Hi!
If you've seen or heard me talking lately you've likely noticed something about a book study program that we're starting. I'm really passionate about this opportunity and thought I'd share a little more about why. Before I forget, it's not too late to order the book (at either Peg's Place or Legacy Connection). It's a quick read and the video book study is archived at Peg's Place!
So, why a community book study? This is actually something I've wanted to do for a long time. The benefits of learning together are well documented. Being guided through the book AND coming together, in person, to continue the learning is a very powerful combination. If you need more reason than that, a couple of blog posts ago I shared a post from Bill Glazer that talked about the 3 habits that all successful entrepreneurs have
- They READ
- They CONTINUE their EDUCATION by attending LIVE learning events
- They create and use S.M.A.R.T. goals
I also mentioned that I'm a life long learner and that the above 3 practices are things that I not only do but that we model and offer as opportunity for our members. Through our Peg's Place book study of Creating Competitive Advantage by Jaynie Smith we're taking the learning from this book to the next level. We're modeling the best practices of READING and attending LIVE learning events. Very simply, I would not be where I am or able to go where I'm headed without the learning that I've engaged in. I want to share that practice with our community. I've been answering many questions about this program as I've been networking and talking about it. You might have some of these same questions!
Q: Do you have to be a Legacy Connection member to participate?
A: NO! The Peg's Place video book study is open to all! The iConnection session is free to members and first time visitors. Others pay just $10 at the door to join us!
Q: Why Creating Competitive Advantage?
A: Larry Watson is in an ACCEL group that I facilitate. He's talked about the impact of this book MANY times. I finally bought it and understood his excitement. Jaynie Smith, the author, correctly states that most business owners DO NOT understand their competitive advantages and CANNOT communicate them. Doing so can change the course of your business. THAT'S WHY! What have you spent $15 (or less) on that you can say has changed the course of your business?
Q: Do you know the author?
A: No, I don't know the author but Larry Watson, our study facilitator, has participated in one of her trainings and has been strategizing with her to faciliate similar studies for her clients.
Q: I don't like to or have time to read, is there an audio?
A: On Amazon, it says that the audio is out of print. With a little more searching it might be possible to find one. I know that everyone learns differently but most learning requires some form of reading. Here's what I do that might help you too! MOST business development books have the most important information in the beginning and at the end. So, I read the beginning, skim the middle (if I think it's important I dive in deeper) and then be sure to read the last chapter for the summary/recap/conclusions. Having said that, Creating Competitive Advantage is a book that I read cover to cover-twice!
Q: Why the book study AND the in-person session?
A: I recently read Know Can Do by Ken Blanchard, etal. It's a great book for both learners and educators/trainers because it talks about how to turn what you learn into what you do. I'll save you some time and share the "secret": practice (if you're the learner) or offer (if you're the educator) spaced repetition of the learning. Spaced repetition practices could include
- skimming the book and highlighting points of interest (this is why I like to have the book rather than an audio of a book that I believe will be impactful)
- re-reading it and making notes of the important points
- Tell someone about what you learned-if you can "teach" it, even better!
- Discuss it with a group that has also read the book
- Practice what you've learned!
If you follow our book study (and this is the first of several we have planned!) you will be practicing spaced repetition:
- Read the book (highlighting optional)
- Take notes on the book (optional)
- View the video guides at the Peg's Place website
- Take more notes!
- Check out our newsletter success tips (many will be about the reading) (Not on our newsletter list?-sign up at the Legacy Connection website!)
- Attend the iConnection, in-person, session on August 18th!
Q: What will the iConnection session be about?
A: iConnection is always about Interactively Igniting Innovation. For this session we'll be brainstorming the question, " What did you get out of the book and what did others learn that you can use in your business?" NOTE: While I REALLY hope you'll read the book, you'll still get a lot from this session if you didn't read it!
Please let me know if you have questions or comments. Will you be joining our book study?
Say YES!
To YOUR success,
Peg Stookey
......YOUTHanize your business!
Have you ever felt like you were running your business into the ground? Or that growth was dormant, stagnant, or flat-lined? Do you feel like you need a “shot in the arm”? Or a super energy pill?
My friends, I have the answer! Give your business a dose of YOUTH!
Does this mean that you have to hire a crew of minimum wage workers to do busy work for you? NO!
Does it mean that you have to volunteer your life away? NO!
Does it mean that you have to change your business model? NO!
YOUTHanizing your business can have many possibilities:
- Yes, volunteer but do it strategically. Mentor someone, anyone, younger than you. I suggest that we expand the definition of “youth” to be what YOU define youth as. (Have you ever seen a really old person call someone in their 60’s “young man/woman”?) If they want to learn about small business, even better.
- Bring in an intern or a co-op. Wait, I know what you’re going to say and I know you don’t have time! First, doing so will force you to document some of your systems and processes. We have many schools, high schools and colleges with co-op and intern programs. Networking yourself with them will be good for numerous reasons!
- Bring your kids into the business. Maybe they’ll just do some filing at first. Or.... maybe they’ll get extra time with you. Treat them as an employee so that they learn the value of what you do. HINT: Find out what THEY like to do and put them to work!
- Like my friend, David Leopold, partner with a brilliant 23 year old to manage your technology! (Be sure to catch David and I talking small business on Monday's at 11:30 at www.oursmallbusinesstv.com!)
- Add someone in their 20’s or 30’s to your advisory board. I bet you’ll be amazed at what they come up with.
So, WHY is this important now? With the state of the economy many business owners have gotten pretty beat up. We need new life, new ideas, new hope to begin to grow again. Gen X, Y and the millennials are different from the boomers. I’ve found them to be very entrepreneurial by nature, curious and willing to learn. Eager to offer help and concerned about their fellow man and the future of our world.
With a little guidance and the benefit of our “mature wisdom” they will be great leaders! They are stepping up at younger and younger ages to lead and to make a difference. Information is so readily available to our next generations that possibility mindset is just natural to them. I love to watch my kids problem solve. Actually, there are no mysteries anymore. If they have a question, they log-on, “Google it” and the mystery is solved. My son has a construction business. He’s also an engineer. He started when he was 23. Did he go out and apprentice with a construction company. Heck no! He took what he knew, added in his driving desire to be independent and Googled the rest. Son #2 got out of college went to work for son #1 and is now manages numerous projects and a crew of 14+. Was he afraid? Probably. Did it stop him. HECK NO!
How can your business benefit from YOUTHanizing?
- Bring in new ideas
- Add new energy
- Take the focus off the negative
- Create greater efficiency (documenting your systems so that it’s easier to train is always a good thing!)
- Leverage technology (This is an entire article in itself! Just think of the possibilities!)
How will you benefit from YOUTHanizing your business?
- You’ll feel younger (or maybe older for a while when you realize all that you don’t really know or can do!)
- You’ll be energized
- You’ll see new possibilities
- You’ll be braver around technology and learn the many doors that it opens
- You’ll feel good knowing that you helped the next generation
- Maybe you’ll even begin to implement an exit strategy that includes passing or preparing your business to be run by the next generation (Also and article’s worth of ideas!) Do I hear “Legacy” calling?
How will our community benefit when you YOUTHanize your business?
- With each and every touch that a business owner has on the youth of our country we plant seeds of entrepreneurism.
- Every time you offer someone the chance to lead, they grow toward being a leader.
- You are not only creating jobs now, you are creating future employers.
- Kids may be taken off the street or simply off the couch-either is a good thing!
I’ll close with this piece of insight:
YOUTHanizing your business will cause you to YOUTH-in-eyes your business!
Roll YOUR eyes inward. Do you see the opportunity to become more youthful yourself? What do you see in the mirror? Are the wrinkles falling away and the light of possibility twinkling in your eyes?
Say YES!
Peg
PS I want to thank my friend, Mary Kacaba, owner of Resources Within hypnotherapy practice for helping to plant the seeds of this idea. Mary, you are the source of true inspiration-in more ways than one!
This month we're talking about the Strategy of Growth. There are those that kind of float along and there are those that have a plan. Who do you think gets to the goal faster?
A couple posts ago (Are YOU Ready) I talked about being prepared to launch a second location as a strategy for growth. If you remember, I suggested that it makes sense to prepare your business for growth by putting numerous things in place that would be needed for expansion-even if you have NO desire for such expansion. WHY? It will help you grow a more efficient, profitable and valuable business (something you've heard from me before and will hear again---over and over!!).
SYSTEMS are a critical part of EFFICIENCY, PROFITABILITY and BUILDING VALUE into your business. What is a system? Basically, it's a documented process that is critical to the operation of your business and is frequently repeated or utilized. A system can really be any process in your business. Some argue that something as simple as answering the phone is NOT a system. I disagree! The devil is in the details, as they say!
In eMyth Revisited, author Michael Gerber talks about the value of systems. He says that building systems into our business is a great practice because it helps us to document a process so that the least expensive, most qualified person can do the job. This is a franchise principle that all can model. Let's take phone answering as an example. You may have a set way to answer the phone and feel it's important to your overall brand. To create the process you practice with various approaches: super friendly, more professional, or somewhere in between. You might want a lot of information in the greeting: "Hello, this is Peg Stookey with Legacy Connection, you're entrepreneurial success community! How may I help you?" or very simple, "Hello, this is Peg".
Now, how do I want an employee to answer the phone? Is it important? Tony Jeary says that "Life is a Series of Presentations" (in his book with that title). You bet it's important! This is the first impression that someone might get of my company and if I'm not there to leave that impression I want my employee well trained to do it for me. Now, as entrepreneurs, we're beginning to see the value of systems: EFFICIENCY-I don't have to do everything myself. I set my company up for growth, knowing that my employees or contractors will have documentation to follow. I will be able to engage the least expensive person (that is qualified) for the job, know that they will be well trained and can follow the step-by-step process that I have detailed.
Less expensive employees=more profit. Greater efficiency=more profit & more enjoyment! How about "value"? Glad you asked!! What is your exit strategy? Are you building a business to have a job, run it into the ground, sell, pass to your kids, put a manger in place while you go to the beach and retire? If you're intention is anything but to run it into the ground, you'll want to build value into your business. DOCUMENTED systems will help you do that. The next generation of owner/manager needs to see that they can run the business as well or better than you have. Why is this important if you're simply planning to use your business as a job? Hmmmmm-another great question that I'm so glad you asked! If you hang out with us long enough, I believe that you'll change your tune. I think that you'll begin to see that it makes much more sense to build a business that has "Legacy potential" and can be passed to another generation of owner. Will you be ready when you come to this realization? Or, will you have to backtrack?
You see, I believe in preserving "universal energy". If you're building/growing a business, you know what I mean. IT TAKES A LOT OF EFFORT TO BUILD AND GROW SOMETHING FROM SCRATCH OR NEAR SCRATCH-in the case of a franchise or licensing arrangement. You are laying the foundation for future growth. If you're doing it, it's worth doing it right!
All for now....
Peg
Are YOU Ready?
Last week at our Legacy Connection meeting someone asked a very important question of another attendee: "Are you ready?" I've been thinking about these 3 simple words all week and am hoping to create some discussion around them.
A year or so ago, my friend, Cecilia Rose of Eventurous, came to speak at one of our meetings. Cecilia is a great event planner but an even better business owner. One of the lessons that she left me with was that the universe does not give more than someone can handle. This applies to business as it applies to life. She told me that her business FINALLY started to take off once she got her bookkeeping and other financial affairs in line. In fact, it happened so quickly so that she could only credit the universe for her new-found success.
So, I ask again, "Are YOU ready?". I know that it's tempting to say, "YES!", "Bring it on!", "Flood me with your business!". Few are going to say, "Wait just a minute-I need to be sure that I'm ready for the success you bring." I wish that some people that I've worked with would have done that. I can think of one time in particular that someone cost me great harm and a good deal of money by not holding back. It was a time when I asked, "Can you do this?" and they, of course, said, "YES, I CAN!". Guess what-they couldn't. It turns out that they had never done that kind of work before but couldn't admit it for fear of losing the business. In the end, they lost my business as well as ALL credibility.
"Are YOU ready?" If thousands of customers came knocking tomorrow, could you handle it and handle it well? Do you have the systems in place, the ability to bill and collect money, the personnel to help, the cash flow needed, the energy to finish; the vision, foundation and support structure to sustain this growth?
Here's a very simple test to see if you're ready: Create an expansion plan. It doesn't matter that you don't plan to expand anytime soon. "Pretend" that you're going to establish a 2nd location in, let's say, Indianapolis. It could be that you sold your first franchise or that you're going to put a local manager in place. Try it and you'll see why this exercise is SO valuable!
Launch a 2nd Location in Indianapolis
- Review your business plan (you have one don't you?????). What are the basic pieces of your business that you will need to replicate in Indy?
- Outline your business model. How do you make money? Get your outline down to the fundamentals of what you do.
- Post your vision and purpose so that future employees and customers CLEARLY understand your business.
- Create a strategy for the expansion: what is 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. to do and by when. (Don't forget to create a marketing plan based on LOCAL information. What works in Cinti might not work in Indy!)
- It's likely that you'll need training, operations and HR manuals. How will your franchisee, manager and other employees know what to do when you're not there?
- Don't have manuals yet? Begin with systems. Identify and document them (gather them in a 3 ring binder and, voila!, you have an operations manual!)
- Having trouble with systems? What are the things you do repeatedly in your business? If you document the process that it takes to complete the task you can replicate the effort by training others to do it (and perfect it along the way!). It's now a system!
- Before you move to Indy with your concept, let's take a look at branding. You want to make a big splash in the new location. Be sure that your branding is consistent across all forms of media, tells your story, is clear and not confusing and, most importantly, works for you! Remember-you won't be there any longer to personally carry the message.
- You'll want to keep track of money, marketing efforts, sales, etc. How will you measure? Do you have those systems in place?
- Finally, you need good communication to run/support this new business from 90 minutes away.
How many of these steps can you check off right now?
- YOU'RE READY if you said 8-10.
- YOU'RE CLOSE if you said 5-7.
- YOU NEED WORK if you said 3-4.
- YOU BETTER STAY IN CINTI if you said 0-2.
So, what's the point? Your business will be more EFFICIENT, PROFITABLE AND VALUABLE if you have these steps conquered-whether or not you EVER decide to expand!
Let me know your thoughts on "being ready"!
Peg