Photo (CC) by Howard Lake, on Flickr

Let’s start with Best Wishes for 2018. 

That wish was to be a part of my post last week. But as you may or may not have noticed, I didn’t get a post done.

This is not the first time it has happened but those missed times were typically planned for some reason.

Last week my missed blog occurred when I had a “life happens” event. A Saturday phone call put me on a different track as I ended up locating and helping my mother move to an independent retirement community.  Thankfully, Becky gives me a great deal of independence in my posts.

But it raises a good question. Are you prepared to handle such unplanned life events and still maintain your business? Most businesses can’t just shut down for a short break and then restart right where they left off. Momentum is lost as well as good will with your customers. For a retail business, shutting down during the holiday season might just end your business.

In many ways, such events are just another type of disaster. As you have done your disaster planning, did you think about these personal life events that impact your business as much, or maybe more than, as a burst water pipe or a fire.

Yet, most of the events you have planned for probably involve the business system only. This makes them somewhat more contained than a personal event where both the business and family systems are involved at the same time. If only one system is under stress, we can often call on the other for various types of relief but where do you turn when both systems are stressed?

As you head into a new year, I would encourage you to think about similar events that you might face. What unique demands might you face? And what resources do you have to help? Some prep work will offer a great deal of relief both: (1) thinking about the future, and (2) when and if the day comes when you need to put your plan into action.

Once again, have a happy and prosperous 2018.

Tools (CC) by Spinster Carrdigan, on Flickr

Let’s begin with a story. It’s a story about a man who was upset with the way things were done.

The man decided to compile his issues and then post this for people to see and comment. Because of a new technology, his message was not only read by the community but reached far and wide. It went viral.

So who was this man? It was Martin Luther who outlined his thoughts 500 years ago. And the “new” technology was the printing press. It isn’t clear how many people he reached but multiple printings of his comments have been found. For more on this story, check out NPR at: http://www.npr.org/2016/11/20/502437123/how-technology-helped-martin-luther-change-christianity

I suspect that as you read the story you probably thought I was going to mention a social media tool. Instead I want to bring out what I think are two lessons for small-business owners. 

The first lesson, and probably obvious, is the need to be aware of and willing to consider adopting something new in your marketing.

Yes, it is difficult today to know what will be around tomorrow so I am not saying you need to be the first one to try something. But if you see something making in-roads, consider it, as an early adopter, in your marketing plans. Not doing so gives the advantage to your competitors.

Second, and not so obvious, is to not forget about existing marketing tools already available to you. I heard about this story on the radio. The radio has been around a long time but people are still listening to it. And some of the story was found in print. People still respond to the printed word through advertisements, coupons, brochures, business cards, etc.. Keep these tools handy and use them as appropriate.

A good marketing plan uses the best tools for the task. The best tool often depends on who the audience is and what you are selling. And the way you find out what tool is best is through testing and analytics. Don’t make assumptions about what tool will be best. Test and re-test. Check with your audience.

So as 2017 begins, it’s time to plan your marketing for the year. When you open your toolbox, look at the newest and brightest tool but don’t overlook the tried-and-true as well.

Good marketing.

Photo (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Anna J. Lenabem, on Flickr

Well, here we are at the end of one year and the beginning of another. Welcome, 2016!

For many people, this is the day we make resolutions for the upcoming year. Often these hopes are for something in our personal life.

Do you also take time to make resolutions for managing your business? And for those of you who are still thinking about going into business, do you outline one or two steps that will help you come closer to achieving your dream? I would encourage you to do that along with your personal resolutions. These two types of resolutions may fit well together.

So let’s talk about making resolutions.

Of the people who make resolutions, only about eight percent actually follow-through. This low success rate can be attributed to many reasons but, at the core, understand we are creatures of habit. If we haven’t been taking steps towards this goal already, it is hard to break that habit and now take steps forward.

How can you improve those odds? Let me suggest a few ideas:

• Write it down. And then put it someplace you will see it every day. Our minds are full of keeping our daily life in order. Without a visual reminder, it gets easy to push our desire into a corner and then forget about it.
• Tell others. Writing it down is good. Having others know about your plans and be there for support increases your chances of success. Start by telling family and friends.
• Do some up-front thinking. Your goal may require several intermediate steps. Quite often we make the resolution without thinking of the “how.”  Your big idea will probably need to be broken down into several smaller chunks.
• Get a partner, mentor, coach, or what-ever you want to call the person who will keep you on task. That person can encourage, remind, and offer ideas on how you can move forward.
• Limit the list. Don’t plan on making ten or even five changes at once. Remember, this is changing our behavior and it won’t come easy. One or two changes, at most, offer you the best chances for success.
• Plan on hitting a hurdle. You will find yourself going off-track. That’s okay.  Know that the odds of this happening are high and put pieces into place to help you get back on track. This is where your support person/team, family and friends can help.
• Celebrate milestones. Don’t aim for one big party at the end. This is where chunking the task can give you some natural milestones. However, even chunking might not give you enough reinforcement points. Maybe you want to build your business network but find it hard to meet new people. Challenge yourself to add 12 new people to your network during the year, one per month. When you find that first contact, tell your support person/team. Tell them you want to meet for a cup of coffee and tell them how this new person can help your business. You might even invite your new network friend to the meeting as well.

Making changes in our business and in our personal lives takes work. That work starts with a resolution to do so.

What’s your resolution for 2016?

Good luck. 

For more statistics on New Year’s resolutions, go to: http://www.statisticbrain.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/

Photo (CC) by Dennis Skley, on flickr

The world we live in is not a static place.

This is true in every aspect of life, including small business. For small-business owners, things are changing, and those changes are happening at an ever-increasing pace.

Doing business tomorrow will be different than doing business today. And doing business next week might be something we can’t even imagine today.

Disruption is another term people use when discussing the changing environment in which we live. When disruption occurs, you are forced to respond in some manner. No longer can you continue to do business as you have in the past.

While small-business owners may not know exactly what the next disruption coming down the road will be, they know it’s coming. Knowing it’s coming means the owner has a chance to determine his or her response.

Owners can respond in one of two ways:

• One choice is to do nothing. Let the disruption come and then respond.
• The other choice is to be proactive and to disrupt the business themselves. The event no longer happens at a random, and perhaps a bad, time.

Taking a proactive stance gives the owner several advantages.

For one thing, bad timing is taken out of the equation somewhat. The disruption occurs on the owner’s time schedule.

Second, being proactive means that the owner is not forced into playing catch-up but instead has done at least a little preparation in terms of possible responses. Even if the decision is to do nothing, the owner has made that decision and has not let circumstances make the decision for him or her.

By disrupting your own business, you also can get a jump on your competitors. Not only might you get a step ahead, but you put them into the position of being behind and responding to the external environment.

Being proactive changes the mindset you are working under. No longer are changes in the environment a threat. Instead, they become opportunities. You take control.

The bottom line: Disrupt your business before others decide to disrupt it for you. 

Photo (CC) by Lauren, on Flickr

A common assumption among people wanting to start a business is that coming up with the idea is the hardest part.

When you talk with people already in business, though, they often comment that the business idea was the easiest step to take. Small-business owners mention that they didn’t realize how hard it would be to move from the idea stage to opening the doors.

As you go through your daily life, you see lots of new ideas every day. The hard part is knowing which ideas really are opportunities, then examining and understanding the opportunities that match your passion and offer the greatest return in whatever terms you wish to measure it.

The extremely small number of ideas that turn into successful businesses is a good indication of just how tough that can be.

One indication of the difficulty is seen in the commercial success of patents. The number of patents that are filed keeps ramping up, with well in excess of 100,000 U.S patent applications made each year. Yet only a very small portion, some say as little as one-tenth of 1 percent, ever will achieve any type of success.

The first hurdle for an idea is that it must solve a problem. That makes sense, but it goes beyond this. The problem must be one that a large enough group of people have and are looking for a solution.

In working on this hurdle, examine the marketplace. What solutions already exist? You might be surprised. What changes are these companies making to better serve the customer? Finally, what can you find about new ideas and new players coming out with even more potential solutions?

Just working through this first step of market analysis for your idea creates the setting for a second hurdle for many business owners. This second hurdle is knowing your own passion or determination to see your idea through every step of the process. Are you committed to spending a great deal of time and some money, and enduring lots of frustrations in moving your idea forward?

The dream of moving from an idea to making millions overnight is just a myth. Think instead in terms of years, and temper your idea of riches into being able to go out to lunch.

‘Build it and they will come’ is just another myth. Marketing is not easy, and your idea is just one of many trying to get the consumer’s attention.

Finally, be prepared to change and modify the idea as you get feedback. Plan on developing several prototypes before going to market.

Also be prepared for changing who might be the target market for your idea, and be ready to pivot as the world around you changes. Finally, be willing to drop the idea if things just don’t work out or you see a better idea coming your way.

Getting an idea is the first step. Now get ready to take more as you work to open the doors of your new business.