Boot Camp

Day 1 — Establishing Your Mission Establishing the mission and vision of a business is the first step in achieving success. To many, this sounds like an obligatory exercise, a “necessary evil,” but it really is a key step to success in business. If you are already in business, and haven’t written an effective mission, start now! Is a masterpiece the result of an artist just throwing paint on a canvas? Is a magnificent marble sculpture just the result of someone chopping away at a chunk of marble? Is a skyscraper the result of a group of people just hammering wood together? Never! Only after a clear vision does work even begin. The results speak for themselves. Likewise, you must develop a clear picture of what your business is, what you do, and how it should look. Then you can start accomplishing that vision. Don’t worry if you can execute your entire vision on day one. The prophet Habakkuk wrote, “Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled” (Habakkuk 2:3 NASB). Most visions will not happen overnight. Your mission statement should answer three key questions in one or two sentences:

• Why does your organization exist? An organization exists to serve customers. A key step is to determine what customers you will serve and how. A website designer may have a mission of providing informational websites that require creative and artistic work to companies with a $5,000 to $10,000 website budget. The focus has been narrowed. Businesses needing very costly complex work, those with very limited budgets, or companies wanting to develop a sales program are not target customers.

• What do you do well that others can’t do or find it difficult to do well? Your mission statement needs to identify what your key strength is, a strength that will differentiate you from your competitors. A Michigan plant nursery provides medical and cooking herb plants that are in demand by cooks and people wanting natural medical solutions. The ability to cultivate and grow the wide variety of herbs is a key advantage that pulls in customers and is part of the nursery’s mission statement.

• What is your passion?

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All business leaders need to have a passion and your passion needs to be included in your mission statement. A fitness gym has a mission to provide total fitness—mental, nutritional, and physical. The owner walks around watching clients work out with a big smile on his face, watching individual progress. He gets excited as clients lose weight and improve in total fitness. It simply takes passion to be successful. Determining your mission and vision is important in accomplishing three goals:

• To stay on track! You are unlikely to get pushed and pulled off your core business plan when you know where you are going. The energy you spend is effectively channeled.

• Too communicate clearly! You can clearly communicate to your staff what is expected and how you expect them to perform.

• To sell the vision! You can clearly communicate to customers what you do well. If done effectively, they will choose to spend their money with you.

Write Out your mission Statement, highlight why you exist: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Have you identified what you do best? Does your mission Statement excite you? Does your mission statement tell customers why they should do business with you? When the answer is yes, you are on target, congratulations!

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Day 2 — Planning for your business Establishing the business vision is the first step, but just imagining a successful business will not get the job done. You need to start executing effectively to reach that vision. Planning is a necessary step in reaching your goal. Some people feel they are too busy working to waste time planning. However, the Lord spoke to Jeremiah and said, “For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11 NASB). If the Lord spends time planning, who are we to believe we can be successful if we fail to plan? Many people in business shoot arrows against the wall and then paint a target around each arrow and say, “Bull’s-eye”! It doesn’t work that way. Effective planning starts with the target on the wall. Think of you plan as a roadmap designed to get you from where you are now to the business vision you have for the future. Aren’t maps supposed to save you time and energy? Aren’t maps designed to make things easier? Absolute! Effective planning will save you time, energy, and money. Simply put, a plan determines 1) who 2) will do what and 3) by when. Regardless how long or complex the plan, your roadmap must include these key elements:

• Who? In today’s fast-paced business, we can easily become overcommitted, lose focus and therefore miss the target. There are two key reasons why a chore must be assigned.

1. First, if tasks are not assigned to someone, who will be accountable to

complete that assignment? Employees cannot be held responsible unless they have been officially charged with a job. Also, we need to hold ourselves accountable for getting things done.

2. Second, we can easily become spread to thin. Jesus said, “For which one

of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?” (Luke 14:28 NASB). Part of counting the cost of launching a business or new business initiative is to count the cost of our time. A key reason for business failure is thinking we can do more than time allows. As a result, key items are never completed. Effective planning helps us successfully plan our time.

• Will Do What? Each task must be specific and quantifiable. If we can’t measure

an assignment, how do we know when we are done and have the job done right? For example, starting a pizza restaurant requires several steps is advertising. The

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plan may include designing an advertisement, arranging printing, and distributing the flyer. Everything must be done, and must be done in the proper order.

• By When? Establishing workable due dates is part of the planning process.

Should the printed advertisements for the pizza restaurant go out three months after the grand opening? Of course not! Completing the right task at the wrong time will lead to disaster. Effective execution depends on accomplishing the right task by the right person at the right time.

What three steps can be taken in the next 30 days that will make a major impact on my business? 1. Who_____________________________________________ Will do what ____ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________By When?____ 2. Who___________________________________________ Will do What________ _______________________________________________________By when_________ 3. Who__________________________________________ Will do what____________- ______________________________________________________-- by when?______ Ask someone to hold you accountable to execute your plan.

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Day 3 — Determining the needed organization After you decide who will do what by when, you need to decide how the organization must be organized to successfully execute your plan and vision. In some very simple businesses you may be the only person and therefore the entire organization, but even one-person businesses needs some form of organization. Start by breaking out the key activities, like sales, production, customer service, and accounting. Take the time to develop a mini organizational chart, even if you don’t have people. For each position write down the rationale for the job, why that position will exists. This will help you “see” what the organization needs to carry out your plan. The tricky part is to go back to your plan of who needs to what by when and match that up with your people resources. The Apostle Paul wrote, “There are diversities of gifts, but the same sprit” (Corinthians 12:4 NASB). Taking Paul’s example, a business needs more than one skill to grow and thrive. We need to develop the variety of skills and competencies to move forward toward successes. Bob, a small heating and cooling contractor with 15 years experience, was opening his own business. While he was an expert with heating and cooling systems, he was lost with office work. His organization consisted of himself making service calls and keeping up with the latest innovations in the trade. Bob’s wife was able to take customer calls, schedule appointments, and keep most of the paperwork in order from home. An accountant was ale to provide basic bookkeeping and tax services. If Bob hadn’t thought through that his organization required someone to take calls and handle basic paper work, the business could have easily degenerated into a mess. Paperwork would have become helplessly lost and taking customer calls while removing a pipe would be challenging. The point, whether your business is complicated or not, is that every business needs to go through the process of determining what type of organization is needed for successes. A one-person business may need to consider hiring one or more outside people to execute specific tasks. For a small business owner, a good answer may be to use outside contractors, or freelancers, rather than to hire a bunch of people. This allows you to get the expertise you need but only pay for the time you require. Today, a lot of people work for several companies and are available to help. Over time, if you move toward hiring staff, you can look at your business organizational needs and hire the person to fill that need. Often, the best hire is the person who is strong in the areas that you are weak. If you have determined through your organization chart what is needed to succeed, and you don’t have those skills or cannot obtain those skills, then you may need to consider

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not going forward. Consider Peter as a bad example. He was a brilliant software designer who created a great system for hospital management, but he was a poor salesmen. He believed the product would sell itself. Unfortunately, all Peter accumulated was a bill because he had not correctly understood that sales was a key part of the organization required. Later he partnered with Conner, an effective marketer, and the business took off. Identify the important functions, and create a simple organization chart. Place yourself, or others in each organization slot. What functions are you personally able to fill? What functions do you have current team members available to fill? What new skills do you need to acquire to fill critical boxes?

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Day 4 — Cash Investment Needs Every business needs cash to start up, grow, and stay in business. When cash flow is positive, life is good, but negative cash flow causes misery. Not having adequate cash invested in a business is the #1 reason for business failure. When starting, cash needs will be divided into two areas:

1. start up investment and 2. ongoing costs absorbed until positive cash flow is established.

That’s really it, but most business owners underestimate the amount of time it takes for the business to have a positive cash flow. As a result, more of the cash is absorbed than they expected, and things typically go down hill from there. One common mistake is to spend too much of the initial cash on start up costs. When starting up, focus on your needs rather than on what you want. For example, if used equipment is available and is sufficient for your current needs, then why buy new more expensive equipment? Or can you rent equipment be rented? Focus your buying decisions on items that will directly:

• deliver a product or service to customers, • create efficiency, and • save you money.

Most new businesses or new operations require between 12 and 36 months to become profitable. Clearly, there are exceptions, but those exceptions tempt us to become overly optimistic. King Solomon wrote, “The wise look ahead to see what is coming, but fools deceive themselves” (Proverbs 14:8 NLT). Work out projections and then invite others to give candid feedback. Two key questions to ask yourself right now:

1. Can we afford what is needed to execute our plan? 2. If not, how can we come up with the money?

Borrowing is always an option, but be careful. Scripture tells us, “The wicked borrows and does not pay back” (Psalm 37:21 NASB) and “The borrower becomes the lender’s slave” (Proverbs 22:7 NASB). Read the detail in a loan agreement and you will quickly learn who the master really is! Savings are the best source of start up cash so that you can avoid the debt trap. Finding investors in your friends or family members is an option. Be completely honest with them and determine if they can afford to lose the money if things don’t go well. Larry Burkett used to say, “The definition of a distant relative is one to whom you owe money.”

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If you don’t have the cash to start a venture, ask how can you come up with the cash? Phil owned a rug cleaning business and wanted to spend $25,000 to buy upgraded cleaning equipment that would reduce his labor cost $12,00 per year. This would have been a great return on his investment, but cash was very tight, so he sold his delivery truck for $22,000, used the money to purchase the equipment, and then rented a truck to make deliveries. Later, he was able to replace the truck by paying cash with his savings. Develop a budget to commence a new initiative or start a business. Do you have the cash needed to start? If not, how can you develop the cash needed? What activity can be stopped, or reduced to free up cash for the new venture?

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Day 5 — Connecting and getting customers Customers, the people who buy your product or service, will determine the level of success you enjoy. Before going further, go back to your mission and review what you can do well what others cannot do well or find difficult to do. In short, what is your competitive advantage? When you clearly have defined your competitive advantage, you can effectively present that advantage to your customers. In the marketplace, customers are always asking themselves why they should buy from you rather than someone else. The Lord spoke to Isaiah and said, “Present your case; bring forward your strong arguments” (Isaiah 41:21). To connect and get customers, you must:

#1—Create your sales pitch. The first step in connecting with customers is to develop a statement you can communicate in 60 to 90 seconds that explains your product or service and highlights your competitive advantage. Studies demonstrate that you have just 60 to 90 seconds to connect with customers. Take time to craft your statement and then experiment with customers. Watch carefully their reaction and adjust as you learn what connects best. As you refine your statement, have any colleague meeting with customers use the same statement. You will want to utilize your competitive advantage in any marketing and advertising you may employ.

#2—Decide on your target. Identify who is your customer and who should be your customer. It is tempting to believe that everybody should buy from us, but in reality, some people are better prospects than others. Spend your time, energy, and money reaching the best prospects. An independent pizza place opened up in Tucson. The product was several cuts above the chain pizza operations. Mel and Sandra, the owners, believed the product was so great that people would flock from all over the town of 900,000 to their shop. I explained to them that regardless of the quality, most customers would be from within 23 miles and that spending money advertising citywide was a waste of money. He surveyed customers for a week and confirmed that more than 90% of customers were close by. They redirected advertising dollars to target apartments and new residents in the growing community. Less money was needed to advertise in this targeted way, but more customers were developed. Melody was a great web designer struggling to attract enough clients to keep her web design business going. She spent a lot of time contacting and following up with

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prospects. In meeting with her, we determined her key advantage was artistic ability, an ability to turn a customer’s vision into a great looking website. However, she was a bit weaker in developing databases or sales sites. Instead of attacking every prospect, she would start a conversation by identifying what the customer wanted and how the site needed to work. She focused more energy and time on the prospects that wanted an informational site, where the artistic ability would shine. She closed more sales in less time by effective targeting. Be careful of always going to a lower price first. Starbucks has learned they can charge big bucks for coffee by offering an “experience” for $5.00 rather than a cup of coffee for $1.25. Starbucks understands the competitive advantage is not price. Write out your initial sales pitch ___________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What is your best customer prospect profile? ________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Why should these customers buy from me _________________________________ _______________________________________________________________

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