Resources – Page 3 – Pauline Bright Business Coach

5 Steps to Turn Your Current Business into a Gold Mine

The trouble with creative entrepreneurial business owners is that they jump from one thing to another without fully exploring the thing they started and bringing it to fruition. They get bored, lose their mojo and go looking for new thrills.

It could very well be that you are sitting on a gold mine but you’ve only just scratched the surface. Maybe you’ve been at this a while and the gold is right under your nose but you’re not seeing it.

Owning a gold mine is all about digging deep in the right place and finding a rich seam. It takes hard work and perseverance and if you’re doing it correctly, it should pay off.

If you’re going to find the gold in your business, cover any of these bases and you’re on your way to having a gold mine. The more of these you have in place the better.

Your products, service and business should:

Be something highly desirable
Be in high demand
Be in a narrow but deep market
Be appealing to affluent buyers
Be able to guarantee results
Provide Social Proof – people like it
Have a perceived difference
Have raving fans
Be easily marketable
Be easily delivered
Not be reliant on specialists
Be remarkable
Be able to flex and change with times
Not be financially dependent on another industry
Not be highly regulated or over compliant
Have little or no waste
OR produce a waste product that is valuable
Already be being bought in large amounts
Be replicable and scalable
Be profitable
Be something that runs out, wears out or goes down the sink

Let’s go mining in your business

Step 1. Offer Something Highly Desirable

Whatever your product or service it must have customers who already want it or something like it. It’s very hard to sell a product that no-one wants or needs – even if you think it’s fabulous.

Gold-mine businesses are not always the originators; often they’ve just tapped a seam of desire for something that gets people out of pain or into pleasure.

Step 2. Know your customers like the back of your hand

Get up close and personal with your ideal customer. Make your business all about them and only them. Don’t try to serve everyone, you’ll spread yourself too thin and the business will be a nightmare to run.

Be the best in your industry for that type of customer. Get a reputation for it and protect it.

Step 3. Pick the Gap

If your business has stalled and you’re looking for some fresh ideas then go back to the list above and get the creative juices flowing. You probably already have something that needs looking at from a different perspective.

Look for an idea whose time has come – if you’re at all creative you’ll have a brain full or a notebook full of ideas. Look for things that could fill a current need. If enough people have a big enough problem and you have a better than average solution you could be on the way to the bank with a big gold nugget.

For goodness sake, do the research to find out if your “thing” is saleable in big enough quantities and for long enough to make you one of those rare breed of business owners who do actually strike it rich. Do NOT skip this step!

Step 4. You absolutely MUST do the numbers

Here’s where 80% of business owners start to lose interest but if you can bust your way through this you will succeed and you won’t have to go through a painful bankruptcy to learn the lesson. It can be done on paper first.

You need to know how much it will cost to get this product or service to market with built-in profit – and not be paying yourself with leftover scraps you cobble together after everything and everyone else gets paid.

If you don’t know how – ask me, I eat this stuff for breakfast.

Step 5. It must be something you really enjoy

It would be even better if you loved it and were passionate about it because it’s going to take a lot of stamina to get you through the ups and downs.

And remember if you’re doing it all alone, you’re doing it wrong. Business is a team game – you most certainly don’t have all the genius for every part of the business so you need to find others who have a piece of the puzzle that is their own special field of genius.

You don’t have to make them business partners – they could be outstanding managers and employees – as long as they are doing what they love too.

If you think your business is a gold mine waiting to happen and you want a fresh pair of eyes to take a look at it we should talk.

Set up a 15 minute phone call here and we’ll start digging.

5 Steps to develop your good business ideas

If you’re a creative person you’ve probably generated more business ideas than you can ever implement.

In your mind your latest idea could be the best thing since sliced bread, but if you don’t put in enough strategic thinking BEFORE you get started, it could just lead you down a deep dark rabbit hole…

This 5 Step Strategy to Develop New Ideas will help you sort the “good ideas” from the “time wasters that look good on the surface” and show you how to get the outcome you really want.

Try this:

Capture the ideas – it doesn’t matter how crazy they might seem – just get them down in a journal of some sort. Use words, pictures, links… anything that sparks off the original idea and intention.
What is the problem that THIS is the Solution to? You’ll need a framework to assess the idea. What is your greatest need – your “Burning Desire” right now? Is it to make more money, to get better customers, to have better structure in your business? Whatever that burning desire is write it down at the top of a page. “I need to make more money” (remember to state exactly how much money that is – e.g. $500 more in turnover each week”) You’re going to brainstorm the strategies.
Take each idea you came up with and run it by the Burning Desire. If the idea can help you achieve that exact outcome, without spending too much money or wasting too much time, then it’s time to develop the idea. All other ideas have been captured in the journal so you can come back to them later. Work on ONE idea at a time – go deep.
If you have more than one idea or strategy, assess the idea for ease of implementation. Ask yourself qualifying questions: “Can it be done, by me (or can I pay someone else to do it)? What tools, people, skills will I need to make it successful? How long would it take to implement? How much will it cost? What return do I want for my time and effort?” Write it down. Can you do a “test run” before you throw lots of money at it?
Start the test run – run it by people who would use it or buy it – get some feedback. Don’t try to develop the idea and build a new product / service / system until you know there is a genuine need or market for it or that people actually want what you’ve created.

How do I know this works?

Because I’m a super-high Creator. Without structure to assess and implement ideas Creator types can create chaos. I know it seems like “hard work” from the outside but if you take a little time to plan it out first you’ll save yourself vast amounts of time and energy and money – and you’ll end up with a much better creation from your brilliant ideas.

Good luck. Let me know how it goes.

Why is a budget so important to your business, but so hard to do?

I have yet to meet anyone who likes the word “budget”!

It seems to have acquired a negative spin – Business Coach Mandurah like “belt-tightening” or “big brother” standing over you… it may start feeling like there’s no fun in life if you have to budget!

Maybe the politicians have given it a bad rap! Treasurers rarely deliver a popular budget.

So let’s change the name shall we, to CASH FLOW; 2 really nice words that fit together.

Let’s put together a Cash Flow Forecast.

Serious FUN

When you are realistic about what it takes to run your business – how much money you need to spend and how much money you need to make you can start to get out of stress and into some Serious Fun!

And in that Cash Flow Forecast let’s include some FUN MONEY – money you can play with on a regular basis so it makes you feel good.

And let’s measure what happens with the Cash Flow Forecast, – your actual spending, because when you’ve taken the time to set it up and include all of the things you need and want to spend money on, then you know you’ll be able to sustain it. And you’ll enjoy life more.

So what is a Cash Flow Forecast?

Well, when you get the hang of this, you can have:

Cash flows for personal stuff (in fact I like to start with the personal stuff – because being a business owner should give you a better life – right?)
Cash flows for running your business – projected income and projected expenses in the months they actually occur
Cash flows for expanding and growing your business in the future so there are no nasty surprises when you get there.

TRUE CONFESSION:

I’ve had 11 businesses – not all of them reached their true potential because I told myself “I don’t do numbers”.

And every time I had an attack of “Ok Pauline, let’s do this – you know you have to”, I tried to learn it but it was being taught in such a mind-crushingly dry dusty boring way that I felt like giving up.

But I persevered and I learnt the language of numbers because I had to! It was sink or swim. I chose to swim!

And now I REALLY like numbers – seriously I think I’ve turned a bit nerdy. And I teach it in a Seriously Fun and easy to understand way.

I’d never realised the richness of what’s in a business until I learned about Money and Numbers. (I even coach accountants now! I could never have foreseen that.)

Being Good at What You Do is Overrated

Being good at what you do – the work of your business is not enough. You need to be able to accurately predict what will happen and when it will happen. And you seriously need to know the numbers to do that.

If you are running your business based on what’s in your bank account, you’re heading into shark-infested waters. Please DON’T DO THAT!!!

And if you need help – then come to a Low cost/ High value workshop.

The first one is “Women and Money”
Simple Practical Abundant Money Strategies for Women in Business

The next one is “Men and Money”

And there may even be a “Couples and Money”

Watch this space…

What’s the best option to get finance for a start-up business? Re-mortgage, bank loan or other finance options?

The FIRST RULE OF THUMB

The rule of thumb before borrowing money from anywhere is: “If this were someone else’s business (NOT mine) would I invest in it and what ROI (Return on Investment) would I expect, over what period of time?”

Banks and Financial Institutions have a built-in ROI to protect themselves, but if you are self-financing you need to have an expectation and a time frame for yourself to know that borrowing money was a good idea and a sound investment.

SOURCES OF FUNDING:
1) Getting finance from a bank or other financial institution:
If they are going to invest in you and your business they want to feel confident that you know what you’re doing, that your business idea is sound and that you will be able to pay the money back

They like to see a business plan including a financial plan with realistic financial projections. Banks are usually conservative and risk-averse so you need to have a good track record and have plenty of supporting evidence to back up your idea.

2) Financing it yourself from a line of credit or re-structuring your mortgage.

This can often seem like the easiest way of doing things BUT there is a much lower level of accountability. And that’s where a lot of people fall down – they don’t prepare the detailed business plan, they don’t do a financial plan and they don’t project how they will get a return on their investment on lending money to themselves. Do the same prep work as if you were applying to a bank!

A line of credit that you have instant and easy access to is probably the most dangerous way to borrow of all, unless you are SUPREMELY DISCIPLINED! You need to set firm rules around what the money can be used for and set up a repayment system that you will be accountable to.

And I don’t recommend borrowing from family and friends! It almost never works out or gets paid back..

3) Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists will lend money to start-ups. The risk is higher for them than for banks because they are investing their own money, so the deal is usually constructed on an individual basis.

Venture Capitalists are professional investors, individuals or groups, who may want a bigger slice of the ROI, or they may want a slice of your business or a shortened deadline for money to be paid back. Angel Investors can be individuals or groups of people who look for investments that go beyond monetary return. This is the preferred option to bowing from friends and family.

Raising venture capital is a very deep and fascinating topic, so I’d recommend further research.
I highly recommend Keith Cunnigham’s book “Keys to the Vault” (Keith is the “rich dad” that Robert Kyosaki refers to in “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” – also well worth reading.)

Please be aware that I am not a qualified financial adviser; I am a Business Coach with 10 years’ experience coaching hundreds of businesses. These are my opinions based on personal and client experience and my own research and education. Please seek professional advice from your Accountant or Financial Adviser.

The little things in life aren’t little

Today is a perfect day…
To labour, to learn, to laugh, to love and to be lazy…
I choose a bit of everything today… with a big dollop
of lazy…
Some meditation, some inspirational reading, some reflective writing…
Time in my office to add the finishing touches to tomorrow’s webinar…
De-clutter a corner of the spare room to make space for new opportunities with a clean desk…
A walk along the foreshore… a cuppa and a little snack as we watch the world go by…
Talking about the future… creating it in the present…
Being in the present because everything I do this day and every day matters
The sun is shining; the birds are chirping in full surround sound
Life is very very good…
Living each and every moment with gratitude…

Evolutionary Business Design

Category: Resources