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Casual Articles - Reading the Traffic Signs to Guide Your Business to Success
I am always shocked by how many potential Franchisees go and start the discussions with Franchisors and start to carry out due diligence without first having set some goals for their new business.Imagine going and looking at new cars to buy, test driving them, discussing the finance options before you even decided your basic needs for a car. For instance how many seats do you need, what kind of driving will you be doing long distance or short commuting.So before you start to look at which will be the best buy franchise, you really need to set out some high level goals for your new business venture.Do a home budget (this is worth doing even you are not looking at starting a business). What are your monthly fixed out goings, fixed are thing like mortgage, insurance etc. Then list out your variable outgoings such as food, entertainment and so on. You should now have an idea of exactly how much profit you need to make each month to carry on living as you are.Try and decide what is going to be your exit strategy, I know it sounds strange but unless you intend to work until you die you will need to decide an end point for your business.How long do you want to run your business for? Until you retire? Or
Many people talk about business strategy but have a great failure to realise exactly what this is - is it surprising that a great deal of business people have a huge problem discussing this when they do not exactly know what this is!Questions that should be asked may include the determination of the fact that is there even a strategy in existence or if so, is this the correct one? Additionally, how do we determine what a strategy is and how does one go about developing one?It is important when developing strategy to look at some of the issues and why a chosen path can go wrong-if one keeps doing the same thing, one will get the same results.Many complaints about strategy range from the fact that it is difficult to determine, it gets messy and unfinished, and many people involved either do not contribute or attempt to dominate proceedings and a general feeling of the future and the failure of any future chosen path.Broadly speaking, some schools of thought hold with notion that there are three main reasons for a failure of strategy.Managers often fail to realise what these differences are; business schools talk about corporate-centre strategy and business-unit strategy. Business-unit strategy is for contro
Just like traffic signs give us information, employees provide signs that give us information too. But employees are often subtle and hard to interpret, or we are not tuned in to looking for the signals, so we miss them. Let’s look at some of the signs your employees might be displaying. Your ability to tune in to these messages and adjust your activity will lead to success as you reach toward your objectives.
SPEED LIMIT 70
This is a good sign to see. Your employees are fully on board with your program or plan and actively support it. They understand the mission and are aligned with it. When asked to explain what the leader is trying to accomplish, they respond in the proper fashion, almost as if it were their own plan. At 70 mph there is still time to react to sudden dangers, to make mid-course corrections, and to interact with other stakeholders. This sign is characterized by a unity of purpose, a dedication to the mission, a sense of urgency, and a willingness to be creative.
Don’t confuse this sign with a situation in which there is no speed limit at all. While we want our employees to be productive, moving full speed ahead, they must know what they are working toward and, when possible, have a hand in crafting the vision.
STOP When your employees give you the stop sign, you have simply gone too far too fast and they are unable to follow you for now. They need something to be able to continue. You need to determine what that something is. They cannot or will not continue until you adjust what you are doing. This adjustment is difficult. First, you have to recognize that they are showing the stop sign, then you have to figure out why. Often that means you must take time to ask questions, a skill in itself, to get their input. In some cases, they may need a simple clarification, but in other cases, they may not agree with your course of action and you will need to persuade them to adopt what you want to do. In some cases, they may require training, while in others, they may need simple reassurance. The best way to get them moving depends on the re
IntroductionWhen I received an SMS message from the Abu Dhabi Police, I was a little surprised. It was in Arabic, so I couldn't read it, but I quickly had it interpreted and it was a reminder that my motor vehicle registration was due to expire soon. I was pleasantly surprised. Surprised that a country that is incredibly paper bound in some areas, is doing something to overcome paper warfare and move gradually to electronic communications in others. It certainly doesn't happen in my home country, Australia, registration renewal still arrives in the mail.This got me to thinking about the work I had done to make my home-based business (and the rest of my life) as paper free as possible and details of those strategies follow.Central to this activity is Adobe PDF as you'll see.Electronic CommunicationsI've streamlined my marketing and general communication activities to the extent that I rarely produce a communication in hard copy format. I've eliminated postage, envelopes, paper and having to line up at the post office by doing almost everything via email, telephone or electronic fax.My account with an Australian-based fax service provider means that I can email a fax anywhere in the world 24/7 from my l
SPEED LIMIT 70
This is a good sign to see. Your employees are fully on board with your program or plan and actively support it. They understand the mission and are aligned with it. When asked to explain what the leader is trying to accomplish, they respond in the proper fashion, almost as if it were their own plan. At 70 mph there is still time to react to sudden dangers, to make mid-course corrections, and to interact with other stakeholders. This sign is characterized by a unity of purpose, a dedication to the mission, a sense of urgency, and a willingness to be creative.
Don’t confuse this sign with a situation in which there is no speed limit at all. While we want our employees to be productive, moving full speed ahead, they must know what they are working toward and, when possible, have a hand in crafting the vision.
STOP When your employees give you the stop sign, you have simply gone too far too fast and they are unable to follow you for now. They need something to be able to continue. You need to determine what that something is. They cannot or will not continue until you adjust what you are doing. This adjustment is difficult. First, you have to recognize that they are showing the stop sign, then you have to figure out why. Often that means you must take time to ask questions, a skill in itself, to get their input. In some cases, they may need a simple clarification, but in other cases, they may not agree with your course of action and you will need to persuade them to adopt what you want to do. In some cases, they may require training, while in others, they may need simple reassurance. The best way to get them moving depends on the re
Wholesale brand name clothing is the product category that most flea market vendors make their money with. While this means that having access to wholesale clothing can help a flea market vendor make money, it also means that there will be plenty of competition in the flea market for it.Here are tips specifically geared for flea market vendors that sell brand name clothing.Flea Market Brand Name Clothing Sales Tip #1Separate according to price point. Have your booth set up so that you distinguish between your higher and lower priced brand name clothing. This way a customer will not be turned off by high or low prices.You can always direct your customer to the price point that he or she is comfortable with.Flea Market Brand Name Clothing Sales Tip #2Prominently display the tags and labels. By prominently displaying the tags and labels you are showing your customers the brand names you are selling. Customers have been known to buy clothing simply because of the brand name, so it is important that they see the brands you have for sale.Flea Market Brand Name Clothing Sales Tip #3Let them know your clothing is genuine. Customers know that genuine brand name clothing is of a higher value than the brand name
Don’t confuse this sign with a situation in which there is no speed limit at all. While we want our employees to be productive, moving full speed ahead, they must know what they are working toward and, when possible, have a hand in crafting the vision.
STOP When your employees give you the stop sign, you have simply gone too far too fast and they are unable to follow you for now. They need something to be able to continue. You need to determine what that something is. They cannot or will not continue until you adjust what you are doing. This adjustment is difficult. First, you have to recognize that they are showing the stop sign, then you have to figure out why. Often that means you must take time to ask questions, a skill in itself, to get their input. In some cases, they may need a simple clarification, but in other cases, they may not agree with your course of action and you will need to persuade them to adopt what you want to do. In some cases, they may require training, while in others, they may need simple reassurance. The best way to get them moving depends on the re
Choose carefullyYou will want to choose people who know you, and often you are asked for both work and personal referees. It's a good idea not to choose relatives, they don't carry much authority. Ideally choose people who are professionals with a good reputation. Former employers carry the most weight, also key suppliers and customers who can vouch for the work you do. Referees are sometimes telephoned and if they can clearly give examples of your achievements it is worth gold!Get their permissionAsk general permission from them before you start your job hunt. You don't need to contact them each time, but you may want to remind them you are still looking if the job search drags on, or you are slow to start. By asking permission, you will show your respect for them and their busy schedules. Although most of the time many will be happy to help you in your career search, some previous employers or university academics may not wish to participate. Respect their wishes: a half-hearted testimonial is worse than no reference at all!Brief themDo they know what you have been doing in your current and previous jobs? Do they know what you are applying for? It can help to let the
STOP When your employees give you the stop sign, you have simply gone too far too fast and they are unable to follow you for now. They need something to be able to continue. You need to determine what that something is. They cannot or will not continue until you adjust what you are doing. This adjustment is difficult. First, you have to recognize that they are showing the stop sign, then you have to figure out why. Often that means you must take time to ask questions, a skill in itself, to get their input. In some cases, they may need a simple clarification, but in other cases, they may not agree with your course of action and you will need to persuade them to adopt what you want to do. In some cases, they may require training, while in others, they may need simple reassurance. The best way to get them moving depends on the re
Lately, advertising specialties have come to be used as a strong advertising medium. Among them, custom printed advertising specialties has come to be the main stay for a lot of advertising needs. Any promotional item can be customized with your logo, tag line and message.It is a good idea to opt for custom printed advertising specialties because of a variety of reasons. The brand recall of such an idea is unique and long lasting. For instance, if you give a pen with a custom printed logo and message as a gift or promotional item to your customer, he or she will use the pen for a long time. Every time he/she uses the pen, he/she will be reminded of your product/brand and thus the brand recall is increased. Secondly, an advertising specialty, which is based on the type of product or brand that you are trying to project, will not only increase brand recall, but also strengthen the brand idea in the consumers mind. For example, if the product to be advertised is a health drink, giving a coffee mug with your message and logo on it would mean that whenever the customer uses the mug, there is an instant brand recall. In this case, since the cup and drinking go together, there is a strengthening of the brand idea of a health drink as well.Of course, c
YIELD
Slow down; you are moving too fast. Your employees are not at a standstill here, but they are unable to fully support you. This sign means it’s time for active listening on your part. Again, you need to question people and react accordingly to get them up to speed. There can be several reasons for this sign. It is often seen in the downsized, fast-track world of today. “Yield” on the road means there are things coming together and you need to give way to the others to avoid a collision. In organizations, this potential collision can come from multiple agendas and multiple priorities.
DETOUR
This sign says the employees are working their own plan and — although they support the ultimate goal you have articulated (a successful project) — they are not using the means and methods you want to use to get there. As organizations adapt to changing market demands and implement new procedures, this situation is increasingly problematic. A glaring example is the senior employee who delivers profitable work but leaves a wrecked relationship with the other stakeholders – internal and external. The company professes to value integrity and caring, long-term relationships, but it does nothing when this person “does what it takes” to make money and trashes relationships.
Another manager may be great at producing work. However, he is stifling growth and initiative by his “my way or the highway” style. Yet the company says it values creativity and development of subordinates. In both cases, each employee has their own way of
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