Being Derailed in Your New Business

“No plan survives contact with the enemy.” ~ Field Marshal Helmuth Graf von Moltke

Whenever you create a business plan, you always have contingency options - different paths to the same ends should something not go as planned. You think you have the bases covered, you are all set for success in 3 or 4 different options ...

No one ever expects that they will be in an accident.

I was lucky to only have whiplash. Of course, now I have the lovely task of attempting to quantify my losses ... when I'm just starting out. Thank God for my business plan! Do NOT start a business without one. I can prove why I was not able to follow my business plan as expected. It's up to the lawyers to then fight it out.

Too often, thinking ourselves quite brilliant, we skip the step of making careful step-by-step, month-by-month projections. After all, it's likely to change, hopefully for the better. In my case, my projections were conservative. I kinda wish I had been more optimistic ...

• Have you looked at your business plan lately?
• Do you have a plan B, C, D and E just in case?
• What if you are in an accident? Do you have a contingency plan for that scenario?

The nature of accidents is they never should have happened. They cause irreparable damage. You never know what could have been had they not happened at all. Guard yourself. Plan for the worst, expect the best and don't let unexpected obstacles derail you ... at least ... not for very long.

The awkwardness of NEW

There is something energizing, inspiring ... and downright clumsy about starting a new venture. Nothing is solid. Everything is shifting.Ideas and opportunities are everywhere. It's so easy to doubt yourself, become distracted from your purpose and start pedaling backwards.

During my turn to share my wins, failures and asks, I explained to my Success Buddies group that I have been busy procrastinating. I am SOOOO busy I do not have time to do what I really need to do - get in front of decision makers of the companies who need my help.

There's plenty of busy work to be done - website, social media updates, networking events, planning marketing campaigns, arranging signage, creating more product, researching ... yes, those will pay off in the future, but to be sustainable, I need to focus on what is closest to the almighty dollar. I need to generate sales!

I see why most small business start-ups fail. It's easy to get caught in a rut of busy-ness and lose sight of the important priorities ... which will turn into urgent ones the longer we avoid them.

I know this stuff. I teach leaders of companies how to manage their subordinates around this stuff (see my latest GetThrival blog on all the steps of goal setting). Somehow helping myself around this stuff is much harder than helping others. But that's true with most things.

• It's easier to promote others than it is to promote yourself.
• It's easier to see what others need to change, stop or do than it is to see your own needs.
• It's easier to help someone else plan a path to success than it is to plan your own path.

Starting a business is always tricky to budget. We cut funding for things that would take us further faster, like hiring help. We hide the fact that we're a struggling start-up from other business people because we fear they will judge us, not buy from us and not recommend us to others.

Here's what I believe. If you are authentic, if you have a clear purpose and have passion for that purpose, if you have focused on and really know something others don't have time to study and if you are ready and willing to share that knowledge with others to help make their business or personal life better, being a start-up does not matter. People will promote you. They will want to see you succeed. They will capture your passion and vision and want to pass you on to the connections who can help you the most.

Fellow entrepreneurs, when you find yourself buried in busy-work to avoid getting out there and making sales:

1. Ask yourself what you are afraid of. 
2. Ask yourself what is the worst thing that could happen if you go out and talk to the people who will decide to purchase from you. 
3. Know the worst. Prepare yourself on how to handle it. 
4. Think of the BEST things that could happen. Brainstorm on all the possibilities. 
5. Prepare yourself  on how to handle these great things.

Do these 5 steps. Do them every time you catch yourself doing less of what is going to fill your bank account and more of what is simply "busy" work. Contact fellow entrepreneurs and do these steps together for each others' businesses. Do whatever it takes to get back on a solid path to success!

ARGH! Overload!

I had a vision (not sure why) that, on top of the joy of finally doing what I'm best at, THIS type of business was going to be easy to manage. No customers freaking out, asking me to deliver on an impossible deadline when I had to rely on supply chains from back east and overseas, or screen printers and embroiderers out here. I provide the product - training, workshops, speaking - therefore I control the chaos.

Years ago, there was no big push for "Social Media". Wow! Is that ever time consuming. I know in my business I need to have it to build the know/like/trust factor with potential clients, but seriously!

I've focused on three areas - Facebook (which has had the most response), Twitter (not sure I'm using it right) and LinkedIn (getting NOOOOO response whatsoever). Well, it's there. Permanently. Which is good if someone ever looks me up and goes back through my historical postings. (you can let me know how I'm doing at http://www.facebook.com/getthrival . Please click on the "Like" button at the top of the page!). 

All this is free ... other than the cost of precious time and sleep. I have not done "audience building" though ... which is where the $$$ comes in. How far down that road do I go? Seriously, I'm getting very few clicks to my daily leadership skill and challenge I'm posting each weekday. Some of them are coming from France, UK, Japan, Russia ...?? HOW did someone from Russia find me? And France?

Reality is, I just want to do what I do best - deliver training to teams and leaders who desperately need and want it. All this social media is a distraction, but seems to be a necessary evil. Meanwhile, I've all but abandoned my REAL website, finally getting frustrated enough with the Joomla editor that I refuse to do one more post in it. Must tackle that next week ... oh to have the $$$ to just hand it over to someone else.

Just goes to prove that NOTHING in this world is free. If it doesn't cost you money, it probably costs you time, sanity and opportunity. Spending the money on something more direct to my audience may be cheaper than this "free" cyberspace advertising!

I'd LOVE your comments and suggestions! Please, please, please!

Day #14: Luck is Where Preparation Meets Opportunity

When starting anything BIG, it's hard to see the end product. So many "What if's" and issues stand in between. It's also hard to believe you can create something much, MUCH larger than yourself. Many people just give up before they start. The amount of effort and risk is too great for them.

Those are the people I often hear call successful entrepreneurs "Lucky" with a slight sneer in their voices.

Let's back the truck up a bit.

I knew a millionaire who made all his profits on building and running hotels. He was approached to help create a set of hotels for a future ski destination (Whistler Village) back when Whistler was a tiny lift at Creekside. He said

"That would be a bad investment. Who is going to drive two hours down a windy mountain road to go skiing when we have ski hills just a half hour from downtown Vancouver?"

I knew a man who, on a plane ride, sat beside a very enthusiastic young entrepreneur who wanted to create a chain of "fast food" counters. Not only that, he was looking for other entrepreneurs to get in on the ground floor of his "turn-key" type of operation. The man I knew said

"Who wants food that's made fast to take on the run? People want a good quality home-cooked-like meal that they can enjoy over great conversation in a great atmosphere."  

The entrepreneur gave him his info just in case he changed his mind. The entrepreneur's name? Ray Kroc.

Now, you could call the founder of the McDonalds' fast food chain or the visionary Franz Wilhelmzen who assembled  a group of Vancouver businessmen to create Whistler "Lucky", and to some extent you may be right. McDonalds' could have bombed but Ray observed its original store thriving and built a plan to bring it to the world. Whistler might not have got off the ground, but Franz knew mountains and had a strong desire to hold the Olympic Games there. I believe that these successes have much more to do with visionary persistence and active preparation than any sort of luck.

So ... my Big Hairy Audacious Goals are far larger than me, but I know they can be done ... by hitting the right Opportunity after the right Preparation. Every step will take courage, vision and work. I'm ready to create my own luck! 

Day #8: I Had An AWESOME Banking Experience Today!

That's a sentence you don't hear too often! I don't think I've ever uttered that sentence in my entire financial life. I truly had a great time at the bank today!

I was agonizing over where to open my business account. The BIG bank (shall remain unnamed ... I hear most of them are the same anyway) where all my personal banking lives, has been frustrating. In fact, I think I'm paying WAY too much in fees to them each month, to stand in a long line and receive minimal service. Until today, I viewed banking as a necessary evil. When I hear their income reported on my daily news radio channel, it just makes me ... very angry. Banks ... can't stand 'em, can't live without 'em.

the Arrogant Worms song:  "Proud to be a Banker"

I did my research and settled on (this I will name because they are AWESOME) Coast Capital Savings. I parked in their parking lot. No one tried to run me over or jam my door. Good start. I walked in and saw ... NO LINE UP! Tellers were pleasantly chatting and doing paperwork. They smiled at me as I walked up to the business teller. I did not have an appointment. The small business account manager was busy with a client but she set me up with one of the other account managers right away, while I wandered toward the coffee in the middle of the room.

Now, coffee sitting in the middle of any office after about 1pm is iffy at best. I placed my cup under the spout and gave the carafe a quick push to test. It was HOT! it smelled RIGHT! Yay!

Before I finished my cup I was in an account manager's office where she quickly checked my credit and told me what I was eligible for. she set up my account with:

• NO monthly fees
• NO deposit fees
• NO transfer fees
• FREE online banking
• A small fee for each withdrawal which will cost less than I'm paying right now for my regular account at the BIG bank.
• FREE non-personalized cheques AND
• A line of credit directly connected to the account so I don't need to juggle and check balances all the time ... NO TRANSFER FEES!

I should have switched YEARS ago! I cringe at all the money I've forked out to (unnamed BIG bank). being one who likes to do her research, once I have verified all the "ins and outs", I am likely moving ALL my business over to this company!

KUDOS, Coast Capital! You not only made my day, you changed the way I feel about banking!

Day #6: The Best Laid Plans ...

The curse of starting your own business is ... it's just YOU. You are:

• planner/visionary
• designer
• technician
• sales team
• marketing team
• administrator
• executive assistant
• accountant
• janitor

As carefully as you plan in months leading up to launch date, as realistic as your projections are and as much as you coach yourself not to do this, the first week of business seems to be full of paperwork, organization, scrambling to take care of legalities and ... BUSY STUFF - the STUFF that keeps you occupied but does nothing tangible for your bottom line.

Paperwork is a necessary evil and always seems to take WAY longer than anticipated.

Natural reaction? FRUSTRATION! Feel the cortisol and adrenaline rise. Feel the brain power disappear. I don't think humans were designed to sit all day typing on a computer, shuffling paperwork and answering electronic devices. By 1PM today I wanted to run, swim, kayak, hike, bike ... ANYTHING but what I was doing.

Antidote? ... What used to work well for me was an early start to my day (6AM), biting off some dreaded paperwork monster over a giant glass of water, going for a quick run while I organized the rest of my day's plan in my brain, checking and answering email after a good stretch, hitting the shower and being
ready to call and see clients by 9AM.

An early morning routine that eats cortisol can really boost productivity. Just make sure you are ready to take care of business when your potential clients are because, if you get locked in paperwork during regular business hours, it can really munch on your day!

Day #4: Just Do It!

I did learn something useful in grade 10 Physics:

A body in motion tends to remain in motion. A body at rest tends to remain at rest.

The problem I hear from newly self-proclaimed entrepreneurs is how to get "in motion". There's the usual excuses - what they need to do first before they can have credibility as they talk to others about their new business. Behind their stories of the "busy" work they are doing I sense the fear that keeps them inert. We can all relate.

As a kid, did you ever stand at the edge of the high diving board? Do you remember taking that first plunge? You climbed all the ladders and stairs to get to the top. Your goal was to jump, but once you were up there, the pool looked far too small and the thought crept in your mind "What if I belly-flop?". You'd heard the stories of those who had tried to dive and didn't quite make the rotation. It sounded very painful and humiliating, but it would never happen to you. Now, standing where that poor schlep had stood, you felt it was not only possible, but probable.

I found the best way to overcome the fear, was to stand at the back of the platform, visualize a successful and rewarding freefall and refreshing plunge, take a running start and Just DO IT! I did it, chose the safer feet-first form and landed flat-footed. ow. But the next time I jumped, I remembered to point my toes and it was AWESOME!

The only way to overcome entrepreneurial inertia is to visualize what is about to take place, go at it full speed with confidence and take the plunge. Yes, you may land a little flat-footed. You might even belly-flop. But with each successive leap you will gain confidence and momentum, maybe even a little finesse.

I met with my first client Friday, just after our graduation ceremony. I will be calling companies all day Tuesday, just after Labour Day. Nothing like jumping in with both feet.