One proven business strategy to increase sales is to create awareness of all the hits and misses that the business experienced during the previous year, quarter or month. Hits speak for themselves as actual invoiced dollars, new clients, or referrals. However, misses go beyond the lost sales from day to day operations and include all proposals and potential opportunities.

When working with clients through a proven strategic planning process, I have discovered that many small business owners lose sight of all of the misses because they become so focused on the day to day activities resulting from the hits. This behavior is referred to by some as working in the business instead of working on the business.

Now is the time before a fresh year begins to track all of your misses along with your hits. Take four lined sheet of paper and identified each sheet as:

• 2006 Opportunity Hits
• 2006 Opportunity Misses
• 2007 Opportunity Hits
• 2007 Opportunity Misses

Then draw 5 columns on each sheet and label them as follows:

1. Number: Number begins with one and continues with each opportunity
2. Date: Actual date that you realized that you lost the opportunity
3. Name: Client’s name, project or opportunity. Sometimes opportunities are not just signed contracts or submitted unsuccessful proposals, but extend to such opportunities as speaking events, being a guest columnist, making contact with all referrals, etc.
4. Revenue dollars: Compute the revenue dollars achieved or no
   Brands- Buzz- Brains
   Strong brands prompt strong brain reactions. Radiologists are proving what marketers have been preaching for decades.Dr. Christine Born, a radiologist at the Ludwig-Maximillians University in Munich conducted a series of MRIs exposing 20 adults (upscale for income and education) to logos of strong and weak German brands. The results, reported in the Wall Stre
   , quarter or month. Hits speak for themselves as actual invoiced dollars, new clients, or referrals. However, misses go beyond the lost sales from day to day operations and include all proposals and potential opportunities.

   When working with clients through a proven strategic planning process, I have discovered that many small business owners lose sight of all of the misses because they become so focused on the day to day activities resulting from the hits. This behavior is referred to by some as working in the business instead of working on the business.

   Now is the time before a fresh year begins to track all of your misses along with your hits. Take four lined sheet of paper and identified each sheet as:

   • 2006 Opportunity Hits
   • 2006 Opportunity Misses
   • 2007 Opportunity Hits
   • 2007 Opportunity Misses

   Then draw 5 columns on each sheet and label them as follows:

   1. Number: Number begins with one and continues with each opportunity
   2. Date: Actual date that you realized that you lost the opportunity
   3. Name: Client’s name, project or opportunity. Sometimes opportunities are not just signed contracts or submitted unsuccessful proposals, but extend to such opportunities as speaking events, being a guest columnist, making contact with all referrals, etc.
   4. Revenue dollars: Compute the revenue dollars achieved or n
      Stakeholder Analysis - Management and Engagement
      If we are involved in managing change, we will come across the terms Stakeholder Analysis, Stakeholder Management and Stakeholder Engagement. So what is the difference between these three concepts? Let’s take a look at some definitions from dictionary.com.To Analyseto determine the elements or essential features of to examine critically, s
      of all of the misses because they become so focused on the day to day activities resulting from the hits. This behavior is referred to by some as working in the business instead of working on the business.

      Now is the time before a fresh year begins to track all of your misses along with your hits. Take four lined sheet of paper and identified each sheet as:

      • 2006 Opportunity Hits
      • 2006 Opportunity Misses
      • 2007 Opportunity Hits
      • 2007 Opportunity Misses

      Then draw 5 columns on each sheet and label them as follows:

      1. Number: Number begins with one and continues with each opportunity
      2. Date: Actual date that you realized that you lost the opportunity
      3. Name: Client’s name, project or opportunity. Sometimes opportunities are not just signed contracts or submitted unsuccessful proposals, but extend to such opportunities as speaking events, being a guest columnist, making contact with all referrals, etc.
      4. Revenue dollars: Compute the revenue dollars achieved or n
         The Importance of the Unreasonable Man
         Almost every person in the world takes a certain pride in being a reasonable person. They will make prudent choices based on their background and attitudes. The safe decision minimizes the chances of being wrong. No one likes to be wrong.The safe decision, however, carries little upside reward benefits. You are expected to pay your bills. Pay your taxes. Driv
         ed each sheet as:
         • 2006 Opportunity Hits
         • 2006 Opportunity Misses
         • 2007 Opportunity Hits
         • 2007 Opportunity Misses

         Then draw 5 columns on each sheet and label them as follows:

         1. Number: Number begins with one and continues with each opportunity
         2. Date: Actual date that you realized that you lost the opportunity
         3. Name: Client’s name, project or opportunity. Sometimes opportunities are not just signed contracts or submitted unsuccessful proposals, but extend to such opportunities as speaking events, being a guest columnist, making contact with all referrals, etc.
         4. Revenue dollars: Compute the revenue dollars achieved or n
            Turnaround Finance - Solution by Vultures or Angels?
            An injection of turnaround finance involves saving a potentially insolvent company from irreversible insolvency and returning the company to a stable financial and operational position. The objective is to achieve this whilst maximising creditors' interests and the interests of employees, managers and shareholders. Popularised by such media productions as Dragon’s D
            that you lost the opportunity
         5. Name: Client’s name, project or opportunity. Sometimes opportunities are not just signed contracts or submitted unsuccessful proposals, but extend to such opportunities as speaking events, being a guest columnist, making contact with all referrals, etc.
         6. Revenue dollars: Compute the revenue dollars achieved or not achieved regarding this opportunity
         7. Impact: What was the potential measurable financial impact to the organization? This impact may be the infusion of new revenue, additional expenses, reduced buying leverage, lack of dollars to make capital purchases such as technology, etc.

         Then take the two sheets labeled 2006 Hits & 2006 Misses and begin to list all of your opportunities. (You make require additional sheets). Upon completion review all pages to determine what actions that you could have take to turn each hit into a home run and each missed opportunity into at least a hit. Commit the appropriate goals to writing to ensure that in the future you work smarter not harder.

         With the two other remaining sheets entitled 2007 Hits and 2007 Misses, file those at the front of your strategic plan and set a goal to update this list every week in 2007.

         Using the Hits and Misses strategy helps you to achieve the words of John Foster Dulles who said The true measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem, but whether it is the same problem that you had last year.