Navigating the Rapids of Business

Navigating the rapids of business

Have you ever been white water rafting? in 1994, my late husband and i decided to be adventurous and give white water rafting a go.

We were on a short holiday. After all, we couldn’t take too much time off as we were  in business for ourselves and there were only  so many days we believed we could be away from the business before things would surely go wrong. This was our little getaway so whilst in the midst of relaxation and “away time” we decided to experience the thrill and excitement of white water rafting.

Now as beginners, our job was to sit in the raft, hold on tight, use the oars when we were instructed to, scream a little, feel terrified and experience a sense of thrill at the same time. Whilst we navigated our way around the rocks, through the rapids, we had one ultimate objective: stay in the raft until we made it to the calmer waters below.

At one point our raft did tip and after those few panicking moments we all eventually managed to get back into the raft, coughing and splattering as we climbed back in. It was terrifying, yet we found ourselves laughing with adrenalin rushing throughout our bodies as we got back in the raft secretly wanting to do it all over again.

As a team we had to work together, aligning our actions and our focus directing the raft and maneuvering it through to the calmer waters below. Every action required quick thinking, clear strategy and zero procrastination. Yes, at times we were uncertain, not knowing what would come next and whether the next move would take us further out of our comfort zone.

At other times we were on top of the world and Masters of white water rafting. Once in calm waters, we wanted to do it again and take our experience to the next level. “Okay, who’s ready for the next level?” the instructor would ask. There was no turning back once we had made the decision to go for it and give the next level a go. We were fearful of what the unknown adventure would be like, but moving to the next level requires a certain type of attitude – ‘Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway!’

Operating a business is a bit like white water rafting. At times it’s scary, hectic, and sometimes unbelievably out of control.

It takes you out of your comfort zone and pushes you into very unknown waters. At other times, it’s exciting, challenging and ultimately rewarding.

The key to navigating your way through business successfully is the same as navigating your raft through the rapids.

Once you know how and what to do, it’s important to be sure you implement that knowledge so that you arrive at calmer waters with confidence and without too many knocks, bumps, cuts and bruises. It’s about making the right moves at the right time and in the right order, so that when you are ready to move to the next level you can do so with confidence.

One of the keys to success in business is how you handle each stage of the journey. In our case, with white water rafting, each stage represented the starting point, the rocky road of the rapids, the free falling down the dips, and the calm waters below. Success was achieved as a result of many things aligning together, the quick maneuvering, the quick decisions and action-taking before arriving at your destination. The destination is not the end of course; it is just the beginning, as you take your experience to new and higher levels. Business is the same. Once you reach a certain goal, milestone, or outcome, it’s not the end; it’s just the beginning of something bigger, better and more exciting.

Doing the right things in the right order is crucial to success. Being sure you take consistent action every day and with a big focus on income generating activities and not just any activity is a key component to building the business of your dreams.

I believe one of the key elements to achieving success is having an open mind and being committed to doing whatever it takes to learn new skills and knowledge, and following through by implementing that new found knowledge and skill set.

What is your motivation? What is your motive for action?

Growth starts to happen when you extend yourself beyond your comfort zone and beyond the edge. You must lean just over the edge every day to achieve exactly what it is you want. Extend yourself. Have the courage to push yourself beyond your own fears, embracing them so that you can make your life and your business phenomenal.

Make a commitment to develop yourself and learn whatever is necessary to be the best. Strengthen every weakness until they become your greatest strength.

Stop Blaming and complaining and Just Get on With it!

Have you ever been in a position where it was easier to blame outside circumstances or someone else for your shortfalls? It is unfortunate that for most of us it is quite a natural habit to blame outside circumstances and events for our lack of results. Because of our past programming and conditioning, many are living a very average way of life because they have chosen to accept that this is just the way life is. If you are someone who is convinced that your circumstances are because of the actions of others or outside circumstances, may I encourage you to open your mind and be prepared to make a decision today to change that level of thinking or to change your current circumstances.

Think about it. How would your life or business change if you knew you were the only one responsible for your success? Not your franchisor, not anyone else, just you.

There would be a lot more doing and a lot less complaining and blaming, wouldn’t there? There would also be a lot more people living the life they truly deserve.

Learn to replace complaining with being proactive and taking action. If you find yourself in a situation that you don’t like, either make it work or simply leave. The worst thing you can do is stay and then complain later about it. Stop missing the pieces of the puzzle! They’re right in front of you.

You are the only one responsible for your success! If you don’t have all of the pieces yet to build whatever it is you want, then it’s your responsibility to acquire them. The world doesn’t owe you anything. You have to create what you want.

Knowing you are responsible for your success and doing what it takes to be a success are two different things. In the past I always knew what I had to be doing to achieve higher levels of success, though

I found myself not always doing those things consistently enough to produce the consistent results I wanted. My results would either be fantastic or just plain average. I started to see a clear pattern forming and it was a pattern I didn’t like. I set out on a path to really make a change in what I was thinking and doing so that my business and my life could progress forward and produce the consistent results I wanted every day. This was the time I truly took ownership of building a new foundation, taking a new direction and committing to taking consistent action towards the success I desired.

What can you do right now to take true ownership of the direction and success of your business? Taking your business to the next level need not be complicated nor does it require excessively long hours or extremely hard work. What it does take is a commitment to your success, a commitment to taking consistent daily action, and doing the right things in the right order.

Generating Leads

Your aim is to generate leads and opportunities and convert these into increased revenues to your business. This article outlines some of the challenges you may be already facing and highlights some quick simple steps of how you can generate more leads into your business.

In my experience one of the fundamental challenges most business owners face is not being able to generate enough leads into the business. Without a consistent supply of leads into any business, the business is usually faced with poor cash flow and finds it difficult from one month to the next.

You may have already experienced this and you now can be in a position where you have the opportunity to change what’s going on.

If you want to create amazing results in your business, and want to turn your vision into reality, the only way this can happen is if you are fully accountable for your success and are responsible for the actions you take on a daily basis.

Leads are prospects or potential customers.

It’s important though to attract quality leads into the business and not just any lead as this can waste your valuable time and money.

Your marketing efforts will determine the quality of the leads you bring into your business and the challenge businesses face in this area is 80% of all marketing doesn’t meet the expectation of the business owner.

Try not to limit yourself when it comes to advertising and marketing your business.

Traditional marketing methods include local paper advertising and emailing.

Opportunities let outside the square and can include strategies such as, building your referral networks.

Ads and direct mail are only the beginning!

They are important, however they should not be the only source used for generating leads for your business.

Not all lead-generating techniques are created equal either. Some techniques will work well for a certain business, and those same strategies won’t work for another. Much is dependent on your type of business, your location, timing, how well you apply the lead generating strategy, and a host of other variables that tend to make marketing an inexact science. Therefore it’s important to test and measure each strategy to find out what works, and make it work.

So here’s a brief look at what you can do to start bringing more quality leads into your business.

Firstly start thinking WHO, WHERE, WHAT, HOW & WHY when it comes to marketing your product or service.

Who are my ideal clients / market?

Understand who he/ she is and why.

Where are we going to find our clients?

Why will they buy from me? What makes us unique? Remember people shop on value and emotion.

Now you know who you want to target,

Create a Lead Generation Action Plan for the month

  • Listing at least 2 to 6 different lead generating strategies,
  • What steps you need to take to implement the strategy.
  • Who will complete the task/s required  to complete the strategy, and
  • Be sure you also have a Due date for the activity so you stay on track for the month.

Daily Consistent Action will produce results in your business that you need!

Here is an example of a lead generation action plan. (Click the image for a bigger version)

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Business Insights to Help Optimise Your Potential

Get clear on your WHY

Whether you are just getting started in business or you are a veteran and you have been doing it for a while I have come to realize that most business owner are not experiencing the level of success they truly want. Sure you may be very optimistic and may even come up with some very good reasons why you are not enjoying the level of success you ideally want, you have set your goals and you are taking the action when you can to move you closer to achieving what you want, so why are things taking longer than they should.

Achieving success in business is about doing the right things in the right order at the right time…I’m sure you have heard me say this time and time again, and I hear you saying back to me….I’m doing that Tania, so why am I not realizing the success I truly desire.

Here are some quick and easy things you can do to support your journey in business and help you achieve more momentum with less effort.

Determine why you are in your business. Sometimes we can lose sight as to why we went into business in the first place. Take the time to reconnect you’re your passion and your purpose and the very reason why you bought into the franchise brand in the first place.

If you focus on what you are doing to earn a living, then you will always be doing stuff just to bring in the money. The passion will fade and all you will be left with is a passionless job in your own business.

By shifting your focus from WHAT you have to do to WHY you are doing it, things will flow and you will attract more customers, more money, more balance and build more momentum that will ultimately support you in achieving your dreams and goals for you and your business.

Knowing Your  L – S – F Gap

If we were to look at business from a simplistic view point every business either has a leads gap, a sales gap or a fulfillment gap. L — S — F  (Leads, Sales & Fulfillment. )  Of course there are many areas of business that require attention and continuous improvement however these three are the primary ones.

Without leads coming into our business, we don’t even come close to the opportunity of closing sales. Without sales there are no revenues therefore there is no business. Fulfillment focuses on the delivery of your products or services and without it there is no follow through in the business itself. I’m sure you have heard this before, success is always in the follow through.

Carrying out a regular gap analysis helps you to define your present and future objectives in both financial and non-financial terms with also a specific focus on the L-S-F areas of your business. The difference between where you are and where you want to be is the gap and becomes the starting point for building your business to the next level.

A gap analysis need not just be about leads, sales, fulfilment or the money, it is however usually where most people start. Your non-financial considerations could include the number of team members, your product or service offering to the marketplace and the number of satisfied customers. Other areas could also include the number of hours you work, the number of recreation days, family days and the holidays you take.

Serving Vs Selling

Gone are the days where we “sell” to others. Today it’s all about serving, not selling. You may need to shift a little in your thinking to get this. To this day customer service is very important to me. You’ve just got to ask my kids. Not only do I expect great service it’s a value in our company that we serve our customers rather than sell to our customers. Sales is the discovery of a match.  If what you have to offer does not match what the customer needs or wants and vise versa, then generally a sale should not take place if you are in the business of serving.

If we are to serve not sell then it’s important to ask ourselves who do we want to serve more of and who do we want to serve less. I liken our ideal client to our favourite toy or teddy bear when we were children. We still played with the others, however we spent more time with our favourite one. It brought more fun and enjoyment into our day so the same can happen in your business. Focus on your ideal client and you will increase your revenues, build more momentum and have more time to do the things you love. Before you can start serving more of your ideal customer you’ve got to know who they are and what they look like and where to find them.

You can get started by asking yourself these simple questions:

  • Describe the type of customer you want to do business with.
  • Describe the type of customer who you believe will give you the greatest return on your marketing investment.
  • Looking at your current business which customers do you believe right now are the easiest to find, easiest to sell to and require the least amount of time spent on them?
  • Describe the type of customer who will stay with you the longest and spend the most with you.

Value – It’s all Perception:

I’m asked this question all the time: “How do I know if I’m providing enough value?” We all have adopted a belief that it’s important to add value when we “sell” our products and services. Unfortunately this in fact causes most people to reduce their effectiveness and growth potential. When we are focused on selling we are always looking at how we can convince the customer of the value of something. If you shift to serving then it is our job to help the customer discover the value that is there for themselves.

Value is perceived. It is a perception, which means the value will be different for every single customer. Value tends to be never about the money. It’s about the relationship you build, it’s about the experience you create.

Rather than setting the expectations around what you are selling that may or may not match those of the customer, you can focus on serving them in alignment to what they are wanting and then they will derive the value out of everything.  Knowing what is important to your ideal customer will assist you in building the perceived value around serving them.

Most business owners believe they have to provide massive value to their clients, and

then they get paralysed by the concern of whether they are doing that or not. As perception is perceived, the customer is always responsible for getting the value out of the relationship! There are some things you can do to raise the perception of the value you provide and they can differ from business to business. Take some time to think about ways you can improve the perceived value wrapped around your product or service. Find out what your customer wants, loves and what’s most important to them.

Now you know your why, you’ve identified your gap and you have worked out how you will add more value without having to work harder we will, in the next issue, move onto learning how to put a revenue plan together and implementing that plan to increase revenues and help you build more momentum in your business.