I was meeting with a Chamber member yesterday. She has been working on launching her business… for six months. Some would call it a failure to launch. If you where in the software industry it would be a failure to ship. Either way, when you don’t ship, you don’t get paid.

This is not a commentary on her. She has a lot of very good reasons. But at the end of the day she is not making any money and what she is now about to launch is a more refined version of what she was looking at doing for six months. She could have been doing her business for six months as she refined it and made some money. I guess you could say she did not have her “ship” together!

In a brick-and-mortar situation you have rent to pay so it tends to create enough urgency that you get the store open and start shipping/selling/cooking or what ever you doing. In the home-based world it is too easy to get caught up in perfection or building a business model or branding or what ever and you don’t notice that time just goes flying by.

Some of the smartest people I know fall victim to this. They will even create systems to monitor how much they are not getting to ship. Pretty amazing.

How do we fix this? Well, start by setting a date. Make it concrete and make sure it is achievable. Then work backwards from that. Then work like heck to hit that ship date. Guess what. You now have a business!

I read this great article about
5 Guys Burgers in Inc Magazine. What I was impressed with was the fact that Jerry Murrell, who started 5 Guy’s Burgers, went up against the likes of McDonald’s and Burger King and has not only survived but has thrived. How do they do that? By staying true to their core values and no matter how much they get tempted they stay with what has won and continues to win in their business.

So what are your core values that help you to win? Don’t know? You may want to figure it out.

And watch for 5 Guy’s Burger coming to Pleasant Hill soon!

I read a great excerpt from a book about how to look at solving problems.

With the horror of the 2009 economy starting to fade most businesses I know are digging out as if from a typhoon. Income is down, accounts payable is up, customers are asking more for less and after all that we have to compete with the internet and its uber-cheap products from somewhere else. All of this can look overwhelming and when the solution to the problem is “I need more customers but have no money and the economy sucks,” then no reasonable solution presents its self.

What to do?

Rather than looking at solving the whole problem, try replicating what IS working for you. Fact is you must have some money coming in so look at that and see what you can do to boost that activity. I shared the story that Jessica Braverman told about how she had to change her business last year. She ended up having a better year than the year before. Basically rather than solving the big problem, which was a crappy economy, she looked at what was working for her and did those things. Worked for her and it could work for you.

So try looking for what is working in your business and you should be able to thrive even in a down economy. If you need help with tha call me. I have been know to think very differently!

I had a conversation with Jessica Braverman and she was telling me about what she went through about a year ago when the economy really tanked. Here is her story directly:

“My mom always told me that when life hands you a bunch of lemons, it is best to make lemonade. When I was younger, I did not fully understand those words, but since I loved lemonade as a kid, I figured Mom just knew best.

Last year, January 2009 to be exact, I was not prepared, but right after paying out all of my yearly dues, malpractice insurance premiums and licensing renewals etc., I started receiving calls from my clients. They had previously sent me deposit money for trainings I was going to do for their companies in 2009. Now they told me they needed those deposits back and needed to cancel all training. Before long, all the money in my business account was gone. Little did I know, my entire business plan was taking a major detour.

Now, I could have panicked, sat in a dark room with a cover over my head, or worse. Instead, I took those lemons and figured out how to not only make lemonade, but how to make the very best lemonade possible. I called my clients back. I asked them questions about what was going on for them. How was the economy affecting them. I asked them what types of services or resources could I provide to them that would help take some of the burdens off of them How could I help them save money, time, headaches and stay within their new budgets. As they shared with me their new needs, I was able to carve out new offerings that met their needs head on. My clients appreciated my concern about their new business and employment needs. They felt comfortable with me and wanted to utilize my services. I re-created my business plan without training in it at all. Instead, I “offered” those services my clients told me they needed. My entire focus of services changed. Yes, I was nervous at first, but then, my business began to flourish. More business came in for me in 2009 than in 2008! How could that be? My revenue opportunities increased in 2009. Lemonade is pretty good. Even in the winter!

Don’t panic. Instead, look for opportunities. There is always a way if you stay focused, positive and committed to true customer satisfaction. The trick is to remaining flexible and making sure your offerings match the needs of your clients/customers- not vice versa.”

You can reach Jessica at 925-827-4198.

I do like that when she was faced with a crisis she met it head on and completely revamped her business and ended up doing better because of the change!