Common sense says that one should not spend more than they have, and if they do, they need to be able to pay for it plus the interest over a set amount of time or there will be severe consequences. Today, we find ourselves in a global economic recession, one that the majority of those alive today in the United States have not seen.  And the response from the consumer, businesses, and the government is frightening.

The U.S. Government is being urged to pass a stimulus package that is upward of $900 BILLION. Think about that for a moment. We as a country have not done a good enough job trying to keep our country afloat over the past twenty years, fighting the ongoing battle of budget deficit, year-in and year-out.

I know I’m not telling you anything that you haven’t already thought of, but today I hit my tipping point. I received the survey question below, asking for my opinion on what a group called “Save Our Economy” is requesting – a national mortgage holiday for one year. WOW – imagine that, those who cannot pay their home payments today will be allowed to live for the next year without making a payment, and then what will have changed?  Are they going to be in better position to make the payment a year from now?  Are they going to have saved enough money during that time to have some in reserve?  Isn’t saving counterproductive to a stimulus, where the goal is to increase spending so that the economy picks up?  What about those in retirement who are counting on the interest from their investments to live on month-to-month.  That money would disappear if the banks are not able to collect payment on loans due with the interest being the key to the retirement compensation.

And as of today, the report is saying there are 11 Million unemployed workers in the United States, which is more than the population of New York City and Chicago combined.  Do you think it is going to get better soon?

So how do we fix this?  Well, if I knew the answer, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here writing this blog today.  But as a business owner, with more than 20 years of experience, I would say that it is time for us to suck it up and stop looking for a handout.  That means that we need to change the way we live, from the way we spend and save, the way we communicate, even the way we do business.  It’s time for all of us to take that long look in the mirror and make the tough decisions of what we do, how we do it, and how we will survive.  WE CAN AND WE WILL SURVIVE – THIS IS NOT A DOOMSDAY PROCLAIMATION!

But what is clear to me is that the “Stimulus Package” that is sitting in the Senate is not the right thing to do.  That package, which is full of Pork Barrel spending, is nothing more than putting off the inevitable.  Tomorrow is too late to respond to this challenge; we must take it on today. 

Tomorrow I’ll take a crack at what and how I think we should attack the economic problem, but in the meantime, send me your thoughts and concerns.

 

15 years ago, in what seems like another life, I was fortunate enough to experience what we all strive for, having a job that we are passionate about. As the Cross Country and Track & Field Coach at Salisbury University, I experienced that passion.  The hard work and effort it took to assist in building a solid program, coupled with the growth and efforts of student-athletes, striving to be the best they can be, provided an experience that I will never forget.

 

But many of the same rules that apply in building athletic teams, apply in building successful business', business units, and project groups.  The effort, common goals, and teamwork, provide us all with something we look forward to at work.  So as I was digging through some old information, putting together a presentation recently on building strong teams, I came across something that I had written and given to one of those Cross Country teams back in the early 1990's.  As I re-read the poem, it reminded me that the basic principles remain the same when building a successful team.  Surround yourself with the best possible people, those who are willing to work hard to improve and do not fear the hard work needed to be successful, or potential risks of failure along the way.

 

So I thought I would once again share this information with those of you out there looking to build the team that will take you to the next level.  Just remember, that once a teammate, always a teammate, as you will need to hold each other up along the course of your careers.  Work hard, play hard, and remember, "A Champion" is within us all, so let today be the day we all become Champions together! 

 

 

e-Future Consulting Group is pleased to announce a 2 Month Special Offer for the Small to Medium Size Business Owner (SME).  As 2009 is off and running, it is time for your business to have its annual check-up and make sure that it is healthy and prepared for the coming year. Th Business Planning & Strategy Special Offer will allow you to speak directly with an experienced professional from the e-Future Consulting Group Team for two-hours, discussing your business.  This session will assist you in uncovering the challenges and opportunities that your business is facing today and how they should be prepared for in the future.  Beginning Wednesday, Janauary 9th and concluding February 28th, e-Future Consulting Group is proud to assist businesses in their goals of securing a place in the future of business.  This limited time offer also has limited availability, so ACT NOW to secure a time, by contacting info@e-futureconsulting.com. 

 

Additional information can be obtained through the e-Future Consulting Website (www.e-futureconsulting.com), or by clicking on the image below:

 

 

 

To Our Valued Visitors,

 

Just in case you have been wondering what happened to Opinons from a Business Advisor, this blog stopped publishing in mid-May 2008 due to time constraints and business priorities.  I appreciate your allegiance to Opinions from a Business Advisor, and hope to someday have this blog back up and running.  In the meantime, please continue to be a Critical Thinker and use the experiences you gain, whether in Success or Failure, to lead you in your business and personal life.

 

Best Regards,

 

Jerry Thomas

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Our Monday Madness entries are based on what the headlines are in today’s business sections and on topics that peak my interest.  This segment will be a semi-regular Monday entry, and will include links to other blogs and news that I feel are interesting.  So check us out each Monday and enjoy!

Does Age Matter?

While one of the most interesting, entertaining, and ultimately – most important job hunt continues (to see who will hold the title President of the United States of America / Commander in Chief), the one question that we will be hearing more and more often is “does age matter”?  While the Democrats continue to box each other for the right to contend, the Republicans have named their man – John McCain.  If elected, Mr. McCain would be 72 years old upon his swearing in ceremony in January 2009. Is 72 years old to old to run a nation?  Is it too old to run a business?  The debate will prove to be too long and drawn out, it was written about today in the Washington Wire section of the Wall Street Journal by Sarah Needleman in her blog titled “How Old Is Too Old?”, but in my personal opinion the amount of experience counts immensely when you are talking about the Emotional Intelligence needed to be the chief executive.  As a business manager and successful executive, I often turn to those who have many years of experience prior to making decisions that will impact others.  Experience counts – and as long as the individual is healthy and able to perform the responsibilities of the position, then that experience should be seen as a positive and not a negative influence on the final decision.

Economy – How It Is Effecting Our Daily Lives

Alright – enough is enough.  A few weeks back I wrote about gas prices and how it was hurting all of the consumers out there.  On Saturday I filled the tank of our mini-van for a family trip and had to shell out $60!  There really is no end in sight to this, and it didn’t really hit me as hard as when I filled the gas can so I could cut my grass - $19.25 A RECORD!  Now I’ve got to find a way to limit the time I spend on the riding mower in order to eat……where is the sanity in this.

Sports – Congratulations Jim Berkman – Salisbury University

It was a busy weekend in Sports here in the United States.  Yes, the PGA Tour had a recognizable global winner (Thanks Sergio), NASCAR’s top two divisions, the SPRINT and NATIONWIDE series for those of you not familiar with the sport, had top names win, Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart respectfully, (another week gone by without a Dale Earnhardt sighting in the Winner’s Circle). The NBA is deep into their second round, and the home teams held serve, baseball is rounding into form, and for those of you Football fans, the Philadelphia Soul became the last team to lose a game in the Arena Football League this season.  But what excites me the most is that it is NCAA Lacrosse Playoff time, and the NCAA was able to crown a new coach king of the records book.  Jim Berkman, the head coach at Salisbury University for the past 20 seasons, became the all-time leader in career wins with the Seagulls victory over Ohio-Wesleyan in the second round of the playoffs.  Jim has been able to build one of the strongest programs in the country, no matter what NCAA Division you like.  If you want to get more details on Coach Berkman and the Salisbury program, check out the article “327! COACH BERKMAN TAKES HIS PLACE IN HISTORY”. Congratulations Jim and keep the records coming!

 

e-Future Consulting Group is pleased to announce a 2 Week Special Offer for the Small to Medium Size Business Owner (SME).  This offer will allow you to speak directly with an experienced professional from the e-Future Consulting Group Team for two-hours, discussing your business. This Business Planning & Strategy session will assist you in uncovering the challenges and opportunities that your business is facing today and how they should be prepared for in the future. Beginning May 1st and concluding May 16th, e-Future Consulting Group is proud to assist businesses in their goals of securing a place in the future of business.  This is a limited time offer with limited availability, so act now to secure a time, by contacting info@e-futureconsulting.com.

 

 

Now that you have selected the right person or persons to represent your organization to the world, it is time to decide just how you want to sell to your target market.  Having a viable product or service does not guarantee success in the market place, but properly marketing your product and service will serve your business well.There are many ways to develop sales plans, and if I wrote about these ways each day for a year, I would only be scratching the surface.  Critical to your decision process is being able to understand your target market and how they make decisions.  There are literally thousands of books that have been written on “how to sell”, and hundreds of sales training organizations, so if you are at a complete loss here, I would recommend that you do one of these three things:  1) speak with someone you know who is in the business you are in and see how they go about their selling; 2) go to your local library or book store and check out or purchase a few different books on selling and see what fits your organization best; or 3) (and this is my favorite) contact e-Future Consulting Group and we would be glad to sit down with you and assist you in putting together a customized sales plan and process that works best for your organization.

So that we stay on target for this plan, we will make the assumption that you have a product or service that is competitive in its market and that the decision process followed prior to the purchase of the product or service is ranges from simple to complex, depending upon the target customer’s organization. If this scenario sounds like the one you are currently in, I would highly recommend using the Miller Heiman Strategic Selling process.  This sales process is world renowned and utilized by some of the finest organizations across the globe.  The Miller Heiman Conceptual Selling process is also a great process for your organization if you are transitioning from a product-led to solutions-led sale.

There are really no shortcuts to designing and implementing the proper sales process for your organization.  Common knowledge tells us that 80% of the new businesses that come up board each year are gone in less than three years, and one of the primary reasons behind this is that lack of forethought on the business owner to develop and put in place a sales process that is effective at:

¨       Getting in front of the prospects decision maker

¨       Understanding the needs of the prospect

¨       Aligning their product or service as the best solution for the prospects needs

¨       Delivering the product or service in a timely manner, specifically in the timely manner for the prospect

¨       Following through after the sale to make sure the client is satisfied, and

¨       Servicing the client after the sale, by offering valuable knowledge and information on new products and services, or ways to improve efficiencies by utilizing other complimentary products or services that your company offers

For additional information on customizing your company’s Sales Plan and/or Sales Process, contact e-Future Consulting directly by e-mail at info@e-futureconsulting.com , for an analysis of your current situation.

 

The Sales Plan is an extension of the fourth “P”, Promotion.  One of the challenges businesses often face when developing their business plans is selecting the most effective sales channel for the product or service that will be offered.  For instance, if you’re business provides services personally, the individual participation in the sales process can be extensive and time consuming. If the business deals in the production and sale of large quantities of products with limited service expectations, the business will face a much different challenge, as the customers may not know or care who you are.  The importance of understanding the type of business you are and what the product and/or service mix will be is crucial in determining the Sales Plan portion of the Business Plan.

The focus of the Sales Plan for the purpose of this discussion is based on personal selling, where the individual participation in the sales process is needed.  There are a few core competencies that all successful Sales Professionals should have to make the sales process efficient and effective. These competencies however will not make the sale, it is the sales person themselves who engage the prospect and close the deal. The focus on hiring the right sales person is crucial, so make sure that you have identified what characteristics you are looking for from that individual.  If you are going to be the sole sales force, you should still indentify the characteristics and skill sets needed to be successful, and invest in the time and resources in yourself to learn the skills needed to meet the expectations.

Core Competencies of the Successful Sales Professional

¨       Accountability

¨       Achievement Oriented

¨       Action Oriented

¨       Adaptability

¨       Builds Effective Teams (Teamwork)

¨       Builds Relationships

¨       Business Acumen / Information Seeking

¨       Continuous Learning & Self-Development

¨       Flexibility / Versatility

¨       Integrity

¨       Interpersonal Savvy

¨       Leadership

¨       Organizational Awareness

¨       Persistence

¨       Problem Solving

Once you have found the “right fit” for the organization, it is then time to educate them on the product and/or service that they will be selling, provide them with the proper tools (sales brochures, testimonials, competitive advantages, sales presentations, etc.), and give them the support needed to grow your business.  It will be important to spend time with this person, to establish reporting procedures, and to open a two-way communication channel that allows you to see and hear the feedback and desires of the clients and potential clients.

(To be continued)

 

At this point, you have now identified your product and service offering, and your work on the Market Analysis has provided you with a set of potential customers. Now it is time to reach out and grab those potential customers in a targeted fashion.

The Marketing & Sales plan explains how to reach your customers and how you will effectively market your product or service to those customers. This portion of your business plan gives you a step-by-step plan to promote and sell your products or service, providing a timetable for the specific actions to occur.

Traditionally, a Marketing & Sales Plan follows the 4 P’s of Marketing: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.  To keep your plan as streamlined as possible, I would recommend using the four P’s as a guideline, although depending on the complexity of your business and competitive landscape, you may need to delve further into some of these areas.  The development of the 4 P’s is best done through answering a series of questions for each.

Product

¨       What are the goods and/or services that your business will be offering?

¨       How are your offerings better than those against which they will compete?

¨       Why will the consumers choose you to purchase these goods and services from?

Price

¨       How much will you charge?

¨       How will you balance between sales volume and price to maximize your company’s net income?

¨       Will you be testing multiple price points?

¨       Will you be offering discounts, such as volume discounts or introductory specials, and if so, under what circumstances will the discounts be offered?

Note on Pricing – all pricing strategies depend upon a balance of three critical influences: Cost, Competition, and Demand. The real concern for almost all small businesses is to price their product or service at a level that will cover all expenses and that the consumer will accept. This generally translates into a pricing framework that aligns closely to those of the primary competitors, thus your company must provide added value or better quality to secure the business!

Place

¨       Which sales channels are you most likely to use?

¨       Will you sell by telephone, internet, or will your product or service be offered at retail locations?

¨       Which channel will let you reach your target market most economically?

¨       Which channel provides you with the greatest ease of entry against the competition with the least financial risk?

Promotion (Often Includes the Sales Plan)

Once you have determined all of the above, you will need to communicate to your target buyers (consumers). Most businesses will need to use all three of the components of Marketing Communications – Promotion, Advertising, and Public Relations, in some combination.  To do so effectively, you will need to narrow down the available choices and build a communications program that makes sense.  Here are five tips to building such a communications program:

1. Know who the target buyer is. Be able to identify the target buyer in demographic, lifestyle, and other descriptive terms.
2. Determine what separates your product or service from the others within your industry. These differences are the business or brand attributes that the consumer considers in making purchasing decisions.
3. Construct a business positioning strategy statement. Be consistent!  A good business positioning strategy statement will address who the targeted consumer is, what the competitive environment is, and what differentiates your product or service from the competition.
4. Determine the best message to communicate your product positioning to your target audience. Use your positioning statement (above) to create a memorable message.  At e-Future Consulting Group, our message is “Preparing Businesses for Tomorrow”.
5. Determine promotion options and costs relative to your financial situation and budget. Always remember, there will NEVER be enough money for you to do everything you desire, so do the research and use your resources wisely.  Public Relations through local networking groups, Chambers of Commerce, and local newspapers are practical and cost effective. The World Wide Web offers a create variety of ways to promote your business and services, both locally and globally. My personal favorite is to ask for referrals from every single client that you have. If you truly are providing a product or service that is unique and helpful, setting up a program to have your clients provide referrals and compensate them for referrals that become customers is a very cost effective way to penetrate your target audience.

Your Marketing & Sales Plan should incorporate a calendar that ties in your marketing and sales activities.  As your business expands, or as new products and services are offered, you will be able to utilize the calendar to prepare the market in advance as an introduction. 

Sales Plan

As stated earlier, your sales plan may be included in the Promotions part of your Marketing Plan.  However, if you are planning on using personal selling as a large part of your sales strategy, and especially if you are planning on utilizing a sales force, you will need to devote a separate section to your sales plans.  Tomorrow we will expand on the Sales Plan, so check back then.

(To be continued)

 

During your efforts to develop the clear Business Description, the research and data that you uncovered when analyzing the market, you most likely kept thinking of the product and service that you will be offering.  That said, the description of your product or service should be easy, right?  Not so fast, remember that it is your idea and others will need to have the details spelled out to them to get a full understanding of its true value.

Although the product and service description sounds somewhat redundant to the business description, it is important. Be aware though not to over think it. Make the description clear, simple to understand, and show the product or services benefits, applications, and what it means to the consumer.

You will want to start with a clear statement of what the product is or what service your business will be providing.  Focus on the factors that differentiate your product or service from a customer’s perspective compared to what your competitors are currently providing or offering.  Explain what it does, how it works, what its life expectancy is, and what options are available. Make sure not to use internal industry lingo so that persons outside of your circle of influence can understand it. This is very important if your plan is going to be written for an external audience.

Within your description you will provide complete comparisons of your product to your competitors in the market.  This can be done easily through the use of a table with side-by-side comparisons, an example of which is shown below.  This section does not have to be done for all business plans, but is highly recommended if you are seeking financial assistance from an outside source, as it will become a focal point of their decision making process.

Table 1.0: Product / Service Comparison

TECHNICAL SUPPORT	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
External e-mail
Security features
Assignable administrator role
Batch add instructors
Batch add students
Template creations tools
Built-in instructor manual
Built-in student manual
Database

Source: Above information is a comparison of Online Course Deliver Software Products in a study completed by Marshall University found at: http://www.marshall.edu/it/cit/webct/compare/comparison.html

Two other areas to consider for the product and service description are who your suppliers are and what future products or services could be available from your company.  Once again, these are particularly important if you are seeking outside financing or investment, but even if you are not, establishing the supply chain and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your vendor relationships can save you time and energy in the future.   As for future products and services, keep things in perspective and know that the competitive nature of the global economy we live in requires everyone to adapt to change, and your local business is no different.  Embrace the phrase “Change is Good” and use your openness and willingness to change as a competitive advantage for your organization.This is the third step in creating your Business Plan.  You are now well on your way to putting your new ideas into action and creating a business plan that will work as your road map for the organization. You may find it helpful at this point to have someone without the emotional attachment you have to evaluate your plan.  This is a good time to engage an outside mentor or advisor, such as e-Future Consulting Group , to assist in this evaluation.  Unbiased feedback is critical for uncovering areas of risk and opportunity that you may have overlooked, and the small investment in utilizing such a resource pays big dividends in the long run.