Strategic Business Tips from Kim Beasley

Posts Tagged ‘strategy’

I’m excited to talk about business processes because I have over 15 years of experience as a technical project manager while working in Corporate America. The importance of having business processes in place is vital because they help create an organized environment. Having an organized environment can help you be more successful.

So what can be considered a business process? Good Question! According to Wikipedia.org, a business process is “a collection of interrelated tasks, which accomplish a particular goal”. In other words, it’s when you pre-determine which tasks work well together to create a seamless way to achieve what you want to do in your business.

In my business, I have many business processes in place that help me to create a seamless environment. During my business makeover, I have been able to refine my processes and become more efficient. Below is an example of a refined business process.

• Old way (calendar): receive appointment request, then open calendar & review to see open slots, determine where the appointment could be placed then notify the appointee about the time and date
• New way (calendar): receive appointment request, forward to my Business Coordinator, who schedules on my Google calendar (which automatically updates my Outlook calendar) & notifies appointee about upcoming appointment
• Advantage: by allowing my Business Coordinator to manage my calendar it frees me from worrying about how to arrange things and also it allows me to dedicate more time to my clients

By me implementing this simple business process improvement, it put time back onto my calendar that I could invest in other areas of my business. One practice that is also good for business owners is to set aside time occasionally to review your processes to see if they can be improved.

Do you have business processes that you need to refine? Have you recently refined your business processes and have a success story? Please feel free to share.

First, if you don’t know who Michael Phelps is, you can read more about him by clicking here. But if you do know who he is then you know that he has been very focused on winning Olympic Gold medals for swimming. His goal has been to beat World records too and so far he is doing a great job of it.

I haven’t been watching the sporting events of the Olympics as intently as others but one thing for sure is that hearing Michael’s name mentioned almost everywhere has become a norm. As business owners, wouldn’t it be great to have positive brand recognition like Michael?

Well I’ve been giving this some thoughts over the past few days and during my business makeover I have realized that I’ve become very focused on what’s best for me and my business. Having targeted goals in mind has helped me to define specific areas of my business and cause it to grow quickly. Below are some of the areas that I have been focusing on and have obtained success:

• Developed a strategic business plan
• Streamlined services that are offered through my business
• Streamlined pricing for the services
• Developed a new product line
• Hired Virtual Team to handle outsourced tasks

In thinking about your own business, have you been as focused as Michael? Do you know the direction that you are taking with your business? Do you have goals that you want to accomplished with targeted dates? Please share about your experience.

If you need help in going through your own business makeover, watch for more details about an upcoming opportunity. Or you can complete the contact form on this website and make sure to state that you are interested in going through your own business makeover.

When making habit changes, sometimes we run into a “hump” that we feel is blocking the way of success. Yet some choose not to the press on past the hump and get stopped in their tracks. Others choose to fake it and make it look like they have gotten over the hump and drift along on a wing and a prayer. Then there are the successful people who actually choose to deal with the hump by defining what it is and determining the best way to beat the hump.

Where are you in dealing with your “hump”? Have you identified what it is and created a solution to getting past it? My hump has always been hidden procrastination. This means that I start big and then I say that things are going as planned but in reality I’ve run out of a plan and I seem to loose the unction to continue.

So to help me get past the “hump” I decided to face it this time and press through to success. What’s making it different this time is that I am putting things in place that will ensure success which is something that I hadn’t done before. Below are the things that I’ve put into place that are helping me get past my “hump”:

• Define who will mentor me and have regular meetings
• Get at least 3 accountability partners who will check-in on my progress
• Determine a plan that is doable for me to successful
• Be open to change regardless if it is small or big
• Walk out the path that’s best for me and not one that is meant for someone else
• Choose my actions wisely
• Use tools that are beneficial to your business makeover process (click here to read the first post in this series for more details about the tools I’m using)

Some of these I am always able to complete successfully while others have been missing from my attempts to getting over the business makeover “hump” in the past. Do you have additional points that I can include on this list that will help me and other to get over the “hump”? Please feel free to add your comments.

As I continue my business makeover, I’ve decided to look at my business like I’m on a spy mission and trying to determine who the enemy of my business is and destroy it. Realizing that if I don’t destroy the enemy of my business, it could have unrepairable damage. So… I decided to make a list of detailed and sometimes hard questions that will help me identify my enemy.

• What have I done in the past that was successful?
• What have I done in the past that was unsuccessful?
• Where am I unfocused on in my business?
• Do I have an identified target market?
• Have I developed an Internet marketing plan that reaches my target market?
• How am I monetizing my business websites?
• Do I have areas in my business that are causing me to lose money?
• When am I allowing myself to have down-time with my business so I can concentrate on refining it?
• Have I allowed my knowledge to increase by attending training that will help refine my business?
• Am I filling up my schedule with nonsense activities that take away from my business?
• Do I allow myself to spend to much time with the “newest thing” instead of networking to grow my business?
• Have I allowed myself to network to grow my business or do I network without a purpose in mind?

I know this is a long list but this is only a partial list of questions that I have asked myself during the process of my business makeover. Now with my spy hat on and my magnifying glass, I am investigating my business so that I can identify the enemies of my business. This is MISSION POSSIBLE to find the enemy and destroy it!

Have you asked yourself any of these question? If so, please share your input regarding how you applied these questions to your business and how you answered those questions. Looking forward to your answers.

Questions added by blog visitors:

• Provided by Wendy Y. Bailey of http://www.groupmastery.com
  • What problem does my service solve for my target market?
• Provided by Tim Bossie of http://www.timbossie.com/
  • [What] I ask myself is how effectively am I connecting with my target market?
• Provided by Jenn Givler of http://www.createathrivingbusiness.com/
  • Am I building relationships with people that will help me get my work out in the world?
  • Do I have the self-confidence to achieve my goals, and if not – who can help me get it?