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Process Strategic Planning

access_timePosted on by Margareth Law

Having witnessed this lack of positive plans or programs created, far too often, during my over three decades of identifying, qualifying, developing, training and consulting, to over a thousand individuals in positions of leadership, as well as facilitated Board and organizational strategic planning sessions, I feel a simplified process, with checks and balances, and quality reviews, is a needed understanding. Here is a some step process to improve the results of strategic plans.

  • Historic/heritage review and consideration: This must not be done as a one-plan-fits-all, but rather must be based on the specific heritage, mission, and vision of the specific group. Begin by understanding the history, and the perceptions of existing members. Understand why the group may, or may not be, considered as relevant, as it once was. Review opportunities taken, as well as missed, and clearly see the ramifications of each action. While great organizations evolve, they know who and why they are, and tweak, as necessary, but focus on their vital vision and mission.
  • Objective analysis-strengths and weaknesses, and ramifications: Every group has both strengths,
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Business Start Up Basics

access_timePosted on by Margareth Law

First, you need to make up a plan and then pick out a couple of things to accomplish each month. Second, you need to  define your short term goals. Yes long term goals are important too, however, remember you want to do this in a years’ time so for now let’s break your goals down into things to do each week and by the end of each month. Also, when you accomplish your goals for the month, be sure to reward yourself with something you like to do. Shopping, movies, hiking, you name it, be sure to reward yourself.  Remember, however, as we discussed when setting up our mock business, you must be sure that your goals are realistic. If you take on too many things to do each month, you will overwhelm yourself, which will eventually lead tofailure. A great analogy here is losing weight. So many people set themselves up for failure bysetting unrealistic weight goals, e.g. I want to lose 80 lbs in 4 months. Not going to happen. So be sure you don’t do the same with

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Reasons Why Business Is Not Profitable

access_timePosted on by Margareth Law

Fear is that thing that stops us dead in our tracks from doing what needs to be done to grow and build a profitable business. In order to be profitable you have to put your big panties and drawls on and play the game the same way the big boys do, IF you want to have a sustainable business. Just scale the game to your size. Here are some other reasons why your business is not profitable.

No Budget

This by all means is my favorite way to generate profit. How does this generate profit you ask? Well simply put, it gives you a point of reference as something to work towards to achieve. It’s setting the flag in the ground for the finish line. See once you set this flag on the ground as to where you are trying to go, it forces you to look at how you are going to get there. Charting this path puts you smack in front of the costs that it will take to get you there which then helps you determine the

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Milestones and Metrics

access_timePosted on by Margareth Law

How to Write a Business Plan: Milestones While the Milestones and Metrics chapter of your business plan may not be long, it’s critical that you take the time to look forward and schedule the next critical steps for your business. Investors will want to see that you understand what needs to happen to make your plans a reality and that you are working on a realistic schedule. Start with a quick review of your milestones. Milestones are planned major goals.

For example, if you are producing a medical device, you will have milestones associated with clinical testing and government approval processes. If you are producing a consumer product, you may have milestones associated with prototypes, finding manufacturers, and first order receipt. While milestones look forward, you will also want to take a look back at major accomplishments that you have already had. Investors like to call this “traction.” What this means is that your company has shown some evidence of early success. Traction could be some initial sales, a successful pilot program, or a significant partnership. Sharing this proof that your company is more than just an idea-that it has actual evidence that it is going to

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Future of Rewards

access_timePosted on by Margareth Law

What were motivational tools a decade back are now hygiene factors. Appreciation letter from the Managing Director, one-time ad-hoc bonus of INR 25000, out-of-turn promotion, publishing personal details in the in-house magazine, special jump in compensation, etc. have become too routine and rather unproductive. Such rewards have now become almost obsolete or have moved down from the managerial hierarchy to the supervisory or blue-collar hierarchy.

What is pushing the new philosophy of reward? Three factors stand out.

One, and accelerated change in the workforce demographics including changing expectations of older horses. Two, chronic need for retaining the performers, and the third, faster erosion of the perceived value of the reward.

If one goes with the trend, how would rewards for star performers look like in future?

For the Junior Management (up to 9-10 years of service), the rewards could include an unlimited GB data plan for personal use for a year or sponsorship of marriage expenses pegged at 50% of the annual compensation. Another option for this category would be a fully paid sabbatical for pursuing full-time education of choice. Sponsoring an all-bachelor group’s two weeks Europe tour is a fabulous idea and could be a perfect testimonial

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How To Incorporate

access_timePosted on by Margareth Law

As the corporation is a separate legal entity, the identification has to be unique. It is essential to check with the authorities as to whether the name for the business already exists. If it exists, some other name has to be chosen. Some names can be appended with the name of the business like XYZ bank. The type of corporation is decided by determining whether or not one has to raise capital through the public, the duration of the corporation, the management structure and control and the type of corporation like LLC or corporation. There is a S form of corporation that has a special tax structure so that double taxation of the income is avoided.

The procedure for filing papers for all types of corporation remains the same. By law, it is required to register the corporation in the state the business is operating. It is also possible to incorporate in one state where the tax structure and other conditions are favorable and operate in another state. For this, the corporation should designate a registered agent with a physical address in the state. This is done to facilitate communication between authorities and the corporation.

Finally

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Hire Services of Business Consultants

access_timePosted on by Margareth Law

The experts will have the capacity to convey better outcomes for your business when you unmistakably recognize what your objectives are and when you have absolutely characterized your ventures.

  • The specialists will help you get the data and learning that can’t be found inside your association in a brief timeframe.
  • Advisors would have the capacity to offer you the administrations that don’t exist in your association in light of the fact that there is no master or division that can help you with certain business perspectives.
  • Business specialists help to discover answers for the distinctive difficulties that emerge every once in a while. Each time the way of the test can be distinctive. You may confront the issue interestingly yet because of their boundless introduction to the different issues in different organizations, they can take care of issues in speedy, effective and safe techniques.
  • They can help you approve your as of now made or executed thoughts.
  • They will go about as the autonomous and master body that will dissect and scrutinize distinctive parts of your business. The feedback will be productive and they will help you discover answers for the issues
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Business Success Checklist

access_timePosted on by Margareth Law

Crystal clear purpose

The most common reason companies run into trouble is losing sight of the customer and their needs. Having a crystal clear purpose helps keep the focus from becoming too internally fixated, instead articulating why the business exists from the customer’s perspective. A clear and inspiring purpose will also give your employees a reason to be connected with their hearts, not just their minds.

Discipline

Sometimes this is an unpopular topic, but it is critical. Discipline means having a sharp and constant focus on your objectives, whether they be growth, profits or customer objectives. Successful businesses build continual monitoring into their processes, constantly aware of the gap between where they are and where they should be.

Goals that compel action

Most people are motivated to work for a cause of some sort. The business must continually paint a picture of what the future may hold. And it needs to be more compelling than ‘surviving’ or ‘selling lots more’. Goals that challenge without being unrealistic, and that inspire people to go above and beyond, will reinforce a culture of innovation, effort and excitement.

Prepare for several futures

Successful businesses are

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Where to Get Bonding Assistance

access_timePosted on by Margareth Law

A bid bond is submitted when you bid on a project, and obligates a firm to honor its pricing if it is awarded a contract. A performance bond obligates a company to complete a project according to the contract terms. A payment bond is a guarantee that the firm will pay all its subcontractors, craftspeople, and suppliers. If you fail to honor the terms of the surety bond, then the surety company that issued the bond will be responsible for paying.

Because of the risk involved, surety companies review detailed credit and financial information about your firm before issuing a bond. Your company has to prove to the surety company that it is capable of honoring its commitment. If you are granted a bond, you pay a premium (similar to an insurance premium) for the surety bond.

The Small Business Administration has programs in place to help small businesses get the bonds they need. The agency’s Surety Bond Guarantee Program will guarantee bonds as high as $2 million, and is open to all small businesses. Bonds are issued by a surety company, and the SBA will guarantee 70% to 90%, depending upon the program.

About Business Logistics

access_timePosted on by Margareth Law

I speak to individuals about the companies they work for, and they refer to different departments, such as Planning, Purchasing, Warehousing, Inventory Control, and Transportation. These are many of the roles within the scope of Business Logistics, yet their companies have not realized they are all intertwined and can be banked against each other; traded and bartered for better company discounts. Additionally, they mention Returns, which is actually referred to as Reverse Logistics.

All of these roles are components of the Supply Chain in every industry. Logisticians help companies realize cost savings throughout the Supply Chain. Speaking with Logisticians about the Supply Chain encourages businesses to locate and differentiate the savings their companies could reap. This leads to new profit opportunities for their organizations.

Once I speak to individuals about the scope of Business Logistics and what it entails, they are fascinated by it. They tell me I should speak to their Management about the cost savings they can make through tradeoffs of services. There should be more high profile papers and articles on Business Logistics to educate the business world. It’s not just something students should learn about in college.

Supply Chain assists organizations

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Benefits of Balanced Content

access_timePosted on by Margareth Law

This may seem like a counterintuitive concept but let me explain. In my global work with leading speakers, authors, and thought leaders, I’ve noticed that most content is out of balance. Authors and thought leaders have a tendency or a bias. They are either incredibly academic or hyper focused on business, and this makes sense, given that many thought leaders come from either the hallowed halls of academia or the shining towers of the corporate world. Their world view and perspectives are shaped by their experiences.

Now there’s nothing inherently wrong with leaning towards business or academia. The content market admires, appreciates, and consumes content that leans in either direction. That being said, the best content I’ve seen is balanced. It has hard data to support the theories and it is peppered with stories and anecdotes based on the content’s real world business application. All too often I’ve heard academics snobbishly dismiss a business book written by a world renowned CEO because it doesn’t have an academic underpinning or data. I’ve also heard many C level execs discount the potential value of content that comes from academia as they claim that it wouldn’t work in “the real

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Importance of Business Systems

access_timePosted on by Margareth Law

Business systems are documented procedures setting out how your organisation operates. They are processes, usually combining actions taken by people and some form of automated application, organised in such a way so as to meet a given set of business objectives. Such systems can generally take place without the business founder / owner’s direct action, over and over again, as efficiently as possible.

Examples of processes may include how your staff should answer the telephone, how they take and pass on messages; the procedure for raising, approving, placing and receiving orders; the process for generating, checking and sending out client invoices, as well as receiving payments and following up on outstanding bills etc.

Regardless of the size or type of your business, it is likely that you already have set procedures in place covering many functions within your organisation, which employees follow out of habit or as directed by their supervisor / manager.

Business systems are the manual for your business; the “know-how” of any business that many business founders / owners usually hold in their head, and have not got round to putting onto paper.

There are many reasons and just as many

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Start Home Based Travel Businesses

access_timePosted on by Margareth Law

Home based travel businesses that fall into the referral agency category do just that: they refer people to a travel agency. They may have several agencies they refer people to, but most generally have one travel agency that they work with on a regular basis. In return for the referrals from a home based business travel agent, the travel agency pays a referral fee or commission percentage on what the travel agency receives from the supplier. Part-time referral agents can earn up to $500 on each sale, and sometimes even more.

The home based travel businesses that fall into the booking and selling agencies category usually work with one travel agency. These booking and selling travel agencies actually do the booking and planning involved in making all the necessary arrangements for great trips.

These are people who enjoy attending to all the little details. They serve, more or less, as facilitators between their clients and a travel agency. Booking and selling home based travel business agents earn a lot higher percentage of the overall commission-but they DO do a great deal more work. A full-timer at this, however, can earn $50,000 or more a year.

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