Wayne Wilson on Companies in Transition

Preparing for Success – How much do you really want it?

The 2008 Summer Olympics should be required viewing for all aspiring business owners and entrepreneurs. [1] The shear willpower exhibited by the athletes as they stretched themselves beyond belief was awe-inspiring.

Michael Phelps, with a new record 8 Gold Medals in a single Olympics, was the epitome of an athlete driven to win as he broke Mark Spitz 1972 record of 7. Competing in his third Summer Olympics, Phelps broke three individual world records and participated in breaking three team world records. At age 23, Phelps has been swimming competitively for 16 years.

In business, Thomas Edison remains one of the great examples of the desire to succeed. By his own account, he tested over 10,000 different materials and combinations before finally hitting upon the formula for the incandescent light bulb.

Phelps and Edison are both great examples of the burning desire necessary to achieve great success.

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[1] This is the first in a series of articles illustrating the 5 principles of Preparing for Success.

6 Common Financial Mistakes

A recent article [1] in Channel Insider highlighted several common financial mistakes frequently made by owner/CEOs in the early stages of building their businesses:

1. Not saving money outside the business
2. Using personal credit instead of business loans
3. Having no exit strategy
4. Failure to plan for tomorrow
5. Not providing for their families should the unexpected occur
6. Not carrying personal health or life insurance

Starting a business is demanding and often requires every ounce of available resources, but failing to address these mistakes may well cost you the success you had set out to achieve.

Read the complete article.

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[1] Howard Milove, quoted in 6 Money Mistakes Most Solution Providers Make, eweek channel insider

The Power of Simple Ideas

If you look in your kitchen cabinets, you probably own some Tupperware, or Tupperware-inspired food containers. You know – the kind that seal themselves when you press down on the lid.

Tupperware containers were invented by Earl Tupper in the 1940’s. Sales did not take off, however, until Brownie Wise began selling them through Tupperware parties where the products could be demonstrated (no one had ever seen them before) to small groups of women in private homes. (I remember my mother hosting Tupperware parties!)

What can we learn here?

• Success is often collaborative

• Simple ideas or changes can bring great power and value

• Nothing happens until someone sells something

How much CASH is there and where is it?

Companies – small, medium, and large – get into trouble when they do not understand how their cash works and suddenly one day, there isn’t enough of it. Owner/CEOs of smaller companies tend to focus on their checkbooks while public companies too often believe their GAAP [1] financial statements.

Neither the checkbook nor the GAAP financials will tell you when you’re about to run out of cash.

Deborah Hicks Midanek, President of Salon Group, Inc. and an experienced turnaround specialist, offers a quick, common sense look at this problem for both owners and board members in Understand the Cash, recently published in Directors & Boards.

Read Deborah’s article.

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[1] Generally accepted accounting principles.

Satisfying Unhappy Customers

Obtaining new clients or customers is really hard work. Once you have them, don’t let them get away because of poor service or lack of attention. All relationships hit rough patches when things don’t go as you had planned.

The goodwill you have (hopefully) built up before hand can carry you through to better days IF you react positively and on a timely basis to correct mistakes and deal with problems.

Andrew Sobel, a leading authority on building and sustaining client / customer relationships, offers these principles for overcoming relationship difficulties:

1. Respond promptly
2. Listen without being defensive
3. Say you are sorry
4. Collaborate on the solution
5. Offer amends
6. Avoid excuses
7. Anticipate crises
8. Get things out in the open

Read Andrew’s complete article.

Abilene and other wrong way detours

Companies dealing with transitions eventually must get down to a core issue – it’s all about revenue: how to grow revenues, sustain revenues, or re-gain revenues becomes the central question. And this is often a difficult, time-consuming issue to resolve.

The quick solution tends to be “we need a new marketing plan.” But the only marketing plan worse than no marketing plan is an ill conceived and poorly executed plan which costs a lot of money and yet does not achieve appreciable results.

Mike Schultz of the Wellesley Hills Group recently published a to do list of some things that will insure that your new marketing plan is a failure: 6 Keys to a Terrible Professional Services Marketing Strategy.

The lessons, while drawn from professional services, are applicable to many other types of businesses as well.

Read Mike's article.