A thought before you start your week:
“Something good done today is better than something perfect done tomorrow.”
~Zeke Camusio
What action item is past due for your attention?
What’s a decent first step?
How will you make it better after you’ve begun?
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I love this poem from Edgar A. Guest!
You are the person who has to decide
Whether you’ll do it, or toss it aside.
You are the person who makes up your mind
Whether you’ll lead or linger behind.
Whether you’ll try for a goal that is far
Or be contented to stay where you are.
Take it or leave it, there’s something to do,
Just think it over─
It’s all up to you!
I keep several poems, quotations, and inspirational images around my office. What do you keep to give you these important quiet reminders?
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A thought before you start your week:
“We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love.”
~Mother Theresa
With the holiday season approaching, we thought this might be an appropriate start to the week.
What great love do you need to perform this week?
How will the recipient know?
What great things will you put aside so that the small things will emerge?
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One of the great things about being in direct sales is that you don’t have to start from scratch. Your parent company has already done most of the heavy lifting for your business plan. Rather than creating the answers to key questions, you get to easily find them! Now is the time to take advantage of their work on your behalf! You can think of this as a treasure hunt.
One of the best places to start your treasure hunt is to review your company’s information. It will answer questions such as:
Many of your answers are found in the materials for new consultants, on the company website, and in printed materials that they provide for you for recruiting and selling. As you find each nugget of treasure, add it to the growing pile of riches.
After you review your company’s information, you can start answering some of the specific questions that your personalized business plan will want to answer.
Start writing down the answers to these questions, and as further questions come to mind, write those down and answer them. For example, do I want to carry stock or inventory? Where will I store it if I do? If I store it under the bed, will that be the optimum place?
Have fun with this! The more you think about your business and make decisions now, the easier it will be for you to get where you want to go. Collect as many gold nuggets as you can on your treasure hunt!
As you start to collect your nuggets, please feel free to write me with questions. I’d like to help you take your business to the next level.
Next Blog – How to Create Your Business Vision
Arla DeField, CBC, is also a Certified NxLevel Facilitator, and teaches an Entrepreneurial Business Course in collaboration with the SBDC and the local Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce. Arla has worked as an owner and executive of several businesses, and is now using her experiences to coach entrepreneurs in the development and execution of their business plans. If you want to get started or propel your business to the next level, contact Arla through her website, www.yourcustombusinessplan.com or write arla@yourcustombusinessplan.com.
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In leadership, focus is clearly an important skill to develop. I have watched amazing leaders lose their momentum, miss goals, and end up far away from their original mission because of lack of focus. Without focus we can become so scattered that we send mixed messages to our teams, lose sight of our vision and get off track. Here are three ways to stay focused.
It sounds elementary, but experience tells me that we get so busy we forget to do these simple things to stay focused. I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment on what you do to stay focused.
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I love word of mouth marketing and free stuff. I’ve been a raving fan of Chip and Dan Heath since I first read Made to Stick. Switch is just as awesome. This morning I got the perfect email (and it is reproduced in it’s entirety here):
We’re proud to announce that we’ve just released a new e-book called The Myth of the Garage and Other Minor Surprises. It’s a collection of our favorite columns for Fast Company magazine.
And it’s free.
Here’s how you can get it:
We’d appreciate it if you’d forward this email to any friends who might be interested – everybody loves to get something for nothing.
Thanks!
-Dan & Chip
A free book and I can help give it away. Chances like this don’t come along every day. Enjoy, and get yours soon.
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A thought before you start your week:
“Life will suck if you are always wishing you’re doing something else.“
~Stephen Mills
What will stop you wishing?
What will start you doing?
What are you letting get in your way?
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The process of developing a “formal” business plan is often that necessary step to seeing yourself as the CEO of your own company. While this may seem daunting, it’s a bit like eating an elephant (one bite at a time). When you break it down step by step, you are in charge of the process and the size of your bites!
Here is a sample outline of a “formal” Style business plan.
(When I use Company, I am referring to the parent company. When I use business, I am referring to your personal business.)
Developing your own business plan is not a quick 30 minute job. However, I can assure you that you will never see your work the same again.
When you get started with yours, please feel free to write me with questions. I’d like to help you take your business to the next level.
Next week: Finding the data to fit within your plan.
Arla DeField, CBC, is also a Certified NxLevel Facilitator, and teaches an Entrepreneurial Business Course in collaboration with the SBDC and the local Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce. Arla has worked as an owner and executive of several businesses, and is now using her experiences to coach entrepreneurs in the development and execution of their business plans. If you want to get started or propel your business to the next level, contact Arla through her website, www.yourcustombusinessplan.com or write arla@yourcustombusinessplan.com.
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You have probably heard this before: A Business Plan is a road map for your business success. It shows you where you are, where you want to go and how to get there.
A business plan can also be considered a work of fiction. You are creating a document based on what you want to happen. It has not happened yet, so it is still fiction. Is your business plan a work of romance or horror?
If you want romance, a well crafted plan can keep you on track by looking at potential options, opportunities, challenges and courses of action before you get there. When you have challenges in your business, refer back to your plan and you will have a good idea of how to create the outcome you are looking for.
For Example: you have an opportunity to display your products at a local craft fair.
Questions to help you make this into a well-planned romance:
When you have a business plan and you know what you are creating in your business, answering these questions will be easy and guide your decision.
Thinking your business through, creating a written plan and them implementing your plan will increase your success rate! Have you ever heard, “Most people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan?”
I know with Halloween just past, it might be tempting to try out your Dracula imitation. Wouldn’t the alternative be much, much better? What would you do to get started on your novel?
Next Week – The “Formal” Business Plan Outline. (No, you don’t need bowtie.)
Arla DeField, CBC, is also a Certified NxLevel Facilitator, and teaches an Entrepreneurial Business Course in collaboration with the SBDC and the local Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce. Arla has worked as an owner and executive of several businesses, and is now using her experiences to coach entrepreneurs in the development and execution of their business plans. If you want to get started or propel your business to the next level, contact Arla through her website, www.yourcustombusinessplan.com or write arla@yourcustombusinessplan.com.
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If you want more parties on your calendar, but you’re not sure what to say, here is a simple formula to follow as you approach people about hosting.
1. Connect: Finding some mutual connection begins to build rapport with a future host. Because many of our first hostesses were friends and family members, we already had a connection. As you grow outside your close circle of contacts, this step is very important
2. Invite: This form of asking permission reminds you and her that you are not pushy, that booking a party is not an onerous task, but a pleasure. When you invite someone to host a party you are keeping the focus on your prospective hostess, not on yourself.
3. Offer choices: When you invite you may ask: “Who do you know who would enjoy getting together for …” or “Which products would you enjoy?” or “If you had a party, when would be the best time for you?” And above all remember—choices are for HER, not you.
4. Listen: Really listen to her words, tone of voice, and what she has to say. She may be an emphatic no or she may be asking “How can I host a party if…”
5. Offer choices again. Sometimes, you may have to clarify is that no “never” or just no, “not now”? Many times the choice you offer includes a possible solution to her concerns. For example, if she says she doesn’t know anyone, you might ask “If I could help you think of people, would a Tuesday or Thursday be better for you?”
6. Close: Set a date or set an appointment to follow up. If she is ready to set a date, do it. If she needs time to think, ask permission to call her and set an appointment, even if it is later that day after she has looked at her calendar. Ask her the best time to reach her (using choices of course!), and write down when you will call her.
The great thing about this formula is that it isn’t a scripted, memorized speech. It is a framework for you to add your unique personality and word choices. Using this formula, you become the expert at booking parties. Happy booking!
Formulas are a great way to help new people get started. They also remind us experienced sellers of the basics. What else would you include?
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Neil & Dana Phillips have been partners in the direct sales business for 25 years. By the time they retired from Tupperware, their distributorship was number four in the United States and number sixteen in the world!Their knowledge, principle-based insights, leadership skills, and light-hearted approach are now available to you.
Neil and Dana Phillips introduce the listener to the concepts of direct selling and reveal why over 12 million Americans are now involved in this $30 billion industry.