New Year, New Strategies

"If your team is going to win, you need to play better than the other quarterback." - Peyton Manning, Quarterback, Indianapolis Colts

This is the first of three blogs that will address simple strategies for getting yourself off to a good start in 2010. Some of them are conceptual, and some are activities or resolutions that will keep your business healthy and fit in the coming year.

The first step is to look backward. Take a few minutes to analyze what worked in 2009. Some things to review are:

• Where did you make money?
• What products sold the best?
• What key decisions did you make that improved your bottom line?
• What systems or processes did you change that resulted in greater efficiency or cost reduction?
• What lessons did you learn that you can take into 2010?
• What risks did you take that paid off?

Make a list of things that worked and acknowledge your success in those areas.

Next, look at what didn't work. Did you have employees that didn't function as a team? Did you have expenses that trended sharply upward? Where did you lose money or time? Make a list of these things and rank how they impacted your bottom line.

Once you have a handle on what worked and what didn't in 2009, it's time to look forward and make a comprehensive plan for 2010. Here are some key questions to ask yourself when developing your winning strategy:

• What is your primary goal or company directive for 2010?
• What is the biggest challenge your company faces in the coming year?
• What is your sales target? Your net profit target?
• What percentage growth are you after?
• Are you ready to commit to your company's plan? What does being committed to that plan look like?

There are bound to be questions that are germane to your particular business or industry. make a list and be honest with yourself about possibilities and challenges that you face. Consider working with a business coach who will hold you accountable for your intentions and keep you on the path to winning results.

Next in the Series: Winning Stories from 2009

Are you ready to win?

Key Business Success Strategies

“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
Will Rogers, Actor/Lecturer/Humorist

Every winning team has key success strategies that are the basis for their decisions on the playing field. These are the strategies that remain constant despite change - different players, different opponents, and different circumstances.

In business you need strategies that hold true no matter the market conditions. These are the basic fallback positions that keep your business on track in a challenging economy. At Possibilities Unlimited, we believe that the three key success strategies are:

1. Structure your business to make a profit under current market conditions
2. Do not allow for anything in your business that is not working
3. Market ten times more than you have ever done before

Structure your business to make a profit under current market conditions
The basic law of business is “Thou Shalt Make a Profit!” If you violate that law, you will lose the right to do business. Your business will be permanently in the penalty box. You must at all times structure your business or your department to make a profit. You must bring in more money than you spend.

Your business coach is there to help you make the hard decisions that will keep your business lean and profitable. Getting help from someone who does not have an agenda or something to gain from your business situation makes it easier to get the job done faster with better results.

Do not allow for anything in your business that is not working
Now is the time to throw overboard anything on the boat that is not needed. Any person, system or product that is not contributing to profitability, to moving toward the goal line, needs to be eliminated. Stop allowing for anything that does not work in your business or your department. You need to be running 20% more efficiently that you ever dreamed possible.

Now is the time to get the right people into your starting lineup.You want to move the ball down the court, and that will only happen when the right people are working together and they are all working from the same playbook. The more cohesive the team, the more efficient the business and the lower the operating costs. All these things combine to make you more competitive and boost your results in the game of business/life.

Market ten times more than you ever have before
Market, Market, Market! Now is the time to get into the marketplace. This is no time for order-takers. The people sitting back waiting for the phone to ring are the ones having problems in today’s economy. If you have been marketing then increase it by ten times. (If you devote one hour a week to making sales calls, bump it up to ten hours a week.) Create more opportunities for sales. Build a pipeline of opportunities for sales. Sales are the foundation of your business, the touchdowns, the three-pointers from center court. If you want to win the game, you have to have points on the board. You have to have sales happening all the time.

Are you ready to win?