Your Four Best Business Breakthrough Strategies

Posted on February 26th, 2009 by Sandy Reed

I read an enlightening story in Daily Guideposts recently about a child who was color blind. It’s hard for me to imagine going through life not being able to dress myself with coordinating colors of pants, tops, dresses, shoes, etc. But apparently there are many born with the inability to do just that.

This dilemma led me to think about what else is not the norm for the majority of the population, yet feels normal to some people who live with these challenges on a daily basis. I have lost the peripheral vision in my left eye. It feels so normal to me that I don’t even think about it the majority of the time. Like me, many people have learned to live with the inconvenience these types of situations cause — so much so that it feels normal. Would it be productive to stress and strain over it? Not likely.

When it comes to your business, what have you learned to live with that may feel normal, yet may not be the best, most productive way to grow a business? I have the ability to create websites, but it’s not my strength – it’s an ability. If I focus on websites, it keeps me from focusing on those things that are my strengths, like working with clients, writing, creating information products, and planning out my business.

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What Tall Tales are You Telling Yourself About Your Business?

Posted on February 18th, 2009 by Sandy Reed

You’ve probably heard the story about George Washington chopping down a cherry tree, then telling his father by saying, “I cannot tell a lie.”  As it turns out, Parson Mason Weems, one of Washington’s biographers, tells us that that story was “made up” – a euphemism designed to demonstrate how honest Washington was believed to be.  It’s amazing how many millions of people, however, believe that story is true. 

If so many people believe a “made-up” story is true, because it has been passed along by so many reliable sources over the years, how many stories do you believe about your own ability, or lack thereof, to create the business and life you really want?   Every morning I pick up the newspaper, or glance at the news on the internet, hoping to see something positive and uplifting – something that says, “There are unmistakable signs the economy is on its way to recovery!  Here are some examples of people succeeding right now!”  Unfortunately, those stories are few and far between…

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Don’t forget to be your customer’s valentine!

Posted on February 14th, 2009 by Sandy Reed

It’s Valentine’s Day!  You may wonder what this has to do with business.  Every day there is something special that someone is celebrating somewhere.  You can use those days as special remembrances to stay in contact with your customers.

The U. S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are exchanged each year worldwide.  This makes Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, behind Christmas.  For the greeting card industry, this is a very lucrative opportunity, one that they take full advantage of…  The question is, are you taking full advantage of it to promote your business?

It’s easy to remember to send Christmas cards once a year to your customers.  Most businesses use that holiday season to promote themselves in one way or another.  But the truly entrepreneurial business owner takes advantage of many more opportunities throughout the year to offer special incentives and enticements to their prospective and current customers. 

Don’t forget to look ahead to the coming holidays such as President’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and Fourth of July to reach out and touch your customers.  Keep your business in front of those you want to do business with, and you’ll find your business growing, while your competitors are sitting on their duff waiting for the customers to call them!

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Tribute to a Family Business

Posted on February 9th, 2009 by Sandy Reed

One of the perks of a family business is the time you get to spend getting to know your family on a while new level.  Instead of running off to separate jobs every workday, we get to create our days together – and hopefully learn from each other, and become even closer, through the ups and downs of our business.

Here’s an example.  I know that my husband, who is also my business partner, likes to focus on one task at a time and get it done, before he moves onto something else.  I, on the other hand, tend to multi-task all day long.  Seeing the difference in our stress levels, I’m now trying to be a little more like him.  Sometimes I have to admit, however, that I wish he was just a little more like me…

My son, who is also a part of our business, likes to do creative things best, such as install ceramic tile.  He enjoys putting his unique signature on each job by using decorative tiles and unusual installation techniques.  This is a side of him I wouldn’t get to see up close and personal, if we were not in business together.

For those families who run off to separate work environments every day, the opportunity to get to know their family is restricted to evenings and weekends, and occasional vacations. 

If you’re considering getting out of the rat race and starting your own family business, in my humble but experienced opinion, I believe it is worth every second of the occasional stresses, strains, and fears to build a life in which you are in control of your destiny and your freedom – while enjoying the growth and special relationships you get to create with your family.

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In Your Business – What pushes your buttons?

Posted on February 3rd, 2009 by Sandy Reed

I spent a good portion of my evening last night going through multiple sources of email – from various email addresses, and messages from Facebook, Fastpitch, Linked-in, etc. etc. etc….  It seems my life has been taken over by email, and I’ve made the decision to take back control of my time, and my ability to create the cash flow I want in my life. 

My friend, Debbye Cannon, the Business Mom Mentor, teaches her clients the high cost of checking email.  If you calculate how much you make in your business on an hourly basis during the year, or even how much you intend to make, take that figure and divide it by the number of hours you work each year, that will tell you how much you make, or have the potential to make, per hour.  When you know how much you make per hour, you can then calculate how much potential income you are giving up by checking email once, twice, or even several times per day.  Some people spend hours on email alone!

This exercise will give you a wake-up call and get you thinking about ways to cut down on the amount of time you are spending on email, in its various forms.

What I am doing, or intend to do about this robber of my time is:

1.  Unsubscribe to everything that is not important to my ability to create income, contribute to my peace of mind, or that supports my goals (including my family goals). 

2.  Utilize a good spam program.  I have noticed recently that spam is becoming even more of a problem than it has in the past.

3.  Batch the time that I check email.  In other words, I only check email for 15 or 20 minutes at specified times of the day.  This keeps me from eating up my productive work time checking email.

Maybe these are things that can also help you get control of your time – and your cash flow!

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