Planning with Passion

Most phone calls I receive from clients have the same tone. They will say, "I need help with taking my business to the next level". As we continue the conversation I always hear them say, I know how to operate my business but it's tough trying to grow and maintain the current operation; there are only so many hours in the day. I have a friend that always says sometimes the hardest questions have the simplest answers.

Case in point:

I am passionate about helping businesses to succeed in their chosen area of expertise but my real personal passion is entertaining. I take pride in preparing for guests coming for dinner. Most of the time it is very casual but I do enjoy the formal sit down dinners with great conversation. These dinners take well orchestrated planning of the fine details from who to invited, where everyone should sit, what type of china to use, what type of food to serve (check on food allergies) and the list goes on and on.

Once I was in a conversation with a colleague attending one of my dinner parties who said to me, "when you plan dinner parties you put as much energy into them as you do a project for clients." I never really thought about it but when I put it in perspective my colleague was correct.

I use the same steps to develop a business plan as I do a well planned dinner party. Thinking of the steps in terms of my passion helped me with communicating to the client that was hitting a wall. I then changed my entire conversation with all of my clients from trying to address the problem to trying to find their passion. Once we find their true passion then we can parallel the problem solving steps to find the solution.

The Planning/Problem Solving steps are consistent but the activities change depending on the purpose or goal as seen here.  

Planning	Dinner Party	Project
Determine the goal (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, Time sensitive)	The purpose of the dinner party is to have four (4) couples for a formal yet fun and exciting dinner with 4 star wine, surf and turf, current events conversation on Saturday night at 7pm.	The goal of the project is to improve productivity by 10% and revenue by 20% by the end of 2012.
Build the team	Select the guests that will “add value” to your party by their presence. The Smith’s – College friends The Carlisle’s – Neighbors The Tall’s – My Colleagues The Worth’s – Spouses Colleagues	Select the team members that will add value to the project to reach the goal. Bill – Finance Jack – Engineering Isabella – Legal Dana – Operations
Send meeting request	Invitations are hand written and mailed to the guests	Meeting request sent through email
Plan the meeting outcome	Preparation for the event Start time/sequence for food Guests arrival time Menu Sequence Music/Entertainment Conversation topics (potentially) Attire	Research subject before hand Find articles to share with team Plan the Agenda Prepare an overview of the Project Develop objectives Plan Brain Storming of Solutions Determine plan process
Utensils Necessary	Place settings with plate, glasses, silverware, stemware	Notepad, pencils, highlighters, calculators, iPads, Projectors, Chalk board
Determine a line item budget	Allocate cost associated with food, beverages, set up, clean up, invitations, etc.	Labor, materials, supplies, marketing, sales, legal, finance, operations, etc.
Determine roles and responsibilities	Greeter, Coat taker, Hostess, head of the table, seating assignments	Timekeeper, note taker, facilitator
Clear sequence of events *Critical	Cocktail hour First Course Second Course and so on	Step 1 with responsible person and deadline, Step 2 with responsible person and deadline, Step 3 and so on
Phase completion indicators	Hostess acknowledge or most plates complete	Milestones completed
Project complete	Last guest leave	All items are completed
Wrap-up/Evaluation/Feedback	Guest comments, budget variances, goal accomplished, results obtained	Survey, budget variances, goal accomplished, results obtained
Process Improvement	Make adjustments for next event based on noted feedback	Make adjustments for next project based on survey results

Planning a large scale project that is expected to yield phenomenal results or an amazing dinner party that people will talk about forever takes a well thought out plan, attention to details and commitment to make sure the results are obtained. Underestimating the time commitment can be your worst enemy. I realized that my colleague was saying the best project planner is committed to the outcome and passionate about delivering a quality product regardless of the time investment.

Now I spend more time helping my clients find their passion. It's a simple solution: in your passion is the solution to your problem because as Jerry Gillies author of Money Love says, "you will recognize your own path when you come upon it, because you will suddenly have all the energy and imagination you will ever need". 

When in doubt of your ability to navigate business solutions, solicit the help of a professional. For more information, contact susan@directionmanagementgroup.com.

Small business owners do not take the Golden Rule literally! “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.  Honestly, if we treated our clients as we treated ourselves we would be out of business. In my observations most small business owners have slightly changed the rule to: “do unto others as we SHOULD do to ourselves.” How many beauticians do you know are in need of seeing a beautician? How many physicians don’t take care of their bodies? How many financial advisors are in financial distress?

In order to develop a strong business certain practices should become routine. Leaders not only cast the vision but leaders MUST shape the vision.  It’s not easy but we as business owners have to maintain control to have the focus and direction to drive our business to our destination. Since most of us work better with a list, here’s our list to keep our business going forward:

1.       Organization is the single best gift that we can give to ourselves and our business. It helps to save a tremendous amount of time and energy. When things are in their proper place it eliminates the frustration of last minute running around looking for things. Getting organized is time consuming on the front end and requires maintenance but it saves so much time when you’re trying to impress a client or make it to a meeting. Also, it helps to calm your spirit which will keep you open to new possibilities.

2.       Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) help to keep your business on track. The best businesses continuously have their fingers on the pulse. They know at a moment’s notice whether their sales are up or down and they are ready to respond accordingly. Developing good key indicators for your business can take the assistance of a professional. Sometimes spending a few dollars on a consultant can keep you from losing the shirt off of your back. Once you have your KPIs then you can measure your performance against the industry to ensure you’re tracking on the proper trajectory.

3.       Customer, peer and vendor feedback can be one of your best business tools when used effectively.  Feedback not only helps you to know what you’re doing right or wrong but if you listen well it can help you know what the customer wants and needs. It can help you to beat out the competition. Feedback can come in many forms. You can sit down and talk to people but also explore the tools at your disposal 24/7 – the internet. Social media can give you the greatest insight in to the industry and what your business should or should not be doing.  Listen intently because as a friend told me, “when my worst critic speaks I take notes because I know that’s my weakest link and I seize it as an opportunity to improve”.

4.       Say thank you! This is the one lost art in our culture. Sending thank you notes and following up with people is adds tremendous value to your business because most people don’t to it. A current customer is always your best next customer. The best business compliment is to have repeat satisfied customers.  So being gracious to your customers ensures continued business. If they are happy they will refer another customer. The momentum of the customer satisfaction gratitude cycle is phenomenal and has a multi-fold payback!

5.       Take a moment to rest, reflect and rejuvenate! These three R’s are essential to your long term growth and viability.  Taking the time to rest allows your body to replenish everything that we destroy in a day. Meditating and remembering the things that you are grateful for at the end of a long day makes you rest well, gives you a fresh start for increased productivity and rejuvenates your energy to the highest level. Learning to include this time in your day or week will jumpstart your business more than anything else. 

Let’s face it, as professionals we take care of our client’s needs but don’t take care of our own. Harvey S. Firestone said, “You get the best out of others when you give the best of yourself.” Making our own business and ourselves a priority will help us to be successful entrepreneurs in work and in life!

Uncomplicated Personal Branding

The new buzz word these days is “Personal Branding”. The words scare people because you immediately think of people such as Russell Simmons, Madonna, Oprah, Jessica Simpson, Ralph Lauren and the likes. We don’t think of ourselves as displaying a brand. As business owners and individuals whether we are conscious of it or not we reinforce our “brand” everyday to the world.

The message that we send to people as business owners is always essential. It doesn’t matter if you are a used car salesman or a neurosurgeon your image is important. People make a judgment about you within the first seven (7) seconds of meeting you. People don’t just notice your attire and your hair. They go beyond the obvious and make judgments about your knowledge, abilities, personality, quirks, desires, expectations, etc. Glamour Magazine’s recent article, (http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/2012/05/weight-stereotyping-the-secret-way-people-are-judging-you-based-on-your-body-glamour-june-2012) reinforces that we are constantly being judged. It says if you’re thin people think you’re superficial, ambitious, conceited, or confident but if you are overweight you are perceived as lazy, giving, insecure, passive or careless. So, I’m sure you’re saying, I don’t care what other people think because I’m smart or I’m the best doctor or I’m the best person they can find to do the job. All of that may be true but the saying that first impressions are lasting is true too. Not only is it lasting but the first impressions can either build your brand or erode your brand. It’s up to you to determine the outcome.  

When I was growing up my mother would always say, “You always have to be the bigger, the better or the best”. It was and still is a running joke in my family because I have always been competitive, talkative, a “know-it-all”, argumentative and opinionated. I hated that impression but I finally had to embrace it because that is who I am. Conversely, I had to find words that were synonymous with the adjectives my family used to describe me. I have changed the words to: I am a conversationalist, driven, well read, educated, debater and so on. Once I found synonyms that empowered me versus disempowered me I was then able to harness the energy not only personally but also professionally. Today as a Business Development Consultant I have to be the expert, to drive performance, to coach leaders, to ask the tough questions, to train organizations to get to the next level and if good – to get organizations/leaders to think big! By changed the words from negatives to positives I was able to accelerate my brand and develop strategies to ensure my success.

Personal branding often times gets a bad reputation but people see the results not the efforts. The following are five (5) “it’s” misnomers that intimidate people when it comes to Personal Branding:

1.     It’s Reinventing Yourself – First, you can’t reinvent yourself to be a successful brand! You have to be you. Now, can you be a better you? Absolutely! To create a successful brand you have to be tenacious about understanding who you are and what you represent. You have to know your brand and make sure that you are consistent in your representation of your brand.  Being conscientious about how, when and where you display your brand is easy – every way, everywhere and every time – no exceptions.

2.     It’s Expensive – Person branding is actually very inexpensive because it is “you” but maybe enhanced. It’s taking those things that are unique or specific to you and putting them on high beam. Assume you love Bic writing pens and you want to make sure people associate you with your Bic pen. To associate this with your brand always carry a Bic pen and keep extras so that people know that you’re a Bic pen user. That will become a part of your persona and thus helps to build your brand by what it implies. It implies you have planned ahead, you expect a certain quality and standard, you are always prepared, you are looking out for the next person and you know what works best for you. This translates into a business owner that you can trust! So, it’s those little things that make the brand and as my mentor would always say the devil is always in the details.

3.     It’s Pretentious – The root word of pretentious is pretend. Pretending is not necessary instead you must absolutely be the embodiment of your brand. The only thing that you can embody is what is truly inside. These are called your core values which is what you are selling. You have to “be” what you are selling.  If you are a physician, you may think you are selling your education, skills and expertise but because there are many other physicians in the market you have to have a distinguishing feature. You have to sell your competitive advantage would be something like your professionalism, efficiency, patient advocacy, sensitivity, judgment, consideration, etc. People make this determination in many instances outside of your office such as when they see you in a restaurant, at the hospital, at church or the synagogue or in situations that you would least expect. They make these determinations when they see you handling difficult situations like a difficult cashier at the grocery store. If you are pretending to be nice and patient the truth will unveil itself when you least expect it.   

4.     It’s Packaging/Scripting – Brands are only successful when your passion and belief are displayed – consistently. If you do not believe in yourself then it will show. A script or packaging will not build your brand if you are not passionate about your product (which is you) and believe in your abilities. Conversely, if you are passionate and believable a script will not be necessary and the brand will always shine. It all becomes second nature. Although if you have a script or packaging then your brand can only be reinforced. If nothing else it reinforces that you are always prepared!

5.     It’s Complicated – Paying attention to your image can be complicated if it is not natural and your purpose is not sincere. Have you seen an entertainer that doesn’t want to sign autographs or take photos with fans? Albeit being “on” all the time gets tiring but if you are entertaining because you love to perform then paying the price to acknowledge the fans should be a small price to pay. Spending long hours in the studio to make sure that you do it perfectly becomes a part of your mantra. Complexity comes when your heart isn’t in it and you’re out of touch with your brand; otherwise it is considered a part of the process!

Spend some time thinking about the brand image that you want to project. Invest in the success of your brand. Be true to your brand. Show the passion for your brand and build a mantra around your brand that reminds you every day that this is “MY brand” that I am presenting to the world. Taking pride in you and ensuring a positive conversation with yourself will ultimately build a solid “uncomplicated” personal brand!

Let's Get This Party Started!

I have started blogs before but this time I am determined to be committed. I had to get started to commit and that has been my problem. I have consistently been a part of the "I Going to Start Committee".
Ususally I procrastinate when I don't understand, I am afraid or I just don't know what I am doing. I interestingly enough when I confront my fears things tend to work out. So, today is my first day with starting this process.
I am blogging about business trends, new developments on the corporate and small business horizons, ways to improve your business and take it to the next level. We will discover ways to make you the business owner more savvy both personally and professionally.
I am a Business Development Consultant with years of experience in both small businesses and the corporate sector. My ability to be flexible and work in different environments has been my winning formula. So this is my opportunity to share nuggets of information that will make business owners more profitable! Please join me as I navigate through the blog-o-sphere! Let's get this party started!