Some things never change, do they?  So why does that happen?  Why do we keep on doing the same things that we know didn't work for ourselves, our businesses or our lives?

Most of us, if we are fortunate enough, have a few days off and away from 'The Business' at this time of year. The last few weeks of 2009 was an opportunity to spend some quite time to relax and review the ups and downs that had occurred during the last 12 months or so.  My guess is that most of the things that came up were the things that didn't work, the money we lost, or how the business slowed due to things outside our control.

Rarely, do we allow ourselves to concentrate on the achievements, the successes that occurred when we least expected them, the critical moments when you just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

These are the things that did work!

Take a few moments during your well-deserved holiday to list all the things that did work on one piece of paper and on another all the negative things that didn't.

When complete put the negative to one side, and concentrate on the list of things that worked.  Recall what you did, what were the results, the improvements and most importantly, how can we repeat these and leverage off them.

Over the next few posts we will start to look at how we can create 2010 as our best year ever, simply by doing the things that work rather than those that don't 

If you are in business with another person (spouse, friend, etc.) it’s wise to define each person’s role and responsibilities within the business. This gives each person confidence in one another and your shared goals for the business.

Manage Growth

Implementing business systems allows for managed and strategic growth to occur. Some business owners say that they need to systemize themselves and their own thinking first before they can expect staff to understand and adopt the same principles. In the beginning, the business systems that will make the most difference are the deceptively simple and small ones. Business systems help eliminate many of the daily frustrations and obstacles that prevent things running smoothly. Gradually, you should incorporate all the Businesses business systems, policies and procedures into a handbook which will become your Operations Manual, so everyone knows what to do, who does it and when it should be done. The problem with most small business owners is not simply that they are doing too much work, but that they are doing the wrong kind of work. They should be looking at where their input adds the most strategic value to the business. Put a value on your time. What is it worth to the business?

Business systems to Systemise your Business

Introducing and developing business systems will help you to organise and systemise your business. Here are some tips to create great business systems that will help your business to grow. Systemise your selling approach, your sales management and the marketing of your products and services. Develop individual businesses within your business and collect the combined efficiencies of many businesses working within one operation. Implement systems to let your specialists do what they do best. To learn the step by step process of “How to Systemise Your Business” click here

Eliminate Problem Areas

Creating systems to eliminate problem areas is a simple process of critically analysing the procedures of how you do them now.  Look at what is working and what is not, then you write down how to do things in an orderly way to achieve the results you are requiring, and voila, you have an operating system. Doing this will save time because you don’t have to repeat each task to anyone who’s new to your workplace it’s all written down for them in the company business systems section of your operations manual. But be sure to keep the systems updated each time your revisit them to test and measure their efficiency. Produce a policy and procedures manual. This includes your own mission statement as well as policies on sexual harassment, discrimination, workplace safety, etc. To discover how to make this whole process easier we have put together an ebook which leads you through each step of the way.

“How to Systemise Your Business”

To get your copy click here

Your Business Systems Master Plan

There comes a point in most small businesses when the owner – you – acknowledges that it's time for the business to grow to the next stage. The challenge is, how do you do that? Doing more of the same?  Probably not!  You've done a great job to get to where you are now, but to get to the next stage you will need a plan.

Set aside some time to develop your vision. Concentrate on the word 'your' vision, as too many people build something for what they think someone else wants.  What do you want your business to become? How will it behave? What will set it apart from its competitors? What will your life be like when you are finished? Decide what your growth goals are and set yourself targets and some realistic milestones by which you can measure your progress. These will include your revenue targets, the time frame in which you will achieve these, the number of staff you will require and when they will join the business, the number of outlets, profitability and so on.

Plan for Systematic Growth

The key is to map out a growth destination that is real, but stretches you and can be broken down into smaller goals. Planning growth in your business also needs you to work on developing yourself as a manager and a leader. Be prepared to get out of your comfort zone and grow as a person – remember your business is and will be a reflection of you.

Your next task is to be really objective and honest about the business as it is now. If it has just come out of start up stage then it is almost certainly still very dependent on you. In other words, without you there it would not be able to operate effectively, let alone grow. This is your wake up moment, and a very valuable opportunity to transform the way your business is operating.  Because you are now able to ask yourself about what really needs to be in place for the business to be profitable without you being there and more importantly for growth to happen.

The first thing is going to be time, specifically yours. Without you dedicating your time to business development, nothing will change. You are going to have to create some time in your working week to work on your business in alignment with your vision.

Begin by identifying everything you do in a day, a week, a month. Work out which tasks you can delegate and to whom. (And if there is no one to delegate to, you may have to consider getting in some office support even if it's only a day or two a week.) Work out the instructions for each of the activities this person will be doing. Imagine you are there to tell them what comes next, and set it all out on paper.

These documented instructions must include clear steps, standards and timing. This is a system. Make sure each system is recognisable as such and follows the same format.

Look out for Your Business Systems Master Plan – Part Two coming in the next few days where we start to get strategic in planning the key areas your business will need to cover to ensure that the growth will be steady, managed and sustained

For most people discovering their Personal Aim involves new ways of looking at themselves and their lives. It requires that you question why you do what it is you do, your assumptions, beliefs and core values.

You begin by making a list of all the things you want in your life and don’t want out of your life. Then reviewing the lists and focusing on the most important wants and don’t-wants.

What you Don’t Want

Often it is easier to decide what you don’t want rather than what you do want. A good way to begin is to list all the things that you don’t want.

Currently you are focusing on those things that you don’t want and are constantly reminded of them day-in day-out. The result is that you are mentally rehearsing them, practicing them and reinforcing them. This is negative visualization.
In sports you are taught to visualize the techniques necessary to better play the sport and what outcome you want. This is positive visualization.

If your habit is fault finding and focusing on what can go wrong, then your mind stays on the negative, even though you wish a positive outcome, you are rehearsing the negative. This negative thinking is a difficult habit to overcome.

What you Do Want

Think about what you do want when you dream, when you feel free. What gives you the most satisfaction or fulfilment? What is important to you? If you had all the money and time you needed what would you do?
A good technique to visualise your dream life is to collect a number of glossy magazines that you read, covering houses, cars, holidays, family, adventure, sport etc etc. From these cut out those pictures that excite you or form part of your dream life. Paste these cut out pictures on a large sheet of cardboard. Hand the picture in a prominent position so that you are reminded of what want each day. It will focus your attention and energise you

Some Questions to Stimulate your Thinking

The following list of questions will help you stimulate your thoughts and putting you in the right frame of mind. Take time to think about your answer to each question.
• What do you want your life to look and feel like?
• What do you value most? What is important to you?
• What matters most at this point in your life
• What would you say about your life after it’s too late to do anything about it?
• How do you want your life to feel on a day-to-day basis?
• What would you like people’s perception of you be?
• What do you daydreams about?
• Do you ever find yourself wishing you were different? For what do you wish? Why aren’t you that way? What gets in the way?
• Of all the things you have done in your life what has given you the most pleasure or satisfaction? What has given you the least pleasure or satisfaction’?
• If you no longer had to work, how would you spend your time? And with whom?
• I there anything missing from your life? When you find yourself wishing for something, what is it?
• What motivates you to perform above and beyond the call of duty?
• What are your greatest strengths? What are your greatest weaknesses?
• What do you want to achieve but find it impossible? What obstacles exist?

My advise is “You always see or get what you are looking for” or to put it another way you create ‘your world’ with the way you think.

Consider it is all about the way you and your thoughts are ‘being’. At Creative Business Builders we insist on ‘being’ creative.

Problems are things we make up to avoid something, maybe our success?

The following post is based on an article I came across some time ago, I cannot recall where or who the author is, however I would like to acknowledge the author for their creative work.

Japanese grocery stores had a problem.

They are much smaller than shops and therefore don’t have room to waste. Watermelons,big and round, wasted a lot of space. Most people would simply tell the grocery stores that watermelons grow round and there is nothing that can be done about it.

That is how majority of people would respond. But some Japanese farmers took a different approach.
If the supermarkets wanted a square watermelon, they asked themselves, “How can we provide one?”

With some creative thinking it wasn’t long before they invented the square watermelon.

The solution to the problem of round watermelons was not to solve as the farmers did not assume it was impossible – and simply asked how it could be done.

They found out that if you put the watermelon in a square box when they are growing, the watermelon will take on the shape of the box – and grow into a square fruit!

This made the grocery stores happy and had the added benefit that it was much easier and cost effective to ship the watermelons. Consumers also loved them because they took less space in their refrigerators
which are much smaller than those in the West meaning that the growers could charge a premium price for them.

What does this have do with anything in life or at your job or business Systems? Here are a few lessons that can you can take away from this story which I know will help you :

1. Don’t Assume:

The major problem was that most people had always seen round watermelons so they automatically assumed that square watermelons were impossible before even thinking about the question.

Things that you have been doing a certain way your entire life have taken on the aura of the round watermelon and you likely don’t even take the time to consider if there is another way to do it. Breaking yourself from assuming this way can greatly improve your overall life as you are constantly looking for new and better ways to do things.

This was one of the most difficult things for me to do because most of the assumptions I make, I don’t even realize that I’m making them.

They seem perfectly logical at the time and on the surface, so I have to constantly make an effort to question them.

Remember the saying: To Assume makes an Ass out of You and Me

2. Question your habits:

The best way to tackle these assumptions is to question your habits. If you can make an effort to question the way you do

things on a consistent basis, you will find that you can continually improve the way that you work.

Forming habits when they have been well thought out is usually a positive thing, but most of us have adopted our habits from various people and places without even thinking about them.

I have changed a large number of habits that I have had after taking the time to question them and continue to do so on an ongoing basis. Some of them I have know idea where they came from while others I can trace to certain people or instances in my life.

It’s a never ending story or process, but by doing this, you can consistently strive toward making all aspects of your life more enjoyable instead of defaulting to what you have now.

Remember doing things the same habitual way will give you the same results – Nothing will change!

3. Be Creative:

When faced with a problem, be creative in looking for a solution.

This often requires thinking outside the box. Most people who viewed this question likely thought they were being asked how they could genetically alter water melons to grow square which would be a much more difficult process to accomplish.

By looking at the question from an alternative and creative perspective, however, the solution was quite simple. Being creative and looking at things in different ways in all portions of your live will help you find solutions to many problems where others can’t see them. I am fortunately a creative person, so I’ve found that the more that you look at things from different perspectives, the more creative you will become. It’s a learned art and builds upon itself.

4. Look for a better way:
The square watermelon question was simply seeking a better and more convenient way to do something.

The stores had flagged a problem they were having and asked if a solution was possible. It’s impossible to find a better way if you are never asking the question in the first place. I try to ask if there is a better way of doing the things that I do and I constantly write down the things I wish I could do (but currently can’t) since these are usually hints about steps I need to change.

Get into the habit of asking yourself, “Is there a better way I could be doing this?” and you will find there often is.

Remember the Teacher (the solution) will appear when the student is ready (or asking)

5. Impossibilities often aren’t:

If you begin with the notion that something is impossible, then it obviously will be for you. Remember “You always see or get what you are looking for” or to put it another way you create ‘your world’ with the way you think.

If, on the other hand, you decide to see if something is possible or not, you will find out through trial and error. Take away the lessons from the square watermelons and apply them to all areas in your life (work, finances, relationships, etc) and you will find that by consistently applying them, you will constantly be improving all aspects of your life.

I am confident we can bring about change if we really want to.

Remember concentrate on what you want – the solution. Not what you don’t want – the problem

Let’s say you need to get from New York to Chicago. You can walk the 790 miles in a month, bike it in a week, drive it in a day, or fly it in a couple of hours. What’s the difference? It’s all about the vehicle you use.

It’s the same with business success. You can spend an enormous amount of time and effort getting to your business destination the hard way (think “walking”), or you can be whisked there in a fraction of the time.

Who can get you there the fastest? That would be my friend, Bill Bartmann. A few days ago I wrote you about Bill. He’s the guy who went from eating out of dumpsters to becoming a billionaire.

Bill has another distinction: Of all the firms EVER to be on Inc. Magazine’s “500 Fastest-Growing Companies” list, only Microsoft grew as fast for as long as Bill Bartmann’s company did.

As far as I know, Bill Gates is not spending any time explaining to businesspeople how to get ahead. But Bill Bartmann is doing just that: He’s unveiling a phenomenal, new tool he’s developed for slashing the time it takes to reach your business goals. It’s called his “Billionaire Business System.“

http://www.BillionaireU.com/go.aspx?AID=2058

What’s holding you back from the level of business success you want?

–Is it lack of money? Bill was bankrupt before he became a self-made billionaire.

–Is it lack of support from your family? Bill’s parents at one point told him they wished he was dead.

–Is it a lousy economy? Bill made his fortune in the midst of a recession.

My point is simple: This man knows failure and adversity as intimately as he knows legendary success. And you can discover what he knows by getting in on the ground floor of Bill’s Billionaire Business System.

In Bill’s online system, he will tell you his secrets in his very own words. No “guest presenters” and no fluff. Just straight talk about your business, straight from Bill.

Muhammad Ali said “Bill is the Greatest at helping people recognize and discover the champion hiding inside. He teaches people how to knock out the negatives in their lives.”

You can see what I mean and get your own impression of this amazing system by going here:

http://www.BillionaireU.com/go.aspx?AID=2058

See for yourself why the Smithsonian Institution has a permanent display about Bill’s achievements and why Harvard Business School studies Bill’s techniques. See for yourself how Bill is better qualified than anyone else to help you to start or grow your business. You can thank me later.

To Your Success,

[Name]

P.S. The TV show “Good Morning America” invited Bill to talk about this revolutionary new system for business success on August 18. If you missed it, to see for yourself how Bill can help you achieve you goals, just go to

http://www.BillionaireU.com/go.aspx?AID=2058

It’s pretty rare to get an Olympic Gold Medal, wouldn’t you say? Only 1,210 Americans have received one. It’s unusual to climb Mt. Everest, too: Just 2,300 people have done that. But there’s an even rarer category: The number of billionaires. No more than 1,125 people in the world can claim that distinction.

My friend, Bill Bartmann, did just that. Now keep in mind that this group of 1,125 people includes people who had major help along the way: Many were born with it, inherited it, or had every advantage while growing up.

In the history of billionaires, Bill Bartmann stands alone. He’s the ONLY former homeless person and gang member ever to have made a billion dollars. That’s right, Bill went from eating out of dumpsters and living under a bridge viaduct, to having after-tax, take-home pay in a single year of more than $100 million and being listed as the 25th richest person in America.

Here’s where it gets extremely interesting: Bill is willing to coach YOU on how to succeed in business.

After all, what can you learn from someone whose daddy died and left him a billion? But it’s totally different with Bill Bartmann: He worked in a slaughterhouse. He was an alcoholic at age 17. And at one point Bill was paralyzed from the waist down. Yet Bill discovered a DIFFERENT way of thinking and acting that enabled him to overcome all of that, and become a self-made billionaire.

After scaling the highest peaks in the business world and getting his fill of toys like $25 million aircraft, what’s Bill up to now? He has one current passion: Showing others his special techniques for overcoming any challenge and being as successful as they want to be.

Do you think Bill might know a few things YOU could use to overcome your own challenges? What if you could get his thoughts on dozens of business topics?

Now you can. Bill is launching a one-of-a-kind online service, called his “Billionaire Business System”. This is not some one-size-fits-all deal. Instead, Bill has built a mentoring tool that provides you with laser-targeted advice on many individual topics.

Are you already running a business but not sure what’s the best way to secure financing for your next stage of growth? Bill covers that topic. Not even sure if business is right for you? Bill has a video session just about that.

In fact, the Billionaire Business System currently has almost two dozen topics, and is constantly growing.

I strongly recommend that you take a look at Bill’s system and see for yourself how it can remove whatever roadblocks are in your way to greater business success. You can find it by going to:

http://budurl.com/dhem

Name me anywhere else on the planet that you can get specific, useful, and comprehensive business-building advice from a self-made billionaire? That’s OK, I can’t think of any, either.

The sooner you have Bill Bartmann in your corner, advising you on business success, the sooner you can sit back and bask in your own dreams coming true.

To Your Success,

Ian Howard

P.S. The chances are really good that whatever challenges you have, Bill’s been there, and found a way to overcome them. Let Bill show you how, by taking the easy step of going to

http://budurl.com/dhem

Are you a business owner who has spent years trying to work out the secret of business? Perhaps you’ve attended seminars, read books and magazines or listened to CDs on the subject of business systems and improvement. Afterward you return to your business and get swamped by the never ending stream of events that throw up pressures and challenges every day and never actually get to implement the ideas you saw and heard.

What are business systems?

One of the most often repeated words of advice is to ‘systemise’ your business. This is probably the most important project to complete in your business to ensure short and long term success…and it’s simple, yet most business owners avoid it and then miss the secret that systems contain.

Quite simply systemisation starts with documenting how you do what you do. This task may be referred to as completing a systems manual, operations manual or polices and procedures manual. Whatever you call it, the purpose is to capture the collective intelligence or ‘know how’ of everyone in the business. The why, what, when, where, who and how of your business. Your business system!

What are the most important business systems?

The top three critical systems are

1. Your Sales System – This system describes how your business finds prospects, presents, quotes and closes your sales

2. Your deliver or fulfilment system – This details how your product or service is delivered to your customers

3. Customer service systems – This shows how your business stays in contact with your customers over time

An example sales system would look like this…

Step 1. The system starts with an inquiry by a potential customer or by a sales person prospecting

Step 2. Meet with customer and assess their needs

Step 3. Present your product or service solution

Step 4. Create and deliver a proposal with a quote or invoice

Step 5. Follow up the contact and ask for the sale

Step 6. Acceptance by the customer

Step 7. Sale processed

Step 8. Payment received, system ends

Very simplistic and generic, but this is the start. This example system is one of probably 10-20 that exist in your business. Others include

• Advertising and marketing systems
• Accounts payable, receivable and payroll systems
• Recruiting, hiring, inducting, training and performance systems
• Customer service systems
• Production, warehousing, inventory and logistics systems
• Safety and quality systems
• Administration, reception and record keeping systems

How do you start systemising?

To get the ball rolling, start a document in Word for your sales system and write down the simple steps that show how your company does this. Now expand on each of the steps with a paragraph or two of the critical elements involved so that it starts to become individual to your company. Write it as you would say it as if you had just hired a new sales person.

For each step identify in bullet points the instructional documents that may be needed for extra detail; i.e. “How to arrange a meeting with a customer” would be a instructional document that may be required in order to train new employees.

After that write the instructions in detail, once completed you may have 5-20 pages which explain all of the actions required and the rules and guidelines which govern the decisions made along the way. Typically when one system ends another starts, in the case of sales the next system is your product/service delivery or fulfilment system.

How to measure the effectiveness of your systems?

When a system is working you’ll know it! No customer complaints, no late delivery, no staff complaining about things or each other…just harmony and productivity in action and all targets being met.

To test your systems try

· Asking two different staff members to explain a system and compare those against your own interpretation

· Interview your customers to determine their satisfaction

· Ask your customers to explain their experience with your business, good & bad!

At each step in any system you will be able to analyse the effectiveness by looking at the inputs and outputs of a step and measuring the result. In many cases you will have to determine what your goals are for certain steps first in order to determine if the system is delivering upon those targets.

In the sales system for instance, how many new customer proposals end up as sales. If you have set a standard or goal already you will be able to consistently measure the result and determine if the system requires changing.

Developing your systems?

Once you have a library of documented systems you will be able to focus your attention on any particular area so as to review and update it to ensure that the system delivers upon you goals.

So now you’re well on the way to being a market leader in your industry through the implementation of systems. It’s time to reap the personal benefits on offer that are inextricably linked to business benefits. Once you have documented the systems that you are personally managing and involved with it is possible to remove yourself from each responsibility methodically and meticulously without creating a chaos in your business.

Once you are spending less time doing the actual work of the business you are free to do the most important work of all. Commonly referred to as working on it, not in it! Which leaves you time to focus on things like: business purpose and cultural development; strategy development and planning; market identification, measurement and product development; development of your team and its collective skills; innovation and improvement; financial planning and investment.

Why develop systems?

Consider that a systemised business with an up to date operations manual will experience…

• Higher productivity through staff not carrying out tasks incorrectly or needing to continually ask for confirmation or clarity
• Greater customer satisfaction and confidence resulting in higher average sale process and increased repeat business
• Better accountability of staff through easier measurement of their performance against the systems
• Ease of movement of staff in, out and around the business
• Less reliance upon key individuals, most of all the owner, as a result of systems being in place and available for training and up-skilling others
• Greater control over the flow of information throughout the business leading to less double handling resulting in a reduction of errors

Beware of the traps of systemisation

The literal task of writing documents, creating folders, files, forms and checklists, manuals and all others contents of a system. You may find yourself quickly developing another problem of just how to organise and deliver the contents in a logical way to the people who will benefit most, your staff. There are many tools available to assist you to control the development of your systems manual, such as software applications. This can and will be a low cost undertaking provided you research the tools and plan the project effectively.

Making a plan of just how this whole project will look at the start is critical. Research the available tools and expertise required to evaluate your intended method before jumping in too far.

As a reader you are invited to evaluate TKO (Turn-Key-Operation) business modeller software. This tool is specifically designed for businesses of all sizes and industries to create, edit, review and publish your complete business system. TKO will easily and effectively enable you to create a manual with policies and procedures, job descriptions, organisational charts, to do lists and training systems. It also has the ability to output manuals for the entire business, single department or an individual in several formats including HTML web manual, PDF or printed.

All the best with your system development and may your business deliver you the life you deserve.