Category: business strategies

I recently celebrated my birthday in Sedona – a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona.

Sedona’s main attraction is its array of red sandstone formations. The formations appear to glow in brilliant orange and red when illuminated by the rising or setting sun.

Start with scenery that makes your heart leap. Sedona nestles among a geological wonderland. Multi-hued stone formations jut upwards from the high desert floor creating a vivid, mesmerising setting that changes hourly with the light. When USA Weekend compiled their Most Beautiful Places in America list, no surprises that Sedona claimed the top spot.

Surrounded by 1.8 million acres of national forest land, visitors have instant access to recreational activities. Trails for hiking and biking, along with bouncy jeep tracks, weave among the bristling forest of pinnacles, spires, buttes and domes.

Sedona has inspired me for a decade, its sheer beauty, magnificence and it is a great place to reflect and expand your thinking.

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A good friend, spoke to me this morning and discussed the quote: “Sometimes life is about risking everything for a dream no one can see, but you”. Powerful words, but exactly how many of us genuinely would risk everything for the dream?

By the way, I speak with words of wisdom on the subject, for those readers who have read my first book ‘Freedom after the Sharks’, you will know that this book was written on the basis of a non-fiction and true story, at the time this book was published and still today you will find very few authors very rarely explain the true journey of their life, I have never truly understood why people want to erase or try to forget adverse experiences, (by the way, research shows that you cannot choose to forget or erase life experiences) these are the very moments that we learn and whilst we may not understand why we are being forced in a certain direction, through these experiences we will build strength of character.

If your life choice is to leave a relationship, move to a new city or change country, leave a secure job or to set up a new business, many of us find ourselves facing big life decisions with little or no tools to help us make the best choice.

Sure, you can ask family and friends for their opinion, but often you leave those conversations more confused than when you started, you will always be the adviser with the most wisdom, your intuitive self will always have the right answer, whether you choose to listen or not.

You have a natural knowing within you that transcends logic, reason and experience and most definitely other people’s opinions. The problem is that most of us haven’t been taught how to access or trust our inner wisdom.

Because in my experience, whether I succeeded or failed was irrelevant once I was clear that the path I was taking was truly what was driving me as a person. I owned it and knew with 100% certainty that no matter what happened, I made the best decision for me, in life I have never had any regrets only life experiences that has made me the person I am today.

Whether life is telling you to be a Fighter Pilot, a Michelin chef, an Accountant or the world’s next Fin-Tech billionaire, you will need to ask yourself a few questions…..

Do you have the experience or are you prepared to retrain for your quest?
How hard are you prepared to fight for what your heart’s desire? Being truly successful means putting in the work to forge ahead. For careers that require qualifications, for the entrepreneurially minded it means rolling up your sleaves, working all hours and sacrificing the little luxuries until your idea/s begins to fly. Climbing the career ladder? Be prepared to start at the bottom and anticipate doing your fair share of tasks, tenacity, determination and nerves of steel are a prerequisite.

Have you just woken up with the big idea?
Success is born out of passion and there is no easy answer, no short cuts. It will be harder to reach than you first envisage. What are your strengths? What are the activities that make your heart dance, what drives you as a person? What profession motivates so much every day that you would never want to stop, regardless of your age and retirement?

The power of the relationship
Your friends, your colleagues, your associates and your loved ones need to support your idea/s their commitment and support is an imperative. Making things happen also means being a part of the business community, you need to introduce yourself to many people. Whether it is making contact with prospective employers, scouting for clients and collaborators, attending networking events or promoting yourself online, people need to know what you’ve got to offer if they’re going to help you succeed, and you absolutely need a mentor and confident.

Finances
The Idea/s are powerful but you need to have a roof, pay bills and food. If you are starting your own business then sooner or later you are going to going to need to generate invoices and the management of actually being paid. This can leave you in a tight position to get things up and running without a proper runway for operating and this is where many people and business ideas fail. The solutions are as varied as the challenges. You could look to friends and family, angel investors or seek loans or grants, do go to my website and download the free capital raise handbook for business development and growth, http://www.hsbusinessmanagement.com/

Maya Angelou once said:

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”

I recently had breakfast with a senior partner of an exceptional accounting firm in London, he is a personal friend and associate, we often meet to discuss many strategic topics and met to discuss my new book, “Meaningful Conversations”. During the course of breakfast we decided to focus on one of his questions: ‘What is the most valuable commodity we all have today?’ The answer I gave was ‘time’.

So, what exactly is time and how do we qualify time?

According to Wikipedia, Time is the indefinite continued progress of existence and events that occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future. Time is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to compare the duration of events or the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change of quantities in material reality or in the conscious experience. Time is often referred to as the fourth dimension, along with the three spatial dimensions.

Actually, time is something none of us can get more of, so the management of time is one of the most important aspects of what you need to do as a purposeful leader.

One of the best analogies you can use in your company regarding time is asking your employees to equate one hour of time to one pound. When I was in corporate management, I would ask my directors who entered my door:
1. Is that a one pound decision?
2. One hundred pound decision?
3. Or a one thousand pound decision?
If they would answer option 3 they could take a seat.

It really is helpful to look at your time just as you look at investing your money. Because, in essence, you are looking for the same result: you are looking for the best return on your time.

Taking this thought process one step further, let’s ask the question, “Who am I spending my time with?” All too often, managers spend their time where the problems are, not where the results are. While we need to deal with problems, we want our focus to be on results. Our job as leaders puts us in a position where we have to deal with problems and poor performance. But we need some parameters to help us understand both the issue of time and the investment of time.

One of the most touted management/leadership teachings out there is: “Spend 80 percent of your time with your top performers.” Another is: “Your team should be measured based on the 20 percent top performers, 70 percent role players and 10 percent poor performers.” In theory, I agree. But I think these teachings fall short. Not enough is written, or taught, about the critical 80 percent of your workforce and how to improve their performance through minimum performance standards.

Time is seen in a particularly different light by Eastern and Western cultures, and even within these groupings assumes quite dissimilar aspects from country to country.

In the Western Hemisphere, the United States and Mexico employ time in such diametrically opposing manners that it causes intense friction between the two peoples.

In Western Europe, the Swiss attitude to time bears little relation to that of neighboring Italy.

Thai’s do not evaluate the passing of time in the same way that the Japanese do. In the UK the future stretches out in front of you. In Madagascar it flows into the back of your head from behind.

Let us begin with the American concept of time, for their’s is the most expensive, as anyone who has had to deal with American doctors, dentists or lawyers will tell you.

For an American, time is truly money. In a profit-oriented society, time is a precious, even scarce, commodity. It flows fast, like a mountain river in the spring, and if you want to benefit from its passing, you have to move fast with it. Americans are people of action; they cannot bear to be idle. The past is over, but the present you can seize, parcel and package and make it work for you in the immediate future. In the U.S. you have to make money, otherwise you are nobody. If you have 40 years of earning capacity and you want to make $4 million, that means $100,000 per annum. If you can achieve this in 250 working days, that comes to $400 a day or $50 an hour. With this orientation American’s can say that their time costs $50 an hour. Americans also talk about wasting, spending, budgeting and saving time.

This seems logical enough, until one begins to apply the idea to other cultures. Has the Portuguese fisherman, who failed to hook a fish in two hours, wasted his time? Has the Sicilian priest, failing to make a convert on Thursday, lost ground? Have the German composer, the French poet, the Spanish painter, devoid of ideas last week, missed opportunities that can be qualified in monetary terms?

The Americans are not the only ones who sanctify timekeeping, for it is practically a religion in Switzerland and Germany, too. These countries, along with Britain, the Anglo-Saxon world in general, the Netherlands, Austria and Scandinavia, have a linear vision of time and action. They suspect, like the Americans, that time is passing (being wasted) without decisions being made or actions being performed.

These groups are also monochronic; that is, they prefer to do only one thing at a time, to concentrate on it and do it within a fixed schedule. They think that in this way they get more things done — and more efficiently. Furthermore, being imbued with the Protestant work ethic, they equate working time with success: the harder you work — the more hours, that is — the more successful you will be and the more money you will make. This idea makes perfect sense to American ears, would carry less weight in class-conscious Britain, and would be viewed as entirely unrealistic in Southern European countries, where authority, privilege and birth right negate the theory at every turn. In a society such as existed in the Soviet Union, one could postulate that those who achieved substantial remuneration by working little (or not at all) were the most successful of all.

Richrd Lewis who wrote “When Cultures Collide” has a view that in countries inhabited by linear-active people, time is clock- and calendar- related, segmented in an abstract manner for our convenience, measurement, and disposal. In multi-active cultures like the Arab and Latin spheres, time is event- or personality-related, a subjective commodity which can be manipulated, molded, stretched, or dispensed with, irrespective of what the clock says.

“I have to rush,” says the American, “my time is up.” The Spaniard or Arab, scornful of this submissive attitude to schedules, would only use this expression if death were imminent.

In a Buddhist culture (e.g., Thailand, Tibet), not only time but also life itself goes around in a circle. Whatever we plan, however we organize our particular world, generation follows generation; governments and rulers will succeed each other; crops will be harvested; monsoons, earthquakes and other catastrophes will recur; taxes will be paid; the sun and moon will rise and set; stocks and shares will rise and fall. Even the Americans will not change such events, certainly not by rushing things.

Cyclic time is not seen as a straight road leading from our feet to the horizon, but as a curved one which in one year’s time will lead us through “scenery” and conditions very similar to what we experience at the present moment. Observers of cyclic time are less disciplined in their planning of the future, since they believe that it cannot be managed and that humans make life easier for themselves by “harmonising” with the laws and cyclic events of nature. Yet in such cultures a general form of planning is still possible, for many things are fairly regular and well understood.

As a business leader, you must understand the value of making a time management decision on where to spend your time to get the most beneficial results for your company. Your top 20 percent will always perform at a high level, and you do need to devote time to coaching them to even greater success. That’s a very good use of 80 percent of your time and effort. The other 20 percent of your time, focused on the remaining 80 percent of your workforce or team, should be used to establish, communicate and promote the minimum standards for working at your company. The message you want to communicate is, “You have to work at a certain level if you want to work here.” You must clearly establish that you no longer allow employees to come to work and just exist without being accountable to minimum standards.

If you adopt this concept, you will find that 80 percent of your employee base will contribute to the growth and success of your company or department, and your top 20 percent performers will be inspired to try even harder. The point is, your top performers will always perform at a high level. You do need to invest your time with them to coach them to even greater success. Using the remaining 20 percent of your time to raise the standards of the other 80 percent of your employees will create an environment of incremental growth through your largest body of employees.

What is the conclusion around the true worth of time?

My belief is, know your value and do not accept being treated in a way less than you deserve. You must have realistic expectations, demands and a sense of entitlement. I am saying that as an individual you need to be treated the way you treat others, and vice versa. The minute you negotiate your self-worth and accept less, you say to the universe that you do not deserve any better, and the vicious cycle/patterns will start to begin. Change for yourself and of course, friends and partners are a great mirror reflections that help you grow.

Finally, time is not money, the truth of the matter is ‘the time is money’ adage has got us all into a lot more trouble than we realise. Because we live our lives based on the misleading premise that time is money, we attempt to do more in less time. We begin to confuse activity with productivity, as if the ‘doing’ will grant us ‘being’. Inadvertently, we jump on the hamster wheel, running as fast as we can with a competitive mentality about the clock and what it supposedly represents in our lives and in the lives of others. We have a negative relationship with time that gives us a sense of time starvation instead of abundance. Even our precious vacation time is not immune from the time-money equation.

This quote is an inspiring reminder:

“But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you, you love, well, that’s just fabulous.”

In August I was invited by a good friend of mine who is an international wine expert to the beautiful golden wine mile in Spain.
The Spanish wine region of Ribera del Duero is one of the most prestigious wine producing areas in the world. Ribera del Duero´s vineyards blanket across the Duero river’s banks. This is the land of the “Conquistadors” and castles and ruined fortresses punctuate the dry arid landscapes throughout the region. The most impressive is Peñafiel, shaped like a battleship and located majestically on the top of a craggy hill. Mythical wines made here include Vega Sicilia, Pingus, Abadia Retuerta, Pesquera, Viña Mayor, Emilo Moro, Carmelo Rodero, Pago de Carrovejas, just to name a few and we did visit all the vineyards, including tasting from the barell. The famous “Golden Mile” in the Ribera features some of these wineries and some of Spain’s most expensive wines.

The good news when travelling through Spain was that we had hours to talk about practically anything and everything, including putting the world to rights.
My friend is also the Chairman of the International Federation of American Football Europe Technical Commitee and General Manager of the International Federation of American Football World Development Team, which I find incredibly interesting, he finds my world completely alien to his world of wine and sports, so lots to discuss I said, and he laughed.
He said winning is beyond important in Spain, look at soccer and Real Madrid. The team claim every important soccer prize in the Spanish professional league, as well as in European club competition.
Here in Spain, fútbol (soccer) is like a religion,” he says. “When Real Madrid plays a game, Real Madrid has to win,” he says. “There is no other option in our minds. This is part of representing our shirt, our emblem. When our players walk on the pitch, they know the only result is victory.

I started to think about the same synergies in business, as your business evolves and your needs change, your organisational structure must be flexible enough to meet those needs. If your business is demanding an excessive amount of your time with no goal in sight, you may want to recruit some of the following winning strategies into your business structure.
Your team may have a captain, but that doesn’t mean all of the decisions should be limited to that one person. In start-ups, the majority of decisions are handled directly by the CEO. But as the size of your business grows, the line of authority in making quick decisions needs to expand to meet the needs of your in-house operations and outside customers.
If a play stops working, smart players change it.
A well-timed hat-trick may score big at a pivotal moment in the game, but when circumstances on the field change, so must your strategy for continued success. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs try to maintain their initial organisational structure despite stark growth or industry shifts within the company.

Your structure is only as good as the people operating within it and how well they’re matched to their jobs.
As your business grows, it’s important to monitor the abilities of your employees to be sure there is still a good fit with abilities and responsibilities.
Recognising there are some departments that should remain in close connection with the executive level, such as financial decisions, accounting, and high-level human resources, many of the day-to-day decisions can (and should) be handled by your mid-management team.

Typically, on the field, forwards don’t communicate much with the goalkeepers. That is because their roles require focus on different things. Similarly, in a healthy business environment, different departments are given the ability to focus on their own goals.
By allowing your mid-management the latitude to gauge the commitment levels and abilities of their team members, they can restructure the perimeters of a job’s duties to best serve the satisfaction of valued employees and contribute to the overall success of the company.
By providing leadership that encourages growth, encouraging checks and balances between departments, maintaining strategic adaptations to changing business structures, and matching the ideal person for the ideal job, you are primed and ready to score in your business.
The obligation of ownership creates more of a public trust feeling than running any other business. The ownership group has the responsibility for the long-term viability of the franchise. It has to make bottom-line decisions that are best for them. But the last thing the fans care about is a discussion about profitability. They only want to win.”
In sport you want to win, in business you want to succeed, both disciplines and principles have the desire for entrepreneurial spirit.

As Vince Lombardi once said:

“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.”

There are always businesses competing against you for your customer’s attention. It really is not enough to have a website, blogs and content on social media and wait for customers to come to you. You have to distribute your customers with information they care and which you are proud of, in today’s economy you need to make a difference and consistently add value.

This is why case studies are a great marketing example of your integrity and work. Businesses can use them to show how their product or service has been implemented successfully by their own customers instead of simply talking about their products.

Below you find a case study on one of our previous customers, without our support and on-going transformation of their business, the company would not have realised its full potential through objectives and financial goals.

The Client
Our client is a company that supplies travel safety service and incident management across the whole planet via the two global satellite systems, was seeking funding to enable the rapid growth opportunity identified within their 5 year plan, to be realised. This service enables business travellers, sportspeople and remote inhabitants in all parts of the World to summon assistance when in danger, hurt or just lost. It even enables concerned parents to track their student offspring in their travels after graduation not to mention military applications.

This unique offering requires funding and a sound management team to realise its full potential. HSi brought considerable experience, a network of key resources and management coaching to enable the potential investors not only realise the opportunity for capital growth but also to be inspired by an enthusiastic, purposeful management team. Support in building the company and a global network of Response Centres to ensure effective growth, meet demanding shareholder expectations, and fulfil its customer service response expectations, the company after our SWOT analysis required a complete redesign and build.

An Organisation designed for Growth
Confidence in the management team to achieve the business plan was an essential pre-requisite for securing the funding.
Following a detailed examination of the essential business processes required to drive the business, the key positions were identified and job descriptions defined as well as the nature of recruit to best fulfil the role. This also included the various Joint Ventures. The other core process is cash management as it is essential that the funds were re-distributed to the appropriate components of the manufacturing process, and synchronised the production flow and mix to satisfy the demand from the sales groups, in a way that catered for high-demand and rapid growth.

Helping their clients enhance services to their own customers
Most of the larger clients provided the Company’s products to their members as a client service or added security for their property.
HSi helped them define the most appropriate marketing approach to address the large volume prospects thereby enhancing sales productivity and direct registrations on the network.

To support the new management process, HSi have supported and delivered to the management team to a new organisational structure with defined resource levels, clear roles and responsibilities and training as well as new methods of performance management. In addition, focused training and coaching will help the whole team develop an integrated service ethic to deliver the most effective and sensitive service to their clients when ‘that call’ comes in wherever around the World.

Meeting the Business Need
Continuing support from HSi has enabled the Management team not only to achieve the required fund raising but also design, build and manage an effective organisation to deliver their own aggressive plan and eventually lead to stock market placement.

Performance