How to Build a Winning Team

July 22nd, 2010 by Don Terry No comments »

I admit I’m a big fan of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. I’m very impressed with how the Rider coach can take a group of men with different skills and abilities and get them all working together to form a winning team. I realize all teams have coaches but some are better at getting the most from their players. Coach Miller of the Riders is one of the best coaches I’ve seen that can motivate his players to give their best every game.

Becoming an exceptional coach didn’t just happen; it took years of coaching at different levels and learning from other coaches for Miller to get to this level. Miller has been coaching for many years and his style of coaching has changed over the years. Now, he has found a way of coaching that works for him and his players. Ask any player who’s played for him and they’ll tell you how highly they regard him and want to give their very best.

As the business leader it’s your job hire the right team, evaluate their skills and put them in the right position within the company. Then you coach them to become better and to work with other staff to produce a winning team. Becoming an effective business leader (coach) takes practice and learning from other successful business leaders helps. It’s not as easy as it sounds and takes work to be good at it but the results can make a huge difference to the success of your business.

There are four basic stages to producing a winning team.

The first stage is selecting the right players (employees). These are people that have the skills and experience to be good team players. If you can find people that have the basic skills and a desire to become better, you have the makings of a winning team. By checking references and doing some skill testing, it will help you select the best people, but you can’t tell for sure if you’ve hired the right person until you’ve put them in a position where you can evaluate their performance.

The second stage is the training and evaluation. You don’t put someone into the game until you’re sure they can carry out their assignment. They first need to practice and train to become confident in their role in the company. As the business leader it’s up to you to prepare your people by challenging and encouraging them to become better at what they do. Most employers have at least a three month evaluation period and if after three months you determine the person isn’t fitting in; then it’s time to make a cut. Not every player invited to training camp makes the team.

The third stage is putting them into the game, or in this case putting them to work in their respective role in the company. This could be serving customers, supporting other staff, manufacturing, shipping, or any other job within the business. At this stage, your role, as business leader, is to monitor performance and perhaps assign a more experienced worker to mentor the new employee.

The last stage to building a winning team is to keep your team motivated to be constantly improving. Every one of your people should be striving to be better. You can help your employees by providing additional training and putting them in challenging situations where their stretched to grow. As the business owner it’s your responsibility to keep your staff functioning as a team that wants to win.
You may not win every game put you’ll win most, if you’re not then maybe it’s time to fire the coach. At the time I’m writing this the Riders are 3 – 0 so maybe there’s a lesson to be learned from Coach Miller.

My wife and I are going to the Maritimes in August so you won’t hear from me for a few weeks. Enjoy your summer.


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Taking Care of the Details

June 21st, 2010 by Don Terry No comments »

Many businesses fail not by making big mistakes, but by making many small mistakes. It’s not taking care of the little things that often make the difference between success and failure. I recently experienced some of these little mistakes, which are often symptoms of a bigger problem.

I went into one of our special independent living stores to buy a steering device for my van. I had bought one from them before so I wasn’t expecting a problem getting another one. They didn’t have one in stock but they said they would try to order one in for me, and to call back a few days. I called back a few weeks later to follow-up and he said he remembered talking to me but forget to order it. I left my phone number because he said he’d look into it and call me back. As of today I still haven’t heard from him.

Not returning calls and doing what you said you would may seem like a small thing to some business owners, but it leaves a real bad impression on the customer.

Here’s another example; I decide I’d try another store. This time the sales clerk said they sold hand controls but he knew nothing about them, and to come back when the other sales person got in the next day. The part I wanted wasn’t that complicated and I had taken in an old one to show them exactly what I wanted. Not training or under training the sales staff about products you’re selling is another mistake businesses make. I understand some of the sales employees may not need to know all the technical details but they should know the basics.

These are just two examples and I’m sure you’ve experienced many more. The point is, these little things when taken together can have a big impact on your sales. As the business owner, it’s important that you make sure your staff pays attention to the details. You can do this by putting clear systems in place for employees to follow, such as how quickly calls are returned, how to respond to customer requests, and how the phone is answered. It’s up to you to train your sales staff. Customers expect your employees to answer their questions.

Neglecting the little things is often a symptom of a larger problem, like lack of organization, procrastination, poor leadership, lack of clearly defined goals, and no core values to guide the business.

This would be a good time to look at how you’re managing the little details of your business operations, before the small things become a big problem. If you need help with your business check out our web site www.entrepreneurswithdisabilities.com.

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How to Wow Your Customers

March 29th, 2010 by Don Terry No comments »

When was the last time you so impressed a customer that they couldn’t stop talking about you? If it hasn’t been for awhile maybe you need to look at what you can be doing differently to get people talking.

You may be thinking it’s hard enough just dealing with the customers I have now. I don’t have the time to do more. Yet without customers you don’t have a business. You need a constant flow of new customers and repeat sales to grow your business. Without them you’ll not make the money you can from your business.

I shared this story before about an experience I had with a business that really impressed me. One winter morning two years ago when I was leaving for work the garage door would not close. Because it was winter and we have a heated garage we just couldn’t leave the door open. The first place we called and explained the situation to, said there was no way they could come that day “we don’t have anyone that can come out” was not what we wanted to hear.

We then called Creative Door Service who also said they were busy but that they would have someone out before noon. They came out and not only fixed the problem but did a complete service of the garage door so we wouldn’t have any more problems.

I was impressed not only by the servicing of the door but by everything, including the way they answered the phone, to how professional the business was operated. I actually sent them a thank you card with a testimonial they could use in their promotional material. I don’t send out cards to businesses very often.

It’s been two years and I’m still talking about them. I think there’s more they could be doing to market their business , but it does go to show you if you go the extra mile to serve a customer’s needs it can do as much as any advertising campaign.

Making such an impression on customers just doesn’t happen. It’s doing a lot of the little things right that people notice. It’s everything from how well you’ve laid out your store out, to how the telephone is answered, to how knowledgeable and friendly your sales people are and how well and timely you fill a customer’s order, and any number of other details. It’s also doing the unexpected or the little extras that people will talk about.

Every year I would receive a birthday card from a chocolate shop with a 10% discount off my next purchase if I came in within the next 30 days. Now it’s a nice gesture but it certainly didn’t WOW me. In all the years I received it I never once used the coupon. The problem was it wasn’t a real card, just a photo copied paper with the 10% off coupon enclosed.

It’s not that I don’t like chocolate, they make very good chocolate but it’s more expensive. So it’s going to take something special to make me stop in.
They’re on the right track but it’s not working. Here’s what I think they could do to really stand out. First don’t be cheap, send a real birthday card, any print shop will do it for you and it’s not that expensive. Next I would give a free chocolate as a birthday gift along with a coupon. I would send the chocolate with the card if possible or send an empty gift box they can bring in to put their chocolate in. When you consider how much money a customer will spend in a year on chocolates, giving a free chocolate is a small price to pay.

This business could have a chocolate club for all the chocolate lovers. They could also send out a monthly newsletter with special offers to encourage customers to come in more frequently. Have people pay to be member of a chocolate club. They would receive special benefits for being a member. You could have a club member’s only night to try new chocolates.

What can you do to “WOW” your customers? As you can see it doesn’t need to cost a lot. However, it does take planning and putting systems in place so everyone in the company is on one side and knows what’s expected.

Business owners tell you over and over that word-of-mouth advertising is the most effective, yet, so few will do anything to get people talking about them. You need to give them a reason to talk to their friends otherwise you’ll just be lost in the crowd with all the other businesses.


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Maintaining a Positive Cash Flow: A Key to Business Growth

February 18th, 2010 by Don Terry No comments »

I was reflecting the other day on the times I found myself most excited about our retail business, Regina Bible Supplies. It was those times when all the bills were paid, and there was more money coming in than was going out. Having a positive cash flow relieves a lot of stress and provided an opportunity to look at new product lines. We could also try new strategies to attract new prospective customers.

As you know it takes time for a new business to get to that breakeven point, and the sooner you get there the better. I know some businesses who started by thinking they needed all the best fixtures, equipment, and large inventories. The problem that most encounter is the financing needed to make these kind of purchases, because it needs to be paid back. If the revenues don’t come in to cover the payments, you have a negative cash flow and may be out of business before you get started.

Here are a few things you can do to maintain a positive cash flow:

1. Borrow only what you need to get started so you can start making sales. Start small and build quickly. It doesn’t take long to build a business if you re-invest profits back in the business. When we started our business we bought used fixtures or inexpensive shelving. Although you want to create a comfortable environment, your customers are more interested in what you’re selling than what they’re sitting on. If you check around you can often find good used fixtures for a fraction of the cost of new.

2. Negotiate longer payment terms with suppliers or ask for an additional discount for paying early. Many times we were able to receive 90 and 120 day terms with suppliers, or a 2% discount. It doesn’t hurt to ask, but you do need to ensure you pay your bills on time to receive longer terms.

3. Clear out old stock. If you have a good system for tracking inventory you can easily track inventory that needs to be cleared out. Stock that sits on the shelves for longer than a 4 or 5 months should be either reduced to sell quickly, (and the money reinvested in new products), or returned to the supplier.

4. Watch spending. When you’re having cash flow problems you need to cut any expenses that are not contributing to sales. This may mean reducing staff until sales increase, renegotiating with suppliers for new payment terms, or purchasing fewer supplies, anything that will reduce expenses.

5. Be careful how you spend marketing dollars. I don’t recommend cutting your advertising; however you do need to be focused with your marketing. Marketing that is sent to the right market; with the right message; using the right media, should increase sales.

If you want to really enjoy the freedom of having your own business then do everything you can do to maintain a positive cash flow. If you need help with you business you can contact us at don@ssilcsk.ca.


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It’s Not About You or Your Staff

December 23rd, 2009 by Don Terry No comments »

If you’ve been in business for any length of time you should already know that’s it’s not all about you. Unfortunately, many don’t reflect this thinking. You can tell by their actions; the way they treat their employees, customers, and vendors, that they think it’s all about them. Or staff that thinks it’s all about them.

I saw someone wearing a t-shirt that said “It’s All About Me”. I did a search on Google just to see what I would find. Here’s just a small sampling of what I found:

its allaboutme

Most people might think this is just being humorous, and it could be if it wasn’t so obvious in the way people treat one another. You see it in the way employers take advantage of employees and you see this attitude in staff in the way they serve customers.

There are a number of books out there, writing and teaching about how you need to put yourself first, that it’s all about getting all you can get. It’s no wonder why so many companies are struggling to find good employees.
As the employer you set the example, if you put the interest of your customers, vendors and employees before your own, you can grow a successful business. Customers want to buy from businesses that they trust, vendors want to work with retailers that are honest and pay their bills on time. Employees will work if they see the value in their work, are respected, and if it will help them achieve their goals.

Does this mean you give in to every demand of your customer or employee? No, there will be times when the demands of customers just aren’t worth it. There will be times when you need to fire employees. For example a troublesome customer may take so much of your time that it ends up costing you more than you make from them. There comes a time when the stress of trying to please a demanding customer takes too much out of you and your staff.

As well, I don’t believe you can afford to keep staff that is not doing their job; who are neglecting customers, wasting time, and are damaging the integrity of your business. If you have an employee whose spending time playing solitaire, texting friends, or going online to talk to their friends on MSN, Facebook, Myspace, Tweeting, checking dating sites, when they’re supposed to be working, you got an employee who thinks it’s all about them. It’s as if they think you won’t find out, or worse, they just don’t care. If you do have an employee like this it’s probably because they don’t really want to work for you and might be better off working for someone else. To keep this type of person on as an employee could cost you your business, if it’s allowed to continue. Studies have shown it’s becoming a real problem in lost productivity for many companies.

For example, I was talking a friend who expressed his frustration with a co-worker that was on their cell phone texting friends while people were waiting for service. As a business owner you’ll never be free from your business until you build a team of workers you can trust to do their work whether you’re there or not.

I learned a valuable lesson years ago when I worked for a company where there were times when I finished my work and left early, thinking why stay and expect the employer to pay me for doing nothing. It was clearly explained to me there was always something to do. That goes for your employees too. When my wife and I had our business we always looked for staff that would take the initiative to find work to do without being told. There was always something staff could do when not waiting on customers. They could be cleaning displays or become knowledgeable about the products/service to better serve the customers. Unfortunately, it’s often hard to find people who are able to work without supervision.

If you have employees who think it’s all about them, you’ve got a problem. Before you start replacing them look at what example you’re setting for them. Are you an employer who wants the best for your employees? Do you show respect? Can you be trusted, remembering trust is earned not assumed? Do you put the interest of your clients/customers before your own? Do you offer real value for you product/service? Do you pay your vendors on time? Have you made it clear what the expectations are? If you can honestly answer yes to these questions, then you need to let those employees go and hire new ones.

Should you feel bad about letting an employee go who’s not doing their work? No, as an Independent Living Centre we believe people should be able to make their own choices and take responsibility for those choices. If they choose not to do their work, then they need to accept the consequences of those choices. As the employer you need to take responsibility for your choices. If you don’t treat your staff fairly and with respect you can’t expect them to want to work for you.

I was talking to a bank manager from Alberta recently who said the recession there has made his job easier because when they’re hiring now, they have a choice of good qualified applicants. As a business owner you don’t need to put up with employees that are not willing to work for their pay. Does this mean you can mistreat your employees? No, but it does mean you can expect the best from them.

Remember it’s not about you or your staff; it’s about the people you serve. I think Zig Ziglar said it best “If you want to get what you want, help enough other people get what they want”.

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Why You Should Focus on Results Not Time

December 2nd, 2009 by Don Terry No comments »

How many times have you come to the end of your day and it seems like you never accomplished anything you set out to. I know I have. There are days when there are so many distractions that tasks that should be a priority never get done. What changes would you make if you and your staff were only paid for results and not just for time? In other words, if you could not show results for the time you were getting paid, you wouldn’t get paid. As a business owner how focused would you and your staff be if everything they did was based on results. If time was spent on tasks that grew your business.

I know from being in business that it requires a lot of hard work. I also know there many things that can take up your time that do not grow the business. This was one of my biggest challenges when we had our business. There were many things I did that took time away from what I should have been doing. They may have seemed important at the time and some tasks I enjoyed doing, but they were not resulting in any growth for the business.

If I had spent more time working on my business instead of in my business I know we would have been much more successful. As the business owner you get paid for results, unfortunately many business owners become managers or workers, instead of true entrepreneurs. It’s easy to get caught in this trap especially for new business owners because you start by doing everything. But to grow a business and save yourself from burnout, you need to get others working for you.

You could start by contracting out certain tasks like bookkeeping, cleaning, and developing promotional material. Make a list of all the tasks you are doing now and select those tasks that someone else could do. A big advantage of contracting out, is you only pay for the result not for the person’s time. Once you have agreed on a price and deadline for the job it doesn’t matter to you when the person does the work as long as the job gets done. You only pay when the job is completed.

If you do hire staff to work for you, you can take the same approach. Determine what tasks you want the person to do, the results you expect, and when you expect them to be completed. This will help keep the person focused of the task and allow you to focus on tasks that will grow your business.

Besides focusing on results that will grow your business, there are other advantages. One, it helps keep a work/life balance. I know for myself after I’ve put a good day in at work I can leave it behind me. Work is an important part of life but it should never be the only part. Like most people I have other things I like doing, like spending time with my wife, family and friends. I enjoy taking a quite stroll in the park, reading, or watching a good football game.

When you focus on results that grow your business you don’t need to be working 10 hour days. Putting in long hours over an extended period will take its toll. It likely means you’re putting in a lot of time but not seeing a lot of results. We all work better when we’ve had a good rest and have lots of energy. It’s hard to focus on the important tasks when you’re tired and stressed.

Operating a business can take up all your time if you allow it. The key is to use your time and those working for you wisely to grow your business. The results will be amazing and you will feel a sense of accomplishment. You won’t feel like you’re always running in circles and the sooner you will get to where the business is working for you.


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What’s Your Business Costing You?

November 15th, 2009 by Don Terry No comments »

Don TerryOkay well, I’m a few days later than I wanted to be with this entry, but the good news is I got my gallbladder removed, so that problem is out of the way. It’s amazing what can be done these days. There have been so many improvements in how they do some surgeries. What used to be a 4 or 5 day stay in the hospital is now a day surgery.

One thing that happens when you go through an experience like this is it gives you time to think about what’s really important in life. I’ve be accused of working too much and not spending enough time taking care of myself. To a certain extent this has been true because I enjoy my work. It’s the same for many small business owners; we spend so much time taking care of business, we get out of balance with the most important areas of our life, like family and our health.

Listen closely; having a successful business at the cost of your health, family, spiritual life is not worth it. I know too many business owners who are divorced with kids that are caught in the middle. Your spouse can be your greatest supporter and encourager. You’ll be thankful when you come home stressed after a long day, when things have not gone well. The greatest blessing you can have is a spouse who believes in you and appreciates what you’re doing for your family. Some days your spouse may be the only one who understands and cares for what you are trying to accomplish. Talk to your family about how much time you’ll be working, when you’ll take time for them, and discuss how they can help.

Fortunately, you don’t have to be working all the time if you use our time wisely and are willing to delegate tasks to others. Most business owners start by doing everything and spend 60-70 hours a week or more working in the business. Although this might be necessary when getting started, it is not good if allowed to go on year after year. A major cause of many business failures is self-employed owners get burnt out. They find they’re working longer hours, making less and experiencing more stress than they did working for someone less. Eventually, they decide it’s easier just to go back being an employee.

The sooner you can get others working for you, the faster you can grow your business and have more time for others. As the business owner you want to be working on your business, not in it. Your priority is growing your business by finding and keeping customers. By focusing on marketing and sales you will be generating the revenue to hire good staff.

Perhaps something is happening that’s made you stop and think about what’s really important in your life. Maybe you’ve allowed yourself to get out of balance. If so; then now’s the time to take action to make the necessary changes. You might need to change the way you operate your business by putting good systems in place so your business can run smoothly when you’re not there.

Contact us if you need help with your business.

Don Terry
Business Counsellor

P.S. To get on the list to receive the updated copy of “From Business Idea to Implementation” go to www.entrepreneurswithdisabilities.com and enter your name and e-mail address. I believe you’ll find it a very good resource to help manage and grow your business.


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Have a Plan for the Unexpected

October 27th, 2009 by Don Terry No comments »

Don TerrySounds like a contradictory, how do you plan for the unexpected if you don’t know what’s going to happen. Yet that’s the point, trying to anticipate what could go wrong and having a well thought out plan to deal with it. You might not have a plan for every situation that comes up, but you can probably adapt your existing plans to most problems that arise.

I’m late with this posting, and I could make up some excuses, like I’ve had a couple gallbladder attacks and found out I need my gallbladder removed, or that I’m working alone because Brenda is off for seven weeks recovering from surgery. I could make up all kinds of excuses, which are true, but are not a good reason for not keeping up with the blog post.

The fact is I should have been better prepared for the unexpected. The reality is nothing in business runs smoothly. I should have known better because when my wife and I owned our Christian Retail store it seemed we were always dealing with problems. Suppliers were late delivering customer orders, staff would call in sick, customers making unrealistic demands, and the ultimate disaster came one spring when the roof collapsed because of too much snow and poorly designed trusses. The problems with suppliers, staff, customers, were nothing compared to the roof cave in. This we were not prepared for, but should have been. We should have had a plan for the worst case scenario.

Now being late with a blog post isn’t the end of the world, but I do like to follow through with things I commit to. Our first priority before Brenda left was to make sure our newsletter Entrepreneur’s Business Bulletin was ready to go, which we did. I’ve also been able to keep up with meeting our new and existing entrepreneurs. We also have a number of projects that we don’t want to put off, so I’ve come up with a Plan B.

Two of our projects are to have an e-book called “From Business Idea to Implementation” updated and professionally edited; and to redesign our web-site. Two large projects that I cannot do on my own, nor do I have the skills, and Brenda isn’t here to help, so I’ve contracted out these two projects to businesses that can do it faster and better. It has taken a big load off me and allows me to focus on other work.

Now you’re not likely to have the roof collapse on your business, but if you’ve been in business any length of time you already know things come up that you didn’t anticipate. Being able to solve problems quickly is a challenge for any business owner, but you can reduce the stress by having a Plan B or even a Plan C depending on the circumstance.

For example:
• don’t rely on one supplier or existing customers
• have additional staff trained that you can call in when someone is sick
• have a plan for collecting outstanding receivables
• have a line-of-credit available to cover cash flow problems
• have an operations manual and someone trained ready in fill in if you need to be away from the business
• have an alternate location you can re-open in if there is a fire or some other disaster

Planning for the unexpected will help reduce stress when it does happen and could save your business.

So I apologize for not getting this posted earlier and will do my best to not let it happen again. I do have a plan to ensure the blog is updated when I’m off recovering from surgery, which given the long waiting list may not happen any time soon. Or I could just bring on another attack, ouch, and go to emergency.

If you want help growing your business or have a question send us an e-mail at don@ssilcsk.ca.

To your success,

Don Terry
Business Counsellor

P.S. To get on the list to receive the updated copy of “From Business Idea to Implementation” go to www.entrepreneurswithdisabilities.com and enter your name and e-mail address. I believe you’ll find it a very good resource to help manage and grow your business.


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People Remember Service Before They Remember Price

September 8th, 2009 by Don Terry No comments »

Understanding this truth can make a big difference in how you approach your business.

Let me give you an example, last weekend my wife and I decided to go to one of our higher end restaurants for a date night. The waiter was friendly and helpful. He actually did a good job and we were pleased. However, the prime rib I order was not so good. The thing I remember most about this evening, besides having a great time with my wife, was the meal, not the waiter. If they had served a good meal, we would have been telling others to try it out. Would we go back? Probably at some point, but I would be sure to order something different. We would go back only because we’ve been there before and the meals were great and the service was excellent.

The restaurant business is very competitive and any successful owner will tell you the secret to success is providing quality food with excellent service, consistently. It only takes one bad experience to turn people off. People are more likely to return to the same restaurant where they know they will have an enjoyable experience. People will remember the service.

This principle applies to every business. If you have a quality product with well-trained, knowledgeable staff, customers will pay more. People buy what they want, not what they need. Your job is to find out what people want. Don’t assume you know what they want, you need to ask them. Then when you’ve found out what they want, you need to market to them better than the competition and over-deliver on service.

Because people remember service before they remember price, you can charge more if you deliver exceptional service. Not everyone is looking for the lowest price, and trying to compete on pricing never works anyway. People are willing to pay more if they know the product/service they bought will satisfy their want. They want to know they made a good purchase and that they can trust the business to stand behind their product. They want to feel good about their purchase.

Getting to a place where you can charge more for your products/services just doesn’t happen. It takes planning. The first step is to ensure you have quality products. You may have different pricing depending on the products you carry. However, you don’t want to sell cheap products. Next you need a good system in place, with well trained staff, to ensure the customer receives the product/service they expect. Do this well and consistently and people will pay more for it.

People today are use to poor service, so when they come across a business that provides good service, not even exceptional service, it stands out. Where do you think you could take your business if you provided excellent services that over-delivered on your customer’s expectations?

It doesn’t matter what type of business you’re in, this principle applies. Next week I’ll give you some strategies you can apply in your business to exceed your customer’s expectation.


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Stick to the Top Priorities

September 4th, 2009 by Don Terry No comments »

don8smallHow often have you said, “Where has the week gone, I haven’t gotten anything done that I wanted to get done?”  We’ve probably all said this to ourselves at one time or another, but for the small business owner it can be a costly problem. I know there were days when we had our retail store that I would easily get sidetracked from doing what I had planned to do. Most of the time it seemed innocent enough, with simple diversions such as an employee needing  help with a problem, or a sales representative dropping in unexpectedly,  or a customer wanting to visit, or even having to make a quick trip to the bank, and on and on it goes.

The problem for the small business owner is much bigger than just sitting down and putting a to-be-done list together each day. If you never get to complete the tasks on the list, making a list won’t help. Don’t get me wrong making a list of tasks of what you want to complete is very useful, however if you find yourself working on everything but what’s on the list, you’ve got a problem.

Here’s why it can become a costly problem for the small business owner. My guess is most of the tasks you have on your list are tasks that you’re going to do in order to grow your business. Strategies to improve marketing, a new advertising campaign, new suppliers you want to try, or a change to improve inventory control; tasks which you never get to do because someone else wants your time and by the time you do get to work on your list, you’ve run out of energy. If this is allowed to go on, you find yourself in a rut that’s harder and harder to get out of and sooner or later it starts to affect your cash flow. You don’t see the growth you wanted and its lost income.

So how can you ensure you stick to your priorities and still keep everyone else happy? Here are a few suggestions that I think can help if you’re willing to implement them.

One of the big problems is staff running to you every time they have a problem. If you have an open door policy this just invites staff to come in every single time they have a little problem. If you’ve taken the time to train your employee’s properly there shouldn’t be much need for them to interrupt you while you’re working on your new marketing program.

If you allow your staff to come to you every time they have a question, you don’t teach your employee to think for themselves and solve their own problems. The reality is most people can come up with their own solutions to a problem if they need to. You need to encourage your staff to work out their own problems and in most cases they’ll do just fine. You need to allow yourself to trust the people working for you. If they do make a wrong decision it’s not the end of the world. Point out the correct way the problem should’ve been handled and use it at a learning experience. Your staff will feel more confident and will start coming to you less and less giving you more time to work on your marketing plan.

You don’t need to isolate yourself from everyone but don’t be afraid to close the door and make it clear to people that you don’t want to be disturbed. You can let your staff know when you’ll be available. If you still have a problem then leave the office and work somewhere that you can get your work done.

Sales representatives can often be a frustration if you allow them to drop in whenever they feel like it. There are couple things you can do that I find work well, first always have the sales representative make an appointment, preferably when you have completed your major tasks of the day, for me this was later in the afternoon. Use your time when you have the most amount of energy to work on your top priority tasks. It doesn’t take a lot of energy to meet with a sales rep.

Representatives from advertising companies are notorious for just dropping in, trying to sell you the next big deal that’s going to bring in a bunch of new customers. Now I don’t necessarily have a problem with sales reps., in fact, some have really good ideas, but many are a waste of your time and money. If you’ve taken the time to know your target market and identified the best media to reach that market you’ll be able to screen which companies will be best to work with. Don’t allow yourself to get talked into expensive advertising that’s not going to reach your target market.

These are just a few suggestions you can do so at the end of the day you don’t find yourself wondering why you never got anything done. If you want to learn more strategies read Dan Kennedy’s book 

How often have you said, “Where has the week gone, I haven’t gotten anything done that I wanted to get done?”  We’ve probably all said this to ourselves at one time or another, but for the small business owner it can be a costly problem. I know there were days when we had our retail store that I would easily get sidetracked from doing what I had planned to do. Most of the time it seemed innocent enough, with simple diversions such as an employee needing  help with a problem, or a sales representative dropping in unexpectedly,  or a customer wanting to visit, or even having to make a quick trip to the bank, and on and on it goes.

The problem for the small business owner is much bigger than just sitting down and putting a to-be-done list together each day. If you never get to complete the tasks on the list, making a list won’t help. Don’t get me wrong making a list of tasks of what you want to complete is very useful, however if you find yourself working on everything but what’s on the list, you’ve got a problem.

Here’s why it can become a costly problem for the small business owner. My guess is most of the tasks you have on your list are tasks that you’re going to do in order to grow your business. Strategies to improve marketing, a new advertising campaign, new suppliers you want to try, or a change to improve inventory control; tasks which you never get to do because someone else wants your time and by the time you do get to work on your list, you’ve run out of energy. If this is allowed to go on, you find yourself in a rut that’s harder and harder to get out of and sooner or later it starts to affect your cash flow. You don’t see the growth you wanted and its lost income.

So how can you ensure you stick to your priorities and still keep everyone else happy? Here are a few suggestions that I think can help if you’re willing to implement them.

One of the big problems is staff running to you every time they have a problem. If you have an open door policy this just invites staff to come in every single time they have a little problem. If you’ve taken the time to train your employee’s properly there shouldn’t be much need for them to interrupt you while you’re working on your new marketing program.

If you allow your staff to come to you every time they have a question, you don’t teach your employee to think for themselves and solve their own problems. The reality is most people can come up with their own solutions to a problem if they need to. You need to encourage your staff to work out their own problems and in most cases they’ll do just fine. You need to allow yourself to trust the people working for you. If they do make a wrong decision it’s not the end of the world. Point out the correct way the problem should’ve been handled and use it at a learning experience. Your staff will feel more confident and will start coming to you less and less giving you more time to work on your marketing plan.

You don’t need to isolate yourself from everyone but don’t be afraid to close the door and make it clear to people that you don’t want to be disturbed. You can let your staff know when you’ll be available. If you still have a problem then leave the office and work somewhere that you can get your work done.

Sales representatives can often be a frustration if you allow them to drop in whenever they feel like it. There are couple things you can do that I find work well, first always have the sales representative make an appointment, preferably when you have completed your major tasks of the day, for me this was later in the afternoon. Use your time when you have the most amount of energy to work on your top priority tasks. It doesn’t take a lot of energy to meet with a sales rep.

Representatives from advertising companies are notorious for just dropping in, trying to sell you the next big deal that’s going to bring in a bunch of new customers. Now I don’t necessarily have a problem with sales reps., in fact, some have really good ideas, but many are a waste of your time and money. If you’ve taken the time to know your target market and identified the best media to reach that market you’ll be able to screen which companies will be best to work with. Don’t allow yourself to get talked into expensive advertising that’s not going to reach your target market.

These are just a few suggestions you can do so at the end of the day you don’t find yourself wondering why you never got anything done. If you want to learn more strategies read Dan Kennedy’s book “No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs.”


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