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It has come to my attention over the years, moreover and in such a manner in recent days, that it seems but fitting to address some issues which have been seemingly passed-over by many and in such case, as has allowed certain assumptions to go without challenge, in the world of small business and those who would run one.

This letter seeks to address but some few of these issues, but issues nonetheless, that need some light shone upon them, in the interests of the health of small business, the sake of the customers that small business serves, and the staff who are tasked to work therein.

In short, it is for the benefit of everyone, since our society is built on the back of, and needs to maintain, a healthy and vigorous and profitable small business sector.

1 Your Customers Are The Biggest Asset In Your Business


2 Serving Your Customers Is The Essence From Which Will Spring The Health And Prosperity Of Your Business

3 You Cannot Serve Your Customers Superbly When Your Business Has No Standard For Procedures And Policies

4 Your Business Will Stumble Until Your Systemize And Streamline Procedures, Responsibilities, Accountabilities And Processes.

5 Your Staff Is (Or Should Be) The Other Single Greatest Asset In Your Business.

6 Your Staff Cannot Be The Best They Can Be...If You Fail To Provide Them With The Instruction, Skills And Feedback They Need To Do So.

7 If You Are Indeed, The Best Worker In Your Business, You Are Failing Your Staff, Your Customers And Your Business.


Consider these points carefully. If they apply to your business, then you have the power to do something about correcting them.

Please do so. For the sake of us all.
















Thinking Of Getting A Business Coach?
Lindy Asimus
http://www.designbusinessengineering.com

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Speaking with an accountant client, the subject comes up that the economy is tightening up and small business are starting to feel the pinch. I'm sure they are, and what is more, I'm sure it isn't going to get better any time soon!

When small businesses report difficulty, then it is likely that that's when it becomes very clear, that the broken parts of their business are going to be come apparent. When the bills stop getting paid and the wages bill becomes an issue to pay, and the rent is past due, it is going to be all too clear that the business is suffering a systemic failure and all it's 'vital organs' are going to be affected.

Too bad. From an accountant's point of view, that is the time when the client also doesn't have the money to pay for help out of the situation. When your business is falling apart, what will you do to fix your business? Who will you turn to, and how will you pay them? ...Or does it follow, as some small business people seem to think... that someone should help them out of it (even if it is possible) with no real prospect of being paid for their efforts?

That the accountant wasn't assisting to manage the business and avoid this mess, is another issue for another post.

It can't stressed enough, that the time to get help in your business is before it is on the verge of collapse!.

Any time is a good time to get a review done of how your business is travelling. Do it now...do it often! There is never a time that people typically "want" to spend money on preventative measures to ensure the health of their business. Nevertheless, that's probably the only time someone can help.




Thinking Of Getting A Business Coach?
Lindy Asimus
http://www.designbusinessengineering.com

I've been considering the different ways that busineses operate, some selling tangible, hold-them-in-your-hand products that are a size to compare, quality to compare and price range that you can compare with another at another store or website. Then I'm thinking about services, how do we make that as seemingly easy to buy, as easy to compare and importantly, how to package it up to make it easy to buy?

Australia Post must have been thinking along these lines with their recent poster campaign...



Well services aren't products, and while there may be some comparison in some industries, it is essential in order to qualify that value, to know that one is comparing like to like. For example, in many coaching, business development services, the coach/consultant will work with you to determine what is your next action to take... and leave you with it! In my experience, that is often where the wheels fall off, because the business owner doesn't already have a strategy to use, in order to DO that! That's precisely why they have stalled and not taken care of addressing that very issue!

Speak to anyone from the insurance industry and they will tell you "it's harder to sell intangibles..." Well, I'm not so sure that is true. Some people buy a drill just to have drill. For others like me, they buy a drill so they can stick a screw in the wall to hang something on. Now I don't much care about drills, or screws, or masonry, but if I want to fix something to that wall, then you can bet that I'm going to buy a drill to do it. The drill is a means to my end, not an end in itself. Products and services are not so different. We buy insurance, not because we love insurance, but because we love our family and we know that we have enough to contend with, just making ends meet at the best of times. We also know that we may not have enough in the case of an emergency of crisis proportions - or if we do, we might prefer to spend Someone Else's money at that time - not our savings!

Business coaching is like that. Marketing is like that. Business resources are like that. We don't necessarily want to spend the money, but if we know what spending that money can give us as an outcome... a good result... then we understand what is a priority and what is not. To us. As it must always be, a value according to what is important to us.

It really is up to us, we brave souls out there pushing our imaginery barrow full of intangible benefits, to communicate that value, to those who would seek it.





Thinking Of Getting A Business Coach?
Lindy Asimus
http://www.designbusinessengineering.com

Some interesting observations here on how we read online text... and how we don't.

Useful from an observational point of view ("Is it so for me too?") as well as a great guide to use when writing for the internet.




Lazy Bastards -- How We Read Online.
By Michael Agger
Posted Friday, June 13, 2008, at 1:00 PM ET

You're probably going to read this.

It's a short paragraph at the top of the page. It's surrounded by white space. It's in small type.

To really get your attention, I should write like this:

* Bulleted list
* Occasional use of bold to prevent skimming
* Short sentence fragments
* Explanatory subheads
* No puns
* Did I mention lists?

What Is This Article About?

For the past month, I've been away from the computer screen. Now I'm back reading on it many hours a day. Which got me thinking: How do we read online?

Read the full article here and find out all the juicy details!


Thinking Of Getting A Business Coach?
Lindy Asimus
http://www.designbusinessengineering.com

Here's a story that is probably being played over and over in aged care facilities around the world. When does an adult lose the ability to choose with whom they will share a physical and emotional relationship?

We often hear that "children become the parents" as people age and in some ways that can be a useful role to accept. But when does one's attempt to help, just become itself, problematic and controlling, for the benefit of self, not those to whom we seek to protect?


An Affair To Remember

She was 82. He was 95.
They had dementia. They fell in love. And then they started having sex.
By Melinda Henneberger
Posted Tuesday, June 10, 2008, at 1:14 PM ET

Bob's family was horrified at the idea that his relationship with Dorothy might have become sexual. At his age, they wouldn't have thought it possible. But when Bob's son walked in and saw his 95-year-old father in bed with his 82-year-old girlfriend last December, incredulity turned into full-blown panic. "I didn't know where this was going to end," said the manager of the assisted-living facility where Bob and Dorothy lived. "It was pretty volatile."

Because both Bob and Dorothy suffer from dementia, the son assumed that his father didn't fully understand what was going on. And his sputtering cell phone call reporting the scene he'd happened upon would have been funny, the manager said, if the consequences hadn't been so serious. "He was going, 'She had her mouth on my dad's penis! And it's not even clean!' " Bob's son became determined to keep the two apart and asked the facility's staff to ensure that they were never left alone together. Read the full article here

If you're of a certain age and your parents are still alive, there is a good chance that you will already be living with some of the fallout from having aging parents, or will face it in the years to come.

What would you do?




Thinking Of Getting A Business Coach?
Lindy Asimus
http://www.designbusinessengineering.com