Fearless Five Fridays: Be Brave Enough to Ask "Why"

Children ask "Why" much more often than adults. Why is that? 

If you are a parent, or you can remember back to when you were a toddler, the word why weaves its way into many conversations. Children are not afraid to ask "Why." That's how they learn. The logic and nuances behind our decisions dictate why. Children -- little sponges that they are -- seek to understand our why. They should; otherwise they grow up to be automatons, blindly following directions and orders. 

Today, I'm asking you to begin asking yourself "why" more often. When we learned the 5 W's in language arts class, "why" is usually last in the list: who, what, when, where, why. Let's shift that order and make it first. Starting with why can help you to answer the other four more quickly and effectively, from a business perspective.

Wikepedia simply suggests the word is a "request for an evidential reason." Evidence: the facts, preferably persuasive, that support the reason for doing something. Stopping to ask yourself "Why" is a way onto the path of continuous improvement - a necessary ingredient to stabilizing and growing your business.


Instead of overwhelming you with the hundreds of "why" questions business owners could or should ask of themselves, in this periodic series I will pose specific "why" queries you may wish to consider. How you answer this first one, and what action you decide to take, can help you better manage your time.

BONUS: For parents -- here is a website to answer some of the thousands of science-related "why" questions you hear from your little ones. And yes, you can search for "why is the sky blue" on The Why Files.

Why do we check and read e-mail so often during the day? 
Understand, I am not suggesting that you ignore your e-mail. Consider, however, the amount of time you spend on it. More and more of our in-boxes are filled with Bacn that we want and don't get to, versus Spam that we don't want. 
Time management experts suggest that we schedule e-mail reading appointments, just like we (should) do everything else during the day. 

Let a valid Why drive how you schedule even a seemingly harmless task like responding to e-mail. If it's related to generating revenues, preserving a client relationship, or building relationships into revenues: Go for it!

It's easy to let time just drift by, reading and responding to e-mail that really is not urgent. Set up e-mail "appointments" during your work day -- and stick to it!

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See also these suggestions on How to Give Your Inbox a Master Cleanse published on Mashable.com. Even the Bacn must be handled eventually; the article spells out some ways to help you do that. 
If your time spent on e-mail is eating into your business-building time, start shifting your focus. Box it into time slots and don't let it creep outside them. You'll begin to see results in other areas of your business life.

Comments are welcome. You are invited to share your thoughts.
Remember, part of our focus is your business visibility. So, if you need help being more visible to your target market, click here and we can get started on solutions targeted just for you!

© 2010 DMMI Associates LLC – All rights reserved

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Visibility - Market Targeting with 140 Characters

Twitter began their "Promoted Tweets" Program this week.
Should you care about that? Maybe...

If you have a set of target markets defined, along with strategies to reach them that include on-line Social Media tools, then yes, you should probably care about that. 
If you have carved at least one specialized niche from your market (see this related post), then you may find the possibilities intriguing. Niche marketers will find many creative ways to use this new service as time progresses.

This example was found on Mashable.com -- 

"Take Virgin America for instance. The Twitter-savvy brand wasted no time targeting Promoted Tweets toward their in-flight WiFi customers. On launch, the company put out three distinct tweets that they then promoted with carefully crafted keywords. Two of the tweets were meant to engage just their passengers at 35,000 feet. Just imagine how cool it would be to fly Virgin America and uncover a tweet that was meant just for you. That’s the power of talking to a smaller audience."




Virgin America is one of just six hand-selected early adopters, or Phase One Twitter advertising partners, who are using the new Twitter offering.

Virgin America carefully distilled this niche. From the universe of air travelers, they targeted just the people flying on one of their airliners, at cruising altitude, using the in-flight WiFi.

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 How can you parse your market to better serve your customer base?
I suggest that you give that some thought. The more visible you are to your ideal customer, the better results you are able to both realize from, and provide for, them.

Comments are welcome. You are invited to share your thoughts.
If you need help being more visible to your target market, click here and we can get started on solutions targeted for you!

© 2010 DMMI Associates LLC – All rights reserved

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Manage Your Money Monday - Drawing the Line on Sunk Costs

How often do you hit the snare of Sunk Costs?


You know this term by a few different words and phrases. "In for a penny, in for a pound" is a common one.
Sunk Costs defined:   

Sunk costs are retrospective (past) costs that have already been incurred and cannot be recovered.

Wikipedia

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One of the keys here, of course, is the whole concept that the expenditures cannot be recovered. Similar to the scenario in the 1986 movie "The Money Pit," business owners are sometimes distracted from reasonably evaluating future investments by what they have already spent on an earlier bad decision. Thus, they blindly throw "good money after bad" so to speak. They fall into what's called the Sunk Costs Fallacy that leads them to believe it's less costly to continue. Too often, it is in fact less costly -- in the aggregate -- to stop and begin again. 


I actually had someone justify a decision to continue down the same path, who had used this line of thinking. "Understand, I have already spent $XXX dollars. It will be cheaper for me to stay with that." 
It made no difference that the other option was better, less time-consuming, more reliable and a more cost effective solution in the long-run. The net initial out-of-pocket cost was higher -- and that was all that person could see.

What would you do in a situation like this? 

• Would your decision be influenced by what you had already spent -- and could not get back? 
• Would you evaluate your options based strictly upon merits, or would you be unwillingly to admit -- even to yourself -- that a mistake was made?

Regardless of the type of resources committed -- money, time, people hours -- you probably want to take a hard look at total costs when making a decision. Even if sunk costs are involved, make an "apples to apples" comparison. (I had to use just one more cliché).


Comments are welcome. Tell us what you think.

© 2010 DMMI Associates LLC – All rights reserved

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Business Model Focus on the Top Line - Revenues

This entry for Manage Your Money Mondays focuses on the top line of your income statement: REVENUES. 
You have probably read and heard about the need for a good business model for your company.
It isn't as mysterious as it could sound. That's just a strategist's way of saying to ask yourself a key question: 

How will you make money?

A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures economic value  or social value.

Wikipedia

Typically, for-profit businesses focus on adding economic value and not-for-profit organizations focus on adding social value. The case can also be made that the ideal position for each lies in a hybrid entity; i.e.: profits with social consciousness and social missions with fiscal responsibility.

Viable Business Model must come before you install that great marketing cotter pin: Visibility. Too often, a business has a great product or service, coupled with reasonable pricing, but little or no business modeling. It leaves a big gaping hole in the viability of the business. 

What do I mean by that? You, business owner, have identified a marketable product that you believe will sell -- there is need in the marketplace. You have calculated your income needs, factored that into your pricing, and decided this can work. You venture out into the sales jungle and do "all the right things" -- or so you thought. The results are disappointing, however. Thus, a piece of the planning puzzle is missing. You can only conclude that your business model and key parts of your strategies are flawed.

The easiest way to build a Business Model is to 
Ask and answer the 5Ws -- the ones you learned in English or Language Arts class: Who, What, When, Where, Why. Apply the answers to your Business Model. Then make sure that your price points, your packaging and presentation [branding], and your placement match up accordingly.

For example: If you provide high-end bathroom remodeling, you need to market your services in venues and to prospects that are likely to spend upwards of tens of thousands of dollars on that set of products. Develop plans for finding and connecting with those prospects so that your time -- and marketing dollars -- are invested well. Find people who are already connected to your market niche; that makes a great starting point.




If you would like a little help with strengthening the viability of your business, E-mail us with your questions, or leave Comments below, about your challenges in reaching your business goals.

© 2010 DMMI Associates LLC – All rights reserved

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Tech Tools Yield Tech Skills for Small Business Owners

On this Non-Techie Tuesday, I pose two questions to you:
Are you intimidated by your computer, non-techie small business owner?
Do you use a cell phone resembling any of these?
I'll bet that you do. Now think back a few years... Would you have pictured yourself using anything that "complex" before you actually tried it? My guess is: probably not. Yet, you do it everyday!

Why then, are so many people still intimidated by their computers? - a colleague posted the cutest picture of her dogs on Facebook. She took it with her cell phone and uploaded it. Here it is. (If you are not a Facebook user, and you can't get there from here, my apologies). A couple of clicks and it was all done. I challenge you to acknowledge that your desktop or laptop computer can be tamed just as easily.

Start by recognizing that you control it, not the other way around. A bit of planning ahead to see to its care and feeding is all you need.

This article is about memory maintenance.
To better understand why that's important, envision this scenario:
You have just come back from grocery shopping for your family. Your children help to carry the bags into the kitchen. They sit them anywhere there is an empty space. That is fast and convenient -- at that time. You could leave the bags where they sit, but odds are you won't. You could still find everything, BUT IT WOULD TAKE LONGER. (Not to mention the fact that the perishables would spoil)!

Windows works in kind of the same way. (Sorry Mac users. I haven't used one for a long time).
Your files get stored wherever it's "convenient" for Windows to "sit" them, when you click SAVE. After a while, though, finding the files gets harder and harder. Some of them have even been split up and stored in two different "kitchen cabinets." The end result: Your computer gets slower and slower.

The solution is simple. Windows comes with a tool called "Disk Defragmenter" or Defrag, for short. Depending upon how often you save files, and how big they are, you may need to run Defrag every week. Defrag should be run at least once per month, in any case.

To get you started, here are links to the Microsoft site for how to run the Defrag utility.

• Vista users click here. The instructions are written in an easy to understand manner (unlike the XP version linked below).
  
• XP users click here. Fair warning: the article is a be "tech-speaky," but the steps can be followed.
  

If you have never run Defrag on your computer, the process could take hours. My advice: wait until your workday is over, then start it. Everything should work faster when it's done, unless you have other problems...

Happy Computing!

E-mail us with your questions, or leave Comments below, about how to reach your business goals.

© 2010 DMMI Associates LLC – All rights reserved

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Can Your Password Pass a Security Test?

Are your passwords easy to remember?
More importantly: Are your passwords easy for someone else to figure out?
Good news: You can have the best of both worlds. Here are a few suggestions as to how.

Begin with a mnemonic - a memory aid that is unique to you. This can be a word, letter or number pattern that permits you to remember and use password patterns multiple times, but keeps others clueless.

Then add an algorithm - a systematic approach for applying your mnemonic pattern to each new password need.

Here's an example:
Jodi likes music. She selects an orchestra section -- "brass" let's say -- that she can stick with for a while as a password base. She also can remember her fondness of fruit and a 3-digit number. Combine these, with a way to identify the site or program the password is for. The first two letters could work.
RESULT: Jodi's Facebook password could be "brass233berryFa" This combination meets the must haves for a strong password:

• at least 6 characters.
  
• contains a number.
  
• upper and lowercase.
  
• less than 16 characters (some sites restrict length)
  

Voila! Something that Jodi can remember, that is tough for others to discern, using a pattern that can be reused.
This works, of course, as long as Jodi has a memory that serves her well most of the time.

You don't have to rely solely upon your memory though, even if your mnemonic works perfectly for you.
You can store your passwords online. The founder of Noobie, Patric Welch wrote in a recent article about the challenges surrounding where to store passwords. He offers several suggestions for safely storing passwords on the internet "in the cloud."

"Is your head in the cloud about passwords?" aptly details the mostly upside of keeping your secret password sauce in the internet cloud, along with some additional safeguards to consider.

The next time you have trouble coming up with yet another password, you may wish to try this process.

E-mail us with your questions, or leave Comments below, about how to reach your business goals.

© 2010 DMMI Associates LLC – All rights reserved

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Who's Your Utility Man?

Every Business Owner Should Have a "Utility Man."  

"You will never maximize your potential in any area of life without (help). It is impossible. You may be good. You may even be better than everyone else. But without outside input you will never be as good as you can be. We simply do (everything) better when someone else is watching and evaluating." 

Andy Stanley

Lew Smallwood says, in one of his Strategies for Success entries, that we need advisors to overcome our internal Performance Thermostat settings. We have learned behaviors and patterns that can hold us in place. Therefore, assistance is required before we can successfully reach whatever goals we've set. Inertia will tend to keep us and our business performance right where we are, UNLESS an outside force causes us to move.

Here is your $64K, or even $64 million question:
Who is YOUR Utility Man? Where will that outside force come from that redirects your practices, or that of your staff, toward change -- and winning the game? 



The term "Utility Man" has commonly been used in the auto industry and baseball. It's defined as: 

1. Business / Professions: a team member who is expected to serve in any of several capacities.
2. Baseball: a player who is not a regular and whose value lies in an ability to play several positions.
   

Micro business owners, by their nature, wear a lot of management hats -- Sales Manager, Marketing Director, Operations Manager, Chief Strategist, Quasi Accountant... Yet, no one can be great at everything! At the very least, you need a mentor who can listen to your woes and provide feedback. Ideally, every business owner would have a board of advisors and/or a corporate board of directors to provide guidance and input. 
The most successful business owners, those who thrive even in challenging times, have external sources that help them to reach their objectives. 


What are the characteristics of a good Utility Man? 

• Experience. This person has performed in the role. You feel comfortable that they know first-hand what you have to solve. 
• Skill. Experience, talent, and practice have given that person an edge. That edge could be the ingredient that helps your business get to the next level. 
• Creativity. Because this person plays in more than one position, and in more than one business and industry, creativity becomes second nature. They can easily see things from more than one perspective. This virtually guarantees that solutions, and results, will not be one-dimensional.
  Your Utility Man could spell the difference between almost winning the game versus having a game-winning RBI.
  

What is keeping your business from reaching the next level? 
Would you like to know that answer -- and the solutions that go with it? Then you should click the e-mail link below to get started! Let thinkVAULT be your Utility Man. 

Utility Man definition sources [1], [2]

E-mail us for help and solutions for reach your business goals.  



© 2010 DMMI Associates LLC – All rights reserved

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Christmas Fun - Santa's Upgraded Sleigh

What might Santa's sleigh look like with some 21st century upgrades?

A bit of shameless corporate self-promotion on the part of
General Electric.Click each listed improvement to see a detailed description.

E-mail us if you would like help with removing obstacles to your business growth and success. 

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Goals or Resolutions - Which Is Better?

Are goals or resolutions better for business owners?

This entry is from guest blogger, Cindy Hartman of Hartman Inventory Systems.  a business and personal property inventory company

As each year comes to an end, if you’re like most people, you begin to think about what you didn’t achieve the past 12 months and what you plan to work on “next year.” Often, though, “next year” always remains as “next year.” Kind of like the statement that “tomorrow never comes.”

The end of one year and the start of a new one encourages most of us to create New Year’s resolutions. But resolutions are rarely kept. I read a statistic (I can’t remember where) that showed 83% of resolutions are broken by January 31. I wonder what the statistic is by July 31. Or the following December 31. My guess is that the number is quite high.

I think it’s because a resolution is often just a thought or desire -- perhaps stated out loud, but rarely written down. Yet, when people set goals, they usually assign actions and deadlines to each item. Goals are then easier to achieve because you are holding yourself accountable.

Consider your business. Would you rather make a resolution to double your revenue or have a goal to do so? If you resolve to do it, it’s probably a thought or wish. But if you make it a goal, you’ll be more focused. You’ll most likely create a budget, a marketing plan and a monthly action plan. And here’s the key – you’ll measure your progress month-to-month. You’ll have numbers to determine if you’re reaching your desired revenue. And through this assessment process, you’ll have time to change your processes to improve your results.

Turn your resolutions into goals. Measure your progress, and December 2010 will be a much more rewarding year end because “next year” became “this year” -- for whatever desired outcomes you’ve chosen. 
 

Happy New Year!

Cindy. 

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E-mail us for help and solutions for setting, measuring, and reaching your business goals.  

© 2009 DMMI Associates LLC – All rights reserved

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3 Ways to Avoid Costly Mistakes in Running Your Business

Mistakes Can Cost Money and Customers - 3 Tips for Avoiding Them.

We all make mistakes. Why? Simply because we are human. The better we are at avoiding mistakes, however, the less it will cost us in the long run. Money is one obvious cost. Credibility and customer confidence is the greater risk.


Sid Kemp, in his article "Learn From Your Mistakes," estimates that "continued incompetence costs our society billions of dollars a year." Yes, he said BILLIONS. What if we could reduce this cost, in both time and money resources, by not making them in the first place? 

To work toward that objective, consider these three ingredients: 

1. Have a standard, preferably written, set of steps for delivering your product or service. This is called a process. If you follow your process, it is easier both for you, and anyone you hire, to deliver what is expected. 
2. Know what your most costly step is. In other words, if that step gets flubbed, you will either lose money or lose a customer. Then, monitor that step like a hawk. 
3. Have a predetermined way for handling problems and complaints. When the inevitable flub happens, know what you will do. 
• Give your subordinates the power to act based upon that process. 
• Minimize the inconvenience to your customer or client. Your response must make sense to them. (See this blog "You Don't Make Sense").

Mistakes can be learning opportunities, too. For a few thoughts on that, see this article by Sid Kemp, for Entrepreneur.com. Head mistakes off at the pass and most of the time you will get the results that both you and your customers expect. 



E-mail us if you would like help with defining or improving your processes.  

© 2009 DMMI Associates LLC – All rights reserved

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