Do Business Well

Personal needs at work

• Do you prefer to work in a small business, a large organisation, or on your own?
• Do you enjoy initiating new developments and seeing them fulfilled in your work?
• How important are workplace friendships? Do you rely upon these daily contacts to provide interest and stimulation to your work day?
• Are you competitive? Do you like pushing yourself and comparing your achievements with others?
• Are you a creative person who needs to express yourself frequently in your work?
• Do you see yourself as a leader? Do you enjoy exercising control over your situation at work and delegating responsibilities to others?
• What sorts of rewards are important to you? High salary; status in the job title; fringe benefits (car, expenses); long-term security etc.
• How willing are you to take risks, to try even though you know there is a considerable chance of failure?
• Do you prefer to work: inside or outside; with people, ideas, or equipment?

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Are we having fun yet!? Did you hit your sales goal for the week? Have you screwed something up real good yet? Have you had enough nos to last a lifetime? Is your family still basically supportive of your decision to get out on your own? The correct answers to the above should be: “Not quite,” “almost,” “yes,” “I’ll get over it,” and “hanging in there.” Those answers would mean that you have what it takes to make this work.

The first week is tough. Unless your business is very special, you already need a vacation. What those questions were designed to elicit is:

1. Do you still have a positive mental attitude?
2. Did you set your sales goals unrealistically low or high, or did you set them at all?
3. Have you been actively going after business, trying things, taking risks? There is no truer statement than “If you’re not screwing up, you’re not doing anything.”
4. If you haven‘t faced rejection this week, you either haven‘t asked for the order or you’re seriously underpricing your product. In most cases the incorrect answer here means you haven‘t even called on any customers.

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Another important aspect of the change in your company from survival oriented to management oriented is the way in which you establish goals and monitor them. The following questions are designed to take you through a process of developing a new set of goals for your company:

1. What do you want the company to do for you in the next twenty years? Ten years? Five years? Twelve months? Are you primarily interested in the income stream that can be generated? Is wealth building as opposed to income generation your most important desire? Possibly you’d prefer a lighter work schedule, even if it meant less income. Will you be happy if you aren’t growing? Is it a high priority for you to broaden markets?

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Life is a numbers game

The more times you step up to bat, the more times you will hit the ball for a six. But you have to be prepared to lose a couple of wickets along the way. In fact, in the game of life, it doesn’t matter how many wickets you lose. What matters is how many times you get back ontothe pitch to face another ball.

Let us ask you this question: How many people do you know whohave the quality of true persistence? Think about those people who endure against all odds, who roll with the punches and come back stronger than ever, who sustain their spirit in the face of defeat and disappointment. Can you think of any? We guarantee you that these special human beings are the people who make all progress happen. They understand that success is a life game with no time outs. They know that true achievement is the result of thousands of everyday efforts that culminate in victory, glory, wealth, contribution and happiness. Continue Reading »

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Many people have a simple money management philosophy: “If I have it, I spend it till I don’t have it.” Others are so good with money it makes you sick. These are the ones who save every penny they’ve ever found, then buy a new Porsche on their sixteenth birthday. Assuming you didn’t trade your pennies for a Porsche, here are some tips to help you spend less and get more for your money.

(Not) Spending Tips

I’m guessing that you’re a pro at spending money. The trick that’s harder to master is not spending money. Try these tips.

Ask Why

“Why do I want to buy this thing?” It’s amazing how silly some of your purchases look when you ask that question. Continue Reading »

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Mergers can be tough, as any employee who has survived one can testify. James C. Cabrera, president of the outplacement-counseling firm of Drake Beam Morin Inc., in New York City, and contributor to The Merger/Acquisition Consultant newsletter, finds that, even for employees who keep their jobs, anxiety remains high. He says that with a merger a new entity suddenly exists which is unfamiliar to everyone. Things are turned upside down, and the three basic things all employees feel entitled to know—what is expected of them, how their performance will be measured and how they will be rewarded—become unanswered questions. For a time—and it may be a long time—there may simply be no answers.

In this sort of reorganization, you and your employees are likely to be left hanging, wondering whether your positions will be eliminated, restructured or combined; whether you will be demoted, promoted or asked to relocate. Continue Reading »

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Suddenly, the old crowd was back. When he asked why they had not come a few kilometres down the road to Morningside, they all said it was too far.

In Australia, Thomas Cook had a busy office at the north end of Bankstown Shopping Centre. One day I analysed the postal codes of its clients and found they all came from the north — they drove into the shopping centre from that point, shopped at that end of the shopping centre and drove away.

If Thomas Cook had put in offices on the south, east and west sides they would have quadrupled their business.

The Mars Bar people found the same thing in New York. The city blocks are big enough to have multiple, multi-purpose corner stores, and analysis showed that different corner outlets sold different sweets, depending on the socio-economic standing of the people coming the quickest way down their ‘animal tracks’ for their newspapers, magazines, croissants, sweets and household goods. Continue Reading »

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