Have you ever met someone, especially a business owner, who can come up with a million reasons why their business is challenging - revenues down, customers coming through the door slow, new products or services still on a piece of paper, marketing of any kind halted, and so on…….

Even I have to be accountable to the fact that I have allowed nine or ten days lapse since writing a blog posting and closing out March’s Top Entrepreneur Traits. My apology to you.

As a business coach and consultant I hear it a lot. And when I point out specific like businesses that are doing well, have customers coming through the door, and showing an increase over last year, another million reasons are listed off to me.

This is not another one of those THRIVE in today’s economy. You have read all of that. This is really basic - if you own a business, you are responsible for it during good times and in bad. Like those infamous wedding vows (made available by Ask.com)
“I, (name), take you (name), to be my (wife/husband), to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.”………..owning a business is a union of two parties. So no matter what the climate of business you need to ensure you are accountable and responsible for the success of it; and not making excuses for the success or challenge of it.

What can you do to ensure you are accountable and responsible in your business:

1. Good or bad, Rich or poor - own the state your business is in and work toward addressing it
2. Assess the situation, state of revenues, challenges and the opportunities and identify solutions OR rewards regarding it
   1. 1. 1. Don’t hide or run from it, it will still be there when you come up for air
3. Execute on one of the ideas or solutions you came up to completion or new result and then work on the next idea
4. Practice owning your accountability and responsibility to your business - “I am….., I am……., I am….”

Who better to impact change in YOUR business than you. Your team, your peace of mind and your business will thank you.

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One key trait of an entrepreneur that I continually work to sharpen my skill at  is learning from the successes, mistakes and failures that I have had in my business, and life (as so often personal events contribute to both).

This week for example - Murphy, as in Murphy’s Law of ‘if anything will go wrong it will when you have a critical deadline or goal you are working on”… well I certainly had him chasing me. And a number of the situations that arose could have been prevented had I done a few things prior to all hell breaking loose.

Without going into all of the stressful detail, though it could help relieve the angst, bottom line was I entrusted an experienced/expert service provider to provide me thought leadership as well as direction regarding a new website I was having implemented. There was significant communications issues and breakdowns between myself and the developer that worked for this service provider (they communicate via email - LESSON 1). However when another business partner of mine working with me on my project also ran into communication issues, it became apparent that the issue was with them. I should have pulled the plug then - LESSON 2.

I attempted to get the owner on the line early in the week  with no success - I should have pulled the plug then - LESSON 3

Being completed overwhelmed with work in preparation for a critical business trip and deadlines on additional projects, I trusted in this service provider that I had been paying that things were progressing and this website, a huge part of my business trip and deadlines, was being worked on - LESSON 4….. I am really racking up the lessons, where are my successes???????

Friday morning came around and the service provider calls and requests a boat load of content and documentation from me that I had not been aware I needed to provide and with 8 hours of meetings in front of me was not going to be able to get to - they put the delay and owness on me - LESSON 5………I attempted to cut them off then but am now so dependent on them to get this project done so I have it for my trip - LESSON 6…….. the lessons keep coming.

It is now Saturday morning, I jump on a plane later today and the 1 single thing that I need for this business trip is NOT there. As a matter of fact, mid afternoon following one last discussion to figure out options with them, I HAVE NOT HEARD FROM THEM SINCE!!!!!!! - Lesson 7

The point of all of this… is not JUST the lessons I learned from this experience, which I will outline what they are in a minute, but the fact that I have taken the time to sit down, look at all of the events that occurred with this project, and assess what worked and what didn’t work, and what solutions there are to either keep the good stuff happening and fixing or eliminating those things that did not work.

Entrepreneurs differ themselves from most business owners because they do take the time to assess, evaluate, and acknowledge both their failures and their successes. What have I learned from all of this:

1. Set expectations of how you work and are managed best; including your communication style. EMAIL communication is not my thing - though I do a lot of it. I prefer voice to voice (I know, amazing, right)
2. Do NOT assume anything when it comes to YOUR needs or requirements - you need to spell it out, document it, review it, ensure they fully understand it. Then you can trust them to get the work done (or address it)
3. When you are faced with an issue - address it head on regardless of the outcome (I could be further delayed in getting it done)
4. Either you or someone you delegate to need to be on top of any critical deadlines you have and ensure the two way communication of status - I should have engaged someone to oversee it and work it through for me
5. Though I do feel very strongly that I hire experts for their expertise and thought leadership, and that means THEY have responsibility to ensure I know what it is that I need to do in the scope of a project that I am NOT expert in, i.e. developing a website. And though this group never asked me 1 question up front at the time of the project, I should have prepared a laundry list of questions, next steps, assignments, what they needed from me, etc….
6. If issues continue and deadlines are at risk, ASSESS and ADJUST, even if that mean further delay. I should have cut them out when additional issues arose with them and my other business partner.
7. ADDRESS the issue upfront and adjust, even if it risks the deadline. I absolutely should have cut them off YESTERDAY.

So, my lessons have racked up with little success regarding this one project, but my other project with the other business partner (Todd Schnick of Intrepid LLC) worked out beautifully and I will have my marketing materials and investor collateral that I need. THANK YOU TODD SCHNICK…….

What can you do to ensure you are honing your entrepreneurial skills when it comes to Successes and Failures:

1. Take time to sit and evaluate ‘what worked, what didn’t’ when it comes to any critical business activity or project you have, i.e. prospecting, sales meetings, marketing communication projects, project deadlines, employee performance, etc.
   1. You need to ensure your time and money is optimized and profitable - do NOT allow lack of time or focus, or insecurity stop you from learning from all of your experiences.
2. Ask your team or partners, anyone involved, to provide feedback regarding the particular situation, i.e. I have talked to my business partner, other peers, my employees involved, etc… and if I can get the other group on a phone, will discuss with them
   1. Be open to feedback, good and bad, regarding you and anyone or anything else that impacted the outcome
3. Assess throughout and be willing and prepared to adjust, even if it causes additional risk or delay or greatness (of your successes)
   1. It may cost you more, but think of the time and money wasted… or think about how you can replicate the things that went really well

Regardless if you have a success or failure…. own it and learn from it.

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If you are starting a business and especially if you are already in business, a critical responsibility of a business owner is to have financial control and clarity over the numbers that impact your business. As the business owner you do not need to be the bean counter and number cruncher; that is why there are expert CPA’s, financial analysts and CFO’s out there, but you have to be able to understand, interpret, and make decisions based on the numbers. And those numbers can be and are NOT limited to your:

• revenues

• account receivables
• profits
• expenses
• labor costs
• customer acquisition costs
• job costs
• # of customers
• # of leads
• etc.

Some are specific profit and loss (P&L) numbers and some are sales and marketing numbers.

Based on your industry; manufacturing, services, telcom, banking, and others, there will be metrics and data points that are specific to your business.

You need to understand what they are and more importantly how to use those numbers to influence and make important decisions in your business - what to spend, what you need to cut back on, what you need to generate, what are basic costs of doing business.

Having financial control over your business is NOT an area to skimp or consider as an expense. Knowing your numbers is a matter of survival or death of your business. If you do not know what you have coming in and going out how do you know if what you are doing or not doing is working.

TIP: engage your Accountant, Financial Analyst or CFO. Have them review what you have and don’t have and what you need to put a financial management and performance structure in place.

10 questions an ENTREPRENEUR knows about their business:

1.      What was the revenue LY (last year) and 2 years prior?

1.      by QTR (quarter)?

2.      What is the revenue PL (plan) next month and every month going forward TY (this year)?

3.      What was the net profit of the business LY and PL for TY?

4.      What are our Labor Costs LY and PL TY?

5.      What is the % of Marketing Costs to the TOT (total)?

6.      How many Customers do we have?

7.      What is the Profit by Customer?

8.      What is the Number of ACT (actual) Jobs/Orders per Month?

9.      What is the AVG (average) Order Value $?

10.  What is our Customer Acquisition Cost?

We could go on, but this is a sampling of some financial questions that you should be asking so you can determine:

• What, where and how to generate revenue to meet forecasts
• How spending should be allocated to secure profits
• What type of customers are profitable ones
• What customers should you be keeping and which ones should be de-prioritized
• What marketing efforts are working and which are not
• Are your labor costs producing a return on investment
• etc….

Entrepreneurs realize the importance and power that this type of financial control provides them so they can manage their business effectively, allowing them to go off and do what they do best. And they know they need to hire and engage an expert in order to maintain their financials.

Financial Management and Performance is a key trait of an entrepreneur as well of a healthy business. Make 2010 the healthiest and wealthiest year for your business. Get control by managing your numbers!

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A test of character but definitely a key and strategic trait of an entrepreneur is their ability to admit they need help, that they don’t know everything, and that they need to surround themselves with good people, and therefore they go out and seek to identify, partner and engage with one or a group of people that act as their advisors, mentors or coaches.

I bring this up today as I spend a good part of this month engaging the support of my set of advisors and mentors to help with the business growth plans that I am pursuing for my business. It caused me to sit back and really appreciate the dedication, time, and selflessness that each of them have showed me by carving out precious time in their day and most of the time weekend to coach me, to mentor me, and to contribute to the exciting opportunities ‘we’ have in front of us with my business.

And all I had to do was ASK them. Okay, I had to admit all along that I did not know everything and that I needed to put my ego aside and reach out to people that have ‘been there done that’ and who could provide me great tips and best practices, as well as throw up the warning signs of danger if I was going down the wrong path. Trust me, they have prevented a great deal of mistakes for me as well as providing me great ideas, challenges and constructive feedback.

If you don’t have a mentor, advisor and/or coach - and I am not talking about just those that you may choose to hire (afterall I am a coach by trade), but those that are in your network that you can reach out to and seek advise, then my TIP for you is to spend time to do it now. You will thank me for it.

3 Tips for engaging a Mentor/Coach or Advisor:

1. Look at your network of people - business, personal, acquaintance. Who is there that you respect, look up to, has a similiar business model or success achievement that you would like to mirror?
2. Have your business plans (and I mean ideas, direction, purpose and vision - not a formal business plan though that would be TERRIFIC)…. and define what and how you would leverage those individuals and how often, as their time is valuable - use it wisely
3. Simply ASK….. discuss with them what you are working on and what you need from experts, professionals, determined people like them, and then just ask them if they would provide you some monthly, quarterly or as needed support. I have never had anyone say no! Everyone wants to help.
   • BTW - if your network does not have anyone you would want to engage, then begin to search it out. Have criteria for what you are looking for and go look for it.

Whatever you do, as an entrepreneur you can never have enough support and expertise surrounding you. You may get to much advice from too many people :)) but you will know when it is too much. Great leaders surround themselves with smarter people then themselves. Don’t allow ego, doubt, or any other negative feeling prevent you from obtaining it.

And have fun, you won’t believe what they will bring to you, your business and your life.

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