The entrepreneur reaches a crossroads. Keep control and stay small or give up control with the possibility of becoming much more rich?
Shrink your list of New Year resolutions
If you really want to make progress this New Year, I suggest that you shrink your list to only one or two items. Fewer is better.
Systems and success
Business systems create a framework for achievement.
Large organizations have policies and procedures so that employees and customers know what’s expected of them and have guidelines for dealing with various situations.
The poster child for systems is McDonalds. McDonalds doesn’t have the greatest food. You can get a better hamburger somewhere else. But you know what to expect. A Big Mac and fries is the same at any McDonalds that you visit, and will be ready soon after you order them. You know the dining room looks the same at McDonalds restaurants and the restrooms will be clean. The employees dress in McDonalds uniforms and are clean and efficient. That consistency encourages the customers to trust the McDonalds experience and go to McDonalds when they visit a community away from home.
For a small business, having consistent “rules of engagement” is a way of managing customers’ expectations and also inspires trust. For example, if customers know you only return text messages or phone calls in the afternoon or on certain days, they don’t (or shouldn’t) expect an instant response for their texts and calls.
Having sales scripts for employees can “free up” their minds to make adjustments for a customer’s special problems. They basically already know what to say.
When you have a system, you might also need to know how and when to violate the system in certain cases, usually in favor of certain customers, especially “A” customers that are major sources of revenue and are centers of influence that generate a lot of referrals. (You might also create a “pay for access” system, like the “Lightning Lane” Disney offers in its amusement parks.)
The New Year will soon be here. What systems can you create to make your business more successful and fun next year?
Thank God for Deadlines!
Whatever you try to accomplish, using deadlines in your planning makes it more likely to get done.
Business demands v. personal life preferences
After one tax season, I came home for dinner with my family. The children were sitting at the table, smiling like Cheshire cats. My wife explained, "They're glad to see you. You haven't been home for dinner in three months!"
“Friends & Family” MEANS “Friends & Family”
Sometimes the “warnings” that we get for online transactions need to be brought to the forefront.
When we make a “friends and family” payment using PayPal, the payment can’t be disputed via PayPal. A payment using Zelle is also an instant transfer that can’t be recovered. These payments also aren’t reported to the IRS, so requiring payments using this procedure may be a form of tax evasion.
I’m embarrassed to say that I ignored those warnings because I was desperate for a service.
A consultant that I learned about online required “friends and family” payments using PayPal and Zelle to accounts that weren’t in her name. She also didn’t explain the process the the estimated cost of the project.
Initially, I thought I could “let it go”. (My BIG mistake!)
After I paid $334.50, $428 and $1,015.76, the consultant asked for an additional “refundable deposit” of $1,530. I decided “enough is enough” and reported a dispute for the transactions to the fraud departments for my credit card company and my bank.
I also requested a refund from the consultant. She refused and offered to accept a smaller deposit and finish the project. She has refused to accept payments to her own account, and hasn’t provided her business address. I do have her email address and telephone number. She has no web site.
I have also reported this suspicious activity to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Trade Commission and the Internal Revenue Service (using Form 3949-A).
If a business doesn’t explain the estimated cost of its product or service, or requires payments to other people’s accounts, payments using Zelle, or friends and family payments using PayPal, just say “No.” Find another business that operates legitimately.
Nothing happens until somebody moves
We might suffer from "analysis paralysis" -- we're so busy studying an idea that we don't get around to putting it into action.
The Power of “No”
You can't do and shouldn't try to do EVERYTHING!
Planning how to overcome obstacles is essential
At least as much thought and energy should be devoted to identifying and planning to overcome obstacles as to identifying and defining the goal.
What DON’T you want for your business?
Entrepreneurs have the privilege of designing their own business, including defining its values and its rules of engagement. As an entrepreneur, this includes defining what is NOT acceptable to you.