There is an often-misunderstood expression that less is more. In business as well as life we tend to fill open space and time. 1/5 Open space – we tend to fill it, always at a cost, both financial and clutter. 2/5 Open time – during slow times we fill with activity to “feel” productive. Often with activities yielding minimal value-adding return. 3/5 Once space and time are filled, rarely are the low-return activities stopped or the cluttered space cleared. 4/5 For rapid gains, evaluate current activities for value-yield – drop the low yield and direct focus on the high-value yielding. 5/5

To take your business from here to “there”, have an idea of where “there” is – a mental image of how your desired future state might look. In concepting your desired business future state, add detail to your mental picture. With a detailed mental image of your desired future business state, begin plotting a course to making it a reality. In plotting your course for making your business vision a reality, identify 3 – 5 essential areas of focus that will have the greatest impact. For each focus area on the route to your vision, develop actionable next steps to keep you on course moving forward and upward.

When facing business stress points use 5-whys to find the root cause and treat the cause with a remedy that aligns and can be built upon. A business stress point is a limiting constraint. Find and fix the root cause and capacity will expand. When feeling stuck or at an impasse, reframe making even a subtle change, to open new insights and possibilities. In today’s dynamic business environment embrace intentional and structured change to stay ahead of the curve. Keep you team pulling in sync. Anything less diminishes potential and is wasted opportunity.

What 3 or 4 things will you complete this week that will move you closer to achieving your goals? Review your goals and objectives daily to keep your priorities focused and on course. Chart relevant measures and review weekly to indicate the progress and effectiveness of your aligned next-step actions. Have your remained focused through the week, on completing those 3 – 4 actions, moving you closer to achieving your goals? Close your week with a review: What goal-focused actions were completed? What got in the way? What specific actions will be taken next week?

Dissonance indicates low-hanging fruit, a great place to make rapid business gains. Seek out errors, run to them. Don’t avoid them. They are the easiest way to improve the system. When an error is identified, drill down to find the root cause; correct that and the error will likely not reoccur. People want to follow a leader. They will follow that person who has a confident vision of the future and a roadmap to get there. Without a vision and confident leadership, commitment and enthusiasm will be minimal.

5th of 6 steps in leveraging business problems – Choose the strongest options and develop action plan for implementation. 6th of 6 steps in leveraging business problems – Develop relevant measures to show progress and effectiveness. Don’t be afraid to have your ideas challenged. If they hold up when verbalized and under vigorous debate, they’re likely well grounded. Taking a few minutes prior to a meeting or appointment to consider your desired outcome and anticipate objections is calming and yield greater results Doing things for your customers, not to them; viewing them with empathy, putting yourself in their shoes, fosters partner relationships.

Attack waste – that’s anything that adds little or no benefit or value and keeps you from doing what does add value or benefit. 1st of 6 steps in leveraging business problems – Identify the stress point and go beyond the obvious to the core or root cause. 2nd of 6 steps in leveraging business problems –Get the facts, real facts, & don’t rely on perception, go to where the stress is being felt. 3rd of 6 steps in leveraging business problems – Define what the ideal solution or desired outcome looks like. 4th of 6 steps in leveraging business problems – Develop action options with pluses & minuses for each.

When planning or starting a small business, the risk is not in what you know but in what you don’t know. Following are four essential areas of considerations that provide real-world perspective for a successful startup with fewer surprises. Whether providing services, projects, or products, the considerations are the same and the examples can be easily adapted. Expense considerations: What will be the monthly business expenses? Advertising & promotions, insurance, banking fees, rent, utilities, loans… (include prorated amount for payments made quarterly, semi-annual and annually) What will be your personal monthly income requirements? (incl. salary, taxes, healthcare…) If selling product, the cost of materials must be factored What is the minimum monthly income required to cover all expenses? Business Expense + Personal Income + Cost of Materials = Minimum Monthly Income required Example: $2,000 + $5,000 + $1,000 = $8,000 Customer considerations: How many customers/clients, at what fee/charge, will be required each month to cover all expenses/costs? Required monthly revenue = # customers X $s per customer Example: $8,000 monthly revenue = 80 customers x $100 per customer How will you obtain required # of customers at the required $fee to meet the minimum revenue requirements each-and-every month? Resource (time) considerations: What amount (%) of your available time will be committed or consumed obtaining customers? (prospecting, networking, creating sales message and mediums, sales call…) What amount (%) of your available time will be committed or consumed doing necessary administrative work? (bookkeeping, invoicing, pricing, quoting, scheduling, customer service…) How much of your total time will be available for performing billable or income generating work? Total % available – Obtaining customers % – Administration % = Billable work % Example: 100% - 40% - 15% = 45% *200 hrs./mo. – 80 hrs./mo. – 30 hrs./mo. = 90 hrs./mo. Only 90 hours per month available to generate billable work. *(assumes 20 work days per month at 10 hours daily) Capacity considerations: How much revenue will your (current or proposed) business system be able to generate? Example: 90 billable hours per month X $100 billable per hour = current potential 90 hours X $100 per hour = $9,000 total revenue per month, $108,000 annually Note: The above calculation assumes the total available hours are producing billable work. This is seldom the case, especially at the start. At 50% billable hours, total revenue would be 45 hrs. X $100 = $4,500/mo. Knowing monthly financial obligations, customer count and revenue requirements, time demands, and revenue producing capacity will provide a realistic picture of what to expect and what to prepare for.

Measure your progress and effectiveness (actual vs. goal) with simple and timely metrics that support your strategy. The greatest value of timely and relevant metrics is not to look back at what was, but to look forward and to next-step actions. Use weekly progress and effectiveness metrics to guide conscious & subconscious actions, decisions and behavior for greater value creation. Use timely measures as the guardrails that keep you on the straightest path to achieving your goals and objectives. Consistent tracking of relevant metrics with disciplined & intentional actions are a great source of motivation and satisfaction.