Business Coaching Blog

One of the Most Vital Skills for Your Success

Resources@TheGrowthCoach.com — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Selling is an essential skill for higher levels of success and wealth in your personal and professional life. To advance as an owner, leader, manager, or professional, at a minimum, you have to be knowledgeable and competent in this critical communication skill. Let's rate your skill level.

On a scale of 1-10 (10=excellent), how would you rate your overall selling skills? How would you rate your selling confidence? Your level of comfort? If you are at 7 or below in any of those ratings, there is much room for improvement and greater financial success. Whether you are an owner, executive, manager or salesperson, being effective at selling (with external and/or internal customers) is vital to your growth and success.

If you think about it, whether at home or work, you are always selling...your vision, ideas, beliefs, solutions, and your services/products. Selling is simply helping others better define and then achieve what they want. If you help others achieve what they want, you in turn get what you want. Since you are always selling, you might as well get better at this critically important communication skill.

Anyone can and should learn to sell more effectively. It's not that hard. Just be open-minded and willing to grow. Selling is simply an effective communication exchange with the focus on achieving a win-win outcome. Both parties should leave the situation better off than before.

Another way to think about selling is that it's a simple four-part communication process: 1) you need to establish rapport and trust with the other party, 2) you need to ask questions to gain meaningful information about their needs/wants, 3) you need to share relevant information about your solutions, and 4) you need to reach an agreement on how to proceed. Again, don't over-complicate it. Selling is a simple communication dance.

Here is an easy way to remember an effective selling/communication process, it's called the READ sales process – always READ the needs of your buyer or other party: 1) Relate, 2) Establish Needs, 3) Advance Solutions, and 4) Determine Next Step. Follow the READ process in any communication or selling situation and you will always focus on the other person and their needs first. You can’t go wrong. Again, selling is rather simple.

When done right, selling is a noble and helpful skill. Think about it, you are helping the other person to better define what they truly want in their personal or professional life. You help them define their current situation, their ideal situation (ideal future), and then bridge the gap. You help someone define and achieve a better future.

At The Growth Coach, we help all our clients (owners, manager, professionals) get more comfortable, confident and effective at selling...it's a part of our quarterly coaching process. Furthermore, we can go into any small business and help their entire sales team become more effective at selling with our Sales Mastery Program, on-going sales coaching and accountability. We teach each sales team a proven and structured selling process and then keep them accountable for using it.

Bottom line, for each small business we work with, The Growth Coach functions as an affordable, proven, guaranteed, and part-time Sales Manager for the company... driving lasting change in selling mindsets, habits, behavior and results.

Again, if you want to have greater success and satisfaction as an owner, leader, manager, or salesperson, the investment in sales coaching, for YOU and/or YOUR TEAM, provides a tremendous bottom-line return. Happy Selling!

Daniel M. Murphy
President, Founder & Business Coach
The Growth Coach
Business Coaching Franchise System
Certified Business Coaches throughout North America

Imperfect Action is Better Than Inaction

Resources@TheGrowthCoach.com — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

This Growth Coach business coaching blog is about the value of action over inaction, movement over meditation. As an entrepreneur, just about anything is better for you than inaction. That's right, even imperfect action is better than perfect inaction. Inaction teaches you nothing. On the other hand, action reveals all the real-world feedback and lessons you need to make adjustments to be more successful.

After 25 years of helping small business owners (7 years as a CPA and 18 years as a business coach), I have seen first-hand that successful and wealthy entrepreneurs don’t wait for conditions to be “perfect”. When they smell an opportunity that makes sense, they take action. They don't wait to have 100% of the facts and answers. They don't worry about having incomplete information. They don’t ponder, over-analyze and procrastinate. In fact, they have a bias for action...even if it's imperfect action. They get moving! Do you?

The Growth Coach serves several thousand small business clients every year. As such, our certified business coaches get to observe that the most successful and satisfied entrepreneurs don’t worry about perfect opportunities or perfect circumstances. Those don't exist. These successful clients don't even wait for perfect information. They simply gather enough information to know that the opportunity appears legitimate and then they start taking action. And it's in the action that the rest of the information, resources, adjustments, and answers are revealed...not by sitting around. For them, the equation is simple: ACTION=FEEDBACK and ANSWERS=SUCCESS

Let's face reality, perfect opportunities don't exist. Most good opportunities come covered in a layer of problems and headaches...far from perfect but capable of providing substantial wealth. As such, successful entrepreneurs (opportunists) know that real wealth and success comes from intelligent yet often imperfect ACTION ... but real wealth NEVER comes from inaction. Again, value movement over meditation or procrastination. After all, when have you ever heard stories about the wealthy procrastinator?

Most want-to-be entrepreneurs and average business owners are caught up in an idealistic “perfect world syndrome”. That’s why they never create substantial wealth for themselves and their families. They wait for perfect conditions before they advance toward their bigger dreams and goals. Instead of mining all the gold around them and getting a little dirty in the process, they keep searching and hoping for the perfect industry, the perfect business, the perfect timing, the perfect product/service, and the perfect conditions and circumstances to materialize BEFORE they take action. This search never has a happy ending. "Perfect world" does not exist. Waiting for it is totally unrealistic and a bit insane.

Why do these otherwise intelligent people procrastinate? As a metaphor, why do they wait for all the traffic lights to be green before backing out of their garage? Simple, they are afraid of taking chances. Instead of managing reasonable risks, they are unreasonable and want all risks to be eliminated and all answers to be available. These unachievable, perfect conditions also provide people with wonderful excuses for not taking action and responsibility. Tragically, these well intended folks wait a lifetime for “perfect world” to appear and very often, take their big dreams to the grave with them.

What’s the solution? Get real! Take responsibility for your business and life. Stop making excuses. Get rid of the word “perfect” from your vocabulary and your expectations. There is no such thing. Look for “very good” opportunities to grow your business and build wealth, not “perfect” ones.

The key is to decide on what you really want in your business and life and then go after it – not next decade, not next year, not next month, not tomorrow. Take action on it TODAY!

Daniel M. Murphy
President, Founder & Business Coach
The Growth Coach
Business Coaching Franchise System
Certified Business Coaches throughout North America

Business Owner, Do You Have a "Growth" or "Status Quo" Mindset?

Resources@TheGrowthCoach.com — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Are you a "know-it-all" or "learn-it-all" business owner? This simple distinction in mindsets will significantly predict your future as much as anything. The former mindset will yield stagnation, the later will bring you greater success, wealth, and fulfillment.

As a business coach for nearly 20 years, I can tell you with the utmost confidence that owners who have a "growth mindset" significantly outperform those who have a "status quo mindset". Which one do you want to be?

The great UCLA basketball coach John Wooden said it best, "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." How true, how true. But sadly, many owners think they know it all. Is it possible that your own level of arrogance, stubbornness, and know-it-all mindset are holding you and your business back? Are you "fixed" in your ways, beliefs, skills, knowledge and habits? If so, be warned...you are definitely holding your business back from greater results.

Sadly, many small business owners believe they have all the answers, don't need to listen to the ideas of others, have already "arrived", and have no need for personal growth and development. They stop reading, learning, and growing. Typically, they also reject any business coaching, peer group involvement, or best practices from outside their little world. Again, they are "fixed" and "inflexible". As a result, these type of owners and businesses stop growing...at best, they are stagnating, at worst they are losing ground. You are never too old to stop learning.

We business coaches so much believe in the critical importance of a "growth mindset" to business success that we named our business coaching franchise system with this in mind ...The Growth Coach. To us, a "growth mindset" is the key foundation to greater success and happiness. In fact, our primary focus is to help business owners, executives, managers, and self-employed professionals to GROW...grow their mindsets, knowledge, skills, and habits. After all, there is a little known but powerful secret...that a business will not grow unless the owner grows. An owner cannot grow if they have a "know-it-all", "fixed" or "status quo" mindset.

Again, do you have a "growth mindset" or a "status quo mindset"? The first one reflects that better days and results lie ahead. The second one reflects that your best days and results are behind you. Your choice. Again, this mindset distinction will greatly influence your future business success and personal fulfillment.

Can you change your mindsets? Absolutely. At The Growth Coach, we coach thousands of small business owners every year throughout North America and see the transformation up close and personal. Our proven coaching process helps them adopt more effective mindsets for greater success and personal fulfillment. But one must be open to change and admit that they can't possess all the answers. Are you ready to do that?

To help you, please click here to read our Growth Coach business coaching book. Click here to locate and talk to one of our certified business coaches. Click here to subscribe to our "Earn More, Work Less" Growth Coach e-newsletter.

Here's wishing you much growth and development. However, you need to take the first step.

Daniel M. Murphy
President, Founder & Business Coach
The Growth Coach
Business Coaching Franchise System
Certified Business Coaches throughout North America

Growth Coach Survey: Small Businesses Make Noticeable Post-Recession Changes

Resources@TheGrowthCoach.com — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

This Growth Coach business coaching blog is dedicated to the "lessons from the recession." Posted below is a current News Release containing the actual results from a recent Growth Coach 'Business Barometer' Survey on how small business owners have changed the way they think about and operate their companies as a result of the recession. Our certified business coaches reported on the actual post-recession behavior modifications they observed within their small-business client base. As such, these survey results should be insightful and educational for any business owner, entrepreneur, or self-employed professional.

Growth Coach News Release

Media Contact: Brooke Highline, Fishman Public Relations:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Survey: Small Businesses Make Noticeable Post-Recession Changes
The Growth Coach Franchise `Business Barometer’ Points to Specific Behavior Modifications

CINCINNATI, OH – A majority of U.S. small business owners have changed the way they think about and operate their companies as a result of the recent recession, according to a survey conducted by The Growth Coach, a business coaching franchise system which serves several thousand small business clients annually in more than 150 markets across North America.

Based on survey responses of The Growth Coach franchise system, 95 percent of business coaches reported that their small business clients (defined as less than 100 employees) have made overall expense reductions, while 80 percent implemented a workforce reduction and/or a hiring freeze.

Other post-recession behavior modifications were highlighted. Another 80 percent of survey respondents reported that their small business clients were now more focused on achieving better results and receiving a higher return on investments (ROI). Owners are questioning every expense and demanding better ROI validation before spending their cash.

Other indicators that small business owners have learned their lessons, modified their mindsets, and implemented noticeable changes to their day-to-day business operations include:

• Wiser sales and marketing investments (77.5 percent)
• Better focus on all-around productivity (77.5 percent)
• Better budgeting and planning process (70 percent)
• Changes to leadership and management approach (67.5 percent).

In addition, 85 percent of business coaches surveyed reported feeling that the recession has fundamentally changed the way their small business clients view and think about their businesses, while 75 percent believe the recession has had a positive effect on the way their clients now think about and operate their small businesses.

“As a fast-growing, prestigious business coaching franchise, it’s important for us to periodically take the pulse of the small business community that we serve,” said Daniel Murphy, President and Founder of The Growth Coach. “This survey validates our theory that the recession has created humility among small business owners and opened up their minds, making them more receptive to working with business coaches to grow their businesses and stay ahead of the competition. Given all the recent challenges, small business owners are searching for better ways to manage their businesses and lives as they want greater success and fulfillment. That’s a very positive outcome.”

The Growth Coach utilizes its signature Strategic Mindset® group coaching process, one-to-one coaching, telecoaching, and other related services to help clients reach success in business and in life. All initial coaching services come with a 100 percent money-back guarantee. The coaching process helps clients gain clarity, strike a balance between their personal and professional lives and close the performance gap with ongoing action plans and accountability. For more information, please visit www.TheGrowthCoach.com.

Background on The Growth Coach
Founded in 2002, The Growth Coach is the only pure business coaching franchise system with the single purpose of helping drive the success and balance the lives of business owners. Their goal is to help clients gain greater focus so they can work less, earn more and enjoy more fulfilling lives. Clients include small business owners, franchisees, self-employed professionals, high-end sales and financial services professionals and managers from businesses of all size. Through an expanding national accounts program, The Growth Coach serves franchise systems, dealer networks and associations. With a presence in more than 150 markets across North America, The Growth Coach encourages diversity within its franchise system, as well as the development of small business and franchising worldwide. Currently, The Growth Coach is a member and/or affiliated with the following professional organizations: International Franchise Association, SBA Franchise Registry, VetFran, Minority Fran and is listed in Bond’s Minority Franchise Guide, 2010 AllBusiness.com AllStar Top 300 Franchises, and Entrepreneur’s 2010 Franchise 500®. For more franchise opportunity information, visit www.TheGrowthCoach.com.

# # #

Daniel M. Murphy
President, Founder, Business Coach
The Growth Coach
Business Coaching Franchise System
Certified Business Coaches throughout North America

My Prediction: Not Much Will Change for You in 2010...Unless...

Resources@TheGrowthCoach.com — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

I hope it's not too late for one last Happy New Year greeting! This one is quite different, however...it comes with much tough-love business coaching. Here it goes. The Growth Coach organization and this business coach in particular wishes you much health, happiness, prosperity, and fulfillment in 2010. Doesn't that sound good? Sure it does. However, let's be honest, all my wishing doesn't mean squat if you don't think differently and act differently in 2010.

As a business owner, your success and happiness are 100% up to you, nobody else. As a business coach for nearly 20 years, I can promise you this... if you think the same ways and do the same things you did in 2009, you will get pretty much the same results in 2010. Also, if you don't allow yourself to be held accountable, achievement of your business/personal goals will fall way short. Is that what you really want in 2010? I think NOT.

If you want your 2010 to be much bigger, brighter, better, and different than 2009, then you must make some changes. For your business and life to change for the better, YOU must change...otherwise, nothing will change. That's The Growth Coach philosophy. If you aren't careful, you will get the same old, same old results in 2010 as you did last year. To avoid that, you must be willing to look to the past for lessons and in the mirror for a reality check. Time to look back in order to move forward intelligently. Don't throw away, ignore, dismiss or deny 2009 too quickly. To have a better NEW YEAR, you must first take full ownership and responsibility for the results from LAST YEAR.

For a better 2010, you need to sit down, reflect, face reality, and do some planning. In short, you need to take time and do some deep thinking. What was good, bad and ugly about 2009? Quiet and uninterrupted thinking is the best gift you can give yourself and your business in early 2010. What were the new ideas and strategies you should have learned from 2009? What were the valuable lessons from the global recession?

To help you, let me ask you a few business coaching questions. What didn't work in your business in 2009? What facets of your business were broken or performing poorly? If someone were to think about buying your business today, what issues or conditions might worry them? What problems did you fail to confront head on? What tough decisions did you put off at a cost to your company? What worked great in 2009 that you need to leverage and duplicate in 2010? What is broken in your personal life that needs addressing? If you could change one thing in your business and one thing in your personal life, what would they be? The Growth Coach process helps you tackle such issues every quarter.

As your virtual business coach, however, please do me a favor. Do NOT make any New Year's Resolutions? Why? They are a waste of time. Again, they are similar to making wishes...all fluff and no substance. They simply don't work. Without specific goals, action plans and most importantly, on-going accountability, not much in business and life (dreams, goals, desires, weight loss, smoking cessation, etc.) ever gets accomplished. Bottom line, for your business to grow, YOU must grow! An effective coaching and accountability process will allow that critical growth to occur in you and your business. There are no short-cuts to great performance and results.

If you really want to escape the trial-and-error approach to running your business, make huge improvements in your performance, and put some enjoyment back into being an owner, do yourself a favor and get some business coaching and accountability help. Only through on-going accountability will you achieve lasting changes in your mindsets, behavior, habits and results. Take the first step and click here to take The Growth Coach 3-minute, confidential, business coaching assessment quiz. I promise you it will be highly valuable and revealing.

Again, best wishes from The Growth Coach for a great 2010...now go make the necessary changes to ensure that happens.

Daniel M. Murphy
President, Founder & Business Coach
The Growth Coach
Business Coaching Franchise System
Certified Business Coaches throughout North America

7 Steps For a Prosperous 2010

Resources@TheGrowthCoach.com — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT

This Growth Coach business coaching blog is dedicated to helping you take some key steps now to insure a prosperous 2010...for you, your business and your family. Your first priority for 2010, however, is to take FULL and COMPLETE responsibility for your 2009 results. That's right...no blaming, no excuses, no justifying. Own, study, and learn from your results...the good and the bad.

As a business owner, your business is where it is, what it is, and how it is because of YOU. To have a better New Year, you must first be accountable and responsible for Last Year. Don't try to ignore, forget or bury 2009 until you extract all the profitable lessons you can from some deeper examination. Get your team together, face reality, own 2009 results, decide to make some key changes, and then get busy taking new actions. Better results require better actions!

Here is some more valuable information to make 2010 a super year for you. The 7 simple but powerful actions listed below come from the business coaching blog of Glenn Smith, The Growth Coach, in Houston, Texas. He is a terrific writer and his coaching blogs always provide tremendous value. I regularly follow his coaching suggestions and so can you by going to http://thegrowthcoachhouston.blogspot.com . Also, you can follow Glenn on Twitter at http://twitter.com/coach4growth. If you are a business owner, executive, or self-employed professional in the Houston area, I highly recommend Glenn as a proven, top-notch business coach...he's also a terrific person you will like. His number is 281-841-6680.

Here's a re-broadcast of Glenn's recent business coaching blog:

As we wrap up 2009, let me encourage you to focus on 7 actions that you can take to make 2010 a great year.

1. Take responsibility. You are responsible for the direction of your business. The good, the bad, and the ugly, your business is what you have made it. The good news is that if you want it to be different in 2010, you have the power to do things differently, and thus get different results.

2. Face reality. Nobel Prize Winner Richard P. Feynman once said, "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool." Be honest with yourself about what's working and what's not working in your business. Get clear on current reality.

3. Determine to overcome fear. Mark Twain said, "I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened." Don't let negative talk or a slow economy overwhelm you with anxiety. Commit to live with courage, and then take action to move your business forward this year.

4. Budget, budget, budget. I like to set quarterly budgets in my business with realistic cash flow projections. Remember, cash is king! Cash is to your business what fuel is to your car. Learn to operate by a budget to make sure you control expenses and do not run out of cash.

5. Work on yourself. Develop yourself as a business leader. Get some training, plug into a proven coaching program (like The Growth Coach 2-year Strategic Mindset Program), read, and work on your time management. Make yourself accountable to someone for personal and professional growth! Remember, if nothing changes in you, very little will change in your business.

6. Create a to-do list for the first week in January. Take action right away to move your business forward in 2010. What will you do the week of January 4th? Write it down NOW !!

7. Create a 2010 Business Growth Plan. Yogi Berra said, "If you don't know where you're going, any plan will do." However, if you take the time to get clear about your vision, and create a realistic, actionable plan, chances are that you will achieve your goals for 2010. Click here to find a Growth Coach near you to help you with professional development and to create a action-oriented growth plan.

Congratulations on making it through the challenges of 2009. You now have a golden opportunity to make 2010 a prosperous and dynamic year. But it will probably not happen without the right mindset and a good plan. Let an objective business coach help you succeed. ~ Glenn Smith, Growth Coach, Houston/Sugarland, Texas

Thanks for sharing Glenn. As your virtual business coach, let me also wish all my blog readers a prosperous, healthy, and fulfilling 2010. It's up to you...go make it happen.

Daniel M. Murphy
President, Founder and Business Coach
The Growth Coach
Business Coaching Franchise System
Certified Business Coaches throughout North America

Stop Thinking & Acting Like a Chief 'Everything' Officer

Resources@TheGrowthCoach.com — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT

My Christmas wish for every small business owner: Stop thinking and acting like a Chief 'Everything' Officer. You should not try to be all things to your business nor do all things in your business. Stop the insanity! That is a sure recipe for exhaustion and burn out.

As your virtual business coach, I wish for you to start thinking like a CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and stop thinking like the typical small business owner. We at The Growth Coach hope that Santa brings you a greater vision and a more strategic mindset.

At The Growth Coach, we help all our clients (small business owners, professionals, franchisees, and managers) to think and act like CEOs, not like hands-on, detail-oriented technicians. I want the same for all the readers of this business coaching blog, especially YOU. You and your business will benefit dramatically from this face-reality, tough-love business coaching session...please continue reading.

Ready to start thinking like a CEO? Great to hear. As CEO, you need to work less IN the business and more ON the business: its purpose, direction, strategy, structure, systems, people, goals, and accountability processes. That's what a CEO does. He/she sees the whole business, not just its parts. You too need to have an aerial view to know where you want to go, how to get there, and how to effectively shape your business to achieve your vision.

Put on your CEO hat. Instead of shuffling papers or doing the bookkeeping, decide how to make your company different, better, more profitable and more systems-oriented. Think and act like a business architect. Your ultimate goal is to design and shape a business that serves you and works independently from you... a business that is systems-dependent and not owner-dependent. You want to create a business that runs nearly on autopilot and spits out cash. It should NOT be dependent on you to do everything. You should not be stuck in the technical trenches of the business. Again, stop being the Chief 'Everything' Officer and start thinking like an 'Executive' Officer...a real leader.

As an effective leader, you need to be more strategic, long-term focused and less tactical/technical, day-to-day fixated. If you don't focus on the entire business, no one else will. It will just drift or run aground. So how do you stop thinking and acting like an employee or technician and start thinking like a CEO? Here are three steps to consider seriously:

First, you should change the metaphor in your head for what it means to be an owner. Regardless of your industry or size of your business, start viewing yourself as a CEO, not an employee. Instead of seeing yourself as a role player, see yourself as a head coach. Effective owners prefer to view themselves as a director, conductor, facilitator, or captain. Regardless, choose a metaphor for what it means to be a leader, not a hands-on doer.
To help with this mindset transformation, start referring to yourself as CEO. Put it on your business card, stationery, etc. Using the term CEO will force you to see your company as an entity above and beyond yourself, as a separate and valuable asset that needs to be professionally managed and optimized. You are not the business and the business is not you. Spend time and energy helping to build, improve and optimize this asset. For example, focus on how to grow sales, reduce costs, expand your competitive advantages, and increase your value to customers.
Consider that as CEO, you get paid at least the equivalent of $200 an hour to professionally manage this separate entity and valuable asset - your business. Ask yourself before you touch any task, "Would a CEO do this task?" Or ask, "Is this task worth me doing at a cost of $200 an hour?" Stop doing ten-dollar tasks...you are stealing money from your bottom-line results. Let others in your organization do such tasks. Learn to delegate !! Delegate low-value, low-return tasks to others in the company. Stay elevated at a higher role for reflecting, thinking, planning, and holding others accountable.

Don't forget, to get different results, you must think and act differently. Think and act like a CEO in 2010. Be sure to elevate your vision, thinking and tasks. Stop being an 'Everything' Officer and be more of an 'Executive' Officer. Hope this business coaching session will help you get more out of your business and life. Click here to locate a certified business coach near you.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays. Have a healthy and prosperous 2010.

Daniel M. Murphy
President, Founder & Business Coach
The Growth Coach
Business Coaching Franchise System
Certified Business Coaches throughout North America

Your Path to Greater Freedom & Fortune

Resources@TheGrowthCoach.com — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT

The Growth Coach has worked with tens of thousands of small business owners over the years to help them gain more freedom, fortune, fulfillment and fun. We have a proven coaching process to do the same for you. Put simply, we would help you to re-design your existing company to be more distinct from you and quite candidly, work in your absence. After all, your goal should be to create a separate cash flow entity, a real business, not merely a job for yourself. In the end, your business should pay you a healthy salary plus a return on your investment of money, time and effort. You should build equity! You should build wealth! Bottom line, your role as owner should be to shape, manage and grow this independent and enduring asset...your business.

Your enterprise should function without you, not because of you. I know this sounds bizarre, but hear me out. While you can be the brains behind the enterprise, you should not be like Hercules trying to hold up the entire weight of the company! It will crush you! You will end up feeling overworked, overwhelmed and like a prisoner to your business. Instead, your business should work harder so you don’t have to. You should be able to make money everyday without having to work everyday...the choice should be yours. To achieve this level of freedom, you should invest more brain equity and leadership equity and much less sweat equity into your company. Sweat equity is fine for the first few years, however, perpetual exhaustion is NOT OK...you deserve more. Your business should be a product of your brain, not your brawn.

You should strive to build a business that does not enslave you and does not rely on your being present every minute of every day doing all the thinking, deciding, worrying, and working. You must adopt a new way of thinking and acting. You must become a strategic business owner. Specifically, you must learn to adopt a CEO mindset; systematize and document your business; lead more and work less; create a simple business plan; utilize the leverage of marketing; effectively manage your greatest asset, your people; and learn to let go. In short, you must transform the way you see yourself and your business.

As a strategic business owner, your primary aim should be to develop a self-managing and systems-oriented business that still runs consistently, predictably, smoothly, and profitably while you are not there. You should shape and own the business system (an integrated web of processes) and employ competent and caring employees to operate the system. You should document the work of your business so that you can effectively train others to execute the work. You must make yourself replaceable in the technical trenches of your business. To repeat, define and document the specific work to be done and then train others and learn to delegate. This is how you begin successfully to beat the blues, escape death by details, and gain greater freedom.

With a documented operating system, your employees should be able to carry on the work of the business while you focus on big picture priorities or God forbid, decide to take a break. You should be able to escape the daily drudgery. In fact, your company should run on autopilot status even while you’re on an extended, work-free, guilt-free vacation. If it does, you will have designed and built a business that truly works and is worth a fortune. More importantly, in the process, you will have gained back a personal life that is fulfilling.

To maintain freedom, independence and fulfillment, as your business grows, so must your leadership effectiveness and operating systems. You must stop micromanaging and start leading (macro managing). You must become more purposeful and proactive. Specifically, The Growth Coach takes business owners and managers on a business-improving and life-changing process. Here is an overview of the seven key steps:

Step One: learn to work on yourself by transitioning to a new way of thinking and behaving. Re-program yourself and your habits. Stop acting like an employee and start thinking like a CEO. Learn to work on your business, not in your business. Be strategic, not tactical; work less, lead more!

Step Two: systematize your company by creating, documenting and continually improving all your key processes, procedures and policies. Trust the business system and personnel you put in place and remove yourself from the company’s daily details. Be more hands-off and more brains-on. Replace yourself with other people. Define and document the work to be done. Train others and delegate the work. This operating system is your foundation for freedom.

Step Three: increase your leadership capabilities. Excel at leadership, not doer-ship. Your business needs a clear vision and strong leader to hold others accountable, not another employee doing technical work. Help build and direct your team.

Step Four: develop clarity of direction for your business and employees by creating a simple business plan and an effective implementation process.

Step Five: learn to effectively manage your people, your greatest asset.

Step Six: instead of incremental growth, engage the leverage of marketing to achieve substantial, profitable growth.

Step Seven: learn to let go, delegate, and truly enjoy business ownership, your relationships, and your life. By working less "in" your business, you gain more time to work "on" your business and make those essential changes necessary to optimize your company and your life.

Click here for our highly popular and free business coaching e-book, "Becoming a Strategic Business Owner". It will reveal a great deal more about the seven steps.

You may well be skeptical about this whole freedom and fortune path. That’s normal. However, let me ask you “Are your current paths and strategies truly working”? "Do you have optimal success at business AND at home?" "Do you know in your gut that you could be achieving so much more?" The Growth Coach has helped tens of thousands of clients...we can definitely help you.

I invite you to acknowledge the problems in your business and at home and take responsibility for them and dare to try new approaches. You have no excuses, download the e-book above and be sure to click here to locate one of our business coaches near you.

Daniel M. Murphy
President, Founder & Business Coach
The Growth Coach
Business Coaching Franchise System
Certified Business Coaches throughout North America

33 Tweets to Improve Your Business & Life

Resources@TheGrowthCoach.com — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Back by popular demand, this Growth Coach business coaching blog will focus on some of our recent Twitter messages (Tweets) from http://twitter.com/GrowthCoachCorp. As your virtual business coach, I felt these 33 tweets could challenge, motivate, educate and benefit business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals.

I did not include any Growth Coach Tweets that had links or references to other resources...just pure text content from me, your personal Growth Coach. Since a given Tweet can only be 140 characters long, I used quite a few abbreviations as you will see...most are very intuitive.

Please read these mini-business-coaching suggestions and select 3-4 that make sense for you and your business to implement now. Hope you enjoy them and that they get you to examine your business and your life.

Are you letting the mental demons of fear & doubt get the better of you? Combat them with ACTION. Get moving to get relief !
Whatever frustrates you about your business is a warning sign of a missing or broken system that needs attention.
The only way for your biz to get better is for your people to get better. What R U doing to upgrade &/or develop your team?
Too many entrepreneurs chose to be in total CONTROL rather than being in CHARGE. That's an exhausting life of servitude.
Get out of the negativity rut. Focus 90% of your time on solutions, 10% on problems. Focus on what U WANT, not what U DON'T.
What biz are U in? Did U respond w/ your industry? If so, STOP thinking like a technician. U R in the biz of MARKETING.
Why not add a solid guarantee w/ your offerings? Lowers risk for your buyers. Growth Coach gives a money-back guarantee on all initial coaching services.
Entrepreneur, focus on doing more of what you love & do well in 2010; delegate the rest. Leverage your talents/strengths.
Take actions now to close out 2009 as best you can. Meet w/ your key advisers: CPA, banker, attorney, board, financial planner, business coach, etc.
What action can your company take to improve your referral systems? Implement it now.
Each day, based on your energy level, there is a time to THINK DEEPLY , to ACT, and to RECHARGE. Do you balance all three?
Growth Coach helps clients gain clarity about where they want to go, create an action plan to get there, & stay on track w/ on-going accountability.
Key success strategy is to feel the fear but still move forward. Re-frame your fear as excitement to propel you forward.
Entrepreneur, don't deny or dismiss your negative feelings...they function as your wake-up call. Heed them & make changes.
Business owner, if you treat everything as being important, than nothing really is. Learn to differentiate between tasks.
Does your business feed your bank account or your soul...or both?
Want to be a more successful business owner? Hang around more successful business owners..learn their mindsets & habits.
Entrepreneur, to become more "effective", you must learn to say "no" to people/things that waste your time.
Business owner, your 1st priority each morning is to get your 1st priority done 1st thing.
Business owner, people will pay you exactly what YOU think you are worth. Raise your self-esteem & your fees !!
Want to know the cause of & solutions for all your business problems? It's simple...look in the mirror.
Entrepreneur, don't waste your time trying to manage time...focus on managing your key priorities instead.
Business owner, need an emotional booster shot? Read your Co's testimonials. Reconnect w/ the value you deliver.
This free, business coaching e-book has helped thousands of biz owners to work less, earn more & enjoy richer lives. Why not you?
Coaching question: Have you created a systems-dependent business or an owner-dependent business?
Your biz should not depend upon you, the owner, to make every decision & solve every problem. Develop more systems & leadership.
Business owner, do you tend to ask fear-based or opportunity-based questions? Will shape & predict your future.
Re-inventing can be just as profitable as inventing...what current ideas, programs & products can U dramatically improve?
Ask yourself hard questions & business becomes easier. Keep asking easy questions or playing denial & business remains hard.
Free on-line business coaching assessment tool for you and your business.
Focus on your vision but create/update simple 90-day action plans to get there. Quit writing huge/obsolete plans; stay nimble & flexible.
Entrepreneur, ask yourself, does this task move me closer to my goals or farther away? If away...toss that task away.
The best time for you to get business coaching help was years ago. The second best time is NOW.

Hope you enjoyed these Tweets and found them useful. Again, put 3-4 of them into action right now. After all, nothing will change until YOU change and you won't get different/better results until you try new things. To get more out of your business and life you must first get out of your rut. All the best, your personal Growth Coach.

Daniel M. Murphy
President, Founder, Business Coach
The Growth Coach
Business Coaching Franchise System
Certified Business Coaches throughout North America

A Major Flaw in Most Businesses....Limited or No Leverage

Resources@TheGrowthCoach.com — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT

The Growth Coach, a North American business coaching franchise system, serves several thousand small business clients each and every year. Before we coach these companies, many of them have an existing flaw in their business model...very limited or no leverage. What's leverage? It's about getting the greatest results with the least amount of effort, especially YOUR effort. It's about working smarter, not just harder. It's about multiplying your results. Do you have leverage in your business or are you doing it all? Are you harnessing the power of employees, alliances, marketing, technology, outsourcing, or even a better business model to give you more leverage? If not, why not?

Too many owners are wearing all the hats and doing all the work. They are doing everything themselves or utilizing too few employees. Very often, they are merely swapping their time and sweat for money. Sadly, they are deriving most, if not all of their income off their own efforts...very often focused on serving one customer/client at a time. That creates a limited "income ceiling" and makes running a business very difficult. Again, got leverage?

At first, many of our new business coaching clients and hesitant prospects try and defend their lack of leverage. Many will say that they love being self-employed, having no or very few employees, or remaining a hands-on technician (doer) in all facets of the business. At The Growth coach, we think that's fine if it's truly their CHOICE to do so. After all, a business first and foremost should satisfy the lifestyle needs, wants and dreams of the owner...regardless of the business' structure, shape or size. The business should be a vehicle to give an owner a richer and fuller life however they define that. No business however, under any circumstances, should steal your life and leave you feeling constantly overworked, overwhelmed and like a prisoner to the business.

Therefore, if your business is fulfilling your lifestyle and financial goals and you consciously chose to work "in" your business instead of "on" your business, then that is a good choice for you. Your choice, your life, your business. However, there can be unintended consequences with that choice...like stunted growth, an income ceiling, not making money when you aren't working, and at times being totally consumed by the business. Also, if you are the business and the business is you, it will be tough to sell such an owner-dependent business at all or for much money.

We at The Growth Coach help challenge those owners with limited leverage in their business AND who wish to change that predicament. These clients don't want to be stuck in a rut...they want better ways to run their business and their life. They don't want the business totally centered around them and dependent on them for solving every problem and touching every transaction. They don't want to be trapped working "in" the business. For them, the business just grew and took shape by default, not by design. For many owners, the business "just happened". Then, one day they wake up and are buried by the business. The business is running them, they are not running the business. They are working a job instead of owning a business. Those are the clients The Growth Coach helps to achieve greater success, balance, freedom, and fulfillment.

No matter what type of business model you are running (even if you are a one-person company), this virtual business coach challenges you to add leverage to your business. It can be done with the some planning and creativity. You simply need to adopt a mindset of leverage...intelligent laziness...where you no longer wish to do all the work...where you want to make more money with less effort...where you want to multiply your results.

For sake of illustration, let's examine the business coaching industry. Many well-intentioned people decide to become business coaches on their own. Invariably, they start out by doing one-to-one coaching, swapping their time and experience for money. There is only so many hours in a day and only so many clients they can serve. Unfortunately, there is no leverage there...their business model is flawed...UNLESS that is the CHOICE they make.

I know this well because for the first two years in my coaching business ('92-'94), I did just that. I was a business coach with limited leverage, a ceiling on my income, and working very, very hard. After a little while, it felt more like a job than a business. However, at that time (unlike now) I had no desire to have employees in the first few years..that was my lifestyle choice. But I also knew I needed to get some kind of leverage and fast. That's when I had a real breakthrough... it struck me, why coach only one-to-one when I could coach a roomful with a structured and powerful coaching process? I converted my one-on-one coaching process (Strategic Mindset Process) into a group-coaching process...serving multiple clients at the same time over multiple years.

It took some time to convert my business model to have greater leverage but the results were incredible. Once I perfected the group-coaching process my income exploded and my life became much easier...I discovered financial leverage. It no longer felt like a job..I had flexibility, dramatically reduced working hours per week, greater fulfillment, and significantly more income. I was happy. So were my clients...they too benefited from my adopting a better business model with leverage. Because of the group workshops, I could charge my clients less per year and serve more of them at the same time over multiple years. The coaching was more affordable for them and more profitable for me...a win-win arrangement. They also enjoyed going through the coaching process with other business owners where they could share "best practices", camaraderie, and provide accountability to each other. This innovative coaching process, along with the marketing strategies I developed to gain even greater leverage, became the foundation of The Growth Coach franchise system.

If I could put leverage into a professional service like business coaching, surely you can put more leverage into your business. Challenge your assumptions and business model. Ask how can I serve 10 times or even 100 times the number of clients I now serve? How can I produce 10 times or 100 times the widgets we now make? How can I get greater results with less effort? How can I multiply my results? How can I work smarter, not harder? Consider some of these ideas for greater leverage:

Hire employees or add more employees
Utilize independent contractors
Outsource low-value tasks to a third-party providers (payroll processing, bookkeeping, etc.)
Form strategic alliances with organizations serving and marketing to your same type of client
Use the leverage of marketing (selling one to many): speeches, seminars, joint ventures, direct mail, tele-marketing, advertising, formalized referral sources, social media, e-marketing, PR, etc.
Reformulate your business model to serve more clients at the same time (e.g. group coaching vs. one-to-one)
Consider lean manufacturing automation
Systematize your business by creating, documenting and continually improving all your key processes, procedures, and policies - trust the business system you put into place and get out of the details
Use the leverage of technology: interactive website, e-mail marketing, social media marketing, search engine optimization, pay-per-click, customer relationship management system, etc.

Make GREATER LEVERAGE a top objective for you and your business in 2010.

Daniel M. Murphy
President, Founder, & Business Coach
The Growth Coach
Business Coaching Franchise System
Certified Business Coaches throughout North America