"A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, the lawn mower is broken." --James Dent
Summer Reading - Switch - Part 1
Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard
Changing Lanes,
Changing Clothes,
Changing Direction,
Change has many meanings to each of us, but overall, change is usually not easy. It takes conscious effort to make a change become part of our lives. Most of us have heard about the "if you do it 21 days, it will become habit". That is a plan that works for some, others lose track of what they are trying to change after a day or two.
Even if you are a master at change, you may know friends, staff or family that live in our world where change is hard and requires work. Over the next few weeks, I'll be giving tips on change with the book "Switch " by brothers Chip and Dan Heath. This is one of those books that I first purchased for my Kindle, then got the mp3 and finally a hardcover - it really is that good.
Today, let's just take an overview. For anything to change, someone has to start doing something differently. The beauty of this book and Lean Office is that the leader doesn't have to start the change - anyone that sees a problem can cause change with no authority, power or resources.
Dan and Chip Heath describe change as having an emotional side and rational side or an emotional Elephant and a rational Driver of the elephant.
If you imagine yourself sitting atop an elephant and expect it to change directions you will need a "ton" of convincing. The key to permanent and lasting change is three pronged:
Direct the Rider - the rational mind needs the "why" of the change.
Motivate the Elephant - the emotional, feeling mind needs to feel something. Maybe very quick success, visual examples, small group trials.
Shape the Path - to create behavior change, the situation needs to change. Using checklists, rearranging the workstation, seeding the tip jar are just simple examples of how to remind others "change has happened"
Read the First Chapter or Buy the book Switch
Monday, July 25, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Lazy Days of Summer
With Harry Potter providing a cooling off time at the theaters, families on vacation and many people taking a causal and slower pace to business, business owners have the perfect opportunity to do some reassessing, planning and maybe just catching up on neglected paperwork.
The slower summer pace is a good time to re-evaluate clients, your plan, align budgets or maybe create budgets. If 2011 started without a written plan, July is not too late to finish this year with a bang. Doing a plan for the next six months will align your business and build a foundation for 2012. It is really quite simple:
1) Vision – Where will this business be by December 31, 2011
3) Mission – Why do customers think we exist?
3) Core Values – How do we get things done?
4) Desired Outcomes – 3 to 8 goals that will help 2011 be a fabulous year
5) Projects – What has to happen to drive to the Vision and meet the Desired?
Need help? Check out the Simple Plan for a quick start to your success or download the Planning PDF
The slower summer pace is a good time to re-evaluate clients, your plan, align budgets or maybe create budgets. If 2011 started without a written plan, July is not too late to finish this year with a bang. Doing a plan for the next six months will align your business and build a foundation for 2012. It is really quite simple:
1) Vision – Where will this business be by December 31, 2011
3) Mission – Why do customers think we exist?
3) Core Values – How do we get things done?
4) Desired Outcomes – 3 to 8 goals that will help 2011 be a fabulous year
5) Projects – What has to happen to drive to the Vision and meet the Desired?
Need help? Check out the Simple Plan for a quick start to your success or download the Planning PDF
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Is Your Cash flow flowing?
How Does Your Cash Flow?
If you haven't read "Rich Dad Poor Dad" take a minute right now and add it to your to summer reading list. The focus is on personal finance, but so much is applicable to businesses, too.
Last week I talked about "Working ON your business not IN your business" and it resonated with many. That statement was coined by Michael Gerber in his landmark "E-Myth" book series. Small businesses create the brightest futures by moving from managing their cash flow to creating wealth. Here is a short history of business styles and how they work their money or cash flow.
Money Path of a Job-Preneur. A job-preneur is a business owner that has created a job for herself. Typically when the owner expires or retires, the business does likewise. The most important information this business owner looks for is cash flow - what is coming in and what goes out. Do we have enough to pay all expenses and maybe put some aside for retirement? If this is your business, just being clear on what it is and planning for the future is important.
Money Path of the Business Owner. The business owner that has some employees and a plan for growth will likely be looking carefully at not only the cash flow of the business but also the Income Statement. The typical business owner will be aware of the liabilities associated with growth and asset acquisition. But few businesses in this category have "income producing assets", they are just large expenses. For example, the company car is an asset and maybe it has a loan, but does it really generate any cash flow? If these businesses are to be sold, the price is usually not much beyond a multiple of the business' profits. No Proft? Difficult to sell over the fair market value of the assets. Again, knowing what your exit plan is may mean that the business is what you want it to be. If you want more from your business, read on.
Money Path of an Entrepreneurial Business. Here the owner is striving to not only pay all the bills, pay down the liabilities and build assets but building a business where the owner works ON the business. A business that builds for the future is managing the cash flow, the income statement and most importantly the balance sheet. The key to getting assets to grow and generate income is having repeatable processes. These processes are for everything from answering the phone to providing outstanding service. If it can't be repeated, you don't have a salable process. These processes free the owner to be a leader and not just a worker-bee. The beauty of buying a franchise is that you are purchasing a tried and true way to have an income producing asset! Think about how you can create a business that is easy for someone else to come and replace you. When you know you can walk away and the cash will keep flowing, you have built a business based on wealth creation.
Being clear as to what type of business you are building means you will have a unmistakable understanding of what to expect. Businesses, like children, can only produce what we train them to do!
Copyright 2011 Linda Lucas Fayerweather
http://www.changinglanes.biz/
419-897-0528
If you haven't read "Rich Dad Poor Dad" take a minute right now and add it to your to summer reading list. The focus is on personal finance, but so much is applicable to businesses, too.
Last week I talked about "Working ON your business not IN your business" and it resonated with many. That statement was coined by Michael Gerber in his landmark "E-Myth" book series. Small businesses create the brightest futures by moving from managing their cash flow to creating wealth. Here is a short history of business styles and how they work their money or cash flow.
Money Path of a Job-Preneur. A job-preneur is a business owner that has created a job for herself. Typically when the owner expires or retires, the business does likewise. The most important information this business owner looks for is cash flow - what is coming in and what goes out. Do we have enough to pay all expenses and maybe put some aside for retirement? If this is your business, just being clear on what it is and planning for the future is important.
Money Path of the Business Owner. The business owner that has some employees and a plan for growth will likely be looking carefully at not only the cash flow of the business but also the Income Statement. The typical business owner will be aware of the liabilities associated with growth and asset acquisition. But few businesses in this category have "income producing assets", they are just large expenses. For example, the company car is an asset and maybe it has a loan, but does it really generate any cash flow? If these businesses are to be sold, the price is usually not much beyond a multiple of the business' profits. No Proft? Difficult to sell over the fair market value of the assets. Again, knowing what your exit plan is may mean that the business is what you want it to be. If you want more from your business, read on.
Money Path of an Entrepreneurial Business. Here the owner is striving to not only pay all the bills, pay down the liabilities and build assets but building a business where the owner works ON the business. A business that builds for the future is managing the cash flow, the income statement and most importantly the balance sheet. The key to getting assets to grow and generate income is having repeatable processes. These processes are for everything from answering the phone to providing outstanding service. If it can't be repeated, you don't have a salable process. These processes free the owner to be a leader and not just a worker-bee. The beauty of buying a franchise is that you are purchasing a tried and true way to have an income producing asset! Think about how you can create a business that is easy for someone else to come and replace you. When you know you can walk away and the cash will keep flowing, you have built a business based on wealth creation.
Being clear as to what type of business you are building means you will have a unmistakable understanding of what to expect. Businesses, like children, can only produce what we train them to do!
Copyright 2011 Linda Lucas Fayerweather
http://www.changinglanes.biz/
419-897-0528
Monday, July 04, 2011
Freedom FROM Your Business
Fourth of July is a great time to reflect on your future with your business. July begins the third quarter and second half of the year.
Copyright 2011 Linda Lucas Fayerweather
www.ChangingLanes.biz
419-897-0528
Send Linda an email to start the activation of your next adventure in business. Coach Linda
"No one was either Tory or Whig; it was either dependence or independence." --Caesar Rodney
"In politics the middle way is none at all." --John Adams
"The greatest ability in business is to get along with others and to influence their actions." --John Hancock
"Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper." --Thomas Jefferson
- Maybe you see yourself as a major competitor in your industry and going public or being acquired?
- Or are you just going to create a great retirement plan to keep your mind active and your wallet happy?
- Maybe you see your business as something to provide for change in your community.
Copyright 2011 Linda Lucas Fayerweather
www.ChangingLanes.biz
419-897-0528
Send Linda an email to start the activation of your next adventure in business. Coach Linda
Businesses: Made in America
My old home has a copy of the Declaration of Independence hanging over the mantle. The mantle is from the estate of William Floyd's who signed the Declaration from New York state. The copy was originally hanging in Robert E. Griffin's office when he was General Manager of the Oldsmobile Plant in Lansing, Michigan. It then hung in my dad's offices when he was a school principal, my mom's office when she became director of a senior center and now in my historic home. Mr. Griffin would always talk about how in the USA anyone can be come anything!
My old home has a copy of the Declaration of Independence hanging over the mantle. The mantle is from the estate of William Floyd's who signed the Declaration from New York state. The copy was originally hanging in Robert E. Griffin's office when he was General Manager of the Oldsmobile Plant in Lansing, Michigan. It then hung in my dad's offices when he was a school principal, my mom's office when she became director of a senior center and now in my historic home. Mr. Griffin would always talk about how in the USA anyone can be come anything!
Happy birthday America! Let's celebrate the week ahead by saluting some of the country's most tried-and-true products:
- Louisville Slugger - Made in Kentucky since 1884.
- Wonder Bread - Founded in 1921 and still going strong - 130+ million loaves are sold a year.
- Harley-Davidson - Two friends William Harley and Arthur Davidson made their first motorcycle in 1903. 2006 sales: 350,000 bikes.
- Ivory Soap - has been keeping Americans clean for 128 years.
- Crayola - Founded in 1903, nearly 3 billion crayons are produced annually.
- Woolrich Blankets - kept Civil War soldiers dry and warm and today they're still in use 177 years after Woolrich's founding.
- Jack Daniel's - has been distilled in Lynchburg Tenn. since 1866, but you can't drink whiskey there - the town has been dry since Prohibition!
- DuPont - Incorporated in Delaware in 1802 and was the major supplier of black powder for the War of 1812 - most known now for the inventions of nylon, corian and kevlar.
- Seth Thomas - clockmakers since 1813 - check it out in NYC Grand Central Station.
- Libbey, Inc. - glassmakers since 1888 and still in Toledo, Ohio.
- Both Hires and Vernors claim to be the oldest continuously made soft drinks in the United Sates - 1876 is the year they both claim and they are currently both owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group.
- Levi Strauss - 1873 is considered the birth of blue jeans when U.S.Patent No.139,121 was received for the still popular Levi's - for all shapes and sizes - still privately held by relatives of Levi Strauss.
"No one was either Tory or Whig; it was either dependence or independence." --Caesar Rodney
"In politics the middle way is none at all." --John Adams
"The greatest ability in business is to get along with others and to influence their actions." --John Hancock
"Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper." --Thomas Jefferson
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