Be Adaptable

I love to share my lessons learned through this venue. Regardless of who else sees it, it has helped me to understand where I am in my career by thinking about situations and what lessons I can learn from them.

A great lesson--which always seems like deja vu--of this quarter has been that when things don't seem to be going the way they were expected to go, change. For instance, at the beginning of the year, I wrote of wanting to open a drop-in center. Since I do not own a bank, I decided to launch small, then grow. When that idea didn't work, I changed the concept to provide the same service but in a different way, like having a drop-in center on location for special events. This concept catches the attention of anyone I have mentioned it to, but it's still in startup mode. I have never been so excited about something in my career as I am with this. The vision I have for it is will create such an impact on my family and community... I'm so excited!

The moral of the story is - having to make a left turn when you really want to make a right isn't the worst thing in the world. Adapting to the situation but retaining the essence of and goals for what you want to do can still be a freeing experience. 

What are some situations in your business where you had to adapt and it changed your life?

The Chain of Revenue

Over the last few weeks, I have been reviewing the services my company offers and where the greatest potential sources of revenue are. Determining my company's value chain and its place in it will allow me to better explore where I can capture a higher profit margin or even determine a new service/product offering, to enhance the service I provide for my clients (and capture more revenue).

The value chain can best be defined as the link of activities involved in creating, distributing, and maintaining an end product or service. These activities range from the acquisition of raw materials to providing after-market service. This business framework was made popular by Harvard professor Michael E. Porter in his book Competitive Advantage.

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Hello 2010!

Today represents the first day of posting to Cardinal Rules in 2010. After a short break, I bring to you a continuation of my last post - my initiatives for 2010. Listed below are a few of my goals with limited detail. I am excited (and nervous) about each and the prospective results that will come of them.

1. Buy Local Program - I am exploring the creation of this program for my home city. There does not seem to be one here but it seems that one would do well here. Also, having a business directory like this would support our population much more beyond sourcing needs. I will have this proposal completed in first quarter 2010.

2. New Business Concept - I am developing a new concept for a drop-in child care facility. Again, there are not very many facilities dedicated to this service located in my home city. My parents used this concept when I was young and I thought it was really fun. In the last few years that I have been here, I have encountered many moms who desperately needed this type of service but had to find alternative means to care for their children (including bringing them to work). The closest center to my area of town is 20 minutes away.

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The Risk of Failure

The risk of failure has probably been one of my biggest hurdles throughout my career. I have created successful programs and received recognition for them, but there is much more happening in my little brain than I let on. I have so many ideas all within the premise of my personal mission:

To leave a legacy which will enrich the lives of others in my community, to bring my community closer to prosperity, using my God-given talents and spiritual gifts – all to magnify the glory of God and edify his kingdom.

I wrote this mission in 2002 and still believe in it today. The "how" is what I have struggled with since that writing. I have put in time and learned so much since then... I know my calling is in entrepreneurship...


So back to my original topic - I have many ideas for what to do with my time in 2010, I just have to get out

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Review and Renew in 2010

Any current business owner should have gone through the goal-making process for your next fiscal year by now, especially if that begins in January. If you're a procrastinator like I can be, maybe you have not done this yet. Honestly going through a process of assessing the current state of your business, identifying any issues and needs, then planning for the next year is a vital process for company growth. I plan to have a solo company retreat on Sunday to really assess YB Consulting and all the other pieces of my career path to understand what I really want to do in 2010. If I do not do this, it will hurt my business and future plans which ultimately hurts my family -not an option.

If you think your company does not have goals, you are mistaken. There are a few basic goals that all businesses will choose from in their next fiscal year:

• Grow Revenue. Revenue growth can be accomplished through increasing current sales and/or adding a new product or service. It may require the addition of new resources but this could be a good thing.
  
• Reduce Expenses. Expense reduction can be a difficult task. It may involve reducing the products or services you offer, changing suppliers or even the quality of supplies, relocating your place of business to a cheaper venue, maybe even reducing your staff.
  
  
  

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Business Trends in 2010

So you are interested in starting your own business but are unsure of where to start. Maybe you are not loyal to your current industry and want to start fresh. Or you know your industry has opportunities, just are unsure of what is best to pursue now. Well, Entrepreneur Magazine published a great list of the top business trends that are thriving in this economy. When you look at the list, it is in line with other top lists regarding the best jobs to pursue in this economy.





Trends include:

1. Taking advantage of industries that are currently in chaos. Finance, real estate, healthcare - these are all industries that have taken or will take a beating over the year. There are exposed vulnerabilities that smaller companies (i.e. start-ups and other entrepreneurs) could take advantage of if they plan strategically.
2. Green. This industry has been growing over the last couple of decades but may have finally received its due in this one. Rising energy prices and greater concerns about global warming drive the green industry to become more popular than before. Even if you open a practice specializing in helping businesses in this industry, you will likely have your pick of customers.
   

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Entrepreneurship in 2010

January is a time when many people decide to pursue new goals and include business ownership as a priority. Business support professionals will receive calls from more people who want to start their own business in January than in any other month of the year.  Entrepreneur is finally being recognized as another job function like doctor, lawyer, accountant, etc.


If you are not currently an entrepreneur but have been contemplating it for quite some time, NOW is still considered a good time to start a business! Why do I say now you might ask...

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So you want a business grant?

Many new business owners look for grants to fund their businesses, especially because of a certain late night commercial or the National Grants Conference - a one day seminar they attended which told them about free grants they could pay $600 - $1,000 to get more information about.  Typically, grants are dedicated to non-profit firms that are touching a community of people. If you must look, great resources to find grants is through grants.gov and the Foundation Center. You can also do an online search on foundations and grants. Sorry to say, if you are a start-up business, you will likely be ineligible for a business grant. That said, there are plenty of resources for "free" money that businesses can work to pursue.

Business Plan/Venture Capital Competitions
Several business schools and organizations produce competitions throughout the year. Many are eligible for students only although student teams may have non-students on them. Entrepreneur.com and the New York Times each put together great summaries of many business plan competitions. Some listed do not require student status. There are others in which student status is not a requirement including:

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Video of the Week: Financial Statements Overview

While you get your personal finances in order, make sure your business finances (or projected finances) are in order. The best way to do this is to keep financial statements - profit and loss/income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. Below is a great, short video on the basics of what these are and what they mean:




When pursuing financing, all of these statements are very important to have as they let others know how well you are doing financially and help make sense for why you need financing. If you are not already in business,

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Business Planning Through the Eyes of a Toddler

This week, my 2 year old son received some new puzzles. He loves puzzles but has always just played with the pieces without really concentrating on putting them together. Well, with the new puzzles we worked with him to actually put the pieces together and complete the puzzles. We did not put any pieces together for him, just encouraged him to look at the box and make the patterns fit, or make sure pieces are joining in the right spots. Sometimes, he would get frustrated because he would try to put pieces together, one at a time, yet would have a hard time figuring out what was next. Finally, I saw him put a few pieces together here, a few pieces together there, and ultimately join the sections to create a complete puzzle.

This reminds me of when entrepreneurs attempt to write a business plan or simply start a business.

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