Are you ready for 2011?

Are you ready for 2011?
I know many of you are still worried about 2010, but this year is essentially over, and you should have already started your 2011 planning.

Before you jump into 2011, you need to look back at this year and take inventory. If you’re a retailer, ask yourself:
·         What products sold well?
·         What was left on the shelves?
·         Did merchandise move well when priced at certain price points?
·         How much did you spend on marketing compared to how much you budgeted?
·         Did you start using social media this year? What were the results?

If you’re a service provider, look to see where your revenues came from. Did you bring in new clients? Get more business from your established customers? You also should look at your marketing budget and expenditures.

Both retailers and service business owners need to assess current staff levels. Is your current staff providing adequate coverage? Are little (or big) things slipping through the cracks? When’s the last time your employees got a raise? Did you stop matching their 401k contributions or cut health (or other) benefits? Can you afford to add that back next year?

What can you learn from this? Do you need to increase your marketing? Maybe you need to re-allocate your marketing budget. If you haven’t explored using social media, it’s time to do so now. Don’t overlook online ratings and review sites. More and more customers are checking out what people are saying about you on the Web before they even consider doing business with you.

Now, look ahead. What do you think 2011 is going to look like? Project your revenues. Estimate expenses. If you think business is going to pick up appreciably, how will you handle the new business? Will you need to hire? Will you need full-time or part-time employees? Many surveys have shown that once the job market recovers, many workers will be out looking for greener pastures. The cost of replacing those employees, both to find new staff and to retrain them, can be substantial. So think about what you can do to retain the staff you have, or budget for new workers.

Do a technology checkup as well. Slow machines or outdated software programs can slow your efficiency and productivity. If that’s your situation, take advantage of the current low prices for new technology.

Planning helps you prepare for the future.  Start planning now to ensure a better 2011.

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By: Rieva Lesonsky
JWB Interest, LLC  2010 All Rights Reserved

Incorporate Creativity Into Your Business Practice

     Creativity has always been an important business skill, but in this turbulent economy it is essential. The rules of the game change constantly now. The pundits can’t decide whether to celebrate or begin mourning our economic future. We are on new and shifting ground with no clear path and no one to show us the way. The current economic realities have placed us all beyond what is known. The only way to meet this challenge of operating in this unknown terrain is to make it up as we go. It follows then, that building a creatively agile company will not only help you survive but give you a powerful competitive advantage.
     Creativity is not just the domain of a talented few. We are all creative. It is highly likely that your creativity has been diminished by social norms and life experience, but it can be fostered and revived. You may not even think you are creative, but that is not true. Creativity is our birth right, it is part of what makes us human.
     Like any new skill you want to learn, becoming more creative takes time and effort. If you want to become more creative and establish a creative business culture, you will need to become familiar with the business literature about creativity, learn about the creative process, maybe hire some consultants, look at other companies and their experiences and, of course, make it up as you go. The payoff is a company that is vibrant, easier with the constancy of change, has the commitment of an energized workforce and a greater chance of being successful.
     The following techniques are offered to get you started by experiencing first hand the power of consciously evoking your creativity. However, building a creative business takes more than using some techniques now and then. Creativity must become part of your culture, how you interact with and see the world and how you relate to each other.
     When you’re having trouble coming up with a fresh approach or need some new ideas, the following two very simple exercises may intrigue you enough to explore creativity further.
     When using techniques, let your mind free associate and don’t bring in judgment until you are finished generating ideas. Judgment is reactive to what exists and is a very different process from generating ideas. Judging too soon is one of the most common ways to shut down your creativity.
    
Use a Metaphor
     Metaphors, comparing your situation to something else, is one of the easiest techniques to get ideas flowing.
      Let’s say you want to increase sales and are having trouble coming up with any good strategies. If you choose to use the metaphor technique you might ask how is selling my product or service like doing stand up comedy or baking a cake. You will be amazed how quickly you arrive at some innovative solutions.
     Choose an object or an action. Metaphors depicting an action are usually more evocative and activities you have some emotional relation to, whether it’s good or bad, are even more powerful. If you have a hard time coming up with an idea for a metaphor, try one of the following examples: going on a diet, doing stand-up comedy, running for political office, riding a bike, running a day-care center, courting a woman, disciplining a child. But remember anything will do, don’t get hung up on trying to get the best metaphor.
     Having done this exercise many times, I am always impressed with its power. Give your self or your team a few minutes to look through magazines and tear out images that speak to you. You could pose a question first or after you have made the collage. Create a collage of your images. You can paste them to a background or just arrange them on the surface in front of you. Go around and share your thoughts and associations as they pertain to the issue at hand. This doesn’t have to take a long time. Allowing 10-15 minutes for this can produce many new possibilities.

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JWB Interest, LLC  2010 All Rights Reserved

If I Just Had More Time

 If I Just Had More Time
By: John Burdin

     As we enter our workday each and every day as well as our personal lives ask yourself the following question; how well am I organized, my managers, my team? As we know, most people are not well organized. Although most of us believe that we are. This is often a mask for, “I don’t want to be organized” or “it’s too much trouble to be organized”.
     In the twenty-first century and never more so than today, being organized is a real key to success. Some of the old tried and true methods of organization will still produce results, however in a business world that is moving ever more rapidly, the more efficient we operate the more we can achieve. And, that all starts with being well organized.
     Time management is a key element of organization for everyone at any level in business or at home. With a limited amount of time each day to perform all the things we have to do, having a schedule and sticking to it is a key element of success.
     Think for a minute about how your life would improve if you at least had a good idea what each hour would bring or you could expect. What difference would it make if you knew exactly what each hour would bring or you could expect. It doesn’t sound like much of a difference, but the difference between having a good idea and knowing can be considerable.
     Most people in management positions have been doing things their way, and same way for quite a while. After all that is a big part of why they are in the position they hold. To owners, managers and on down the line, five minutes here and five minutes there doesn’t sound like much. Add it up, and see how much it really is.
     No one is talking about cracking a whip or anything like that. That is not what this is about. For the sake of conversation let’s say that you are operating at an organizational efficiency of around seventy percent. We’ll agree that things are pretty good, but what would it be like if that were kicked it up just five or ten percent to eighty percent. That would generate a tremendous jump in productivity results, and most likely those improving would feel a lot better about themselves, their work and maybe end up with more time for less important things. Their time at home should be much improved as well.
     A more efficient work environment, a more productive work environment and a better quality of life – What more could anyone wish for?
     It’s all an issue of how we parse our time, and with only twenty four hours in a day, it is very important that we don’t waste too much of it.

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JWB Interest, LLC  2009 All Rights Reserved