How Much Profit Is Your Business Leaking?
Most businesses leak profit, often for simple reasons, which can easily be fixed. Is your business leaking profit?
The Business Audit Consultancy will help you identify and plug profit leaks. And help you make more money. And who doesn't want that?
Just ask Noven Purnell-Webb from Magedata – he says
"The questionnaire was a really easy way to get some quick and effective insights into how my business is running. By merely asking the questions, the obvious things can no longer be ignored and some surprising results emerged. A highly effective tool for any business owner trying to clear up the bigger picture."
Click below to read more or to book yourself in for a good probing (with questions of course). We think you’ll like it.
Read More Now >>>
Regards,
The Small Fish Team
devis mutuelle 20-Jan-2012 03:55 AM
Un bon blog, bien écrit, merci.
The Single Most Important Question In Business
As business owners, we hear all the time that word-of-mouth is the best form of marketing. As a result, we focus on building our referral network - the group of people that know what we do, and can act as advocates for our business into the broader community. This is what word-of-mouth marketing is all about. (And if you don't believe me, go and visit your local BNI.
It follows then, that one of the biggest opportunities for referrals is to make sure our customers are happy. We need to make sure that we are giving our "smiley" happy customers every opportunity to recommend our business to their friends - empowering them to be "fans" of our business.
Satisfied clients, actively recommending your business to their friends will certainly help to grow your business - but it is something that can be difficult to measure.
I recently came across some interesting research by Frederick F. Reichheld in the Harvard Business Review titled "One Number You Need to Grow."
Essentially, this explores the relationship between customer satisfaction and top-line growth, concluding that the single most important question that should be asked as part of any customer satisfaction program is: "Would you recommend this business to a friend?"
This applies to all business, large and small. Big business is getting on board this research, and some are starting to measure it with an approach known as Net Promoter Scores - or NPS for short (Oh, how we love acronyms - LOL!)
If you're interested, you can find out more about the science behind Net Promoter Scores here.
In the meantime, I have two important questions for you:
-
Would your customers recommend your business to their friends?
-
When was the last time you asked your customers this question?
Kristian Reiss
Small Fish Business Coaching Perth
www.smallfish.com.au
Post has no comments.
Are You Ready For A Coaching Challenge?
We recently surveyed* our small business clients and found that two of the things that people find challenging about working with a business coach are:
- Finding the time to get the work done, and
-
Dealing with the way their business changes.
So as a business owner, how can you make the most of getting a business coach to work with you on your business?
Firstly, make sure that you find the time to take yourself out of the day-to-day of running your business and focus on the activities that result from the coaching. It is simply not going to work if the only times you spend working “on” your business are the times when you are with your coach!
Secondly, be prepared for your business to change. This means being open minded, and being prepared to face and to make decisions – some of which can be tough ones! Remember - the very essence of business coaching is about changing your business.
A business coach will be able to help you with both of these points; however the ultimate responsibility for how much you and your business will get from your coach rests with you!
If you are ready for the challenge – why not book yourself in for a Free Coaching Session!
*More outcomes from the Small Fish Business Coaching 2010 Customer Survey can be found here.
Kristian Reiss
Small Fish Business Coaching Perth
www.smallfish.com.au
Post has no comments.
Some Things Change, Some Things Stay The Same
In the words of French journalist and novelist Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr:
“plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose”
Which translates to “The more things change, the more they stay the same”.
We often avoid change because it can be unsettling, a journey to the unknown and into uncertainty. Sometimes we fear what change might bring, and feel safer in the “known” certainty of continuing in the same way we have been.
If we think about it, this thinking is based on the assumption that not changing anything will lead to a known and certain outcome.
In business, if we carry on in exactly the same way we did in the past, can we seriously expect exactly the same result in the future?
Economists have found the Latin expression “Ceteris Parabis” useful when trying to explore the effect of change. It means “all other things remaining the same."
Essentially, if all other things stayed the same, and we carry on in our business in the same way, then perhaps we can expect the same result in our business in the future.
But this thinking is fundamentally flawed – because in the real world, ALL other things do NOT remain the same. (Perhaps that explains why economists sometimes get it wrong!)
If you compare your business this year with your business last year - not only has the business probably changed, but the external environment within which your business operates has also changed.
Think about it. Your team, your management, your equipment, processes, customers, pricing, costs (the lists goes on) – are they all the same?
Let alone the changes that have occurred in technology, the environment, in government and with your competitors (again, the list goes on) that will undoubtedly have an effect on your business.
Can change therefore be avoided? Is choosing not to change the most certain course of action?
By now I think you will agree with me that change is inevitable – perhaps change is indeed as the Greek philosopher Heraclitus stated “the only constant."
So how do we change? The first step in the process of change is to assess and understand your situation.
When was the last time you stopped what you were doing to have a good look at your business and how it interacts with the world around it? Is this something you do on a regular basis?
If you haven’t done it in a while, stop now and make the time out to do it. There are plenty of resources and tools out there to help you.
Kristian Reiss
Small Fish Business Coaching Perth
www.smallfish.com.au
Charles Jeremy 24-May-2011 10:58 AM
I think you're on the money with that one Kristian. As much as change can be feared it needs to be accepted that it exists, understood and managed. Thanks for the article.
Kristian Reiss 27-May-2011 10:55 AM
Thanks for the feedback Charles, It's true that you have to accept the inevitability of change - it's just that often the difficult part is understanding the implications of the change, and then trying to manage it. Glad you enjoyed the article! - Kristian
:)
Is Your Hourly Rate Enough?
Do you feel like you are NOT earning enough for all the hard work you do in your small business? Are your earning requirements fair and reasonable?
If you answered yes to both questions, then maybe you need to put your prices up!
Many small businesses charge too little for the products or services they provide. This leaves them with a business that operates on small margins and, often, earning less from all their hard work than they would earn in a job!
Sometimes it is difficult to work out what your business’ charge-out rate should be.
To help in this situation, you can use the Hourly Rate Calculator - a useful little tool to help you work out an hourly charge-out rate for your business.
This tool is also useful if you are facing competitive pressures. It gives you an opportunity to analyse your costs for efficiencies, as well as understand any competitive advantage you may have (to help you better explain why you charge more than your competitors).
The Hourly Rate Calculator (and instructions on how to use it) can be downloaded from the Small Fish website here. Of course, if you get stuck, give us a call.
Kristian Reiss
Small Fish Business Coaching Perth
www.smallfish.com.au
Post has no comments.
Get your business online
If your business doesn’t already have its own website – then you absolutely must read this.
Google and MYOB have joined forces to create Getting Aussie Business Online with the mission to help Australian businesses to benefit from the opportunities of the Internet.
As they say, a website today is like a phone - every business needs one. Their goal is to help 50,000 Australian businesses get online with their first website.
But this is so much more than just a free website, it also includes:
• A trial of $75 worth of Google Adwords
• A free business listing on Google Maps
• Ongoing tips and education
• Plus a free .com.au domain for 2-years!
We think this is a fantastic initiative, and it now means there are absolutely no excuses for anyone in small business not to be online. Check out some success stories.
To find out more about how this works, watch this video, then get started with getting your business online. It only takes 15 minutes!
Kristian Reiss
Small Fish Business Coaching Perth
www.smallfish.com.au
Post has no comments.
Increasing Revenue - Using The Sales Funnel
One of the Drivers of Profitability is finding ways to increase Revenue (often referred to as Turnover, or Income, or Sales). It is possible to increase sales by understanding and improving the sales process that exists within your business. When I refer to your sales process, I am referring to the process that starts with Marketing or Prospecting activities, and ultimately leads to a customer making a decision to buy your product or service – and all the stages along the way. This is sometimes referred to as a Sales Funnel.
It is called a Sales Funnel because of the simple realisation that not everyone is going to buy our product or service. We talk to many, many more people in the marketing stage than the number that ultimately end up becoming customers. Hence the analogy of a funnel – wide at the top, narrow at the bottom.
A Generic Sales Process Diagram and Funnel Description can be downloaded here.
Having a defined and consistent sales process will improve sales performance, leading to more sales. It also allows you to monitor and potentially improve performance at each step. For example, you might measure “percentages” of how many people progress from stage to stage (or overall), and consider how that can be improved along the way. Remember, small changes can produce large results!
These “percentages” are useful in another way too. If you are trying to meet specific sales targets, and you know your percentages, you can use this information to “reverse engineer” how big a pool of prospective customers you will need to have to find enough customers to meet your sales targets. Then all you need to do is fill your funnel with the right number prospective customers. It sounds easy – and really, it is! It just requires hard work, focus and determination (and adequate resources).
How well defined is your sales process? Can you improve your performance?
Kristian Reiss
Small Fish Business Coaching Perth
www.smallfish.com.au
Post has no comments.
Work Personalitiy Types - Understanding Your Team
Some time ago, I came across an incredibly useful model to help you identify the progression between different work personalities that exist within your team. It is called the Work Personalities Model, and it identifies two specific dimensions of personality in the workplace – Level of Happiness and Willingness to Express. It then maps out a progression (or regression!) between 4 different work personality modes in your team - from Prisoner, Survivor, Whinger to Volunteer.
Obviously, it would be good to be surrounded by a team of “Volunteers” – however it is also useful to understand the dynamics behind how people progress between the different personalities. We should also resist the temptation to suggest that if they’re not all volunteers, it is a negative. For example, one positive about a “Whinger” is that they are willing to express themselves. A lot of people as part of a team will move back and forth between Whinger and Volunteer mode. So, if you want to know what’s not working in your business – ask a Whinger!
Watch out for the “Survivor” in your business. It is very hard to run a high-performing business with a team of Survivors. They are more interested in self-preservation than the company or even their own ambitions.
Finally, the “Prisoner” tends not to make much contribution at all. They may even attempt to sabotage things. You will probably need to consider letting them go if they cannot be helped – however they are usually so detached from what is going on, they will probably end up leaving anyway.
The Work Personalities model can be downloaded from the Small Fish website here.
Which personality are you? How about your team?
Kristian Reiss
Small Fish Business Coaching Perth
www.smallfish.com.au
Melanie Miller 16-Mar-2011 03:59 PM
I am not sure which one I am? I hope I would be described as a Volunteer. I am sure at some point I have been all of the above! I am off to download the Work Personalities model now....
The Business Reproductive System (Or How To Grow Your Business Without Losing Its Personality)
At the heart of a small business is the business owner, and their personality, values and relationships. People do business with a person, not a business. In most cases it is because of the business owner that customers have made the choice to spend their money with a particular small business in the first place.
In fact, it is this personal relationship that often makes a small business stand-out from its (often) larger competitors – a key differentiator if you like.
But, this can create a problem. There is a limit to the number of people a single business owner can personally service. The business will reach a certain point when the business owner finds themselves running out of time trying to service all their clients in the way that they have been (and that they now expect).
You might be familiar with this scenario.
It can seem that unless something changes, you will need to accept the fact that the business will not be able to grow any further.
For the entrepreneurs amongst us, this is a concept that is quite difficult to accept. We really want to find a way to grow, but still keep that personal element in our business. At the same time, we don’t want to grow “too big, too fast”, and lose one of the reasons people do business with us in the process.
In fact, it is a fear that many small business owners have – that their business will grow, and in the process, they will lose touch with the passion that got them into business in the first place. It is this passion which also happens to be the very thing that attracts customers to their business.
So what could change, without the business losing it’s personality?
One possible solution is that we could start to service our customers less. While it is true that we may find ourselves “overservicing” customers a little bit, and a small amount of extra capacity can be created by stopping this “overservicing” – it is only a temporary solution. You may have already tried this.
There is a limit to how much service you can take away before you have an impact on customer satisfaction and start to lose customers. So while we might find some extra room to grow this way - this is not a sustainable answer. You need to find a way “Reproduce” yourself – another “You” in order to get everything done!
The only real option is for you to delegate more. Ask yourself - does every, single, little thing you are currently doing really need to be handled by you personally? Are you in fact a “bottleneck”, preventing your business from growing – and possibly also preventing your customers from having a good service experience at the same time. (Believe me, this happens-more often than you might think!).
Is there a way you can can delegate your level of direct involvement with each customer, while still maintaining that personal service, and the unique personality of your business? I am going to respond to that and say “Yes there is!”. In fact, there are many ways to achieve this – it just takes the resolve and conviction to do it, and to overcome the fear of change that it might bring with it.
Effective delegation starts with building a solid team around you, of people that share your passion and your values. If you have a team like this, you can easily introduce them to your valued customers, and delegate some of the responsibility for service to them. Think about your team, and think about how you build your team. Are these people good representatives of what it is that your business stands for?
If they are, then customers will readily accept such people into the relationship, especially if they also see things being done more efficiently. Sure, they still have a relationship with you (and of course your business) – but now there is more capacity to give them more of what they want, and to grow with them. The alternative is being seen by your customers as the “bottleneck” in your business, and possibly in theirs too!
If you want to grow your business you need to change, and to do nothing means nothing changes. What was Einstein’s definition of insanity again?
Obviously, there is more to delegation than having a good team to delegate to (a topic worthy of its own blog post). The point is that we need a place to start. If you have a good team, delegate more. If you don’t have a good team, get one! Reproduce!
Kristian Reiss
Small Fish Business Coaching Joondalup
www.smallfish.com.au
Anonymous 01-Feb-2011 03:01 PM
Good post KR- the only problem with improving delegation skills (& having a team around you to achieve things effectively) is the potential for the manager to get further and further away from the 'coal face', and what he/ she enjoys. The cost of growth?
Raymond Ware 01-Feb-2011 03:43 PM
Thanks Kristian... reproduction is something I have always had a slightly confused view of... maybe I need to revisit! R
Kristian Reiss 01-Feb-2011 08:19 PM
To Anonymous,
Indeed - another challenge to growth is making sure the leader has their finger on the pulse of the "coalface" of their business.
I don't think it is a pure trade off (or cost as you have put it), as systems can and should be put in place for this.
Your point about moving away from what they enjoy is interesting. Perhaps they need to make a choice between working at the coalface doing what they do, or leading the company doing what it does.
Again, I like to think their is always a healthy compromise.
Thanks for your comment - they are always welcomed and appreciated!
Kristian :)
Kristian Reiss 01-Feb-2011 08:22 PM
Thanks for your comments and input Raymond,
I am glad you found the article of interest, and of course I respect your view on the topic!
Kristian :)
What Is A Business Coach?
When I tell people that I am a business coach I am quite often asked things like "What does that mean you do?", or even "Does that mean you tell people how to run their business?"
Business coaching is a relatively new profession, and the terms "coach" and "business coach" seem to have become quite trendy buzzwords in recent times. There are many people who provide a whole manner of different services to small business that are quite often referred to as "coaches". With mentors and consultants also providing a similar range of services to the same small businesses, I can certainly understand why some people might be a little confused.
So, let me try and clear up some of the confusion and explain exactly what a business coach is and does.
What is a business coach?
A business coach is a person who works closely with a business owner (entrepreneur) at the strategic level of their business. When I say "strategic level", I am talking about the bigger picture, longer-term view of the business' journey. It is all about getting the things done that will help the business on its journey.
And to get things done, and to ensure it is the right things that are getting done, a business coach will follow a business coaching process, or framework. The process of business coaching (certainly the Small Fish process) starts with the business owner and the business coach mutually assessing the situation. This assessment (at Small Fish we call it an Audit) is in terms of the business owners goals and frustrations, the business issues and risks, the overall financial considerations as well as the dreams the business owner has for their business (and often for their lives too).
Taking these things into consideration, the business coach and business owner build the picture of where the business is today, and define the entrepreneur's vision of where they would like it to be at some point in the future - taking note of the changes that need to take place in order to realise that future vision.
The next step is to make a plan, or a comprehensive list of strategies - broken down further into specific and prioritised tasks, that need be done in order to realise this vision. As business coaches, we tend to call this a business plan, or business strategy.
Business coaching, and specifically the role of the business coach, is holding the business owner accountable to the business plan. Basically - making sure that things are getting done. Because it is business coaching, we generally look at the drivers of profitability to ensure the focus remains on getting the right things done for the business.
How is a business coach different to a business consultant?
A consultant is exactly that - a "consultant", meaning someone that is consulted to provide their expert advice or services. We are quite familiar with this model - many businesses have a multitude of consultants on a whole manner of different services. The consultant is engaged to apply their expertise to some specific task (think accountants, lawyers, advertising, PR).
The key difference between a coach and a consultant, therefore, is that a consultant is someone who does the "doing" part, whereas a coach is responsible for helping the business owner determine what needs "doing" in the first place, and then making sure it gets done. (Having said that, at the end of the day the coach's responsibility is to ensure progress against the business plan - so sometimes the business coach does indeed get involved in some of the "doing").
Further to this, the relationship that a business owner has with a business coach compared to that with a consultant is a little different as well. The consultant is being paid for their expertise and becomes responsible to complete a specific activity, and as such they are positioned as someone to look to, or refer to as "experts" in their field.
A business coach is not an "expert" at everything to do with business (how could anyone be?) - they are an "expert" at the process of business coaching. A business coach may indeed be (and usually is) an expert in a specific field, however in their role as business coach, their relationship is more of a peer relationship with the business owner - one of working together to get the job done.
Now in case you are thinking that means that a business coach does nothing, then that is definitely not the case. The primary "doing" parts for the business coach are leading the business owner through the coaching process, driving accountability for activity against the plan and then measuring results along the way. It is therefore fair to say that in a business coaching relationship, the business owner defers some accountability for getting things done onto the business coach.
And just because the business coach is involved at the strategic level of the business and takes on some accountability for getting things done - they are certainly NOT someone to whom the ultimate strategic responsibility for the business can be referred to. That responsibility will always remain with the business owner or entrepreneur.
Working with a business coach as opposed to a consultant also has the added benefit of providing an opportunity for a transfer of knowledge or learning. Because the business coach is continuously engaged on different business scenarios with many different businesses in a variety of industries, the business coach brings with them a different suite of tools and strategies that can be applied to a vast array of business situations, that a business owner can then leverage in their own business.
So how is a business coach different to a business mentor?
The key distinction here comes in the definition of a mentor. A mentor is defined as a "wise and trusted counsellor or teacher."
While a business coach may indeed be a "mentor" based on this definition, that is not their primary role. Their primary role is to lead the business owner through the process of business coaching, and make sure progress is made against the plan. It is therefore not essential that a business coach also be a mentor.
Often a mentor is an "older" or "wiser" person with considerable experience, possibly even in the same field or industry. A mentor is someone that a business owner can defer to as a sounding board, or to benefit from their wisdom.
This leads me to another question I am sometimes asked by business owners, which is: "How can you possibly know more than I do about my business and my industry?"
The answer should by now be clear. “I don't!” Business coaching is not about the coach knowing more and the business owner doing as they are told. Business coaching works by combining the skills and experience of both the business owner and the business coach with a structured process and a suite of tools for addressing common business situations.
The combination of all of these things acts as a multiplier in the effort towards realising the vision for the business.
So in summary, while a business coach may at times act like a consultant and even a mentor - they are primarily a coach, something which is quite different.
If you would like to experience what business coaching is like and how it can add value to your business, please click here now. Best of all – it is FREE!
In the meantime check out the whole Small Fish Business Coaching team.
Kristian Reiss
Small Fish Business Coaching Perth
www.smallfish.com.au
Carl Dierschow 30-Oct-2010 01:40 AM
Great summary, Kristian.
I think the most useful mentors are those who have some deep knowledge in a specific area. Sure, you could look for a mentor who's EXACTLY where you'd like to be in a couple of years, but then they have to worry about whether you're going to grow to be their competitor. So that's good to look at when you're just starting out, but as your company matures, I'd look for mentors who are more specialized. If you need help in sales, look for someone who's quite experienced in a business that's a bit similar to yours, but not identical. Sometimes this can even turn into a strategic partnership!
I believe that it's good to have a range of mentors that you can call on at any time, each specialists in different areas. You don't have to have coffee with them every week, just do a bit to keep the relationship up and make sure they know you appreciate the value they're giving you.
Small Business Start-Up Australia 11-Nov-2010 11:29 PM
Hey I liked your article a lot. I thought it was full of knowledge it was also qiute nicely written and I am looking forward to reading some more articles wrote by you,
well done.
work at home
