What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?

We all know of great entrepreneurial leaders – current and past. What makes them great? What principles have guided them to achieve the beauty of their dreams; their big and magnificent visions?

Firstly, they have the ability to envision their future. They have the audacity and confidence to dream big regardless of how ridiculous their ideas seem at the time.

In my terms great entrepreneurial leaders are alive with possibility of creating something magnificent. I call it Vision – ALIVE™; envisioning the future; the possibility of creating and achieving something magnificent.

So, what is Vision – ALIVE™ in practical terms?

A = Accountable Enrolment: Great entrepreneurial leaders engage with others – team, stakeholders, business partners, community – to create enthusiasm and engagement in the big vision, the big dream they have created. They have such clarity over what is possible that those around them are enrolled in participating in the achievement of the vision. A vision cannot be brought to life by one person alone. It requires a fully enrolled team to transform the vision into a mission to a reality.

L = Living Embodiment: Great entrepreneurial leaders create the footprint for others to follow. They live and breathe the values the entrepreneur wants all others to embody; they lead by example, and as a result, others will want to follow.

I = Individual Empowerment: Great entrepreneurial leaders provides the environment for all to shine; to be accountable for their part in achieving the magnificent vision. They bring together people who are collectively focused and determined to win.

V = Validation and Encouragement: Great entrepreneurial leaders understand the need to validate, support and encourage all those who are a part of the journey towards the achievement of the magnificent vision. This is especially important during times of challenge. Future leaders are created when they are strongly led and encouraged.

E = Evaluation and Improvement: Great entrepreneurial leaders recognise that relentless execution, evaluation and improvement is critical towards making progress and eventually achieving the magnificent vision.

That’s it, the defining principles of great entrepreneurial leaders. How do you measure up? How can you improve your leadership style and skills in order help you achieve the magnificent success you are seeking in your entrepreneurial pursuits?

The most exciting aspect of great leadership is that is can be learned. I am firmly of the view that great entrepreneurial leaders can be bred and are not just born. So, go for it. Become a great entrepreneurial leader.

Could some guidance from me be helpful to you? If so, please arrange a free 30 mins Skype strategy meeting with me. Here’s my calendar to book a meeting. I’d love to support you in some way to gain ‘seductive clarity’ in any aspect of your business or life.

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship vs The Meaning of Life
Entrepreneurial Success Without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
All Work + Little Play = Boring!
Mega Entrepreneur Defined!
Supercharge Your Profitable Business!
Leadership Qualities
NZ Entrepreneurship Success
Millionaire Mindset
7 Secrets of Business Success
Sir Richard Branson Asks…
Ordinary vs Game Changing
Thriving within the Juggling Act
Business Success and Cookie Dough
What Ice Cream Flavour is Your Business?

Increase Your Prices & Make More Profit

If your prices are too low, your market will label you a low-end player and you’ll attract bargain hunters who will invariably try to get you to discount your products even further. Lower prices also make it unlikely your business will build long-term relationships with such customers, who by their very nature will shop around to get the best prices on a product or service, not staying loyal to any one business.

Higher pricing raises customers’ expectations of a business, which can be a challenge. But if you constantly deliver on those expectations your business will usually enjoy customer loyalty, and you will attract a better quality customer that is willing to pay more for quality customer service.

Everything I do with my clients is about helping their businesses make BIG Profits. Remember, there are only two ways in which a business can grow its profit:

Increasing sales
Reducing expenses

Let’s take a look at the impact a price increase could have on the profitability of a business. For this simple exercise, business XYZ has 200 customers. The average value of a sale is $1,000 and the cost of goods sold for each product is $300. The business’s fixed costs are $90,000 per annum. The table below demonstrates the impact of XYZ increasing its prices by 2 percent, 5 percent, and 10 percent.

In this example, when there is a 2 percent price increase, the business profit increases by $4,000 per annum or 8 percent in one year. With a 5 percent price, increase the profit increases by $10,000 or a 20 percent increase. With a 10 percent price increase, the profit of the business increases by a whopping $20,000 or 40 percent.

With all things being equal, increasing your prices by a small amount results in a compounding increase in profit. It is important to note that increasing prices has no impact on cost of goods sold, which is based on quantity of products sold not the sales price.

When considering whether to increase your prices, ask yourself, “Am I likely to be losing customers?” If your answer is ‘yes’ or ‘I am not sure’, then your customers are only thinking about leaving as they do not understand your value proposition for them, or you do not deliver enough value to your customers to justify the price increase.

It comes down to branding. What does your business, your brand stand for? What is the promise you make to your customers? Branding is about building a relationship with your customers, and over time they expect certain things from your brand, as that is what you have promised them.

What is your branding saying about you and your business in the market? Is your business delivering on its promises to its customers?
Dr Michael LeBoeuf, international business consultant, focuses a lot of his work on how to win customers and keep them. He created a matrix based on extensive research on why customers leave a business.

Based on that research, of those customers who leave a business, only 9 percent leave due to pricing, whereas 82 percent of customers leave because they are not treated as special or there is an unresolved conflict. In essence, they leave due to a lack of customer service.

Therefore, key to the success of your business is not worrying about the price you charge your customers, but concentrating on the customer value proposition you deliver to your customers to keep them happy and returning for more. It’s about going beyond the call of duty to provide value and service to your customers. It’s about creating customer cheerleaders, customers who will be loyal to your business for a long time, and at the same time, will refer their family and friends to your business .

Think about this second question: “If you do increase your prices, will you be the most expensive business in your industry?”

Your answer is highly likely to be no. If the answer is yes, then you are at the premium end of your industry serving the most discerning customers, and therefore price is unlikely to be the most important factor in their decision making process. Even if you are at the premium end of the market, there is a strong argument that you should still raise your prices, making sure your customer service remains second to none, as it is the value proposition your business offers your customers that they will be most interested in.

My approach to pricing is: charge what you and your business are worth. Don’t undersell yourself. Brand your business, deliver on the promise, and you will be able to easily increase your prices and no-one will notice as they will be rapt with the way in which your business delivers value to them.

It comes down to a simple equation. For every $1 you charge your customers, make sure you are delivering more than $5 in value to them. Consistently do that, regardless of your pricing in the market, and you will not lose customers…. and you will grow your business as your reputation for excellent value will precede you as your customers will become your cheerleaders.

Sound like good business practice? I think so. It is a win/win business strategy.

Other articles on Branding, Marketing and Pricing:

Do You Compete on Price? Bad Business Decision!!
Is Customer Service YOUR Key to Business Success?
Creating Superior Customer Value – do you do that in your business?
Which are Your Most Profitable Customers?
Finding Customers via LinkedIn
Using YouTube for Finding Customers
Who Wants High Customer Retention?
What is a Customer?
What is Business Marketing?
What’s Your Personal Brand?

My Entrepreneurial Journey To Date….

Who Is Adèle McLay?

Wife, Mother, Friend and Family Member; Business Mentor/Coach; Motivational Speaker; Entrepreneur; Author; Property Investor; Ballroom/Latin Dancer; Arts Lover; Foodie/Baker; Worldwide Traveller; Exercise Lover; Bridge Player; Giver… ‘Inspirator, Agitator, Motivator’™ and more…

Born in New Zealand, I graduated with an accounting/finance qualification and I am a Fellow Chartered Accountant of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. Early roles were in banking as an accountant, and later investment banking.

In 1992, my entrepreneurial world began when I established my own consulting business, working with many of New Zealand’s leading corporates including Fonterra Co-operative Group, Telecom New Zealand, Carter Holt Harvey, Bank of New Zealand, Westpac New Zealand, and public sector entities and charities by supporting them to create business efficiency and enhanced profitability through people.

At its peak, I employed 20 staff across two offices in New Zealand’s two biggest cities – Auckland and Wellington.

Was the entrepreneurial journey easy? No. Was it challenging and rewarding? Yes. There were many hurdles, including:

Not having enough clients at times. Winning and losing clients was an ongoing business challenge.
Having too many clients at other times, and ensuring the quality of work delivered by my team was consistently exceptional.
Feeling like the universe was against me, as at many month-ends there was not enough cash to pay all the staff, overheads and ME!
Learning how to brand the business and me as the leader, so that we stood out in our market. This is something we did really effectively as the business won many exclusive client contracts, and personally I was very well known in business as the person behind the brand.
Developing marketing strategies within the business that stood us apart from competitors, and that got noticed by potential and existing clients.
Teaching consultants how to ‘sell’ the business and themselves to potential clients. This was an ongoing challenge given that many people don’t like the idea of selling. Instead we focused on building relationships with our audience who later become clients.
Developing systems and processes to streamline the business so it operated effectively without me.
Learning leadership and management skills as I was young when I become an entrepreneur, and hadn’t previously led and managed staff.
Recruiting great staff who engaged with the business’s vision and delivered on it in their roles….

…. and on it went.

The challenges were endless. but the rewards were good. I paid myself well; I travelled the world during my holidays; I had a sports car; I owned property; I had a great life. My business was successful despite the roller coaster ride. I learnt a lot as a young entrepreneur, and personally I achieved something else by being an entrepreneur…. Something I didn’t expect to get from entrepreneurship.

You see, on Tuesday, 12 February 2002, I was the woman entrepreneur who was still at her desk working at 8pm the night before she was due to give birth by ‘C’ section the following morning at 6am. I was the woman who told her staff not to let clients know that the baby was being born, as we were too busy at work with fantastic client work. I didn’t want to personally let any clients down by taking time off with the baby, so I was back at work the following Monday after our baby was born. I was the woman who worked 12 hour days starting one week after our baby was born. My husband became the ‘house husband’ and brought our brand new daughter to work for me to breast feed until that option didn’t work for us anymore and she preferred the bottle.

The ultimate ‘career’ woman!?!?

Then something snapped.

Five months after giving birth to our daughter, I walked into a planning meeting where my team were waiting to strategise the upcoming year for the company. Instead, I told them that in one month, I was making them all redundant! I had made the decision to close the company in order to spend time at home with our baby. The silence was deafening and terrifying!

After they got over the shock, my team was incredibly supportive and they helped me wind down 10 years of being an entrepreneur. While doing that, they all got great new jobs elsewhere. It was a win/win for all.

Becoming a mother was one of those moments in time where life changed. I went from being the ultimate career woman who was balancing her entrepreneurial life, directorships, charity work, lifestyle and more….to wanting to be at home for a while as a mother.

So what else did I get by being a successful entrepreneur? I got CHOICE! I got the opportunity to make decisions about my business that suited the change in my lifestyle.

Often I am asked why I didn’t sell the business. This was because a buyer would have expected me to stay with the company for a further two years in an ‘earn out’ situation, so I would not have achieved my goal of being at home for a while.

Why didn’t I put managers in to run the business? I did have managers, but again I had a choice. I was tired of being in the industry and wanted a career change, and expected that I would continue being tied to the business and industry if I left it to managers to run.

I am really happy with the decision I made. I got THE most amazing time at home with my six month old daughter. Plus, I continued doing part-time consulting when it suited. I remained a director of various companies….and I had a great lifestyle.

During that time, I also became a property entrepreneur, which I continue to be to this day, as I own a property portfolio in New Zealand and Great Britain that we manage from our London base.

In the intervening period from having a brand new baby to her now being a teenager, I have continued to work. I have consulted to large and small businesses in New Zealand and Great Britain, supporting them to achieve the success that they are seeking. If you are interested, my LinkedIn profile details that experience.

I have taken all my career experiences and I now support entrepreneurs across the world to become Mega Entrepreneurs….according to how they define their success. For me, being a Mega Entrepreneur means being: highly performing; world class; financially successful; trusted; generous.

My entrepreneurial journey will continue in another form shortly. As of December 2014, I am exploring new business ventures that will unfold during 2015 and beyond.

Adèle x

Successful Entrepreneurs I Have Helped

What Small Business Entrepreneurs Are Saying About Adèle McLay

Here is a small selection of testimonials from my clients. More can be seen at my testimonials page on this website.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

Earlier this year I worked with Adèle McLay to re-focus my business. I now have a strong vision and business plan that I am working towards achieving. Adèle also developed a broad based marketing plan for me to ensure I hit my business goals over the coming couple of years. Plus, I am now a lot more structured in the way in which I run my business, manage my time, and engage my staff.

Most importantly, Adèle worked with me and my own mindset. I don’t know how she does it, but she changed my perspective on business and life. I now feel I can achieve all my business and life goals. I have a new energy and excitement about life and my business.

Adèle McLay is a different kind of business coach. Not only does she have a huge business background (including being an entrepreneur herself) and loads of experience that she applies to her clients, she has an incredible ability to help her clients become mega performing in their businesses and lives. I believe she changes lives; certainly she changed mine. I highly recommend Adèle to business owners and entrepreneurs around the world.

Shakeel Sadiq, Managing Director, Exantia Limited

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

Adèle McLay is more than a Business Growth Coach. She changes lives!! Adèle has +20 years’ experience as a Business Coach and Business Consultant – she has all the frameworks/strategies in her toolbox to support business owners and entrepreneurs to achieve success within their businesses across the areas of Leadership, Branding, Marketing, Sales, Finance, People, Operations – she is an end to end Business Growth Coach. Plus, she as an entrepreneur herself, so she knows firsthand what it takes to be successful in business.

But…. she has more. As a High Performance Coach, Adèle transforms the way in which Business Owners and Entrepreneurs see the world, their business and life vision, and then she works her ‘magic’, empowering them to achieve everything they want in business in life. Very few Business Coaches have this ability, in my experience, which is why I highly recommend Adèle to you if you want to experience major success and transformation in your mindset, life and business.

On a personal note, I am really excited about partnering with Adèle in a major business initiative that will enable us to support entrepreneurship success in various countries around the world. More will be “revealed” later in 2015.

Jane Cox, Managing Director, 180/180 and t/a NewLevels

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

Adèle has been my business coach only since the new year, but she’s already had an impact on my business.

She’s boosted my productivity by helping me shape my daily routine in a way that reflects my priorities and energy levels. This has helped me make a large dent in a major project (a book on persuasive writing). She is also helping me to segment my clients and develop the ones with the greatest potential.

Adèle’s coaching offers a rare mix of hard business expertise and a softer, more intuitive approach. Our conversations can range from calculating the gross profit margin of key clients to my core values and limiting beliefs. I also recommend her book, ‘Big Profits, 12 Strategies to Substantially Grow your Business’.

I look forward to continuing to work with Adèle.

Scott Keyser – Communications Consultant/Expert

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

I have recently started working with Adèle on strategies to revitalise my business and my life. The great thing about Adèle is that she is so insightful and able to pinpoint the areas which need change.

She is supportive and yet challenges me just where I need challenging – she’s definitely an agitator!
Within a very short time of our first meeting, I have a number of ways forward, and have set some stretch goals which I know will get me where I want to be.

It’s early days yet, but I plan to be back here in due course, commenting on the success I have been able to achieve, thanks to her verve, insight and practical, commonsense suggestions.

Paddy Austin, Managing Partner,FGI UK

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

I am writing to let you know that I have been a client of Adèle McLay from Success Leadership Limited and highly recommend her to provide coaching services.

The coaching I have received from Adèle has been excellent in terms of defining where my business currently is and planning for future growth. Adèle has helped me map out my vision for the company by setting specific goals with timescales, defining processes that need to be implemented and planning how to manage my growth at various stages, in terms of cash flow and resources.

Adèle will be able to contribute an extensive amount of knowledge to any business from her many years of experience in supporting business owners, as she is passionate about helping them to succeed.

Lorraine Windsor, Social Media Matrix

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

Adèle McLay has undertaken a number of coaching interventions with my company over the last two years. She has assisted us in the areas of:

• Building online distribution
• Developing a cohesive social media presence
• Implementing a new CRM system (Infusionsoft)
• Developing a new brand strategy

It is clear within a few minutes of meeting Adèle that she has extensive depth and breadth of business experience, but unlike many experts I have worked with, she also has the ability to deliver the nub of that knowledge to the core of the problem at hand. She is an absolute pleasure to work with.

Keith Oram, Operations Director, 180180 Ltd t/a NewLevels

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

I am the owner of Auto-Smart Solutions Limited. The business does mobile car body repairs across London and the South East.

Adèle McLay has coached and supported me to grow my business. At the time of meeting her, I had three vans on the road and was about to reduce them to two as there was not enough work to cover the staff overhead. Cash flow was a major issues too. With Adèle’s coaching and leadership, I quickly grew my business to 11 staff with four vans on the road servicing customers, and a workshop that does insurance work. My business is now very profitable.

Adèle’s coaching also help me to grow in personal confidence. My leadership skills have substantially improved as have my public speaking skills.

I highly recommend Adèle to other small businesses that have business challenges and who are committed to growing their businesses.

Chris Hill, Managing Director, Auto-Smart Solutions

Do You Compete On Price? Bad Business Decision!!

The price a business owner establishes for the sale of their products and services is arguably one of the most important business decisions they will make. And yet, pricing is one of the most feared elements in managing a business.

One of the many conversations I have with business owners is on pricing, and those discussions usually start with me saying, “Your prices are too low.” They look at me in shock and often respond with all the reasons why they cannot raise their prices:

I’ve lost jobs because I was too expensive.
I’m more expensive than some of my competitors.
I’m barely making enough profit as it is, and I can’t afford to lose customers by raising prices.
You have got to be joking— put my prices up in this depressed market?

Responses like that generally indicate those business owners don’t understand the impact pricing has on a customer’s perception of their business and its branding in the market. I have a business mantra: “Never compete on price”.

If your prices are too low, your market will label you a low-end player and you’ll attract bargain hunters who will invariably try to get you to discount your products even further. Lower prices also make it unlikely your business will build long-term relationships with customers, who by their very nature will shop around to get the best prices on a product or service, not staying loyal to any one business.

A brand can turn something that is pedestrian or homogenous into something that is unique and that stands out from the crowd, regardless of the market. If a business is branded it can set you apart from the rest. A strong brand builds respect, loyalty and retention, and allows a business to set its pricing strategy accordingly.
Dr Michael LeBoeuf, international business consultant, focuses a lot of his work on how to win customers and keep them. He created a matrix based on extensive research on why customers leave a business.

Therefore, key to the success of your business is not worrying about the price you charge your customers, but concentrating on the customer value proposition you deliver to your customers to keep them happy and returning for more. It’s about going beyond the call of duty to provide value and service to your customers. It’s about creating customer cheerleaders, customers who will be loyal to your business for a long time and at the same time, will refer their family and friends to your business too.

Pricing is not an arbitrary decision; all businesses should have a pricing strategy. When determining your business’s pricing strategy, the key is to determine your value proposition for your customers, rather than pitching your business against your competition and attempting to undercut them to win more customers.

Get that right and your brand will create an impression in your market, and you can price your products and services according to that positioning.

Never compete on price. That is a business decision that will see you, your business, and your staff and suppliers lose in the end. Why? Because, if you are prepared to discount your price once, you will do it again and again. At the beginning, in order to maintain your profits, you can create increased operational efficiency within your business to compensate for reducing your prices. If you continue to reduce your prices, then eventually you will need to reduce your staff numbers or their pay (or both), and no doubt you will also be asking your suppliers to reduce their prices to you. Do that for long enough, then your staff can’t afford to work for you and your suppliers won’t be able to afford to supply your business, so you won’t have a business. It is a lose/lose business strategy.

A brand is a differentiator. A brand is an image. A brand is a promise. A brand is an experience. A brand is a perception. A brand can move a business or a person from the ocean of obscurity to the river of relevance and riches. Focus on building your business brand, and the need to compete on price will be a thing of the past as will the fear of making pricing decisions.

Other articles on Branding, Marketing and Pricing:

Is Customer Service YOUR Key to Business Success?
Creating Superior Customer Value – do you do that in your business?
Which are Your Most Profitable Customers?
Finding Customers via LinkedIn
Using YouTube for Finding Customers
Who Wants High Customer Retention?
Increase Your Prices and Make More Profit
What is a Customer?
What is Business Marketing?
What’s your Personal Brand?

All Work + Little Play = Boring!

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for full on work in order to achieve goals, whether you are an employee or a business owner. However, I also know from first-hand experience as an entrepreneur that all work and little or no play makes for a boring and empty existence. Yes, when we are striving to achieve great things as entrepreneurs, it is tempting and often compelling to work vast hours to achieve milestones.

What makes a successful entrepreneur? Well, there are seven elements that contribute to being a successful entrepreneur, as I noted in my blog: Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs, including:

Self belief
Setting a goal and going for it
Standing out in your market
Seizing your market
Strong leadership
Sacrosanct: Time
Self improvement

Let’s look at self improvement as one of the keys to what makes a successful entrepreneur. What is self improvement?

Successful entrepreneurs spend time on improving themselves. They are attracted to ongoing learning and knowledge, be it books, learning programmes, conferences, watching videos, they soak up new knowledge. They also allow time to re-energise. They take time out with family and friends for recreation and holidays, as that in itself is a form of self improvement.

Often successful entrepreneurs are excellent at other pursuits. For instance, it is widely known that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are phenomenal Bridge (card game) players.

Many successful entrepreneurs also take their health seriously, and include exercise as part of their daily routine.

Truly successful entrepreneurs generally have fantastic live. Think about the life that Sir Richard Branson has, or Bill Gates (he made all that money, has all the toys and assets he could ever want, and now he is giving most of his wealth away, and having a great time doing it). What successful entrepreneurs do you know who are truly successful and happy with life?

So as we entrepreneurs plan for the success of our businesses, how about planning for the success of our lives as well? How about embracing the concept of self improvement in its widest definition to create a life we love? In business we plan for the results and success we want, don’t we? Can we achieve complete happiness and success in life unless we plan for it too?

Vision (noun) – according to the Oxford Dictionary this means: the ability to see; the ability to think about the future with imagination or wisdom; a mental image, dream or apparition.

Perhaps it is time for entrepreneurs to create a vision for our lives; to imagine our futures in life of which business is a subset. Perhaps it is time that entrepreneurs think about the answers to some important questions as we plan our 2015:

What do I want my future to look like, not just in business but in life?
What matters most in life?
My epitaph: what words would I like to be used in my memory?
What roles do I play in life? Mother, father, parent, friend, worker, entrepreneur etc.
What goals/desires/ambitions do I have for each of my primary roles?
What do I want my life to look like at age 50, 75, 100 – relationships, career/ business, finances, health?
What words do I value the most (create a list).
What matters most in life now both personally and professionally?

If success in our entrepreneurial life is our total priority then it is unlikely that many of the other important things in life will come to fruition. For me, what makes a successful entrepreneur is whole of life success, not one dimensional success.

So let’s get planning. Let’s plan for the creation of fantastic and hugely successful businesses, and let’s also plan and create fantastic and hugely successful lives that we share with all those whom we love. Now, to achieve that meets my definition of what makes a successful entrepreneur. I’m off to plan for a brilliantly successful 2015 in business and life. Are you?

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship vs The Meaning of Life
Entrepreneurial Success Without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
Mega Entrepreneur Defined!
Supercharge Your Profitable Business!
Leadership Qualities
NZ Entrepreneurship Success
Millionaire Mindset
What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?
7 Secrets of Business Success
Sir Richard Branson Asks…
Ordinary vs Game Changing
Thriving within the Juggling Act
Business Success and Cookie Dough
What Ice Cream Flavour is Your Business?

Adèle in a Nutshell – 'To Give Is To Live'

Dear Friends

Wow, I have had lots of people in my business community book free 30 mins Skype business meetings for next week as part of my ‘To Give Is To Live’ commitment. It is going to be a great week, as there as lots of different business challenges and opportunities that the entrepreneurs want to talk about.

As I am working long days to accommodate lots of time zones, there are still plenty of spaces available for you to book an appointment with me.

The offer is on a first come first served basis next week, from 10am Monday, 17 November to 8pm Friday, 21 November. All you have to do is click on this link, and book yourself a 30 minute time slot with me. Please remember to include your Skype address in your booking request as we can’t confirm the appointment with you unless we have that.

Yesterday, someone who doesn’t know me that well asked me to detail my experience over the last +20 years. That got me thinking as some of my community know my recent experience whereas others know me from my earlier consulting and coaching days. So below is a summary of my business coaching/consulting experience in bullet point form (in no particular order). Hopefully there is something there that causes you to think that I may be of some value to you during a Skype conversation.

Supporting small businesses to grow their customer base by developing relevant marketing/business development strategies – both online and offline, including referral based strategies.
Supporting small businesses to resolve business cash flow issues (having experienced cash flow challenges in my own entrepreneurial endeavours from time to time, I know how challenging and scary it can be).
Working with entrepreneurs to create viable, monetisable and scalable businesses in their niche.
Supporting small businesses to develop and implement simple business plans and to monitor performance against them, including actively managing the financials within the business.
Supporting small businesses to develop systems and processes (many of them technology based) that enable their businesses to scale-up. Automation and outsourcing is also key in this area.
Coaching entrepreneurs to understand and use the financials in their business more in order to achieve more profitable success.
Supporting clients to focus on the constant improvement of everything in their business that relates to ‘customer delivery and the customer experience’. This includes: product and service improvement; business processes and procedures; leadership; team engagement and performance, and more.
Inspiring entrepreneurs around the world to achieve the success they are seeking in their business.
Internationalising a NZ based sporting memorabilia company including raising international finance; establishing international commercial structures to support the business strategy.
Arranging finance and a new ownership structure to prevent a food manufacturer being placed into receivership.
Facilitating strategic and business planning events and providing financial advisory services to clients in a range of industries.
Facilitating an MBO of a privately owned property company; arranging finance to privatise a publicly listed company.
With the Director of Finance of a major international corporation and his senior management team, planning and implementing the transformation of the global finance operation in order to reduce $100M in costs from the division.
Supporting major corporate clients with significant organisational transformations, including leading projects to transform their organisations by supporting/driving their strategic planning processes and re-designing the organisation structures and processes to reduce staff and increase organisational efficiency and effectiveness.
Developing performance management and reward structures; designing leadership capability programmes and processes, and assessing staff against those programmes.
Managing large scale recruitment projects for staff at all levels; managing and undertaking executive search and recruitment for senior executives.
Developing and implementing best practice methodologies for the assessment, measurement and reporting of competencies, resulting in ‘inspired choices’ being delivered to clients for their recruitment solutions.
Acting as a mentor and business confidante to many senior executive clients in large corporates.
Leading several major NZ charities to substantially improve their profitability for the benefit of the community they serve.

I am a qualified Chartered Accountant (Fellow, Institute of Chartered Accountants, New Zealand and Australia); and I was an investment banker early in my career, so I am comfortable working with the numbers in any business.

Personally, I am a property investor and own a multi-million dollar portfolio located in NZ and the UK which I manage from my UK base.

Well, that is me in a nutshell.

To recap, the offer is on a first come first served basis next week, from Monday, 17 November to Friday, 21 November. All you have to do is click on this link, and book yourself a 30 minute timeslot with me. Please remember to include your Skype address in your booking request as we can’t confirm the appointment with you unless we have that.

You are most welcome to forward this blog to anyone in your business community whom you might think could benefit from a free business Skype call with me. Here is a link to the blog I sent you yesterday, detailing why I am doing my ‘To Give Is To Live’ week next week.

http://www.adelemclay.com/to-give-is-to-live/

Have a great weekend. I can’t wait for next week… it is going to be so much fun.

Adèle x

Other articles on What Creates Success in Business and Life:

Success Breeds Success!
Success Secrets of Successful People
Reflect, Smile and Smell the Christmas Lilies!
The Beauty of the Last Hours in Life
Success Breeds Success – Tip #1
What’s Stopping You? FEAR?
Savour the Journey
What’s all this Gratitude ‘stuff’?
The 7 Traits of High Achievers
What’s Your Excuse? No Arms? No Legs?

‘To Give Is To Live’… An Early New Year Present?

Dear Friends

Wouldn’t it be great for 2015 to be the best year yet in your business? That is the goal all my clients have set for themselves, and I am guiding them towards achieving that outcome.

I have a gift for you. To help you plan for the success you are seeking in your business in 2015, next week I am offering you a FREE 30 minute Skype call with me, where I will help you in any way you request. I offer my +20 years of business experience working with large and small businesses around the world, giving you any tips and guidance you need to make 2015 your best year yet in business.

You are probably asking: “Are there any strings attached?” The answer is: No; there are no strings attached!

You see, I expected to be in New Zealand for around one month to be with my mother before she passed over, but sadly, she left us sooner than we thought she would, so I have come home early, and my work diary is empty next week. I am in awe of the love and support my mother and family received from mum’s community during the most challenging two years of her life, and particularly near the end of her life, so I want to ‘pay it forward’ to the business owners in my community around the world. I want to lovingly and unconditionally support you with my skills and knowledge.

What are your burning questions or issues that I could help you with? Make a list and throw them at me; I will do my very best to guide you.

The offer is on a first come first served basis next week, from 10am Monday, 17 November to 8pm Friday, 21 November. All you have to do is click on this link, and book yourself a 30 minute time slot with me. Please remember to include your Skype address too, so I can call you; we can’t confirm an appointment without your Skype address included in the booking request.

In order to accommodate as many people as possible across multiple time zones, most days I will host meetings from 6am up to 11pm (GMT). If you are keen to have a half hour Skype call with me and really cannot commit to any of the times available, then please separately communicate with me on email, and we will see what we can do to accommodate your situation.

So, that is it. My personal motto is: “To Give Is To Live”. In memory of my mum, that is my ‘give’ to my business community next week. I hope you take up the opportunity, as I would love to support you.

To recap, the offer is on a first come first served basis next week, from 10am Monday, 17 November to 8pm Friday, 21 November. All you have to do is click on this link, and book yourself a 30 minute time slot with me. Please remember to include your Skype address too, so I can call you; we can’t confirm an appointment without your Skype address included in the booking request.

I look forward to supporting you with your business success.

Adèle X

Entrepreneurial Success Without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?

What makes a successful entrepreneur? Owning a big and financially successful business? Selling a business for a tonne of money? Having all the assets/toys that represent success? Having business and life choice?

Perhaps it is all of those. Perhaps it is none of those. In my experience an entrepreneur can have some or all of those achievements and still feel empty inside.

I have met and worked with many business owners whose businesses are worth millions, or they have sold their businesses for millions and as a result they have lots of money and choice, but still, they are not happy.

Why? Because they are not fulfilled! They don’t have a sense of purpose to their life that in some way is fulfilled through their business. Life is too short to live without fulfilment, don’t you think?

What’s another word for fulfilment? PASSION! For me, to live with passion is to live with meaning, purpose and fulfilment. That is what makes a successful entrepreneur. There are many examples of passionate and successful entrepreneurs…. they exude life, purpose and fulfilment within their business and that reflects in the quality of their life: Sir Richard Branson, Jamie Oliver, Oprah Winfrey, Mark Zuckerberg to name a few. How many can you name?

As we edge towards the end of 2014, are you planning 2015 for your business? I hope so. I also hope that you are planning your own life for 2015 and beyond too. It is never too late to plan your life. Start now if you have not done it before; create your life plan. How can you integrate your personal passions into your entrepreneurial life so that you get a real sense of fulfilment through your business?

Think about these important questions:

Who are you?
What matters to you in your life?
What are your personal values?
What do you want to do?
What do you want to share with the world?
Why do you want to share it with the world?
If you didn’t have to work because you had enough money to sustain your lifestyle, what would you be doing?
Where are you in life now versus where do you want to be?
What would make your life fabulous NOW on YOUR terms?

Take this exercise and thinking time seriously, and DREAM big. For me DREAM means: Destiny Represented Evocatively, Actively and Magnetically.

Then ask yourself the really BIG question. How congruent are your personal life goals with what you are doing in business? If they are congruent, then you will be feeling fulfilment in and passion for your business as you will be working with purpose. Plus others with notice it too. You will exude vitality and life.

If there is little congruence, then it is highly likely that you are not being fulfilled through your business and therefore, you are not living with purpose. You will feel underwhelmed with the outcomes of your entrepreneurial success and life, and quite possibly, you will feel overwhelmed by your day to day work.

In summary, you will not feel alive! And sadly, others will notice it too; your staff, your customers, your suppliers. You might have what looks to others as all the business and financial success in the world, but you will not feel successful. Live to be alive!

For me it is called VIVA Leadership™ – Vision Internalised is Vision Actualised™: internal clarity and ownership and achievement of our personal vision, and congruence with our business world creates purpose, fulfilment and a feeling of being totally alive and in command of our lives.

That is what makes a successful entrepreneur. That is the success I support entrepreneurs around the world to achieve. I hope you make 2015 your best year yet for entrepreneurial success and personal and professional fulfilment.

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship vs The Meaning of Life
Mega Entrepreneur Defined!
Supercharge Your Profitable Business!
Leadership Qualities
NZ Entrepreneurship Success
Millionaire Mindset
What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?
All Work + Little Play = Boring!
7 Secrets of Business Success
Sir Richard Branson Asks…
Ordinary vs Game Changing
Thriving within the Juggling Act
Business Success and Cookie Dough
What Ice Cream Flavour is Your Business?

The Beauty of the Last Hours in Life

In the stillness of the early hours of Tuesday 28 October, with Dad fitfully sleeping next to her and wrapping a loving arm around her; family and friends in the southern hemisphere holding her close to their hearts as they also slept; and family and friends elsewhere in the world praying for our family, I sat with our mother, wife, grandmother, sister, mother-in-law, friend – Margaret (Gretta) – during what I knew would be her final hours in this life.

Mum was in a peaceful coma; her body had closed down but due to a lifetime of keeping fit, her heartbeat was strong. The beauty of that night was a moment in time that I will never forget and that I now share with those closest to me.

A dim light provided some relief from the darkness so I could see mum, and with a local radio station playing suitably soothing music to mum and me through the night, we chatted. They say that hearing is the last sense to leave a dying person. From my recent life experiences with the passing of my father-in-law and with mum in her last hours, I know this to be true.

You see, the only way in which mum could communicate with me during those last hours was via her heartbeat. When she was touched by what I said, her heartbeat slowed and/or softened… and then her heartbeat would return in all its strength. Mum’s heartbeat slowed and softened many times that night as I had the most intimate of conversations with her.

As the first born to mum and dad, for three quarters of my life mum and I were tightly connected. Stuff happens and distance alters relationships; that certainly happened for mum and me in recent years. Notwithstanding, we had a deep understanding of and love for each other. We respected the way in which we were leading our respective lives and the life choices we had made; we were proud of each other.

So those last hours were a completion of this phase of our journey together. The future of our relationship would take a different form. Mum’s spirit and soul would soon soar above me and all others whom she loved.

Having been told on 1 October that there was no more that medical science could do for her, mum asked the Doctor who delivered the heart breaking news: “How is your mother, Doctor? You said she has been unwell”. Mum had weeks left in this life, but she loved and cared for everyone around her, always putting others before herself.

Mum was a deeply Christian woman whose faith had been central to her life, so the word JOY had a special meaning for her. She believed that one should put Jesus and Others before Yourself….. mum lived her life like that. Illness over the last two years had robbed mum of the lifetime of good health and vitality that she had enjoyed. Testimony to the JOY mum lived was the outpouring of love she received from her many friends and family around the world upon hearing of her life changing health challenges from mid 2012.

My daughter Gemma and I arrived in New Zealand from London where we live on Friday 24 October. As we were driving to see mum in her home town of Hamilton at what seemed like break neck speed in the hope that she was still alive, my beautiful and very thoughtful 12 year old asked what for me was the ultimate in unanswerable questions.

“Mummy, why is God being so mean to Nana, when for all of her life, Nana has been so good to God?”

Even with immense pain and suffering, mum wanted to remain living, and she had told those around her while she was still able to speak that she wanted life. However, in the last moments of her life that I shared, I believe I saw and felt mum experience a beautifully dignified peacefulness, calm and acceptance as she passed over.

And while I may never be able to answer Gemma’s question in any way that might satisfy her, what I do believe is that mum’s spirit is now being cradled in the arms of her beloved mother, Daisy ─ our Granny ─ something that mum will find comfort, happiness and peace with.

Mum will watch over us with a loving and caring heart; she will look after those who are special and important to us, and who departed before her. Because that is what mum did…. she lived for caring for others. She lived for JOY – Jesus, Others, Yourself… in that order.

Mum left us in the certain knowledge and security that she will be wrapped in the warmth of her God, the God she had cherished, respected and trusted ─ through good times and bad ─ for all of her life.

Personally, I am taking comfort in that knowledge, and I hope over time Gemma will do so too. I also hope that mum’s certainty over what was on offer for her after this phase in her life will be of comfort to all others who shared her life after the immediate feelings of grief, sadness, anger and loss have subsided a little.

Mum, you are and will always be much loved by many. Rest in Peace, my love.

She Is Gone – by David Harkins

You can shed tears that she is gone,
Or you can smile because she has lived.

You can close your eyes and pray that she’ll come back,
Or you can open your eyes and see all she’s left.

Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her,
Or you can be full of the love you shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember her only that she is gone,
Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back.
Or you can do what she’s want,
Smile. Open your eyes. Love, and go on.

Other articles on What Creates Success in Business and Life:

Success Breeds Success!
Success Secrets of Successful People
Reflect, Smile and Smell the Christmas Lilies!
Success Breeds Success – Tip #1
Adèle in a Nutshell – ‘To Give is to Live’
What’s Stopping You? FEAR?
Savour the Journey
What’s all this Gratitude ‘stuff’?
The 7 Traits of High Achievers
What’s Your Excuse? No Arms? No Legs?