition
Mildly obsessed—who care more about the collective mission than about how achieving it will benefit their personal fortunes … and may be the only leadership mode that produces breakthrough results.

The Age of Hyperspecialization

2011-07-06T12:35:00.000-04:00

Source: Harvard Business Review

As labor becomes more knowledge based and communications technology advances, the division of labor accelerates.

The hyperspecialization of workers may be inevitable given the quality, speed, and cost advantages it offers employers—and the power it gives individuals to devote flexible hours to tasks of their choice. This will force managers to master a new set of skills:

Dividing work into assignable micro tasks
Attracting specialized workers to perform them
Ensuring acceptable quality
Integrating many pieces into whole solutions.

Hyperspecialization also creates new social challenges, such as the possibility of exploitation as work quickly finds the cheapest takers, and the opportunity for deception when workers can’t see the larger purposes to which they are contributing.

New global standards or regulations may be required, while guildlike organizations may address workers’ needs for continuing skill development and a sense of community.

Adaptability - The New Competitive Advantage

2011-07-05T11:55:00.000-04:00

Source - Harvard Business Review

Traditional approaches to strategy assume a relatively stable world. They aim to build an enduring competitive advantage by achieving dominant scale, occupying an attractive niche, or exploiting certain capabilities and resources. But globalization, new technologies and greater transparency have combined to upend the business environment.

Sustainable competitive advantage no longer arises from positioning or resources. Instead, it stems from the four organizational capabilities that foster rapid adaptation:

The ability to read and act on signals of change.
The ability to experiment rapidly and frequently—not only with products and services but also with business models, processes, and strategies.
The ability to manage complex and interconnected systems of multiple stakeholders.
The ability to motivate employees and partners.

Building Trusting Relationships - All About Behavior

2011-07-02T09:25:00.000-04:00

Source: The Speed of Trust by Stephen M. R. Covey

Relationship trust is all about behavior ... consistent behavior. It is about learning how to interact with others in ways that increase trust and avoid interacting in ways that destroy it. There are 13 behaviors common to high-trust people.

Actions .... not words ... clearly demonstrate intentions. Our actions speak so loudly that others cannot hear what we say.

Behavior #1 - Talk Straight
Be honest. Tell the truth. Let people know where you stand. Use simple language. Call things what they are. Demonstrate integrity. Don't manipulate people or distort facts. Don't spin the truth. Don't leave false impressions.

Behavior #2 - Demonstrate Respect
Genuinely care for others. Show you care. Respect the dignity of every person and every role. Treat everyone with respect, especially those who can't do anything for you. Show kindness in the little things. Don't fake caring. Don't attempt to be "efficient" with people.

Behavior #3 - Create Transparency
Tell the truth in a way people can verify. Get real and genuine. Be open and authentic. Err on the side of disclosure. Operate on the premise of "what you see is what you get." Don't have hidden agendas. Don't hide information.

Behavior #4 - Right Wrongs
Make things right when you are wrong. Apologize quickly. Make restitution where possible. Practice "service recoveries." Demonstrate personal humility. Don't cover things up. Don't let pride get in the way of doing the right thing.

Behavior #5 - Show Loyalty
Give credit freely. Acknowledge the contributions of others. Speak about people as if they were present. Represent others who aren't there to speak for themselves. Don't bad-mouth others behind their backs. Don't disclose others' private information.

Behavior #6 - Deliver Results
Establish a track record of results. Get the right things done. Make things happen. Accomplish what you are hired to do. Be on time and within budget. Don't overpromise and underdeliver. Don't make excuses for not delivering.

Behavior #7 - Get Better
Continuously improve. Increase your Capabilities. Be a constant learner. Develop feedback systems - both formal and informal. Act on the feedback you receive. Thank people for feedback. Don't assume today's knowledge and skills will be sufficient for tomorrow's challenges.

Behavior #8 - Confront Reality
Address the tough stuff directly. Acknowledge the unsaid. Lead out courageously in conversation. Remove the "sword from their hands." Don't skirt the real issues. Don't bury your head in the sand.

Behavior #9 - Clarify Expectations
Disclose and reveal expectations. Discuss them. Validate them. Renegotiate them if needed and possible. Don't violate expectations. Don't assume that expectations are cleared or shared.

Behavior #10 - Practice Accountability
Hold yourself accountable. Hold others accountable. Take responsibility for results. Be clear on how you'll communicate how you're doing - and how others are doing. Don't avoid or shirk responsibility. Don't blame others or point fingers when things go wrong.

Behavior #11 - Listen First
Listen before you speak. Understand. Diagnose. Listen with your ears - and your eyes and heart. Find out what the most important behaviors are to the people you're working with. Don't assume you know what matters most to others. Don't presume you have all the answers - or all the questions.

Behavior #12 - Keep Commitments
Say what you're going to do, then do what you say you're going to do. Make commitments carefully and keep them. Make keeping commitments the symbol of your honor. Don't break confidences. Don't attempt to "PR" your way out of a commitment you have broken.

Behavior #13 - Extend Trust
Demonstrate a propensity to trust. Extend trust abundantly to those who have earned your trust. Extend conditionally to those who are earning your trust. Learn how to appropriately extend trust to others based on the situation, risk and credibility (character & competence) of the people involved. But have a propensity to trust. Don't withhold trust because their is risk involved.

Which 3 or 4 behaviors will make the most difference in your relationships? Ask yourself what actions you will take to build more trust!

Innovating On The Cheap

2011-06-16T11:20:00.000-04:00

Source: A Practical Guide to Creating New Products Without Starting from Scratch
Idea Brief from Harvard Business Review article authors Lance A. Bettencourt & Scott L. Bettencourt

Even when money is tight, it’s possible to launch new offerings that excite customers and respond to unserved needs. The trick is to find assets already in hand that can be brought to market with minimal effort and resources.

Managers should look for six kinds of “in hand” innovation:

Innovations that were previously developed but never launched, owing to circumstances that may have changed.

Features of past products that may meet newly critical customer needs.

Existing offerings that should be repositioned, because customers like them for unforeseen reasons.

Elements of bundled offerings that could stand alone.

New combinations of elements, in which the bundled value to customers is greater than the sum of the parts.

Overdesigned offerings that could be pared down for less-demanding customer segments.

Innovation is associated in many minds with bold bets on next-generation solutions. But for marketers with little appetite for high risks and distant paybacks, an innovation in the hand is worth two in the lab.

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Turnaround - The Moment of Truth for Leadership

2011-06-03T12:52:00.000-04:00

Excerpt from Corporate Turnaround by Donald B. Bibeault

A crisis is the moment of truth for many companies. A central question is why some companies face this moment of truth and respond successfully to its challenges while others are doomed to reorganization and eventual bankruptcy. Excuses of uncontrollable external factors can not be accepted in a high percentage of cases. A changing economy, increasing competitive pressures, changing consumer tastes, government legislation and a host of other external challenges are part of doing business and running a company.

Most problems are caused by leadership, but leadership often will not admit its errors. The causes of decline are set in motion long before their outward manifestation. Companies can be declining when the performance record shows they are going up.

The Ostrich Approach
In many cases leadership went about their business unaware of the gathering storm until it was too late. A stagnating or declining company seems to first need a deepened threat or shock to spur it to action. Steadily poor performance, so long as it does not develop a crisis, seems to be tolerated. This seems to occur most frequently in privately held companies. The principle reason for this blindness centers on the top leader's ego. An entrepreneur who developed a market often can't bring himself to withdraw from it.

Often leadership is so close to the problem and so enmeshed in the detail that their overall vision is clouded. They overlook the real problems, as well as opportunities that could have brought success. Even when trouble is brewing, many leaders are so busy doing the things they like to do that there is no time for the things they should be doing.

When a company is not doing well, leadership may refuse to admit it and put forth impressive arguments to justify the poor showing. Dodging the truth can go on for some time. Convincing leadership to take action when there is a general realization a problem exists can be hard.

Reality Arrives
Eventually, a company that is sliding downhill has to admit to the seriousness of the situation. Leaders then begin seeking answers to their problems and can no longer be satisfied with excuses. This is the critical time, for what they do and how they do it will determine whether they survive. Most leaders in this situation are not prepared to face the many negative forces at work when the company reaches it crisis point.

The process of self-extrication is inevitably painful, but it seldom needs to be as agonizing as many companies make it. Often a company's losses .... financial, strategic and psychological .... can be substantially reduced if leadership takes a systematic and rational approach to the problem.

The blame for decline can be laid on leadership's desk in all, but a few cases. But if decline is the agony of defeat for leadership, then leadership can also claim credit for the thrill of victory. The achievement of a successful turnaround is mostly a victory of leadership performance. It is also a testament to the foresight of directors, the courage of employees and the loyalty of customers and creditors.

As a leader of your company, will you face reality sooner rather than later if your organization is getting off track..... or ..... will you wait until a liquidity crisis hits and you run out of money?

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Organizations Are Like Elephants - Slow to Change

2011-06-02T20:12:00.000-04:00

Excerpt-Teaching the Elephant to Dance-Manager's Guide to Empowering Change by James A. Belasco, PH.D.

Organizations are like elephants ... they both learn through conditioning.

Trainers shackle young elephants with heavy chains to deeply embedded stakes. In that way the elephant learns to stay in its place. Older elephants never try to leave even though they have the strength to pull the stake and move beyond. Their conditioning limits their movements with only a small metal bracelet around their foot ... attached to nothing.

Like powerful elephants, many companies are bound by early conditioned constraints. "We've always done it this way" is as limiting to an organization's progress as the unattached chain around the elephant's foot.

Success ties you to the past. The very factors that produced today's success often create tomorrow's failure. In today's fast-paced world, elephants are an endangered species. Can't move fast enough to escape the competitive laser gun. Fleetness of foot is required. So gazelles survive .... not slow to change elephants.

Needing change doesn't make it happen. Too many organizations still have metal bracelets around their feet. You need to mobilize the support of your people behind "your" change!

How are you evaluating the need for change in your company and what actions will you take to empower your people to make it happen?

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Quick Path to Stall a Career ... Not Hire Right People

2011-05-28T11:59:00.000-04:00

Excerpt from Hiring The Best by Martin Yate

Causes of bad hires can be traced to one of the following reasons:

Poor analysis of job functions
Poor analysis of necessary personality-skill profile
Inadequate initial screening
Inadequate interviewing techniques
Inadequate questioning techniques
Poor utilization of "second opinions"
Company and Career/money expectations were over or inappropriately sold
References were not checked

In short, the manager failed to ask either himself or the interviewee the right questions at the right time; and perhaps even failed to interpret the answers given to the questions adequately.

Prepare for an interview so you get the answers to the three key questions that guarantee a good hire:

Able to Do the Job. Often the hiring decision is on ability alone. While important, it is merely the 1st step in ensuring successful hires.
Willing to Do the Job. There can be a distinct gap between ability and willingness to do the job.
Manageable Once On the Job. A person able and willing, but nonetheless unmanageable is not the right fit.

When preparing for and managing the hiring process do you fall back on the old excuse and claim "I'll know it when I see him/her" ..... or will you be so prepared that you will know exactly what you want and will dig deep into who the person is so you can ensure you get exactly what you want?

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Business Transitions .. Are You Ready to Change?

2011-05-27T20:14:00.000-04:00

Excerpt from Growing Pains by Eric G. Flamholtz & Yvonne Randle

As the CEO of your business, have you recognized the need for personal change in order to be the kind of leader required for success going forward?

You have worked hard building your company. Are you still spending too much time dealing with the technical aspects of the business ... work you know how to do and have enjoyed? Do you understand there are adjustments you need to make with your managerial style and capabilities? In spite of the fact the organization has grown substantially, do you still want to control too many details of the business?

As businesses must change and transition from one stage to another, the leaders of the business must also make personal changes. Often times the CEO who has been the founding entrepreneur of the business may feel that since the company has been able to operate for a very long time without he/she making personal changes ... then change may not be needed. This attitude may fit the story of an individual who jumped off a thirty-story building in the downtown area of a major metropolitan city. He got down to the fifteenth floor, looked around and said, "No Problem Yet." Unfortunately he was in for a very unpleasant surprise.

The "no problem yet" phenomenon is often found in successful entrepreneurial businesses. A business may have experienced relatively uninterrupted success for a long period of time before a wide variety of problems finally accelerate into crisis. Others around the CEO often are quicker to see the emergence of difficulties yet be unable to convince the CEO to pay attention to the warning signs.

As the key decision maker of your company, identify the people around you who will offer you honest communication. They can help you determine when you need to make the changes required to lead your company through the many transitions it will take in the journey from Entrepreneur to Enterprise. Also consider an advisor who has been where you are and has made the personal transitions. His insight can be very helpful as you redefine your role and behaviors and continue to guide your company to the next level of growth.

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Organizational Growing Pains - Ten Most Common

2011-05-27T18:54:00.000-04:00

Excerpt from Growing Pains by Eric G. Flamholtz & Yvonne Randle

As organizations increase in size, they often experience a variety of "growing pains" that signal something has gone wrong in the process of organizational development. There are ten common organizational growing pains:

People feel that "there are not enough hours in the day."
People spend too much time "putting out fires."
People are not aware of what other people are doing.
People lack understanding about where the firm is headed.
There are too few good managers.
People that "I have to do it myself if I want it done correctly."
Most people feel that meetings are a waste of time.
When plans are made, there is little follow-up, so things just don't get done.
Some people feel insecure about their place in the firm.
The firm continues to grow in sales but not in profits.

Leaders and managers of companies of any size or type must learn to recognize organizational growing pains and do something about them so their companies can continue to operate successfully. The list of growing pains above are symptoms arising from root causes in a company that are not being addressed.

As you identify the basic recurring problems for your company, are you reacting to symptoms over and over again ..... or ..... are you identifying the root causes and taking the "right action" that will keep your company on a successful journey from Entrepreneur to Enterprise?

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The "Inner Game" - Critical To Managerial Success

2011-05-26T12:58:00.000-04:00

An Excerpt from "The Inner Game of Management - How to Make the Transition to a Managerial Role"
By Eric G Flamholtz and Yvonne Randle

To be a successful manager, you not only have to learn different skills such as planning, organizing and controlling (Outer Game activities); more important, you need to develop different ways of thinking (Inner Game activities). Stated differently, the ability to perform the technical skills of planning, delegating, selecting, and the like is affected by how well a person is managing the Inner Game issues.

Ability to play the Inner Game may be the critical variable that determines whether or not a person succeeds or fails as a manager. It is estimated that more than 90% of people who experience difficulties in their management careers or ultimately fail as managers do so not because of lack of intelligence or motivation or a lack of technical skills as a manager, but because of a failure to understand and play the Inner Game of Management effectively.

The Three Key Dimensions of the Inner Game

Three key requirements for playing the Inner Game of Management successfully

Being able to manage your own self-esteem so that you derive satisfaction from the things managers are suppose to do.
Being able to manage your need for direct control over people and results.
Being able to manage your need to be liked so that it does not interfere with performing the managerial role.

Ask yourself .... How do you manage the psychological issues within yourself as you guide your own behavior and make your decisions?

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Let Go - Control Less to Control More

2011-05-25T16:50:00.000-04:00

One of the keys to transitioning from Entrepreneur to Enterprise is letting go responsibility and authority to a team capable of leading and managing the company with you.

The Entrepreneur Operator must be emotionally ready to let go to his/her team along with having the confidence in management systems that will provide a new and different foundation for control going forward.

The Management Systems to implement are as follows:

Looking Within - an internal strategic audit of your company.
Looking Around - an external strategic audit of your marketplace.
Looking Ahead - identifying critical planning assumptions to guide the direction you take your company.
Measurement Performance Indicators (MPI's) - identifying the indicators you will use to track & measure success.
Actions - the highest impact ... least risk actions to be taken to realize expected performance.
Budgets - financial plan and controls to ensure financial performance.
Implementation - systems, structure, staffing, salaries/incentives - the implementation model to ensure your company effectively implements the plan you develop as part of numbers 1 thru 6 above.

In order to successfully implement the Management Systems into the company for the 1st time, it is important to start with #7. Companies starting with #1 rarely create a sustainable planning process and a completed plan. If they successfully complete a plan, rarely does it get implemented because the systems to implement never get put into place.

Without the implementation systems, it is extremely hard for the Entrepreneur Operator to emotionally "accept" he can let go and use the management systems to get the control he and the company need to effectively lead & manage the business.

Build the Implementation model for your company 1ST .... then work on the planning processes and create the Plan ..... then you can be confident you won't be one of those companies that spend all the time on a plan and never do anything with it. Success is all about IMPLEMENTATION.

Get started today feeling the confidence to LET GO and Control LESS so you can utilize your team and the right management systems to Control MORE.

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What Are The Elements of a Trusted Advisor?

2011-05-11T09:41:00.000-04:00

The Elements & Characteristics of Trusted Advisors
Excerpt from Jeffrey Gitomer's "Little Teal Book of Trust"

Trusted Advisors are value providers, not suppliers or vendors.

Trusted Advisors concentrate on business building, not just business seeking, and they build on behalf of the customer.

Trusted Advisors are considered friends by their customers.

Trusted Advisors are liked, believed, respected, and trusted.

Trusted Advisors provide information that is valuable to the customer.

Trusted Advisors are able to combine trust and valuable information.

Trusted Advisors understand the situation their customers are in, and they're willing to risk being right to do what's best for the customer.

Trusted Advisors are empowered by their customers to act, and they're willing to take action.

Trusted Advisors help customers profit, not just save money.

Trusted Advisors figure out a way to get more face time.

Trusted Advisors make decisions based on the relationship, not the quarter or the quota.

Trusted Advisors are always invited into the classrooms and the boardrooms. They are invited into the classroom to help facilitate learning, and they are invited into the boardroom to help make the right decisions.

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Learning Experiences - How Do You Value Them?

2011-05-05T09:54:00.000-04:00

Things that don't go our way are great lessons for learning. A story someone told me years ago has often provided me the right perspective when I or someone else doesn't succeed at something.

Here goes....

An employee is worried and sitting waiting for the CEO to get off the phone. After 5 minutes or so, the CEO hangs up the phone and apologizes for the wait and at the same time begins the conversation by asking .... "I assume you know why I have called you to my office today?"

The employee responds with ... "Yes sir I do. I assume you will be firing me knowing I have just cost the company $500,000 because of the mistakes I have recently made."

The CEO looked silently at the employee for a few seconds and responded ..... "Absolutely not, why would I fire you when I just spent that $500,000 on your education?!"

Ask yourself how you would handle something like this!

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Planning Systems to Fit Your Small Company

2011-04-26T13:06:00.000-04:00

I often believe people think big companies are the only ones needing strategic plans ..... strategic plans are also critical for small companies. Often times planning is not effectively done in small companies because they can't find the time to work "at" the business and "on" the business at the same time.

A planning process that is scaled to fit a small company environment allows any small company to implement the planning systems required to reach growth potential.

Ask yourself......

Is my team growing beyond my ability to keep up and/or make all the decisions?
Am I committed to leveraging knowledge & expertise to a bigger team?
Does my company have different products/services in varying stages of their life cycle?
Is my company at the stage where we need to provide resources against multiple/different types of initiatives .... Marketing, Sales, HR, Operations, etc?
Do I need to create a clear vision?
Do I need an effective way to set priorities and easily decide what NOT to focus the business on?

A Planning Process producing a Plan for your business that you can successfully implement is possible if you are a small business. Small business can become big business in so many ways today ..... a Planning Process that works for your small company is just one more way Small can be Big.

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Growing Your Business - Evaluating Risk

2011-04-21T14:20:00.000-04:00

When considering the risk for your own business, a new product or service launch or a company you may be looking to partner up with ..... the following 8 areas may be a helpful check list for your due diligence:

Market Risk - will the market be willing to buy the product/service on a significant scale? What are the chances the market will change?
Sales Risk - will the selling process work or will it be too costly?
Product/Service Risk - will it work?
Technology Risk - will the technology work? Will it be surpassed soon in a significant way?
Competitive Risk - can one or several competitors get too big of a lead or dominate the market early? Take an action to create a barrier to entry? Can any suppliers control key resources/capture profits?
Financing Risk - will additional financing be required as you move into the future?
Operating Risk - will management be able to cost effectively operate the company?
People Risk - will key people perform or leave the company?

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Building Your Business - 6 Building Blocks

2011-04-20T17:57:00.000-04:00

Business Building - 6 Building Blocks

When building your business, there are 6 key areas to focus on as you build.

Your Markets - identify and define a set of customers who have needs you can provide solutions for.

Products and/or Services - develop them so they are the right fit for your customers and you clearly communicate the offering, the benefits and value proposition to the customer.

Resources - what you need to acquire and/or develop to operate your business ... includes people (knowledge, experience, skill sets), equipment, facilities, $$.

Operational Systems - processes and systems that need to be in place to ensure your business can operate and scale effectively to manage growth.......sort of like the plumbing in your home. It has to be in place and working or you can't live in the house. Think about your business processes and systems as your organization's plumbing.

Management Systems - need to be in place for long term success...... includes strategic thinking/planning that leads to a plan you can execute, ensuring staff learns how to manage along with systems in place to manage and measure performance.

Culture - as you add more people .... values, beliefs and traditions that influence people's behavior, productivity and results become a critical focus of leadership and management.

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85 - 10 - 5 Rule

2011-04-19T13:47:00.000-04:00

85-10-5 Rule - Providing clarity for responsibility & authority for the people you lead and manage is key to productivity. Nothing hurts productivity more than ambiguity.

Defining roles - responsibility & authority for the people you manage within the 85-10-5 Rule goes a long way in empowering your staff. Think about how you want to delegate within the following framework:

Allow the person to perform 85% of their tasks/decisions without the need to review the decision in advance or report back on what has been done.

10% of the tasks/decisions can be made, but report back as to what is happening.

5% of the tasks/decisions must be reviewed and approved by you prior to any action.

Talking through responsibilities and authority within the above framework will provide the best path to empowerment and increased productivity.

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Looking Ahead - Trends & Trigger Points

2011-04-15T11:00:00.000-04:00

Identifying Opportunities & Threats - Stay out in front of your business by identifying the most favorable and unfavorable trends that will have the highest impact on your success. An easy framework of thinking to ensure you effectively manage a dynamic changing environment is as follows:

TRENDS: when you can connect two or more points to show a direction, you have a trend (ie: increased bookings of 4% to 6% for the past 3 months).

TREND INDICATORS: what quantified factual data ($; units; ratios; costs; tons; margins; etc) can be tracked to monitor your trend (favorable or unfavorable).

TRIGGER POINTS: what pre-determined level in the trend (favorable or unfavorable) will cause you to take action? Change your strategy? Review an existing policy? ....... what ACTION will you take to pursue an opportunity or prevent a threat? Who has the authority to act? How much $$$ is allocated to address?

This kind of "disciplined" thinking will help you stay on top of the opportunities and threats for your business as you navigate your company to its next level of growth.

Strategic Planning systems do NOT have to be just for the larger companies. There are easy to implement ongoing methods for any size company that provide you the vision and clarity for taking the right actions to guide your business to greater profits and value.

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3 Conditions for Considering Opportunity

2011-04-12T13:15:00.000-04:00

As a business looks for new opportunities, it is critical to find cost effective ways to quickly qualify different ones. It is often important to decide what opportunities you don't want to consider before you start spending time and money on diligence for the ones you think may have some value.

I try and simplify the initial process by determining if 3 conditions exist whenever someone brings an opportunity to me.

Is there a distinct growing need (short-term and long-term) that is supported by customer evidence in a market large enough to be meaningful for us?
Do we have the ability to service customers better than the competition and is our product/service better than the alternatives?
Can we attain acceptable margins?

If the above answers are satisfactory, I create the following outline for further consideration:

What is the scope of the opportunity?
What obstacles stand in the way?
What must we do to make things happen and successfully make the opportunity a reality?
What must we ensure DOES NOT happen if we move forward?

As you know, there is so much more to evaluate opportunities, but often there are some easy questions to consider so you can qualify what NOT to spend time on.

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Separating Planning from The Plan

2011-04-03T17:54:00.000-04:00

There is a great deal of cooking done in the kitchen of any good restaurant. What is most important is what ends up on the plate in front of the customer who ordered from the menu. Food that comes in small quantity, carefully prepared and tastefully presented. The result of all the cooking that went on in the kitchen.

As a customer, all you really care about is what is on the plate. You don't really care what it took to prepare it. If nothing came out on the plate, you would sit there and still be very hungry.

Strategic planning vs a strategic plan is the same analogy. No matter how much time you spend talking about things ... or planning things......if the results of that thinking doesn't end up in a plan that you can implement, there is NO real value. A plan is just like a great restaurant........what is going on in the kitchen is important, but what is MOST important is what comes to you on the plate (Plan)

Many companies are made up of sincere hard working people who are spending a great deal of time in the kitchen. The challenge is to focus those efforts in such a way that they are producing something useful for the customer and thus impacting the bottom line.

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