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Geoffrey Moore, in his book Living on the Fault Line, discussed the “Core versus Context Model” for businesses. Core activities are things which set you apart from your competition and context is everything else. For many businesses, this may include administrative activities, marketing activities, and the like. As we discussed his model, we realized that this works in our personal lives as well. You want to do more of the things you’re really good at and less of everything else. Usually, we really like to do what we’re good at so by focusing on just those tasks, we can advance in our careers. Like for us, our strength is working on content for Bigg Success. At least we’d like to think so or more importantly, we hope you think so! For us, the contextual activities would be everything else. So for a couple of examples, we outsource our house cleaning and the yard work. Instead of spending time on these things, we can work on our business. You’re getting a glimpse into how integrated our personal and professional lives are. Since we often work from home, all of these decisions are floating around together. We don’t think we’re alone on this – a lot of people are finding it pays to integrate their work life and their professional life. By outsourcing your contextual activities, you save time and you open up the opportunity to make more money. It comes back to the time vs. money conundrum If you don’t have money, you have to invest more time. . For example, if you start a business that is well-capitalized, you will be able to spend your time differently than if you start on a shoestring. With limited capital, you may have to take care of the janitorial work – a lot of business owners have done that. I’ve done that! . At first, you may have to do it yourself because there’s no money. But you want to contract it out as soon as you can because it’s definitely a contextual activity, unless you happen to be the owner of a janitorial service. Thinking about core vs. context helps you focus on where you want to spend your time and where you want to spend your money. You think twice about spending money because there’s something else that will let you spend more time on your core. You may find that you spend your money on things that save you time, rather than cost you time. . I want a bigg screen TV, but we would rather spend that money on a web person. Right now, I handle our web site. So when there are changes that need to be made, I get to work. But there are better uses of my time. . Because we know that’s not in our core. Bigg Success is still in its early stages, so as soon as we can we’ll outsource this activity. Another example is publicity – right now, we do it ourselves. We want to contract with someone who is better at it than we are and can accomplish more than we can on our own. So although we don’t have HDTV, we do have goals for that money! It boils down to thinking about how much your time is worth. You may find that by contracting out certain activities, it costs you less than what you can make by spending your time working in your core. Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. Subscribe to the Bigg Success Related posts Your Personal SWOT Analysis (Part I) Your Personal SWOT Analysis (Part II) (Image by penywise) ShareThis

One thing people often don t think about when going into business with a friend is the relationship itself. You re going into business as friends. You want to remain friends. Business is full of surprises. Discuss the possible surprises upfront, before you mix friendship and business, so you can keep your relationship strong while you re in business. You may think your friendship is really strong and you re probably right. But when you go into business together, your friendship will be tested more than it ever has been before. It s wise to prepare for it beforehand, so you already have a lot of the answers when you re in the middle of a tough situation. Look at it this way a business partnership is like a marriage. You need a pre-nuptial agreement! So find a good attorney to draw up an agreement for you. 8 What if scenarios to discuss with your attorney #1 What if the business fails? According to statistics, if the business fails, it s most likely that no one will be owed any money. But what if that s not the case what if the business does owe money? How will you resolve that? #2 What if it succeeds wildly? That may not sound like a problem, but you d be surprised. Sometimes when a business succeeds at this level, greed enters in. Then comes the power struggles. Discuss the dream scenario upfront to avoid a nightmare. #3 What if one of you is incapacitated? What if one partner is no longer able to do his or her part? How will the others handle this? Will this person get bought out? Is there formula for the price? There s a lot to think about if this unfortunate situation happens. #4 What if one of you dies? Obviously this is even more extreme than the last scenario. There s the human side your friend has passed and you re grieving. But you also have business to attend to; work still needs to get done. Many of the same questions from Scenario #3 apply here. But there s more. For example, does the deceased partner s family now have an ownership stake? Or do you buy them out? #5 What happens when one of you gets married? Or you may already be married. What say does the spouse have in the business? Can the partner s interest be jointly owned with a spouse or do you want to restrict ownership to your original group? #6 What if one of you gets divorced? The business interest may be a significant asset. You probably don t want a former spouse having a say in your business even as a minority stakeholder. It can really muddy the waters, as the saying goes. What restrictions will you place on ownership? #7 What if one of you wants out? How will you determine a price? What kind of notice will you require? What is the process? #8 What if one of isn t pulling his or her weight? How will you determine that this is case? What can, and will, you do about it? These aren t pleasant things to think about, let alone talk about. However, you re more likely to find good solutions now when you re thinking logically than to try to work them out in the heat of the moment. We can t stress this enough get a good business attorney. Then sit down with your partners and your attorney and work through these issues. Your attorney will probably have even more situations to discuss. Work through these issues before you start for the sake of your friendship and your business. Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. Subscribe to the Bigg Success Related posts 5 Questions to Ask Before You Work with Your Spouse Success is Teamwork! (Image by ushakov) ShareThis

When you own your own business, you have your highs and you have your lows. And it seems like you rarely have any in-betweens. George said I never talked about this for years. I thought it was just me. Then I got up the nerve and mentioned it to my sister, who also owns businesses. She said she knew exactly what I was talking about! So that encouraged me to ask other business owners about it. So far, every single person I ve ever talked to about this knows exactly what it means. You can see it on their face as soon as you bring it up. But it s something I think a lot of entrepreneurs don t talk about. Mary-Lynn added With Bigg Success, I m experiencing business ownership for the first time. And I feel like I m on a roller coaster. There are days where I feel exhilaration from the ride and there are days when I feel sheer terror and want to get off the ride. Entrepreneurial terror If you ve never experienced it, count yourself lucky, but most people in business have. You can feel terrified at times even with a job. You may fear you re going to lose yours when you see other people s jobs getting cut. But it s still different for business owners. George I remember one of the guest speakers for my class who talked about the number of mouths he had to feed now. A lot of the most successful business owners I know take personal responsibility for their people. They don t look at just putting bread on their table; they worry about their employees as well. That can keep you up at night! Inc. published an article (way back in February 1987) called Entrepreneurial Terror. A portion of it has been republished on Wachovia s Small Business site. It was written by Wilson Harrell, a serial entrepreneur and author of For Entrepreneurs Only. He said: the ability to handle terror, and to live with it, is the single most important and, yes, necessary ingredient of entrepreneurial success. This company doesn t love misery He says that you shouldn t share your lows with your friends and loved ones, because you ll just pass the worry on to them. Unless they re your partner in business. He adds that you should always share your highs, though. How highs turn to lows The way you spend your time and money when you re on a high often has a lot to do with how low you go. Let s look at two examples: Too busy for marketing When you re so busy, you may even be running at capacity, and you know your business couldn t crank out any more volume no matter how much you wanted to. So you slow down or even stop your marketing efforts. George I ve done this! It s easy to do there s no time! But that insures the next down cycle because you re not doing those things that you did to get to the up cycle. Being careless with money A lot of times cash flow is at its peak during an up cycle. That s part of the reason you re on an emotional high. So you make that major expenditure. Or you add to your overhead. The next thing you know you re on a low because business and cash flow have slowed down and you have little or no cash reserves. You may not be able to avoid the highs and lows. What you can do is conduct business so that your lows are higher and your highs are higher! It may not feel any different, but you know it is. You re reaching ever higher levels of success! Now that s bigg success! Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Related posts Don't Make This Costly Mistake Are You Fishing for Customers in the Wrong Hole? If You Want to Increase Your Profit, Don’t Put Your Customers First There’s Gold In Them There ... Customers! 5 Places to Find Cash for Your Business Today (Image by LilGoldWmn) ShareThis

Bigg Challenge Max is a business owner. He hired a salesman about a year ago. Max put him on the same compensation plan that his other sales people were on (a small base salary with an incentive). The guy has done a phenomenal job. Max s company is showing record sales and profits, largely due to this sales person. But here s the problem: this salesman is now making more money than Max. Max wants to know if he should adjust his salesperson s compensation. Bigg Advice What should you do about this, Max? Here s what we think Nothing! Here s why Is it costing too much? It is possible to over-compensate your people. You can t design a system where a small number of top performers win bigg while the company loses money. But that s not the case here. You re also making more money, Max. So if it ain t broke, don t fix it! Handle with care We ve heard of great sales people who were let go when a situation like this occurred. It does happen. But remember the nursery rhyme about the goose that laid the golden egg? This sales person is the goose. Handle him with care. Like the old Proverb says, Kill not the goose that lays the golden eggs. Your bigg payoff Don t miss the bigg picture. The bigg payoff for owning a business often isn t what you make each year. It s what you make when you sell it. You re building an asset whose value is based on the income of the business, sometimes called owner s cash flow. As your bottom line increases, so does the value of your asset. That s your bigg payoff. How you can get paid more You re making record sales and profits so you can probably afford to add another salesperson. Before you do, look at your infrastructure and capacity to make sure you can support an additional salesperson. If you can, then go for it! There s a good chance, if you do that, you ll be the highest paid employee of the company again! Model this employee We would suggest cloning, but okay we won t go there! So try to find someone with traits and characteristics similar to this salesperson. To do that, think about what you know about him. What industry did he come from, if he came from outside your industry? What experience did he have? What education? Are there any other clues you can get from his background? If you did a personality assessment as part of your hiring process, what did his look like? And ask your sales person if he knows anybody who might work out well. Bigg goal-getters know bigg goal-getters. Thanks Max for sending us your bigg challenge. We wish you bigg success! Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Related posts If You Want to Increase Your Profit, Don’t Put Your Customers First Are You Choking Your Chicken? Sam Walton’s Rules for Building a Business (Image by forwardcom) ShareThis

Today on The Bigg Success Show, we welcomed Denise Griffitts. Denise is the founder and CEO of Your Virtual Assistant, a company that provides highly trained administrative professionals for support, technical and creative services for small businesses, start-up businesses, individuals, and online entrepreneurs. Virtual assistants are in bigg demand Denise talked about the growing demand for virtual assistants, who work for you from their home. They work within your processes and system. If you don t have processes set up, they ll even help you do that. A virtual assistant can help you with just about anything that doesn t require them to be on site. Denise s niche is serving online entrepreneurs. She lets you take care of the front end of the business by partnering with you and handling the back end. A virtual assistant takes away all the minutiae from your day. Denise Griffitts Don t be afraid to ask questions. Think about what you really need help doing. What s causing your time seepage? By thinking about the minutiae that s sapping your creativity and letting a virtual assistant take care of it, you ll feel a sense of freedom and be able to move forward more quickly. How affordable is a virtual assistant? A virtual assistant is a contract employee. You don t have to pay their taxes and Social Security. You also don t have to pay for their office space or equipment. Denise has a Rate Calculator on her blog. It allows you to calculate the difference between hiring someone in your office and hiring a virtual assistant. Denise says the savings are considerable. Could you benefit from a virtual assistant? Denise talked about her biggest client, who had a project she needed done within three weeks. This client had a concept and an announced date for completion. That was it! In three weeks, Denise and her team helped her client produce a product. They created a CD, did the art for the CD, created audio, print work and art work. It was in her customer s hands by the deadline! As Denise says, Most everybody these days could use a virtual assistant. Would you like to be a virtual assistant? Denise is looking for people all of the time. If you have online experience and would like to earn some extra money, send Denise your resume to resumes@virtualassistantindustry.com. Denise will review your resume. If that looks good, she ll interview you. After that, she ll assign you a project. If you perform well on that project, then she brings you on as a full virtual assistant. So if you want to hire a virtual assistant or be a virtual assistant, check out Your Virtual Assistant! Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Related Posts Outsource Your Household Chores to Balance Your Life 5 Ways to Determine if a Work-at-Home Opportunity is Legitimate Leaping From Place To Place: See The World While You Work Find Your Fortune Through Promiscuity (Image from VirtualAssistantIndustry.com) ShareThis

Bigg Challenge Rick has been a manager now for about six months. He has an employee who is under-performing. Rick thinks he may need to fire this employee, but he s never done that before. He says he would welcome any suggestions we can provide. Bigg Advice Do you remember the Cheers episode where Norm Peterson became the executive s executioner his job was to fire people. So he took them out for drinks and, by the time it was done, the employee who was being fired felt sorry for Norm. Because as Norm once said, It s a dog eat dog world and I m wearing Milk Bone underwear. So there s one option, but not one that we necessarily recommend for the real world! Company procedures Look to your company s policy manual for guidance on how to proceed. Also, discuss this with your boss so you fully understand company protocol and precedents. No surprises Except for the most egregious situations, you ve done something wrong if it s a surprise. To make sure they re not surprised, you should follow a process. For example, issue a series of warnings with repercussions for not correcting the performance deficiencies Round and round we go Sit down with your employee and explain the problem. Discuss what needs to be done to correct it, tell him or her when you ll review performance again, and outline the consequences if it s not corrected (e.g. a 3-day suspension without pay). At the scheduled time, repeat this process. This time the ramifications have to be greater. (e.g. termination of employment). So if you reach this review and the situation hasn t improved significantly, the result should be obvious to your employee. You re giving them a chance to improve their performance and also covering your liability because you ll document this entire process and have them sign off each step of the way. An example George said that in his early days in business, he was managing his field staff. They worked without direct supervision because they performed work at the customer s home or office. George had hired a young man who just couldn t work without ongoing oversight. George went through the rounds outlined above with little improvement. Finally, he let the employee go. He recommended that this young man get a job in a place where someone could watch over him. He encouraged the young man come back and reapply for employment once he got used to working in a supervised environment. That never happened because the young man found that he liked working with supervision better. Firing someone doesn t have to be negative. Offer any help you can provide. Make suggestions. And realize that sometimes it s just not a good fit it doesn t mean they re a bad person, or that they couldn t be helpful to any employer. It just means it s not working out for both of you here. Thanks, Rick, for sharing your bigg challenge. We re sure you ll handle it just fine. Do you have a bigg challenge? Tell us so we can help. Type it in the box and hit submit to send it to us. Your Name(required) Your Email(required) cforms contact form by delicious:daysRelated posts The One Minute Manager and Corporate Layoffs How to Offer Criticism Without Being Critical (Image by w00kie, CC 2.0) ShareThis

On the show, George shared a story from when he was a young man. So, obviously, this is an old story! He met a gentleman who was very successful in business and real estate investing. But you wouldn t have known he had a dime to his name. George said he can still picture this man sitting at the table in his coveralls with his cap. He was a great guy who said something George never forgot. This man said, I don t know how to spell millionaire, but I is one. How did he become a millionaire? He bought something! Not a new wardrobe. Or a bigger house, a new car, a second house, or a boat. He bought an income-producing asset. He bought a duplex. What he bought is important He put down a small amount of money and found a bank that helped him finance the rest of it. He improved the property by doing minor things like painting, putting down new carpet, and some basic landscaping. So now he had a property that looked much better. So tenants were willing to pay more to live there. So he increased the rent. Then he went back to the bank because he was making more money. They gladly refinanced his loan, because the income from the property would support it. What he did next is even more important He took this money from the bank and bought another investment property. A slightly bigger one. Which he then improved. He kept doing this over and over again until he became a millionaire. Eventually he owned a whole bunch of things. What you don t need to become a millionaire You don t have to be that smart to become a millionaire; just be sensible. It also doesn t take that much money to get started. You don t have to be a super savvy business person. And you don t have to have a fancy education, although education is a good investment. And you don t have to wear flashy clothes! 4 tips that can lead you to a million dollars #1 Start small. Don t bite off more than you can chew. Assume you ll lose everything, so don t invest more than you can afford to lose. #2 Know your strengths and weaknesses. Get help. If you re handy, find someone who is financially savvy. If you re financially savvy, find someone who s handy. If you have time but no money, find a partner with money. If you have money but no time, partner with someone who has the time. #3 Make yourself accountable. The CEOs of the biggest companies in the world answer to a Board of Directors. Get someone who will hold you accountable be it a mentor, a coach, or a partner. #4 Logic, not emotion, rules. Don t fall in love with a property. You re not looking for cute; you re looking for cash flow. Don t rent to a tenant because you like him or her; rent to them because of their good credit score. Our bigg quote today is by Brian Koslow: Any self-made millionaire listens for opportunity. The average person listens for what s wrong and why something won t work. Paying attention may just pay you a million! Click on our Comment link below to share your thoughts Click on the Share This button below to Digg, Stumble, Mixx, etc. Next time, we ll offer up nine questions to answer before you make extra mortgage payments. Until then, here s to your bigg success! Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Related posts Get Real Estate How To Become A Millionaire Good Debt vs. Bad Debt cref 489] ShareThis

A lot of us are very uncomfortable talking about money, whether that means negotiating your salary, asking for a sale, or asking for a loan. So the thought of going to the bank to get a loan can be very intimidating. The loan process seems somewhat mysterious. Wouldn t it by nice to know where bankers are coming from? Then you would be better positioned to get the money you need. 3 things to understand about your banker #1 Banks can t afford to lose money. A lot of people don t realize that banks operate on relatively thin profit margins. So, contrary to popular belief, they don t make that much money on every loan. The biggest question every banker has when looking at every loan proposal is Will we get paid back? They re more concerned about the return OF their investment than the return ON their investment. That comes later. #2 Banks don t fund start-ups. This is perhaps one of the biggest misperceptions in the business world. People think the bank is the best place to go for money they need to start a business. To which we say, reread our first point! Bankers are relatively risk averse for the reasons stated above and more. So banks don t tend to lend money to new, unproven firms. You might be saying, But I know people who got money to start their business from a bank. Here s the distinction the bank wasn t loaning money to their BUSINESS; they loaned them money as individuals FOR their business. If you look deeper, you ll find that, in almost every case, they secured the loan with equity in their house or some other asset. #3 Banks need to lend money. That s their business. So if you need money, and you can prove that you can pay it back, and you have some assets to secure the loan, go to the bank with confidence! Your bank is just like your favorite video store. Video stores rent DVDs for a fee. Banks rent money for a fee. So going to the bank is just like renting a movie. You have to return the movie and pay a fee. And hey, unlike video stores, bankers don t charge their fees upfront! Click on our Comment link below to share your thoughts on today s post Click on the Share This button below to Digg, Stumble, Mixx more Our bigg quote today is by the great Stephen Covey: Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Understand your banker s needs so you stand to get your money needs. Next time, we ll discuss how to offer criticism without being critical. Until then, here s to your bigg success! Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Related posts How To Become A Millionaire Good Debt vs. Bad Debt How To Get Your Customers To Finance Your Business 5 Places to Find Cash for Your Business Today I Have An Idea For A Business! Now What? Lessons Learned From A Bankrupt Business Owner (Image by svilen001) ShareThis

Bigg Challenge Kendra started a business six months ago. It s exciting, but also extremely successful. At times, she really misses the regular salary her old job provided. Lately, she s even been looking at job openings and she s seen some great opportunities. Sometimes, she really regrets that she gave up her corporate job. Her question for us: Is she just not cut out for owning her own business? Bigg Advice Ultimately, Kendra, only you can decide if you re cut out for it. However, we ll offer some guidance on getting through this. Stop tormenting yourself with the job openings. If you reach the point, where you re truly giving up on your business, THEN and only then should you start looking for a job. Some people might say that it s a good thing for you to keep her options open. They re wrong! Once you make a decision like this, you can t constantly look at what might have happened if you did something else or what could happen if you completely change direction. You have to commit to what you started out to do. If you don t, you WILL fail. Develop your own internal process to stop the second-guessing. This is closely related to the point above, but it is such an essential skill for entrepreneurs that we thought it needed to be separated. As a business owner, there will be days when you re on the top of the mountain and there will be days when you re stuck in the valley. And there are few days in between! When you re stuck in the valley, your internal voice is one of the things that will help you get back to the top of the mountain. However, understand that as a business owner, you ll be back in the valley again before long. It s just part of the process. That s why it s so important to develop an inner voice that encourages you, rather than creating more doubt. Develop a support network. Friends are great, but you need to regularly converse with fellow business owners. Anyone and everyone who owns their own business will completely understand what you re going through. They ll give you that boost when you need it. And that includes us! Thanks, Kendra. We wish you bigg success! Keep yourself fired up by tuning into The Bigg Success Show! Get a lesson and a laugh in five minutes or so! Our bigg quote today is a good one, but isn t attributed to anyone. Any belief worth having must survive doubt. If you stick to your beliefs, there s little doubt that you ll win. Next time, we ask, Who s in control you or your Blackberry? Until then, here s to your bigg success! Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. Related posts The Secret to Survive and Thrive in Your Own Business How Do You Learn To Be An Entrepreneur? (Image by adamci) ShareThis

You re probably familiar with the old saying, Sell the sizzle, not the steak. And a related one, Features tell, benefits sell. Features, of course, are the characteristics of whatever it is you re trying to sell. Benefits answer your customer s biggest question, What s in it for me? If you want to make more money, it s important to clearly understand the difference between features and benefits. When you re selling anything your product or service, yourself for a job, a loan, or even to get a date this weekend focus on emotions, not intellect. Because people buy emotionally, and then justify rationally. People buy for two reasons to stop the pain or to get the gain. So paint a clear picture in your prospect s mind of how wonderful things will be after they buy what you re offering. To do that, you have to clearly understand the benefits of what you re selling. And that s not as easy as it sounds! We usually make two mistakes: Mistake #1: Spending too much time on features and too little on benefits. We know our product inside and out. The problem is we often don t fully understand the difference between a feature and a benefit. We often think of features as benefits. But they re not. We need to translate those features into benefits how they help the customer. Mistake #2 Stopping before the real benefit. Fortunately, there s a simple question that helps you get to the real benefit of your offering. That question is And that means? On the show, George and Mary-Lynn illustrated this by pretending to work for an insulation contractor. George played the part of the sales person and Mary-Lynn was his manager. Isn t that an exciting service to sell? See if you re more excited after the discussion! Mary-Lynn: Alright, let me hear your pitch. George: Inadequate insulation is a leading cost of energy waste in many homes. Mary-Lynn: And that means? George: Your furnace and air conditioner will run more. Mary-Lynn: And that means? George: You may be spending too much on your utility bill. Mary-Lynn: And that means? George: You could save money by adequately insulating your home! Mary-Lynn: And that means? George: You would have more money to do what you want! Mary-Lynn: And that means? George: If you insulate your home, you ll pay for their next vacation! Mary-Lynn: Bingo! Now that s the real benefit! Are you more excited about insulation now? Most people are! Even a product that seemingly has little sex appeal can be quite appealing! So keep asking and that means until you get to the real benefit. The benefit for you is your sales will grow and that means you ll live the bigg life! Click on our Comment link below to share your thoughts Click on the Share This button below to Digg, Stumble, Mixx, etc. Our bigg quote today comes from Dale Carnegie, who said: There is only one way to get anybody to do anything. And that is by making the other person want to do it. And that means find the one thing that they really want that you can offer, and then show them how to get it. Next time, we ask, Are you smart enough to say it simply? Until then, here s to your bigg success! Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. Related posts Believe in What You Sell to Succeed in Sales Frank Bettger’s Thirteen Secrets To Success In Sales ShareThis

Some professors at Harvard developed a concept over ten years ago called The Service Profit Chain. This concept is designed to increase your profits year after year. The Service Profit Chain Employee satisfaction leads to customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers lead to revenue growth. Revenue growth leads to profit growth. Reinvest a portion of those profits into things that will make your employees even more satisfied, and the chain never breaks. So your profit keeps going up year after year! Employee satisfaction It starts with satisfying your employees. Many business owners focus on satisfying their customers first, but that s putting the cart before the horse! If you don t have satisfied employees, you won t be able to satisfy your customers. Work from the inside out, because your product or service is built around those who create or deliver it. So if you want to increase your profits, find out what will make your employees happy! Happy employees stick around It s expensive to find and train new people. New people cost you money until they get through the learning curve. They cost you money because your established employees have to help train them, so they aren t as productive as they would be if they weren t faced with that burden. They know what they re doing. They know your customers personally their likes and dislikes. They have relationships with your customers, and most people do business with people they like. Your employees are golden! So seek first to satisfy your employees. 3 things satisfied customers do Satisfied customers buy more, they buy more often, and they tell others. Look at those three again isn t that a great way to increase sales? You don t have to spend a boat-load of money chasing new customers. You focus on making your employees happy so they make your customers happy. If you do that, your sales will grow. If you just keep your costs under control, your profits will grow. Reinvest a portion of those profits to find even more ways to satisfy your employees, and your profits will grow year-after-year. Our bigg quote today is a paraphrase of a Walt Disney quote: If I treat my employees the way I want my employees to treat my customers, I ll never have to worry about how my employees treat my customers. Take care of your employees and watch your business turn into a magic kingdom! Click on our Comment link below to share your thoughts Click on the Share This button below to Digg, Stumble, Mixx, etc. Next time, we ll discuss what to do if you made a commitment you no longer feel you can honor. Until then, here s to your bigg success! Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. Related posts 3 Things Every Employee Wants How To Be A Terrible Boss Growth: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Image by duchessa) ShareThis

There s an old saying You can be good, fast, or cheap. Pick any two. So you can be good and fast. You can be good and cheap. Or you can be fast and cheap. So why can t you be all three? Because you can t deliver all three. More specifically, you can t defend all three. It costs money to be good; it costs money to be fast. If you re trying to compete on all three, a competitor can come along who only competes on two. Let s say they re good and cheap. Their cheap is cheaper than your cheap because they re not trying to be fast. So now you re only competitive on two of the factors good and fast. Good, fast, and cheap is really just a way of discussing the three components of value: Quality Service Price 6 strategies to beat your competition Defensive strategies #1 Improve quality, keep price constant If quality increases but price doesn t, you increase the value your customers receive. You focus on trying to make your good better so you gain business. #2 Improve service, hold price constant If you improve your level of service, while keeping your price the same, your customers will perceive it as a better deal. You focus on making fast even faster. This actually applies to anything having to do with customer service, not just speed. #3 Decrease price, keep quality constant If you can decrease your price without sacrificing quality, you ll increase the value to your customers. We all love a good deal, right? #4 Decrease price, maintain service levels If price falls without sacrificing service, your customers will realize they re getting a better deal. More people will buy more! So here s the caveat to these four strategies you have to make a profit to stay in business. These defensive strategies give you a competitive edge, but they all cut into your profit margin. So what you re trying to do with these strategies is increase profit by increasing sales enough to compensate for the lower margin. It s risky! Because if you don t get it right, you ll work harder (because you re selling more) for less money (profit). Compounding strategies #5 Improve quality, increase price If you can improve your quality, but increase your price, you ll hold value constant. Your customers are still happy, because they re getting the same value as before. They re paying more now, but they re getting a better product. #6 Improve service, increase price This is the same as #5, only here you re delivering a higher level of service. These final two are designed to increase your sales and at least maintain your profit margin. Therefore, your profit should go up. Of course, we re assuming that you re able to maintain your customer base, even at the higher price. As you consider these strategies, think across your whole business. You may find it valuable to use different strategies for different products or services. Our bigg quote today is by Michael LeBouf: A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all. Create value for your business by delivering what your customers value. Next time, we ll answer a question from a member of our community about getting started on a project. Until then, here s to your bigg success! Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. Related posts Don't Make This Costly Mistake Do Your Customers Trust You? Growth: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Keep Your Employees Happy And Watch Your Profits Grow! (Image by egahen79) ShareThis

We have a friend who is setting sales records in her business. However, she recently faced a severe cash crunch. She felt overwhelmed and discouraged, to the point of giving up. She was scared. What should she do? We told her to find the low-hanging fruit! When you re faced with a cash crunch, think about all the places, prospects, and possibilities where you could get cash today. Then spend your time on the things most likely to pay off TODAY. 5 things to understand about this strategy #1 Long-term strategy This is not a good long-term strategy in fact, it distracts from it! However, when survival is the issue, who cares? Survive today so you can thrive tomorrow. #2 Perceptions This strategy can create misperceptions with customers, employees, vendors, and investors. For example, customers may expect discounts if you offer them frequently. They ll sit back and wait for the next one. #3 Frequency If it happens occasionally, perhaps seasonally, that may be okay. Even then, you should plan for those occasions in advance. If you re in this position frequently, it s probably a sign of a bigger problem. #4 Financial statements To find the real problem, understand your financial statements. What are the numbers telling you? How can you prevent this from happening again? Is it a short-term problem? Or do you need to make some adjustment for the long-term? #5 Mindset Get over any reluctance to cut special deals. Some people really struggle with this. For example, they find it hard to sell inventory at less than cost. But if it s not selling at its current price, it s not worth its current price! Mark it down so it moves and you get the cash you need! 5 places to find cash today for your business #1 Call people who owe you money. See when they will commit to paying. Consider a discount if your situation is severe enough. #2 Contact customers. Find the customers who are the far along in the sales cycle. Follow up on proposals you ve already made. Once again, if your situation dictates, offer them a discount for signing on the dotted line and paying today. #3 Work your contacts for referrals. Who do they know that might do business with you? Tell them you have a special deal that you want to share with as many people as possible. # 4 Sell assets you don t need any longer. They re costing you money sitting around. This includes inventory as we discussed earlier. Also think about your receivables. If you have customers with good credit, you may be able to sell your receivables to a factoring company. #5 Borrow. This is similar to #4, only here you use your assets as collateral for a loan. You have a short-term problem; get a short-term loan! One final tip don t appear desperate. People do business with successful people. So don t present it as your problem; show them an opportunity. Our bigg quote today is unclaimed, but still good. Money is not the most important thing in the world. Love is. Fortunately, I love money. And absence makes the heart grow fonder! Next time, we ll discuss six factors that will help you succeed when opportunity knocks. Until then, here s to your bigg success! Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. Related posts How To Get Your Customers To Finance Your Business There’s Gold In Them There ... Customers! Don't Make This Costly Mistake Lessons Learned From A Bankrupt Business Owner (Image by AMagill, CC 2.0) ShareThis

Bigg Challenge One of our listeners, David, e-mailed us because he has an idea for a business, but doesn t know what to do next. He wants some direction to get started. Bigg Advice Congratulations, David! You have a good IDEA. Now you need to know if it s a good opportunity. Answer these four questions: #1 Is there a market? Are there enough buyers? Here are a few of the many ways to know: Check with relevant trade associations. Talk to business owners who won t be your competitors. Conduct surveys on the street, via phone, through e-mail. Keep in mind that you ll never know for sure what people SAY they will do isn t necessarily what they WILL do. Some markets are too bigg. Others are too small. You want one that s just right! Bigg markets attract bigg competitors. They re tough to compete against. Small markets may not offer enough opportunity. You ll waste resources for very little upside. #2 Is the market accessible? Can you reach your prospects? The best idea in the world is no good if you can t access your prospects. Here are few examples: Publications they regularly read Internet sites they visit frequently Search terms they use Specialty stores where they shop #3 Who s your competition? Prospective entrepreneurs often think that they won t have any competition. Well, everybody has competition. If you think you don t, think again. A simple example Let s say you want to start a carpet cleaning business. Obviously, you can look online or in the phone book to identify your competitors. But one competitor isn t so obvious. A number of people go to the store, rent the equipment, and do it themselves. They are competitors, too. Another thing to think about is substitutions. Every time one of your potential customers replaces their carpet with hardwood floors or tile, they don t need you! How bigg are your competitors? Ideally, the industry is highly fragmented with a lot of little companies. If it is dominated by one or two major players, you ll need to compete around them. #4 Will it provide a sufficient return? Estimate how much money you can make. Divide that by how much money it will take to start. That s your return. Where to find the numbers Say you want to start a retail store. Here are four ways to get numbers: #1 Publications that gather industry data (available at your local library). #2 Public companies in a similar industry #3 Franchises with a related concept #4 Business owners in non-competing markets Your return has to be enough, given all the other opportunities, to justify the investment. Otherwise, you won t attract the capital you need. Thanks, David for sharing your bigg challenge. We hope this helps you get started! What s your bigg challenge? E-mail us: bigginfo@biggsuccess.com Our bigg quote today is by Tim Blixseth. Many great ideas go unexecuted, and many great executioners are without ideas. One without the other is worthless. You ll discover new worlds if you explore your ideas, map your course, and then set sail! Next time, we ll discuss the most important person at whom you should laugh. Until then, here s to your bigg success! Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Subscribe to The Bigg Success Show in iTunes. Related posts 10 Signs That You Are Ready To Quit Your Job And Start A Business How Do You Learn To Be An Entrepreneur? (Image by alforque,CC 2.0) ShareThis

Many people telecommute they work at home, instead of driving to an office every day. Now a growing number realize that home base can be anywhere in the world with the right technology! Think of them as extreme telecommuters ! On The Bigg Success Show today, we were honored to talk with Carmen Bolanos. She is an executive coach and the founder of NuNomad.com the place for people who live and work remotely. Carmen travels with her family for several months each year, while working her coaching business. She also contributed to the book, Quit Dreaming and Go. Here are some of the highlights from the show: George: Obviously, some occupations work better than others. You re an executive coach. What characteristics of coaching make it ideally suited for working remotely? Carmen: A lot of coaches work by telephone already; that s one of the reasons I got into coaching. The telephone makes us mobile. We meet with our clients by telephone and use the internet between calls. So we can work wherever we want, whenever we want. Mary-Lynn: Have you ever been somewhere where the call wouldn t go through or you couldn t get online? How do you know before you go that your location will support your biz? Carmen: The funny thing is every call I ve lost has been in my home in Austin, Texas. You have to do your homework upfront. Find out what internet access you ll have. What is the phone access? Be prepared before you leave to work with whatever you have available. Mary-Lynn: So on your site, NuNomad.com, is there a place where you can do some research like that? Carmen: Yes, we re developing destination pages. I think we have eight right now for the most visited countries. We talk about internet access, phone company service, mobile phone service, and how to get SIM cards specific for the country you re visiting. George: What are some of the most popular destinations? Carmen: It depends on what you re trying to do. Some of the most popular destinations for travel are the traditional ones France, Italy, and Spain. But if you want to lower your cost of living for the long haul, Asia and South America are good choices. Thailand is very popular. George: In the States, we re facing a recession and higher energy prices, which is putting a damper on travel in general. Has that had any effect on the NuNomad lifestyle? Carmen: As prices go up, people are thinking twice about everything they do, including travel. They re more careful about where they go. You can offset a lot of your costs by choosing a destination where the costs of living are low. Live like a local person, instead of a tourist. If you re a homeowner, look into home trading. If you re not, look into house sitting opportunities. You can also stay in one destination longer as opposed to moving frequently. Mary-Lynn: That s just like home ownership here! So Carmen, how do I get started as a NuNomad? Carmen: The advice is like that for any business owner in any business. First, you have to develop your business to the point of stability. You want to have a stable income, a stable cache of clients, and a good word-of-mouth referral system. After that, look into how you break the chain from your brick-and-mortar office to a mobile office. Move from a desktop to a laptop. Understand the technology available like Skype, and other technology that allows you to back-up and view your computer remotely. The last thing is to start shedding your life of things that might keep you trapped. This includes things like clients who insist on meeting face-to-face, heavy debt, and pets that need a lot of care. We hear there are more tips in the book, so check it out! Our bigg quote today is by William Bolitho, who must have been thinking of his childhood and a little red wagon when he said this, Adventure must start with running away from home. So run away to your home office away from your home office! On our next blog, we ll talk about bridging the generation gap. Until then, here s to your bigg success! Subscribe to the Bigg Success feed. Related posts Stop Trying To Balance Your Life Use Your Strengths To Balance Your Life (Image by Jesse Gardner, CC 2.0) ShareThis

Bigg Challenge Ellen e-mailed us because she and her husband are considering buying a franchise. Currently, she s the #2 executive at a small business she s worked at for years. She has two questions: What franchise should she buy? Will it pay off within ten years, because she plans to retire then? Bigg Advice Obviously, this is a very personal decision, so only you can decide what franchise to buy. We can, however, give you some guidelines. What s your expertise? What are your interests? Where s the opportunity? Match these up when looking for your franchise. How to find your franchise Check out How To Buy A Franchise to learn more about the International Franchise Association. This industry group also provides some fantastic resources for people like you. In the article, you ll see our review of their exhaustive, step-by-step guide to buying a franchise. The only thing we don t like about it is that we didn t write it! They also have a listing of franchises, but in our opinion, it s not as user-friendly as the next great resource. You ve probably heard of the Fortune 500. Entrepreneur publishes a similar list called the Franchise 500 every year. You can look up franchises by category restaurants, business services, and just about any other category you can imagine. They also have lists of the top new franchises, the lowest cost franchises, top home-based franchises, fastest growing franchises, and more. We definitely recommend that you check it out. Making it pay Buying a franchise, as with any business, comes with uncertainty. You have to take chances to succeed. However, you can and should reduce your risk to a level you can tolerate. You ve heard us say this before successful entrepreneurs are very adept at that. Use the resources we mentioned above. Do your homework. Build your projections, but remember they are just SWAG. SWAG, in this sense, has nothing to do with the Oscar presenters! It is an acronym for scientific, wild-assed guesses! So make sure you build some fudge into your guesstimates. Is there another option? You ve painted an either / or picture you either keep your job or you buy a franchise. We wonder if there are other alternatives. You mentioned your husband, but we don t really know what his situation is. Could he run the business? You could also hire someone to run the franchise for you. Find a way to align their interest with yours. This could range from sharing profits to an actual ownership stake. Obviously, if you choose this last option, you ll have to accept a lower upside. However, your downside is a lot less, too. If either of these works, you can keep your job AND buy a franchise! Thanks, Ellen for sharing your bigg challenge! We wish you bigg success, whatever you decide! What s your bigg challenge? E-mail it to us at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com! Our bigg quote today is over 2,000 years old. Seneca, the Roman philosopher, said: It s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It s because we dare not venture that they are difficult. You have to look at the downside, but if you spend too much time focusing on that, you ll never enjoy the upside. Next time, we ll discuss a recent study that shows that happiness is overrated. Until then, here s to your bigg success! Subscribe to this feed Related post Start a Franchise or Business to Create Passive Income ShareThis

Don t be alarmed we just thought it was a catchy title. Nothing explicit here! A lot of very successful entrepreneurs have multiple businesses. So today, we ll look at starting the other business! Benefits of the other business #1 Your Compensation You have one business now. So you can draw one salary. When you have two businesses, you get two salaries! Your current business pays for your company car. Why not have two businesses so you can have two cars? And two expense accounts. Two planes! You get the idea! There may be better ways to do this, but that s beyond the scope of today s blog. # 2 Diversification Basic financial theory says you should diversify don t put all of your eggs in one basket! If you have one business, you re completely subject to the ups and downs of that one business. With two businesses, one may pull the other one up during times of adversity and vice versa. #3 Your Wealth Entrepreneurs have most of their wealth tied up in a single asset, but they typically have more wealth than the average homeowner. So owning a business is a great way to build wealth. Why not double the pleasure and own two? One reason not to do it Obviously, there are many reasons NOT to do this, but space doesn t allow a full discussion. Let s look at one how to maximize your opportunity while minimizing your complications. Ask yourself this question how much can you grow your existing business? If it s still significant, stick with what you have. Growth consumes money, so keep it in your existing business to maximize that opportunity. Why take on the complication of the other business if what you have now is satisfying you? Borrow a page from bigg business feed what s growing. It s evolutionary. But as its growth winds down, get revolutionary find the other business! How to know you re ready Let s assume that you ve taken your business as far as you can. It s still a good business, but it s hit a plateau. There are two sides to knowing if it s time for you to move on: Your head Is your baby ready for you to leave? Your heart Are you ready to leave your baby? Here s a great technique to listen to your head and your heart take an extended vacation! For you workaholics, this may require baby steps. If you haven t been on a vacation for awhile, take an extended weekend. Then get away for a week. After that, make it two. Work yourself up to at least a month away. You ll find out if you re emotionally ready to leave. You ll also learn how your business functions without you. Who calls? Why? What are the problems? If no one calls, you re probably ready to go for it. The worst case scenario is that you ll come back with the knowledge you need to get ready. If you re interested in pursuing a second business, get our FREE special report, Don t Make These Mistakes When You Start Your Second Business. You ll learn important lessons that often trip up second-time entrepreneurs, even those who have succeeded wildly the first time out. Just e-mail us: bigginfo@biggsuccess.com Type 2nd business report in the subject line. Our bigg quote today is by Michael Gerber, the great author and entrepreneurial guru. The entrepreneur is our visionary, the creator in each of us. We re born with that quality and it defines our lives as we respond to what we see, hear, feel, and experience. It is developed, nurtured, and given space to flourish or is squelched, thwarted, without air or stimulation, and dies. So if you re getting the itch, it may be time to pursue the other business. Next time, we ll discuss why women can t win. Things could get heated on the show! Until then, here s to your bigg success! ShareThis

Bigg Challenge Robin e-mailed us because she recently started a home-based business and she s having trouble with all the distractions. Her young children need attention, family and friends call her, the neighbor pops in periodically, and she often ends up working on a personal project instead of her business. She wants to know how to be more productive amidst all the distractions! Bigg Advice Congratulations on your start-up, Robin. And don t feel alone in your situation a lot of people have trouble adapting to working at home. Here are 3 thoughts to make working at home work: 1st Designate a workspace just for your business Create a space that looks and feels like an office. Having a dedicated space puts you in the right frame of mind. Design it with productivity and comfort in mind because you will be spending a lot of time there. It should be more than the kitchen table or a card table in the guest room. 2nd Establish a schedule Determine your work times. Sounds like a job, doesn t it? You re not limiting your freedom; you re ensuring your success! Consider taking the kids to daycare. Isn t that what you would do if you worked in an office? You may be trying to keep all of your costs down, during this start-up phase. But you ll never get out of the start-up phase if you don t make time for work. Maybe you decided to work at home so you could spend more time with your kids. Then dedicate a couple of hours during the day to work. Perhaps while the kids take their naps. Then really hunker down after they go to bed for the evening. Your schedule doesn t have to be 9 to 5. You can custom design it! Just stick to it once you ve established it. 3rd Communicate the boundaries. With the adults in your life, this SHOULD be easier. Let them know that you value your time with them, but you need time to build your business. Consider setting regular times for coffee or lunch. Wouldn t it be nice to get away now and then? Let them know when you won t be available just like if you had a job working in an office! If they call during your work hours, let it go to voice mail. Check to make sure it s not an emergency; then get back to work. And just because there s a knock on the door doesn t mean you have to answer it unless it s Publishers Clearing House! With your kids, it may be trickier. If they re really young, they won t understand. Try this plan some play time with them early in the day. Explain that you have things to do, but if they re really good, you ll do something fun with them later. Thanks for sharing your bigg challenge with us, Robin. We wish you bigg success! Do you have some tips for working at home? Leave us a Comment! Our Bigg Quote today is by Paul J. Meyer: Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort. Working at home works best when you plan your work and work your plan. Next time, we ll discuss how to get attention for your message amidst all the clutter. Until then, here s to your bigg success! More Bigg Challenges Should You Count On Your Counter-Offer Getting The Credit You Deserve Turn Misfortune Into Fortune: Tips for Starting Over When A Co-Worker Bad Mouths You Practice Not Being Perfect ShareThis

http://www.internet-business-blueprint.com Consisten action will always win over inconsistent action. Hard work beats talent when talent won't work hard! You must come up with a MAP - Massive Action Plan and then STICK TO IT! Fortunes that last are built up over time - not overnight. Champions Aren't Made on Gameday! http://www.internet-business-blueprint.com Be sure to check out our FREE 3-Part Video Series on successful business ownership and the insider secrets to making money online at: http://www.internet-business-blueprint.com home based business mlm network marketing law of attraction network marketing training mlm training social network marketing

http://www.internet-business-blueprint.com Consisten action will always win over inconsistent action. Hard work beats talent when talent won't work hard! You must come up with a MAP - Massive Action Plan and then STICK TO IT! Fortunes that last are built up over time - not overnight. Champions Aren't Made on Gameday! http://www.internet-business-blueprint.com Be sure to check out our FREE 3-Part Video Series on successful business ownership and the insider secrets to making money online at: http://www.internet-business-blueprint.com home based business mlm network marketing law of attraction network marketing training mlm training soc