In life and in business people will tell you what you can and can’t do. & #8232;It seems there are those with limited mindsets all around us and we can easily fall into the trap of going with the flow
‘It’s too hard!’ or ‘It hasn’t been done this way before’ … Therefore it can’t!
These people are revealing their own limited thinking, or they may be operating from their own comfort zone. Their small mindsets haven’t been stretched or enlarged. So when you decide to do something different or risky, like launch a product, add another retail store, change a service, or establish a larger vision, you’ll find at least ten percent of people will either oppose you or disagree with you.
In fact Robert Kennedy said & #8232;
“One fifth of the people are against everything all the time.”
Far better to have the type of mind that looks at what can be done.
“We just keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”& #8232; Walt Disney
Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.”& #8232; Isaiah 54:11
This month I’ll give you a few examples of negative mindsets I’ve run into over the years, they might trigger some recognition as you read.
Competitor mindsets:
People with a mindset that focuses on the competition around them end up constantly comparing themselves, worrying about how they will keep up or keep their market share. In retail, in the service industry, even manufacturing and production areas. Constant worry about losing customers or sales to another company instead of moving ahead with focus on what will build business (Churches too can be guilty of this!).
Focus on competitors will cause you to:
•Copy each other’s ideas (watch how quickly other companies copy Gloria Jean’s Coffees new drink recipes with similar ones of their own)
•Copy each other’s advertising strategies (even the ones that don’t work!)
•Lose your point of difference – the very things that set you apart in the market
•Lose direction & move away from your own vision
Learn to be a leader in your arena and let everyone follow you.
Media mindsets:
The media always wants to generate stories with attention grabbing headlines. You can present the facts to reporters and they can still publish or broadcast stories that are totally contradictory. To them, contradiction and controversy are what make great stories, sells magazines and newspapers, and attracts viewers or listeners.
I heard this morning that print & TV media in the UK are in dire economic straits. It seems no one is buying advertising during the economic downturn!
What a surprise! These same media have been publishing economic doom and gloom for months and now are reaping the rewards – people believe their bad news and stop advertising!
•Learn to find and celebrate the good news. There are some great success stories still being published (often hidden at the back of the paper).
•Stop reading or listening to negative media reports.
•Get some positive input. Meet with positive people, read & listen to encouraging material.
•Feed your spirit. Don’t just rely on external things to keep you motivated, build yourself up on the inside. Make sure whatever faith you profess relates to your life and builds you up giving hope rather than bad news.
Family, Friends and Colleagues mindsets:
& #8232;There are so many people close to you who will tell you what you can’t do. They have mindsets about you and your business (or your Church involvement) which often don’t line up with your vision in life.& #8232;When we purchased the international rights for the Gloria Jean’s Coffees brand (and the supply) and signed the agreement in 2005, some of the comments we received were:
“You can’t run that from Australia!” & #8232;
“What about the different cultures and customs?”
& #8232;
“What about the languages?” & #8232;“What about the distance?”
& #8232;“How are you going to supervise it?” & #8232;“How are you going to protect your brand?” & #8232;
“What about government regulations?”
All these comments and cautions were valid. They were right that the risks were very high. But we went ahead and did it anyway, despite the mindsets. We have been able to open Gloria Jean’s Coffees in more than thirty five countries at current count. We have a brand that is growing internationally. We have done all the things we were told we couldn’t do. Yes, there are issues and there are obstacles. Yes, there are mountains to climb. But it’s the same in every business and in every situation. Watch out for any family, friends and business associate mindsets that tell you what cannot be done.
•Face the challenges step by step. There is always an element of truth in these mindsets but they can be overcome.
•Don’t be impatient. One of my failings is that I like things to happen ‘Now!’ I am still learning to take time to get things right.
•Don’t let these mindsets to steal your dream or destroy your relationships. These are people who care about you, however haven’t done what you are doing. Do your best to bring them on the journey.
How To Improve Your Cashflow
Having positive cashflow in a business during changing economic times is critical if you want to stay in business. A large portion of business owners we work with want to grow their business in revenue and in customer numbers but a large number of these would go into a negative cashflow slide if they did this.
& #8232;& #8232;If you experience cashflow tightness then it would be hindering your ability to grow and expand your business as well as maintain your business. Yet cashflow is one of the easiest areas to improve as you are only dealing with 6 small areas of your business: & #8232;& #8232;
Pricing can be a sore point during these times as people are looking to gain more sales and discounting can be seen as a method to do this. Discounting however is a sure fire way to decrease cash and put your business into a free fall where you are always chasing cashflow through volume. & #8232;& #8232;
Volume sales are the most costly as you have to spend money to get more customers and the more customers you deal with the more it cost you to operate your business BUT you have less money as you have discounted. & #8232;& #8232;
Value ad is a much better way to build business. & #8232;& #8232;
A large number of businesses have too much money tied up in their Accounts Receivable when they don’t need to. Asking for the money up front is an easy way to improve Accounts Receivable, taking 30 day accounts down to 14 day accounts is another way and placing a person on the phone to collect money owing is a must. & #8232;& #8232;
Accounts Payable is a little more dangerous to work with but if managed can work a treat in the improvement of your cashflow. If you are paying your suppliers earlier than required e.g. their payment terms are 30 days and you are paying them in 14 days then you can start paying in 30 days and this will release cashflow back into your business. & #8232;& #8232;
Most businesses use this as a default and keep stretching their suppliers out further and further. Be wary of this strategy and get advice from your business advisor first.
& #8232;& #8232;Inventory will normally increase as your business grows, however this will be at a disproportionate amount. A lot of businesses see their stock holding growing slightly faster than that of sales and as a result they are placing much needed money into stock and paying undue amounts of tax on the growth portion of the stock holding. & #8232;Stock can be shifted down by bundling one item with another, focus on selling the stock via sales targets. Remember that a rep selling you stock gets paid more if they sell you more they don’t care if you need it or not so be wary of reps with special deals, volume deals etc. & #8232;& #8232;
Cost of Goods and Expenses are easy to improve ... it’s a simple matter of asking for a better price; cutting out areas you don’t really need to spend money on. Go through your list of suppliers and ask each of them to reduce the price you are paying ,this will be an interesting exercise for you. & #8232;
Go through the large line items on your expense sheet and see how you can reduce each area. & #8232;& #8232;
Don’t run With The Pack & #8232;
During these changing economic times your market is shrinking e.g. less people are looking to buy or people are looking to buy less. So it is important for you to look at expanding your market size. Most of your competitors will be shrinking their spend on marketing and sales and this will give them less of a shrinking pie and as such they will start to discount to try and increase revenue through volume sales.
& #8232;& #8232;This factor is bad for them and good for you. & #8232;& #8232;
You need to be spending more on marketing (wisely) and more on sales but without the discounting and with more personal service. & #8232;& #8232;If you are unsure of how to do this then you need to get help from your business advisor as a matter of importance if you want to take advantage of the current situation. & #8232;& #8232;Remember that there are always people making money during a downturn.& #8232;The following article was supplied by Icon Business Solutions (www.iconbusinesssolutions.com) of which Tony Gattari is an accredited advisor
Author Resource:
Tony Gattari of Achievers Group is a business keynote speaker and guest speaker. His passionate enthusiastic style makes him ideal as your next sales speaker, marketing speaker or keynote speaker. Tony Gattari has worked with over 120 businesses. See http://www.achieversgroup.com.au for more info.
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/rss.jpg "XML Feed For RSS")