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Confusion and miscommunication can be detrimental to a business of any size. As a small business owner, you must be aware that you will need to limit the disorganization that can lead to many problems for your company. Since you already have many responsibilities taking up your time, then you will want to find ways to organize without spending too much time working on it.

Remember, every one of your employees needs to be on the same page and they need to be working toward the goal of the business. The plans and visions of your business will be best executed when everyone is working together. How can you create the organization and harmony that your company needs? There are just a few steps that you need to take.

1. Decide what your company vision, mission, and goals are. You cannot organize your employees to work toward something if that something is not in existence. Before you begin working on anything with your company and your employees, you will need to spend time determining just what your business is working toward.

Once you have decided what your company goals are, you will need to put them in writing. This way, at any time, you and your employees will be able to consult it if they need to. Having information in writing is very important to creating organization.

2. Define clear boundaries, roles, and responsibilities. This is an important step in the whole company organization includes organizing each employee. This should include making sure all of your employees clearly know what their jobs and their responsibilities are. Once all of your workers are fulfilling their jobs to the best, you company will be able to come together toward its goal.

3. Set out short and long-term goals for the business. The final step to making sure that your company has a workable plan is to set goals. What you will need to remember is that your company goals are not just for the years to come. You will need to set daily, monthly, and yearly goals. If employees have certain goals to reach each day, then they will be able to follow the company's plan much more simply.

Once you have taken the three steps for your business, you will have the organization and the planning for your company. The last thing that you will need to be concerned about is execution of the plans. As long as you have clear boundaries and responsibilities set, your company will be able to execute plans and goals with ease.

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Cash Flow is the lifeline of all business.  Learn these 5 cash flow basics to keep your business healthy and keep yourself free from money worries!  Enjoying your profits is one of the perks of being a business owner.  Use these basic rules so that you create and maintain the business you've always dreamed of.

1. Control your business’s cash flow.  Most parents control their kids’ cash flow by giving them daily allowances.  It’s a clever trick of old. Weekly and monthly allowances give rise to the possibility that the kid will blow their money on white elephants early on, and they either have to starve or ask for even more money to survive the remaining days. The parents will then have to fork out extra dough to cover their unnecessary expenses.  This will later on be traced back to the early beginnings of a spoiled kid.  Similarly, you need to learn how to control your business’s cash flow. Many entrepreneurs value money but they don’t appreciate the tedious process of dealing with money. Do not make the same mistake! Take charge of your company’s finances.

2. Know your cash flow.  You can’t control your cash flow if you have no idea what your cash flow is. If you already have an accountant (and auditor) to manage your account balances, good for you! If you don’t have one, you might want to consider investing in a professional. You do not even have to hire one on staff if you can’t afford it; you can employ someone on a quarterly basis to do up the accounts.  The professional will be able to give you an update on your company’s status.  It’s unlikely that someone will creep up on you and ask: “What’s your company’s cash flow?” But make it a point to ensure that you have the answer to that question at all times. The answer must also not be dated four years back.

3. Pay and get paid.  Don’t chalk up your debts and put off paying your bills. Pay your bills when you can because you will be charged an interest fee if you fail to do so.  The interest fee looks negligible at first but all it takes is a couple of months of nonpayment before your jaw hits the ground. Financial troubles also spur the growth of white hair on your head, adding to another problem on our list. Be rid of them as soon as you can.  How do you pay your bills? With the money you get from your customers, naturally! Retail shops, merchandise outlets, and F&B restaurants have no problem getting upfront payments from customers. The consumer will find himself in deep soup if he doesn’t pay for the products or service rendered.  However, for businesses that draft up invoices instead of receipts, getting payment can be a headache. Gently remind your customers that it is time to pay up. You have a business to run and you need their money.  How can you help expedite the payment process?  When it comes to billing, make sure your invoice isn’t ambiguous or even dubious. For starters, you should be more specific than merely indicating “miscellaneous expenses”. Include a thorough breakdown on your invoice. It helps to have a payment due date for transactions that happen on a long-term basis. Ideally, your customers will never miss a payment but that is almost impossible. Give them a little nudge.  Consider offering repayment options to your clients.  They could be facing financial lows themselves, and they are struggling to make ends meet. Ultimately, you want to get paid and sometimes it means you have to give some leeway to your customers.

4. Negative signs. Never ignore or brush off a negative sign. Don’t let pride get in your way. Don’t hope that things will look up again without any intervention on your part. Consult your trusty accountants and get them to explain to you why you are seeing negatives. Once you have the answer, do what you can to solve the problem.  If your sales numbers are lackluster, you will need to take drastic measures to counter the situation. Lower your expenses. You might want to cut back on the number of imports. You might wish to reduce the number of manufactured products. This in turn helps you save on resources expenses. Whatever you do, always adjust accordingly and then try to solve the problem.

5. Keep your personal finances out of your business.  It isn’t really embezzlement when it’s your business, right? It isn’t, if the business is wholly owned by you and all the investments came from your own pocket. Unless this is the case, you will need to clear your personal finances with fellow shareholders before you withdraw any funds to purchase that new stereo system for your own enjoyment.  Even if the business is entirely yours, nothing good comes out of mixing pleasure with business. It causes errors and discrepancies when you try to tally the numbers. You are alarmed when you realize you’re missing $200, only to realize two weeks later you squandered the money on an expensive LED digital alarm. This causes confusion for both you and your accountant.  You won’t be able to get an accurate presentation of your cash flow. This gives rise to another problem because you won’t be able to formulate new plans to justify your business needs.

Follow these tips, and you won't waste time worrying about what's going on with your cash flow.  Now you can focus your talents on growing your business, and creating more income!

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Living your soul purpose means taking action to stand in your purpose. Before I left Microsoft, I had already put a downpayment on the building in Alabama where I was going to open a day spa. It was my intention to start my own business and stay in my job. I didn’t have all the answers. I wasn’t sure how I’d manage to do both, but I did know that creating a spa for the community was an opportunity to answer my calling, so I went with it. 

About a month later, I was in Georgia with my family at the time of year when funds are raised to send missionaries on worldwide projects. I gave money to support the cause and effectively gave everything up to God. I left it to Him to let me know if I was doing what was right for me. When I got home that evening, I opened my mail to find confirmation of everything I needed to go ahead with the spa. The following morning, my boss met with me at work, and my relationship with Microsoft was severed. 

My point is that some relationships can be viewed as a considerable loss at first. I hadn't planned to leave my job, but it worked out that way. When you take steps to live your soul purpose, only the things you need to help you fulfill that purpose will remain in your life. The people or things that fall by the wayside were not meant for you.

This is an excerpt from my new book, Sole to Soul: How To Identify Your Soul Purpose and Monetize It, which will be available this month!  To download a free chapter and order, please click here.

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Often times when I initially meet with clients I want to know what are the vision, mission, and goals for their business. How are they accomplishing carrying out their vision? What led them to have this desire to be of service in the manner that they choose? Some clients readily have an answer and a lot of clients do not.

Whether you're starting a business or have an established business it is very important to understand what your vision for your business is and what you are trying to accomplish, what does the future of your business look like. Furthermore, what is the mission, how are you going to accomplish this vision today in order to meet the needs of the future regardless of the economic times? The mission and vision serve as the foundation of your business and it is very critical to always revisit the foundation and the guiding principles that are set out in your business. When you revisit your mission and your vision they should be pretty consistent; however, how you carry out your vision can change based on what is happening in the marketplace. Most likely, you might not need to change your vision or mission but you might need to change your objectives and goals in order to still carry them out.

Following are three key areas that are critical for you to reassess and validate periodically to make sure that you are still aligned with what you wanted for your business in the first place. Furthermore it will help you to recommit and reenergize your vision for your company, your employees, and your clients.

Clearly declaring and articulating the vision of your business can never be underestimated. What is the direction that you would like to go and what is the overall strategy to get there. A vision statement is very strategic and encompasses the guiding principles for a business that can always be referenced when making critical decisions. Your vision inspires not only your business but all who come in contact with your business. Employees, clients, vendors, investors all believe in the future of the business and should be able to easily identify with what guides the business to success.

Secondly, the mission is how your business is executing on the vision today and this should be validated on a regular basis. The mission supports the vision and positions the business to have a quantifiable approach to address how it will support the vision in more concrete terms. The mission focuses on executing on actions that maintain the longevity of the business while adhering to the guiding principles as set out in the vision statement. It clearly states what is your purpose for being in business and what should your clients, employees, and investors expect the business to deliver, how it will be delivered, when it will be delivered, and the benefits of the deliverables.

Thirdly, based on what needs to be updated or revised due to changes in the marketplace, it is necessary to re-evaluate your implementation plan and determine if the plan made up of goals, objectives, and timelines still supports the overall mission and vision in the best way possible.

Lastly, reconnecting with the past and validating what got you started in your business in the first place can position you to work on a future plan to uphold your vision and mission while still being competitive and serving your clients in the best way possible.

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Finding your own source of inspiration makes you unstoppable. Your gift may seem “extreme” to others, and it may make you stand out from the crowd in a way that makes other people feel uncomfortable around you, but if you are inspired from within, outside opinions have no influence. Self-acceptance is a level of bravery, and when you find inspiration, you find your purpose. Nothing will stand in your way.

This is an excerpt from my new book, Sole to Soul: How To Identify Your Soul Purpose and Monetize It, which will be available this month!  To download a free chapter and order, please click here.

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Just as an adolescent's transition to adulthood is packed with bad influences and sidetracks, a business path is laden with financial traps and pitfalls. Think of it this way: a teenager leaning on his vices can always kick the bad habits. Likewise, it doesn’t mean doomsday if your business is strapped, but it sure is nice to be able to avoid stepping into these business potholes.

1. Understand Your Market.  Pouring money into a business without really understanding the market is why many entrepreneurs have to fold up shop. A very simple economics concept: supply and demand. There needs to be a demand for a product before you jump in and supply it. You can have a very unique product, but if nobody wants to buy it, you will just be cutting a loss.  So research your market. Identify the various market trends. Make sure that you research a current market trend, and one that is relevant to where you are living. Spears might be all the rage in tribal camps, but not many modern day yuppies have a use for them. Unless you’re willing to relocate, always make sure your business is important to those around your area. If there’s already a chain of shops selling leather shoes in your neighborhood, you might wish to reconsider your option or take your business elsewhere.

2. Avoid Fleeting Trends.  There are many trends in this world, some of them enduring but most of them merely fads. Unless you’re looking to set up a short-term business, avoid diving straight into the folly of following a trend. The popularity of a fad quickly fizzles out and in the end you will be left with a truckload of unsellable products.  This is not to say you should ignore fads entirely. First, look at a business that allows you to enjoy longevity. During the span of your business, look out for trends that will cut you a share of the pie. You will be foolish not to pick up on these fads and earn yourself short-term profits. The difference is that your business will still run long after these trends die out.

3. Don’t get overconfident.  It’s only human nature to want to celebrate success. Pop a bottle of champagne!  Treat your loved ones to a scrumptious dinner. The urge to splurge begins to crawl under your skin. You are tempted to purchase lavish items for your business, such as a sculpture or an abstract painting. It is a welcomed change, injecting art into an otherwise boring workplace. However, it doesn’t really add value to your office.  Avoid overspending on items that you don’t really need, especially if you still have to pay off the monthly installments. These expenses will only add on to your existing ones. When you encounter the tough times, you will hate yourself for spending money so frivolously.

You can usually avoid financial crisis by taking a step back from your business and thinking about what could go wrong.  Once you know what your challenges are, you can put preventative measures in place to make sure that financial crisis doesn't become your pitfall!

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Advertising is a multi-million dollar lucrative business. It’s also a nuisance when you're trying to watch your favorite TV show! There you are, clutching onto the edge of your couch, just waiting for the drama to unfold and poof! It segues into a quarterly interval of advertisements. You curse and think, “No!  Put the show back on!”- your natural reflexes kicking in as you reach for the remote control…

You’re an entrepreneur; you understand the concepts of features and benefits, right?  Well, you might want to hold on to the thought of switching the channel, and choose instead to obediently sit through that 30 seconds of visual feasts.

Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to fork out thousands of dollars into producing your own TV commercial. But studying the ads is a good way of picking up tips on how to sell your product’s benefits. (Well, it’s either this or tapping into your funds and enrolling in a local university and graduating with a Bachelors in Marketing in a few years.)

Advertising is all about embellishing the benefits. In commercials, chocolates are now personified and can sing and even talk. Suddenly, having a soda in hand means you are bestowed the ability to fulfill your wildest dreams.  Sipping on an alcoholic beverage can lead you to realize self-fulfilling prophecies.

Advertisements make the impossible possible. That is not your job as an entrepreneur.  Such advertisements play on exaggeration and humor to catch the attention of customers.  Advertisements generate buzz and create strong brand awareness. They pique the interest of the consumers. However, the iridescent colors and out-of-this-world treatment ideas are not what you should be interested in.

Telling your customers that your product can conjure mythical creatures is not going to bode well for your business. Convincing them to take your product and jump right out of the window is also not going to be well-received, not even if you’re selling hard, medieval shields.

OK, so here's your homework.  With every advertisement you see on TV, strip it of its fancy execution and bizarre ideas.  What is the underlying message? What is the business owner trying to tell his customers? How do they communicate these benefits to potential customers and feed them the information on the product’s features at the same time?  How do you think the business owners derive at these benefits?  Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you will be able to sit down and think about your own business. Listing the features is a no-brainer activity.  Pondering the benefits  - that can take a while. Relate these benefits to your target audience.

Another reason why I’m asking you to study advertisements is this: you can churn out a very riveting list of features and benefits of your products, but you must know how to use it wisely. Notice how advertisements sell the key benefits in less than thirty seconds. That’s all the time they have, and that’s all the time you have with your customers.  When you earn the initial attention of your customers, it’s imperative that you sell your products’ features and benefits in no more than half a minute. Their roving eyes are already scanning the next shop. Hearing about the benefits will keep their attention on you for a while, so you've got to sell the benefits!

You already know the features and benefits by heart, so it’s easy for you to promote your product. This is where many business owners make the mistake of shooting off their mouths. Always answer your customers directly. Customers ask about a particular feature because that’s the deal-breaker aspect for them.  So in order to make your advertising dollars make, make sure you’ve addressed their concerns before you go on to promote more benefits.

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They are very often ideas that exist only in your head, self-generated beliefs that you may have formed because of past experiences or events that left a mark on how you think. However, the effect they can have on your life is very real. Blockers can hold you back. For example, you may have grown up being told by parents or teachers that you’ll “never amount to anything,” and you’ve internalized those words until they became your belief. 

There’s no real reason for you to hold that belief, but it has been with you for so long that you’ve allowed it to define who you are. Your mind is a powerful tool, so whatever you believe, positive or negative, is what will be manifested in your reality. This means if you’re focusing on a perceived blocker, it becomes impossible to move past it. The only way around or over a blocker is to realize that your blocker is not real.

This is an excerpt from my new book, Sole to Soul: How To Identify Your Soul Purpose and Monetize It, which is available now!  To download a free chapter and order, please click here.

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Do you ever experience problems in your business?  They're like pests, or parasites. They come in unsolicited and unwelcome, and they never fail to leave a mess before they leave.  But before you dismiss them, think about why the problems are happening in the first place. They are there for a reason. Problems arise because of discrepancies. They are signs that something is wrong with the business, and you can't afford to ignore them!

Consider problems as hints to you that you need a revolution or a transformation in the way you run your business. Start with things that you can change. Think: what is it that you are doing wrong or what is it that you are NOT doing, that is causing these problems?  Block off an hour with no distractions, take pen to paper, and take these 3 simple steps to look at ways that you can transform your business.

• Do a business review, before you run into trouble.  You should have a set time of the day or week to objectively evaluate your productivity.  This allows you to strengthen it. Every once in a while, take a snapshot of your business. This allows you to review all the good work you’ve done thus far and assess all the potentially damaging weaknesses. How do you look in this snapshot? Where are you in your business today?  Have you broken even yet? If one of your goals is to make your first million, have you?  How far along are you?

• Now think about your business’s mission.  Are you keeping your business aligned with your mission? If your business’s mission explicitly states that you put your customers first, have you done so? If your mission promises your clients a high standard of quality, have you, to the best of your abilities, ensured that all your clients receive only exceptional service from you?  If your business is founded on observing integrity and trust, are there times when you knowingly shortchanged your customers?  If your honest answers are less-than-desired, take the time to review your business. What are the incidents that triggered your answers? Why did you let that slide? Did you do anything to make up for it? Now in retrospect, how would you deal with the situation so that you can still uphold your business’s mission?

• Now look to your relationship with your clients. Do you have a mutually beneficial relationship with them? Are you on a first name basis with your repeat customers? Do you treat all repeat customers like first timers, not because you give them the same kind of royal fanfare but because they all look the same to you? Do you send festive cards or thank you notes, even coupons to your loyal customers, courtesy of your company?  It’s time to transform your client relationships and make them work for you.  It’s easier and cheaper to maintain an existing client than to gain a new one.  Don't assume you know why they buy from you - leave it to your customers to tell you what it is they like about your products.  Once you know the answer, you can capitalize on this.
 
It’s important for you, as an entrepreneur, to know your strengths and weaknesses so that you can understand the solution that you can bring to the table for your customers. This will help sustain your business and keep your customers coming back to you. When you can articulate this superior solution, and be willing to transform your business when you need to, you can keep your customers happy and win over new ones!

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People who can help you to hold yourself accountable include:

• Mentors – Reach out for a mentor. Connect with people who are already living their soul purpose; learn from their insight and perspective to help you move forwards.

• Coaches – A coach is someone who can help you become the best you.

• Advisors – An advisor is someone who can advise you by providing additional knowledge, information, and experience.

• Consultants – A consultant is someone who can help you bridge the gap between knowing what your goals are and achieving them.

• Mastermind groups – Mastermind groups are groups of people who come together to provide support for each other by sharing experiences. 

Who you need depends largely on your personal style and preference, but you need people who will support you in everything you do and help you to stay focused. Everybody needs somebody; it’s very hard to do everything on your own. You have your vision and your way of providing your soul purpose, which will bring you abundance, but there are always ways to get better. 

To be better at being you and to be better at providing your best service, you need to have someone or something you can integrate into your life to make sure you’re holding yourself accountable for making a difference. This is also something you need on an ongoing basis, which means that whether it’s a good day or a bad day, you always have a way to pull yourself back and be supported in positive manner, allowing you to keep on moving forward.

This is an excerpt from my new book, Sole to Soul: How To Identify Your Soul Purpose and Monetize It, which is available now!  To download a free chapter and order, please click here.

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