If you search Google for “why businesses fail” you will get about 3.7 million results. Many of those articles will talk about the pitfalls and untold reasons why organizations go out of business. Our stance is, instead of focusing on what went wrong, focus on planning and building for success. Outcomes that are focused on are typically the outcomes that are generated. If you want to build a successful business you need to focus on success.
We can learn a great deal from businesses that fail and apply that knowledge to action steps that propel a business toward success and away from failure. Here are some important elements of a successful business to consider:
Develop a plan. You can get where you are going much faster if you have a road map. Developing a plan for your business that includes a vision, objectives, and critical success factors creates a road map. Evaluating potential problems and challenges before they happen often eliminates crises. Reviewing financial, equipment, and employee needs creates preparation. Developing a plan for marketing, advertising, and customer growth ensures focusing on the right activities. Develop a plan and revisit it frequently.
Execution is key. Developing a plan is the first step to executing your plan. Daily action steps are what make it come to fruition. Do you and your team members know what they need to do, focus on, and accomplish in order to make the business goals a reality? Frequent and consistent communication with your team will help ensure that everyone is working towards the right outcomes.
Know your customers. Who are your customers, and why do they buy from you? What makes your product or service different or better? Creating and growing a loyal customer base is the key to business sustainability. If asked, customers will tell you exactly what they need. Ask frequently and listen intently. As the world changes so do customers’ requirements of your products or services.
Evaluate competition. Who is your competition and how do you compare? Competitive research is well worth the time and effort. Know what your business is up against. Understand competitors’ products and services and how potential customers compare those products or services to your company. This knowledge is vital as it allows you to make well-informed advertising and marketing decisions.
Be able to adapt. Business environments and customers change. The ability to adapt to the ever-changing face of business is just as important as planning. Your plan provides the roadmap but occasionally there will be obstacles located in the middle of the road which will necessitate a course correction. Being able to adapt quickly will allow the course correction to be as seamless as possible.
Maintain focus. Know where you going and what you want to achieve at all times. Distractions can mean death to a business. It becomes very easy to lose sight of the big picture when a distraction presents itself. Distractions have a bad habit of allowing us to race down blind alleys and take our eyes off of the real objectives. Again, count on your plan to provide the roadmap and make goal-oriented decisions.
Creating a successful and sustainable business is not always easy; however, the rewards often outweigh the challenges. Put yourself in a position to win at business by giving yourself all of the advantages listed above, and the results you desire will follow!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. RAC is the first choice among business professional for assistance in creating, building and expanding a successful consulting or coaching practice. RAC trained consultants and coaches specialize in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how by visiting our website or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
It is estimated that there are over 400,000 consultants in the United States, and that number is expected to double in the next two to three years due to all of the changes in the business environment and the economy. Many former executives are taking the opportunity to use their expertise and experience to provide consulting services to businesses and organizations from the outside-in. If you are in that position and are considering making the leap to consulting here are five success keys to consider.
1. Create a plan. Decide what kind of consulting or coaching practice you want to pursue, do the research, and then create a plan. Having a plan will allow you to make good decisions because you will have a clear vision of what kind of consulting practice you want to have and what types of clients you want to serve. There are professionals consulting in all types of areas. All of our consultants have the privilege focusing their consulting businesses in areas such as strategic planning, improved business results, people development, and process improvement. This core focus allows them to become thought leaders in very specific areas making them stand out among the other consultants in the crowd.
2. After you have your niche identified, then you will need a marketing plan so you can properly promote yourself and your business. We assist our network of consultants with their marketing and promotion plan. Your answer to key number one comes into play here because once you identify whom your ideal client is, it becomes far easier for you to specifically market and promote yourself to that audience. Marketing yourself as a potential solution to everyone will become a frustrating experience, and you will run out of time and energy. 3. Create a support network. Consulting can be a lonely business, especially in the beginning, so create a support network with purpose. Reach out to centers of influence from previous roles you have held and companies where you have worked, and make a point to educate them on your new business. Use them as a sounding board and a source of idea generation. Align with other consultants in your area who may offer different services. Create a mastermind group with the goal to focus on lead exchange, idea generation, and general support.
4. Charge by the project not by the hour. Many consultants diminish their value by charging by the hour instead of the project. Build value and through your questions establish a clear return on investment when you are working with a potential client through the business generation process. Business owners buy value, not necessarily features and benefits. Your fee should not be based on how often you show up or how long a project takes. It should be about the value you bring to the table and the return on investment for the client.
5. Go do it! Out of 400,000 consultants currently out there in the field about half are generating the amount of business they desire. In our experience, the lack of doing is often times linked to not having a plan of action (#2) or not being confident on how to implement the plan, so they just don’t do anything. Obviously, doing nothing leads to bad results. This is where having a strong support network around can be extremely helpful. They can help celebrate the wins as well as tell you when it is time to get out there and just do it some more!
Consulting through your own practice is exciting. Just imagine being able to control your own destiny and control your income potential. Consulting has great possibilities and we work over 500 independent consultants everyday to help them make that happen!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has been the first choice among business partners for creating successful business consultants and coaches. For more information visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Two people can view the same situation entirely different. One may see the glass half empty; another sees the glass half full. Both observations are correct, but the subtle difference in thought process and phrasing is important. The former is bemoaning what isn’t and the latter is appreciating what is. The way you view and describe a situation greatly influences how you feel about it and how you respond to it. You have the power to choose how you see life. You always have the option of viewing situations in either a positive or negative manner.
When someone asks you how you genuinely feel about yourself, what thoughts first come to your mind? Do you instinctively think about your shortcomings and failures, or do you think about your worth and potential? Your view of yourself affects your development. When you focus on your potential, you foster vision and motivation for growth. When you expect positive outcomes, you will be more inclined to work for and get them. If you motivate employees and create an environment where they want to succeed, they will be more likely to do so. If you have positive expectations, they will strive to live up to them. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and help them become what they’re capable of being.”
When you see life positively, you will be in a stronger position to ward off the negative influences that constantly bombard you. You will be able to set your goals and sustain your efforts to achieve them. Take an inventory of your internal attitudes. Listen closely to your dialogue with yourself. You will become increasingly aware of the many negative thoughts that you may entertain on a daily basis.
Be conscious of your thoughts and make a commitment to change those negative thoughts into positive commitments. Just as you exercise your body to make it healthy, exercise your mind with positive thoughts that begin with “I can” and “I will.” You have no doubt encountered people who move forward through life with vigor and enthusiasm. They seem to possess an indefinable quality that propels them over and around obstacles. They don’t get discouraged, and they don’t indulge in self-doubt or self-pity. That quality is a positive view of life. You can almost hear them saying aloud to themselves, “I can” and “I will,” and as a result they do!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has been the first choice among business partners for creating successful business consultants and coaches. For more information visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Good coaches come in all shapes and sizes, but here are some characteristics that most good coaches seem to share.
They are excellent listeners. They’d rather ask good questions than give good advice.
They are curious people. They love to dig beneath the surface to uncover a person’s dreams, values, and passions.
They are self-assured and they rejoice in other people’s success.
They believe in relationships and enjoy working one-on-one with people over an extended period of time.
They are encouragers and they get a thrill out of helping others achieve their dreams.
They have positive attitudes and they look for, affirm, and expect the best in others.
They are honest and they are not afraid to challenge others when that’s the best way to help them.
They are unselfish and they are willing to get out of the way so others can grow.
They are respectful and they do not attempt to manipulate or control others.
A good coach is a professional who works with individual clients to help them achieve results and sustain life-changing behavior in both their personal lives and careers. Good coaches address the whole person with an emphasis on uncovering blind spots and producing right action that leads to more fulfillment, more balance, and a more enjoyable life journey.
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping professional business coaches build stronger and more successful practices. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Having a coach is like having your own personal navigator for your life’s journey.
The coach helps you chart your course and reach your destination. Imagine having someone in your corner who is totally committed to your success. Someone who always encourages the powerful part of you, who sees how big you can be, and constantly holds up that big image for you even when you can’t hold it up for yourself.
Imagine a relationship that places the total focus on you. A relationship with someone who helps you clarify your dreams, aspirations, passions, and values. Someone who helps you celebrate your victories and learn from your setbacks as you press on toward achieving your goals together.
Consider the benefits of having regular conversations with a skilled, trained professional who really listens to you and not just your words but to your emotions, your energy, and even the spaces between your words. A coach is a professional who provides a ‘safe’ place for you to move beyond superficial, inhibited, self-limiting conversations, so you have the confidence to express doubts and even fears. A coach is someone who helps you gain the tools and strength you need to defeat the attitudes and behaviors that have sabotaged your past success and created stress in your life.
Imagine having a trustworthy, confidential relationship with someone who will absolutely tell you the truth, the truth about where you are strong, and where you sell yourself short. Someone who knows your values and your life purpose, and will help you hold yourself true to them. Someone who will accept everything your communicate without judgment, always seeking to draw out the very best in you.
The impact of coaching increases with time. As coach and client get to know each other better, the coach become more familiar with the client’s strengths, weaknesses, aspirations, and dreams.
So who can benefit from having a coach? Anyone who’s going through change, which includes just about all of us!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has successfully taught professionals how to become an independent consultant or a coach. Learn how by visiting our website or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
“If we take a risk we might fail. If we don’t take a risk we surely will fail. The greatest risk of all is to do nothing.” – Unknown Author
Why would anyone go through the process of setting and planning goals and then not follow through? One possible answer is the rewards aren’t sufficient enough to motivate you into action. Another probable answer is procrastination has derailed or stalled you. The inability to act can often be traced to fear, doubt, or the absence of a clear picture of the potential rewards and consequences. Fear, in general, can be defined as False Evidence Appearing Real.
Common fears can be divided into three basic categories:
Fear of criticism, rejection, or exposure
Fear of the unknown
Fear of failure
Although any one of these can cause you to become immobile, it is usually a combination of all three that create the most difficulty. Here is a closer look at the barriers to goal achievement …
Fear of criticism, rejection, or exposure is linked closely with the need for social acceptance. People will go to great lengths to adopt a mode of dress or a certain type of behavior because they fear criticism and rejection of others. Fear of having an idea rejected continues to lose billions of dollars for American business.
Fear of the unknown can also inhibit achievement. Many times, our need for security (the need to feel safe) causes us to be fearful in those situations in which we’re not sure what is going to happen. Our fear of what might or might not happen can cause us to keep from doing those things we should do to bring us closer to our goals. One key to addressing fear of the unknown is examining the possibilities and then weighing them against doing nothing.
It is not unusual for a person to want something intensely, but because of the fear of failure, not even try to attain it. Whether it’s the president who’s afraid to make a change in structure or the manager who is afraid to develop a more competent, self-directed team, fear can be a major deterrent to success. If you promote a risk avoidance mentality, innovation, growth, and the entire goal setting process can be stifled. If mistakes are met with criticism and/or punishment, people will be inclined to do only what they know how to do. It will inhibit creativity and improvement. By not trying, people frequently ensure failure—the very thing that they’re trying to avoid. Fear of failure has blinded many people from seeing opportunities.
Many people view failure as a permanent, indelible, and negative state. It’s not that at all! In fact, failure can be a very positive experience. Failure provides an opportunity to learn. Any newly attempted endeavor invites failure. The first time you try to ski you are guaranteed to fall. If you don’t fall you haven’t moved or progressed. Without failure there is no progress. When you stop failing, you stop learning. Failure is important to success if it is viewed as an opportunity to learn. To change failure from a negative experience to a positive phenomenon, eliminate those conditions which contribute to fear of failure. Develop a culture in which individuals are recognized and rewarded for innovation and creative problem solving. “Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.” – Oscar Wilde
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve sustainable results through leadership development and executive coaching. For information on creating a leadership succession plan visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
A recent study performed by the Institute of Business Ethics found that companies displaying a ‘clear commitment to ethical conduct’ consistently outperform companies that do not display ethical conduct. The director of IBE, Philippa Foster Black stated, “Not only is ethical behavior in business the right thing to do in principle, we have shown that it pays off in financial returns.” Part of your commitment as a business leader is to create and maintain the processes and a culture that dictates ethical behavior. Ethical behavior is not an easy path, nor is it a path taken without thought and consideration. As a leader, decision with value connections will be presented frequently. Examples could include employees stealing from the company, doing personal business on company time, modifying accounting records, or extending a customer discount that was not earned, etc. Clearly defined organizational goals and clearly stated organizational values are integral to your ability to make the best decisions and take the right actions. As you deal with different types of situations you are being evaluated very closely by your team. As you lead by example, you become a champion for the organization’s commitment to ethical behavior. As you look to enhance the ethical policies and processes within your company, take into consideration the following five principles.
Be trustful: Recognize that customers and employees want to do business with an organization they can trust. When trust is at the core of an organization, it is easy to recognize.
Meet obligations: Regardless of the circumstances, do everything in your power to keep commitments and obligations to employees and customers. An incredible amount of trust is built when an organization honors its commitments. If unforeseen events stand in the way of meeting an obligation, immediately communicate the challenges and work together to find resolution.
Reevaluate all documents and materials: Make sure all department and organizational documents and literature are clear and precise. Make sure they don’t misinterpret or misrepresent.
Have documented processes: Every organization is structured differently. However, having documented processes and policies on how your organization interacts with customers and employees is critical. If processes are properly documented there is no question what a product or service should be or whether a customer exception falls within the acceptable guidelines. Take a hands-on approach to all accounting and record keeping as it will allow you to end an inappropriate action in a timely fashion.
Be respectful: Treat employees and customers with respect regardless of differences, positions, titles, ages, or diversity. Always treat others with respect and courtesy even if you agree to disagree.
Successful implementation of these five principles becomes a leader’s daily commitment and responsibility. Oprah Winfrey said it quite simply, “Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to ever know whether you did it or not.”
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses achieve sustainable results through leadership development and executive coaching. For information on creating a leadership succession plan visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Your role as a contemporary manager is ever-changing. Many of the traditional day-to-day tasks have been improved or eliminated by technology, and perhaps in that respect the job of a manager has been simplified. However, the global business environment has created quite a different managerial role. If you read or access any source of daily news, you are bombarded with information about organizations that are dealing with consolidation, mergers, acquisitions, and downsizing. These major strategic decisions are forcing organizations to consolidate technologies and functions, merge culture, and deal with generational diversity issues. As the current workforce continues to change and evolve, all of these directly impact your current role as a manager. As John Naisbett discusses in his recent book High Tech/High Touch: technology and Our Search for Meaning, as a business community we are intoxicated by the power of existing and emerging technology and the perceived impact it has on success. However, these ongoing changes mean you must now be highly skilled in interpersonal communication and human development if you are to get your job done effectively. John Naisbett reminds us that more than ever we need to place as much emphasis on people as we do technology.
In addition to an ever-changing global environment, many people have come to expect and demand much more out of their jobs. They have a different set of expectations for what they should derive from their work. For instance, people are demanding more and more non-monetary rewards from their employers. Research documents individuals are looking toward their work as a major source of fulfillment as it relates to their self-esteem, sense of accomplishment, personal challenge, and involvement. Studies have also shown the average employee tenure is at an all time low, which is a huge indicator that individuals are not getting what they need from their positions. There is a direct correlation between individuals staying or leaving an organization and their relationship with their manager.
The challenges facing managers today include creating an environment, a climate, and a culture where your people can satisfy their personal needs and achieve personal goals while accomplishing organizational results. If the individuals within your organization are not fulfilling their needs, are not made to feel as an important part of the organization, and/or are not committed, work and results will be given a low priority. Your employees will devote only the minimum amount of effort needed to get by or choose to move in another direction.
The basic desire to achieve and accomplish exists within most employees as they want their work to hold meaning. Therefore, you must discover ways to reshape relationships within your organization to create a climate of personal growth and contribution. As a great manager, you must discover new methods to channel the energies of your workforce, new ways to communicate, and new ways to help your people become motivated. We are in an exciting business era, one in which our people knowledge must match up with our technical knowledge!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
“I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.” – Charles Swindoll
We may not be able to change what has happened to us thus far in life, such as our biological parents, or other factors, which have influenced us. We can’t control many of the things, which happen to us in life. We can, however, control how we respond to what happens to us. Personal skills, competencies, and worth can be improved regardless of age or position. Far too often, failure is blamed on external circumstances: other people or things beyond our control. But that is rarely the case. There are just too many people who continue to overcome diverse circumstances. An old adage still remains true—if you think you can or if you think you can’t, you’re probably right.
Ray Kroc was considered to be an aging high school drop out who failed at almost everything he ever did. At age 52, he decided to try again and developed what is now the McDonald’s empire.
Sam Walton opened his first store (a Ben Franklin variety store) in a small town of about 7,000 people. It was losing money and he bought it with $5,000 of his own money and $20,000, which he borrowed. Within five years, he had reached his goal of turning a profit, only to be refused renewal on his lease and forced to sell. His next venture was to open another store, Walton’s Five and Dime. This was the beginning of the greatest retail success story in history. Sam Walton created Walmart, the largest chain of discount stores in America.
There are many other examples of individuals who overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles to achieve worldwide acclaim, of leaders who took their companies to positions of global dominance in the face of fierce competition. There are even more examples of those who gave up, threw in the towel, and failed. It’s easy to blame others, or the environment, or the economy, or to rationalize ‘why’ it wasn’t their fault. If circumstances are not the determining factor, what is?
Too many people hold themselves in lower self-esteem than the actual facts warrant. Bad moments and past mistakes tend to make a deeper impression on our memories than our past successes. Many people tend to think more often of where and how they’ve failed, rather than where and how they have succeeded. Thus, many people tend to view themselves as less capable than they actually are. Another problem is that many have never learned the importance of self-love. The awkwardness with which some people accept compliments illustrates this fact. They often allow minor imperfections to color their view of themselves, resulting in a low self-image. To build a self-image on anything less than self-love, is to build on a hopelessly weak foundation.
With these thoughts in mind, begin to imagine the difference you would make in enhancing the self-image of others if you thought more frequently in the terms of their strengths and implemented a system and recognition program focused on their achievements, rather than on mistakes and failures. How much easier would it be to implement a change process if everyone viewed himself or herself in a positive light? What would happen to productivity if everyone thought more in terms of their unlimited potential rather than their limitations? You could have a powerful influence on the growth and achievement of everyone with whom you work!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in business and management consulting, strategic planning, leadership development, executive coaching and youth leadership. For more information visit www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
We have talked in previous articles about the importance of having a clearly defined vision—identifying what you truly want and sincerely desire. We have also discussed that in addition to a clearly defined vision, you also need to define your core values, which help you choose and commit to what you believe in and how you want to be known.
The next critical step is to develop the success attitudes needed to help you realize your vision. Your attitudes play a critical role in your success. Your belief in yourself and your ability to achieve the results you desire will influence the way you deal with others. A negative attitude about yourself and your worth or about the worth of others will be like an anchor holding you back from success. A positive attitude becomes an internal motor that will drive you to accomplishment. Positive attitudes are synonymous with high self-esteem, and both are developed as a result of values and beliefs that recognize the worth of self and others. People who feel good about themselves produce better results.
Behavioral scientists have long realized that our behavior is linked closely with our attitudes and that if we want to improve behavior and outcomes, we have to improve the way we think. If you are to implement new ideas, new plans, and visions for excellence, you have to change attitudes and improve thinking. New thinking won’t work with old attitudes, and new results won’t work with old thinking.
The way you think, your attitudes, are a result of the events you have experienced thus far in your life and how you feel about those events and their outcomes. Your perceptions of yourself, of others, of your worth, and the worth of others are also a result of your past experiences.
The key to developing stronger success attitudes is twofold. First, recognize that your attitudes have been developed over time, and they can be changed or developed to be more conducive to your success and desired outcomes. You are 100% in control of developing your attitudes of success. Second, realize that any meaningful and lasting change must occur over a period of time and evolve from conscious, daily input of positive and growth-oriented ideas. Success attitudes result from repetitive and positive input over a period of time. Develop constant reminders, which will help you keep your vision and your strengths in clear focus. These reminders have the capability of exciting you when obstacles seem insurmountable, as well as helping you feel good about yourself when moments of self-doubt creep into your thinking.
One of the most common forms of successful attitude reinforcement is the regular use of affirmations. An affirmation is telling yourself in times of doubt that which you know to be true other times. More specifically, an affirmation is a positive statement, which describes the person that you want to become. The power of affirmations can best be understood when we realize that our mind doesn’t know the difference between real and imagined. Affirmations help you utilize this phenomenon to your advantage. By continuously imaging yourself succeeding or winning, your positive belief system is reinforced and you can become anything you choose!
Tammy A.S. Kohl is President of Resource Associates Corporation. For over 30 years, RAC has specialized in helping businesses and individuals achieve high levels of excellence and success. Learn how at www.resourceassociatescorp.com or contact RAC directly at 800.799.6227.
Consulting through your own practice is exciting. Just imagine being able to control your own destiny and control your income potential. Learn how you can make your dream come true! […]
If you search Google for “why businesses fail” you will get about 3.7 million results. Many of those articles will talk about the pitfalls and untold reasons why organizations go out of business. Our stance is, instead of focusing on what went wrong, focus on planning and building for success. Outcomes that are focused on are typically the outcomes that are generated. If you want to build a successful business you need to focus on success. 
3. Create a support network. Consulting can be a lonely business, especially in the beginning, so create a support network with purpose. Reach out to centers of influence from previous roles you have held and companies where you have worked, and make a point to educate them on your new business. Use them as a sounding board and a source of idea generation. 
Two people can view the same situation entirely different. One may see the glass half empty; another sees the glass half full. Both observations are correct, but the subtle difference in thought process and phrasing is important. The former is bemoaning what isn’t and the latter is appreciating what is. The way you view and describe a situation greatly influences how you feel about it and how you respond to it. You have the power to choose how you see life. You always have the option of viewing situations in either a positive or negative manner.
The coach helps you chart your course and reach your destination. Imagine having someone in your corner who is totally committed to your success. Someone who always encourages the powerful part of you, who sees how big you can be, and constantly holds up that big image for you even when you can’t hold it up for yourself.
“I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.” – Charles Swindoll
