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Hitting the Three year Mark in Business – Top 5 Rules to Follow

August 28, 2007 - Posted by Shama

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Only 1 out of 5 businesses survives the first the three years. The majority of these businesses go under due to poor business decisions and lack of support. Once a business hits its three year mark however, the chances of it failing dramatically decrease.

Here are the top 5 rules to follow if you want to get your business to the three year mark (and beyond!)

1) Commit to Commitment- Being a huge fan of the show Fraiser, I remember a particular episode where Niles advises his relationship shy brother to “Commit to Commitment.” If you are truly serious about seeing your business succeed-I suggest that you take this first rule to heart. Once you decide that you are in it for the long haul, you are much more likely to see eventual business problems as challenges to overcome. Don’t run your business with one foot in the boat and one foot on the shore.

2) Love thy numbers- I will be the first to admit that I was never a fan of math class. History and English were much more my cup of tea. However, when it comes to business-I love the numbers. There can be no way around this rule. Can you delegate this task? Sure. Is it advisable? No. Especially not in your first three years of business. If you need help understanding and managing the numbers-get it. But at the end of the day, make sure you are the one tallying your numbers. I am not talking about complicated formulas here, but if you don’t keep a detailed expenses sheet you are bound to get into trouble. Here is a quick test. See if you can answer these questions OR have the means (meaning papers somewhere) that can help you answer them. What were your total business expenses for last month? How many clients/customers do you need this week to help you reach your revenue goal? What is your revenue goal?

3) Be Value Driven- Make sure that what you are providing has real value to people-your people. If your products and services are valuable to your target market-it is just a matter of time before the business takes off. The world is full of people trying to make a buck and while that is the way of society, just be sure you are making that buck by providing a service people can benefit from and feel good about. If every day for three years you focus on improving your services rather than on making money-you will naturally increase your profits. People are happy to pay (and pay well) for products and services they enjoy.

4) Take Time out for Yourself- Running a business can challenge you in ways that you had never thought possible. If you are in it for the long haul (and if you are reading this far-I am assuming you are), take time out to recharge your batteries. Bill Gates is known to regularly take time away from his business in order to catch up with himself. If Microsoft can be okay without him for a while, your business will be okay without you for a few days as well. Often when small business owners are starting out they wonder if they can afford to take a vacation. My rule is-If you can’t stop thinking about taking a break for two straight days, it’s time to take that break.

5) Get a Support System- If you choose to ignore every other rule in this post, go ahead, but please pay attention to this one. Every small business owner needs a support system. Who do you turn to when you have questions? Need advice? Want to share a successful moment? A word to the wise-look beyond your significant other and family for business advice. While they may make ideal cheerleaders, they aren’t always the best people to go to for business advice Make sure you have a good mentor. The prerequisite to starting every business should be the creation of a solid support system. You can’t get through the first three years without it. I have never seen any entrepreneur do so and please don’t take this statement as a challenge. Get yourself the strongest team you can find and onwards you go!

From Generic to Best Seller-5 Steps to Changing your Personal Brand Name (Part III)

August 24, 2007 - Posted by Shama

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This post is part three of a three part series on personal branding. Here are Part I, and Part II. This article shows you how to change your personal brand name.

In part I we established that just like products, people also have brand names. This is especially true if you are working with others in your business. In part 2, we discussed how you can find out what your current ‘brand name’ is.

Now let’s look at how you can change it!

1) Shine the Light. You already have natural qualities. Personal branding is all about shining light on them. You don’t have to fake your personality to create a powerful personal brand. The best way is to leverage your already existing positive traits. For example, if you are an introverted business owner you don’t have to fake being an extrovert. Instead shine the light on your superior listening skills or your compassion for your customers.

2) Expand your Circle. If you want to shine the light on certain personal qualities, find others who already personify them. Let’s say that you want to build your personal brand around your keen analytical skills. In fact, you want your business to scream the same. The best way is to dind others who are already doing it. Look around you and find people who already have a well established personal brand (whether they realize it or not) and become a keen observer. How do they personify their personal brand? Is it their dressing? Is it their language? Once you understand their personal tools-create your own!

3) Redecorate. You office space (at home or otherwise) tells a lot about you. In fact, I can usually tell a person’s ‘brand name’ within the first thirty second of looking at their office space. Look around your own personal space and try to look at it from an outsider’s perspective. Is your cup holder filthy? (Translation: Doesn’t care enough). Are there pictures of your family? (Translation: Cares about his/her relationships). Now, pick out the things that don’t fit your new brand name. You might argue that no one sees your office space and that it is your personal sanctuary. Fair enough. But know that your personal brand begins from within. If you aren’t truly organized but try to give off that image, someone will eventually see through it. If you are serious about changing your personal brand, it is best to do it from the inside out.

4) Change the Way you Dress. Studies prove that people are more likely to do a favor for a person in business suit than for someone who is dressed more casually. Always dress a notch above the people you will be meeting with. It is a sign of respect, not arrogance. The way you dress says a lot about your personal brand name as well. You don’t have to wear Armani suits to work, but a well pressed shirt and a strand of simple pearls (for women) can go a long way. The way someone dresses can tell you a lot about their personal brand.

5) Keep it Fresh- Constructing and enhancing your personal brand name is a lifetime affair. No matter what your personal brand is-keep it fresh. Become aware of your strongest strengths and seek out opportunities in your life and business to shine the light on them.

What is your Brand?-Part II

August 23, 2007 - Posted by Shama

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This post is part two of a three part series on personal branding. This article is meant to help you detect your personal brand. Your personal brand is often the same as your business brand-especially if it’s a small or micro business. The third part of this series will show you how to consciously change it.

Every time you label someone a brown-noser, blondie, marketing guy, or a techie-you are (sometime inadvertently) referring to their brand name. At first look these are mere labels, but a deeper look reveals the brand these individuals have built for themselves-consciously or unconsciously.

So how do you determine your own personal brand?

Ask around. Ask your friends and colleagues how they would describe you. If you are feeling especially brave-ask your employees. What do they think your strengths and weaknesses are? Watch the couple of first terms they use to describe you. These are probably good cues to look at in detecting your brand name. Example-Joe asks his team member Stacey as to what she thinks of him. She instantly says, “Joe, you are brilliant with computers and I love your logical mind.” Logical and Technical are two “brand” words connected to Joe.

Identify your ‘scarce’ skills. What skills do you have that are considered rare in your environment? Often in an IT department, good salesmanship is rare. Or perhaps you speak Mandarin and French in an industry where English and Spanish are the norm. These rare skills differentiate your brand name from others. Seek them out.

Analyze your own strengths and weaknesses. If I could suggest one activity to all business owners, it would be to journal. Take ten minutes of quiet time and list all your traits. Don’t worry about getting it right, just write freely. At the end of ten minutes, you will see that one trait really jumps out at your or different words have been used to highlight the same trait. For example- my list consisted of high energy, energizing, lots of stamina, positive. All these words pointed at the fact that I am an energetic individual. This is also the first trait that stands out in my business.

Personal brand names, which often tend to overlap your business brand, can either help you or hinder you. The third part will look at how to alter your personal brand.