Remember a while back when we addressed the value of walking a mile in someone else's shoes to gain fresh perspectives that might help you run your business better? Well, it appears some CEOs have actually done this - as a recent Fortune piece highlights. The participants, Maxine Clark (founder and CEO of publicly held Build-a-Bear) and Kip Tendell (cofounder and CEO of the privately held Container Store).
And yes, just as we anticipated, these retail veterans found they gained a great deal from the experience. Spending time in someone else's realm, dealing with their daily challenges shook things up and while dealing with employee issues, product questions and in-store management issues, they found themselves continually stumbling across ideas and inspiration that they could incorporate into their own operations.
Here's a peek at a few of their takeaways:
Clark, for instance, appreciated how the Container Store acknowledges sales associates for a job well done with Post-It notes left on lockers. Kendell, meanwhile, liked Build-a-Bear's "Strive for Five" technique, which is designed to sell each customer five items. (via MarketingProfs.com)
True leaders know that real ideas must come from a variety of experiences, sometimes you need to take on something completely new to move to another level. Innovation comes from so many places, from crazy situations to mundane tasks, maybe even, from spending time working in a different industry.
To me, the above insight is part of the beauty and value that our Indianapolis consulting services team here at Milestone Advisors brings to our clients. We have worked in a variety of industries, been tasked with an array of projects. Outsourcing bookkeeping, we've done that. Providing market research forecasting for a new business plan or endeavor, we've done that too. What about building a technology architecture to streamline a company's work flow and make them more efficient? Been there. With or staff's diverse backgrounds, we've done it all which better equips us to advise and inspire. What can we do for you and your operations?
We discuss the importance of blogging and social media quite often. It should be a part of everyone's business plan and an even greater part of your company's marketing strategy. And while you can appoint one key person to handle the load, it's important you have diverse voices coming from all areas and levels of your company so the average reader gets a comprehensive look at your operations.
Yet explaining the importance of blogging, making sure others understand it and are willing (maybe even excited) to participate isn't easy. You should be prepared for it to be a long process, one in which you will need to be patient and regularly follow up with people. I have been charged with implementing a social media strategy here at Milestone Advisors and encouraging others to take part so we provide well-rounded information on all of our specialties (which include marketing, technology, outsourced bookkeeping and much more).
Here are some suggestions that might make the process a bit easier for you that I have learned through trial and error:
1. Take time to explain and be sure participating members truly understand the value of social media, what it means to your company, your customers and more.
2. Explain the technical aspects of the platform you're using. You will surprised at how many people don't adapt quickly to different software products. Carving time out to walk people through the steps, leading by example will save you time in the long run
3. Do some creative brainstorming as a group. Just explaining what blogging is and how to do it isn't enough. And leaving it at that can lead to your team members sitting in front of their computers with question marks in their brains and blank stares on their faces. Helping them talk through subjects they can write about a few times will help them to easily develop story ideas on their own.
4. Send them some examples of blogs you really like, whether that's because they are well-written, tackle pertinent subjects or are just fun -- giving your team examples will also aid in inspiration.
5. Continue to provide encouragement. You're asking your team to step out of their comfort zones and do something for the good of the company as a whole. A confident financial advisor or marketing strategy pro may be nervous about sharing their thoughts in an open forum like a blog, check in regularly with words of advice, tips or positive feedback. It will go a long way
Company blogs aren't easy to get off of the ground and they're not easy to maintain but I will say, they are more than worth the effort. They enable you to connect with like-minded businesses, leaders, enhance your brand and maybe, sell a little!
Jack Stack believes the economic recovery is under way. In fact, he
asserts it has been for quite some time. He then warns - if you don't have a business strategy or business plan developed and in place to take advantage of the upswing, you may miss it completely.
It may be difficult to believe, particularly in our tiny worlds where we still hear about small businesses struggling for capital or individuals losing their jobs. So, where does Stack get this perception from and what evidence is he using to support it?
"I’ve been speaking eyeball-to-eyeball with entrepreneurs all across the country — in places like Pittsburgh, New York City, Richmond, Va. and Fresno, Calif. — and when I ask them how they did in the fourth quarter of 2009 or the first quarter of 2010, I keep getting responses like, “amazing,” “fantastic,” “record-breaking” and even “best we’ve done in years.”
Yet it seems we're all a little afraid of admitting things might be getting better. Maybe for fear the the worst is yet to come, just as we've allowed ourselves to breathe easy.
But there is firm evidence pointing to companies around the country once again experiencing growth. Stack uses his own company as example, SRC. He admits he had spent so much time reflecting on the economic collapse that when portions of his operations were experiencing new growth, he missed it completely.
Another sign he claims to see -- an increase in lead times, the period ordering something and actually receiving it. This means more and more orders which means more money being spent. Can we get two huge thumbs up for that.
"If you’re still not convinced, do some research of your own. Ask your customers and peers how they’re doing (and tell us in the comment section below how you’re doing). Do your own eyeball-to-eyeball research. Just as importantly, start putting together a strategy to take advantage of the recovery whenever you believe it’s going to hit. If you keep looking in the rear-view mirror and forget to look at what’s headed your way, not only might you miss a golden opportunity to build your business, you might just give your competitors the chance to move ahead of you or, worse, to eat your lunch right out of your hands."
We'd love to hear what you're seeing, hearing and experiencing yourself that either confirms Stack's assertion or proves it wrong. Please share, do you think we're in the midst of recovery? What evidence do you have that supports your claim?
Depending on your answers this might be the perfect time to initiate buying a business that supplements current operations, compiling new financial projections or rebuilding your financial model for the improving economy or to begin the product launch plan you put off when the bottom dropped out of the market. Any way you look at it, it may be
time for action!
Here at Milestone Advisors we advise businesses concerning almost every aspect of running a company. We consult on product marketing plans, financial market forecasting, writing business plans to attract potential investors or simply taking a look at someone's books to see if they could benefit from outsourced bookkeeping.
Recently, there has been a shift in the tools we recommend for marketing strategies. Social media has come out of the blue and now dominates most marketing and business strategy tactics. One of these mediums, Facebook, a social networking site, has become a hotbed for not simply B2C outreach but B2B as well.
In his most recent
column, Fortune's Stanley Bing asks if this platform does society more harm than good. Even if you still plan on using the site as part of your social media strategy it's prudent to be aware of all the uses of Facebook as well as the different opinions being voiced about it.
He writes about Facebook as a place where the ugliest aspects of our worst high school nightmares come to life and fears that the worst perpetrators in this online environment will enter the business world and do immeasurable damage.
"In teaching social networking, virtual presence, aggressive electronic messaging and cold-blooded manipulation of group dynamics, Facebook is preparing young people to thrive in business life, particularly on the executive level. I’m just not sure it’s a future office space that I would want to live in."What do you think? Is this a business world you want to live in? What can be done?
As the Inc. piece points out, the freedom of not having to answer to shareholders, a board of directors or hundreds of employees can be a benefit of family operations. However, those closest to you are dependent on your success for their own success. For some, that means even more pressure. The best way to handle this situation is to...
"Keep solid books. By incorporating basic financial tools used by other businesses, including balance sheets and income statements that are prepared regularly for distribution among family members. By sharing and analyzing financial data, you can make your business more predictable, and thus more stable. If no one in the family has a knack for financial analysis, establish a relationship with an outside accountant. Over the long term, strong financial will be an absolutely essential tool."
Not only do you make profits and income more predictable, you avoid conflict that can arise when there are mistakes in bookkeeping or accounting that can cost you and other family members money.
Be sure to have those formal meetings we discussed earlier so your planning and strategy is clearly defined and everyone who wants to be a part of it, is a part of it. And don't be afraid to be formal. Heck, this is your company and being in business is a serious thing. Draft agendas, set firm times to begin the meeting and adjourn it. You will be more productive with the way you as well as others, use that time.
When your business is part of the family, family cannot always come first. By putting business first sometimes, you are actually putting family first.
And last but not least, while planning is key for the future. Be sure to always have awareness of the present and operate, both in terms of business and your role within your family, in the sense of today.
Yesterday we addressed the importance of planning in the very beginning of a business. Equally essential to survival is ensuring that every family member who is contributing clearly understands not only what their role is to be moving forward, but also what all other family members' roles are. I think this can also be associated with transparency. In family business, everyone has to be aware of everything, there are no secrets.
Before assigning roles to specific people, first define the roles themselves -- actually write job descriptions. Then begin having discussions as to who best fits the requirements for each position. An expert in the Inc. article also suggests planning formal business meetings to avoid utilizing actual family time as company time. This will blur the lines and lead to confusion and conflict down the road. Don't let the dinner table double as a conference table!
When working on the roles themselves, don't think of the family members first. View the job descriptions and requirements as entirely separate from the family members who will be involved in the the immediate future as well as down the road. Do you want those involved in the business to have a college education? If so, you have to make this a clear requirement from the very beginning.
Setting guidelines for some type of employment policy as a part of a great strategic HR plan will go a long way in avoiding discrepancies in the future. Take the time to define standards for compensation, time off, performance and reviews.
The Inc. article stresses defining compensation over everything else and it makes sense. Money can be the root of all problems for small or family owner businesses.
In his book, The Survival Guide for Business Families, Gerald Le Van stresses the importance of fair compensation. Reasonable benefits should come "along with an understanding of money, it's meaning, its potential, its limits, what is involved in making, spending and saving money…" There is a relationship between money and self-esteem, he notes, and as the manager of a family business, that's something you need to be cognizant of nurturing.
Here at Milestone Advisors we truly do it all, number crunching and market analysis to create financial models, we fulfill leadership roles such as part time CFO duties, we create plans and help businesses in the execution as well as tracking the results. Whatever the Indianapolis business community needs, we work to deliver customized solutions.
One of our favorite projects to help clients with is building a strategic plan. Why, you ask? The strategic plan is truly the defining blueprint for the future of any endeavor and we love seeing great ideas come to life as they're mapped out in realistic terms. It's all about clarity. How do we get there?
- We conduct high-level analysis of external elements such as your Industry and Competition.
- We also analyze:
- Core competencies
- Mission, Vision, and Values of your organization
- Business objectives
- Major goals
- Key strategies
Once this 'self-reflection' is completed, an approach to business that is 100% original to you, your vision and company is developed along with actionable steps and plans to put it into place and start generating revenue.
Have you noticed that sometimes it is easier to focus on the "doing" versus the "achieving?"
I think The Arbinger Institute said it best; Busyness is a focus on "doing." There are few people more "busy" than people who fail to focus on results.
As I work with businesses to fill a part-time "C" level executive position, I am amazed at how "busy" people can make themselves. As Milestone Advisors becomes part of the senior management team, we find that after the first few months we can be highly effective at achieving the needed results for the company in a part-time capacity. In fact, I see greater operational efficiency because our focus is on the achieving and not creating work. As you look at your current business strategy, consider talking with Milestone Advisors to explore ways we can help you be busy accomplishing.
I am actually in the process of ordering both books by Dan and Chip Heath,
Made to Stick and
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard. The brothers, both business professors by trade who jointly write a regular column in
Entrepreneur magazine are experts in what they teach as well as human psychology. Essentially, a great read for leaders to understand what their roles demand and what those they lead want from them.
In a recent interview the brothers shared insight into how to introduce your organizations to change - a difficult pill for the average person to swallow. If you're preparing to introduce different protocol, new employees or something far more drastic - understanding ways to facilitate widespread acceptance will go a long way.
Some of my favorite insights are below.
In reference to getting employees to accept change..."One of the main mistakes is when leaders come up with a new vision but never translate that broad analytical vision into something people on the frontlines can actually execute. I was talking to an entrepreneur who wanted his employees to have a "mindset of customer service." But if you're an employee, when you hear that, all you hear is buzzword, buzzword, buzzword, jargon, jargon, jargon."
What about stubborn people..."You can try to find the feeling that's going to make them empathize with customers. For instance, Microsoft had some very stubborn programmers who thought they were writing brilliant software. But six out of 10 customers Microsoft surveyed couldn't figure out how to use the new feature. When they told the programmers this, their response was, "Where did you find six dumb people?" Microsoft brought the programmers into a usability-testing lab and put them behind a two-way mirror. When the programmers watched a real customer struggle with the software they designed, the programmers immediately started thinking about ways of changing it. Don't try to argue with a stubborn employee. That appeals to the dark side of the analytical parts of ourselves."
Using the bad economy to motivate...We commonly think that fear is a good motivator, but fear works for only a short time. And this recession has gone on for a couple of years in some parts of the country. So when we try to motivate people, we need to find feelings of hope and optimism.
Figuring out what motivates people, including clients, customers and employees is going to position you for success. Once you understand how people make decisions, you can tailor your services or management style to get the results you desire.
A strategic HR plan is just as essential as an in-depth marketing strategy plan. Establishing a communication style for your organizational development strategy will please both you and your employees allowing both parties to welcome change.
In recognition of Black History Month,
Entrepreneur has compiled a list of the most iconic black entrepreneurs in history and dubbed it
'The Soul of Small Business'.
1. Oprah Winfrey (this should have been blatantly obvious)
Her story is incredible, her beginnings meager and her success unprecedented. Oprah reinvented daytime TV and transformed her personality into a brand with sheer innovation.
2. Berry Gordy
Gordy transcended racial lines of jazz, R&B and soul music when he developed the interracial 'Motown Sound' later leading him to found the iconic Motown Records.
3. Madam CJ Walker
The daughter of slaves and no stranger to personal tragedy, Walker developed her own product (a scalp conditioning/healing formula) and became the first female, self-made millionaire in the U.S.
4. John Johnson
The founder of Ebony and Jet magazines, Johnson provided African Americans with their own mainstream media outlets.
5. Cat
hy Hughes
Hughes developed and grew Radio One to the tune of 65 stations after being denied financing by 32 banks.
6. Russell Simmons
Simmons is an icon and attributed with making hip hop an acceptable and often applauded part of America's mainstream pop culture.
7. Magic Johnson
Yep, he's a basketball star. But he's also a smart investor. He's developed movie theaters, restaurants and coffee shops in urban areas in an attempt to revitalize their neighborhoods.
8. Tyra Banks
Beautiful to look at and smart too. Banks has become a media mogul, developing wildly successful TV shows, dabbling in music and movies and creating camps to teach young girls self-worth.
Here's what to take away from their examples.
Oprah is a marketing machine and it's all based on who she is, inserting bits of yourself or your personality into your company's marketing communication strategy or marketing strategy plan may give you that slight edge.
Both Walker and Johnson created something brand new. Innovation will help you lead the way in your industry accompanied by a product development business plan.
Cathy Hughes struggled to secure bank financing and won the battle. It's not an easy process but you only need one yes.
Venture capital is alive and well (and it can do good!), we know this thanks to Magic.
As for Tyra and Russell Simmons, they welcomed new technologies and adopted advancements in the media to launch their brands.
The best place to learn can often be the past.
A trend that I see in working with fast growth technology companies is the tendency to invent and build everything. As we work together on the business plans and product development strategies, we find opportunities to focus on what the company does best. We put into practice a Google strategy of "Do what you do best and link to the rest." When working on your business strategy, focus on what ultimately brings value to your customers and enables you to specialize. Seek partners to help perform what is not core to the business strategy. Many times this simple advice creates some real issues in the company where long term employees have built complexity into the operations and feel what they do is central to the success of the company.
My advice is to update your business strategy and analyze what your customers most value. Milestone can assist in an update or review of your business plan and we will also help with the "link to the rest" strategy. We accomplish this by providing tangible ideas for simplification and efficiency in your operations by a focus on what is core to the business.
We're always emphasizing how important it is to have strategies in place to guide every tactical decision you make as you operate your business or company on a day to day basis. While we offer accounting services, organization assessments, part time CFO and part time CIO help, at the end of the day, Milestone Advisors is all about STRATEGY.
A thoughtful approach that addresses multiple aspects and seeks to achieve a goal makes your operations stronger and more prepared to handle anything that may come your way (whether that be anticipated or completely unseen).
That being said, take a look at this
piece that identifies using a revamped marketing strategy as a way to stay strong when the economy falters.
"The key to competing strong in a weak economy is to remain visible and project an image of strength and stability. Customers have a heightened sensitivity to any sign of weakness, so resist the urge to dramatically reduce your marketing activities. To flourish in challenging times, you'll need to distill your marketing and public relations efforts into a powerful, concentrated mix that delivers a high level of visibility and impact on a limited budget."
Wise words. If you need help retooling and refocusing your efforts, I think you know where we'd direct you.
We wish to congratulate ImmuneWorks, Inc., a long-time client of Milestone Advisors, on the announcement of its Development Agreement with Lung Rx, a wholly-owned subsidiary of United Therapeutics Corporation, to pursue development of ImmuneWorks' lead compound (IW001) for the treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). IPF is a progressive, usually fatal disease that afflicts in excess of 100,000 persons in the United States alone.
Founded in 2006, ImmuneWorks, Inc. is a biotechnology company committed to developing safe and effective immune tolerance treatments for patients with serious autoimmune diseases. Milestone Advisors has had the privilege of providing Part-Time CFO and Part-Time Controller services to ImmuneWorks. Congrats!
Click here to see the full story.
The reality is that fraud does exist in today's business environment, with potentially devastating effects. Uncovering and unwinding fraudulent activities in a company's financial accounting department can be very difficult and many times the business owner will not recoup their losses. How can a small business owner prevent and/or detect fraud? How can fraud be prevented in circumstances where one person is responsible for the finances? How can a business owner safeguard the company's assets?
There are a few steps that business owners can take to reduce the risk of fraud:
- Lock your valuables such as check stock, cash, signature stamps, and physical inventory.
- Segregate accounting duties such as check writing and signing, receiving and counting inventory, and depositing checks and reconciling the bank statements. If this isn't possible with your current staff, you might consider a part-time cfo, controller or bookkeeper to segregate the duties.
- Review third party back-up when authorizing transactions, such as reviewing original invoices before signing accounts payable checks.
- Perform background checks and/or check references on all employees and prepare performance reviews to monitor the employees activities.
Unfortunately fraud will always exist in the business world, but with the right business strategy the risk of fraud can be greatly reduced.
Here at Milestone Advisors, our Indianapolis consulting firm, it is one of our firm beliefs that anyone in the working world should have basic understanding of economics. If you're a business owner, leader or even a part time CFO, grasping economics is essential to understanding how we consume goods and, distribute wealth and build/use resources. If one is not familiar with the basic concepts and theories, they are not fully informed to make crucial decisions to grow a business.
We love this video created by George Mason University economist Russ Roberts, '
Fear the Boom and Bust'. It might aid in your understanding of Hayek versus Keynes theories and how they affect our markets today.
Understanding the basic concepts that drive the way we spend as a nation and how that trend then relates to everything else will enhance your business strategy and position you to navigate unseen variations in the market and still remain profitable.
Everybody is asking these days, "How can I get my customers to pay quicker in this economy?" Here are some things that some Indianapolis companies are doing with the accounting advice from Milestone Advisors' part-time bookeepers and part-time controllers:
1. Email invoices rather than mailing them. (You'll get the added benefits of lower administrative costs and becoming green!)
2. Offer discounts for Accounts Receivable over 60 days with an immediate payment.
3. Implement new policies that all invoices less than a certain dollar amount are to be paid immediately via credit card.
These are just some changes that can help your company's cash position that can be implemented quickly.
I often get asked why a part-time CFO or part-time Controller makes sense for an entrepreneurial company. The answer is simple, you get the expertise you need at a fraction of the cost. Most small businesses have many of the same needs to that of a large business when it comes to the finance and accounting function. The biggest difference is that they don’t need it on a full time basis (with a hefty salary and benefits).
At some point in the evolution of a small business, the business owner reaches the decision that he or she needs to get more from the accounting or finance function. Maybe they are feeling like they need better reporting / instrumentation. They may also be feeling the need to prepare financial projections to help them better plan for the future and understand the cash requirements of the business. Maybe it is as simple as feeling the need to prepare a week-to-week cash flow plan that they can follow when cash is tight. It is at this point that I see many small business owners make a classic mistake – they hire a full time person. While the needs are real, the job itself often does not require a full time person. I would suggest that business owners consider the idea of a part-time Controller or part-time CFO to fill the void. By bringing in finance / accounting experts on a fractional basis, a business owner is able to cover the entire spectrum of needs for the business in a much more cost effective manner.
Running a business is hard. Developing an original idea and building an organization upon it requires passion, dedication, time and creativity. Not only that, those four intangibles must flow forward continuously, providing you with a steady stream of inspiration and motivation. This doesn't leave a lot of time for all the additional nuts and bolts of running a company including hiring, firing and communicating with employees, managing vendor relationships and (many entrepreneurs least favorite task) balancing the books and projecting future growth.
Odds are, you don't have time handle all your company's finances. Maybe you have time to cut checks and perform a daily assessment of your bank account. Maybe you have time for more than that. The bottom line remains, more often than not, entrepreneurs are idea people, not numbers people.
Even if they do enjoy calculations and percentages, odds are they don't have the level of expertise that will allow them to compare their company to current market research and trends, build a sustainable financial model and project for the future (creating reports that enable you to make decisions that will ultimately allow your company to grow).
Many startups and small businesses can benefit from using the services and expertise of a part-time CFO. They can provide you with important information and advice to aid in decision making that leads to growth, avoid numerous business accounting pitfalls and aid in problem solving efforts positioning your operations for as much success as possible.
I was approached recently by the CEO of an upstart software as a service company to consider helping his company develop a corporate finance strategy and raise the requisite capital. We talked at length about the application that the company had built, the customer base, the channels that the company sold through, and the market opportunity. We also talked about some of the obstacles that the company faced in order to be successful.
It appeared to me on first blush, that while the product was a great solution, the "problem" wasn't painful enough to the prospective customers to cause them to beat a path to the new application or even make the purchase if proactively presented with the solution. But that was only my first reaction and I've been wrong before. We needed to dig a little deeper.
I offered to review the business plan and bring in our part time CIO to help assess the technology and the opportunity. But before we had received the information for our discovery process, we received an interesting call from the CEO.
The company had decided to put everything on hold. Everything. The board had met over the weekend and decided that it would take too long to pull together the necessary funding to continue the next phase of the product development plan. The other option would be to attempt to grow the business organically but they didn't feel that could be done successfully either.
What initially appeared as an incredibly large target market was actually not nearly as large as thought. The challenge? The pain factor, or lack thereof, that I mentioned before. I was afraid of that...
It's difficult for early stage or startup companies to consider spending time or money on market research - largely because both resources are so scarce. The other concerns are that asking prospects for feedback and input could "let the cat out of the bag" too early, cause challenges with meeting deliverables, create competitors, or put intellectual property at risk.
All of these concerns are legitimate and should be addressed and treated with caution. However, the risk of spending time in production or development ahead of completing a thorough market research process can cause greater problems down the road.
If you have a great idea that you are considering turning into a product or business, work with an individual or firm that can provide you with the market research services to support business plans for small business. You'll be glad you did and you'll be better positioned as a result.
"It's not about profit. It's not about customer service. It's not about inventory. It's about consistency."
This is the
perspective put forth by Mitch Joel, author of the book and blog, both named Six Pixels of Separation. Consistency is the ultimate driver of success for any business or brand. It is those operations that continually deliver their services or products in the same way, at the same level of quality that win our hearts, business and loyalty.
Why is Southwest Airlines one of America's favorite and most heralded airlines? Is it because they have great customer service and low fares? Yes, to a certain extent. But even more of their favorably perceived brand can be attributed to the fact that they have
always had low fares and
always delivered fantastic customer service. When the economy crashed and in response, most airlines charged passengers additional fees anywhere they could find remotely reasonable cause. Not Southwest, the epitome of consistency.
In the piece referenced above, Mitch uses the current travel regulations as an example of a complete failure when it comes to a consistent message. Regulations, rules and procedures for travel are different at varying airports and for people who are leaving the country, traveling domestically or those who are entering the U.S. This is what leads to a complete break down in which disaster can occur and travelers are frustrated everyday.
This may be a problem your brand and company faces. Being consistent isn't easy. This all hearkens back to having created a clear, comprehensive business strategy and business plan that identifies a consistent mission, message and execution method. This should be built into your marketing communication strategy from day one to ensure your brand's success and loyalty of subsequent customers and consumers.
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