Step into Tomorrow - Begin Exit Planning Today

This is the official announcement of our Business Exit Planning seven-class series from January 23 through March 5^th. I love new projects and this one with Dr. Gary Reiss has been very interesting over the last six or more months. It has been challenging putting together the business issues like delegation, compensation, and accounting together with the psychology of what stops us and conflict resolution.

The last few months have been hectic and exciting. We are working with several new clients using strategic planning around exit issues like succession, partner responsibilities and buy-sell issues, to name a few.

When we do exit planning we’re thinking of tomorrow for ourselves as owners, as well as for our customers, employees and community. Exit planning is recycling companies instead of just closing them and throwing years and years of good work away.

Environmental and sustainable consciousness is particularly critical for business because of how much business impacts the planet and all of us. But, what makes a company green? How green is a company shipping containers of goods thousands of miles and printing thousands of color brochures? Who decides what’s “green?” We believe “green business” is a gradual process in which we are becoming conscious of our footprint. Then we can begin to figure out ways to consider what we might do better. Every business wants to be sustainable, at least on a financial basis, having repeat and referral customers, employees who are competent, stable and have high integrity.

Exit planning is particularly important given current demographics. There are so many businesses owned by folks 40 to 80. Creating a bigger conversation about adequate planning may contribute to more ventures being effectively transferred to younger partners, kids and employees. Without planning, there will be many companies closing and disruption to customers, vendors and the natural environment.

Delegation and compensation are employee issues for all organizations, but for exit planning they are particularly relevant. What are the actions that a company needs to prosper and grow? Have you and your employees clearly identified these key behaviors? Do they have deleterious side effects? What are the behaviors that your company is rewarding? Let us tell you about the traits research has found contributes to a climate that fosters employee enthusiasm and productivity. Before you leave your business infuse it with possibility.

Come explore these and other topics in our Business Exit Planning series.

Exit Planning, Venture Capital and Wings to Fly

We entrepreneurs get a thrill when we see an opportunity to put together solutions that solve problems for customers and make business sense.

Designing what your business will look like when fully developed and how you will transition from it is a mark of mature business insight.

Once an entrepreneur has begun and sold a couple business ventures, new insight is gained into beginning ventures which can become in themselves a finely polished jewel to be marketed and transferred profitably.

Venture capitalist thinking is this ability to utilize the resources of new ideas, skills, personnel to serve a particular market niche, then making it happen with project management and chutzpah,that spirit of audacity and spunk.

What are your dreams? Are you making them happen like you'd like? Examine the components and get expert advice to take your venture to the next level so you can step out and give the next entrepreneur the chance to play. Don't be too attached or your ladder becomes chains. Wings are better.... take flight!

Research and Development

Tell me about your research and development projects. I'm curious about the next products and services you are envisioning. Explain the features and benefits and exactly how they improve the lives of your clients.

Rank the importance of the projects you're considering. Which is first and why? What resources do you need to advance this best, next project? What are the capital and expertise needs? What technical or operational challenges are before you? How will you address them?

Who have you been depending upon to advance this, to make it real so far? Are you utilizing your network as a research and development team? Do you offer your help to them with their projects? If they are employees, does your firm offer the training and mentoring support to enable them to maximize their potential?

Forming explicit R & D relationships might noticeably improve your project success. How might you recognize and express your gratitude for the contributions your associates are making?

What's next? I' m curious.

John Anderson
John@BeCauseBusiness.com

Alan Weiss Talk in Portland

I had the good fortune of hearing Alan Weiss address the Institute of Management Consultants in Portland yesterday speaking on building relationships and value based consulting.

Alan has written 16 books and 500 articles on building successful companies. He had some very interesting comments on self esteem, professional development and balance in life. Self esteem, he said is increased when we add discrete skills. Professional development is important for all of us to schedule and value given the rate of cultural and technological change. Healthy non-business activities increase our perspective to make wiser choices in business and elsewhere.

Not a bit bashful, Alan recommends coming right up to the edge between confidence and arrogance. A couple of consultants in the audience asked him if perhaps he's "over the line." He responded one must be comfortable "standing up in a breeze."

Weiss loves his Ferrari, Aston Martin and expensive lifestyle. He asked rhetorically, "Do clients want a successful consultant, or the cheapest?"

Accepting New Clients

We are ready to meet some new business owners eager to take their venture to the next level. Our passion is collaborating with leaders who want to improve their capacity to serve and satisfy more customers using improved systems.

The inspiration to innovate, followed by the commitment to reshape one's thinking is bold and courageous. How can we reduce inputs while increasing outputs? It's a puzzle we love exploring with our clients.

Best to you all this Father's Day. Mid-june and we're here on the glorious Oregon Coast with blue skies, bright sun, mid-70s and a light breeze kicking up some white caps looking south across Coos Bay. It's a great day to celebrate life, family and looking forward.


Send us an email, give us a call. Let's see how you might benefit.

John@BeCauseBusiness.com - 800.249.1622 - Skype Be.Cause
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A Different Perspective on Employee Evaluations

By Kathleen D. Packard
kathleen@BeCauseBusiness.com

Employee evaluations are typically anticipated with dread by employees and managers alike. Managers see them as a time when they must be tough and judgmental. They must look for what’s wrong in the employee’s work and then they must point it out. Worst of all, there must be some threat, subtle or otherwise, that will motivate the employee to change.


Employees are typically clueless as to what is going to come up in the review, but they know they can look forward to having their deficiencies exposed. There will be discomfort for both parties, they will stumble through the encounter, then both will heave a sign of relief that it’s over and they’ll try to put it behind them like a bad dream. The next time there will be no memory of what was discussed previously and they’ll go through the whole unpleasant experience again, with no progress toward what either party really wants.


It doesn’t have to be that way. Rather than positioning the manager as the executioner and the employee as victim . . . oops, sorry, that’s my own experience. Let’s say . . . rather than positioning the manager as “doer” and the employee as “done to,” you can approach the process from a more collaborative coach/player perspective. This is how you do it.


In your first meeting with the employee, both of you reach agreement on what goals or actions are appropriate to work on and what time frame is reasonable for completion. Next, decide together what behaviors or indicators you will use to know when that target or goal is reached. Third, agree together on what the consequences will be if the target is hit or the target is missed. This doesn’t need to be a raise or a demotion or anything so dramatic. It can be a small acknowledgment or a simple reward or “punishment.” But it will be something that both of you agree on. Lastly, ask the employee what kind and how often they want feedback. It might be daily, weekly or monthly. How do they want that feedback delivered? It might be a daily question, a written note, or a two-minute meeting. Business coach Richard Reardon says that 25% of success can be attributed to having goals, but 75% is the result of feedback.


It must be the manager’s absolute commitment to follow through with what has been agreed upon. Otherwise, there can be no expectation for commitment from the employee. And the performance review will be a review of the performance of both the coach and the player. In this setup, everyone knows what is expected of them and by when.


Remember that as a coach, you will be prodding your employees to stretch themselves. As they become comfortable with the process, you will find that they will push themselves. Everyone wants to feel like they are headed somewhere. And everyone wants to know where they stand. Bring the process into the open and everyone’s experience will be positive. Share with the employee the goals you have for the company and the goals you have set for yourself as the owner. And ask the employee for feedback on the process itself. Together you can move the company forward and use your roles as vehicles for your own personal growth.

Google's Shared Docs and Sheets

Google's shared documents and spreadsheets are wiki files that are great for team collaboration.

I set up shared spreadsheets for my clients to begin tracking sales, costs and profit and set the stage for doing forecasting. These spreadsheets are also a great way to involve staff, giving them a turn at the controls to run the venture, set destinations and steam towards far away lands.

Google documents are great for collaborating with team members on Job duties, work processes and frequently asked questions. They clarify what's expected and how to get things done.

I encourage my clients to have their staff post their questions in a FAQ format; when the employer answers the question, the knowledge is captured. Staff gradually builds a library of FAQ. When new employees come aboard with questions, the experienced staff can respond, "Let's look in the FAQ. Here's that question and an answer." or "Great question, you can add it to the FAQ; then we'll get the answer from the boss." Gradually, there is less time spent answering the same questions. Life is good!