Archives for 2009
Avoid Business Growing Pains
We all know people who’ve lost or nearly lost their business.
We hear how they’ve been “stitched up” by rogues or, at the very least, let down by incompetents whom they’ve charged with responsibility for sales, marketing, financial, legal or IT issues and it’s all gone horribly wrong.
So how did they allow this to happen? Well, in hindsight they’ve obviously made the wrong choice(s). Brilliant. We know that in hindsight we all have 20:20 vision. So how do we get the 20:20 before we get to the potential disaster?
The two obvious ways are:
- You buy in the expertise you need from somebody proven to actually be able to do the job well (outsourced or employed)
- You learn how to do it yourself from a reputable source
Yet there are two potential flaws in this (somewhat flippant) answer.
The first assumes that you know at the very least what questions to ask and what answers to expect in order to ascertain whether an individual claiming expertise in any of the essential areas is actually any good at what he/ she does and whether you would be getting value for money in the service you’re paying for.
The second presumes you know where to go, whom to go to, have the time and can make the commitment to learn how to perform these functions to the best of your ability and to the credit and success of your company.
Once again good old common sense has an often sadly ignored role in this. What about a middle ground where you could pool teaching and learning skills, gradually building mutual trust and without anybody spending huge amounts of money 
?
Networking groups abound yet they seem to be set up with the prime reason (if not sole purpose) to introduce and refer business rather than trading skills and services.
You may have tried networking and love or hate your experiences of it. It doesn’t really matter for our purposes here because, regardless, you will know at least some people whom you trust and who can either help you directly or put you in contact with someone who can.
- Start inviting people who are each as good in their field as you are in yours to come and talk to each other
- Ask how willing they are to help each other
- Find out what additional help they in turn need and build a group that ultimately can fulfil all, or at least most of your collective business skills needs
It’s a good idea to agree a unit value for each function – an hourly, daily or part-day rate is usually favourite. Then barter time where possible either to perform the function for each other or use that time (where practical) to teach/ show how to do it. I prefer the latter for reasons I’ll go into further down the line.
Introduce members gradually and monitor the value of their contributions. Some may turn out to be mainly “takers”: They’ll pay for the services on offer that they need rather than really enter into the spirit of the group. And that may be perfectly acceptable until somebody else comes along and wants to join who does what they do but wants to give, too. You just have to decide as you go along what’s in the best interests of the group.
Try it out and let me know how you get on .
Linda Mattacks is the author of a series of training courses available at SellingForBusiness.co.uk developed to provide easily accessible training for small businesses who are not in a position (or may not want) to take time out to attend formal training sessions.
How effective are your business meetings?
This post was prompted by a company selling a webinar about meetings; more specifically, how to have effective meetings.
It reminded me of one of a series of training videos that were used a generation ago that often used humour to put the main points across. This particular one was “Meetings Bl****y Meetings!” and reading the webinar promotional blurb this morning made me think that maybe not much has changed if managers and bosses are still making the same mistakes (I guess they’re a different set of people now).
There are statistics from surveys quoting the number of hours per week spent in meetings, percentages on how many are ineffective and even a claim that the level of meeting effectiveness is the single most powerful factor in job satisfaction (?)!
It seems to provide reasonable content, though a bit basic but, in my opinion it shoots itself in the foot in two ways:
- Though it goes on at length about people resenting their time being wasted in ineffective meetings, it assumes there is a valid purpose to each of them in the first place and doesn’t once say we should ask why we’re planning a meeting – is it necessary?
- Neither does it tackle the question of who should attend and why (maybe that’s because it goes on to suggest you get everyone in your office – whether they set-up or attend meetings – to join in because as many as you like can attend for the one price…)
To me these two issues are key before any meeting is arranged. The skills we bring to making our meetings effective should be addressed, yes, but only after we’ve satisfactorily answered these two questions.
How effective are your business meetings?Linda Mattacks is the author of a series of training courses available at SellingForBusiness.co.uk developed to provide easily accessible training for small businesses who are not in a position (or may not want) to take time out to attend formal training sessions.
Control Costs, Win And Keep Customers
More than 40% of small firms want more support to survive the recession, according to research by Lloyds TSB Commercial.
- Two thirds of firms put advice on controlling cost top of the agenda
- 60% want advice on attracting customers
- 44% want help on how to keep them
So we had a quick look around the guides on website and watched the customer video.
And it’s the Lloyds TSB customer (business owner) input that’s really down to earth:
- Keep your name out there
- Bring the customers in
- Look at your sales figures weekly not monthly or quarterly
- Keep in close contact with everyone to avoid nasty surprises: Bank Manager, Accountant, Suppliers, Customers
- Provide value for money: Maintain quality and standards
- Don’t be too inward looking
- Keep a keen eye on budgeting, planning and cash flow
- Tighten credit management – it’s often not necessarily bad debt but too slow payers
- When you get your customers look after them: Understand their problems
We’ve picked up on the final point we’ve listed from the video and the fact that many small firms want help on how to keep customers.
Lloyds TSB has a Guide on Market Research. They’re right to have it up there yet we believe they’re wrong not to put it into perspective as, in our experience, small firms tend to see this is as questionable expenditure in good times, let alone in a recession.
Focus groups need an experienced facilitator and should probably be outsourced to a company that knows its stuff – once you’ve decided on what the purpose is and that focus groups are the best way to achieve it.
On the other hand, telephone market research is something many small businesses can do themselves with a little thought and preparation. And the good news is, if you provide good products or services, you should find that your customers are happy to help you.
Control Costs, Win And Keep CustomersLinda Mattacks is the author of a series of training courses available at SellingForBusiness.co.uk developed to provide easily accessible training for small businesses who are not in a position (or may not want) to take time out to attend formal training sessions.
