E-Myth Daily Message

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Building a business that serves your life requires having people in your business willing to support you in building a business not dependent on you.

In order to accomplish this, several things must happen.

1- Your business culture can not be dependent on the owner.
2- Employee loyalty must be to the business and not the owner. Consider that if they are there for you and you want to spend less time in the business, they might feel uncomfortable about the fact you are leaving.
3- You must focus on building a business that serves them as well.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"The successful person places more attention on doing the right thing rather than doing things right."
Peter Drucker

Doing things right is important but only after you've begin doing the right things.

A sales person doing a fabulous job or organizing their desk and work space might be doing things right, but its the sales person who is prospecting and conducting meetings that is doing the right things.

A manager who is really good a fixing problems won't be as effective as a manager doing the right work of creating replication.

Start by defining the critical ACTIONS each position in your company should be doing. Including the ones occupied by you.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Anyone who has successfully lost a significant amount weight and improved their fitness level, and stayed that way for a period of time, know that diets and quick fixes don't work.

They know that they had to make a lifestyle change. The lifestyle change not only required a change in behavior but also a change in thinking.

Interestingly, most business are on a continual quick fix diet routine. They are always looking for the latest, greatest new tactic, program, software.

Granted, they may improve their condition, short term, but they almost always go back to their unfit condition.

Successful businesses make a lifestyle, or let's say, a cultural change and approach to doing business which includes a more productive way of thinking which leads to more productive action. Ultimately, that leads to a more fit or healthy business.

A friend of mine, Allan Starr, owner of Marketing Partners describes The Level 7 System as an approach that overlays productive thinking and action into companies that enables them to replicate the successful thoughts and actions of the best companies in the world.

Well said Allan. Thanks.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

Today's message is sooo true.

GOOD MORNING!

"Technically your business isn't better or worse today compared to when the economy was less strained", I said to a business owner the other day.

Confused, he asked, "How is that so".

"The results you are getting now are reflective of a downturn in the economy but those results, or lack thereof, is more a reflection of the holes and problems that already existed in your business before the market changed. They simply are more evident now".

"A good economy is more forgiving. Businesses succeed in spite of themselves", I continued.

"Now, more than ever, businesses have to be doing the right things and do the right things well".

"For example", I went on, "Poor sales today are more a reflection of a poor marketing, lead generation or lead conversation strategy and system. Your systems in those areas were defective or no existent before. It's just more obvious now".

"Bad profits and cash flow is a reflection of inadequate cash and cost management systems and objective assessments of departmental and personnel performance. The problems were always there, you just didn't have to worry about them then".

"So you have a choice, you can now scramble to survive and hope the economy will turn around quick enough to plug the holes of your inefficient and effective business model and systems or you can go to work on repairing those holes in a systematic and strategy way. Once you do that your business will be stellar when the market does improve. In addition, you begin to repair your problems today that are killing your business".

Nodding his head in agreement, "Guess it's time to change the way I work and what we focus on."

"I agree!"

To A Great Business & Great Life,

Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"
I'm the guy entrepreneurs and business leaders call when they want a practical, simple, cost effective and proven approach to building a great business that really works.
P- 623 551 5469
F- 866 483 0369
eden@equestdevelopment.com

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Adopting the mind of your prospect or customer is vital to your business success. Discovering the needs of the client is what great marketers do. Understanding human nature is helpful too.

By the way, did you know that marketing is really about understanding the client or prospect. It is often confused with lead generation or advertising activities. Good marketing leads to good advertising.

Being great at marketing also leads to making intelligent and productive conclusions about what product or services to sell and deliver to your customers.

So often we completely bypass the marketing function and dive right in to providing more fulfillment. Consider all the work your company does on a day to day basis that really has no significant impact on what the customer wants. Yet we keep doing them nontheless, believing we are providing more value. At the same time, we a doing a poor or mediocre job of delivering that which the client really wants or needs.

Bottom line: Great marketing strategies lead to simplified business operations and models.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"Any occurrence requiring undivided attention will be accompanied by a compelling distraction.”
Robert Bloch

Hum interesting...

Essentially it requires superhuman attention and intention when it comes to achieving the important goals we establish for ourselves and our businesses.

I find it funny that when we don't have any goals, we don't have distractions. How can you have distraction if there is no target?

Ironically, when we set a goal and have a strong desire to achieve it, all of a sudden anything that doesn't contribute to that outcome becomes a distraction. The bigger the goal often the bigger the distraction.

We have to make a choice and be conscious to the fact that with a goal we are committed too we either put on our laser focus and stay on the target or we will be constantly riddled with things that will draw our attention away.

Bottom Line: Stay focused and committed to your goals and decide that, regardless of the distractions that come up, you will do what is necessary to achieve the goal.



To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Are you busting your rear end trying to turn ducks into eagles when your ducks just want to be ducks. Stop killing yourself.

How do you know you have a duck? The evidence is in their behavior or actions.

They may quack all day long about how they want to be an eagle, but when asked to do what eagles do they continue to avoid the necessary actions and behaviors.

Now they might be afraid to do some of the actions, it's ok to help them change their mindset by introducing new ways of thinking, but ultimately they have to choose to act.

This whole process begins during the initial recruiting and hiring process. Look for people that have the capacity and desire to perform at the levels necessary to meet the expectations of your company. And if you inadvertently hire a duck, as evidenced by their unwillingness to do the right things, time to go and find another potential eagle.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment.”
Earl Nightingale

Great people, who have accomplished extraordinary things, all have one thing in common, they have big compelling, motivating goals.

Great businesses also have become intensely, collectively, focused and committed to a goal and idea worth pursuing.

Great leadership is the continued clarification of an idea worth pursuing and developing passionate followers of the goal.



To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"It is by imitation, far more than precept, that we learn everything."
Edmund Burke

I believe, for most of us, it is far more productive to look for and imitate the success of others who have preceded us rather than struggle to figure it out for ourselves. The business of doing business can be far too complicated and risky to rely on "our figuring it out" on our own.

Did you know there are common behaviors and activities that great businesses do that other don't? Why not pattern and integrate those activities into your business to maximize your likelihood of achieving the results you want.

That's what The Level 7 System is all about.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Long terms goals and objectives are meaningless without the relevant and associated long term actions.

I hear people say things like, 'I want to leverage my business so I won't have to work 80 hours a week within the next 3 years'. But then I see no know change in action or activity to facilitate that results.

I hear people say, 'I want to increase my personal income significantly in the next 24 months' and, again, see no change in activity or actions.

Sadly, we spend most, if not all, of our time doing activities that will lead to short term results. And then we wonder why we don't progress the way we want. We live in a quick fix, short term results society. I personally believe it's getting worse.

Shoot. I get frustrated when an e-mail I sent you 45 seconds ago doesn't immediately hit your inbox. Remember fax machines or having to rely on the mail to get a document to someone.

The point is as we get more and more expectant of immediate results we spend less and less time on activities that will lead to long term, long lasting impact.

Do the untraditional today. Focus on and invest some time doing something that will have a lasting impact.

Tomorrow I will suggest some ideas that you and your business can do to have lasting impact on your business and life.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

General Motors is reinventing itself.

Why is it that when businesses get into trouble they look seriously at consolidation and brand identification? Because its the right thing to do.

Hum? Interesting. So what can we learn from this. Momma said, "It is best to learn from other peoples mistakes. Why learn the hard way." Good advice Momma.

So what have we learned from GM and other companies that have over diversified and then, when tough times came about, they had to scale back?

Great companies are very slow to diversify. Instead they focus on building product or service dominance and a powerfully recognizably brand.

Here is a strategy to help you build a great brand and strengthen your business model.

* Find a niche that has a need or interest in your service. Make sure the market is large enough to serve your company financial goals.
* Decide to be the best in that market or niche.
* Build an incredible product and put your time and resources into it.
* Begin promoting in a targeted, laser focused manner to your market.
* Continually ask yourself the question, "How do we become more effective and efficient doing what we do?"


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"Our life is what our thoughts make it. A man will find that as he alters his thoughts toward things and other people, things and other people will alter towards him."
James Allen

We know that the key to maximizing human performance and results comes down to three things.

What we think or believe - Mindset
What we do - Actions
How we do it - Technique

When we talk about mindset consider what is either consciously or even subconsciously going on in peoples minds.

Here is an example: An effective sales person might have a mindset or internal belief that people trust them and they easily influence people. However, they might not necessarily be conscious of that thought. It, in essence, is a thought or 'tape" running behind the scenes. But because the belief exists, they are successful at influencing people.

I want to ask you a question and encourage your response.

What do you believe are the key attitudes, mindset or beliefs that effective managers possess, either consciously or subconsciously?

I eagerly await your feedback. Great... homework ;) OK feel free to answer so I can see who has been lurking out there

To A Great Business & Great Life,

I think they believe, they know, they can see what their business will become. I think it is that way with most things in life for successful people.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Personally I love new ideas. I love discovering potential opportunities. I love creating new things. And if you are like most entrepreneurs you probably do too.

It's ok to be curious. But not at the expense of building a business model that works. So often we allow our curiosity and over innovation distract our efforts to build replication and consistency.

The key is to not stop learning but rather to effectively screen potential innovations and new ideas through a filter that will temper or weed out anything that is more about feeding your entrepreneurial spirit versus those that will lead you to achieving your business goals and objectives.

Here is a tactical that works for me. I write my ideas or potential innovations down before I act on them. Let them sit for a week or so. If they still seem of value to the business and I have defined the result or goal I want to achieve with it, I might pursue it.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"

What no responses to yesterdays message? Todays is a good lesson. I use to try and do everything but I learned that I could not be the best at everything. I also have learned that by allowing other professional to do those tasks that are not my core competencies I can develop partnerships that provide opportunity for my core business. I recommend other professionals and they recommend me.

[DeereMan85]

GOOD MORNING!

"Our life is what our thoughts make it. A man will find that as he alters his thoughts toward things and other people, things and other people will alter towards him."
James Allen

We know that the key to maximizing human performance and results comes down to three things.

What we think or believe - Mindset
What we do - Actions
How we do it - Technique

When we talk about mindset consider what is either consciously or even subconsciously going on in peoples minds.

Here is an example: An effective sales person might have a mindset or internal belief that people trust them and they easily influence people. However, they might not necessarily be conscious of that thought. It, in essence, is a thought or 'tape" running behind the scenes. But because the belief exists, they are successful at influencing people.

I want to ask you a question and encourage your response.

What do you believe are the key attitudes, mindset or beliefs that effective managers possess, either consciously or subconsciously?

I eagerly await your feedback. Great... homework ;) OK feel free to answer so I can see who has been lurking out there

To A Great Business & Great Life,

I think they believe, they know, they can see what their business will become. I think it is that way with most things in life for successful people.

The best managers are those who focus on people more than on numbers. Happy employees are productive employees. Creating a culture within which each and every employee feels like they contribute to the success of the company is the best way to recruit and retain great people. Mutual respect, camaraderie, fair compensation, and recognition, not fear or degradation, create the kind of loyalty a company needs to be successful over the long run. Good managers have the foresight to know that if they get the culture right, the numbers will follow.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
Charles R. Swindoll

Your attitude is driven by your thoughts. Most people are not conscious of their thoughts. Does that seem weird? The fact that most of the time people are not even aware of the thoughts going through their mind and as a result not aware of the impact they have on their attitudes.

Negative thoughts have no value. Discard and reframe them. State them in a more positive way.

"Business is slow" becomes "We are attracting motivated prospects everyday".

"Our people don't care about the business" becomes "We are empowering our people to take ownership".

Choose to make it a great day.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen."
Frank Lloyd Wright

Can you believe I am starting to have conversations about hiring and recruiting with my clients again. The recession is ending, so I am told by the media. Hey, we believed them they said it was bad, why not believe them now.

Ok, so maybe you aren't hiring today, but you will be soon. Especially if you have goals and aspirations to grow your business. So when should you begin recruiting. Now!

The pool of prospects is large right now you can get your pick of the litter so to speak.

So how is the Frank Lloyd Wright quote relevant. Simple. When you begin your search for people it is better to find people with an unrelenting drive to succeed and willing to work hard over those people with great talent and ability. The world is filled with incredibly smart and talented poor people.

I'll take someone who wants to win and is willing to get their hands dirty (or engage their brain and effort) over a talented primadonna any day of the week.

As you begin your recruiting efforts (you should be recruiting all the time even if you aren't hiring today) create a screening process that identifies those people who have demonstrated a willingness to really work and a drive to succeed.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Setting goals are important. Few would deny that fact. Going through life without some goal or purpose is like getting in a car and driving without a destination. You never know where you will end up.

We are finding, however, that setting a goal is not enough. Just writing it down and shoving it in a drawer we can found ourselves getting off tract.

Our mind is a very powerful tool that consciously and unconsciously goes to work to help us achieve our goals. When we continually remind our mind of our purpose its like putting our brain on constant autopilot. It is always adjusting and identifying, even behind the scenes, opportunities to move us closer to our outcomes.

Set your goals and write them down is step 1. Then create a system for keeping those goals and reviewing them regularly. That is Step 2. Post them on your mirror in the bathroom. Read them before you go to bed and review them in the morning. Conduct a weekly, "What do I need to do this week to achieve my goals" strategy session are just a few techniques people use to stay goal focused and activate their brain to support and achieve your purpose.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

Sorry I have been neglecting this thread. This message was timely for me because a contractor I am working with just recommended the book "Raving Fan" I guess it is a Ken Blanchard book but it is along the same lines of this message. I have ordered it from Amazon so I will fill you in when I get it. Has anyone else has read it?

GOOD MORNING!

"Google actually relies on our users to help with our marketing. We have a very high percentage of our users who often tell others about our search engine."
Sergey Brin


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"Few things are impossible to diligence and skill ... Great works are performed, not by strength, but perseverance."
Samuel Johnson

Make a decision to a course of action or strategy and stay focused on the implementation of the strategy until a logical time of evaluation. Very often I see business owners, sometimes desperate for an outcome, taught by the world that we can have success overnight (which is a lie), jump from strategy to strategy without any diligence and perseverance.

Developing a strategy first begins with a goal. Then a strategy evolves with a designated time to evaluate progress. At that time, evaluate your strategy and revise as needed.

How silly would it be to start a weight loss plan today and get on the scale tomorrow and say, "Well, I didn't lose any weight today. Probably need to try a different program." That would be foolish.

Why would we do that with our businesses? Believe it or not, some do.

Building a great business requires diligence, commitment and consistent implementation of a strategy that works. Like the Level 7 System (shameless plug).


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Self destructive repeating patterns hold us back. Often we don't even know they exist. We keep on fighting the uphill battles, month after month, year after year. From the outside we look like mice running on a wheel or a zombie blindly going through the motions in hopes we will end up some place relevant. We never get there when we don't address the issues holding us back.

First step - Wake up and be honest. Are you a mouse running on a wheel dreaming about a better place. Saying to yourself "If I keep going like this I will get to where I want to be". Yet you are really seeing no progress.

Second step - Find someone who you trust and cares about you and will really pay attention to you. I mean you can't get good observations from people who are too preoccupied with their own stuff. Ask them what observations they can make about your behaviors or attitudes that might be getting in the way with your progress.

Ask them to be honest and candid. Then just listen without getting defensive. You might be surprised how much a person who is paying attention can see and is obvious that we can't see ourselves.

Third step - Take some time to process and see if it fits. Does what they see make sense? Are you able to recognize behaviors that are unproductive patterns? Does it feel true?

Over the years, having worked with 100's of business owners and 1000's of individuals, here are some patterns I have observed. There are more but a sample includes:

Spending a lot of time doing things that are not related to achieving goals. They think they are important but they are not. They find personal value in their busyness.

Not willing to try something new because they feel uncomfortable. They avoid great opportunities because they might have to change their behavior or overcome some fears.

Here is a tough one. They create problems so they can solve them. Or they always have an excuse for not moving forward that has to do with outside circumstance. Some people are good problem solvers. So they create them so they can feel good about themselves and their ability to solve them. The problems they create and solve rarely have any bearing on moving forward. They stay stuck.

Step four - Once you've identified the area, develop a strategy that might include an accountability partner or some daily reminders and new action steps, to begin to make the changes.

[Az Gardener]

Have you ever heard the saying, "What you see is what you get?"

It's true. Why? Because the picture you have in your mind will drive your actions and your words. You can tell how clear someone can see what they want simply by their results. You can tell by the way people talk and what they do also. Oh they will tell you its something else, but deep down what they see is what they get.

If you see your life as disorganized, guess what, it's disorganized.

If you see your life riddled with conflict with others, you will have people problems.

If you don't see your business with absolute clarity, you will be fumbling in the dark.

Get crystal clear on what you want. See it. Focus on it. Begin to change the image or picture you currently see. Then you will start to believe it and live it. That's when things really change.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

A friend of mine had shoulder surgery just recently. The recovery for this type of procedure is grueling. In the past, he had spent a lot of time in the gym hitting the weights. But this nagging injury ultimately required time off for the surgery.

Not sure how he hurt himself. Perhaps from years of abuse or improper exercise or technique. All I know is his is currently choppin’ at the bit to get back into the gym.

His physical therapist is advising, or should I say demanding him, to stick with the therapy until he has built back his foundation and fully healed.

“You can’t grow properly until you are fully healed and you have a foundation for growth”, they would tell adamantly tell him.

Growth requires pressure. It requires pushing the muscles to new levels. To overload them. His shoulder simply isn’t ready to be overloaded.

So how does this relate to business? Glad you asked.

Often businesses are trying very hard to grow but parts of the business are still broken. Perhaps it’s the cash management system. Perhaps it’s the customer fulfillment process. Perhaps it’s the lead conversion process.

So we are applying pressure to grow parts of the business without taking into consideration how that pressure will affect the other parts of the business that aren’t prepared for growth.

Either way, to build a business capable of sustained and solid growth requires the business has a strong foundation across all the areas of business attention. We need to ensure that our leadership and management functions are working well. We need to have strong marketing, sales and advertising processes. And we need to make sure we are managing the money of the business well and providing great fulfillment. These are the critical areas of business attention that must be whole before it can grow.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"
I'm the guy entrepreneurs and business leaders call when they want a practical, simple, cost effective and proven approach to building a great business that really works.
P- 623 551 5469
F- 866 483 0369
eden@equestdevelopment.com



What Can I Do To Support You Today?
A Better Way of Doing Business - Discover The Level 7 System.
Check out my BLOG - Personal Insights, Tips and Ideas to Improve Your Business and Life Today.
Read and Comment on my book: The Level 7 Way: A Practical Guide to Building a Business That Really Works! in progress.

My personal goal is to help entrepreneurs and business leaders build companies that really work, are scalable and can really grow, and improve, while serving the lives of the people within them. Do you know anybody I can help today? Your referrals and introductions are welcomed and greatly appreciated.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Got your attention! I'll bet this is the highest read message this year.

Why? Because we are in a society of quick fix, get rich schemes. People are looking for the magic bullet.

Funny how no one has noticed that it isn't working. Funny how despite the fact that very, very few hit the lottery, people are very attracted to the notion of getting rich quick.

How's this for a headline. Work hard, smart and diligent for 15 years then perhaps you will be making some good money. I am afraid it wouldn't sell.

I heard somewhere that is takes 15 years to become an overnight success.

I do believe you can shorten the curve or cycle a bit. It requires looking at and modeling the mindset, behaviors and techniques of those who have build solid, profitable and self-sustaining businesses.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[JDUtah]

GOOD MORNING!

Got your attention! I'll bet this is the highest read message this year.

Why? Because we are in a society of quick fix, get rich schemes. People are looking for the magic bullet.

Funny how no one has noticed that it isn't working. Funny how despite the fact that very, very few hit the lottery, people are very attracted to the notion of getting rich quick.

How's this for a headline. Work hard, smart and diligent for 15 years then perhaps you will be making some good money. I am afraid it wouldn't sell.

I heard somewhere that is takes 15 years to become an overnight success.

I do believe you can shorten the curve or cycle a bit. It requires looking at and modeling the mindset, behaviors and techniques of those who have build solid, profitable and self-sustaining businesses.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

Good to great outlines how the apparent explosion of a business is the result of 15 years of persistent work.

[Az Gardener]

Good to great outlines how the apparent explosion of a business is the result of 15 years of persistent work.

I think I have read that book, sounds very familiar. I have been after Eden to get his book out and he says why, there is enough good information out there in print already its just a matter of someone deciding to take action.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

I was talking with a client today in the manufacturing business who just has another record month. "Dang we are really busy," he told me. "Nobody told my people there is a recession going on."

"Ok, so maybe we are coming out of it," I thought. But the fact is his business has been doing remarkably well over the last 8 to 10 months.

So I asked him why he thinks his business is doing so much better than others.

He compared his business to another manufacture. The other manufacture has nearly 100 employees and is doing 4 million in revenue. He has 28 employees and is doing nearly 10 million in revenue. Now I am not sure how comparable the companies are in products, but I can tell you one thing for sure. The revenue per employee in my clients business is much higher than the other company.

Which led to the fact that one of the reasons why he feels his business is doing so well is because they put so much emphasis on improving employee productivity.

He naturally attributed that to the fact that they put a lot of emphasis on developing, innovating and training systems.

I have found that focusing on productivity measured either by profit per employee or revenue per employee can be a very effective way to monitor you progress in developing a highly efficient business.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"Why can't we all just get along?" I remember watching a movie years ago titled "Posse" with Mario Van Peeples. During the final gun fight scene Nipsy Russell poked his head up from his hiding place and said, "Why can't we all just get along?"

It was one of the stupidest movies I ever saw. I think I turned it off at that point.

Yet I can't help being reminded that a condition exists in many businesses where service and sales people don't get along. Service people often complain that sales is selling products or services that the company doesn't offer or makes the service people jobs more difficult. Sales people complain that the service people are always upsetting the customers.

When I witness a condition like this it simply suggests that leadership hasn't painted and articulated a picture or vision of a unified goal and direction.

Each department, sales and fulfillment or service obviously have their own goals. The goals of the company should be the goals of these departments. By the way, throw administration and finance into the mix who are bent on accuracy, detail and organization and you have a real gun fight.

In most companies the goals that seem to impact every department are:

Maximize revenue
Maximize profit
Maximize customer satisfaction

When the departments stop focusing on their agendas and look to the goals of the company that is the first step in creating an environment where everyone can get along.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[JDUtah]

I think I have read that book, sounds very familiar. I have been after Eden to get his book out and he says why, there is enough good information out there in print already its just a matter of someone deciding to take action.

Tell him maybe his book will help someone make that decision... ;)

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Wow! That really caught my attention. I was at a conference this last weekend. You know how those things are sometimes. General sessions, workshops, networking. Go, go, go. 16 hours of new information and motivation.

I am diligent about taking notes and specifically focusing in on the things that will increase my hope and vision for the future.

Sometimes those things come in the form of tactical or strategic ideas. Sometimes they are purely about a new way of thinking or an idea that resonates.

So on the third day at 8:00 as I am waiting for the caffeine to kick in. I was at my first workshop and one of the first slides that comes up on the screen read.

"If I had a choice of being right or having a harmony, I would choose harmony every time".

Now the gal who said that was not one of those mystics dressed in a flowing gown, finding her center in the universe while burning her incense. Not that there is anything wrong with that. No! She was an incredibly successful and business leader, very driven and results focused.

But she said there is nothing more disruptive to an organization than disharmony among people.

I suspect it then becomes part of a leaders job to cast a vision of harmony in an organization and ensure that it is happening.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

As I was reading this thread my wife was looking for a form from out insurance company :laugh: I guess I need to spend more time on office systematization

GOOD MORNING!

It was 15 minutes before we were leaving for school and he still wasn't ready to go. He just seemed to be pacing back and forth throughout the house.

"Kyle, dude," I said, "You've got to get ready for school."

"But Dad I can't find my Chapstick" (actually we don't use the Chapstick brand but that's what we all call it anyways).

"Kyle you've been up for 45 minutes now. What have you been doing?"

"Looking for my chapstick." He said.

"Where did you leave it?" I asked.

"Dad if I knew that it wouldn't be lost."

Dang, I thought. When did he get that smart? It was true, however.

"Well, where do you usually leave it? Don't you have place for it? Kind of like I have a place for my keys." I replied.

"No. Not really." He answered.

"Ohhhh... I feel a Daily Message coming on", I thought to myself.

Did you know that businesses are not unlike my son Kyle. They place things somewhere only to spend inordinate amounts of time looking for them later.

The average employee spends 2 hours per week, for example, looking for documents they have saved on their own desktops or computers.

Do the math. Let's say you have 10 employees averaging $15.00 per hour. That's $300.00 per week in lost productivity. That adds up to over $15,000 dollars per year.

So here is a system that you can create in less than an hour that will be potentially worth $15,000 or more to you and your business.

Figure out how you would like your documents stored on your computers. Don't just say put them on the Z: drive. Create your foldering system. Perhaps by position in the company or by business function. Either way determining your document storage protocol can take little time and dramatically increase your employee productivity.

Kyle has yet to find his Chapstick. Guess we will have to work on a system for that too.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Pessimists - Look at circumstances and situations and say, "It can't be done."
Optimists - Avoid looking at circumstances and situations and say, "It can be done."
Realists - Look at circumstances and situations and say, "We will still do it!"

Realists are fighters, overcomer's, people who refuse to quit. They persevere and are focused and committed people.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"So much to do, so little time". Certainly you have heard that saying before?

How on earth do we keep track of everything to do? How do we stay on top of our agreements and commitments? Good question.

Well, first it begins with setting good goals and prioritization. In others words, knowing what is important and relevant. But that is for another message.

Once you have established that, you need a place to park your tasks and commitments. Let's call it your task parking lot.

Everyone should have one place where they park, or record EVERY agreement, task or assignment. it could be a notepad, an Outlook task manager, a pda or a 3x5 card in your pocket. it doesn't matter.

The key is the record everything, hopefully in real time. Meaning RIGHT NOW! Now your mind is free to focus on your work and being creative rather than remembering all the stuff you have to do.

All you have to remember or apply is the discipline to check your "Parking Lot" list on a regular basis.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"I can't believe that God put us on this earth to be ordinary."
Lou Holtz


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

Can You Track & Measure Your Business Goals?

"If you can't measure it, you can't manage it."
- George Odiorne

With the words on the street about the economy you can't help but sigh at times. Yes, it's not nice when you hear of someone having to shut down business, and even not nicer yet if you're that person who had to shut the doors.

As harsh as it sounds, it's times like these that are often an impetus or a little "kick in the pants" for people to really dig their heels in and see that the practices they have within their own businesses are something that will stand the tougher times. Business demands mensurable results, and unless you have something mensurable in place, chances are you'll go through even tougher times than others might.

On what basis are you running your business? What goals have you set? How do you set those goals? How do you motivate your employees to take ownership, enthusiasm and personal commitment of those goals? How do you review, evaluate and adjust those goals? How do you measure the achievement of those goals?

My proposal to you for the coming week: Think of the aforementioned questions and then think of what you're doing in your business to create goals, retain ownership & enthusiasm of the employees for these goals, and then think of how you measure the achievement of these goals. Beginning next week is a 10-part series on measuring (tracking) goals within your business.

This is from a different source so I don't know if she will follow through with the 10 part series but if she does I will pass it along. This info is from a company called By The Numbers, they have a software program that tracks your marketing to keep track of where your clients are coming from so you can spend your marketing budget more wiselyer. A bushism there :laugh:

[Az Gardener]

Someone in another thread thought I was being secretive about what my business coach does for me and how much he charges so here is the answer, nothing to hide.

My coach is $500 per month and worth every dime. In fact sometimes I think I should be paying more. My business partner cost me 70-K per year and I didn't get near as much from him.

We meet up to 4 times a month for 20-40 min over the phone. In the beginning it was every week now its twice a week at my request and sometimes I even miss those meetings. He always takes time to make them up if I want.

As I have advised many times here on site his first question is " What do you want your business, your life to look like 5-10-15 years down the road?" Then we begin to reverse engineer that vision. You can start wherever you think you need to start. If you think you are weak at marketing he will help you develop marketing systems.

He might first ask you what happens when your marketing begins to work? Do you have systems in place to hire the additional help and train them? Is your cash flow system prepared to handle the additional expense's that you will incur with this increased work load. Do you have your client fulfillment systems in place to assure your old as well as your new clients are happy. At this point you kinda go ;) maybe I need to start somewhere else...

He gives assignments to be completed by the next meeting, these assignments are working parts of your business. Of course if you do the assignments but never implement them into your business its a waste of money and time.

He has a couple of round tables a year where business owners (his other clients) from all over the country come and we discuss current challenges we are having. Eden moderates/referees, it can get pretty heated, and points out how his system addresses these problems and walks through solutions. The other guys do too, many have been with him for much longer than me. There are usually between 12 and 20 clients at these things.

That is included in the monthly fee and its at a nice resort and includes the typical stuff, Continental breakfast, great lunch, snacks and drinks. It is a two day event Thursday and Friday. We go out to dinner one night with spouses at a nice restaurant, Eden picks up the tab for that too. You leave those things really fired up with some good ideas and motivated to improve your business.

[Az Gardener]

Why Numbers?

"If you can't measure it, you can't manage it."
- George Odiorne

Why are numbers important? Interesting question. I just did a Google search with that question and one answer was: "So that you can find the value of something."

One of our key phrases at By The Numbers is "Winners Know Their Numbers". Why? As I mentioned in last week's email, business demands measureable results . How else can you measure effectively except through numbers? Take your days in school as an example. If you were told you did well on a test would that satisfy you, or would you rather know that you got 100% on that test? Which means more to you? As a high achiever of course you want to know that got 100%! "Did well" is not enough and does not satisfy. Measurement without numbers is too abstract and holds no real meaning .

Now carry that concept over into business. If you have a sales rep who is bringing in a nice number of contracts, you might think that you have the best salesperson on Earth. For some reason, though, your profits don't seem to be increasing. How do you find out what's happening? By numbers! Once you start examining closer, you might see a sales rep who is bringing in a bunch of jobs just to close the deal, but the contracts are undersold or minor jobs. In fact, most of these jobs from your "best seller" might be non-profitable or even cost a loss for your business. There is no way you would know that unless you actually track the numbers.

Once you start tracking your numbers you will be able to set clearly defined goals and then measure them accordingly. But you need to know your numbers first!

Charles Coonradt compares numbers in business to scorekeeping in athletics. He says that most people don't realize they cannot win unless they keep score. In his words, "there are three types of players: one who knows he is winning; one who knows he is losing, and one who doesn't know the score." There's value in numbers, and winners know theirs!

Until next week, I wish you continued success!

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

The Level 7 Principle of Knowing What's True suggests we must pay attention. Even if we aren't interested in some of the things we, as business owners, are required to pay attention too.


* We must pay attention to our lead generation and conversion results, even if you don't understand sales and advertising.
* We must pay attention to our numbers including profit percentages, accounts receivables, business equity and value and more, even if you don't fully understand finance.
* We must pay attention to employee satisfaction and morale, even if you don't understand people and management.
* We must pay attention to customer retention and loyalty, even if you don't understand marketing.
* We must pay attention to changes in the market, customer needs and perceptions, again, even if you don't understand marketing.

Having a lack of interest, or knowledge, is no excuse for not paying attention.

The Level 7 Principle of Knowing What's True suggests that good business is objective about performance in all facets that affect the business.

I am not suggesting you have to be an expert in these areas. Certainly not. I am suggesting that we need to discover what is important in the various areas of the business and pay attention.



To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

I was moving and had no internet for almost a week so I have fallen behind.

GOOD MORNING!

"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought."
Matsuo Basho

Wisdom opens the doors to opportunities. I love the above quote. Although I strongly subscribe to the notion that replicating what others do to achieve success is the way to success. It is best to understand the wisdom or basis beyond why people do what they do.

For example: Would you copy someone else's mission statement and put it on the wall of your business and call it your own. Hopefully not. There is no ownership in that. Worse, is doing it without truly understanding why you need a mission statement or something like it.

Better to understand the reason why a mission statement is relevant and the underlying purpose. The reason you might want a mission statement might be to ensure that all the people in your business are enthusiastically driven to a singular goal and purpose.

Once you have that understanding, that the mission statement is about the wisdom of Defining Results, you gain so much more power and leverage from that knowledge.

A word of warning. Copying what other people do without wisdom is easy. But the real value is limited. And in some cases could prove to be worthless. Seeking wisdom requires a new way of working and thinking. But the longterm fruit of the effort will payoff big time.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

No doubt you've heard the statement, "Houston, we have a problem." Suggesting that something is not going as planned.

Isn't that really what a problem is? Its when something doesn't go as planned? Do you find yourself always saying in some form or another, "Houston, we have a problem?" Do you find yourself saying it a lot?

If so, then I suspect you either don't have good systems in place or are not adequately preparing for contingent situations.

If a problem happens more than once, you have a system related issue.

If it happens only once, and will likely never occur again, you have an exception. In addition to having a system solution for your reoccurring problems, you also need a system to deal with exceptions that happen. Or at very least, have people properly trained with the right way of thinking when you experience unusual circumstance. Making sure you have your people properly trained is a system you should have in place. We call it Threading Culture.

Creating a great system requires that you know what the system is planned to accomplish. By focusing on that you can eliminate those, "Houston we have a problem situations."


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

The 7 Most Important Numbers Business Owners & Marketing Managers Must Know


"If you can't measure it, you can't manage it."
- George Odiorne

Even if you don't particularly feel like it at the moment, consider for a moment, the Dow-Jones. People around the world understand the significance of the numbers behind the Dow-Jones. If you are one to follow stocks, all you need to do is merely glance at some numbers and immediately you have a vivid and very clear understanding of them. Why?

The same holds true in other parts of our lives: Losing weight. Balancing a checkbook. Tracking our savings. Keeping score at a ballgame. Keeping track of how long we have until we need to pick up the kids from school.

What happens when we don't follow them? Well, answer that yourself. What happens to your weight? Your checkbook? Your savings? Your ballgame? Being late to pick up your kids?

Numbers provide a very concrete and non-subjective guide for all of us to follow to some extent in our lives. They are a language we can trust!

The same exact same concept holds true in business! In order to have a successful business, you must know and follow your numbers. What numbers?

Following is part of the FREE report from our website that I'm giving to you here, without you even having to go download it!

These are the 7 most important numbers all business owners and marketing managers should be tracking carefully:


1. Number of and cost of leads per advertising source

2. Number of leads converting to sales from any given advertising source

3. Actual cost per lead from all sources combined, initial and ongoing

4. Actual company profitability of sales per lead source

5. % cost of advertising per lead compared to total gross volume sold

6. Lead conversion timetable, from initial contact to billable sales

7. Types of leads/sales per lead source, and from what market or geographical locations.

Once again, I leave you with this thought: Winners Know Their Numbers!

Until next week, I wish you continued success!

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”
Robert McCloskey

According to The Level 7 Principle of Conveying Information, communication is a two way street.

Put another way, when we are in a conversation with another person, whether face to face, over the phone, e-mail or texting, those engaged have multiple responsibilities.

1. We are responsible for communicating in a language or way that people will understand while ensuring the message we are sending is being received. ex. have you ever sent an e-mail that never got to the intended party? Have you ever said something that made perfect sense to you but the other person didn't understand and they didn't tell you?

2. We are responsible for listening and making sure that what was said to us was actually meant. In other words, we are responsible for proper interpretation. ex. Have you ever received an e-mail from someone and misinterpreted its meaning? Has anyone ever said something to you that you didn't really understand fully but didn't seek clarification?

So the bottom line is this: Communication is as much about delivering a message as it is ensuring the message is properly received.



To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"If advertisers spent the same amount of money on improving their products as they do on advertising then they wouldn't have to advertise them.”
Will Rogers


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

Use Numbers to Motivate

"If it's important enough to do, it's important enough to give feedback on. And if it's important enough to give feedback on, deliver that feedback in the most effective and valuable way available."
- Chuck Coonradt

In one of his books Chuck said that no one should be allowed to run a company until they've house-trained a dog. What on earth does training a dog have to do with running a company?

His analogy was quite clever in that he told how one of the principal ideas in training a dog is that you don't do ask the dog to do anything unless you acknowledge that performance. That performance, whether it be positive or negative, is acknowledged.

The same holds true in business! Dare I ask you what you do with the monthly sales reports you require from your managers? Have you followed up and given real feedback to your sales managers?

How can you ask a sales rep of yours to perform, yet not offer any feedback or acknowledgment of that performance? How can you ask your sales managers for sales reports if you don't take the time to read, analyze and plan from them? Do you really think they pay attention to them if you don't give them feedback on the content of the reports?

Measuring performance so that you can acknowledge it does not have to be difficult. In fact, if you have your systems in place and set aside even as little as 10 minutes per day to take a look at the "score" you are able to quickly and easily give the feedback to your employees. Just the mere fact that you are watching the numbers, paying attention and adjusting the strategy as needed, and setting goals will increase the sales of your people. People are motivated by numbers, because numbers tell the story as it happens.

Winners Know Their Numbers!

Until next week, I wish you continued success!

Not many of us have sales forces but the same information holds true for employees. If you want better results from them give them a target and tell them how they are doing.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"We need to learn to set our course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship."
Omar Nelson Bradley

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there. I want to be reasonably sure what kind of a future it's going to be, and that's my reason for preparing."
Charles Kettering


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"Is it possible", I asked my friend, "That by not doing those things that you know you ought to do, that you will be in the same place six months from now as you are today?"

"Not only possible," he said. "Probable."

"So you must like where you are?" I asked.

"No. I am not happy. In fact, if have this nagging, guilty, 'I shoulda thing' going on in my head everyday."

"So why do you keep avoiding?" I asked. "I suspect its fear."

He thought for a moment. "Yes, I suppose what it all boils down to is fear. Fear of change. Fear of what will happen. Even fear of success."

"That's interesting. Fear of success. Do you not believe you should succeed?"

He hesitated. So I continued. "Since you don't see yourself inside as a success, you will avoid doing things that represent moving to the next level. You are unconsciously self sabotaging your own success so you won't create any in congruency on how you see yourself."

Here is an example. If you see yourself being overweight by 15 pounds. If you deep down believe that is who you are, no diet or exercise plan in the world is going to change your weight. Sure you might lose the weight for awhile, but I promise it will eventually come back. You know what I mean don't you?"

"Yes." He replied.

"The same is true about business. You are the leader of your business. But if you only see yourself leading your business that way it is now, you will never progress. No matter what advise or help I offer you."

"So what do I do?" He queried.

"It starts by beginning to reinvent who and how you see yourself..."

...to be continued in tomorrows Daily Message.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

Continuing from yesterday...

Our actions are driven by our thoughts. Our thoughts are a reflection of our beliefs. We are not always conscious of our beliefs. As a result, our thoughts are being influenced by those beliefs. As a result we take the wrong actions. When we take the wrong actions we get the results we desire.

Example: Mary's goal is to accumulate wealth and retire early. Her unconscious belief is, "I have to work hard all my life to survive". As a result, despite all her conscious efforts to accumulate wealth, her belief system won't allow her to do it. She ultimately will sabotage her efforts.

Do you know that many of our beliefs are a result of events that transpired in our past? We locked them in and accepted them as truth.

So how do you break the cycle?

1- Apply The Level 7 Principle of Knowing What's True by asking yourself the question, "What limiting beliefs do I have that are getting in the way of my progress?"

2- Determine if the basis for your belief is true. Using the example above, is it absolute truth that Mary has to work all her life just to survive? Is it possible that people can make the right choices and accumulate enough wealth and retire early? Yes. It is possible and is done all the time. Of course Mary would need to accept the truth that it is possible. If she looks for evidence, she will easily find others have accomplished what she desires. Now if Mary says something like, "Well, those other people had opportunities, are smarter than me or have more talent" she has revealed her own limiting beliefs.

3- Realize that your eyes and ears are the gateway to your beliefs. What you put in your eyes and ears will influence your beliefs. Here is an extreme example. If you were to call someone a loser everyday for a period of time, at some point they might start believing it, unless they knew how to protect their ears from the onslaught of attacks. The point is you must protect what you allow in.

4- You need to start reprogramming your mind with positive, more affirming beliefs. For example, some people are hesitant to hold others accountable for their agreements. They believe that if they do hold people accountable they won't be liked or accepted. In a case like this they would need to reprogram their mind by saying things like, "People appreciate when I hold them to a higher standard."

5- Establish a specific routine to feed yourself with your new way of thinking. Personally, I recommend writing down your affirming beliefs and review them at least three times per day with intention. What do I mean by with intention? Don't just scan what you've written. Say it out loud, think about it for a moment, consider what your are saying to yourself. When you hear that little voice in the background saying, "Oh you won't do that, or this doesn't apply to you," simply respond to it and say, "I wasn't talking to you."

5- Here is the key to put it all together. There is no magic formula for applying discipline and follow-through. You just have to do it. If you don't, nothing is going to change.

Special Offer for those with the guts and desire to really make improvements in your life and business. Sometimes it is more difficult to see our own limiting beliefs that are holding us back. If you would like some objective feedback and help establishing new more productive beliefs and an action plan to make the change then lets talk.

I am prepared to give you whatever time is needed to help you make your break through. E-mail or call me today if you are interested.


To A Great Business & Great Life,


Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"
I'm the guy entrepreneurs and business leaders call when they want a practical, simple, cost effective and proven approach to building a great business that really works.
P- 623 551 5469
F- 866 483 0369
eden@equestdevelopment.com

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Statistically speaking most business will fail. In my experience, I have seen more businesses simply survive. People get paid. The owner gets a little time off now and then. Customers are relatively happy. But nothing about the business screams out GREATNESS!

Why is that you might ask? The answer, in my opinion, is very simple. By the way, it's not about information and intelligence, experience, capital and financial resources, luck or being in the right place at the right time. Yes, these are factors that might have an impact.

The real difference is that great businesses and their people are willing to do the things that most businesses won't do.

When we do the things that the crowd is doing, or better yet, not doing the things that the small percentage of business do, be prepared to fall right into the abyss of failure.

This week's Daily Messages will be dedicated to the things that businesses that succeed are doing that those that remain stuck won't do.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Great businesses and their people do what average people and businesses won't do.

Great businesses are clear about goals and expectations throughout the ENTIRE business. They don't just post a mission statement on the wall and leave it at that. They don't establish a revenue goal at the beginning of the year and forget about it.

Great businesses are specific and intentional about the direction and goals for the business as a whole, each department and every position and person in the organization. They are also very clear about the purpose and goal of EVERY system, process and procedures in the business.

They simply know that if they are going to apply energy toward an action they better know what they are working to accomplish.

What most business won't do is to take the time and effort to define results continually and purposefully.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

Been very busy fellas, here is about two weeks worth of stuff rolled into one long post. I thought it was good and more than one part hit home. Hope it helps.

Building a World Class Business

Be different There is a clear and distinct difference between average, or often failing businesses, and World Class Companies. The difference shows up in the numbers. Not just sales and profit. It shows up in numbers that report “real” customer satisfaction. Is shows up in how employees “really” feel about the companies they work for. It shows up in how the owner “really” feels about the success of their business and how it positively or negatively impacts their life. It shows up in the value of the business. Most businesses are worth far, far less than what they could be.



Interestingly despite the marked difference between the numbers and performance of average versus world Class companies comes down to one thing.



World Class businesses and their people do what average people and businesses won't do.



The things that world Class businesses do that average businesses won’t do are often very simply things.



But not necessarily easy. Becoming a World Class business is simply, just not easy. It requires change, commitment, focus, discipline and perseverance.



It requires doing the right things over and over again.



So what are those right things that World Class Businesses do that ordinary don’t do?



Setting Goals



Goal Post World Class businesses are clear about goals and expectations throughout the ENTIRE business. They don't just post a mission statement on the wall and leave it at that. They don't establish a revenue goal at the beginning of the year and forget about it.



World Class businesses are specific and intentional about the direction and goals for the business as a whole, each department and every position and person in the organization. They are also very clear about the purpose and goal of EVERY system, process and procedures in the business.



They simply know that if they are going to apply energy toward an action they better know what they are working to accomplish. They are remarkably intentional about everything they do. If it doesn’t have a clearly defined results or purpose, they just don’t do it.



This requires thoughtfulness and patience. It requires taking the time to define outcomes and objectives before we start any endeavor.



Most business simply won't do is to take the time and effort to define results continually and purposefully.



Knowing the Numbers



Knowing_whats_true World Class businesses know the truth about the performance of the business, its people and the systems it operates. In other words, they understand that the things that get measured get done. Want to improve sales? Then carefully monitor and report sales results back to your sales people. If you want to improve profit in the business, monitor and report. Yes, defining results, establishing accountability and building quality systems are important too, but you must know your numbers.



Want to determine if there are opportunities to grow your business? Stop guessing and do a little research. Check the numbers carefully. And then respond appropriately based on good information.



Caution: World Class Organizations don't gather knowledge and information for the sake of having it. Only gather the information that is going to lead you to making effective, regular and timely decisions.



Creating the System



World Class businesses know how they are doing at achieving the company primary goals, goals and results of their people and the performance of their systems.



Systems World Class businesses invest time and energy into the development of systems, processes and procedures. Fact is without becoming a system driven business, a company will be limited in its ability to grow, resolve problems, maximize profit and ensure high levels of owner and employee satisfaction.



When we talk about systems, we are not just talking about fulfillment and administration. We are talking about everything you do in the business from answering the phones to turning out the lights at the end of the day.



World Class businesses establish and implement a strategy to get their systems documented, make sure their people are trained, accountable and innovate those systems on a regular basis.



Quite frankly, despite the intense argument and logic behind become systems driven, most businesses will not apply sufficient energy and time to make it happen.



Get People Accountable



World Class businesses create an environment of trust through high levels of accountability.



Accountability They understand that in order for a business to function at its highest possible level they need to count on their people to follow-through with their commitments, responsibilities and assignments 100% of the time.

Not 85%, 93% but 100%.



Businesses that simply survive are never fully certain that their people will always do what they say they are going to do 100% of the time. Yes, their people are good at getting done most of what they agree to, but not all.



Without KNOWING you can count on your people how can you have complete trust?



World Class businesses establish the standard and expectation that requires that their people ‘Do What You Agree To Every Time’. Then they hold people to the standard.



Average businesses just don't have the guts to raise the standard and hold people to it. That's why they remain average.



Build a Self Sustaining Culture



Culture World Class Organizations pay attention to their culture. What is culture? It is a commonly held set of beliefs and values that are reflected in the actions of the people in a group or society.



So what happens if you don't have a clearly defined set of beliefs and values that are accepted by the group or people in your business? Who knows! What I mean to say is that your culture could be anything. The fact is EVERYONE has personal values and beliefs that drive their behavior. So in a business without a clearly defined and threaded culture, the people will ACT and behave according to THEIR personal values.



This is where trouble happens. Not because people have values and beliefs. It is because their values and beliefs could be different or even conflicting with others in the organization. As a result we end up with conflicting actions in the business.



Example: You have one person who believes it is more important to focus on the task at hand even if customers are present. Have you ever been in a store and the workers were busily stocking shelves while customers where trying to find something. On the other hand you might have an employee so busy helping customers and even looking for people to help, they don't get their tasks done.



So who is right? To each employee they believe they are right. But what is right for the business?



World Class businesses recognize that they must define the values and beliefs for the business and fervently articulate and communicate them so everyone in the business knows and understands them.



It is the employee’s responsibility to choose to adapt to the culture of the business.



In the end, a business with an intentionally threaded culture will outperform a business without a set of commonly held values and beliefs. Why? Because in a business with a strong, intentionally shaped culture, everyone is moving in the same direction with the same attitude and actions.



Effective Communication



World Class Businesses are intentional about communication. They understand that creating an enthusiastic collective focus within the organization requires diligent, creative and consistent conveying of the message.



Communication They simply don't have a one-time company meeting, share the goals and direction of the company and then say, "OK, that should do it", and then go back to work.



They also have ears to hear, because communication is a two way street. By taking time to really listen to their people, they find that their people will take time to listen to them. Through effective and consistent upward communication employees feel valued and important.



World Class Companies consider the effectiveness of their internal communication systems and processes. By taking time and evaluating how, when and where your people relay information back and forth has proven to dramatically improve efficiency and quality of communication within businesses.



Finally, World Class Companies consider the impact of their external communication. External communication is essentially how you communicate to the world outside your business. They look at the quality of their marketing and lead generation messages with tremendous focus and intention. They look at every facet of their interaction with their clients, prospects and vendors. Essentially they step outside the business and consider what others see and perceive when looking in.



In the end, World Class businesses are masters at ensuring quality communication throughout the entire business.



Systematic Innovation



Innovation Innovation is the key to keeping a business or organization alive, relevant and growing. Without innovation and reinvention, eventually the business will die. OK, so no great big revelation there.



Over innovation can be equally destructive to a business. Over innovation leads to confusion and inconsistency. Over and over I have witnessed smaller or evolving companies struggle because they never settle on a model or way of doing business that works. It's not because they haven't discovered it, it’s because the owner or leader is an innovation junkie. Sorry if the truth hurts.



When a business over innovates, the people in the business are constantly trying to figure out what to do. They can never get settled into a rhythm. They never get settled into how to produce optimal results. Often, the employees shut down and begin to ignore the constant barrage and attempts of the business owner to drive change.



Ultimately the business owner is the only person engaged in innovation. They simply can’t enlist the cooperation and help of the people around them.



World Class Businesses are very systematic about innovation. It is not random and arbitrary. They implement a process of orchestrating change when it is timely and relevant. They know how to respond to situations that require improvement in an appropriate manner. And they know how to identify areas of the business that can be innovated effectively and efficiently.



The bottom line is entrepreneurs thrive and, by their very nature, embrace change. The best entrepreneurs know how and when to innovate so it best serves the business and its future. They know how to temper and control their over active innovative nature.



In Summary, World Class Organizations do seven things consistently well that ordinary business won’t do.



1. They set and define goals throughout the business.
2. They know their numbers and objectively evaluate performance.
3. They build high quality systems and procedures that ensure consistent and predictable performance.
4. They create an environment of high accountability and trust.
5. They build and thread a self sustaining culture.
6. They are intentional and highly effective in their communication within and outside the business.
7. They are systematic when it comes to innovation and engage all their people when it comes to improving performance.



Time for an Honest Assessment



It’s been reported by most people that see the difference between what World Class Organizations that ordinary business won’t do, that they feel they too are doing those things.



It is easy to see how a business might feel that way. Largely because most of these seven activities described above take place in some way shape of form in every business.



The bottom line question is this, “How well is the business doing those things and is it done with intention or accident?” In addition, who is engaged in these actions? Has it been embedded throughout the entire business?



Take an honest look at your numbers. Are you achieving the financial objects that you believe you should be or would like to be? Then do a gut check and ask yourself the question, “Is the business all that I want it to be, it is genuinely serving my life or have I settled?”



Once you’ve addressed those questions you will have a better idea which category your business really falls into.



Are you World Class or just ordinary?



If you want to become World Class, then begin by implementing Level 7.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

By now you have likely come to discover that I am a principles based guy. I believe that if people understand good principles that will drive appropriate behaviors.

The Level 7 System is about good business principles that drive great results.

As we go into the holiday season, and with tomorrow being Thanksgiving, consider the Principle of Gratitude. I want to be a grateful person. I want my kids to be grateful. I want my kids to have grateful hearts, as do I. When they receive a blessing, I want them to say thank you. Not because they have been taught that saying thank you is good manners. To me that seems legalistic. I want them to say thank you out of genuine appreciation for the gift or whatever they receive.

During this time of year it can be easy to get caught up in all the hoopla. Instead perhaps we should sit back and consider the things we are really grateful and the many blessings and privileges we have. Not because we have to or because its the right thing to do. But because we come to a realization that we are truly blessed.

Gratitude begins with a thoughtful recognition or inventory of what we do have. Not what we lack. Grateful people are humble. They do not carry with them a spirit of entitlement. They genuinely are grateful for all things.

Interestingly, grateful people often have more than they need and lack nothing.

If I were to suggest an action step to begin to develop a heart of gratitude, then start with a list. You can either right it down, or take a mental inventory of all the things that you are grateful for.

Then simply say thank you. Not because you have to, but because you want too.

Have a happy and grateful Thanksgiving.

[Az Gardener]

Sorry I got behind again. The last one I posted is the best but sometimes he refers to yesterdays message. So here they are up to date.

GOOD MORNING!

Got kids?

If you do, and they can talk, then no doubt you've been driving in your car and heard the infamous question, "Are we there yet?"

My response to them is always, "20 minutes."

They hate that.

Consider your business for a moment. Do you realize that if you have people working with you they have either asked one of several questions.

#1 - Where are we going? My kids always ask that question when they get in the car. I suppose they need to have an idea of the destination. Once they know where we are going they seem to be more cooperative on the way. Especially if they can see a personal benefit in where we are going. I believe employees in a business need to know where the business is going and how it is going to benefit them too.

#2- Are we there yet? Once your people know the intended destination, I believe they want to know how the business is progressing at getting there. In other words, we have to show them the road map.

Highly effective leaders are very intentional and focused at communicating the direction of the business and providing regular "Are we there yet" status reports.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

It's been a year of ups and downs for sure. In my conversations with business owners all over North America, some have thrived, and well, let's say that others have not done so well.

In most cases, the businesses that struggled continued doing the same things they always do without really making any changes to their approach. Yes, they worked harder. They struggled more. They cut some expenses. They had more sleepless nights, but they really didn't change their approach. Ironically, most of them actually think they were doing things differently. They weren't.

I believe that is a definition for insanity.

They still responded to problems and frustrations the same way. They still did the same work they always did. In fact, in some cases, they actually spent less time doing some of the work most critical to the success of a business. Specifically, leading and providing effective management and direction.

You have heard me use this analogy before. In scary times we feel like we just have to be moving, doing, going. It's like hopping in a car and just driving. "At least we are moving", you might be thinking. But where are you going.

As a friend said to me several years ago, "Are you just driving along aimlessly?"

Isn't it better to determine where you are going first before you drive?

Now that 2010 is quickly approaching, set aside a few minutes and answer this question. "Putting aside what is happening in your business today, good or bad, what would make 2010 your best year ever? What are your 2010 goals and objectives?"

Don't even think about what's possible. Just write down the goal.

Tomorrow I will talk about several specific steps to ensure you hit your goals in 2010.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Yesterday I wrote about the need to make course corrections in order to ensure that we don't end up in an undesirable place in our business.

Often we set out to achieve a goal, only to discover later that we haven't hit them. Then we wonder why. But at that points it's too late.

The question is then, "How do I ensure that I hit my goals every time?"

The process is actually rather simply, but not necessarily easy. If it were easy everyone would do it. That's why so few people are actually moving forward in their businesses and lives.

Step 1 - Set the goal. Obvious, but necessary. Your goal must be clear, concise, in writing and have a date.

Example: We will double our revenue and profit by December 2010.

Step 2 - Ensure that you have a methodology for measuring and tracking the goal.

Example: We have our financial statements that are up to date and current at all times.

Step 3 - Identify the systems that impact or ensure the goals. Identify the systems that are going to require innovation or improvement to achieve the goal.

Example: Our lead generation system is the primary driver of doubling revenue and profit. We need more leads. We also have in place a good lead conversion process that currently converts 75% of our leads. Our fulfillment systems are solid and we are managing the inflow and outflow of our money effectively.

Step 4 - Establish a goal for the system.

Example: Currently our lead generation systems provide us with 60 new, qualified leads per week. In order to hit our objectives, the system needs to produce 120 new qualified leads per week.

Step 5 - Innovate your system(s) to make the improvements necessarily to achieve goal.

Example: We have identified our primary lead generation sources and will increased our market penetration into those markets.

Step 6 - Set up regular checkpoints to evaluate the performance of your innovated system.

Example: We will review the results of our new lead generation efforts every 2 weeks.

Step 7 - This maybe the most important step. Take immediate action, as needed, to revise the system to ensure you are getting the results, or in this case, the number of leads your need each week to hit your sales and revenue objectives.

The bottom line is if you want to hit your goals, you need to take new action in order to get new results.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps."
Confucius

The system is the solution is a mantra we use around here. The system is the way to results because the system are the action steps to achieving goals.

Often we struggle with hitting goals. Sometimes because we simply aren't crystal clear with our goals. Sometimes we haven't defined the actions steps to achieving the goals.

So we are left wondering why sales are not where they should be... Where is the system that produces the sales results you desire is the question you should be asking.

We wonder why our cash flow is suffering...Where is the system that monitors the inflow and outflow of money is the question you should be asking.

We wonder why our customers are indifferent to our product or services...Where is the system that ensures your customers are Wowed by your company is the question you should be asking.

1- Begin by gaining clarity on the results.
2- Next outline the steps or actions steps that will get you the results. Stop guessing and prove it works.
3- Implement and replicate the system.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"Why is working on your marketing so important to you today Tom?" I asked.

"Well," he responded, "We need to increase sales around here."

I didn't want to sound flippant yet I was compelled to ask. "Why do you need to increase sales?"

Tom gave me the blank, that's a stupid question stare back at me.

"No. Seriously," I continued. "Why do you need to increase sales? I think you are presupposing a solution to a bigger, more important issue. Like your business isn't serving your life."

"Well if I increase sales, I will increase the bottom line." He replied.

"And so why is that important?" I continued to drill.

"OK you really want to know? It's my wife. She is driving me crazy. Somehow she thinks we are made of money and she is always on my case about not having enough. She's spoiled. Her dad is a multimillionaire and although he helps us a bit, we are really on our own. But her habits and tastes haven't changed. She wants a bigger house and an unlimited budget to buy whatever she wants. Our debt is racking up and I am stressed out."

"So now you know," Tom ended.

"Sounds like you need a new wife," I joked to break the tension for a moment.

"Yes. if you can help me with that then you could really solve my problems," he joked right back.

Tom's situation is not unique. Not the wife situation. The money situation. I have heard it over and over again. I have come to discover over the years that every frustration a business owner has comes down to 1 of 4 things.

Sometimes they are troubled only by one issue. Sometimes it is a combination or all four.

Here is the list of the 4 Biggest Frustrations:

1- Not Enough Money Personally. They aren't making the kind of money they want or need to make. I am not going to make any judgments on people's lifestyle or financial needs. Some people live well below their means and others have very expensive needs. It doesn't matter because every business owner has an idea of how much they would like the business to provide them financially. if you are good and content with your personal income, then bravo for you. If not, I would suspect that a lot of your energy and time goes into creating more revenue and sales for your business.

2- Not Enough Time Off. Specifically, how much time do you have to work each day or each week. I have met business owners who are working 80-90 hours per week and more. They have no life outside of business. When they are home, they are thinking about work.

In addition to the time at work, another frustration is the fact that they can't take sufficient, uninterrupted time away from the business for an extended period. Notice I said uninterrupted. Notice I also said extended. I am not talking about a 3 or 4 day weekend. I am talking about taking a week, two, three or even four without being in contact with the business. For some people they can't even imagine being away that long without the business falling apart. It's possible and many of the businesses that have successfully implemented Level 7 regularly take 3 weeks off from their businesses.

3- Doing the Work they Hate Doing. I have met many business owners that hate the work they have to do everyday. Sometimes they are caught up in doing a lot of administrative work and they don't like that. Sometimes they find themselves constantly putting out fires and solving problems. They don't like that either. Especially if they want to be working on developing new opportunities to expand and grow the business. Either way, when a business owner is frustrated, it could be that they simply don't enjoy the work they do in the business.

4- Disconnect Between Vision and Reality. The way the business works doesn't flow with their vision. Admit it. Most business owners have an idea in their head about how they want the business to work. They have a vision for its size and scope. They imagine how the customers will be treated and the impact the business will have on them. They often have picture of how their employees will act and treat each other. They imagine doing something extraordinary. When the business isn't really working the way they would like it too, that causes great frustration and discontent. Sometimes, the business is working great right now, but they want it to get to the next level and simply can't or don't know how to get it there.
Notice to Current Clients.

Want to explore Your Business Life Connection further? Let me know at our next meeting. Going into the new year is a perfect time to revisit and reset your Business Life Connection.

KNOW SOMEONE WHO SHOULD BE READING THE DAILY MESSAGE? BE MY GUEST AND FORWARD TO WHOEVER YOU WISH.

To A Great Business & Great Life,


Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"
I'm the guy entrepreneurs and business leaders call when they want a practical, simple, cost effective and proven approach to building a great business that really works.
P- 623 551 5469
F- 866 483 0369

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"An idea is never given to you without you being given the power to make it reality. You must, nevertheless, suffer for it."
Richard Bach

I have said it before, we, as entrepreneurs shouldn't necessarily pursue every idea we get. That would be business suicide. Over innovation can bring quick destruction to any sound business.

The key is to determine which idea is going to best serve the achieving of the goals in your business and in turn, serve your life.

Once you begin to implement, stick with it until the innovation is fully engaged. If it is a good idea, well thought out and you are commitment to it, then why wouldn't you want to see it through to the end?


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

"Nobody who ever gave his best, regretted it."
George Halas

I am convinced that in order to achieve our goals in the future we need to be our very best today.

Being our best means applying what we know according to our own abilities. Do that every day, continue to learn and the cumulative impact of all those days and effort will amount to extraordinary things.

Be your best today!


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

A compelling and driving vision is the key that will catapult us to do extraordinary things, to take risks, to get out of our comfort zones, to overcome fears, to courageously move forward, to perservere in the midst of adversity and to never give up.

What is your compelling, driving vision for your business?

Seriously, do you have one? Do you wake up in the morning with a sense of excitement and motivation. Or is it ho hum, business as usual?

Now is the time to reinvigorate your vision. Consider how your vision will impact your life and how you feel about what you do everyday.

Think about it. Write it down. And ask yourself if your vision passes the goose bump test, as a friend of mine refers to it. When you consider your vision and have an emotional connection to it in the form of excitement, heart pounding, got to get up and get moving response, then your vision passes the goose bump test.

Here is your challenge for the day. Spend some time working on your vision. Don't just read this message and say, "Oh, that's a great idea. I will do that later." or "Oh, I already have a vision written down. I know its around here somewhere." (Suggesting its just words on paper with no meaning).

Do what few people will actually do and do it. Trust me. The leverage, energy and results you get from this exercise will far exceed anything you can do for your business doing tactical work and going through the motions.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

According to Ed Catmull, President of Pixar Pictures, it is better to have quality, talented people over a great idea any day. If you have a great idea and the wrong people, they will screw it up. Nurture your talent, he says.

I agree. But what does it mean to have the right people in a systems driven environment? The right people doesn't necessarily require that you hire super expensive people with years of experience and background. Although that could be useful during the start up and innovation phase in a business. (More on that tomorrow). You are really looking for, first and foremost, people that fit the culture and personality of the business.

Obviously the personality and culture of businesses vary from organization to organization. Every business has its own personality or character. Pixar, I suspect, looks for people with a certain creative and collaborative bend in their personalities.

Nordstrom's looks for people who have a personality oriented toward exceedingly high levels of customer service.

GE looks for people who can get results independently.

Southwest looks for people who like to have fun.

Inflection HR looks for people who know how to think.

Lavidge and Internet Marketing Agency (IMA) look for people who work smart and are creative.

Aquatic Environmental Systems finds people with low egos and will work at a team.

The point is that attempting to execute good ideas without people that really get the culture and values of your business might not get executed and implemented properly.

Great business then begins with getting the right people.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Yesterday I wrote about how having a great idea or model for business can go south on you very quickly if you have the wrong people in place to execute.

As you know, I believe very strongly in the idea of replication; systems. I have found that many businesses spend more time re-figuring out how to do things in their business, ie. over innovation, rather than sticking with what works and creating consistency and predictability in the everyday operation.

In the movie Remember the Titans, the coach played by Denzel Washington was successful because of his commitment to doing a few key plays very, very well. Or as he would say "with perfection".

We need to learn how to run our plays or systems in our businesses perfectly too. That means deciding what the play is going to be and make sure every player knows how to do their part.

We can't run our plays or systems perfectly if we are always changing them.

Does this make sense?

Create a great system and implement it. Then, when it is appropriate, evaluate and innovate it. (More on that tomorrow).

Now for the tie into yesterdays message. Sometime when we hire people, we might want to look for people who have experience in the type of systems you are building.

Let me give you an example. What if you have never really done any hiring and recruiting. Well it might benefit you to hire an expert in hiring and recruiting to support in building your systems.

Perhaps you have a fairly decent lead generation process, but it still may benefit you to engage someone who is a lead generation expert to support in improving those systems.

When your business is in the start up phase, you may have little or no experience in some of the critical systems necessary for business success. Bringing in expertise in those systems may be a wise choice.

Let's say your business is fairly well establish and you are planning to integrate a new system for bookkeeping and accounting as part of your innovation process. Again, it might benefit you to bring in an expert to help you develop your systems.

When it comes to getting the right people into your business, begin by first looking for people who fit your business personality, then screen for expertise that might contribute to the development of the best possible systems in your business.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Wilson Kipketer of Denmark holds the men's world record for running 800 meters in 1:41.11. That's darn fast I say.

Yet the Santa Monica Track Club Men's Relay Team holds the world record for the same distance in 1:18:6. Granted each man ran 200 meters of the 800 meter race. It goes to show that a group of people working together towards a common goal can often produce a better result than one person can do on their own.

No one would ever deny that both Wilson and the track team are world class.

Both Wilson and the Track Team have the same goal; cover the distance of 800 meters as fast as possible.

There approaches were different. The team was able to leverage and combine talents. Walter was on his own.

One of the things Walter doesn't have to worry about in his race was dropping the baton. The team has to think about that. In fact, it is one of the keys to their success. If anyone drops the baton, they lose.

The baton pass is critical. Yes, having the right talent is important too. But all things being equal, that doesn't play into the equation. All the parties are talented. Or should I say, fast.

I propose that even though most businesses, unless you are a solopreneur, have team members working with them, they are dropping the baton often.

In business, your success as a leader and effective manager comes down to the baton hand-off. Let me put it in business terms. How well you convey information or communicate to people on your team is critical. Specifically, communicating the results you expect and how to perform their job or responsibilities the best they can is the key.

I have found that the simplest, most effective, reliable and proven way to improve or maximize employee performance is through quality systems.

I have seen businesses try to win the race without them and they NEVER perform as well as companies that use systems to ensure quality performance.

Handing someone a system will enable them to be the best they can be in their role in the business. And if your people perform well, then your business will win!

Want to be World Class? Then your job is to build a systems-driven business and make sure you get them in the hands of your people.

If you would like to receive this Daily Message on a regular basis click here.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[wbw]

GOOD MORNING!

Wilson Kipketer of Denmark holds the men's world record for running 800 meters in 1:41.11. That's darn fast I say.

Yet the Santa Monica Track Club Men's Relay Team holds the world record for the same distance in 1:18:6. Granted each man ran 200 meters of the 800 meter race. It goes to show that a group of people working together towards a common goal can often produce a better result than one person can do on their own.

No one would ever deny that both Wilson and the track team are world class.

Both Wilson and the Track Team have the same goal; cover the distance of 800 meters as fast as possible.

There approaches were different. The team was able to leverage and combine talents. Walter was on his own.

One of the things Walter doesn't have to worry about in his race was dropping the baton. The team has to think about that. In fact, it is one of the keys to their success. If anyone drops the baton, they lose.

The baton pass is critical. Yes, having the right talent is important too. But all things being equal, that doesn't play into the equation. All the parties are talented. Or should I say, fast.

I propose that even though most businesses, unless you are a solopreneur, have team members working with them, they are dropping the baton often.

In business, your success as a leader and effective manager comes down to the baton hand-off. Let me put it in business terms. How well you convey information or communicate to people on your team is critical. Specifically, communicating the results you expect and how to perform their job or responsibilities the best they can is the key.

I have found that the simplest, most effective, reliable and proven way to improve or maximize employee performance is through quality systems.

I have seen businesses try to win the race without them and they NEVER perform as well as companies that use systems to ensure quality performance.

Handing someone a system will enable them to be the best they can be in their role in the business. And if your people perform well, then your business will win!

Want to be World Class? Then your job is to build a systems-driven business and make sure you get them in the hands of your people.

If you would like to receive this Daily Message on a regular basis click here.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

I am beginning to resent these reminders of far off track I've become. J/K Thanks for sharing.

[Az Gardener]

Its all relative. I look at my relatives company and I feel pretty good :laugh:. Then I look at what could be and I realize I have a lot of work to do. here is todays message.

GOOD MORNING!

I talk a lot about systems. (That's because I'm the "Systems Guys". For the record, I am not necessarily enamored with that name. Primarily because someone once said that, "systems weren't sexy". And I want to be sexy. :) Oh, well.)

During my conversations invariably the comment comes up, "Doesn't having systems and procedures kill inspiration, creativity and innovation?"

"It can." I respond.

But think of it this way. Systems are not confining, in fact, they are liberating.

I was in the shower the other day and during my routine (Yes, I have a system or routine for taking a shower. I'll be you do too) I came up with a freakin genius idea. How many times have you come up with an idea while in the shower or driving to work? Well in many ways systems free people to be creative.

They spend less time thinking about how to do something correctly. Which leaves more time to think about how to do it better. Isn't that innovation?

Now let's take it one step further, most of the clients I work with develop a system or procedure for innovation, brainstorming and improvement.

Imagine bringing some people together in a room periodically and saying, "All right. See the blank whiteboard on the wall? Let's fill it up with ideas on how we can improve the business. The sky is the limit, no right or wrong answers. Let's just fill it up and see where it goes."

At that point you might narrow the focus to a specific area of the business like increasing leads or improving efficiency. But the process or system is an open forum for ideas and inspiration.

Having order in your business will liberate you and your people. The Level 7 System of Improving Performance suggests that, in addition to creating systems, a business also orchestrates innovation, creativity and inspiration INTENTIONALLY.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

Sorry I have let this thread languish I have been really busy. I have to say it is mostly due to my association with Eden. Between the goal setting exercise the whole company undertook to the added work the action items have already generated to the annual Level-7 round table I attended last week. Business is better than ever.

Its so god in fact I find less and less time to be active here on site and when I am it on my laptop not in the office where my daily messages come from. You can all go to Edens site and sign up for the daily messages if you like. I feel badly for not keep this thread current.

Good luck to all this season.

[Az Gardener]

Todays message was so good I had to post it.

GOOD MORNING!

Whoever came up with the statement "the customer is always right" was wrong. The reality is that this statement was designed for people who couldn't be trusted to effectively connect with a customer in order to create a win win environment.

But the customer is not always right. The customer doesn't always know what they NEED. They might know what they WANT. But the two are entirely different.

Henry Ford once said, regarding the first car he ever built, "If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse."

Effective leadership listens and observes trends. They do talk with customers and look to the future. They might not base their decisions on what the customer says they want however. They look for trends that reveal what the customer really needs or at least will want in the future.

I recommend that we do this intentionally. Take some time and simply ask the question, 'what trends and opportunities seem to be emerging that our clients and industry will be interested in the future?'

Here are a couple trends I have observed.

I see an ultimate decrease in the demand for commercial office space. Why? Technology is going to enable us to be able to telecommute more effectively. It's already happening.

There will be an increased demand in resources, training, materials and equipment designed for people to successfully work independently at home.

More outlets will emerge for socialization. It is already happening. Look at on-line social media. People will need to connect to others. If that isn't happening at work its going to happen somewhere. Starbucks like places will continue to grow as long as they can cater to the home-based work crowd. Wifi and Internet access, a quiet place to sit for long stretches of time will become common place in our neighborhoods.

I believe the next major break in technology since the desktop computer will be high functioning voice recognition programs. Think Star Trek and how the crew would interact with the computer. Key pads, mouses, touchscreens would become obsolete.

I would love to hear your feedback on trends in the world you see emerging too.

You can send your reply directly to me or post to my blog. click here.

To A Great Business & Great Life,


Eden Sunshine "The Systems Guy"
Founder of The Level 7 System
www.edensunshine.com
www.levelsevensystems.com

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

“If you're coasting, you're either losing momentum or else you're headed downhill.”
Joan Welsh

Your job as the business owner is to build THE business. Your job is to create an environment where the business has long term success and sustainability. Your job is to create a systems driven environment that, as a result, produces optimal performance in all areas of your business.

That's YOUR PRIMARY JOB as the business owner (By the way, business owner is interchangeable with leader, CEO, President and entrepreneur). Don't be confused by the other functions or positions you occupy in the business. But if you call yourself the owner, then you also have the job of building the organization. Not just producing a sale or fixing a problem today.

This is a process that requires ongoing focus and effort. It is not a start and stop endeavor. You must create momentum through your effort and energy first, then, through the enlistment of others in your organization, producing momentum through them. Ultimately, the business becomes an unstoppable force. Why? Because you started and continued the process by applying a little effort, focus and energy everyday to the cause.

Moral of the story... Do the work of the business owner daily.

To A Great Business & Great Life,

We had a lot of momentum going and added quite a few accounts and instead of hiring and keeping the momentum going I dropped back into the field and it has killed our momentum.

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

In a hospital, an emergency room is equipped and poised to handle the unexpected. They never know what is going to happen next. The circumstances that occur outside the emergency room are beyond their influence or control. They simply can't change or fix it. They are open 24/7. Sometimes they are slammed and other times people are sitting around twiddling their thumbs.

Business owners, in many cases, have poised and positioned their businesses to act like an emergency room. They believe the business is in the business of constantly resolving issues that seem to be beyond their control or influence. In most cases it simply isn't true. They have become experts at waiting for a problem to come up and then solving it.

Despite their beliefs, they have a lot more control over the circumstances that drive the activities within their organization. It is much more difficult to grow and build a business that serves lives if we think and act like the business is an emergency room.

There are several keys to making a shift to get out of the emergency room mode.

1- Recognize that your business is in reactive mode most the time and that a change needs to happen.
2- Resolve to make a change in the culture of the business by considering how the business can become more proactive in its thinking and action.
3- Introduce a systems resolution approach to the reoccurring problems that come up in your business. When you have a problem or challenge in your business it is because you have a systems problem. If you don't have systems, then you have a REAL BIG PROBLEM.

[wbw]

Thanks for another great contribution Az.

I have been thinking about this exact problem the last few weeks.

[Lefet]

Seems like a good read. Don't have time read it now but am subscribing.
Thanks Az Gardener, way to get 2011 off to a positive start!!

[snomaha]

GOOD MORNING!

Yesterday I wrote about how having a great idea or model for business can go south on you very quickly if you have the wrong people in place to execute.

As you know, I believe very strongly in the idea of replication; systems. I have found that many businesses spend more time re-figuring out how to do things in their business, ie. over innovation, rather than sticking with what works and creating consistency and predictability in the everyday operation.

In the movie Remember the Titans, the coach played by Denzel Washington was successful because of his commitment to doing a few key plays very, very well. Or as he would say "with perfection".

We need to learn how to run our plays or systems in our businesses perfectly too. That means deciding what the play is going to be and make sure every player knows how to do their part.

We can't run our plays or systems perfectly if we are always changing them.

Does this make sense?

Create a great system and implement it. Then, when it is appropriate, evaluate and innovate it. (More on that tomorrow).

Now for the tie into yesterdays message. Sometime when we hire people, we might want to look for people who have experience in the type of systems you are building.

Let me give you an example. What if you have never really done any hiring and recruiting. Well it might benefit you to hire an expert in hiring and recruiting to support in building your systems.

Perhaps you have a fairly decent lead generation process, but it still may benefit you to engage someone who is a lead generation expert to support in improving those systems.

When your business is in the start up phase, you may have little or no experience in some of the critical systems necessary for business success. Bringing in expertise in those systems may be a wise choice.

Let's say your business is fairly well establish and you are planning to integrate a new system for bookkeeping and accounting as part of your innovation process. Again, it might benefit you to bring in an expert to help you develop your systems.

When it comes to getting the right people into your business, begin by first looking for people who fit your business personality, then screen for expertise that might contribute to the development of the best possible systems in your business.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

My 2 cents - if your systems or processes are complicated they are probably wrong. Think it ties to what you have posted.

[grnstripes]

just found this one so im subscribing

[Lefet]

:confused:Not sure he's even posting for 2011

[Az Gardener]

I just don't have the time to copy paste anymore. Those e mail messages come to the office computer and I work off my laptop most of the time, sorry. You can subscribe with Eden on his website and he will send them directly to you.

[Lefet]

Thanks for letting us know.

[Az Gardener]

I just had to copy and paste this is so true and its one of my pet peeves.

GOOD MORNING!

Imagine for a moment you go to your local hardware or home improvement store. You start walking around the tool section and you discover some interesting looking tools and equipment you don't currently own and perhaps have never used previously.

You look at the tool and say, "Hey, that's pretty cool!" You continue by saying, "I wonder if I can find or create a project where I can use that tool."

That's the stupid part. Who in their right mind would go to a store, by a tool and then create a project to use the tool. I don't know about you, but I have enough 'projects'. I don't need to go and create a new one just for the sake of it.

Normal people approach this situation this way; they have a project, or a RESULT, they want to accomplish, then they seek out the tool or equipment they need to get the job done.

Now let's apply this to business because not everyone in business is normal. So often people discover a new tool, a piece of technology, a social media widget or something seemingly cool and then we say, "hum, how can I use this?"

Stupid and a waste of time. That's like creating a project because you have a tool.

It makes more sense to ask ourselves the question, "What result are we working to achieve?" We respond by looking for the tool or method to produce the result.

Now for those of you who like to go window shopping for new ideas and see what's out there, I will write more about that tomorrow.


To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

Yesterday I wrote about how stupid it is the buy a tool and then create a project just so you can use the tool. It just doesn't make sense.

What does make sense is learning and exposing yourself to new ideas. Learning helps us discover new possibilities. Being exposed to new information helps us respond to situations or know where to go to solve a problem more effectively.

Personally, I spend a specific amount of time each week doing random research in areas that interest me. I allow myself to even go down a rabbit trail or two. The purpose is to simply expose my mind to new ideas. That's it.

It is actually quite liberating because I have no other agenda other than to learn.

And that, I believe is smart. Set aside a time either daily or weekly to learn and expose yourself to new ideas.

What do you think?

To A Great Business & Great Life,

[Az Gardener]

GOOD MORNING!

During a conversation I was having with an employee a while ago, she surprised me with a question. Actually, it was more like a request.

Now me and this gal had developed pretty open and candid communication with each other. We could pretty much say whatever needed to be said in order to ensure that the business was achieving the goals that had been established.

She knew that we had specific revenue and profit goals. She knew that we also had very specific goals centered on maximizing client satisfaction and employee morale as well.

Bottom line, if we needed to say something that was relevant to ensuring we would hit our targets, we would say it.

I was surprised, however, when she asked me to share with her, again, the vision and long term direction for the company. I felt I had been doing a pretty good job of that. But apparently she needed a little inspiration or motivation.

So I asked her why. She explained that in order for her to feel like she could make a lasting and more impactful contribution on the business it would help her if she could see what I see.

At that point I preceded to share with her the company Vision of the Ideal Business Statement I had created. I also talked with her about the company culture that we were all working together to create.

Afterward SHE felt better and more secure in the business. And I saw tangible results come from her action and efforts as a result of her clarity.

Don't be deceived business owners. Your employees want to make a more meaningful contribution to your business. They want more than just a place to get a paycheck. Perhaps you don't believe that but I would venture to guess that you also haven't been very intentional and effective at establishing a clear vision for your business and communicating it a way that will truly engage your people. And because of that, your people have become cynical and disengaged.

A friend of mine the other day e-mailed me and wrote, "Not only do I not have any clue about the goals and vision for our business, I am not even sure the company has any goals and direction. The extent of the direction I get" he continued, "is do your job."

Extraordinary business require an extraordinary effort and focus not from just one person, but from the entire collective of people engaged in the business.

Define your vision and get your people involved and engaged in it. Watch what happens.

It will be good!


To A Great Business & Great Life,