The Business Owner Consulting Program

It is common for business owners to play several roles within their company but eventually, the tasks become too many and it is impossible for the owner to successfully manage them all with the same attention to detail that is needed. Multitasking is the ability to do more than one thing at a time. It is common for business owners to believe they are multitasking but in reality, they are juggling several tasks at once and none of them end up getting the full attention they need. This leads to details being missed or segments of the business being ignored which leads to larger long-term issues. They should hire employees that have the skills and abilities needed to complete specific tasks and delegate those tasks to them. This is easier said than done, especially for younger businesses because delegation is difficult when every task feels vital to your business and its survival. They should then provide the employees with clear instructions on how they want the task completed so there is no room for error or misunderstanding of what was expected by the business owner when delegating a task. Small Business CEOs should stop trying to do everything themselves because it will eventually lead them down a path of failure, frustration and overloaded stress if they continue on this path.  Hiring an employee that has a skill set that complements your own will allow you as the business owner more time for your other duties as well as allow you peace of mind knowing that all your tasks are being completed correctly by someone who has been trained in their specific field of expertise. This does not mean you will not be involved but you will have additional time to focus on things that are more vital to your business. We always recommend spending two weeks documenting everything you do and then reviewing them in detail. It usually is pretty clear how much time you are wasting on tasks that can easily be handled by other members of your business or require a new employee. It showcases how little time you spend focused on business growth, operational efficiencies, customer retention and so on. With the Business Owner Consulting Program, you are not alone and have constant and immediate assistance with any business issues. Our members have direct access to staff training, marketing advice, client retention, digital marketing strategy and much more.

Maximizing profits is important for small business owners to focus on. One step in doing that is the need to learn the market dynamics and competitive landscape within their industry. This requires close attention to the details of the market, such as the number of competitors, their products, and pricing. To be clear, a competitor is a business that offers a similar product or service to your company.  A competitor can be a direct competitor (a business that offers the same product or service as your company) or an indirect competitor (a business that offers a different product or service but competes for the same customer). The entire purpose of understanding your competition is being able to get a better grasp of what options and pricing your target market has when they are considering making a purchasing decision. A target market is the group of people or businesses that your product or service is intended to reach. It could be a specific demographic, a specific industry, or even a specific type of buyer. An understanding of the target market is critical to creating the right marketing strategy for your business. Many business owners start their business or continue to run their business without knowing who their target market is or who is competing with them for that target market. If you have been in business for 1 year or 20 years, it is vital to evaluate this at minimum once a year because of the constantly changing technology and services. As an example, if you have been in business for 20 years but have an unappealing website yet a brand new business with a stellar website starts – your target market, despite you being a much more established company likely will choose the other guy solely because they are marketing better than you. To keep business growth it is vital to stay updated with small things like this – every day you are either gaining or losing market share. Business Owner Consulting Program members get discounted rates on a full competitor analysis along with access to all the marketing advice and tools needed to win in their respective markets.

An unrealistic long-term goal can cause a lot of unnecessary stress and friction in the short term. An owner’s perception of their company’s growth may differ from reality, as may their employees’ expectations. Creating a growth plan can help remove these potential roadblocks and create a more conducive environment for success. It is important to be optimistic but not unrealistic and any goals you set for your business should be justified through proper research and analysis. It is helpful for business owners to set different levels of goals to measure success. This includes a very achievable goal, a goal that should be achieved but is a stretch and a goal that would be difficult to achieve. One of the Fortune 500 companies I worked with did this quarterly and also incentivized the employees based on those pre-set goals with things that we enjoyed. This could be anything from a free vacation day to financial bonuses or lunch paid for by the company once a week for that quarter. Obviously, the cost-benefit needs to make sense for the company but it is a great way to get employees involved in the process of achieving goals. Also, when you are setting your goals they need to be realistic for your company and targets that employees feel are realistic as well. This is not only important for the success of the company but also to ensure that you are motivating your employees and not setting them up for failure. The most important thing when setting goals is to make sure that you have a plan in place to achieve those goals. This includes a timeline, resources, and accountability. If you do not have a plan then it will be difficult to achieve the goals that you set out for yourself or your business. Also, if you do not have a plan then it will be difficult to hold yourself or your team accountable for achieving those goals. Goals should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound) and should tie back into your business strategy as well as reflect what is important to you as an individual and as an organization. To achieve success with any goal-setting system, there must be accountability in place. The Business Owner Consulting Program can do just that for you!

While keeping tabs on your cash flow may seem like a simple task, it’s essential to your long-term business health. Cash flow is the money coming in or going out from your business. It is a simple concept but difficult to truly understand if you are not keeping well-maintained and accurate records. Cash flow is the lifeblood of your business and it is important to understand how cash flow works and how it affects your business. Tracking your income and expenses is very important at a macro level but equally important at a micro-level. As an example, tracking your digital marketing expenses per network (ie. Google Ads, SEO, Pay-Per-Click, Social Media etc) and being able to understand which avenues are producing the most income for your business is quite important. You might get more traffic from one source, but more client conversions from another which can allow you to better spend your marketing dollars to increase profits. Tracking is vital to your financial success and the success of your business. It gives you the freedom to take money out of your company or reinvest it and on the other side signals if there will be potential financial issues in the near or long term. It is an MRI of your business and will tell you everything you need (may not want) to know and gives you the ability to fix issues before they become major problems. This is a vital part of understanding your business and how it works and If you don’t understand your cash flow then you won’t be able to make good decisions for the future of your business.

A realistic marketing plan and budget are extremely important for the growth of your business.  A realistic marketing plan and budget will allow you to have a better understanding of what your business can afford.  The more you know about your business, the better decisions you can make.  If you are not willing to put the time into building a realistic marketing plan and budget then it is not likely that you will be able to make good decisions for the future of your company and the growth of your business.  As a result, this will lower your profits, lead to ineffective and costly marketing likely on platforms that are not producing results for you and hurt the growth of your business.  The first step is to create a detailed marketing plan that focuses on your long-term goals combined with the solutions of how to achieve those goals. The second part is to identify the cost of achieving those results so you can create an effective marketing campaign.  You need to know how many clients are coming in through which channels and how many customers are turning into clients through these different means.  The more information you have, the better decisions you can make.  The more informed you are about your business and the industry in which you operate, the better decisions you will be able to make about what is working and what is not.  As a result, this will help increase profitability and lead to effective marketing campaigns that produce results. If you have not created a marketing plan or a marketing budget that would be your first step to success – and is important if you are just starting or have been in business for years. Marketing plans need to be reviewed often and adapted frequently because marketing (especially online) changes often. As a member of the Business Owner Consulting Program, we will assist you in creating and maintaining a well-thought-out and effective marketing plan and budget tailored to your individual business.

Losing an employee is difficult for any business or having a new role to be filled is equally as hard. Often, companies will rush to hire anyone to fill that role instead of finding the right person for the job. Although it is important to fill the role as soon as possible, it can be far worse to hire the wrong person for the job that is underqualified. When hiring employees, companies should do their research first and find people who are the best fit for the position along with ensuring they fit into the company culture. Taking the time to hire the right people plays a significant role in your company becoming more and more successful. Employee turnover is tough for any company and training employees also requires significant time and resources. It is important that when hiring you choose people that are great fits for the role and not people that will “probably do okay.” Taking the additional time to find the right fit requires patience but it will be the best long-term decision you can make. As part of the Business Owner Consulting Program, we can assist in hiring the right people for your business. We are experts at hiring the best and being forthright with potential candidates.

Insurance is a necessity for any business and the cost is relatively low – the cost of not having it can be significant! If you are not insured, you are leaving your business at risk and depending on your business structure, you possibly personally can be at risk also. Without insurance, there is no protection in case of an accident, loss of property, or advertising mistakes ranging from copyright infringement to defamation and so on. If the business owner does not have insurance, they will be responsible for paying the bills and damages to others which can be hefty. The cost of insurance can vary depending on the type of coverage and the amount of coverage needed. It is important to get the right amount of coverage that will protect your assets from harm and liability claims by others. There are several types of insurance along with levels to consider. We have direct contacts with some of the best business insurance agents and as part of the Business Owner Consulting Program; you have direct access to them, along with special discounts.

Time management is an extremely important skill a business owner should have. This is the one skill that makes all other skills better because they are more defined and planned out. Without good time management, you are working inefficiently, which means your business will produce less profit and it can put your business at risk. Time management helps you to plan out your day, week and month so that you know what needs to get done and when it needs to get done. Planning your day out in advance allows you to prioritize tasks that need to be completed first and then move on to the next task in line. It also allows you to plan out your week so that you know what needs to get done each day and how much time it will take so that if there are any interruptions or hiccups, they will not throw off the entire week. Time management is usually simple to implement and plays a dramatic role in your becoming more efficient as well as your employees. It will keep your eyes focused on a target goal and let you end your day knowing you accomplish certain tasks that have to be done. Without properly managing your time, project management is more and more difficult because you are attempting to finish multiple projects at once. With the right management of your schedule, you can set realistic goals and meet those goals daily. It is also important for employees of your business because it shares all the same benefits it does for you – but also allows them to leave work that day with a list of goals they accomplished. Employees are happier and more productive when they see tangible evidence of things they accomplished on a daily basis. By 5:00 pm it is common to forget about things you did in the morning, by managing your time and having that task list it is easy to verify that you made a difference that day. This is a great way to boost morale and productivity in the workplace and it will also help you manage your time better. The Business Owner Consulting Program gives you real-world methods to train yourself and your employees in successful time management. Creating a culture around completing tasks correctly and efficiently is a key to business growth.

The best way to grow your business is to serve your customers better. Customer service is just as important as the products or services you offer your customers. If you offer a poor customer service experience, your customers will not be happy. The same goes for your sales team: If you are not happy with the service you are getting from your salesperson, you are less likely to purchase from that company again. Business growth and customer service are intertwined and you typically can not have one without the other, at least not long-term. Customer service is not just about answering phones and emails. It goes far beyond that. It’s about being there for your customers, serving their needs, and making their experience with your company as easy and enjoyable as possible. Equally important is ensuring that they have a service or product that meets or exceeds their expectations. As part of the Business Owner Consulting Program, we offer unique and proven techniques for client retention, client acquisition and business growth.

It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day operations of your business. It’s also easy to forget that your employees are an important part of your company and that they have valuable input into how things are run. Employees are often the front line when it comes to customer service issues, sales and interactions with your clients. It is important that you listen to them, value their input and give them the freedom to be able to discuss issues with you because chances are high it will be good feedback that will better your business. They know what is going on with their customers, and they can help you improve your product or service offerings by giving you feedback on ways to improve operational efficiencies. One of the largest issues with employee feedback is making them feel comfortable enough to share their real opinions with you. We have found it common that employees are sometimes fearful of sharing their opinions on certain aspects of the business because they are worried about offending the owner or management. They also feel that if they provide the feedback, there is little chance of anything changing. As part of the Business Owner Consulting Program, we offer unique and proven techniques for employee retention, employee acquisition and business growth. We specifically built the Honest Employee Feedback system for this very reason and it is aimed at giving business owners and management the ability to truly get real feedback from their employees and implement those ideas. The results have been exceptional – saving one company thousands monthly on their onboarding process and reducing the number of negative reviews dramatically for another. We have had numerous success stories with it and as a member of the Business Owner Consulting Program, it is an ongoing service to better your business at every opportunity.

This is a common mistake that many business owners make. They often spend their money on unnecessary things that they feel will help them grow the business faster. This is a big mistake for many reasons, the biggest being that it can be very difficult to get new customers and clients if you don’t have any money to spend on marketing and advertising. Equally important is the number one reason for businesses failing, especially when just starting are cash flow issues and making large unnecessary purchasers is the easiest way to lead to that. I have seen some businesses that do not see their clients face to face spend enormous amounts of money on things that will not improve their business, like designer office furniture or a $5,000 coffee machine. These are all great to have of course but it clearly is money that could be spent on getting more customers and bettering your business. It is also important to ensure that the purchase will benefit your business in some way or another – otherwise, it might be better to save your money for something else instead of spending it on something that won’t help you grow your business at all. There are always large investments that business owners need to make however it is important to truly weigh the cost and benefit of those decisions. Will this help grow your business and better your relationship with customers – and why? If there is not a simple answer chances are that it is not something vital to your business. As a member of the Business Owner Consulting Program, we will assist in situations like this and help you evaluate the best long-term decisions you can make for your constantly growing business.

This is a big problem for the business owner, as they are not sure how to grow their business and make it better. They may not know what they need to do in order to grow their business and reach new customers. Business owners need to have a clear plan for their business so that they can be sure that they are doing everything possible to grow it. They need to know what steps they need to take to make the business better and increase profits. Business owners should always be looking at ways that they can improve their business and make it bigger so that they can reach more customers and make more money. Having a plan will help them do this – otherwise, there is no way for them to know where or how they should be growing their business. As a member of the Business Owner Consulting Program, we will help you create a plan for your company’s future growth – so that you can figure out exactly what you need to do for your company’s profits and sales numbers to increase over time. A long-term strategy can include focusing on growing the business over time with the hopes of owning it as long as you possibly can or growing it focused on selling the business as soon as possible. Identifying your long-term goals for your company changes the strategy of how you will operate your business and the decisions you make daily. We are experts at business strategy and long-term growth.