Dave Crenshaw's Blog, page 51

Get Vision, Get Motivated

Motivation comes from within. It’s something you already have in yourself. You just have to discover it.

In this brief video, I answer a question from a business owner stuck in her past. I share the three things she—and every entrepreneur—needs to get motivated and reach new heights in her business.

Action Steps:

To find and maintain motivation as an entrepreneur, make sure you have these three things:

Vision – A clear, written document that says this is where we want our business to be in the future. Five years is a good time frame. This vision will help drive you forward and give you purpose, day in and day out.
Values - These are short, written statements or even just single words that define what your business believes in
Cause – This is a purpose for success that is greater than money. A cause will hinge the success (or failure) of the business on the needs of other people.


Please comment on this page and share your Vision, Values, or Cause (or all three!)

Principles:

Nearly all business problems can be explained by the Invaluable Cycle: Systems, Accountability, and Motivation.
Everyone gets to a point where they need to get motivated again. They do this by returning to the roots of what drove them in the beginning.
The three aspects of Motivation—Vision, Values, and Cause—apply to motivating employees as well.

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Add Your Question To The Short List

I’m thankful I have people like you–viewers, readers, and subscribers–who keep me on my toes thinking about how to make businesses more fun to own and operate.

Thank you. Please accept my gratitude.

With that in mind, I would like to give back. Watch this short video to find out how.

Action Steps:

Think of a question about entrepreneurship, small business ownership, or productivity.
Use the comments here to ask your question.
Stay tuned! I may address your question in a coming months’ video.

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What Position Is Business Owner, Anyway?

When you run a business, you start by wearing a lot of hats. As your business grows, it only makes sense to focus on your positions that bring the most to the business. This means delegating less valuable positions to other employees, or hiring out.

Watch this short video to find out how to start moving away from the doldrums of those less valuable positions.

Action Steps:

Create an organization chart showing ALL of the positions your business needs to operate.
Mark ALL of the positions YOU currently occupy on your organization chart.
Pick your Top 2 positions, based on what you’re best at, your passion, or the value you add to those positions.
Pick your Bottom 1 and make a plan to delegate the responsibilities of that position to another employee – or hire out.

Principles:

Your MVP is your most valuable position. It’s the position you will occupy as owner, once you’ve hired people to occupy the other, less valuable positions.
An organization chart is important because it gives you a visual reference of how many people your business needs to operate.
Moving out of less valuable positions and into more valuable positions is a sign of a growing business. Congratulations!

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Becoming Tech Savvy: The Geek Mindset

At some point when you were growing up, someone probably told you to “be nice to geeks because you’ll probably end up working for one someday.”

What they didn’t tell you: you’d need to become one yourself.

Check out the five things you must do to start thinking like a geek and thrive in this digital age.

Action Steps:

Instead of getting mad the next time your computer acts up, think about the data you gave it.
Avert disaster by backing up your data, both on a physical drive and in the cloud.
The next time you buy a new piece of software, take some time to play with it before reading the manual or attempting to use it fully.
The next time you have a problem, see if there’s an app out there to help you solve it.
You can find answers to most questions using Google. Google everything.
Please comment on this page and share other “think geek” tips.

Principles to Learn:

Having a geek’s mindset is an essential survival skill in today’s world.
GIGO stands for “Garbage In – Garbage Out.” A computer’s results are only as good as the data you feed it.
Losing your data is a matter of “when”, not “if.”
Technology can’t solve all of your problems—but it can solve a lot of them.
Dave’s wardrobe by threadless: http://www.threadless.com/product/3526/Them_Birds

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Stay Motivated – Don’t BONK In Entrepreneurship

Marathon runners use a funny word to talk about “hitting the wall”—BONKING. Runners have special techniques they use to make BONKING less painful than it sounds.

If you’re running a business eventually you’ll “hit the wall,” too. It’s the point where you’re frustrated, working too hard, looking for the exit, and thinking about getting a job working for someone else.

Watch my short video for 3 things you can do to stay motivated when you hit the entrepreneur’s wall.

Action Steps:

Establish a company vision—a one-page document that describes what your business will look like in the future.
Use a mini-harvest strategy to stay motivated by rewarding yourself regularly. Watch this video to learn more. http://davecrenshaw.com/mini-business-harvest-strategy/
Consider hiring a business coach to help you stay motivated and focused. To apply to become a Dave Crenshaw coaching client, complete the Chaos Assessment here: http://HarnessChaos.com
It’s important to think about things you can do to lessen the blow of “entrepreneurial bonking.” What do you do to stay motivated? If you’re comfortable, go ahead and leave a comment below.

Principles:

Having a future vision and purpose can help you stay motivated.
It’s inevitable. Eventually you will come to a point in your career as an entrepreneur where you feel overwhelmed and consider giving up. This is called the Entrepreneur’s Wall.
Everyone can benefit from external accountability. Business coaches are one of the most effective ways entrepreneurs can get that accountability and stay motivated.

The post Stay Motivated – Don’t BONK In Entrepreneurship appeared first on Dave Crenshaw | Helping Entrepreneurs Harness Chaos.

Focus or Chaos – Which side are you on?

There is an epic battle raging between two forces. Both sides want control of your time, your energy, your money and your attention.

But who is winning the battle?

Watch this brief video to learn about these two forces influencing your life and your career.

Action Steps:

Watch this video to understand the surprisingly subtle differences between focus and chaos.
Asses yourself on a scale of 0 to 10, zero being absolute chaos and 10 being absolute focus. Then, please share your number in the comments section below.

Principles to Learn:

Dave’s definition for focus is: The STRATEGIC allocation of your resources toward that which is of MOST value.
Dave’s definition for chaos is: The HAPHAZARD allocation of your resources toward that which is of VARIABLE value.
Understanding where you are on the spectrum between chaos and focus is important. It will give you clarity as to the direction your business and career are headed.

The post Focus or Chaos – Which side are you on? appeared first on Dave Crenshaw | Helping Entrepreneurs Harness Chaos.

Aim Your Small Business Systems Like a Rifle

Although most small business owners understand the importance of business systems, they have trouble getting their business systems aligned with their actual business goals.

Watch this short video to find out how to document your small business systems in a targeted way.

Action Steps:

Have your employees document all business systems first.
YOU then edit the documentation.
By working together, with the employee documenting the systems and you editing them, you’ll find that your business systems are more accurately aligned with your business goals.
Please comment on this page. Let’s talk.

Principles:

Systems are documented processes and procedures that help you to get a consistent result.
Sharpshooting requires both a front sight and a rear sight to properly aim a rifle. Like a rifle, your business systems require two points of contact for proper alignment.
Your employees are the first point of contact. You, the owner, are the second point of contact.

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5-Step Stress Management For Business People

“BIG” switches are events in your life that require you to temporarily alter your course.

The events I’m talking about are tragic in nature and very stressful. Dealing with them properly requires tact and the right strategy for stress management.

Watch the following video to learn about a 5-Step Process you can use to deal with stressful events in your life.

Action Steps:

When something big happens, stop. Recognize something big has happened and that you need to temporarily alter the way you operate.
Open up your calendar. Look at it very closely.
Budget the time it will take to deal with the tragedy.
If necessary, shuffle things in your schedule. Procrastinating is OK as long as it’s on the calendar. Reallocate time according to the new priority.
Follow the new schedule until everything is resolved, then get back to business.
If you’ve recently experienced one of these events, and you feel comfortable sharing your experience, please tell us about how it affected your business using the comment box below.

Principles to Learn:

Because of their tragic and stressful nature, events like these will demand that you sacrifice business productivity in order to deal with them properly.
If you fail to deal with them properly, your personal life and long term productivity may suffer for it. This is why it’s important to have a strategy and a plan for addressing the inevitable.

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Why the Business Growth Rate is Overrated

Many entrepreneurs are highly competitive. They want to measure their progress and compare themselves to others.

But what’s the most overrated number when it comes to business growth?

Find out by watching this short video.  More important, learn what you should be measuring instead.

Action Steps:

If you’re not already, start generating financial reports for your business. Without them, there’s no way to know your score in the game.
Start measuring the rate your profit, instead of revenue, grows.
Ask yourself what products and services are most profitable per-unit-sold.
Comment or ask questions on this page.

Principles:

Too much emphasis on growth can sometimes cause small businesses to grow too fast.
Generating financial reports is important. More important is focusing on the right numbers.
It’s easy to grow sales so fast that you damage your business in the process.

The 3 Most Valuable Management Questions

If you’re asking the wrong management questions, then the answers don’t even matter.

Watch this quick video, and then start asking the three most valuable “right” questions.

Action Steps:

Instead of asking “Why didn’t you do it?,” start asking “What got in the way?”
Ask your employees for their recommendations when they ask you to give the solution.
Always ask your employees if their behavior is getting the result they want.
Comment on this page and share other great management question ideas.

Principles to Learn:

Questions are much more powerful than answers when it comes to management and leadership.
“Why” questions appear to assign blame. “What” and “how” questions search for a systemic solution.
Employees often know the answer to their own question, and often are only seeking validation of that answer.
If someone is satisfied with the results they are getting, they are highly unlikely to make changes.