March 14, 2011
by Wayne Mates
It has been a couple of weeks since I have written a post. For my faithful readers, this is a lesson to be learned. There are times when your personal life and your business life conflict. Mostly, it is a lack of time to devote to both. Let me assure you that your personal life always comes first. Unless you hate your family, there should be no question about that. Your business, although important, is not your first priority. It never should be.
As much as we think that we need to devote our time and energy to business, there are times when you just need to put up the “Gone Fishing” sign, and take care of other things. Business should never be all consuming. You need to create a balance between work and life. You need to get away and recharge, reassess and take care of the other priorities in your life. Things happen that we can’t control. Sickness, death, accidents, unexpected events all serve to distract us from business. These are life events that always have to take priority.
In order to make sure they are not all consuming, create contingency plans for when you need to be away from your business. Make sure someone is capable of running your business in the event you are called away unexpectedly. Your business is your income and your passion, be sure there is someone that is capable of keeping everything moving in the right direction without having to rely on you.
In fact, it just makes good sense that you surround yourself with good people so you can work a flexible schedule, have your weekends to yourself and allow yourself the luxury of vacations! Create and train your backup, keep them informed of all that is happening in the business so they can confidently step in during your absence. Also make it clear to all your staff that when you are not available, your backup has full authority to make decisions for you and on behalf of the company.
Having someone with knowledge of operations and finance allows you to spend more time concentrating on sales and marketing, being creative and setting the vision for your business. In other words doing the things you need to be doing without bogging down in the mundane daily tasks and details.
Take some time and assess your current staff. Is there someone that you already work with that can handle the responsibility? Maybe there is someone that can run only part of the business. Tap them for that part and let them know you are going to teach them what they need to learn to take on full responsibility for the whole company! You and your life will be thankful for it.
Happy Entrepreneuring!!
Filed under Hiring and Managing People, News by on Mar 14th, 2011. Comment. 
March 21, 2011
By Wayne Mates
Cash can be in short supply for many entrepreneurs, especially solo practitioners or small businesses. Particularly, if you are in startup mode, you will want to preserve money until you know if you have a viable business opportunity. Cash conservation is king. So rather than spending cash, trade your services for the services or products of others.
First, why does barter work? It works because your service or product is traded at a wholesale value for the wholesale value of the other business’s product or service. It may look like a retail trade but it is really your wholesale cost vs. your supplier’s.
Second, in many circumstances, it allows one or both parties to rid themselves of excess inventory. Have too much of X in the warehouse, rather than have a sale, barter it away. Figure out who could use it and offer to make a trade for something of value that they have. You both reduce your inventory exposure and gain something of value you can use. Granted, you may have to pay your inventory supplier for what you traded, but you now have something of value in its place to use in your business.
Let me give you an example of how barter has worked for me. My publishing company produced a series of Town Almanacs in Maine. I relied on advertising revenue to cover costs and produce a profit. Most of the advertisers were local businesses and some were low on cash. There were instances when I traded “space” for goods. It would not be unusual to trade for gift certificates, meals at restaurants, hotel rooms or office supplies. I even traded once for a washer and dryer which I needed. Many of the items were used to reward staff, while others were used for business promotions. They were all of value to my business. And, of course, the ad space was of value to my customers. No cash traded hands and the transactions were for the most part off the balance sheet.
What can you trade for? You are not likely to trade with a large national company or store, so focus on bartering with local businesses. What do you need? Office space, office supplies, web design, internet hosting, rooms for meetings? What can you offer to secure what you need? It doesn’t need to be your main product or service. It can be something entirely different which may be useful to another business.
You can find many business barter sites on the internet. I have not used any of them so I cannot vouch for them. They are certainly worth visiting to get some ideas on what you can do. Anytime you can trade services and/or product, you will come out ahead.
Happy Entrepreneuring!!
Illustration copyright and courtesy House of Paincakes
Filed under Finance, News by on Mar 21st, 2011. Comment.
March 28, 2011
by Wayne Mates
Each year, in early spring, I walk around my land and house making notes on things that need to be done. During this years’ walk I noticed some of the decking needs to be replaced as parts are rotting and will not hold much weight. Screens on the gazebo need to be replaced as they have been torn over the winter. The doors in the Gazebo need to be replaced as well. The roof to the shed blew off this winter and there are a few trees that have fallen and need to be removed.
Then, there are the usual clean up items. The lawn needs to be raked and the twigs and sticks that are everywhere need to be removed. Some areas of the lawn need to be reseeded. The garden area needs to be tended and I need to decide what will be planted. The sheds need to be cleaned out and reorganized. In addition, the oil in the lawn tractor needs to be changed and the sparkplug replaced.
Why am I writing this in a business blog, you ask? Because our businesses need to be tended to as well. We need to take an annual or semi-annual walk through our businesses. We need to assess what needs changing. We need to revitalize and energize.
Take time to note what is working for you. Is your staff functioning as it should? Is there deadwood that should be removed to make room for new growth? Are there ways to reorganize to create more efficiency in your work processes? Are there things you can do to refocus your energy and vision?
What needs to be repaired? Are your marketing materials looking dated and need to be renewed? Do you need a new marketing strategy? If so, what will it be? Does your sales staff need to be refocused? Could they use new training? Or, do territories and responsibilities need to juggled?
How about your vendors? Is it time to look at what you are purchasing and why? This would include your relationships with attorneys, accountants and other professionals. If these relationships are not working, it may be time to re-evaluate these vendors.
Take a close look at your products and services. Is it time to replace or upgrade some of your products? Time to tweak your service offerings? Maybe, it is time to re-price what you are selling. Are you getting the maximum dollar value for your efforts? Are there customers that suck up your resources and return little in value to you? Would you be better off without them as customers?
While you are at it, think about new offerings or new markets you could enter. Expansion in the right areas could provide an infusion of new energy into your company. 
But, tread carefully into new areas… make certain you can successfully enter a new market or create and sell a new product or service.
The projects I identified around the house have been prioritized and a timeline set to complete each task. My projects will take me into the fall to complete and some may not get completed until next year. But, I have developed a plan for completion.
Once you have identified what needs to be cleaned up, repaired or replaced, create your own plan. Prioritize into the have to do, and the would like to do. Which are the most important for you to do immediately and what can be accomplished over time? Develop your plan for each component and consider how each component affects the whole of your company. Remember that making changes in one department will probably affect other departments as well.
Understand that your plan will not be completed overnight and most likely will need to be adjusted as you move through it. And, that’s all OK! You just need to start. Your company and your staff will appreciate what you are doing.
Happy Entrepreneuring!
Filed under News by on Mar 28th, 2011. 1 Comment.
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