Can you believe New Year’s Eve is almost here?  We are closing in on 2012 very quickly and It’s that time of year when everyone starts reviewing the goals they had for 2011 and thinking about 2012 goals. 

The approach and complexity of this process is all over the board. From the dreamers who repeat the same goals from year to year yet they never seem to get out of the starting blocks to the serious analytical types who have meticulously measured every step of progress from day one and are constantly reevaluating their direction.  Although there’s not 1 right way to do things, my hope is you tilt more towards the latter of the two approaches.

A goal is a dream with a deadline. – Napoleon Hill

Since you are reading this I am going to take the liberty of assuming:

#1) You have some goals.

#2) Your goals are in writing.

#3) Your goals are tracked at least in some degree.

But at the end of the day, what is the differentiator that propels some people to achieve their goals while others appear to be working just as diligently, but are not having the same level of success?

If you have ever been involved in any type of manufacturing, you are probably familiar with the word, Kaizen. It is a Japanese word meaning “improvement” and it defines a way of thinking.  In manufacturing it is about continuous improvement and is the foundation of the Six Sigma and Lean movements. 

With Kaizen, you are continuously looking for the bottle neck that is keeping you from doing something better, cheaper, faster, and more efficiently. Companies embracing this “continuous improvement” mentality assemble teams to dissect specific areas of manufacturing to determine what the biggest bottle neck is and how they can improve/reduce/remove it. These are called “Kaizen Events”. The results of these events are often transformational for the business.

Try this!

My challenge to you and your team as you think about 2012 and your goals is to perform a “Kaizen Event” on the goals you have struggled to achieve in this past year. What is the bottle neck that is challenged you in achieving it? How can you improve/reduce/remove it? Blaming it on the economy is unacceptable. Whatever your industry, I am sure we can find examples of like businesses who are succeeding. So skip the easy way out and find the real obstacles.

Then, as you establish your goals for 2012, incorporate your findings and use the same process going forward into the New Year when ever you get stuck.  I think you will find it very empowering…and you’ll make a lot more progress!

If you can to this with a group of your peers you will have more success, so I would encourage you not to complete this solo. Understand, self-diagnostics can work, but you risk becoming a race horse with blinders on – be aware of that. Whatever your approach, find the bottle necks in your goals and open them up.

Have you ever looked for the obstacles in your goals? How did you open up the bottle neck? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Chris Steinlage  Kansas City Business Coach

Photo by meddygarnet

I was one of those weird people who actually enjoyed physics in college and in fact it still influences how I think.  Here’s an example…Newton’s First Law of Motion states that:

 ‘A body at rest tends to stay at rest and a body in motion tends to stay in motion – unless acted on by an external force.’

The application to business? If your business is stagnant, if you’re feeling stuck…if you’re not seeing growth or momentum, then you have to make a meaningful change (create a new force) to get a new outcome.  Momentum starts with making something happen!

Have you fallen into a rut with your business?  If things are going fairly well, it’s easy to let up and just kind of coast…and if things are challenging, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and just do what you have to to get by.  Either way, now is the time for you to apply an external force and make a change.  Invest quality time and think about how you’re going to get ahead…what can you do today to create momentum?

Hopefully the list below can help you brainstorm an idea that will work for you:

6 Ways to create momentum

Every business is different and unfortunately there’s not a one size fits all solution when it comes to growing your business, but it’s a safe bet that at least one of the ideas fits your situation and could direct you towards next steps.  Pick the one that resonates the most and take action!

Addition By Subtraction

It’s the biggest mistake a business owner can make – many businesses have at least one and maybe several employees that just don’t pull their weight.  In some cases they’re really nice people but they don’t perform.  Or (and this is even worse) they’re very good at the work but they’re poisonous to be around and no one wants to work with them.  Whatever it is, if you have an employee who’s a bad fit, if you don’t have the right people on the bus, you can build up serious momentum just by getting rid of them.

It’s always difficult to let somebody go but there’s no better time than the present to take some action and get that drag off of your business.

Question – Do you have an employee that’s holding you back?  What would it take to act on it?

Straight to the Bottom Line

Most business owners are under-charging for their services.  Even if you think you’re priced right, it’s worthwhile to at least consider raising your prices.  It’s unlikely you’ll lose business (especially if you haven’t raised prices in the last year or two) and it could have a profound affect.  Raising prices is the only thing you can do that will immediately go straight to the bottom line.  Yes there’s a risk of losing customers, but even if you lost some volume, you’re still likely better off from a profit perspective – check out this table to see the impacts (second page).

Question – How would your business be impacted if you raised your prices by 10%?  20%? 

Revisit Your Marketing

If you’re like most business owners, historically you’ve done some marketing and then you get busy and lose focus.  But you’ve got to have consistency if you want to win at Marketing!  What if you made marketing your strategic priority for the next 90 days and really invested time, effort (and money) into developing the right message and tactics?  Created a calendar to help keep everything on track?  Is it time to finally redo your website and establish some repeatable tactics that will consistently drive opportunities?

Question – Are you effectively communicating the benefits and the outcomes you deliver?  What would it take to amp up your marketing in the next 90 days?

Find a Referral Partner or two…

Everyone wants to get great referrals and one of the best ways to do that is to find a great referral partner.  Find a complementary business that sells to the same clients that you want to work with, someone who sees the world in a similar way to you.  Add in a little creativity around packaging new discounts or find a way to co-marketing and you’ve got a fantastic new sales channel that will help drive new business to you and your new partner.

Question – Who’s out there as a potential partner?  What product / service complements what you do? What would it take to set up a meeting?  Can you get the ball rolling this week?

Finally Get that Big Project Done!

Almost every business owner I know has at least one and usually several big projects that they’ve been ‘working on’ for an unknown period of time. It’s generally a wide range of stuff: 

• Marketing stuff like redoing a website, developing great content marketing or creating a great newsletter.
• Getting structured…hiring administrative help to free up time, delegating more, finding a difference maker sales person or employee.
• New Stuff like rolling out a new set of products / services or revamping the ones you have.

Whatever it is, what would happen if you really narrowed your focus and committed to getting that one big thing done in the next 90 days? You know it’s a great idea, you’ve been thinking about it forever…now is the time to commit to doing it.

Question – What project has consistently been on your to do list for a long time?  What’s been holding you back?  How would you get really get started on it?

Get some Help

Building momentum is all about taking consistent focused action on great ideas -  you’re capable of doing that on your own, but it’s a lot more likely to happen if you get some help.  Find someone who can help you frame things up, get clear on what your constraints are and help push you to make things happen.  Of course you could always look into a Licensed Professional Business Coach or maybe a  Peer Group Advisory Board, but there are lots of ways to find help – the key is to get someone who will push you and support you.

Question – Do you have resources or people you know who might be able to help you make something happen?  What’s the next step to getting them on board and helping you?

This list doesn’t even scratch the surface of stuff you could do and you likely have different opportunities, but the one thing that’s true in every case is you have to take action if you want something to happen. 

You want to grow your business – what are  you going to do to get the ball rolling?

What ideas do you have for sparking growth?  I’d love to hear them or any feedback you have on my ideas above.  Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Shawn Kinkade   Kansas City Business Coach

We’re at that time of year when the winter blah really sets in (I’m sure February is the longest month of the year!).  We’ve at least had a couple of days that weren’t gray, but it’s certainly been looking more like Seattle then Kansas City.

It’s cold outside – so here are 5 diversions on your computer that might help brighten your day up.  Shake it off, have some fun and check out some cool stuff (some with a local tie)!

1.  Amazing Shot!

You’ve probably seen this sometime in the last few days – it’s been all over TV and the internet, but in case you missed it – you need to check out the vide of the Olathe Northwest Girls Basketball coach who’s getting set up for a prank.  The students are challenging him to shoot a 1/2 court shot…blindfolded and if he makes it he wins Final Four tickets.  The prank is that the students are going to cheer wildly when he shoots to make him believe he hit it.

The drawback to their plan?  He actually hits the shot!  It’s unbelievable and a lot of fun to watch.

If that video doesn’t work, here’s a link with the video along with some additional coverage:  http://onwravens.net/media/www.onwravens.net_media/The_Shot.html

To complete the story, it turns out someone has now donated Final Four tickets so he actually did win!

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