20. August 2011 by Bob Griffin.

I was working with a small business owner recently.  He grossed about $2 million a year and does a good job at keeping things moving.  He has been in business for himself most of his career and understands his industry well.  He is likeable, pays well, and is respected for the job he does and the services he provides his customers.

He is also losing everything he has worked so hard to build.

In business we want to create profit as well as provide a good service.  We also know that if it can happen to a good businessman like my friend, it can happen to anyone.  And it is happening very fast to many owners.  The $2 million question is “WHY?”.

When we were growing up, as many of you learned, the world of business was based on what you know.  Being a person of knowledge was the thing that kept the business growing. Reputation was earned over time and through many different ways - internship, college, on the job, etc. If you increased your knowledge then you increase your worth to a company.  The mantra was, “Want to move up the ladder of success?  Get more education.”  It was difficult and you had a system to prove yourself through grades and performance.

*(Thank you Chris for great information. You are a true Business Bulldog!)

Posted in Creating the Culture | Print | 507 Comments »

27. March 2011 by Bob Griffin.

The simple answer is always the best one.  Brevity is the key to good communication.  Momma says, “Because I said so!”.  All are good statements and it seems everyone has found this to be the case for the short-attention-span world we live in.  So, why do you spend hours and days trying to communicate directions to your employees when a simple statement is the best direction?

For example, I love talking with technical people.  They are the most needed group in any organization because we all have gadgets at the heart of any of our tasks.  When things go wrong is when the IT Department is really valuable.  What is the first question that IT asks when they are helping you?  Answer: “Is it plugged in?”  Why do they start there when so many other things can be wrong with a computer?  It’s because that is the number one answer to computer problems.  A cord gets knocked loose and all you need to do is plug it back in.

The rational side of me would have a message that plays before you can talk with the Tech Team.  It would say, “Check to see that your computer is plugged in.  If you do not check and that is the problem, you owe the technician $100.”  That, of course, would handle most of the issues, but it would put half the IT Department out of work.  With everyone handling their own power problems what would a techie do?  Of course losing IT employees is risky when you may need them when the real problems hit.

I was in a store this past week talking with the owner.  He said he wanted to sell more products.  The manager walked up to us at that moment and I simply told her to sell 5% more products.  She gave me a frown and then smiled and said “OK”.  Just like that she was telling her team to sell more.  No explaining.  No motivational statements.  No incentives.  I told her what I wanted and she went back to her team and made it happen.  She was plugged in to what the owner wanted.

I was in a fast food restaurant not long ago and they were an organizational mess.  When I  finally got a chance to order, the girl behind the counter was rude to me.  Instead of being rude back to her, I asked a simple question.  What did your manager tell you your job was in this restaurant?  She was full of wonderful sentiment, so I asked to talk with her manager.  I asked him what he told his staff was their main job.  He wasted no time in telling me that it was to help customers.  I don’t think that is the message he told his crew, but I left with my money and more to talk about here on Business Bulldog.  He apparently wasted his breath on some half-baked meeting where he kind of gave the idea that the customers were the reason they had a job.  I had the idea that the place should be shut down before they hurt someone.

Why do we get frustrated with not getting the results we want when the message is the problem?  I think you know that answer.  You want to make sure everyone sees things your way.  They should understand your reasons behind doing everything you do and follow along because your way is the best way.  What you miss is that they just aren’t plugged in.  When you tell an employee what you want they will either do it or not.  The outcome is where you need to spend your time, not in the directions.  If they don’t follow your orders find out why and then direct again.

Keep things simple in your business.  We are amazing at complicating anything.  Plug yourself in and make the simple, effective leadership your way of doing business.

Bob Griffin - CEO
BGriffin@BusinessBulldog.com

Posted in Customer Service, Creating the Culture, Being the Boss, Training, Making Money | Print | 105 Comments »

10. March 2011 by Noel Guilford.

Let’s face it, if you are in business, it’s for the money plain and simple. While I’m sure that there are some people out there who feel like business is a good hobby they like to engage in, those people are few and far between. So, lets talk about you and your desire to increase your profits, or to have any profit at all. What I’m going to ask that you do is think of profit as something that already exists out there in the market. Guess what? Even at times like these, someone somewhere is making a profit, someone has always made a profit. Why? Because consumers have always consumed something that they wanted or needed. Let’s start with the assumption that you have something people want or need. All you have to do is create a business where the profit is going and collect it.

• Take Inventory of Your Resources

Pop Quiz! If one hundred of your customers were polled what would most of them say they like best about your business? Who are your strongest employees and why? Constantly reflect on the condition of your business as well as the level and condition of your resources. Reading  SWOT ‘Em and using the method is a good way to reveal many of your resources and their condition.

• What’s the Plan?

Where are you going? How are you growing your customer base, your employees, and your operations? If you only plan just to make it through the day then your business will reflect that. Planing your business’s future is one of those things that if you can’t do, or don’t have the time to do can affect the chance of your business being successful long term.

• Business is Your Business

Don’t be surprised by the statement that many business owners have very little training or experience in owning a business. With that, its difficult for them to know what it is that they need to know unless they have a very inquisitive nature. Want to know why your cost of business is going up? One of those reasons could be that the cost of business went up for one of the business’s you interact with. Well what made that happen? It could be the cost of a raw material, taxes, or other factors. Knowing more about how businesses relate to each other helps to anticipate some changes that can impact your business.

• Ride the wave

Choosing not to evolve is a gamble that many good businesses lose everything on. If you look around i’m sure you can see where the profit is going. We are in the Age of Communication where the ability to spread information quickly around the globe can transform a society. The next time you travel along a major highway take a look at the billboards and have a moment of critical thought. Yes, some can change the advertisement digitally! There is a big old tsunami of technology coming and you can get on the boat or drown.

• Make the waves

Sometimes the situation requires a “hail-mary” play. What can you do when riding the wave wont get you noticed? When the competition has had more time to refine their rendition? The only answer at that point is pure innovation. Tap into the pulse of your customer base and give them what they didn’t know they wanted yet. In business when you mix great innovation with outstanding marketing I call that “Profit Bait”.

• Talk to weirdo’s

You know when you go to purchase a game or movie, that one person you regret asking for help because now after the ten minute explanation you are even more confused. That person is a walking Wikipedia, or knows someone who is so talk to them. If you want to know what the new trend, fad, technology, or to brush up on your terminology trust me they know. Use that information to help you anticipate where the profits are going. When you get there just make sure you brought your product or service that is wanted or needed and “voila” like shooting fish in a barrel.

Posted in Creating the Culture, Being the Boss, Saving Money, Making Money | Print | 451 Comments »

6. March 2011 by Bob Griffin.

The debate rages on!!  Are franchisees entrepreneurs?  How can they be entrepreneurs when they aren’t doing it all by themselves?  How can anyone think that entrepreneurship and franchising can be grouped together?  Silly thinking, eh?

After all, the cost of getting into business is very different.

A franchisee has buying power that an independent person doesn’t have.  The cost of a sink can be hundreds of dollars more for the guy on his own.  Franchises have the ability to tell a manufacturer or wholesaler that they can buy a number of them each year.  An independent owner buys one at a time and is lucky to get a deal.  OK, that doesn’t sound good for the guy on his own, but he has freedoms the franchisee doesn’t have.

An independent owner can try out new things at any time.

That means they can do as they please.  Sometimes that means winning big!  What about franchisees?  They have to follow a system and can’t be trendy and jump on things.  Of course, trends fail every day and the cost of trying something out can sink a business if it is rejected by customers.  The research and development costs are spread out in a franchise where they can roll things out slowly and work the kinks out before getting the whole brand to try something new.  The independent owner has one shot to get it right. Dang! I was so close to making it sound like it was better to be on your own.

How about pricing?

The guy on his own can set pricing anyway he wants.  He can undercut the competition or increase prices when he likes.  Franchisees many times have the ability to set their own prices.  If they are part of a national marketing plan, they can’t though.  Think about McDonald’s and Subway.  They have to follow the prices advertised or they get beat up by the customers.  Although I must say, the advertising buys behind the set prices will bring in more customers,  so that might be a plus for the franchisee too.  Speed at which an sole owner can change anything is much faster than a franchise.  I have to give one to the independent guy even though the marketing edge goes to the franchisee.  Split the point!

Everyone needs a mentor.

Mentoring is one of those items that is a cost because you have to have someone to talk things over with and to find the right person can make all the difference. In a franchise, everyone is thinking about how to make more money in the stores.  The cost is part of the royalties you pay to be part of the organization.  You can think of it as a membership fee.  For the guy on his own, finding a mentor to help can be costly and you are never really sure that person is working in your own best interest.  Also, there is usually only one or two people you can afford to pay for help.  There are services at non-profit groups like SCORE and even the SBA has help for you, but the majority of people with the right skills to help you grow are expensive.  (On a side note, I like SCORE an American small business mentoring service.  I am not affiliated with them, but they do a great job!)

Building a business from the ground up is a challenge.

Building out a space to use every square foot for turning a profit can drive anyone crazy.  Just finding the right space is a challenge.  Negotiating with landlords on retail space is requires special skills.  A good franchise has those people on staff.  Trying to get a good deal on your own is like trying to order dinner in a language you just learned.  Franchises rule on this one (the good ones at least).  There is also the blueprints for the contractor, finding the right contractor, and making sure the build-out actually matches the blueprints.  If you think you can do this, you either have a real estate license or you have a contractors license.  Don’t try this on your own.

OK, so the battle isn’t much of a battle.  Unless you have a concept that you don’t need much to get off the ground and retail space isn’t needed, you are better off working with a franchise.  Smart moves should be a bigger part of being an entrepreneur.  Franchisees are entrepreneurial.  If you put money, time, effort and sweat and tears in to start a business you are an entrepreneur.  The costs of working for yourself are big.  A franchise just limits the risk better.

Bob Griffin - CEO
BGriffin@BusinessBulldog.com

Posted in Creating the Culture | Print | 390 Comments »

16. January 2011 by Bob Griffin.

 **To my marketing friends - I like to make you think and push you to find better, newer ways to advertise. If this article bothers you, GOOD!  If that is all it did, you need a new job.  Start thinking creatively and find new and ORIGINAL ways to communicate with the customers.  Isn’t that why you got into marketing in the first place?? Operations can’t function without marketing but, it can’t function with bland marketing either.

I was looking through old pictures and ran across this one from last year of political ads that were jammed on the side of the road.  What a waste of time and money.  It looks horrible and it is trash.  I have never been a proponent of using these signs.  They are a weak way to grab attention at best and at worst, they are a blurry mess that drivers ignore.

First of all, if there is one of these signs, there seems to be several more that creep in over time.  It’s like a virus.  I drive down the road and there is one or two.  By the morning, there are several more and none of them make me want to stop and buy anything. Is there some kind of sign gnome that no one told me about that grows ugly signs in the middle of the night on the side of the road?  We should start hunting these damnable gnomes. Or at the very least set traps and relocate them to Las Vegas.  They’d love sign-growing gnomes there.

It may be my age (early 40’s) but I can’t read most of the signs because the typeface is too small to read. They jam too many messages into that small space and I can’t read it as I meander down the road at a whopping 45 miles per hour.  Who are they selling to?  It must be the speed readers with good eyes.  They are BIG spenders from what I hear.  For average people it looks like a blurry mess at any speed over idle.  Since there are stacks of them lining the roads, I mostly ignore them.  If you’ve seen one sign, you’ve seen them all.

Has anyone thought about the fact that the signs are below the driver’s door?  Unless Wonder Woman traded her invisible jet for an invisible car she ain’t reading the sign.  For you, it is below the car’s window and can’t be read even when stopped.  If it is across the road, you aren’t even looking at it.  Believe it or not, the government figured this one out before marketing people.  Their signs are at eye level for most people or at least high enough that drivers can read them.  I don’t remember a Stop sign being inches from the ground.  Not sure that would work for traffic.  Put the signs up on higher stands and you are starting to get somewhere with your message.

Business owners, think about how you are talking to your customers when you spend marketing dollars.  I don’t have real numbers but I suspect there are more marketing people than lawyers…Yick!  Some want your money and are going to show you statistics that indicate they have the world’s best way to get customers.  Use your common sense and think like your customers.  Will customers be intrigued, interested, and stop in because of your marketing?  If not, don’t do it.  We talk a lot about simple ways to grow your business on Business Bulldog.  Speak volumes the right way and do something better than your competition.  As an example of the wrong way to do things, I have no idea who any of the people advertising in the picture claim to be.  They wanted me to vote for them.  I didn’t remember any of them when I did vote.  Blurry, bland marketing doesn’t work.

Just a thought, if those filthy gnomes grab me because I outed them, tell my family I love them.

Bob
BGriffin@BusinessBulldog.com

Posted in Marketing, Creating the Culture, Saving Money, Making Money | Print | 77 Comments »