Marketing (Are you doing enough to stay in the game?)

Have you or your staff ever complained that there is no business out there?  Complained that the political landscape is not conducive for new business, the economy can’t support new clients, potential customers are difficult and have all but disappeared, and competitors have eroded your market share.  How important is marketing (finding qualified leads) for your business?  Is marketing your business of primary focus or is your company primarily focused on the technical work.  Do you produce high quality products or services, but can’t get the traction to fill your sales pipeline with great prospects?

If you are one of the many companies with the above mentioned symptoms and assuming that your products and services fill customers’ needs, you might want to consider a change in your perspective. If any of the above sounds familiar to you and your business colleagues, you might be interested in reading on.

I have had the pleasure of watching my three sons Jon, Tony & Nick play high and college school sports.  Two focused their energies on football and one was a soccer and track athlete.  Having watched them through their years of development, many of the lessons they learned on the field while actively participating in these sports can be applied to marketing a business.

So with that being said, let’s break it down.

Marketing your business, like team sports, requires:

1. Knowledge of the game or sport rules you’re playing,
2. Leadership abilities to communicate to inspire your team,
3. The ability to apply best practices and techniques to devise winning plays,
4. Learning and developing skills to use on the field of play,
5. Devising a winning game plan or plan of attack.

But that still is not good enough. Like competitive sports, putting your marketing game plan into action is then required at game time.  A game plan designed to score more points than your opponent to win the game.  Then, after the action, the results are measured by a score to determine a winner.  The results, game statistics, the play films are reviewed to ensure strategies and tactics are continually refined to produce an even improved result when playing the next game. 

Are you focused on measuring and replicating successful result (s)?  Do you communicate these results and look to make changes for continued improvement of your business? 

The importance of capturing, organizing and reporting data and information on marketing performance is critical for success.  By developing and refining your business systems that deliver the desired results more often, you too can have a great business and life.  As marketing is an investment, do we strive for the biggest return on our marketing investment as possible?

ThistleSea Business Development, LLC can help you determine and evaluate your current situation and get you back on the field with an action plan to double the effectiveness of your marketing.  It’s just part of the services we offer our clients.   Call us today, (724) 935-1930 for more information on how we help our clients score big. 

By: John D. Laslavic, LPBC

(c) 2010 ThistleSea Business Development, LLC, All Rights Reserved

26 Reasons Business Owners Seek Help

shoulder-pain

When Might You Want To Recommend Or Seek Assistance from A Licensed Professional Business Coach?

Many life events occur that impact business owners, business partners, business investors and business executives.  When should you seek help from an experienced business coach or mentor?  And why would you look for one?

ThistleSea Business Developments’ clients come from many different skills, educational backgrounds, careers, geographic locations and types of businesses.  But are there some things they have in common?  Yes, a few include:

• A strong desire to succeed!
• Knowledge that they might not know everything!
• Some degree of lacking a completely clear vision of the future!
• Experiencing some type of frustration, failure and/or pain!
• A gradual or a sudden change of circumstances in their business or personal life!
• An unending need or desire to learn more and get it right!

So what are some of the types of circumstances you might recognize in others or in your own business that could encourage you to recommend a business coach to another or seek assistance yourself?

Below are some reasons that we see at ThistleSea Business Development that might help you:

1. Business is growing too fast for the owner to keep up with the changes needed.
2. Owner losing control.
3. Lack of business sales growth.
4. Desire to sell and/or realizing the business has little value.
5. Disputes within the business.
6. Son(s) or daughter(s) taking over the reins of the business.
7. Family issues in the business.
8. Junior partner takes over the business,
9. Business begins to fail after 16, 32 or more years of a successful business.
10. Owner ends up in the emergency room because of the business pressures.
11. Not enough income to earn a profit.
12. Bank loan requirements that suggest a higher success rate when owners hire a licensed professional business coach.
13. Owner cannot find employees who care.
14. Owner 2 years in business and the business not working.
15. A monumental mistake that puts their business at extreme risk.
16. Owner failed in one business and not wanting to fail again.
17. Looking for a new location to establish or re-establish the business.
18. Retirement of a senior owner or partner.
19. Co-owner not fulfilling their responsibilities.
20. Theft of business assets by a co-owner or employee.
21. Owner continues to self-sabotage.
22. Competition from other businesses or individuals.
23. Franchise model broken because of owner’s success.
24. Added additional locations and owner(s) are out of control.
25. Death of the owner or key employee.
26. Loss of key customer(s) severely impacting revenue / cash flow.

If you are experiencing any of these situations in your business or others, be encouraged that there is help and these situations have answers and can be resolved for business improvement.

Our staff and allies at ThistleSea Business Development can help you identify the best way to start, resolve these issues and help you gain clarity and take action.  We encourage contacting us at 724.935.1930 for a free initial consultation.

By John D. Laslavic, LPBC, President

© 2010 All Rights Reserved, ThistleSea Business Development, LLC

Selling Your Business

Exit Planning – Cost of Doing Nothing!

By:  Tony McDaniel, CPA, CBI, BSN is the president of Allied Business Consultants

Most businesses simply do not sell.  And for those business owners who successfully sell their company, to either an external third party buyer or internally to family members or key employees, most do so without proper exit planning.   Under either exit scenario, the cost to the owner is often significant when compared to the benefits of implementing a successful exit strategy.

Without an exit strategy, the owner typically sells for too little…..by as much as 30% to 40% according to some industry statistics.   Additionally, when selling the business internally to family members or key employees, the cash component to the owner at closing is substantially lower than when selling to a third party buyer.

Real costs to business owners who do not properly plan for the exit of their business include the following:

• Sale Price is often lower…..by as much as 30% to 40%
• Cash at closing to the owner is often substantially less
• Likelihood of actually selling is significantly reduced.  Industry statistics show that only 10% to 30% of businesses on the market at any point in time actually sell.
• Pay more in income and estate taxes
• Owner does not control the exit process….the buyer does
• Personal and financial goals are not achieved
• Becomes a burden to the family if the owner dies
• Privacy and confidentiality can be difficult to maintain

The key to avoid or minimize the above costs is to be pro-active.  Do not be a statistic.  It is estimated that up to 70% of all privately held companies will transfer ownership over the next 5 – 10 years.  If you are a business owner, then your business will probably fall into this statistic.  If so, now is the time to take action!

Our business enhancement services are a key component to successful exit plans.  Our experts are skilled in providing guidance on increasing your annual revenues and minimizing your annual expenses.  The end result is an improved annual bottom line profit by as much as 100% - 200% and in turn, a substantially higher sale price for your company.

As a business owner, not only will you benefit, but your family will also benefit from your pro-active actions.  You will also greatly diminish the likelihood of being a statistic of forfeiting substantial money when you exit your business.  Please call us today to discuss your unique and individual objectives.

About the author: Tony McDaniel, CPA, CBI, BSN is the president of Allied Business Consultants serving Pittsburgh and surrounding areas.   Tony is a Business Sales Expert focusing on assisting owners of small to medium sized privately owned companies exit their business.   In addition to his 18 years of mergers and acquisitions experience, Tony previously practiced public accounting for 10 years, including prior employment with Ernst & Whinney, a Big 8 public accounting firm.  Tony can be reached at 412-377-0500 or tmcdaniel@ABCbizsales.com.   All discussions are kept strictly confidential.

(c) 2010 all rights reserved; ThistleSea Business Development, LLC

Another ThistleSea Client Success Story: RoPro Design, Inc.

Business success is typically measured in terms we understand, "PROFIT" and sometimes it's measured in new terms, that of RACING!RAY RUSSELL, President, RoPro Design, Inc.

I met Mr. Ray Russell, President of RoPro Design, Inc. for the first time in October 2007. At the time Ray shared with me his love of engineering, designing robots, building robots and competitive bicycle racing. As a matter of fact, his love and passion for bike racing was the reason why he started his own firm in the first place. He could train during the day and work in the evening. This was a perfect combination to keep his competitive spirit alive and him in the physical shape to race at the top level in his age class.

However, Ray also shared with me that when he hired his first employee, things began to change. Why? Because he had to work the same hours as his employees! And, as the business grew and became more successful, more employees were hired, more work was added and his reason for starting the firm, his dream and what he personally wanted to achieve by starting the firm, to train and race, that dream began to die.

Below are some excerpts of a letter Ray wrote to me in October 2007:

"We (RoPro Design) are basically a design / fabrication company that specializes in robotic prototypes (for major universities) and other local robotic start-up firms.

I would like to talk about is my own role within RoPro. I have a clear understanding of both my strengths and weaknesses and know that I need specific help with my weaknesses in order to grow. In short, I'm an engineer - I like being an engineer - I'm good at being an engineer. I really enjoy a good engineering challenge. I enjoy meeting with customers - traveling to their locations and helping them bring to life whatever robotic creation they have in mind. So the engineering, design and customer interaction side of the business is solid.

I've been told, (by others), that the answer is to relinquish my engineering duties and hire an engineer. This would free me up to be the CEO I should be.

Unfortunately all the things I really like about the business are on the engineering side - and all the things I really detest about the business are on the management side. I know most business owners ultimately do this but in my particular situation I don't see that as being an option.

The areas where I struggle are the day-to-day non-engineering aspects of running the business. I have hired a new bookkeeper who already has taken a large burden from me but I'm still stuck with reviewing contracts, writing proposals, managing the daily task list of others, and answering the cell phone which rings non-stop.

The obvious course then seems to be to hire a CEO and get on with it. I'm all for this except for the fact that a CEO would be an immediate huge expensive overhead hit to the company. We simply aren't big enough yet to handle that sort of indirect cost. Which puts us in a chicken-egg sort of thing. Can't grow w/o a CEO - aren't big enough to afford a CEO. We make a good living - the bills get paid - but ultimately nothing changes. I think that needs to change or we are going to stagnate and die."

RoPro Design began working with ThistleSea Business Development in late 2007 and remains an exceptional client today. With our help, Ray designed a strategic business action plan and has consistently worked on his action plan. By applying best business practices, Ray has not only continued to achieve success at RoPro Design, Inc. but also on the RACING CIRCUIT.

This month Ray wrote me the following on July 13th: "John, since our company measures its success in bike racing terms rather than profit/loss - we had a very successful weekend."

I rode in the Tour of the Valley stage race in Ohio. 4 races over 4 days. I was in 3rd place in the overall points going into the road race on Saturday. Won the race and took over the yellow jersey. Went to Youngstown, OH yesterday morning and raced the final criterium. In the sprint for the finish, a rider went down in the front of me. I managed to miss him but ended up 7th across the line. When they announced the final results, I had won the overall championship by 1 slim point. $225 into the racing account. Sweet.... Also got to kiss the pretty trophy girl...also sweet."

While Ray, after the kiss, works to restore his relationship with his wife! (Actually, his wife took the picture). His success in both RACING and his business is a testament to the power of coaching in sports as well as business. He loves his firm, his profession, his business and RACING. Oh, don't forget his wife.

That's true success and what ThistleSea's Business Coaching is all about; the Abundance in the life of the business owner.

By:  John D. Laslavic LPBC, Predisent, ThistleSea Business Development, LLC

Learn more about RoPro Design, Inc. at www.roprodesign.com. © 2009, ThistleSea Business Development, All Rights Reserved