Plan To Prosper

From the 'Drop the Monkey Business' column in The Galway Advertiser 18/4/2013 P.105

Preparation is key to succeeding in business, yet not enough is done on a regular bases when it comes to business planning. With so little time to work on the business, most business owners are only working in the business and in turn they lose sight of why they started in the first place. They often wonder why it’s not going to plan.  A very common reason is that there was no plan to begin with.  Many businesses start out as an idea, growing their commercial outings on a wing and a prayer without ever writing a business plan. These businesses, although they may do well, may never meet their true potential as they drive their business without knowing exactly where they are going. When you write a business plan for your future or current business you set precise intentions in place that allow you to track your progress and follow up on goals. You need to establish what's going to happen? When it’s going to happen? How it’s going to happen? And why should it happen?  In truth, you're really just expanding on the ideas in your head, putting them in logical form on paper and making a commitment to work hard on that idea. If you plan to succeed you need to write a business plan and plan to prosper. With so many businesses opening and closing today it’s very important to forecast your desired outcome and get it as near to a real estimate as possible. You need to know exactly where you intend to be with you business when entering the exciting and tough world of commerce, selling, buying, customers, lack of customers, profits and the reality of being responsible for others.

Your business plan is the foundation of your business that will give support and energy to your original idea. It will give you clarity on how you aim to grow the business, how many staff you intend to hire, what kind of assets you’ll need, how much capital you’ll want to raise, who you key customers will be, how you’ll serve them and why you want to be in business. You can use a business plan to grow your existing business and establish a strategy that will allow that plan to move forward at a measureable pace.

As your business grows you need to organise and plan in a professional and fast thinking manner; be strategic. When you think of a new business idea or if you simply wish to focus on your existing business use a plan to establish the right steps to take when starting. Think about what you need to do, what resources you will need, and what you expect to achieve. Develop a plan; don't do it on a wing and a prayer. Do it with the confidence of knowing every single angle has been covered and all foreseeable pitfalls have been accounted for. A business plan is of vital importance if you're going to start a business of any type. It is also an essential tool for established businesses that wish to grow and keep the business in great shape. Great businesses are dynamic; they change and grow. The company's original business plan needs to be revised, as new plans are made. Reassessing the business plan can also help you see what plans have been successfully accomplished, what parts of the plan need tweaking, or what plans should be stopped so that the energy of the company can be refocused on what is actually working. The business plan allows you to put your long term and short-term goals for your business at the best viewpoint so your can achieve attainable objectives and reach your desired outcome. It's not always the plan that’s important; it's the pre-planning, the planning, and re-planning, which all happens in a continuous loop that feeds into the flow of success.

GIVE GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE

It’s vital when running a business to look at the customer service that you provide. The business basics are to stay calm, speak with a smile, always listen, offer solutions and give positive responses. The most important ingredient in providing excellent Customer Service is that the customer knows that it’s Job Done and No Sad Stories. That is the Brand promise of The City Bin Co., an Irish waste collector. I spoke to Gene Browne, CEO of The City Bin Co about giving Great Customer Service.

Be responsive to your customer’s requests and get the Job done right every time.  A satisfied customer will not only return, but will recommend you over and over again. Without customers your business will not exist, therefore great customer service is key and the customer is the king.

Drop the Monkey Business, & give excellent customer service.

Creativity, Innovation and You

We all have the ability to give and be our best yet we only shine on occasional moments in our life. Most of the time we are living and supporting somebody else’s dream and not giving one hundred percent of our energy to them nor to ourselves. This week I spoke with Marguerite Tonery, owner of Transflow Proformance about creativity. Marguerite  is an entrepreneur who created a new approach to developing creativity and innovation. Marguerite teaches this to businesses throughout Ireland.

To be creative is to come up with, develop or see something new; look from a different angle. Be yourself. It can be difficult to do this when you are confined to the rules of other peoples vision of life, but it's the creative people who shine because of their uniqueness and ability to tap into the creative zone within their given environment. We all have this ability. Marguerite shared with me how we can tap into that zone on a continued bases. 

Drop the Monkey business and be yourself. That's creativity.

SEEK SOUND ADVICE FROM CREATIVE PEOPLE

No matter what business you are in seek the experience from creative industries. Look for inspiration within inventive sources such as artists, musicians and painters.. A few weeks ago I did just that. I had the opportunity to chat to legendary songwriter Dana Cooper. I asked Dana about the changing industry, what young musicians dreaming of making it in music need to look at and what these musicians and other people with dreams be  in life or business can do to take the first steps. The great ideas can come from the most unusual places and the music industry is one of those interesting places that has a lot of creative people with inspirational nuggets. Dana is one such person.

Dana has over 40 years of song writing, performing and life experience and is equipped with a wealth of solid practical information about what it takes to be a working songwriter. He has recorded 22 albums, worked with 2 major record labels, several independent labels and discovered how to thrive as an independent artist. After seeing Dana play live more than once and interviewing him I can only say that this musician has great wisdom to share in business and life.

After talking to Dana Cooper the take-homes I received for myself were to set goals, decide if it’s a way of life or a living, and tap into the new worldwide distribution channels  on the internet such as YouTube, FaceBook,  and Twitter. 

Drop the Monkey Business and seek out your creative mentor.

SHARE YOUR SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

Today I met with brother/sister team Mark and Claire McCole, world famous Irish dancing sensations who spoke to me about their achievements and why it’s so important to share your skills and pass on your knowledge with others.

If you look at our ancestors, they were experts in this. They’d pass wisdom down from generation to generation. There were no books or computers. All was word of mouth and all was with the intention to improve the skills and knowledge of the next generation. It was a human characteristic to give one’s learning to the person beside you. I believe we lost this to some degree, but it is coming back. People what to learn and as much as they love to learn people want to teach. Like Mark and Claire have done with the Irish dancing ask yourself what learning, teachings, talents or wisdom can you give, be it business tips and techniques, be it a skill or a hobby. There is a student and a teacher in all of us. In many ways this blog is my classroom. I am the student. I am the teacher. What or where is your classroom in this wonderful world?

Drop the Monkey Business and share your skill and knowledge