GROW YOUR BUSINESS. The Power of Synergy G Y B 2013 IN THIS ISSUE: Secrets to Success The Five P s. Give your Business a Financial Facelift

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1 The Power of Synergy G Y B 2013 GROW YOUR BUSINESS IN THIS ISSUE: Secrets to Success The Five P s Give your Business a Financial Facelift Buying a Brand: Franchising Healthy Wealth

2 Secrets to Success The Five P s A lot of businesses position their marketing around what is known as the Four P s : product, price, positioning and promotion. While sound advice, this strategy is missing a fifth, and vital, element: people! Without a direct focus on all FIVE of these areas, any business, even with a foolproof idea, can struggle. Let s simplify this strategy, starting with the product. It's never going to be enough to offer a generic product or service - the key here is specificity. The more specific the better: specific role, specific market, and specific function. When the product has been identified move on to the price, often the most challenging facet for small business owners. Do your research but don't focus on undercutting your competitors - there is a reason they have come to those price points. The reason is called overhead costs. They must be covered in order to ever turn a profit. Consider different pricing strategies such as cost plus, premium pricing and a conditional competitive discount which is well thought out. Choose what works best for your product or service. Once price has been established, move into the promotions phase. Promotions must always be a clear, concise and a clean representation of your product or service. Listen to the target audience and position the product as the answer to their question, challenge or concern. Positioning ties directly into promotion - they go hand in hand. Wrongly placed promotions are a waste of time and money. Placement, in reference to the actual physical location as well as where the product will be promoted, must be strategized based on the target market. The fifth P, is people. The team that will be selling, manufacturing, and marketing the service or product are crucial to the owner s success. Take time and spend money on recruiting the best people then train them, support them and provide them with the best possible tools to successfully perform their jobs. The Five P s should be part of any good business plan and, when executed well, will form the building blocks of a successful business. They may not be a secret anymore, but these five areas are often overlooked or mismanaged. When this happens, one small thing can easily become the leak that causes the dam to break. The more specific, the better. 2 GROW YOUR BUSINESS

3 Give your Business a Financial Facelift Boiled down to the essentials, financial (or fiscal) planning is about two things - accumulating wealth and protecting it". Don t feel like these two simple things are happening? Then it is probably time to consider a financial facelift. Like its surgical equivalent, a financial facelift entails a quick nip and tuck procedure. The end result is a more streamlined, youthful and refreshed appearance. Unlike its surgical equivalent, a financial facelift must penetrate below the surface and repair deep beneath the outer layers. So what are the doctor s orders when it comes to financial repair? First on the list is a prescription for better planning. No, we cannot will ourselves to become fortune tellers but we most certainly can incorporate more informed planning and foresight into daily operations. Take better stock of your financial situation and take cues from the many financial ratios that are available and use them to predict your trends. We can help you with the best ratios for your situation. Use them as part of your dashboard reporting. History is the best predictor of the future. Next, find a healthier way to thrive. Examine the nitty-gritty details of your business plan and cut the fat out. Track your stats. Small changes can lead to big results. Being inventive, frugal, creative - these qualities are great in a small business owner. But you must recognize when strategies are strangling profits. Be willing to make changes or you may be faced with an undesirable outcome. Revisit the financial portion of the original business plan, particularly planned income and expenditure, estimated balance sheets and cashflow projections. How do they look in reality? Can you achieve income expectations with the projected expenditure? Establish a tighter budget with a cash flow plan. Shop around for lower prices among your vendors competitors but ensure quality and delivery are at least as good as you are getting now. There could be a real opportunity here as suppliers may well have incentives in place in order to recruit new customers. Make sure that your team is aware of what is going on at every point. Keeping them up with the play not only makes them feel part of the team, it can also mean you have more eyes looking for opportunities. Like the work of a surgeon with their scalpel, the financial facelift should be neat, tidy, and almost unnoticeable. The small changes highlighted here can lead to big results. As any surgically modified person will tell you - no pain, no gain! Suck it up; the results will be a glowing new business structure with an improved profit line! 3 GROW YOUR BUSINESS

4 Buying a Brand: Franchising In the aftermath of global downsizing, many out of work or dissatisfied employees are considering franchising. But what do these folks know about running a successful business? In fact, the best candidates for franchising are proven, successful small business owners ready to expand or take on a new challenge. Firstly, there are two main kinds of franchising to consider - product franchising and business format franchising. Product franchising provides a distribution network for an existing product. The outlets operate in their own way and benefit from the sales of a well-known brand. The operator then benefits by limiting the competitor s access to the market. This is also known as the dealership model. Business format franchising is when the franchise operates under a total business concept - think McDonald s. Every outlet has the same trade marking, corporate colors, design and layout. Owning a franchise (in either model) means a built-in customer base, which for many small business owners is attraction enough. With a recognized brand, customers have existing trust in your product or service. Like any other strategic business move, franchising has major pros and cons which need to be considered on an individual basis to determine whether it is the right choice. Buying a franchise requires a team player. You must be able to surrender control and work as a cog in a machine. On the reverse, you are your own boss and have a certain amount of freedom. Franchisees limit their risks and lower their levels of failure, but at what cost? Many successful managers have a hard time relinquishing ultimate control and struggle with following someone else s rules. On the positive side, franchising also gives access to suppliers on a greater scale, providing more options when it comes to manufacturing, production, placement, etc. It provides a cushioned advertising budget and a steady network of support - two areas that can be hard to overcome in the small business world. One of the major disadvantages to consider is the difficultly in terminating the franchisor-franchisee agreement should things take a bad turn. A bit like selling your soul to the devil, these contractual agreements often do not work out to benefit the franchisee! 4 GROW YOUR BUSINESS

5 Healthy Wealth Society has drummed into our heads that wanting wealth is a bad thing, one that will drive you to behave in ways that are unethical, corrupt and morally bankrupt. The appeal of being a small business owner is usually twofold: being your own boss, and making lots of money no? Okay, there may be other factors here and there, but when it comes down to the brass tacks, money is a cold, hard motivator. And there is nothing wrong with that. The problem is that so many business owners do not focus on healthy wealth. The primary issue to be examined is why we want to be wealthy. What are the motivating factors? Studies show that most people think that wealth means three things: security, independence and happiness. Gaining wealth to provide for family and loved ones, becoming rich doing what we love or adding value to the lives of others while becoming wealthy - these are healthy motivators to being wealthy. The unhealthy motivators - money as a measurement of success or in comparison to another - are suffocating and will often lead to a downfall of either a personal or professional nature, or both. In the course of small business ownership there will be traps and challenges. Instead of making excuses, answer these questions, designed to get you to your goals quicker: The What - what is it you want? The Why - why do you want it? The When - how much time will this take? BE REALISTIC. The How - how will this impact your life? The Hard Parts - what will you sacrifice? Challenges to be expected? The Measurement - how will you know when the goals have been met? The answers should become a mantra and should be considered when deciding any course of action. Healthy wealth may seem too idealistic for some to take seriously. But end results often come with sacrifice and it can be a slippery slope for a struggling or new business owner. Possessing a plan for making decisions, which incorporates what is ultimately important to you, will ensure that at the end of the line, wealth will not come at a hefty cost. Wealth means security, independence and happiness. THE POWER OF TO-DO LIST When done effectively the simple To- Do list can change your time management, reduce stress and boost productivity all in one. Create different lists to reflect short, medium and long-term tasks. Break daunting tasks into smaller parts and tackle them one at a time. Have separate calendars that reflect each of these goals and physically cross things off when completed - the feeling of satisfaction will keep you going through the next task. 5 GROW YOUR BUSINESS

6 The Power of Synergy For more information contact your RAN ONE Business Advisor: Richards Consulting & Accounting, LLC 164 Meeker Street P.O. Box 31 Delta, CO t f e ken@richardssolutions.com While every effort has been made to provide valuable and useful information in this publication, this firm and any related suppliers accept no responsibility or any form of liability from reliance upon or use of its contents. Consider any suggestions within your own particular circumstances and contact us if you want more help. Terms Of Use All rights to the content in this publication are reserved by Bullseye. Any use of the content outside of this format must acknowledge Bullseye or its licensee, RAN ONE, as the original source.