Have you created the rules to the game you want to win?

The rules I am talking about are your strategies. The game I am addressing is business.

There is a movie called ‘Moneyball’. It is based on a true story about how the Oakland A’s changed the way baseball teams were assembled. The general manager for the team created new rules as he believed that baseball’s standard wisdom was flawed.

What did he do and how did he succeed? He recruited the so called ‘flawed’ players. The key thing about those players is that their statistics proved that they could get on base, score runs and win games and he did this all on a very tight budget.

You may be wondering what this has to do with you. The answer is everything. I would hope that you want staff that are winners, don’t you? I would suspect that you also want to pay them for the value they contribute to the company. So what do you need to do?

You need to create a strategy. A strategy that is not of the regular wisdom for your business or industry; it is a strategy that changes the rules and is a way you can succeed on your terms.

You future is at stake, so when can you start on this?

Is your marketing getting and keeping people’s attention?

Are you sure?

Recently in a Harvard Business Review article it discussed at length digital marketing. One of the problems they identified was that people get bored very quickly. They found that keeping viewers involved depends on two emotions: joy and surprise. They also discovered that in order to maximize the impact of the marketing the marketer had to generate joy or surprise early in the marketing. This is such a big change as to what was done decades ago. This is because years ago marketing built to a spectacular climax.

So my first question for you is; are you using the old type of marketing?

Secondly, are doing all you can to improve your marketing by putting in some surprise or joy?

Did you know that the game Chess teaches us to be better in business?

You may wonder how that could be, so let me explain.

What I’ve learned about Chess is that it teaches you to be a strategic thinker. That means that you have a strategy that you follow. It is a plan that includes your ability to foresee and out maneuver your opponent. So how does that relate to your business?

Do you have a plan to lead you to the goal or objective that you aspire to? This needs to be first and foremost in your mind, as if you don’t have an objective you will not be determined enough to follow your plan. Secondly you need to anticipate the challenges that may come up. You need at least 3 fall-back scenarios that will lead you to your objective. Then you need to make your moves or take action on a continuous basis.

Can you see how Chess will make you a better business person?

When will you take action?

Do you ask ‘why’ enough times in your business?

For example do you ask ‘why’ when an order does not get delivered on time.

I know that it is so easy not to ask ‘why’. 

Let's work with the example; an order did not get delivered on time. If you don’t ask ‘why’ how are you going to find out where the challenge took place? What if it was that one person is not on speaking terms with another person and they need to be in continuous communication in order to make everything work smoothly?

That simple question may have solved a concern that could have become a massive problem for your business.

Never ever be afraid of asking the question why. In fact when you get an answer, if you ask at least one or two follow-up questions and you will find out more answers that will help. This way you can get into the mindsets of people and open up communication.

When are you going to start asking ‘why’ to improve your business?

Did you know that who you associate with will affect your personal growth?

I say that because other people can affect your attitude.

Have you ever associated with negative people? Did you find that you felt better after you left them? This is an indication that they are not good for you. These people won’t help you think of new or innovative ideas? In fact if you had a new or innovative idea they would criticize you if you mentioned it.

What can you do today to rid yourself of these negative influences?

If you do it, either it will cause them to think or they will just criticize you behind you back. So what have you got to lose?

Have you ever thought of getting a mentor or a coach?

For years I considered it, but then always ignored the answer.

This blog is to tell you about how I now feel about mentoring or coaching. I believe that a mentor can be a driver for you and your business development. I say that because a good coach is someone who has gone through the experiences you may be having now. They are a tremendous source for your development.

It is my opinion that a coach is not a person that gives you all the answers but has a unique gift in being able to get you to answer your own concerns, then getting you to question your opinions before the final decision.

If you are not considering a coach, please reconsider.

Your future is at stake, isn’t it?

“We don’t do things like that in our business.” is a sign of a business that is dying, isn’t it?

Every once in a while you come across a business owner that makes a comment like that.

I feel so sorry for them. They are stuck in a time-warp. They think that what worked before will always continue. I am sorry to bring the bad news – but they are wrong.

We live in a world now that is changing too fast for a business to stick to their old ways. A new aggressive and innovative business will come into an area and destroy that business.

What can you do today that will change the ‘we don’t do things like this’ attitude in your business?

How much thinking time do you set aside for yourself each day?

Are you saying ‘None.’?

I hope not! As this thinking time is absolutely essential to developing plans to grow your business. It is key in developing innovative ideas to stay ahead of your competitors. It is key to attracting new great employees or partners.

When are you going to start to think yourself into a new phase of your business?

Do all of your actions mirror what your competitors are doing?

Are you sure this is a good decision?

I ask that sincerely. This is because if you want to be better than your competition, why would you mirror what they are doing?

If you want to be better that your competition you must be innovative. This does not necessarily mean that you are creative. But it means that you are willing to innovate on what you are already doing in your business. It means looking at what your competition is doing and changing it.

When can you start today to be more innovative?

Can you honestly say that you love what you are doing?

From my understanding that is key component of an enjoyable life.

So you have a choice; do you want to make a lot of money or really enjoy every day that you work? The decision you make will have a tremendous impact on the type of life you have.

I’ve know many people who made a lot of money, but hated their life. At the same time I’ve know others who really enjoyed what they were doing, made a adequate income for a number of years then all of a sudden everything ‘clicked’ and their income grew faster than they thought was possible. Why did this happen?

It is very simple, they enjoyed what they did so much that their actions were viewed differently and more and more people wanted to work with them or buy from them.

Are your actions showing others that you truly love what you do?

If not, what can you do to fall in love with your work?

Have you had concerns over the claims made by companies in their marketing?

If so, you are not alone.

I have always believed that marketing is an art and a science. That meaning that there is a way to make it look good, but there is also a proper way or a formula for it to be effective.

Sadly too many companies are not using both the art and science of marketing.

I was watching an ad on television a couple of days ago. It came close to ignoring what was called ‘truth in advertising’. If it wasn’t for a few well placed words in the ad that were barely visible the advertisement would have crossed the line and been a lie.

The challenge with not being honest in advertising is that you may get many sales immediately, but are these the type of sales that will build your business long-term? Of course you know the answer is no.

Let me give you an example. In 1999 a company named Airborne Health launched a product that ‘would boost your immune system to help your body combat germs’. The sales grew quickly due to a insightful marketing campaign and an endorsement by Oprah Winfrey.

In 2008 the Centre for Science in the Public Interest led a class action law suit against Airborne. The results were a $28 million settlement that the company’s claims were false.

What can you do to make sure you are honest in all parts of your marketing?

Are you working hard enough to get lucky?

The luck I speak about is success on your terms.

It is only by hard work and application to your objective that you will ever reach your goals. So what is hard work? Someone once told me that you need to work half-days to become a success. So what is a half-day? It is 12 hours. It is what you do after the ordinary workers finish work that makes you better at what you are doing.

What are three things that you can do today to improve your work ethic so that you can get luckier?

Did you know that prominent branding turns off viewers?

I gleaned this from an article in the Harvard Business Review.

The author of the article is Thales Teixeira. He is an assistant professor in the Marketing Unit. He holds a Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Michigan. In the article he stated that when people watch ads they only focus on a few things. These are like logos and the actor’s facial features such as their mouths or eyes.

I am sure as a business owner when you read that people focus on logos you were thrilled as you are so proud of your business logo. What his research has shown is that with a more prominent or well-known the logo, the more likely the viewers are to stop watching.

Why does that occur? It is because people have an unconscious dislike to being persuaded. So what can you do?

The next time you decide on an advertising plan, reduce the size of your logo on some of your ads. Eliminate your logo on some of your ads. Spend more time addressing the client’s issues in your ads and how you can help them.

When can you make your advertising more customer friendly?

Attention: all young business leaders, this message is very important.

Why wouldn’t I be addressing all business leaders? If you want to find out continue reading.

It is my opinion that if you don’t pay attention to my message now, 6 months from now it may be to late. Why do I say that? It is very simple. This may be your last chance to reflect on the joyful purpose of your life. I say that because with each day life get’s more demanding and before you know it you are working 60 hour weeks, you are married, have a mortgage, and possibly have children and you won’t have time to truly reflect on what you would like to do with your life. You are on the tread-mill already and because of your commitments you can get off.

Spend the next week contemplating, and then writing your answers to the following questions;

• What does my personality say about the type of work I must do?
• What type of work would make me the happiest?
• What type of work would inspire me?
• What type of work would make me feel like I’ve lived a purpose-filled life?

When you answer those questions, you will know what you should be working towards and if you are working in the right industry now.

What have you got to lose?

Are you the under-dog in your business market?

If you are, you are the lucky one.

Let me first define what the under-dog is. It is a business person who appears to have very little chance of winning or being successful. It is a person or business that does not have the high status that the ‘big boys’ do. I say that the under-dog is lucky because of a number of reasons;

1. They can decide which way they want to play the business game.
2. They can re-invent themselves whenever they want to.
3. They can use their unique strengths and abilities to out-smart their competition.

Why can I say that? I was the under-dog many times in my business life. The one that always stands out for me is when I started a retail/manufacturing business in the late 1970’s. I had 7 other competitors in our trading area. At the end of the first year in business we had 18% of the market. The year we sold our business (11 years later) we had 64% of the market. You may wonder how that could have happened.

It is because we;

• Made a conscious decision of not operating our business the way the competitors were.
• We had a continuous plan to re-invent areas of our business at least every 12 months.
• We didn’t offer anything that could be comparatively priced.

What can you do to out-smart your competition?

Are you managing your business or is it managing you?

Management that is done well is a wonderful sight.

No other profession can help people learn more, grow more and contribute to the success of a business as what a great manager can do.

It takes a very special person to be a great manager. They need to have many special traits, such as;

• Intuition
• Inspire others to innovate, learn and do more
• Have a passion for what the business does or aspires to do
• Are great decision makers, and
• Have integrity

Which one of those traits do you need to work on?

When can you start?

Are you happy with your existing product or service lines?

Are you a little too comfortable with them?

I ask this question because of past business experience and what has been going on in the business world. You may think that has nothing to do with you. May I suggest you think about this a little more?

I say that because if you want to be a leader in your industry you need to keep on improving in all aspects of business. Over the past months I’ve written about many companies that were very strong a few years ago that no longer exist. The whole premise of this blog is a comment written a couple of days ago. It was from Carmi Levy an independent technology analyst who stated that "Apple risks falling into a black hole if it gets too comfortable with its existing product lines and simply bumps up the specs every year or so."

If one person thinks that about a company that is growing faster than most companies, what does the statement say about your company? Let me give you some assistance. Here is the same statement and you can enter your company name. How do you feel when you say this?

“____ risks falling into a black hole if it gets too comfortable with its existing product lines and simply bumps up the specs every year or so.”

So what can you do today that will take you out of your comfort zone?

Do you feel unappreciated, frustrated and underutilized?

Is this something that ruins your days?

This happens to everyone one of us on an inconsistent basis. The challenge for us is that we have let others opinions of us control how we feel about our lives. I used the word challenge, but the word should have been problem. We have created our own problem and now we are sitting in the middle of it.

Yes, we need to get feedback from others, but we surely don’t need to accept their opinions as the gospel truth, do we?

Life is a balance, so when are you going to get more balance in your life and not accept whole-heartedly others opinions of you?

When are you going to start showing that your life has meaning?

What direction is your company going?

Is your company a saleable commodity or is it just a form of personal income?

If it is a saleable commodity it means that the owner has an exit plan. In other words the owner has plans. If the business owner that does not have an exit plan, it means that when he retires or dies, the business is done.

With no plans the business just wanders around hoping to get business. As the business wanders, so will the customer’s and staff. They will leave when they see no future. If this is the way your business is – can you see a problem?

What can you do to improve the situation today?

What can you do today to create a compelling direction for your company?

How can you be sure that you’ll be happy in your career?

I noticed this question on the Harvard Business Review site the other day and it gave me the following thoughts.

I believe one aspect of being happy with a career is that time seems to pass quickly when you are working. Secondly, you enjoy what you are doing so much that your income is secondary.

To keep that in mind I’ve always asked my daughters the following; ‘If you knew that you could not fail, what would you do?’ The answer speaks honestly about what you want as a career or vocation. To me a vocation is more than your work; it is a life style. It is all about getting out of bed and enthusiastically going to work and you even enjoy the difficulties. This is because these difficulties or challenges arouse you to become a great problem solver.

 

What can you do today to be happier in your career?

Have you noticed that there are people who have become successful and are less talented than you?

Could it be that they have more drive or commitment?

It is my firm belief that those with more internal motivation or drive and are committed to their personal objectives will always beat a person that just has talent. I say that because of the results I’ve seen over 30 plus years of being in business.

Take for example this true story of a young sales person who wants to support his family. He plans his days in advance and makes sure he doesn’t miss any of the activities his children are in. What are the results? He has a balanced life, a great focus when he is working and has a happy family life. Oh, by the way, his income level would impress you.

Isn’t this something that you would like?

When can you change your methods?

What other effects does a bad boss have on employees?

Let’s see what a Swedish study reported.

Did you know that workers who had reported having ‘bad bosses’ were also at a great risk for heart attacks and heart disease? This study was based on 3,100 male participants.

For your information the survey was based on the personal qualities of; consideration for their employees, and setting clear goals. While it may seem that I’ve been out to criticize ‘bad bosses’ I am not. I am just trying to get people in general to understand that by changing an attitude or an action a person can have a significant impact on the growth of a company.

What can you do as a person that will help your company grow and become better?