You are much more than your past.

I was recently reminded how some people can’t look beyond what they (think they) know of your past and see that as a reflection of how and who you are now, and in some cases as a gauge of what your potential is in the future. What’s worse is that they may also tarnish in their own eyes any person you know simply because of your association with them.

Personally I’ve made several bad mistakes in business and I’m not too proud to admit it. As I was being reminded of how small-minded some people can be, I thought to myself, “How would I react in the same situation?”.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is widely attributed as saying that “If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.”, This is also a core message in the Enhancing Their Gifts System for performance leadership from Ian Berry.

Let’s take a different angle though. When dealing with professionals in the financial services industry who will manage and control our investment capital people generally accept the legal disclaimer that past performance is not a guarantee for future results. By the same token your past performance has no bearing whatsoever on what are doing now, nor can do in the future, nor who you really are.

If someone else has a problem with your past, then they are the ones with the problem. If you believe you need them in order to be able to improve your current situation, think again. They are more of a hindrance to your future than anything else.

Provided you learn from your mistakes and don’t make the same ones twice, making mistakes more than once in past business is usually a good indication that you are dealing with someone who has the fortitude to keep standing up after being knocked down repeatedly and having another go.

So my conclusion, and answer to my own question, “How would I react in the same situation?”, is that I would remain cordial at all times, and I would remove such people from any substantive interaction, or circle of influence. I suggest if you experience this behaviour in others towards you that you do the same.

Bottom line, if people are trying to put you down, most likely they see you as above them in at least some way that is significant enough to them. If they didn’t they would be above making such remarks.

Original Article Source: http://www.paullange.com.au/blue-ocean-strategy/you-are-much-more-than-your-past/

About Paul J. Lange:

Paul J. Lange is a business mentor and business performance coach who helps small to medium enterprise and entrepreneurs to apply big business, enterprise disciplines and solutions to gain a competitive advantage and increase profits. 

Paul's 'Business DIET'© system has helped countless entrepreneurs and business owners around the world to launch start-ups, expand existing operations, and greatly improve bottom lines.

Paul is also one of Australia’s most connected management consultants, and leading business strategists, with a passion for helping corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and business owners who are committed to achieving outstanding results.

Paul’s support will help you to develop strategic direction, implement it, execute and make more money. He will have you starting to work on your business, instead of in your business, right from day one; and if you have already started down this path, he will help you to complete the transition to business owner from business manager.

Web: http://www.paullange.com.au

Twitter: http://twitter.com/pauljlange

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pauljlange

Ecademy: http://www.ecademy.com/user/paullange

LinkedIn: http://au.linkedin.com/in/pauljlange

G+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/112131783045160620816/posts

Klout: http://www.klout.com/pauljlange

Peerindex: http://www.peerindex.net/pauljlange

Empire Avenue: http://www.empireavenue.com/pauljlange

Posted via email from Blue Oceans

Performance Leadership is Vital to Strategy Execution

Strategy is an undetailed plan of action to be implemented over a broadly defined period of time with the intention of achieving a defined (sometimes high-level) goal.  In other words, you want to move your business from A to B within X amount of time and decide you will achieve this through several high-level areas of activity.

But what about the people who will implement the strategy and perform the various activities, general and detailed, to help you achieve your goals? Where do they factor into the strategy equation? The answer is that in most businesses they don’t. The reason is because this has never been perceived nor taught as a part of business strategy, and arguably until the Enhancing Their Gifts System™, there was no framework to connect the business strategy and the chief executors of strategy, your employees.

Most, if not all, business strategy consulting focuses on the delivery of business improvement through strategic change, optimisation, and value innovation. The  key areas of focus are usually operations, leadership, growth and innovation, and finance and performance management. The people who you will need, to utilise their talents, skills and experience, to perform the work necessary, to deliver the improvement are generally bundled together with finance, a very analytical, black and white area of the business.

The traditional approach is that employees are seen as resources, similar to financial resources and computer systems, the performance of which must be measured and managed to maximise output and ROI. Their personal values, likes, dislikes and ambitions are discounted or ignored in the strategy picture, and such things are seen as extraneous to the pursuit and  achievement of the business goals and objectives. For the first time the Enhancing Their Gifts System™ enables business to give dedicated focus to talent and performance leadership as a part of strategic business growth.

Computer systems and financial resources are standardised and finite things with definable outputs on which to establish expectations and measure achievement.  They work best when they are deployed in the way that they are designed to produce maximum performance or results.  People however are unique creations, with infinite potential, each with their own personal and individual motivations, desires, aspirations and goals.

 

People give their best and maximum performance when they do things that will help them achieve whatever is highest on and most aligned with their values and therefore whatever is most important to them. This is as true in the workplace as it is in personal life.

Many systems talk about the need for employees to feel valued. That is a good starting point and there are many good techniques and activities that can be used to help achieve this.  There is a significant difference however between an employee feeling valued as the result of some external influence (motivation) and aligning their professional performance with what is highest on their values to create internal influence (inspiration).  The Enhancing Their Gifts System™ is the only system that I know of that makes this connection between employee business performance and the employees’ individual value system to achieve the best outcome for both the business and the person.

Business owners and leaders must come to accept that strategic change, optimisation, and value innovation is also needed in respect of the people who will execute their strategies. Performance management as an area of business strategy should  not be bundled with financial management. It should in fact be discarded entirely and businesses should establish in its place a new and separate area of talent and performance leadership. 

 

Enhancing Their Gifts moves the focus from performance management, as a sidebar of the overall strategy program, to talent and performance leadership, as an integral and important part of deploying a strategy and achieving the goals defined by it.

In every organisation employees are key to how well the business strategy is executed. They are the technicians and the managers at the coalface daily. Whether in customer facing roles or back-of-house, the employees are the ones to execute tactically what you as the business owner or corporate leader decided upon strategically with your employees.  Motivation will take you as the leader only so far.  Money and other financial tools like stock options are no longer the only, and in some cases no longer the most important currency in the transaction between employer and employee to elicit best performance. Key is what leads to employees feeling valued.

Phil Libin, Chief Executive of Evernote was on the mark when he said “Happy workers make better products  ….  the output we care about has everything to do with your state of mind”.  Evernote is well known for its advocacy of work-life integration and the benefits achieved by the business valuing what is important to the employee.

If you wish to achieve the maximum output from your employees, it is no longer about giving them a job, a periodical pay-rise, possibly stock options, a mobile phone, company car, portable computing device, and a health plan if you operate your business in a country without a national health scheme. It’s about understanding what is important to the individuals and finding ways to align what they do for you with what they want to do themselves.

The process is not a tactical activity down the track of strategy implementation. It is also not something for which you establish measurement tools to determine the individuals performance based on what the business wants in order to determine what level of perk or pay-rise the employee will receive.  It starts with a decision in the boardroom that acknowledges the need for work-life integration and the need to lead your employees’ talent and performance for mutual benefit rather than simply trying to manage their performance which is a hangover from the industrial revolution and not fit for purpose in the 21st century. 

Original Article Source: http://www.paullange.com.au/blue-ocean-strategy/performance-leadership-vital-strategy-execution/

About Paul J. Lange:

Paul J. Lange is a business mentor and business performance coach who helps small to medium enterprise and entrepreneurs to apply big business, enterprise disciplines and solutions to gain a competitive advantage and increase profits. 

Paul's 'Business DIET'© system has helped countless entrepreneurs and business owners around the world to launch start-ups, expand existing operations, and greatly improve bottom lines.

Paul is also one of Australia’s most connected management consultants, and leading business strategists, with a passion for helping corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and business owners who are committed to achieving outstanding results.

Paul’s support will help you to develop strategic direction, implement it, execute and make more money. He will have you starting to work on your business, instead of in your business, right from day one; and if you have already started down this path, he will help you to complete the transition to business owner from business manager.

Web: http://www.paullange.com.au

Twitter: http://twitter.com/pauljlange

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pauljlange

Ecademy: http://www.ecademy.com/user/paullange

LinkedIn: http://au.linkedin.com/in/pauljlange

G+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/112131783045160620816/posts

Klout: http://www.klout.com/pauljlange

Peerindex: http://www.peerindex.net/pauljlange

Empire Avenue: http://www.empireavenue.com/pauljlange

Posted via email from Blue Oceans

The Secret Colours of Marketing & Communicating Your Message - Part 1

Choosing the right colours to accurately convey your message or create the right perception in your marketing materials is as much an art as it is a science. Colours impact the emotions and actions of your target audience so it is important to make the right colour choices to maximise these impacts.

Here are a few things for you to consider, so that the colours you choose support your marketing message, and don’t disadvantage you or even work against you.

Why should consider colour in respect of marketing?

Colour is part of our inner take on the world. It's an instinctive thing, it’s fundamentally linked to our nature and intrinsic to the person we project. Every one of us has an emotional response to the different colours of the spectrum; more often than not this response is an unconscious one. It is this unconscious emotional response that matters in creating successful marketing campaigns, and colour is a key piece in the marketing puzzle.

Logos and websites - colour plays an important initial role with regard to the initial reaction.

There has been much scientific research into colours, and science offers us ways of thinking about colours in marketing to elicit a desired, or undesired, response. Take a colour wheel as an example. A colour wheel contains both warm and cool colours, each provoking a different emotional response. A warm toned colour will elicit an active response whilst a cool tone colour will elicit a calming response.

So before you start ask yourself what type of response do you want your message to elicit? The warm colours we find in nature, such as reds and yellows indicate action. Why? Think of the sun and fire. When you see fire or feel the heat of the flames, you will either be drawn in by it or you will take it as a clear indication to remove yourself from a dangerous situation. Irrespective of which camp you are in, unconsciously the message is that you should "act now!".

Cool colour tones however are different. They don't elicit action but instead they invoke serenity or calm, and stability. Think of things like our earth and a clear or slight cloud dusted sky. The message therefore with cool tone colours is "steady as she goes there" and "all good, we're stable". If you're objective is to calm the viewer, or to impart to the viewer an inner sense of timelessness, blues and the cooler colour tones are best.

Then of course there are the many different variations; the combinations of the primary colours (red, yellow, and blue) and these are very complex when talking about unconscious  or subconscious responses to colours in our marketing. Take the example in some prisons, and this is quite interesting, where pink is used to evoke a more human response from otherwise aggressive inmates.

In the next part of this series i will go into more detailed analysis of colours and their use in marketing. I trust you have found this helpful thus far.

Be sure to return soon to read the remaining two parts to this series.

I trust this was valuable.

Original Article Source: http://www.paullange.com.au/blue-ocean-strategy/secret-colours-marketing-communicating-message-part-1/

About Paul J. Lange:

Paul J. Lange is a business mentor and business performance coach who helps small to medium enterprise and entrepreneurs to apply big business, enterprise disciplines and solutions to gain a competitive advantage and increase profits. 

Paul's 'Business DIET'© system has helped countless entrepreneurs and business owners around the world to launch start-ups, expand existing operations, and greatly improve bottom lines.

Paul is also one of Australia’s most connected management consultants, and leading business strategists, with a passion for helping corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and business owners who are committed to achieving outstanding results.

Paul’s support will help you to develop strategic direction, implement it, execute and make more money. He will have you starting to work on your business, instead of in your business, right from day one; and if you have already started down this path, he will help you to complete the transition to business owner from business manager.

Web: http://www.paullange.com.au

Twitter: http://twitter.com/pauljlange

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pauljlange

Ecademy: http://www.ecademy.com/user/paullange

LinkedIn: http://au.linkedin.com/in/pauljlange

G+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/112131783045160620816/posts

Klout: http://www.klout.com/pauljlange

Peerindex: http://www.peerindex.net/pauljlange

Empire Avenue: http://www.empireavenue.com/pauljlange

Posted via email from Blue Oceans

Creating Excellence in Your Restaurant

Dine America is one of the premier restaurant and food service industry conferences globally and one that all leaders in this industry should put on their agenda to attend. This is not just another trade show! I mention this because it is where I first heard Horst Schulze speak.

Horst Schulze was recognised as the ‘corporate hotelier of the world’ by HOTELS Magazine in 1991. He was the president and COO of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company from 1988 until 2001 and served as Vice-Chairman for a further two years before departing for other endeavours. Horst Schulze is currently the Chairman and CEO of The West Paces Hotel Group.

Mr. Schulze is an absolute legend in the service world and among the leaders of the hospitality industry and has been quoted as saying "Many companies prefer to make money by cutting costs. I prefer to do it by creating excellence.". His words are relevant across all industries but especially pertinent in the restaurant and hotel industries.

Do you have a plan, a strategy, and most importantly action points for you and your staff to create excellence in your restaurant daily?

Following are a few ideas that other restaurants and/or industries do daily to create excellence in the experience of their guests or clients. You may wish to consider how you can apply some or all of the ideas and systems in your business.

Bellmen at the Ritz Carlton will read the luggage tags of arriving guests and immediately greet the guests by their name.

Many banks use their clients name after each transaction. Now that may not be practical in all businesses but look to the signs. Phone orders, clients who use a credit card, and of course those who you already know all present excellent opportunities to use the client’s name; a word of caution though, do not presume to be able to refer to the guest by their first name. Many people are annoyed by this presumed familiarity and find it inappropriate.

Also, in situations where you have phone orders or phone based customer service interactions, the advancements in Computer Telephone Integration (CTI) and furthermore with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems allow you to provide your staff a comprehensive client profile immediately the phone rings so that your employees have all possible information to hand to be able to assist your client the second they answer the call. These systems are now very affordable and very much within the reach of even small operations.

Banish all generic and impersonal greetings such “Next”, “Who’s waiting”, “Can I help the next customer in line”, “Ready to order” etc.. You sound like every other impersonal business out there and clients have grown numb to it.

In respect of food delivery, ask for the client’s name instead of calling out “Number 888”. Again, do not subtly force the client to provide their first name by asking directly for it. Ask for their name, not their first name and let them provide whatever they are comfortable with.

When I lived in New York City my dry cleaner would see me jump out of the taxi outside and would have my clothes ready for me by the time I came through the front door and/or would have a docket ready to hand to me if I was there to drop some clothes off. She was an amazing woman, and I thought I was super special because that is how she made me feel. I later found out that she did this for all of her clients which simply confirmed how amazing she was.

Speed and efficiency of service are both key! In some restaurants whoever greets the guests upon arrival (e.g. venue manager, duty manager, restaurant manager, maitre d’hotel or host) will code the guest check, or service account in the integrated restaurant management and POS system, so when the waiter/waitress comes to the table or looks at their (handheld) service terminal, they know if it is a first-time guest, a regular customer, someone who is in a hurry and needs fast service et al. Using this system allows the waiter/waitress to customise the guests experience and contribute to making this visit at least meet and hopefully exceed the client’s expectations.

Add some buttons to the POS system that will inform the kitchen and food runners (or whatever you call your people delivery the food if not the waiter/waitress) that a guest is either a first-timer, a regular customer, in a hurry et al. Use the technology to create alerts that will allow you to more efficiently and effectively enhance the quality of your guest’s experience. You may want to give a returning customer a perk with a bounce-back voucher or a card that says "welcome to my restaurant" with a brief greeting that is hand signed by the manager, or even a visit from the manager to (additionally) personally welcome them.

Some of these ideas may sound corny, crazy, unusual, or unique. Whatever they are they are unfortunately (or fortunately for the few) different and differentiating. They are the small things that can create a viral marketing buzz about your restaurant both online and via offline word of mouth. If you monitor the restaurant review sites you will start to see these little touches come back in the customer reviews guests leave for each other online.

Go out and create excellence!

Paul

About Paul J. Lange:

Paul J. Lange is a business mentor and business performance coach who helps small to medium enterprise and entrepreneurs to apply big business, enterprise disciplines and solutions to gain a competitive advantage and increase profits. 

Paul's 'Business DIET'© system has helped countless entrepreneurs and business owners around the world to launch start-ups, expand existing operations, and greatly improve bottom lines.

Paul is also one of Australia’s most connected management consultants, and leading business strategists, with a passion for helping corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and business owners who are committed to achieving outstanding results.

Paul’s support will help you to develop strategic direction, implement it, execute and make more money. He will have you starting to work on your business, instead of in your business, right from day one; and if you have already started down this path, he will help you to complete the transition to business owner from business manager.

Web: http://www.paullange.com.au

Twitter: http://twitter.com/pauljlange

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pauljlange

Ecademy: http://www.ecademy.com/user/paullange

LinkedIn: http://au.linkedin.com/in/pauljlange

G+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/112131783045160620816/posts

Klout: http://www.klout.com/pauljlange

Peerindex: http://www.peerindex.net/pauljlange

Empire Avenue: http://www.empireavenue.com/pauljlange

Posted via email from Blue Oceans

Starting with the End in Mind - Exit Strategy Series | Introduction

Many SME’s have huge potential to grow into a big business. However the majority never achieve more than average results in the small business environment. Whilst the quality of the product or service and the skills of the founder are important, what makes the biggest difference is the ability of the owner to think like a large enterprise. The most fundamental way this is expressed is in the owner’s ability, and often discipline, to stop working ‘in’ the business and start working ‘on’ the business.

Most small business owners are like politicians. They have some grand scheme of the world (their business) and they do not take the time to consider what their business would look like without them in it day by day.

Whether by design or by default, all too often the founders of small businesses make themselves irreplaceable. The reality is though if they were to be run over by a bus tomorrow, the business would most likely fail. This is singularly where most (new) entrepreneurs go wrong and it is without doubt the largest obstacle to growing a business from small to medium and ultimately a large enterprise.

Most small business owners make the huge mistake of treating their business like a job. Understandable to some degree because that is what they have given themselves. If you want a company with massive growth potential you need to turn it into a saleable asset that will be attractive to potential buyers. The business of being in business is the business!

If you are one of the 70% of small business owners hoping to use the proceeds from the sale of your business to finance your retirement you may have a problem. But it is one that can be rectified. What you need to do can’t be covered in a single blog article, so there will be more articles to cover the various topics.

What you can start doing is looking at your business as a series of processes. Define each one and once defined, become more granular and define it in even more detail, i.e. break it down into more sub-processes. Document all of this in a workflow and discuss it with someone competent to understand your business. From this you will be able to start to create systems around your products, services, and back office/internal procedures.

About Paul J. Lange:

Paul J. Lange is a business mentor and business performance coach who helps small to medium enterprise and entrepreneurs to apply big business, enterprise disciplines and solutions to gain a competitive advantage and increase profits. 

Paul's 'Business DIET'© system has helped countless entrepreneurs and business owners around the world to launch start-ups, expand existing operations, and greatly improve bottom lines.

Paul is also one of Australia’s most connected management consultants, and leading business strategists, with a passion for helping corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and business owners who are committed to achieving outstanding results.

Paul’s support will help you to develop strategic direction, implement it, execute and make more money. He will have you starting to work on your business, instead of in your business, right from day one; and if you have already started down this path, he will help you to complete the transition to business owner from business manager.

Web: http://www.paullange.com.au

Twitter: http://twitter.com/pauljlange

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pauljlange

Ecademy: http://www.ecademy.com/user/paullange

Klout: http://www.klout.com/pauljlange

Peerindex: http://www.peerindex.net/pauljlange

Empire Avenue: http://www.empireavenue.com/pauljlange

Posted via email from Blue Oceans

Thieving Charities Ripping off Consumers Need to be Stopped

With more than 600,000 tax-exempt nonprofits in Australia, there are a lot of hands grabbing at your bank and credit card details on the hunt for donations. Beware who you give your details to because you may not be able to stop them stealing money from your account.

They say that time is the best judge of character and that is true for both people and business; especially when dealing with charities. We are all pretty much wary these days of door-to-door insurance salesmen, used car salesmen, and door-to-door bible evangelists. We should be equally cautious and wary of charities, no matter where we encounter them.

Despite huge administrative costs and even larger costs of fund-raising (in excess of 30% for many) many charities have become worse with customer service than mobile and Internet telecommunication providers. The only thing that separates them is that most of the charities don’t have call centers based out of some far-away land.

For the rest as soon as you call them or have a problem they will try every delaying tactic in the book to keep from resolving your issue. Nothing is more true when it comes to repatriating funds that have been illegally deducted from your account. I can assure I know, this has recently happened to me with a charity in Australia.

If this happens to you, you are able to take action.  In Australia your first calls and communications should be the Office of Fair Trading,  CTTT (Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal), and the Department of Justice. There is also a new Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission launching to act as an industry watchdog and amongst other things to stop these rogue charities from ripping off people.

For the record, I am all for giving to people in need. Only as with every opportunity in society there will always be some who demonstrate the worst attributes of human nature; the thieving grubs who hide behind their charity status and alleged doing-good banner, whose real goal is simply to rip people off in the name of charity. These people need to be stopped!!

In fact, the entire concept of charity needs to change and in creating that change address issues like this so as to bring a halt to the immoral and illegal practices of these offenders. More to follow as y personal encounter with one organisation in Australia unfolds. 

About Paul J. Lange:

Paul J. Lange is a business mentor and business performance coach who helps small to medium enterprise and entrepreneurs to apply big business, enterprise disciplines and solutions to gain a competitive advantage and increase profits. 

Paul's 'Business DIET'© system has helped countless entrepreneurs and business owners around the world to launch start-ups, expand existing operations, and greatly improve bottom lines.

Paul is also one of Australia’s most connected management consultants, and leading business strategists, with a passion for helping corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and business owners who are committed to achieving outstanding results.

Paul’s support will help you to develop strategic direction, implement it, execute and make more money. He will have you starting to work on your business, instead of in your business, right from day one; and if you have already started down this path, he will help you to complete the transition to business owner from business manager.

Web: http://www.paullange.com.au

Twitter: http://twitter.com/pauljlange

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pauljlange

Ecademy: http://www.ecademy.com/user/paullange

Klout: http://www.klout.com/pauljlange

Peerindex: http://www.peerindex.net/pauljlange

Empire Avenue: http://www.empireavenue.com/pauljlange

Posted via email from Blue Oceans

Working in Your Business or Working on Your Business

Yesterday I was asked to be the guest speaker at a networking event. The topic I was asked to talk about was “what it looks like when small business owners are working in their business and not on their business”.

I was also interviewed this morning by a journalist for one of Australia’s leading national business publications in relation to the same subject. As I discussed with him, unless you as a business owner can remove yourself from the day-to-day operations, you don’t have a business, you have given yourself a job. The key difference is that the boss won’t complain if you arrive late, leave early or take a day off. That is not entirely a good difference as it touches on one of the main challenges business owners face, namely ACCOUNTABILITY!!!

The focus of the interview however was mainly around processes and systems and I found one of the questions particularly interesting. The question was whether accountants are one of the best advisors for small business to help them with their processes, systems, and working on not in their business more generally. My experience is this: 

• By looking at the business processes strategically it is possible to double company profits of most SME's within 12 months. 
• You can generate more profits by either saving on costs (a finite approach but definitely worth doing) or generating more revenue (infinite possibilities) .... or both, and it is this third way that has the potential for exponential growth due to the synergistic effect of the two at once.
• More efficiency creates opportunity for both more effectiveness and more productivity (more income with the same resources) and the systems that deliver that efficiency provide for rapid integration of new resources to increase revenue even further.

This is partly why accountants are not the best to advise business owners in this way. They are good at strategic financial processes! But that is only one aspect of the business; an important one but back-office and not front-line. 

CFO's (the accountants of big business) are taking on more important roles in large companies and in SME's external accountants are riding this wave. The key difference is that CFO's are focused on what they do best, critical evaluation of numbers, creative manipulation of those numbers within the relevant frameworks (e.g. tax, compliance, governance) and risk analysis in terms of financial exposure. Accountants try to be more and the average small business owner working in his business not on it, like a man dying of thirst in the dessert will gladly accept a drink from the first person to pass. 

But a tiger cannot change his stripes, and whilst every bit as regal as a lion, a tiger will never be a lion. If he does he was probably always a lion who at one point walked through tar-soaked underbrush. The same can be said for accountants and entrepreneurs.

About Paul J. Lange:

Paul J. Lange is a business mentor and business performance coach who helps small to medium enterprise and entrepreneurs to apply big business, enterprise disciplines and solutions to gain a competitive advantage and increase profits. 

Paul's 'Business DIET'© system has helped countless entrepreneurs and business owners around the world to launch start-ups, expand existing operations, and greatly improve bottom lines.

Paul is also one of Australia’s most connected management consultants, and leading business strategists, with a passion for helping corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and business owners who are committed to achieving outstanding results.

Paul’s support will help you to develop strategic direction, implement it, execute and make more money. He will have you starting to work on your business, instead of in your business, right from day one; and if you have already started down this path, he will help you to complete the transition to business owner from business manager.

Web: http://www.paullange.com.au

Twitter: http://twitter.com/pauljlange

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pauljlange

Ecademy: http://www.ecademy.com/user/paullange

Klout: http://www.klout.com/pauljlange

Peerindex: http://www.peerindex.net/pauljlange

Empire Avenue: http://www.empireavenue.com/pauljlange

Posted via email from Blue Oceans

Your Immediate Business Potential is the Average of Your Inbox

I made a startling discovery the other day as I reviewed my sent items and looked through my email archives. 

We’ve all heard the concept that you become a product of your environment, and that your income will be the average of your five closest friends; or is it business associates?

Revenue had taken a bit of a dip in recent months and I was contemplating why. This wasn’t the reason I went searching through my email program. It simply struck me, as I looked at the recipients, the number of email threads with specific people, and the number of emails per thread with those people, that I was spending a lot of time talking to the same people with no outcome. 

So I invested some more time in looking back historically and without being too analytical, working off memory instead of comparing bank accounts and running complex formulas in a spreadsheet, I compared income during different periods to the type, volume and complexity of the email traffic. Here’s what I discovered.

I earned more money when I sent less emails to more people. The overall volume of emails during times of higher revenue generation was approximately 23.5% of the total and generated more than 87.3% of the revenue for the period reviewed. BTW I looked back over a period of almost 9.5 years. Also the ration of revenue in for effort expended in delivery plus hard COGS (cost of goods sold) was much higher … i.e. more profitable.

I earned less money, worked longer hours, and was generally unhealthier (later reflection) when I sent more emails to less people. Upon further reflection I realised I was a lot less happy and this rubbed off on my family.

What does all of this mean? Well I’ll leave that to your own individual interpretation. What’s clear to me is that less is certainly more. The clue though is to recognise what you are doing, interpret it in the context of the situation, and   lead yourself out of what could become a very self destructive parttern of behaviour. It is very easy to become wrapped up in a cycle of business busyness with the same people and delude oneself that the outcomes will follow. There is a time when it is appropriate to cut your losses and change direction. One of the greatest challenges is having the perspective to be able to do that at the right moment!

I encourage everyone to look at their email communications or whatever medium it is you use primarily for your business communications and unless you are very specialised in  your field with less than a handful of other people with whom you need to communicate regularly you may find similar patterns. If the patters are the good ones (i.e. lead to high revenue and profitability) keep doing what you are doing. If they are the negative ones, consider adapting your approach to the way you conduct your business immediately.

About Paul J. Lange:

Paul J. Lange is a business mentor and business performance coach who helps small to medium enterprise and entrepreneurs to apply big business, enterprise disciplines and solutions to gain a competitive advantage and increase profits. 

Paul's 'Business DIET'© system has helped countless entrepreneurs and business owners around the world to launch start-ups, expand existing operations, and greatly improve bottom lines.

Paul is also one of Australia’s most connected management consultants, and leading business strategists, with a passion for helping corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and business owners who are committed to achieving outstanding results.

Paul’s support will help you to develop strategic direction, implement it, execute and make more money. He will have you starting to work on your business, instead of in your business, right from day one; and if you have already started down this path, he will help you to complete the transition to business owner from business manager.

Web: http://www.paullange.com.au

Twitter: http://twitter.com/pauljlange

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pauljlange

Ecademy: http://www.ecademy.com/user/paullange

Klout: http://www.klout.com/pauljlange

Peerindex: http://www.peerindex.net/pauljlange

Empire Avenue: http://www.empireavenue.com/pauljlange

Posted via email from Blue Oceans

Become a better networker!? No!! Improve your Business

Purpose is lost in the noise

Since when has ‘become a better networker’ been the point to going to networking functions? It seems that most of the ‘networking experts’ out there are stuck in the features and benefits mode of business networking events.  Almost every general business networking event I have attended in the last six years had someone spruiking the ultimate goal that you should ‘become a better networker’.

This approach misses the mark by miles and from what I have observed commonly creates ‘business networker’ drones. People focused on improving their profile as ‘networker’ rather than learning inter-personal skills and leveraging business networking events to add value to their business. Traditional ‘networking experts’ miss the “Why?” and the “Value”.

Think for a moment about how many networking functions have you attended? How about how many of those networking events had a ‘networking expert’ speaker. Someone at the front of the room giving you tips on how to ‘become a better networker’.

Personally I’ve been to loads of them!

The objection I have in respect of the greater majority of these ‘networking experts’ is that they are no better than the average person in the room. They are teaching what they would like to learn the most; not an unknown thing in any industry. Most have bought into their own propaganda about how good they are.

It’s been said that “The only reason to give a speech is to change the world”. I believe that this is true. On the micro scale of a business networking event, I translate this to ‘the only reason to give a speech is to make a difference and have an impact on the lives of the people in the room’.

So next time you attend a business networking event with speaker profiled as a ‘networking expert’ filter out the noise of why you should ‘become a better networker’. Instead focus on the little gems of inter-personal relationship and communication skills that will help you to improve your business. Most of the time they will be there. If you can learn one more skill at each event you attend, you and your business will grow.

About Paul J. Lange:

Paul J. Lange is a business mentor and business performance coach who helps small to medium enterprise and entrepreneurs to apply big business, enterprise disciplines and solutions to gain a competitive advantage and increase profits. 

Paul's 'Business DIET'© system has helped countless entrepreneurs and business owners around the world to launch start-ups, expand existing operations, and greatly improve bottom lines.

Paul is also one of Australia’s most connected management consultants, and leading business strategists, with a passion for helping corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and business owners who are committed to achieving outstanding results.

Paul’s support will help you to develop strategic direction, implement it, execute and make more money. He will have you starting to work on your business, instead of in your business, right from day one; and if you have already started down this path, he will help you to complete the transition to business owner from business manager.

Web: http://www.paullange.com.au

Twitter: http://twitter.com/pauljlange

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pauljlange

Ecademy: http://www.ecademy.com/user/paullange

Klout: http://www.klout.com/pauljlange

Peerindex: http://www.peerindex.net/pauljlange

Empire Avenue: http://www.empireavenue.com/pauljlange

Posted via email from Blue Oceans

Become a better networker!? No!! Improve your Business

Purpose is lost in the noise

Since when has ‘become a better networker’ been the point to going to networking functions? It seems that most of the ‘networking experts’ out there are stuck in the features and benefits mode of business networking events.  Almost every general business networking event I have attended in the last six years had someone spruiking the ultimate goal that you should ‘become a better networker’.

This approach misses the mark by miles and from what I have observed commonly creates ‘business networker’ drones. People focused on improving their profile as ‘networker’ rather than learning inter-personal skills and leveraging business networking events to add value to their business. Traditional ‘networking experts’ miss the “Why?” and the “Value”.

Think for a moment about how many networking functions have you attended? How about how many of those networking events had a ‘networking expert’ speaker. Someone at the front of the room giving you tips on how to ‘become a better networker’.

Personally I’ve been to loads of them!

The objection I have in respect of the greater majority of these ‘networking experts’ is that they are no better than the average person in the room. They are teaching what they would like to learn the most; not an unknown thing in any industry. Most have bought into their own propaganda about how good they are.

It’s been said that “The only reason to give a speech is to change the world”. I believe that this is true. On the micro scale of a business networking event, I translate this to ‘the only reason to give a speech is to make a difference and have an impact on the lives of the people in the room’.

So next time you attend a business networking event with speaker profiled as a ‘networking expert’ filter out the noise of why you should ‘become a better networker’. Instead focus on the little gems of inter-personal relationship and communication skills that will help you to improve your business. Most of the time they will be there. If you can learn one more skill at each event you attend, you and your business will grow.

About Paul J. Lange:

Paul J. Lange is a business mentor and business performance coach who helps small to medium enterprise and entrepreneurs to apply big business, enterprise disciplines and solutions to gain a competitive advantage and increase profits. 

Paul's 'Business DIET'© system has helped countless entrepreneurs and business owners around the world to launch start-ups, expand existing operations, and greatly improve bottom lines.

Paul is also one of Australia’s most connected management consultants, and leading business strategists, with a passion for helping corporate leaders, entrepreneurs and business owners who are committed to achieving outstanding results.

Paul’s support will help you to develop strategic direction, implement it, execute and make more money. He will have you starting to work on your business, instead of in your business, right from day one; and if you have already started down this path, he will help you to complete the transition to business owner from business manager.

Web: http://www.paullange.com.au

Twitter: http://twitter.com/pauljlange

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pauljlange

Ecademy: http://www.ecademy.com/user/paullange

Klout: http://www.klout.com/pauljlange

Peerindex: http://www.peerindex.net/pauljlange

Empire Avenue: http://www.empireavenue.com/pauljlange

Posted via email from Blue Oceans