Pilot Fish Personal & Professional Development, LLC
Prosper on Purpose
Putting the “FU” in FUN!!
“Nothing is more terrible than activity without insight.” Thomas Carlyle.
The Academy of Leisure Scientists, a group of academics who study time use, has determined that we get the most satisfaction from leisure activities that are difficult and challenging. It’s best for us to put our time into activities requiring high levels of physical and intellectual energy.
Treasures & Focus!!
An interesting new book addresses the power of commitment. Commitment is the strategy utilized to match your aims. Consequently, it may be raised or lowered accordingly. In her book, Commit to Win, author Heidi Reeder, PhD (©2014, Hudson Street Press) draws upon decades of research to create an equation for commitment made up of four variables. Dr. Reeder expresses commitment as follows:
By the way, the “F” word is FOCUS!
Do you have shiny object syndrome? Are you an opportunity junkie? In other words, do you find it hard to focus on the core mission of your business because you find other opportunities constantly distract you?
Have a set of core principles for your business, and be mindful of when you step away from them.
Core principles are like the soul of your company. These are the foundational truths by which you perform your work and conduct yourself as an entrepreneur. Even if you are a lonely soul, sitting in the basement in your boxer shorts, clicking away on a computer keyboard, you have a company culture, if only by default. The reasons for having core principles, a culture of choice, are legion. When you peek at the writings of entrepreneurial thought leaders on this topic, you often see discussions of ethics and morality. While no one doubts the necessity to conduct a business, much less a life, as a responsible citizen, human being, and spiritual entity, with this final mutable law, I instead submit three nuts and bolts reasons why core principles matter.
Happy Thursday!
Here are two principles for you to ponder and PUT TO USE!!
These two principles are beautiful in their clarity and simplicity. But don’t let their short but sweet nature fool you. No other principles that we have set forth in this series are more important.
One of the snares that catches some entrepreneurs is overemphasizing revenue. Yes, revenue is important. Without dollars coming in, there can’t be anything coming out. Sometimes, however, our definition of growth for our business values gross more than net.
My team and I have worked with entrepreneurs of all shapes and sizes. There have been those enterprises that grew to $1 million plus in annual gross, thereafter kicking out several hundred thousand a year to a founder. There were also smaller concerns that despite less impressive sales, were able to return an even higher percentage of dollars to the owner.
But we have also seen businesses that gross $1 million per year, and pay out $90,000 of that to the top dog. Then there are the boutique firms that pull in $100 grand and manage to net $90,000.
Of the latter two examples, which entrepreneur do you think might have less headaches and more satisfaction from his or her business?
Congratulations! Your business has done well. Youʼve grown your firm to the point where youʼre working way too many hours, but getting rewarded in that the revenue stream is steady and impressive. You feel you are ready to obtain help. This is a big decision for an entrepreneur.
So now you reach that question. Who do you hire?
Many entrepreneurs start with hiring family. Spouses, children, and similar folks can be good choices. In theory, they should be as committed to your success as you are. Of course, there are downsides to hiring family, as you well know by reading this blog and other content on this website.
Another common choice of the newbie entrepreneur for the first employee is a friend. Like family, friends can be incredibly helpful to you. A good friend could become a good employee. But if kids and other family can be minefields or missiles, friends, who are sometimes referred to as your family of choice, can have similar propensities.
Many of us are not familiar with the name Vilfredo Pareto, although we know of his work. Pareto, an Italian economist, plied his trade from the late 1800s until his passing in 1923. He came upon the principle or rule which bears his name when he noticed that 20% of the world’s population earn 80% of its income. Further investigation found that this 80/20 principle held across many areas of economics: for example, 80% of the privately held real estate belonged to 20% of the populace; 80% of the peas in Pareto’s garden came from 20% of the pea pods. Thus, Pareto’s Law was born. Most of us know this Law by its more common moniker, the 80/20 Rule.
Pareto himself was not without controversy. Mussolini believed that Pareto’s Law, or the 80/20 Rule, supported the establishment of fascism. Nonetheless, modern thought leaders find the 80/20 principle to be ubiquitous in analyzing many business structures operating in market-driven economies. For purposes of applying this principle to the small entrepreneur, any political or policy discussion will be set aside. Much like the theories of Einstein can be used to understand the harmonies of our universe or to create horrific nuclear-powered weaponry, the Pareto principle is extremely helpful in its most benign form — helping the small entrepreneur succeed.
In its most raw incarnation, the 80/20 principle is a concept of leverage. For the small entrepreneur to make a go of it, she must be incredibly efficient. The big boys — the Fortune 500 companies and even the midsize firms — can out research, outspend, and out staff every small business. The smaller player must use every advantage and trick in the book to carve out a profitable niche.
One advantage that the entrepreneur may have over the bigger company is that her entire staff — usually herself, if this is a solo entrepreneur situation — is incredibly motivated to bring in business. As we all know, motivation levels can vary in a firm that employs 3632 workers. But the very advantage our small player enjoys can sometimes work to her detriment.
The mantra of the small entrepreneur is “get business, get business, get business.” The problem is that in our businessmanʼs eagerness to seek revenue, he sometimes forgets to be selective about the type of clientele that is being attracted. What the 80/20 rule teaches us is that 20% of the clientele of the average business is an inappropriate match to that company. Indeed, the small entrepreneur will find that 20% of his clients take up 80% of his time. Or, 20% of his revenues come from clients that take 80% of his time. Either way, what is occurring here is a mismatch between company and client.
Perhaps the client is high maintenance, is seeking a service that is not efficiently provided by the entrepreneur, or is one that the entrepreneur is treating as a “loss leader” in hopes of securing a bigger deal. In any case, oftentimes the better approach is to understand addition by subtraction. If the small entrepreneur fires some of his clients, or declines to work with them in the first place, what actually happens, through the efficiencies of time, is that our businessman winds up making more money in the long run. Are you running a business or chasing dollars?
Please understand that the suggestion to fire or decline clients makes no value judgment upon the person or business that is seeking your product or service. Sometimes this rule can be hard to implement because you genuinely enjoy your interactions with the mismatched client. Weʼre not saying these clients are “bad” in some way; weʼre simply saying they are better served elsewhere. Isnʼt this capitalism in its most pure form? Allow a customer or client to pursue a product or service where is most efficiently provided.
Again, like all of our mutable laws, you can create whatever exceptions work best for you. Perhaps you serve a client because heʼs a relative. Perhaps sheʼs a childhood chum. Or perhaps he is someone that has become more friend than client over the years, and you enjoy your interactions with him, despite the fact that itʼs not an economically beneficial relationship anymore. The beauty of being a small entrepreneur is you get to choose with whom you work. And isnʼt that freedom part of the American Dream in its pure form as well?!
The day you start to plan your business is the day you start to plan your exit strategy.
What if the time has now come for you to leave your business behind permanently? You may be selling your business, retiring from your business, moving on to another business that you want to create, or moving on to a time that you may relax and enjoy the fruits of your labors. Consider the following hypothetical situation: Joe was a great financial planner. He attracted and retained a nice mix of middle-class and wealthy clientele.
Joe made a good living from his business. But his business employed only himself. It made it difficult for him to take time away from his office. Moreover, he was very good at what he did. His clients were extremely loyal to him, and as he grew older, he heard more and more nervous jokes about how he had better never retire because they could never find another like him.
But the day did arrive when Joe decided he needed to exit. He thought about selling his financial practice. When he analyzed what he might receive from a sale with a business consultant, he found that because he was such an integral part of his firm, that the price he might receive from the sale was shockingly low. So instead, he decided he would retire.
Joe discovered that if selling a business is a difficult thing to do, retiring and shutting down a business can sometimes be almost uncharted waters. He soon found himself mulling over how to handle this transition. He had a licensing authority and a regulatory group who had guidelines for how to handle retirement issues. Moreover, he felt a certain sense of loyalty to his stable of clients. He wanted to afford them the opportunity to transition gently and over a reasonable period of time. Joe decided to do a six-month transition from active practice to retirement. He contacted his clients, posted notices on his website, and made referral sources and others in the community aware of his decision.
The next six months were extremely difficult ones. Some of Joe’s clients were resentful that he was leaving. Some still wanted him to continue to manage their funds even after retirement (“can’t you just take care of me?”). People who called the office who were referred to him didn’t understand that he was no longer taking on new matters. Some clients were very proactive, and understood they needed to obtain a new financial planner, and did so in a very methodical fashion. Others decided to wait until the transition was almost at its end and then scrambled, causing Joe himself to scramble. There was a lot of confusion over how the relationship of an advisor to clients’ accounts could be transitioned to a new person. There was confusion over records that Joe would be required to maintain that he could not give to the new planner. Finally, as clients knew Joe would no longer service them, they felt less obligated to pay for his services.Receivables, which were never a problem for Joe before in his business, started to mount.
In short, Joe’s decision to transition gradually, feeling it was the best for him and for his clients, wound up being a logistical nightmare.
When you decide it’s time to exit from your business, whether you would be shutting it down and retiring, or whether you have a business that you can sell, you can expect that the transition to ex-entrepreneur may be a rocky one. Even a sale would not necessarily alleviate all the concerns that our friend Joe faced in his choice to retire. Most of the time when someone purchases a business, they expect and in fact will require the seller to work side-by-side with them for a period of time. No matter which direction you choose for your exit strategy, it will likely not be a quick nor peaceful transition.
Contrast this with our corporate cubicle curmudgeon. If he decides that work sucks, an e-mail that gives the requisite two weeks usually does the trick. Okay, if you’re a higher-level employee — an executive, or such — you may give a longer notice. Nevertheless, the bottom line is that if you truly want out, it’s a lot simpler to leave a job than to shut down or sell a business. If you’re really frustrated with your employer, you could even walk out the front door, never to return. This option rarely exists with a business you have created and operate.
What if the reason you need to close down or sell your business is due to health? Most often when we think exit strategy, we think sale or retirement. Another element that should be factored into the entrepreneur’s plans is disability, health concerns or other calamities. With a business you often have a complex web of contracts, leases, and obligations to suppliers, customers and clients. Simply because you want to retire, sell, or get sick, or even die, doesn’t mean that web disappears.
The bottom line is that the exit is part of the entrance. If you’re going to create a business, how will you one day leave it behind? If you want to sell it, are you creating something that’s salable? With rapid changes in the marketplace, an enterprise that exists for decades is becoming a rare bird. You may need to take into account technological obsolescence or other factors in determining the “shelf life” of your entrepreneurial baby. And what if you get sick or pass away? Sobering thoughts, but nonetheless ones that may enter into your business plan.
You’ve seen the titles on books in your local bookstore or on library shelves. Perhaps you couldn’t sleep one night, and the half-hour infomercial proclaimed this loudly. Or, you even received a solicitous e-mail, flyer or similar communication from an information-seller.
What is the title, proclamation, or solicitation of which I speak? It is various individuals trying to tell you that they have a “secret” to a business that will make you more successful than your wildest dreams.
There are stories of the accidental entrepreneur, or the person who stumbled into the opportunity where she can work five hours a week and spend most of her time running to the bank to make deposits. There are also stories of people who cash the big lottery tickets. My view is that neither is the norm.
But, I will tell you the secret to entrepreneurial success. I know, I should be selling this in a book that costs a lot, and is really centered around this one idea. This is the one idea that while it won’t guarantee your success, it will give you the best chance. Are you ready?
The secret to success in starting a new business is . . . Hard Work.
There are not too many real lazy man’s way to riches out there. If you ask virtually every small business owner what she had to do to make a go of her concern, the responses will be varied, but with a common theme. Keep plugging along. Just do what you need to do. Put in the time. Make it your number one focus. Stay honed in on your goals and you can reach them.
You have the man who emigrated from his homeland to the United States, started a submarine sandwich shop that’s open seven days a week from 6 AM to 10 PM, and he’s there virtually every hour of every day.
You have the contractor who specializes in kitchens and baths, and who walked through neighborhoods on foot rubber banding flyers to thousands of doors.
You have the real estate agent who attends every networking meeting she can find to make more contacts in the community in which she wants to establish herself.
You have the musician sending out hundreds of e-mails, recording demos, and pounding the pavement looking for gigs. All of these newbie entrepreneurs are ramping up their businesses using old-fashioned sweat. It is the secret to most entrepreneurial success. You have to work hard. Sorry self-help books and informercials. There are rarely shortcuts.
If hard work is the secret to ramping up your business, then work-life balance is the secret to sustaining it.
I hear the howls of protest. I simply don’t understand your business, and the fact that you must work 80 or 90 hours a week to make a go of it. And while it’s true that this mutable law has exceptions — during start up, or periods of time that are critical to accomplishing tasks or projects for your venture or specific clients — I will acknowledge your protest and respectfully disagree with it.
At this point, I could entertain you with a plethora of quotes from various sages. You know you need to stop and smell the roses. You know you need to enjoy the ride. You know the words of wisdom gleaned from Jesus Christ to Albert Einstein.
But here’s the real truth. Even if you are a hard-nosed businesswoman, and are willing to affix your proboscis to a grindstone day in and day out, refusing to cater to the whims of those less committed than you, consider this.
Social scientists inform us that those who refuse to balance their work self with a personal life have an incredibly high risk of burnout. Burnout is problematic for most small entrepreneurs, and an unmitigated disaster for the professional. Want to have the burned-out surgeon perform your procedure? I thought not!
Bottom line, if you don’t pay attention to the life side of that elusive balance, you may do a disservice to your clients, quit prematurely, or worse yet, find yourself imperiled by physical, mental, or emotional distress, leading to serious problems. You understand that hard work is necessary to launch that business and make it a success. You need to further understand that to sustain that success long-term you need to pay attention to work-life balance. Failure to do so could cause both you, and your business, to flatline.