It is easy to point to external circumstances as reasons why failure is inevitable or acceptable. The elected administrations are  seen as the cause or the cure for the economic environment. That environment is seen as the key factor in business success.

I say, No.

Yes, the macro or big-picture economy is important to business success. But, unless you are engaged in the collapsing housing and mortgage markets, it isn’t as important as you fear.

Your business has customers and competitors. Let your competitors cower in fear. YOU take stock and chart a safe course through the tumult, and expand into their market. While you’re at it, take their customers, too.

You see, everybody makes their economic decisions, not on the general economy, but on their own personal circumstances. Sure, the news on Wall Street will have impact on those decisions. But it is the bills in the mail, the price of gas, and the boss at work that have more impact.

So, whether your guy won or not should cheer or disappoint you. But, don’t count on him to solve your economic problems. After all. It’s YOUR business, not his.

Make your plans with alternatives to counter higher prices. Decide how to plan for manpower. Be creative and discover ways to better communicate to your market that you are still there and willing to help them out. There will always be customers who are above the economics and will continue to darken your door. You just have to keep finding them.

It is your business. You have no business letting its success hinge on the decisions and actions of that guy in the Whitehouse - whether you voted for him or not. Your responsibility is to make it work in SPITE of what goes on in Washington. You have commitments to meet, customers to serve, and employees who depend on you.

Don’t let them down.

But, as much as I hate to admit it, there are others with plenty more knowledge and experience you can learn from. I learn every day.

One of them is Jack Humphrey. He runs a Blog of breaking and important marketing information, focused mostly on using social sites to better advantage. He is also the force behind the Authority Site Center.

But, he, too, refers to others to become more informed and skilled in marketing. He posted a list of his Top-7 Marketing Blogs. You can read it here: The Best Marketing Blogs Right Now.

Some of them you might already read regularly. I found some I had not seen before, and have added them to my reading list.

You should do the same.

John L

The company requires survival, and that survival requires certain decisions, most of which are distasteful. On top of that, some decisions automatically eliminate certain future options of pursuit.

When we decide to abandon an operating market, we flush the sunk costs of opening it, and we make it very unlikely we will return. If we had not opened it in the first place, we could always come in at a later date. But exiting might be required.

As we choose to restrict capital expenditures, we automatically restrict potential growth. As markets grow, we require new equipment or expanded facilities to accommodate it. If there is no money, there is no expansion, there is no growth. This is the difficult choice.

As we address payroll considerations, we make similar restrictions in our future. We presumably have competent people working in the right positions. If we lay them off, chances are that they will end up working for another company and not be available to us in the future. Worse, they may go to work for a competitor – in spite of any covenants they may have signed. When we need to accomplish the work once again, we will be put in a required position of hiring and training someone to do the job. Extra expense in the future is always the cost of replacing cost-savings of the past.

But, survival, now, is paramount. We must make the hard choices that affect our future abilities to respond. We also must try to minimize that future effect and make our decisions in line with our Mission. Do not be impulsive in this most critical environment.

So, when survival is the requirement, make the correct decisions swiftly. Do not hesitate and hope that the circumstances will change – they will, but not likely for the better, or not soon enough to be of any help.

Gauge the consequences, accept the risk, make the decision, take the action.

Good Employee Traits

• He is expected to show up at work on time, and to work until the shift is over.
• She is expected to execute the activities of the job requirements with precision and efficiency.
• He is expected to earn his wage and be a positive contributor to the bottom line.
• She is not expected to fritter away the day in idle pursuits.
• He is not expected to cover over major or minor errors.
• She is not expected to be a hindrance to company progress.
• He is not expected to be a negative influence on other employees.

All in all, an employee is a desirable asset to the company, one who is productive and worthwhile.

Are YOU a Good Employee?

How am I a Good employee? I am not. I do the minimum required to get the day done. I avoid the repetitive drudge that makes a business go. I know what needs to be done, but I don’t do it. I know what I shouldn’t do, but I do it anyway. I should be let go. I can’t get over with just my good looks alone, I have to add value to the company by my presence and actions.

That is what I have as my most unproductive attitude. I don’t work unless pressed into it. Deadlines get me to so the necessary things. I avoid the clerical tasks – UNLESS – they keep me from the even harder work of creatively advancing the business agenda.

How hard is it to do the work? How difficult to sit down and grind it out? When did it become impossible to make time to do the little things that advance business? Why can’t I read and implement simple marketing texts? What is WRONG with me?

Are you waiting for success to strike from above, or ambush you when you’re not looking? Do you expect success to be like the lottery. “I don’t need to do anything except buy the ticket.” How absurd!

I’m you’re an intelligent and capable person who can take on any task and succeed. Do you somehow choose to do otherwise. Are you a self-defeating mechanism. I don’t think my way into a day, don’t pay attention to any of my priorities, and don’t execute when I am forced to.

I do the minimums.  I should get the minimums.

What the Boss Needs to Do

What I need to do each day is to:

• KNOW what I need to do.
• PLAN how I need to do it.
• WRITE the Plan down so I won’t forget.
• EXECUTE the Plan.
• EVALUATE the Execution and the Plan.
• CHOOSE to do it again.

Every day is my only opportunity to advance. Tomorrow might never arrive. Yesterday is gone. The ONLY time is NOW.

DO IT NOW!

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that your business needs to make a profit, or it isn’t a business, but a charity — for your customers. At the end of the day, Profit needs to be at the end of the Income Statement. profit is your goal.

Now, you might think that your goal in business is to improve the lives of your customers. Well, you might be able to manage to do that. But, without profits, you won’t do it for very long. Profits are the ultimate goal for any business. Profits are Good. They are essential.

Making the Sale

Profits don’t start with keeping expenses to a minimum. They start with a sale. Something has to be sold before any profits accrue.

So, your number one goal for any given day is to make sales. It doesn’t matter if you are selling a product, or a service, if someone doesn’t “buy” from you, today, you missed your mark.

Now, you might have other things to do throughout the day. Activities like production and accounting keep the wheels on. But, if you ask yourself, “Is this contributing to making a sale?” and say, “No”, then it is time to re-focus.

You make the sale by funneling suspects into qualified prospects, and from there, into paying customers. If you do business online, this means generating enough targeted traffic to your sales pages so someone will click the “Buy” button. It also means writing and re-writing your sales pages so your Conversion Rate improves.

If you do business from a store-front, you still have the same operational goal: attract targeted traffic to come in and look at your merchandise or service.

If you do any kind of in-home or in-office sales, then your phone better be burning up with your out-bound prospecting calls in between the inbound inquiries.

Going to Work

As a business owner, you have great freedom and flexibility. I always loved how flexible my calendar was. I only had to work half-days, and the Best part was that I got to choose which 12-hours that was.

As the owner, you have to be both the boss AND the employee. How good are you as a boss? Do you have exciting plans for your business? Do you have plenty of productive work for your employees to do? Are you able to motivate even the most recalcitrant employee? Do you take good care of both customers and employees?

The larger question is: How good are you as an employee? Do you show up for work on time and ready to work? Do you get the most important work done first? Do you avoid the productivity sink of online browsing? Do you earn 10-times your salary? Do you take good care of the customers? Do you always seek to be a little bit better than last time? Are you a good role model for the other employees? Do you make the boss look good?

The key is for you to remember that your business success rests solely on YOU. You have to make it go. You have to keep it running. If your business fails, it is probably because you weren’t a good boss, or you weren’t a good employee, or both.

Get Focused

Focus on Bottom Line Profits. Focus on Making that Sale. Focus on being the best Boss and best Employee you can be. Focus…

1. Business Plan

Every Business, large or small, old or new, should have an up-to-date Business Plan. And you should refer to it frequently.

You would normally think of the Business Plan as a tool for securing financing. That might be true, but its BEST use is as a Planning Tool. Duh!

If you have followed most Business Plan guidelines, you have done some major research and thinking about your market, your product, and how you intend to make money. That research is invaluable, and if you simply do it and then let it sit on the shelf, you have lost the value of your efforts.

Keep referring to the Plan as you do business. You’ll remember your market, your customers, your intent. You’ll keep focus and reach those financial projections you made. Without the foundation of a good business plan, you’ll drift into places where you can get lost and never recover.

Keep the Plan current and visible.

2. Accounting Records

Oh No! More Bookkeeping! Haven’t we had enough???

No. These are the most important records you have. A good set of books will help you pinpoint profits and losses, good customers and markets, suppliers, and profit leaks. Keeping Books is fundamental, and vital for not just taxes, but for your entire business operations.

I have counseled plenty of failing businesses who did not know they were failing, or did not know why. Good books could have prevented the tragedy and the pain of business failure.

Essential records are Cash Journal, Sales Journal, General Ledger, Inventory Records, Customer Records, and Accounts Payable and Receivable Journals. Most computerized bookkeeping programs have these and more.

Spend the money. Consult your accountant. Get a good program. Keep them current.

3. Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

Every business has things to do and ways to do them. An SOP manual helps you get and keep organized for those routine tasks, and those rare but essential ones. It will also make it easier to train when you add employees.

Get a loose-leaf binder and some dividers. You’ll want to document your days, weeks, and months as you go along. Use the documentation to examine and improve those processes so you will always be moving forward.

Be especially alert to documenting those rare events. How to do a Backup of your computer. (Shouldn’t be rare, but should be documented just the same.) How to file various tax returns and payroll reports. As you learn how to do something, make an SOP for it so you won’t have to learn it again.

4. Your Daily Action Plan

This should drive your every day. You should never go to work without knowing Exactly what your goals for today are, and what you are going to do to reach them. This is more than a simple To-Do List. It is a well-considered Plan of what you intend to do and when.

Don’t let random events de-rail you from achieving your goals. Don’t think that you can spontaneously do what is right. You won’t. You will end your day without accomplishing much of anything, and a week’s worth of that will stretch into eventual failure.

Conclusion

Every Tool Box has a unique mix of tools and supplies. It is vital that you stock yours well, and that you keep those tools sharp and all oiled up for best use. The Right Tool for the job makes the work so much more effective.

And it’s Effective that you want to be.

John Larson

Isn’t that the story of procrastination?

No, that is the result. The story is more complex than that for most of us.

Procrastination is the act of not acting productively. Procrastination substitutes busyness for action. Procrastination is a behavior and habit of not doing what needs to be done.

I procrastinate in more ways than I care to list. Most times because the task at hand isn’t “fun”. Other times, it’s because I get distracted and chase shiny objects. And other times, I never get my day started right, and I just react to random inputs instead of focusing on what needs to be done. I rarely pay attention to my list of things to do. I’m GOOD at procrastinating.

Most deadly is an unacknowledged fear that if I start this project, I will not succeed, so why start? Or, worse, that I WILL succeed. And if I succeed, I’m afraid of the unknown results and consequences. Those consequences might bring tasks or situations that will be beyond my ability to handle, and it MIGHT end up in me failing after all.

So why start?

I have to convince myself that failure is OK. Well, I know that! I’ve failed plenty of times in my life. Some have been pretty spectacular, if I do say so myself. It hasn’t killed me yet. I know that failure is only a state of mind, not a condition of life. I know that failures teach me things so that I will be less likely to fail in the future. I know that I am not defined by my failures, but by my actions and attitudes as a result of them.

Success brings a new set of problems and more opportunities for failure. Falling from a higher ledge only makes the landing that much more painful. Why subject myself to an increase in pain and dejection? Because from that higher ledge, I can see so much more opportunity for fulfillment and success.

Because success brings good things, too. If my goals are related to helping other people learn and grow, I get the joy of seeing that happen. I get happiness from their joy. I might even get wealth and respect. I certainly will get a personal sense of satisfaction and an increased sense of capability. I am a Winner!

So, procrastination is a mental battle between me and my destiny. I might like the thrill of working under pressure and deadlines. I might like the attention it brings when others are reliant on my success. I might just hate doing what I need to do. It is boring or I am not good at it or I don’t even know how to do it. These attitudes and rewards from procrastination are habits that I’ve cultivated over the years.

These are simply mental issues. They are conditions of my mind that I have to wrestle with and overcome. It is I that has the responsibility to manage Me. It is My task to stay on task. It is Me who holds the key to productivity and success.

I have to develop the habits and discipline to get started, to continue, and continue until I reach the end.

And that is the secret to success: Start. Continue. Finish.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

Is this a conundrum?

Being Busy

Being busy is a state of being that isn’t always productive. Remember when you didn’t want to do something for someone, and you told them you were busy? Busy is just an excuse for not doing what needs to be done.

You can be busy reading email, or straightening your desk, or researching design or code intricacies, or Stumbling around or on Digg or Reddit or Facebook… Some of it even “good”. And you will fritter away all the day until there is nothing left.

Action

Action, on the other hand, is fundamentally productivity-oriented. You must take Action to get something done. Action implies progress. Action is central to accomplishing anything worthwhile.

How to Replace Busy with Action

As I reviewed my weeks, I noted that I had no plan for any of my days. I just took what came along. I gave in to Impulse. To convert Busy to Action for me was to select one central task, and to Focus on it until I had finished it.

Action requires Goals and Focus. Without both, Action is only busy.

How do you stave off Busy-ness and replace it with Action?

“The pursuit of a worthwhile goal” almost sounds like chasing a butterfly through the woods. It is a beautiful thing. The journey takes you through some amazing natural constructions. But, your focus is on the butterfly, because to lose sight of it is to lose it altogether.

The butterfly flutters here and there, jinking its way to whatever random nectar wafts its way to its waiting receptors. So, the pursuit of a worthwhile goal may turn out to be a focused chase of a random event. This is not an acceptable condition.

Rather, we should take that same journey through the woods, but our destination is the craggy mountaintop in the distance – the one covered in glaciers and boulders as big as houses. There might not be a trail all the way up. Someone has blazed one partway, and the crowds have trampled a wide thoroughfare in some parts, but the journey is ours to plan and to conduct.

We see the goal. We draw it, paint it, project it on our walls. We view it through telescope, binoculars. We find maps for the surrounding area and pore over them until we know every stream, valley, ridge, and copse. We visit the area to find suitable launch spots and trailheads. We inquire of locals about known and secret vistas along the way.

We mark off our trail on our maps, plot out the stops along the way, calculate our caloric burn and how much food to bring. We manage our gear lists so we can carry it all. We arrange for transport, for food and water caches along the way. We arrange for time off, for care for the empty house, for emergency contact. We communicate our plans and goals to select individuals so we’ll have a support team. We save our money so we can purchase equipment and supplies.

We plot our every daily milestones after calculating our pace. The map is well-known to us, though we’ve never set foot there. We take our cameras and painting kits. We want not only to reach the top, but to inhale the flowers and pines along the way. We want to etch the vistas into our memories, to experience the thrill of walking among a herd of elk, of eating fresh-caught trout for breakfast, of touching living stone, drinking from icy glacier-melt. We don’t just want to reach the top, we want to live the journey. We also take side-trips and linger in spots more beautiful in life than in our original plans. We adjust and adapt as circumstances come to us.

That is what the pursuit of a worthwhile goal is about. Not a mindless rush to the top, ignoring all but the goal, but an aware adventure that pays far more in the journey than the goal alone can provide.

Bookkeeping Keeps Track

With your plan in place, you have to know your progress so you can compare to plan. This measure should be strongly weighted in the direction of finances. Without a strong financial control, your business can go down the proverbial tubes.

The surest way to get into financial trouble is to not keep track of all the financial dealings. This is keeping books. How will you know where you are if you don’t keep books? All the goals and plans are for nothing if you don’t have a bookkeeping process firmly in place.

It’s easy to let this part of business get away from you. The last thing you need is to find yourself trying to catch up after weeks of inattention.

I have one client who keeps track in his head. He hasn’t done any real analysis for 5 years. Is it any wonder he finds himself behind the 8-ball?

Get a Good Start

To start with, bookkeeping or accounting is mysterious and arcane, not to mention generally boring. Way back in my college days, I took the required accounting courses in my business studies. I got A’s. I hated it. I still don’t relish the mundane and routine pounding in of the numbers, but I’ve learned the importance, and I’ve developed the discipline. It begins with getting started.

One of the easiest ways to get started is to head off to the Big Box store nearby and get a copy of QuickBooks. But, spending a bunch of money on a program isn’t necessarily the right way to go about it. You need to understand your accounting needs before you undertake the purchase of systems. Computer programs don’t solve problems. They can make things worse if you don’t have the right ones.

Here is where your Accountant or CPA is of greatest importance. Let them interview you and your business and determine your needs. Let them develop your needed Chart of Accounts. Let them recommend the right way to get started for you. Don’t try to do this analysis and development on your own. Unless you are skilled in the ways of accounting, you’ll just get bogged down and side-tracked from your prime directive - do business.

Keep Up the Momentum

Once you get a set of books established, now, make processing the required entries a routine. Get into the habit of making your entries every day.

You’ll have various sales records to process. Keep track of each sale, each customer, each method of payment. Classify your sales by department or family of transactions. Record the details for later evaluation.

Make the entries in the appropriate journals and programs.

Keep track of every Expense. Keep the Receipts, and make the entries.

Keep your banking records up-to-date. Use your Check Register to record checks and deposits. Record them as you make them.

Make it a habit to keep your entries current. Every day, if necessary, set aside a few minutes to gather all your details into your bookkeeping system. Dong this every day eliminates the mad rush at the end of every month/quarter/year.

Make a Strong Finish

Each month, make the appropriate entries and total them all up. Run your reports to illuminate your Sales, Expenses, Profits, and Net Worth. Compare your progress to your Plan. Make adjustments in business practice.

Reconcile to the Bank Statement each month.

Make your Payroll Tax deposits on time.

Pay your Bills on time.

Each quarter, make reports and compare to plan.

Each year, prepare your tax returns.

Prepare a budget.

Books Are Your Friend

Instead of ignoring or dreading your books, think of them as your trusted ally and friend. They will keep you from trouble if you let them.

Don’t let your business get away from you. Keep your Books in order.