The Secret is the System

Part 1 of a 2 Part Series

By Howard Partridge

In last month’s column, I talked about “GPS” – getting you from where you are in your business to where you want to go.  GPS stands for Goals (where you’re going), Plans (how you’ll get there), and Systems (the vehicles that will take you there). 

Your business is a vehicle.  If you have more than one business, you have more than one vehicle.  A vehicle is a system or a set of systems. 

My good friend Michael Gerber, the world’s #1 small business expert according to Inc. Magazine, says “the secret is the system”.  He recognized that all phenomenally successful businesses have effective systems. 

If you have staff, you are probably familiar with the story of “Somebody, Everybody, and Nobody”:

Somebody was asked to do something that was the job of Everybody.  Everybody thought that Somebody was going to do it but Nobody did it.  When Nobody did it, Everybody asked why Somebody didn’t do it.  Somebody said it was the job of Everybody.  Everybody said it was Nobody’s job, therefore, Nobody did it.

Can you relate to this story?  Even if you don’t have staff, systems are critical to your business.  Here’s why -

• • The key to profitable growth

Have you ever seen companies that grow quickly only to discover that more money is going out than is coming in?  The bigger you get without systems, the more money is going out the door in reinventing every day.

• • Employees perform better

When your employees don’t have to depend on you to direct their every move because they have a system to work in, their performance increases.

• • Fewer surprises

Have you noticed that human beings do weird things?  The stuff people come up with sometimes is mind-boggling.  Like the time one of my clients had an employee who wrecked a company truck.  Instead of calling the owner and letting him know, he hid the truck behind his house and didn’t show up for work the next day.  Of course my client didn’t have systems in place then.  Now he does.  Don’t leave it to your employees to try and figure out the best thing to do.  Have a system.

• • Keeps the owner in line

I don’t know about you but I like to change things, update them, and try something new from time to time (okay, okay, maybe a little more often than that!).  As the owner, you may like to tinker with the system or decide which part of the system you feel like using that day.  You must be the example and follow the procedures yourself if you want your staff to follow them.

Many years ago in my service business, I went out to do an on-site presentation for a prospective client.  I assumed that the client wouldn’t buy and did not write up a proposal.  Instead, I just quoted a verbal price and left.  Sometime later, the prospect called to have the work done.  My salesperson looked high and low for the paperwork and finally in frustration asked the prospect if she was absolutely sure that our company was indeed the one that did the presentation. 

“Oh yes,” she said.  “A man drove up in a Lexus, looked around, and told me how much it would be!”  Of course my sales agent knew exactly who she was talking about—me, the owner; the one who decided not to follow the system that day! And of course there’s another lesson there too; don’t judge a prospect; do the proposal!

If you like to change things around and you have a team, they will be confused if you don’t inform them beforehand.  In addition, customers may also become confused.  When you change something, be sure to communicate it and update the system.

• • A consistent service experience

When you have a system, the customer knows exactly what to expect. McDonald’s is the “poster child” for systems because you get the same hamburger in Tokyo as you do in Paducah, Kentucky.  It may not be the best hamburger, but it’s the same hamburger.  It’s consistent because they have a system.

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Howard Partridge, President of Phenomenal Products, Inc., is the author of 7 Secrets of a Phenomenal L.I.F.E. and 5 Secrets of a Phenomenal Business.  You can contact Howard by phone at 281-634-0404 or visit his website at www.HowardPartridge.com.

Making an Expo “Work!”

September greetings everyone!

I have always loved the month of September.

Growing up in Upstate New York, September signaled the end of summer (quite literally).  There was a crispness in the air in the morning.  The trees would start turning their magnificent array of colors and the sounds and smells in the air were quite different than the months prior.

Obviously, living in Houston, Texas, September is more like an extension of August, with the exception of the anticipation of the fall home & garden shows, craft shows, and (of course) business conferences and expos.

Several noteworthy conferences for small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs in September and October are the Houston Minority Supplier Development Council’s Business Expo 2014 ( www.hmsdc.org), September 24th & 25th, the Transportation Diversity Council’s 1st Annual Southwest Transportation & Infrastructure Summit ( www.tdc-ntl.org ), October 10, 2014, and the Houston Small Business Expo (www.HoustonSmallBusinessExpo.com), October 11^th.  Small Business Today Magazine is indeed proud to be a media sponsor of all three of these events.

Whether you are an attendee or exhibitor at one of these or other business conferences this year, I don’t have to tell you that these conference and expos are huge investments for everyone (often requiring travel/lodging expenses, man hours, exhibit costs, promotional costs, etc., not to mention the price of attending the conference.  They can be a huge waste of time and money or be a major catalyst to growing your business; it just depends on what your purpose of being there is and your goals for the conference.  I am a veteran of hundreds of these both as an exhibitor and as an attendee.

Here is a list of some things that will make your attendance more profitable:

1.      Set your goal as to what you would ideally like to accomplish.

2.      Your pre-conference preparation will play a major role in your ability to reach those goals that you want to achieve while you are there.

3.      Connect through social media with those individuals who you are counting on meeting there.  Possibly arrange a pre- or post- meeting appointment.

4.      Take the time to visit with all the exhibitors.  Each are experts in their phase of your business and may have the answers to your immediate  needs and/or be an excellent source of referrals.

5.      “Be on a mission” while you are there.  Take advantage of every opportunity to connect with everyone.  You never know who may be in a position to aid your businesses growth into the coming year!

6.      For exhibitors, engage as many attendees in conversation as possible. Look and act like you are there to do business.

Conferences and expos can be an amazing source of business if you are committed to making them so!

If you are attending HMSDC’s Business Expo 2014, please come by our booths 525 and 624 and drop your business card in the bowl for a chance to win a $2,200 multi-media package.  We’d love to chat with you and you might also get to meet this month’s Cover Honoree, Martha Ceballos with ELP Enterprises Inc.  Martha is one of the recipients of HMSDC’s “Emerging 10” awards and is on this month’s cover with that award.

It is time to let you get started on this very special issue.

Good Reading, Good Sales, and Great Success to You,

Steve Levine

President & Executive Publisher

sbtmagazine.net

Give Up, Give In or Give It All You Got!

 

August greetings everyone!

As Executive Publisher of SMALL BUSINESS TODAY and Co-host of SMALL BUSINESS TODAY MAGAZINE TALK SHOW, I have the opportunity to go one-on-one with some of Houston’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million dollar and sometimes multi-billion dollar businesses despite the odds against their doing so. They also share with Barbara and I their thoughts on creating wealth, starting and growing a successful business and happiness.

All of these amazing business leaders have offered up the same piece of advice: “Don’t quit at halftime!” If starting and growing a successful business were easy, then anyone could do it. It takes passion, purpose and perseverance.

I am not ashamed to share with you that almost every endeavor that I have succeeded at (apartment leasing, residential real estate and “Yes” advertising sales and publishing (which I am now in my 36^th year of that pursuit), professional speaker and trainer, etc.). I was convinced early on that each was not for me and wanted to quit each one. Luckily, there was always someone there to talk me out of quitting.

My very dear friend and monthly columnist Ruben Gonzalez shares in this issue a little of his own story and early fears in an article entitled, “What’s Holding You Back?”

Ruben shares with us that when he decided to take up the sport of luge and train for the Olympics four years away, he knew he had two major obstacles to overcome. Two things that HAD to happen or else he would be watching the Olympics on TV: first, he had to learn how to luge (back then he couldn't even spell luge) and second, he had to be ranked in the top 50 lugers in the world to qualify to compete in the Olympics. Ruben would only have only two luge seasons to learn how to slide, because the last two seasons he needed to race internationally to work on his world ranking. Most people would have looked at those obstacles and quit before they got started!

You can read the story of how he succeeded in "The Courage to Succeed." What's more important than the rest of the story is how YOU can develop the mental toughness to
look at an obstacle and become fired up and excited about the challenge ahead.

This month’s cover honoree, Elizabeth Stone had every reason to give up after setbacks that would have put any small business owner out of business! Being flooded out by Tropical Storm Allison, having major setbacks as a result of 9/11 and the Enron crash she had more than enough reason to close her doors then. Add to that that Elizabeth had drained all of her cash building out a new facility and due to the recent incidences, her business sales dropped off by 40%.   Over the next three years, Elizabeth “begged and borrowed” to keep herself and her company alive and her doors open.  She became really behind paying her vendors and went to everyone in person and said, “I can’t pay you what I owe you right now but I need to keep doing business.  I promise that I will pay you back every single penny.  If you let me pay C.O.D. on every new order, I will pay you an extra $50 each time until I have paid you in full.”  It took Elizabeth six years but she paid back everyone she owed! 

Elizabeth reflected, “It made me a stronger person.  I have the same vendors today.  I am loyal to the ones who worked with me and they have trust, faith, and respect for me because they know I paid every penny back even when so many people did not!”

It is time to let you get started on this very special issue.

 

Good Reading, Good Sales, and Success to You,

 

 

 

Steve Levine

President & Executive Publisher

 

 

 

Giving Back:  An Expectation, Not an Option

By Aimee Woodall, Owner of the Black Sheep Agency

Including a substantial giving component into your branding strategy is no longer an option — it is an expectation.  Just look at the success of brands like TOMS, Warby Parker, and FEED, all of which incorporate giving into nearly everything they do.  Consumers are increasingly more conscious about issues that are important to them and they want to know the products and services they use are making a difference.

I encourage everyone to not view giving back as something a brand should do but something a brand must do.  And companies should not only take note­, they should take ACTION, because it’s good business and it’s also good for the world.

Here are five tips for incorporating a giving strategy into a brand:

1. Look to your community.

To incorporate a giving portion into any strategy, you should first take a look around you at those who are already doing good in your community.  What are the local organizations, clubs, and institutions that are serving the area and how can you get involved?  We are ALL stronger and can do more when we collaborate.

2. Devote substantial time to focus on giving back.

For any giving strategy to REALLY make a difference, you should build in enough time to think critically about your approach and what you want to ultimately accomplish.  Sponsoring a little league team, writing a check, or donating a silent auction item isn’t enough.  An effective giving strategy needs to have targeted, well thought out goals.

3. Keep your giving strategy consistent with brand voice.

Let’s say, for example, your client owns a restaurant that serves delicious, fried, artery-clogging treats.  Should they be giving money to help eradicate heart disease?  Well, probably not.  That looks kind of funny.  Instead, identify a cause that is connected to your brand or one that your client is passionate about.  This will help consumers understand WHY the brand is investing time into giving back to a cause.

4. Consider creating a standardized giving program.

If you LOVE to give back to the community, it may be hard at times for you to say no to worthy causes that come knocking at your door.  Creating an organized system that will allow you to filter through requests and find those that are most appropriate for your organization is critical.  Not only will it help you avoid wasting time on opportunities that don’t “fit” with your company, it will also help you maintain a positive relationship with the requestor by clearly defining your decision-making criteria. 

5. Don’t fake it.

Consumers are smart.  They can pick out a brand that isn’t fully invested in a giving strategy or is doing it solely for recognition.  The best way to avoid coming across as fake is to choose a mission you sincerely care about.  There are no one-size-fits-all plans for giving back.  Make it work the best way you can.

Giving back is no longer an option.  I intend for my business to be on the forefront of what marketing agencies are doing to foster this movement.  That is why I made the commitment to require a substantial giving component as a part of every marketing strategy my company develops and I encourage every company to do the same.

Aimee Woodall is the owner of the Black Sheep Agency, a Houston-based creative agency specializing in non-traditional public relations, social media, and experiential marketing. Whether the client is a nonprofit already doing amazing work in the community, a small business that has a cause-driven mission, or a larger company that wants to connect with consumers by giving back, the Black Sheep Agency has a commitment to propel positive change through the work they do with their clients.  Contact Amy by phone at 832-971-7725, by email at aimee@theblacksheepagency.com, or visit the website at www.theblacksheepagency.com.