North San Diego Business@Large

On Wednesday, January 30th North San Diego Business kicked off it’s Business Webinar Series. My guest that evening was Andrea Glass, Writers Way, who shared tips and strategies for creating your own business information products. It’s an hour long webinar complete with slides and will give you a good foundation for starting a product.  Enjoy, and please leave your comments!

On Friday, February 1st, New York Times bestselling author, Michael Gerber,  The E Myth Revisited  and E Myth Mastery, will be presenting "Awaken The Entrepreneur Within" to the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce’s First Friday Breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn.

As a small business guru Michael Gerber knows that most small business owners work in their businesses instead of on them. He believes this happens because they are missing the fundamental point of their small business, that you should create your business so that it provides you with a better life – and more of it, period. The purpose of your business is NOT to create a JOB!

During the First Friday Breakfast, Gerber will speak to you about the age of the new entrepreneur and how his ideas are helping to change the face of small business. In this educational 30-minute presentation, you will:

• Learn practical know how to build your own system.
• Become a business development specialist.
• Leave knowing how to function like a powerful machine.

First Friday Breakfast is the chamber’s premiere networking and business promotional event, and one of the most regularly attended monthly programs. The breakfast will be from 7 to 9 a.m. February 1, 2008 the Hilton Garden Inn, 6450 Carlsbad Blvd., Carlsbad.

Here we are in the second month of the year, are you already finding yourself coming and going, wondering how to get done all the things your business demands of you? Is it more like being in a batting cage with things coming at you, rather then in the game playing to win? Over the years I have experienced my clients suffering through those long lists of "got to get done" things, but what I have come to understand is most of those "things" are not focused, nor do they consistently support the things that really matter, your dreams and goals.

But, you ask, when the list is so long what does really matter? That sounds more like you are striking out instead of scoring. So let’s think about your game - how many up at bats have you skipped this week? This month? Managing the high priority, high pay off areas of the business means first having a clear focus on the mission and goals of the business. Anything that distracts you from realizing those goals is likely producing inconsistent results. The question to ask yourself to stay focused is, "is this activity helping me reach my goal?"

Weekly you must carefully define your work and break it down to essential tasks which will give you a game plan. Growing a business means having consistent up at bats, i.e. activities that produce high pay off results, that means prospecting for new clients, calling for appointments and having face to face encounters with them. In addition it means staying in touch with your "centers of influence" who recommend you.

Paul J. Meyer, Founder of Success Motivation Institute once wrote "There is a world of difference between mere action and constructive action." So instead of just adding to that "to do" list, take time to plan a week of constructive action, focusing on the things that hit the mark consistently. I recommend that you break your activities down to Business Development, Contract Fulfillment/Work to be Completed, Follow up, Personal/Home, and Administration. When you have your goals in front of you it is easier to see what needs to be done.

Challenge: Take one half hour each week to review your accomplishments and plan for the next growth steps for your business.

For more than twenty-five years Barbara Eldridge has been contributing to other people’s business success. Her many years experience in the corporate world provided her with knowledge, insight and presence to help thousands of entrepreneurial men and women nurture their business ventures into thriving successes.

Barbara founded Mind Masters in 1991 as an organization for entrepreneurs to master the challenges they face in an ever-changing market place. Barbara has a vision of Mind Masters to provide a value based program so that business owners could harness the power of each members’ success, make wise business decisions and realize their dreams. Visit Mind Masters for a meeting location near you and start on your path to business success.

On February 5th at the Handlery Hotel, businesses can learn some new and progressive management strategies. We’re  always looking for profitable strategies. One huge investment for any small business is the hiring, training and development of good employees. Yet, what kind of atmosphere do you provide for your employees? Here’s a management style to think about…kindness!

The Management Initiative is part of a nationwide effort to promote business success through a kinder leadership style and is offering a one day workshop to share these strategies with small business owners. Endless research supports the fact that a kind working environment means better business results…and yet something is missing.

What they aren’t telling you is that it requires very specific management skills and the right marketing, strategic, and legal efforts to support that kind environment. Only about 3% of decision makers know what these skills are, but Reut Schwartz-Hebron and The Management Initiative do and they want to spread those skills like a virus.

You’ll learn what those very successful 3% know about combining a kind business style with outstanding business results, so you can start enjoying financial security without giving up on being the person you want to be.

The Management Initiative wants to give you some of the new skills you’ll need to promote your business success with the intention of modeling a new set of excellence standards in the most influential part of society. You get accessibility to top expert skills, tools, and keys for outstanding business results and we all take another step toward a better future.

I recently met Reut Schwartz-Hebron, international speaker, an author and a trainer. She is the founder of the Managzement Initiative Project, the president of the Kind-Excellence Institute and the owner of MetaConsulting Solutions. Reut is the author of "Outswim the Sharks" and is personally dedicated to training executives in using Kind Excellence management skills. Over the past 12 years, Reut supported organizations of all sectors and sizes to increase their overall productivity.

Reut and I sat down for an interview about her vision and the passion behind sharing why kindness is your strongest ally and how to make it lead to more income than any other business style. She’s holding a one day event on February 5th here in San Diego on The Management Initiative. To get more information, or register for the event visit The Management Initiative.

As always, I invite you to share your theories on management strategies by commenting! Enjoy the interview.

If, as a solopreneur, you’re struggling with "closing the sale," Eric Lofholm is teaching his two day Close Seminar in San Diego on February 9-10 (Saturday and Sunday). The regular price of the seminar is $695. This is the last year he’s offering the seminar at no charge. He only has a few seats left!

Known for his sales skills and strategies, Eric has words of wisdom to impart when it comes to "closing the sale." If this is an area you decided to work on in 2008, this could be the perfect jumpstart for you and your business. As I understand it, Eric and his mentor will be the only instructors.  The seminar outline is below.

Day 1

9:00 - 11:00 How to Attract Clients to Want to do Business with you
11:15 - 12:00 How to Overcome Resistance to Selling
12:00 - 1:30 Lunch Break
1:30 - 3:00 The Process of Influence - How to Move People to Action
3:15 - 5:00 How to Generate Unlimited Leads, Set Unlimited Appointments, and get Unlimited Referrals

Day 2
9:00 - 9:30 Surprise
9:45 - 10:15 How to Become a Time Management Master
10:15 - 10:45 How to Increase your Results Using Sales Scripts
11:00 - 12:00 How to Close
12:00 - 1:30 Lunch Break
1:30 - 2:00 How to Handle Objections
2:00 - 3:30 Eric’s Mentor - Special Guest
3:45 - 4:30 Goal Setting for 2008
4:30 - 5:00 Most Powerful Story of the Weekend

To register go to http://www.ericlofholm.com/close.php

For many years the ideal of business is to get as many customers as possible and retire a multi-zillionaire. But as a small business owner we can’t afford the time and resources to do so and many of us like to perform in the smaller scale. This is great for the most part but has a potential to become problematic. With our smaller focus and income we can’t afford to compete with the Wal-Mart’s and the McDonald’s because we can’t lower our prices to compete or we won’t make enough money to survive. I have heard many sob stories on how Wal-Mart ran me out of business. I think to myself, did they or did you not adapt to the situation? The fast-paced business world coupled with rising customer expectations has given us all a sense of urgency. We all, as consumers, have the mantra, “I want to be able to buy everything in one place at the lowest possible price to get back to my life.” But is this what we really want? I think, as people, what we really want is an excellent product, with personable, friendly customer service at a reasonable price. This is why we need to think Mayberry, Not Wall Street.

1. Gather Information: Knowledge is power! You need to fully understand your business, customer, industry and competition. Where do you sit in the minds of these entities? Where is your business in the universe? To put up a victorious fight, you need to be able to leverage your message and operations in a way that will retain and grow your customer base.
2. Tweak Your Image: Utilizing your information you will know what your market is looking for in a product or service. Your message should portray this ideal and lead to a purchase decision.
3. Create a Culture of this Image: To increase effectiveness of your newfound image, you need to implement it in every aspect of your company from operations to customer service. To win this war, you need to be able to scream louder than the Big Box store.
4. Don’t Skimp on Operations: Whether you produce widgets or provide eye exams, you need to provide your customer with a top-notch, five-star product or service. I guarantee the Big Box store will fall short in this arena.
5. Increase Your Customer Service: The little things matter here. The courtesy calls, thanking them for their business, going above and beyond the call of duty, offering value-added information for free, building a relationship, etc. This shouldn’t be very time consuming if done correctly and the investment of time is well worth every second. The little things are what will help retain your current customers, who will then spread an ever-valuable viral campaign.
6. Remind Your Customer’s of Your Added Value: Toot your own horn. Let your customer’s know how great of a company you have and how much better your service is than the Big Box down the street. This has to be subtle but effective. Don’t brag, just remind.
7. Think Mayberry: Sit down and watch a few episodes of the Andy Griffith Show. Watch for  how people are treated, what the reaction is, what the lifestyle is. How can you implement these values into your business? Doing it will provide something that the Big Box will never be able to meet; Personable, Appreciated relationships. 

You, Inc., The Art Of Selling Yourself by Harry Beckwith and Christine Clifford Beckwith is an easy read. I took it on our holiday road trip to Mom’s house. I was able to finish it within a few days. However, being an easy read doesn’t mean it wasn’t full of valuable info for running a small business.

What I loved best about You, Inc. is that in short stories and examples you discover strategies for selling, planning, relationships (which we are hearing so much about these days), and attitudes. They also reinforce the need for integrity in what you do.

One of the things I struggle with is remembering names. There are a couple of great examples of how to develop the ability to put a face and name together. I also enjoyed learning how to strengthen my relationships, and why our relationships are so important to our business success.

I like little books.  Little books that I can keep within reach for that moment of inspiration or motivation that these books offer. This is one of those little books that will always be within reach to help me move past any obstacles that might come my way. Check it out. If you’ve read it, offer up a comment!

Ok, before anyone comments that this past Friday was actually the second Friday, we had to schedule the First Friday Breakfast on the Second Friday this month because of New Years. It was still a great breakfast. The best part is the facilitated networking we do at the table. I’d like to share with you, the business owners I met Friday at my table.

Sonya Orme
Prime Executive Offices

Sonya provides business owners and sales professional executive space in the heart of Carlsbad’s business district. She’s looking for companies who want to move from their home-based offices or are establishing sales satellite offices. She’s looking for an attorney and CPA as tenants, too.

Tracy Sharrar
Prudential California Realty

Tracy works with homeowners who realize that the housing market is good or bad compared to what your goals are. If you don’t have to move, it’s not a bad market. If you do have to move, or if you realize this could be a perfect time for investment, Tracy knows how to capitalize this kind of market. If you’re positioned properly, this could be the time to invest.

David Tweedy, Ph.D., CPC
Psych Coach

David works with individuals to achieve their dreams. He helps small business owners, especially family owned businesses who are struggling to meet their goals. David helps them discover the obstacles to their success and remove them.

John Hamilton
J. Hamilton Group

John helps software companies move into a new, more progressive business model. He’s looking to work with the hospitality industry with deploying programs with regard to regional and geographic needs. I think it might be top secret!

Amanda Frank
The Hampton Inns
Homewood Suites

Amanda works with business and leisure travelers to make them feel like they never left home. Not only does Hamilton Inns offer a brand new complex for travelers, but Homewood Suites offers extended stay rooms for businesses in transition. It seems to me like she should team up with Sonya and offer something for the businesses who are looking to relocate and need a temporary and/or permanent office, and temporary living arrangements. Hmmmm!!

Joseph F. Ouellette
Excelsior Financial Network

Joseph likes to work with closely held businesses between 15 - 20 million in revenue helping them achieve a sustainable future and peace of mind. He wants to make sure his clients don’t outlive their money. Given it’s tax season, he’s looking to meet tested CPAs and tax professionals in the area too.

Tom Schuck
Astor Broadcast Group
(my new favorite radio station - The Spa AM 1450)

I was taking my mother-in-law to the doctor last Tuesday. Now being a political animal, I was searching the AM dial for any news from New Hampshire and came across The Spa at 1450AM. What I love most is, it’s a local business. I remember KKOS from the early ’90s (yes, I’ve been around that long) and was thrilled to hear this new format. It’s great background music for working.

These are the small businesses that network at the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce.

Our next First Friday Breakfast is February 1st, "Awaken The Entrepreneur In You" presented by Michael Gerber, author of The E Myth and The E Myth Revisited. It will be a great breakfast, and you should be there!

Your success in business comes down to the difference between managing your work or letting your work manage you. What’s it going to be? The biggest contributors to clutter are those good old fashion letters, junk mail, memos, e-mail printouts and sticky notes, So how do you sort through all the junk and all the distractions and concentrate only on the things that are important to you and your business? In business ownership and management, as in war and other activities, you are only as good as your last success. Just as you always have to be on the lookout for the next opportunity, you also have to be on the alert for the next crisis. That is what being organized is all about. You don’t want to waste your time on useless trivia when important issues that have significant impact on your customers or your organization deserve your attention.

Delegation is an ideal way that allows you to work on important tasks. As your business grows, your functional responsibilities normally grow past the point where you can cope with all the duties which must be handled. As this process of growth occurs, you must begin to delegate specific duties to insure that all necessary tasks are carried out. This means hiring someone on a full or part time basis and properly training them. It is important to have performance guidelines with proper follow up procedures for the delegated assignments. In some instances people who do outside services can take up the slack.

Remember, a well managed business achieves results. Good management requires passing down the authority to get the job done and allows you to get on with the high priority, high payoff activities of your business.

One of the most important steps in the success of your business is planning. A business plan requires an action plan that will have specific and measurable results. Here is a suggested proven planning method that if you are truly committed to improving your management skills you can become a planning master overnight. What would it mean to you if you planned every business day on paper prior to the day starting?

• Block 30 minutes each week to review the week and your Quarterly plan and determine the actions you will need to take that week to achieve those results.
• Block 10-14 minutes daily to plan the day. No cell phone, no e-mail, no distractions, just planning.
• With your goals in front of you ask yourself if the activities you listed will help you achieve those goals.
• Prioritize your action items for the day. Put an asterisk next to your 5 most important (valuable) action items.

I challenge you to prepare for business growth through better organization, delegation and time management. Remember as a business owner setting a standard of consistent behaviors leads you to achieve results that carry over to all areas of your life.

For more than twenty-five years Barbara Eldridge has been contributing to other people’s business success. Her many years experience in the corporate world provided her with knowledge, insight and presence to help thousands of entrepreneurial men and women nurture their business ventures into thriving successes.

Barbara founded Mind Masters in 1991 as an organization for entrepreneurs to master the challenges they face in an ever-changing market place. Barbara has a vision of Mind Masters to provide a value based program so that business owners could harness the power of each members’ success, make wise business decisions and realize their dreams. Visit Mind Masters for a meeting location near you and start on your path to business success.