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When is the time to invest in a business coach?
Building any business requires investment and this does not have to mean financial investment. It really means taking the time to nurture your brand through marketing campaigns, planning the next steps, recruiting the right people, measuring results, or attaining professional accreditations and memberships. All the work done in the various areas of your business helps drive your business to the next level and then the next and so on. The key is to proactively consider your short, medium, and long-term goals using who, what, why and how questions. When the minutes and hours are ticking away day after day it is easy to lose focus and stay working IN your business and forgetting to work ON your business.
Taking all the decisions on their own without the right someone to talk it over with can add to the pressure felt. So how does a savvy business owner stay focused and on track? How do they get helpful objective feedback and insights which they can feel confident of? Meaningful support which lightens the load? Business coaches!
Business Coaches Come in All Guises
Business coaches come in all guises. It is not a case of one size fits all but there will be the right business coach out there who can fill the breach. The vast wealth of experience gained through life and active business careers makes a business coach a pivotal investment for any business. Each business scenario will be unique and talking things through with a business coach will bring clarity to the situation.
Mervyn Lawrie is a practical, hands on supportive additional resource as well as font of experience and advice.
The Benefit of a Business Coach
So can you afford a business coach? It is natural to ask this question. Of course, it is. However, when the time is right – and you will know it – you really cannot afford not to use one. To sacrifice all your hard work, and investment because you got a little lost or overwhelmed with the daily detail of the business, can be avoided when working with an experienced business coach that can bring perspective and help to focus on the bigger picture.
The benefit of working with a business coach includes:
• objective business insights
• having a trustworthy brainstorming partner
• professional support to help you layout achievable measurable business goals
• keeping you accountable
• recommending and introducing you to other appropriate professionals as needed
A business coach can and will help you move forward in your business. Very often this can happen through a suggestion which is so simple to implement yet it has a massively positive outcome on your business.
The value of the right business coach at the right time is immeasurable for the success of your business. If you need practical and objective business help to guide you through business challenges, then should take the first step towards finding yourself a business coach and arrange a chat with Mervyn today.
Maximising the production of a business's output requires specific elements and components, whether it is a tangible in intangible end product. Constant refinement, scrutiny and good organisation is essential to ensure a successful and profitable production.
Coming, as I do, from a production engineering & management background, I often find myself referring to the efficiency and productivity of businesses that I work with in industrial terms. In doing so, I often notice a somewhat glazed expression overtake the business owner’s face. They are clearly confused and thinking: "What the heck is he talking about. This is a law office not a widget plant.” or very much something like that. I obviously do clarify what I mean to them.
I would like to explain this to you in my first attempt at a blog as I would now like to share my years of experience and the knowledge gained with a wider audience.
When it comes to oiling the wheels of a well run business the key elements to address must include efficiency, productivity and profitability:
2. Productivity
This is very much a measure of the efficiency of production - a ratio of production output to what is required to produce it (the inputs).
The measure of productivity is defined as the output per one unit compared to cost input.
3. Profitability
Productivity is often a more difficult concept for the "non widget maker " to grasp than productivity when this is related to their own operation. However, consider that when using both terms we are not just measuring the effect of the outcome of the business transaction, getting it done and having the customer or patient reasonably satisfied with the result.
To determine profitability, we ultimately need to be able to measure the related time and use of cost resource that has been employed in achieving the objective, which of course is the “product".
Compare the similarity of the effect of a process machine producing 100 units per hour and that of one producing 130 units per hour. Or any office producing 4 successful objectives (called the product) per day and one producing 5 per day.
The resources and costs being equal, the improved output equals increased profitability.
Most have used or heard the expression that something is working like a well-oiled machine, this I imagine derives from our common laboring and industrial heritage.
Put simply, the production of a service or product should be regarded in a similar manner.
Organization
Efficiency and Productivity = Increased Profitability,
Improvement and Cost Reduction =Increased Profitability.
Review and Improve
To be a successful business in 2021 the product/service must meet the need/solve the problem, have added value and be viable to produce all at the same. If you need help getting the balance right in your business and your end product/service then do get in touch with Mervyn, The Business Doctor. You just might be surprised how a little objective insight can help. You can contact Mervyn on .......
Words Matter so Much!
(this from One that has Dyslexia, by the way well done those smart people that made this word so hard to spell for those with the condition)
How you define and describe yourself -your situation- your health – your life and yes, your business, using either a Positive or a Negative spin or attitude, can and will define not only how you perceive the world and react to situations that occur but, surprise-surprise also have a great influence upon how others regard and perceive you and your business.
For example:
Which is a better statement?
I have dyslexia so although I have a good vocabulary and hold my end up in any discussion, I do not post my thoughts.
Or
I have a wide range of experience and accumulated knowledge, which I love to pass on, either in discussions or via posts, these do take me a little longer due to my dyslexia, however using the great tools now available I can get this out there for a wider group’s consideration.
Mervyn Lawrie
The Story of Jules Music for Kids
It was midmorning on another beautiful early Spring Day and the parking lot outside the Booksellers Barns & Noble was unusually full given that it was a normal working Wednesday. I was there to meet with Jules at the suggestion of another one of my business coaching clients whose business was Video Production, he and Jules had been discussing making a promotional video showcasing Jules’s unique style of kid’s entertainment, with a view towards using it as a marketing tool aimed at TV channels that carried predominantly children’s content, such as The Disney Channel.
I walked through the bookstore, following the excited chatter of an audience of under 5 years old and their mother and some fathers.
Jules’s performance certainly was adored by his live infant audience, and what made their kids happy was a hit with the parents, teachers & the proprietors of the venues that booked him. He has a remarkable knack of engaging the kids.
At that time Jule’s business was working at private pre-schools -private celebrations- Kids mornings at Book Stores like this one.
Jules was not a young man, and his shows were by necessity high energy and there was often the need to travel hours across Southern California for dates, if he didn’t achieve work on TV, would his business be sustainable?
After the show, I sat down with Jules and we spoke about his plans and some of the business issues that he was experiencing. This led to us meeting each week when we started making some fundamental changes to the business financing, and other basics that needed structuring.
Without wishing to pour cold water on Jules’s TV aspirations, I had concerns that the TV market was very crowded and competitive. My suggestion was that without ditching the possibility of trying out for the media work, we should have a viable plan B.
I planted the idea that he might be able to replicate his brand of entertainment with the careful selection and training of others that he could groom to become as successful as he was engaging the kids, so that Jules music for kids became a selective mini franchise. Certainly, there were challenges with the suggestion not the leased being finding candidates that could become “Jules 2-3-4 “etc.
To cut to the point, for various reasons, like his exhaustion, and not being able to accept all the work that he was being offered, Jules came around to my way of thinking.
Today, Jules still performs, because he loves doing it, but for every show that he performs the “other Jules” that he has hand picked and trained perform ten “Jules Music For Kids” shows.
He has a booking person organizing the schedules and an accountant / bookkeeper controlling the business elements of the successful “Jules Music For Kids” Brand.
Check out his Facebook Pages. Or this 1min sample https://www.facebook.com/172891859443174/videos/196375638228625
https://www.facebook.com/ittybittyrockers/ https://vimeo.com/176262094 you will smile!
Epilog :
We remain good friends and remain in periodic contact, Jules called me a few weekend back. After, the personal check in, I asked how the business was progressing, he told me that that weekend Friday through Sunday they had worked 10 gigs, I commented that he must have been exhausted! Jules laughed and said, “thanks to you my friend, I never left the house”, all the shows were performed by one or another of his cloned Jules performers.
When is the time to invest in a business coach?
Building any business requires investment and this does not have to mean financial investment. It really means taking the time to nurture your brand through marketing campaigns, planning the next steps, recruiting the right people, measuring results, or attaining professional accreditations and memberships. All the work done in the various areas of your business helps drive your business to the next level and then the next and so on. The key is to proactively consider your short, medium, and long-term goals using who, what, why and how questions. When the minutes and hours are ticking away day after day it is easy to lose focus and stay working IN your business and forgetting to work ON your business.
Taking all the decisions on their own without the right someone to talk it over with can add to the pressure felt. So how does a savvy business owner stay focused and on track? How do they get helpful objective feedback and insights which they can feel confident of? Meaningful support which lightens the load? Business coaches!
Business Coaches Come in All Guises
Business coaches come in all guises. It is not a case of one size fits all but there will be the right business coach out there who can fill the breach. The vast wealth of experience gained through life and active business careers makes a business coach a pivotal investment for any business. Each business scenario will be unique and talking things through with a business coach will bring clarity to the situation.
Mervyn Lawrie is a practical, hands on supportive additional resource as well as font of experience and advice.
The Benefit of a Business Coach
So can you afford a business coach? It is natural to ask this question. Of course, it is. However, when the time is right – and you will know it – you really cannot afford not to use one. To sacrifice all your hard work, and investment because you got a little lost or overwhelmed with the daily detail of the business, can be avoided when working with an experienced business coach that can bring perspective and help to focus on the bigger picture.
The benefit of working with a business coach includes:
• objective business insights
• having a trustworthy brainstorming partner
• professional support to help you layout achievable measurable business goals
• keeping you accountable
• recommending and introducing you to other appropriate professionals as needed
A business coach can and will help you move forward in your business. Very often this can happen through a suggestion which is so simple to implement yet it has a massively positive outcome on your business.
The value of the right business coach at the right time is immeasurable for the success of your business. If you need practical and objective business help to guide you through business challenges, then should take the first step towards finding yourself a business coach and arrange a chat with Mervyn today.
A Story about Lawyers Office
Following the election of Barack Obama as US President I was contacted by a lawyer seeking my assistance to reorganize his practice as he was convinced that many businesses would be failing because of the change in administration, and he felt that he needed to be equipped to handle the avalanche of bankruptcy that would occur under a Democratic President. For the record that did not happen. However, in some ways his misinterpretation of the likely outcome did result in a some much needed major changes for the betterment of his business.
I spent time speaking with the other attorneys and support staff in the practice and observing the day-to-day office routine and operation, it soon became clear that there really was not any routine, and the operation was chaotic. The epicenter of the disorder was the principle. His indiscipline in following schedules and diary appointments meant that anything that got progressed or completed was despite of his involvement, not due to his involvement.
He was an experienced attorney and when pinned down would it seem provide sound and applicable council, however everything else about him was erratic.
As is often the case in similar situations the others in the practice had come to compensate and accommodate their bosses’ idiosyncrasies, their frustrations being neutralised to some degree by their respect for his knowledge of the Law and their loyalty, in particular the principle’s PA /paralegal / general factotum, who I will call Julie for the purpose of this. Julie was the glue that held everything together, if not for her the practice would have failed.
Meetings with the principle (let us call him Jim) were very hard to arrange, however I had gained the support of the team including Julie and suggested an intervention meeting at which they could convince their boss that it was important that things be changed. He would have never kept an appointment for that meeting, so we contrived a little deception, under the pretext of new corporate client visiting with a view to having the firm represent them. Julie made Jim aware of his need to be at the office at 10:30am on the day in question.
The whole team were assembled in the meeting room with me, Jim of course was nearly 30 minutes late.
When he arrived, I apologized for the deception and accepted the responsibility. I then had each member of the team relate their concerns with an example of how the lack of structure had resulted in a negative impact on the business.
To Jim’s credit after the initial shock he took the contributions from the team on board, and finally asked me if I had witnessed the degree of disruption and confusion that the others were referring to, to which I stated that I had indeed and was very concerned for the survival of the firm if we didn’t make major changes that allowed for an efficient routine that allowed for timely billing and progressing of client’s issues.
What followed was a tough six months for everyone involved however order did gradually emerge from the chaos. Jim allowed Julie to strictly administer his diary for all business and networking appointments, he was routinely scheduled for two half days each week at the office where his time was allocated between the team members for them to liaise with him on cases and sign off billing.
The firm became more financially stable, and the team’s confidence increased, and they became better able to accept more of the workload, Jim came to realise that his previous erratic behaviour was born out of anxiety, because he knew instinctively that things were bad, but did not understand that he was the main reason for it, or how to change things. His prospective was that he was extremely busy running around keeping things going when in fact being available to the staff on a regular basis to provide guidance and support and mutual trust was what was needed.
A story about Psychiatric Medical Group
Dr K had separated from his wife several years before on amicable terms, she had moved to another state, they maintain a friendly and an adult relationship. Dr K had since met another lady and they were in a partnership.
Dr K’s ex-wife was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer with a life expectance of 4-5 years. He was supporting her with medical insurance and the deductible (access) proportion of her treatment. This was a substantial financial undertaking, that he needed his business to be able to support. So, he started a process of expanding is practice creating more revenue, putting his own personal quality of life with his partner on temporary hold.
I met Dr K in a business networking group, he was a somewhat irrelevant member of the chapter with a very dry wit and took some of the groups procedures with a large pinch of salt, which drew me to him without really knowing him.
He approached me to arrange a meeting which took place at his business office, there I witnessed another aspect of Dr K’s personality, as he explained in confidence his situation. His ex-wife had recently died, much sooner than the prognosis had predicted, removing the need for his financial support for her treatment.
Dr K was in his mid-50’s fit and healthy and wanted to now plan his life around a more fulfilled life with his partner, not working so hard, having more time to travel with her and enjoy their lives together.
He was seeking my assistance to downsize his practice and restructure the business to better fit his revised life expectations.
Like many physicians Dr K was not very business minded, and the task of untangling the business model that he had spent a couple of years putting together in order to support his undertaking to his ex was complicated and a little daunting.
There were loans- premise leases- commitments to the other practitioners the office support structure all to be scaled back without offending HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliance.
Suffice to say I spent many hours in their office, and in discussion with the landlord as well as the financial institutions.
Within 6 months the business was downsized, loans rescheduled over an extended period- practitioners assisted to set up in their own businesses while remaining affiliated to Dr K, relocation to a more suitable office space, with a fully automated electronic appointment system that allowed patients to schedule appointments in line with Dr K’s now reduced availability schedule.
Dr K had been doing a heroic and unselfish thing by supporting his ex with her health issues and treatment.
Now he and his partner are enjoying life together to the full, and I am proud to call them both good friends of my wife and me.
I was acting as an adult councillor to a group of High School seniors, young adults 16-17 year olds at a weekend retreat.
In this role it was not my job to necessary to provide words of guidance or teach the group, rather to provide them with a safe environment for them to express themselves, their worries, concerns, problems, and share with each other possible solutions or perspective that had helped them in a similar situation.
In the context of this space where none of the group had met before, it was really amazing how soon they opened up and shared, with the group.
On this Saturday evening after a pretty busy day where we all had been working together to solve physical tasks as a group and been safely involved in high rope challenges, like getting across an only partially slatted rope walkway that was 40 ft high slung between two pine trees, the group were sitting in the dark in the middle of a meadow opening up to each other about what they were struggling with in their lives and offering each other support.
As I listened, again and again I noticed how often those speaking used the expression something like “when I have a Bad Day”.
It was getting late and chilly, so I took the moment when there was a pause to offer a quick suggestion.
The saying that I adapted from something that I first heard from Billy Connolly the Scots actor and comedian. Billy’s point was that “There’s No such thing as bad Weather – just inappropriate clothing” which at once I realized was amusing and true.
Winding the sharing session up I congratulated the group for their openness and made the observation that a day is a day and there is actually no such thing as a BAD Day ,it’s just our attitudes and ability to put into perspective things that take place that make the difference.
The Kids as one got that, and happily we all went to our beds.
Mervyn Lawrie
Business Doctor
