As a CEO, president or business owner, what will happen with your business in the next four months? That’s really the question of the day, isn’t it? Four months from now will be the end of the calendar year; the holiday season will be upon us. Before you know it, January 1st will usher in a New Year. You’ll be looking back at how your business did this year; anticipating how your business will be in the months ahead.
Let’s take the time to look at what’s happened with your business since January of this year.
Ask yourself:
- What has gone well?
- What hasn’t gone well?
- Is the company profitable?
- By what percent is the company profitable?
- Is it enough to make money and continue to improve the business?
- What would I have changed if the opportunity to change something presented itself?
- What would have made the company MORE successful today if I had followed through on the things that have been thought or talked about?
- What is not productive to the overall well-being of the company that we continue to do? Why?
As a CEO, president or business owner, if you can understand what the company did not do well since January, since the beginning of the year, then you can realistically analyze everything and evaluate how you arrived at today’s current business situation – good or bad or somewhere in between. Here’s the point: You can still make this year a successful – productive – profitable business year; MORE than it is now!
Here’s why (this is important):
It’s not a matter of what will happen to your business in the next four months; It’s a matter of what will YOU MAKE HAPPEN in the next four months.
For example:
- How will you evaluate sales?
- How will you evaluate prospecting?
- How will you evaluate profit margins?
- How will you evaluate the people working with you?
- How will you coach your employees and co-workers to an improved, better performance level?
- How will you set the example of being a true business leader?
Remember:
A boss tells people what to do; a leader inspires people as to what to do every business day.
Before you can inspire anyone at the company, you first need to understand what the problems are. If you are in business, you have problems. Business problems are inherent to business. You can’t say that since the first of the year, you haven’t experienced any business problems. If you are doing business on a regular basis, then you are also experiencing business problems. Yet business people often confuse managing a successful, profitable business as one where everything is fine. That there’s nothing to improve or do in a better way. Status quo is good enough. Yet it actually isn’t good enough if you want to sustain success and profitability.
Perhaps your company isn’t doing enough business. You don’t have the daily business problems a successful business has. You have BIGGER business problems. You’re not doing either enough or any business at all! That is a problem! One that requires a hard look at every aspect of the company.
If you are doing business, expect when you come to work in the morning there will be many issues to deal with. It’s just part of having a successful and profitable business.
You need to stop and determine what has prevented you from reaching your business goals this year.
Ask yourself:
- What has stopped the momentum of the business?
- What’s gotten in the way?
- What can be eliminated?
- What can change?
- What needs to be modified?
- What’s the business plan?
- How often is the business plan updated?
- Was the business plan for this year on target?
- Where did the business plan fall short of expectations? Why?
- Does the company need a specific business plan for the next four months? (The answer is probably: Yes)
- How different is the business plan going forward than in the past recent months of this year?
To accomplish MORE success in the next four months of the year, you need to sit down every day in a quiet place without distractions. Turn off the phone. Put a “do not disturb” sign on your office door. Profitable change doesn’t occur in 5 or 10 minutes or overnight. It requires you take a specific amount of time each business day to think about your business. Aim for 30 minutes daily to give your mind the time it needs to open and expand upon thoughts specifically about business.
Thinking – analyzing – understanding – putting a business plan together – being in ACTION when effectively combined together will give you what you need at year’s end: success, profit and less stress, less worry about business problems. Success and profit certainly don’t eliminate stress and worry. When the company is making money it’s easier to cope with business problems and business issues.
It’s up to you, the CEO, president or business owner, as to what happens in the next four months.
- Do you want the most successful year ever?
- Or do you just want to get by?
- Do you truly operate and manage a business?
- Or do you just have a job and a title?
If you want to experience the most successful business year ever, then open up your calendar and schedule 30 minutes every day. Sit down with paper and pen/pencil or if you prefer a blank document on a computer screen and start writing all the thoughts about what needs to be done in the next four months to be MORE successful, MORE profitable. The first step is getting it out of your head so you can begin to implement actionable steps. Some will bring immediate results and others will take more time to bring results. The key is to start NOW!
Don’t forget to get the cooperation of your management team and employees. It’s critical to have everyone at the company working towards the same goals.
The people you work with need to understand exactly:
- What the company’s mission and current goals are
- Why the company is structured in a certain way
- Its culture
- The urgency of getting things done in a timely process
- Why it’s vital to be profitable.
Business profit allows you to…
- Buy new equipment
- Hire more people
- Give employees raises and/or yearly bonuses
- Brings a sense of stability to the work environment.
Ask yourself:
- What am I looking forward to in the four business months?
- What will year end business results look like?
Let’s make this THE BEST BUSINESS YEAR EVER!
To your success!
Business expert and strategist, Howard Lewinter, guides – focuses – advises CEOs, presidents and business owners throughout the United States across a wide variety of industries, to MORE success – MORE profit – less stress. Business people trust Howard’s vast business knowledge, intuitive insight and objective perspective to solve business problems and issues. Get MORE from your business. Talk business with Howard: 888-738-1855.
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