The Water Trough

Starting a Business? Take a Reality Check!

My self-employed career began in 1996; after being laid-off I thought for sure I'd
return to the 9-5 world. My former employer intervened, offering a contract opportunity and my accountant offered this important advice- "you are going to start a business." I have to admit, it looked great to me. My wife had the benefits, I got paid more than I ever had before and I was putting in 40-50 hours/week. Life was great until 10 months later when the contract ended...

It's like scrounging to find your next meal- I had an empty pipeline. Heck, I didn't even realize I had a pipeline to fill. Such are the short-comings of the newly self-employed. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but this much I know: the novelty of self-employment masks many of the realities that one must face. At the same time I discovered my empty pipeline I also realized I do not like to sell. Man, why didn't someone tell me these things BEFORE I got started? If I had taken some time to sort things out I am confident my decision would have been the same but for awhile there I truly wondered what I had got myself into. Of course by that time I was also convinced I could not work for someone else. 

Certainly you can turn to the 'how to' guides. There are as many of them as there are grains of tree pollen in the green-tinged air blowing about my back yard. You can spend your days learning all there is to know about starting a business, but how much time will be left to pursue the opportunity? At the very least ask yourself a few questions:

• Why do I want to pursue this opportunity?
• Aside from the obvious, what is really driving me? Am I truly passionate about this opportunity?
  
• Is there a genuine need and/or desire for what I have to offer?
• What skills and talents do I possess? Will they serve this opportunity well?For those skills and talents that I lack, do I know where to find them?
• Am I willing to make sacrifices to bring this dream to fruition?
• Am I willing to grow and learn?
• Am I willing to fail or to succeed?
• Am I willing to accept I cannot do it all?

This little inventory is sort of like a reality check. The idea of being self-employed might seem like the answer to all of our needs. In fact, self-employment can be amazing and it can also be anything but. If you are contemplating going down that path, I encourage you to explore it; but before you begin take a good look at the only one who can make it happen- YOU!

Is Your Business Ill? Treat the Illness, Not the Symptoms.

Sam has a problem; his customer service staff has dwindled from 3 to 1 and even more alarming, his two latest hires lasted two and three months respectively. Sam is at wits end and he has no idea what to do.

The business world is full of Sam’s; the issues may not be identical but the challenge is the same- he has tried everything he knows to do but the problem remains. If at first you don’t succeed, it’s a good time to go back to square one. There is nothing wrong with persistence but sometimes that try, try again stuff is just a waste of time, that is unless you have a plan. And that plan is a lot easier than you might think.

The first question you must ask: what is the problem? The easiest way to describe the problem is in terms of the presenting conditions (or to use a health term, symptoms). This part is straight forward; just describe what you see. In this case, there are two symptoms- the customer service area is understaffed and staff retention is floundering. For many folks, the process comes to a screeching halt right here. Others have “been there done that” so using their recipe for success you assume that you too will make everything right. Heck, they wrote the books, how could you possibly go wrong? Well, sometimes this approach works, but when the “one size fits all” approach fails, desperation sets in. Don’t despair, read on...

OK, so you know what’s wrong; the next question is why or said another way, what is the cause of these symptoms? The answers may appear obvious but without a thorough investigation the underlying source (root-cause) of the problem cannot be elucidated. Root-cause analysis has been described in abundance and any of a number of resources will suffice to explain how it is done. Regardless of what guidance you use, keep in mind that each situation is unique. Time invested in identifying the root-cause is time well spent. The temptation to resolve the problem quickly should be resisted. If the root-cause is not identified, recurrences and that sense of being at wits end will return. Not exactly the plan of choice I’d say.

Buying Customers Versus Buy-in Customers

No matter what type of business you operate, the customer matters the most. The thing is, not all customers are ‘buying’ customers. Your employees, suppliers and related service people are your customers too- I think of them as the ‘buy-in’ customers. And let's face it, they are the ones that keep your buying customers coming back for more. What are you doing to keep these VIP's engaged?

• Acknowledge Your Buy-In Customers
  Buy-in customers are a very real and very important part of business; acknowledge this fact. The buy-in of your employees and supporters is as much a part of business success as the products and services you sell. It doesn’t hurt to look at each of these folks as business partners. Without them, you are in business alone, if you are in business at all.
• Treat Your Buy-In Customers as if They Are Buying Customers
  You don’t think twice about working hard to make your buying customers happy; it takes planning and it is something you do all the time. Why not include your buy-in customers in the planning process? Whether it is incentives, recognition, courtesy or whatever, if it works for the buying customers adapt it to fit your’ buy-in customers as well.
• Create a Continuous Buy-In-Customer Maintenance Plan
  Preventive maintenance versus as-needed maintenance; you’ve done the comparison and you have learned that over time prevention is less costly, less intrusive and vastly more productive. Supporting the intellect, integrity and enthusiasm of your’ buy-in customers is more than incentives, recognition and courtesy. It is about giving them an opportunity to share in the triumphs and challenges the business faces; an opportunity to maximize their own potential. Institute a plan, which encourages your’ buy-in customers to share their ideas, to challenge perceived weaknesses and to make the business greater than it is. Investing in the intellect, integrity and enthusiasm of these folks will reap lasting rewards for all.

Your’ customers come in a variety of forms. You must continue to put your best forward in an effort to attract, maintain and most important of all, to sell to your buying customers. At the same time, don’t forget your’ buy-in customers and how valuable they are to the bottom line; you might just say, they are the bottom line.