Can You See the Forest for the Trees?

So, you’ve analyzed the past year and are ready to dive into your strategic plan. Stop for a moment and ask yourself one last question: am I seeing the complete picture? 

Chances are you’re not.

No matter how involved you are with all the various aspects of your business – no matter how well you know your people, processes, and products or services – you can only view them from your own perspective. And when you’re as deeply involved as you are, your perspective is influenced by history and what you can see. What about things you can’t see (blind spots). You take for granted that the way things are is how they should be. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it, right? But a process that appears to be working might not be working as well as it could or should. Or, it might depend on outdated resources that could be improved. Looking at your business from a different perspective gives you a fresh insight into the familiar and opens up possibilities.

David Waymann, AdviCoach, can show you how to look at your business from a different perspective. With David’s guidance, you won’t just think outside the box. You’ll step outside the box and look deeply into it. 

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Look Back to Move Forward

Year end is a time to look forward to plan for the future of your business. It’s also a time to look backward to assess the past year’s performance with a critical eye. Past successes and failures can both provide valuable information to drive future growth. 

Maya Angelou described her respect for the past, saying “If you don't know where you've come from, you don't know where you're going.” 

Indeed! Our focus in business is often to look to the future – on moving onward and upward. But leaving the past behind, unexamined, leaves a critical gap in your understanding of how to get there. Analyzing the past gives you the wisdom to choose the best future path.

A SWOTT (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats, and Trends) analysis is a great way to look back on your year to identify what helped and what hindered your goals.

So is virtual coaching with David Waymann! Learn more on my website. 

Virtual Coaching is a Natural Choice in Today's World

The tools and technology at our disposal in the time of COVID make virtual coaching a natural evolution. And, although forgoing the face-to-face model may seem less personal at first, virtual coaching actually offers some benefits you may not have considered pre-COVID.

Convenience – Removing location from the coaching equation makes coaching sessions more convenient for current clients, and more obtainable for those who may have previously been limited by location or commute. Virtual coaching opens doors for you! 

Privacy – Engaging in a coaching meeting from the privacy of your home, office, or location of choice is not only convenient, but allows you more control over your privacy when compared with traveling to a physical office or meeting in public. While we can all agree that everybody needs a little help at times, there are also times when we just don’t want to publicize our need. 

Fewer distractions – Believe it or not, you’re less likely to be interrupted in a virtual meeting than an in-person one due to the absence of visual social clues. In other words, it’s uncomfortable to interrupt when we can’t make direct eye contact. 

Comfort – Having control over your meeting location gives you a kind of home field advantage. You may find it easier to prepare with your own belongings around you, and easier to relax or open up in your own comfortable environment.

Contact me or read more on my website!

Virtual Coaching: Adapting to the New Normal

The COVID pandemic has changed the rules of engagement in everyday life, in every arena, from how we educate our children to how we manage our businesses. 

Successful businesses recognize that they can’t always change their external circumstances, like COVID, but must accept the change and adapt in order to thrive. 

Coaching is no different! 

In the aftermath of stay-at-home orders, and as we move into the next phase of life and business with COVID, it’s more important than ever for coaches to be available to support your changing business needs. To do that, we’ve adopted virtual coaching.

Since COVID, sitting down together with a handshake and a cup of coffee is no longer a safe model, but we can still provide the heart of what we do as coaches via virtual meetings.

Want to learn more about how virtual coaching can help your business? Visit my website!

Strategic Planning? SWOTT Analysis Is Your Best Friend!

  

If you're strategic planning for your business, there are few tools more useful than a SWOTT analysis. SWOTT, or Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats, and Trends is generally considered to be the cornerstone of strategic analysis.

Your strengths and weaknesses are features of your organization, and your opportunities, threats and trends are features of the environment your organization is operating in. Features of your organization and environment have both the ability to further your goals (strengths and opportunities) or hinder them (weaknesses and threats). Very simply, identifying good and bad features, and whether they come from inside or outside your organization, is an elegant and powerful way to think strategically. SWOTT analysis can be scaled to fit any size of organization, too: from your small business in Ann Arbor, to the very largest international corporations.

Need help getting started with your strategic plan?

Read more on my website!

63% of Business Owners Only Plan a Year Ahead! Sound Familiar?

 

A major reason why small and medium sized businesses fail is lack of strategic planning. In fact, according to a recent survey from Constant Contact, 63% of small business owners surveyed said they only planned a year or less in advance.

Sound familiar? If so, that may be a sign your small business could benefit from strategic planning.

 

There are many reasons to make a strategic plan for your small business in Ann Arbor. Having a strategic plan that is shared internally and made available, in part or whole publicly, can educate your employees and customers, in addition to attracting potential investors or buyers, should you decide to sell your business. Most importantly, having a strategic plan benefits you!

Strategic planning for your Michigan small business can help clarify your goals. By carefully defining your vision, you will unite and focus your efforts on assessing where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there.

Need help jump-starting your strategic planning? 

Read more on my site!

Starting a Business? Here's the Checklist You Need

 

Starting a business can be complicated. You have to decide what form of legal organization works for your situation, secure funding, perform market research, and depending on your industry, familiarize yourself with all the relevant laws and regulations. 

 

At AdviCoach of Southeast Michigan, we generally work with small business owners in Michigan who are two or more years into their business lifecycle, but commonly hear from business owners who regret not laying a more solid foundation for their business.

Over the years, we’ve noticed some trouble spots in the first critical months. While it can be easy to get bogged down in the details of opening your small business in Michigan, you can’t lose sight of the important questions: why are you starting a business or this business? What value will your business bring to the market? How do you expect your business to change and grow through the years?

Here’s what most business owners wish they spent more time on when starting their Michigan business!

Everything Is So Uncertain: How Do I Find The Way Forward?

One of the first things a business owner will do is fill out a worksheet on the Top 5 Business Dangers. By taking time to reflect on their business and identifying its top challenges, we start a conversation about what needs to change. Ultimately, this helps us understand what is and is not working and compared to the owner’s desire, find the best way forward that fits their particular situation.

The Top 5 Business Dangers Worksheet is a valuable tool that helps business owners begin to sort through their own situation, available as a free download here!

The very personal nature of small business ownership can be a source of stress during economic hardship. You need a business coach that understands this and uses personalized solutions that meet you where you are.

Need some direction? Keep reading at my website!

Increasing Sales in Uncertain Times

During difficult economic times like COVID-19, it can be hard to break into new markets. One of the best things to do now is to better serve your existing customers. Think about what’s working and what isn’t!

These should be your first priorities:

• Review your sales process. Are your sales what they should or need to be (as compared to your goal for sales) - what is working well and what is not working? What is your sales process and approach that is reliable and drives predictable results? If you win only 10% of the time, getting that number to 20% is a small but meaningful improvement!
• Lead generation and know your numbers. How effective is your lead generation and lead follow-up? What is your lead management system and how well is it helping you with leads, lead management and conversions through your selling process? If you don’t know your numbers are you flying blind, and how will you adjust if you are off course?
• Know your customers. Know what their favorite services or products are and be aware of their wellbeing during this time. Ask yourself how you can better serve them, and how you can help then during the COVID-19 pandemic or as they prepare to build their business as the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
• Build referral relationships. The best referrals come from satisfied customers. Focus on doing everything you can for your current customers and showing them that you care. And don’t be afraid to ask for referrals! It doesn’t have to be a sales pitch—just ask them to share their good experiences with your business and send a friend or two your way!
• Reward loyal customers. This will look different for every business, but the customers that stick by you should recognized! Consider offering discounts for frequent retail customers, or a tasteful gift basket in B2B relationships. Find what makes sense for you!

Increasing sales isn’t easy or simple, but these should provide a good starting point for any business. For more information, keep reading here!