Small Business :: Big Success™
Turning your Potential into Profits.

The 12 Keys to Small Business Success:


1. Effective goal setting.
Most business owners are really good at doing. When you are equally good at seeing and defining, you will set goals that really work.

What gets measured, gets better. What doesn't, may or not get better. Effective goal setting is a way for you to describe what you really want for your business and then to measure how you are doing. Goal setting is not a should nor a must. It is simply a tool used by effective businesses.

However, effective goal setting is different from what has been traditionally taught. In this Key we burst a few goal setting myths and replace them with simple processes which really work.

2. Ethical selling.
"Nothing happens until somebody sells something" is an old business truth. Yet it is also true most people don't really like to sell. Yet it is also true most people don't really like to sell and there are good reasons for that.

In this Key we cover some direct but un-common ways to increase your sales while staying fully in integrity. Nearly every business or professional practice can benefit from increased sales, but you will benefit most when your sales come from who you are as well as from what you do. You will see the sales process from a completely different perspective.

3. Developing a steady flow of new business through Attraction marketing.
There are specific simple things you can do to cause more business to come to you instead of you having to chase after it. But it's not easy and you have to be consistent. The payoff is huge.

4. Developing the character and standards of your leadership.
Running a modern business is not for the faint of heart. Unless you know who you are and what you stand for and demonstrate it through your business, you will be constantly buffeted by the demands of the marketplace. And that's tiring.

5. Getting control of finances and budgeting.
Every business has a few key numbers which reflect the financial health of the business. The other numbers are derivative. When you know the key things to track to build a financial "dashboard," you can easily stay on top of things. This Key is not about you becoming an accountant or bookkeeper. It is about you sleeping well and knowing that you are building the future you want.

6. Focusing on doing what you do best.
Do what you love; do what you're good at; and do what is most profitable; these are three ways to look at your activities. If you're not spending the majority of your time doing things which include all three, you're missing being as effective as you could be. This Key is about knowing your core talents --your strengths -- and doing those every day.

7. Developing championship people.
Even if you are a solo-preneur, you don't do everything in your business personally. (If you do, then see Key 6!) To effectively run your business you need to coach, not just manage, your people to achieve levels of excellence which amaze you both.

8. Maintaining balance between work, rest, and play.
Why did you decide to work for yourself in the first place? There is life beyond the business. When you manifest part of your life through your work, part through your play, and part through other activities which are meaningful to you, you will discover a surprising truth -- you will achieve more than if you put all of yourself into the business.

9. Partnering for flexibility and increased profits.
Today's business world is more complex than ever. You can't do everything your market wants. Focusing your strengths and partnering with the strengths of others will produce more profit with less effort.

10. Fluidly handling change, inside and out.
What is one thing that could happen outside your business which could put you out of business? Taking a "big picture" view of your business and the world can not only help you weather surprise storms but also let you see new opportunities you would miss if you just keep your focus inside. The days have passed when someone could have an idea and then ride an annuity for decades. Today, quickly responding to constant change is a survival skill.

11. Problem solving.
There are two groups of problems businesses face: those with generally known solutions and those with unknown solutions. And there are two ways problems are solved: in a logical, linear, thoughtful process and by instantaneous, intuitive flashes of insight. To be most effective with your business you must be comfortable handling a wide range of problems as they arise. Unfortunately, most of us have had little or no training in systematic problem solving. Fortunately, it's an easy skill to acquire. You will walk out of this Workshop with a new attitude about problems.

12. Defining your legacy.
Sooner or later you are going to leave your business. You're going to sell it, give it to family members, close it down, or die. Once you no longer own the business, how will you feel? What was the point of having it? What do you want to leave behind? Eventually everyone asks these questions. The sooner you do, the more effect your answers will have on your business now.

NOTE:
The more you work with each of the Twelve Keys the more you will see how each of them relates to all of the others. Implementing them then becomes a spiral process rather than a linear one. Each time you swing through a Key, you will see it differently, and from a higher place, because of your previous exposure to one or more of the other Keys. It is a spiral process to mastery.