9 tips for surviving the ‘noise’ in business

Today, we’re bombarded with so much ‘noise’ in business, right?

Everywhere we turn – LinkedIn, Facebook (especially sponsored adverts), Twitter, online blogs, emails from people we subscribe to, websites – an ‘expert’ has something to teach us to make us more successful in business.

How to become an overnight success!

How to make millions online!

Grow your list to 20,000 in a week or two!….. and so it goes on.

Now I promise I’m not a cynic, but there’s one thing I know. No-one in business is an overnight success. That’s called winning the lottery!

Business is a journey. Success takes time.

Rather than being confused or seduced by all the ‘noise’ that hits us in the face each day, here are 9 basic business principles that I swear by and that my coaching clients refer to at all times. Follow these and you’ll achieve the success that you desire….. in time.

1. Clarity of purpose and vision

What do you want to achieve and why? Don’t buy into someone else’s dream of what success looks like. Define what you want in business (and life).

Think about how you are going to achieve that in your business. Why are you in business? What are you passionate about in business? How will you demonstrate that to your clients, constantly? If you’re passionate about what you do, your clients will feel your passion and they will want to buy from you. Get enough people buying from you and you’ll achieve your vision.

2. Get your strategy nailed

Once you know what you want to achieve in business and why, next is developing the strategies to get there.

A strategy is your road map to get to your destination, and in my book it covers the areas of branding (personal and business), marketing, sales, finance, operations/customer delivery/systems, and people/team.

Be clear about your strategy in each area. Strategising for 1-2 years max is more than enough as the pace of change in business is too great for us to see beyond that.

3. Planning and measuring

Now the fun starts. You’ve got your key strategies in place. Planning is critical. Keep it simple. What do you need to do to achieve your business strategy? How will you know when you’ve achieved the plan? What are your key performance indicators (KPIs)?

Break your plans into (say) quarters of the year, so you know what you need to be doing in your business each quarter….in each area of strategy.

4. What are your key actions?

Now it’s time to get on with the work. What are your key actions this month, this week, today? What can you delegate? What KPIs can be put in place to measure how effective you’re being?

5. Understand your numbers

The financials and KPIs can be the nemesis of business owners. Often they’re afraid of them. Manage your business through your numbers – monthly and not just for tax purposes.

Get your monthly accounts prepared. Ask your accountant (or at the very least a book keeper) to explain what the numbers mean. Think about the numbers and use them to make better decisions in your business.

6. Get a mentor/coach – be a learner

Elite athletes have coaches. The highest performing people in life often have coaches. In New Zealand I coached and mentored top business executives… as at that level, it can be lonely.

Coaches/mentors are not equal. Do your due diligence. Make sure you find a coach who has run businesses. Find someone who is keeping up with how business is done in 2016, the latest business trends… and much more. They can guide you through the ‘noise’ of business and whether something’s relevant for your business to consider or whether your current plans/actions are equally as good.

Be a listener and learner. You will learn a lot from a business coach, if you’re willing.

7. Trust in others

Don’t go it alone. Be collaborative. Be a giver. Help others on their journey and they will help you. Build a team around you – other people who are in business – people who want to achieve great things in their businesses too. Perhaps form a mastermind group together and support each other.

Trust in others and delegate as much as possible so you can mostly focus on what you’re good at. When you’re very small, you’ll have to be a ‘jack of many trades’ but as soon as you can, get help. Outsource. Hire a part-time assistant. Do what you can to delegate.

8. Believe in yourself

Believe that you can and will achieve all the success you want in business and life. Yes, the road will be challenging. It’s never a straight line to success. The twists and turns, the challenges, the ups and downs will be many, and at times, very hard.

Yes, you will have to make changes in the way in which you do things. Business lessons will teach you that. That’s another given… you will make mistakes and plenty of them. Your coach/mentor will guide you through them.

9. Focus and work

Work smart. At times, work really, really hard – your business will require that of you – going beyond what is reasonable. Be prepared to make some sacrifices. Remember, everything comes at a cost.

Don’t give in. Don’t give up. Regret is a very sad place.
QUESTION: Which of the 9 tips most resonate with you? Which one will you think about and act on when the ‘noise’ of business is distracting? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below.

Would 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 make an appointment. I’d love to support you in some way to gain ‘seductive clarity’ in any aspect of your business or life.

5 Steps to Serving More (and better quality) Customers

It’s the end of 2015 Q2 today. That means half the year is gone – aarrrhh! Are you on track in your business? Is revenue meeting projections? Are you achieving your profitability targets? If you are a small business owner or solopreneur, are you paying yourself what you are worth?

If you can’t answer a big fat YES to those questions, then you have work to do. Right?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone. There are loads of businesses like yours, not quite hitting their business goals at the end of Q2. I have to confess, in one of my businesses, I haven’t hit my Q2 targets either, so I’m practising what I’m about to preach. I also know that with lots of focus, the next 6 months can end on a high. Let’s end 2015 with a HUGE flourish within our businesses.

People do business with people – That’s a fact! And we prefer to do business with people we like. After all, we spend a lot of time in our businesses. So, here’s my 5 step guide to ensure you attract the right people (customers) to your business; people whom you like and trust, and who are right for your business to serve.

Step 1 – Identify Your Most Profitable and Enjoyable Customers
How? It’s easy. I’ve created a simple tool called the L? Customer Profitability Quadrant which does the work for you. It puts your existing customers into 4 quadrants according to how profitable and enjoyable they are.

The 4 quadrants, are:

“Lots More” – highly profitable and enjoyable customers.
“Lift Up” – highly enjoyable but lower profitability customers.
“Look Out” – low enjoyment and highly profitable customers.
“Lose Them” – low enjoyment and low profitability customers.

Here’s what each quadrant looks like after you’ve done the exercise.

From the descriptions, it’s plain which quadrant you want more of in your business – the “Lots More” customers, of course.

Yet, there are issues to be considered with the other quadrants.

The “Look Out” customers pose a threat to your business because if they leave you, your profitability may be affected (if you have plenty of customers in this group, your profitability will be seriously affected).

The “Lift Up” customers need addressing too as you and your team may be over delivering to them as they are enjoyable people to serve, but that is not time well spent at present as they aren’t profitable enough for you.

The “Lose Them” customers are generally a drain on your business and are often price shoppers, so do you really want them?

Click here to download my free E-book that shows you how to create your own L? Customer Profitability Quadrant. I promise it’s really easy to work out.

Step 2 – Define the Common Features of the Customers in Your “Lots More” Quadrant
In all situations I find that when an analysis is done on the types of customers that make up the “Lots More” quadrant, there are common features. There will often be a grouping of industries that they are in, or geographic locations, or you may be selling similar products or services to them.

Do the work to define what the common characteristics are, as you will be able to use this information to target more potential customers like these ones. Don’t try and be everything to everybody. Identify your niche and focus on it.

Step 3 – Evaluate the Key Needs, Wants and Desires of Your “Lots More” Customers
Become really clear on what it is your “Lots More” customers need, want and desire. This is important, as you will only be successful in selling more to them or other customers like them if you truly understand those drivers.

Step 4 – Articulate Your Value Proposition
Do you really know what your value proposition is for your “Lots More” customers? Please spend the time working it out. How are you different? What enables you to serve those customers perfectly so that they return time and again to buy from your business, and hopefully be cheerleaders for your business.

Step 5 – Laser Planning the Next 6 Months
Armed with all the information in steps 1-4, it’s time to create a business/marketing plan for the rest of the year.

In summary, your plan will include the following:

Strategies to reconnect with your existing “Lots More” Customers, checking in on them and their businesses or lives, and reminding them of your value proposition, products and services.
Strategies to identify and market your business to potential customers who are have the same profile as those in your “Lots More“ quadrant. If you are good at serving a particular type of customer, go and find more people just like them.
A ‘sort out’ plan to address the issues with your “Look Out” customers. They are highly profitable to your business, so you don’t really want to lose them. Work out why you aren’t enjoying working with them. Resolve the issues and build bridges. Turn them into “Lots More” Customers too.
A ‘sort out’ plan to address the issues with your “Lift Up” customers. You enjoy working with them, but they are not profitable enough for your business. Do you really know what their needs, wants and desires are? How can you better serve them so they buy more profitably from you and also become “Lots More” customers?
A ‘good-bye’ plan to exit the “Lose Them” customers from your business. They are not suited to the products/service you offer, so you are better to facilitate them being served by another business, and then you can focus on your “Lots More” customers.

That’s it. It’s time to do the work. Follow steps 1-5 and watch your revenue and profitability soar by the end of Q4 2015. I’m excited. I hope you are too.

ACTION: I’d love to hear how business is going for you as at the end of Q2. How about sharing your situation below? If your business is going well, tell us what you’re doing. If you need a renewed focus, then email me. Perhaps a 30 mins free Business Growth Strategy Skype call might be just what you need to get ‘back on the straight and narrow’.

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.

5 Top Tips for Business Success in 2015

Where has the year gone? It’s the end of June… and time’s flying by. Given my experience, you’re likely to be in one of two camps in your business:

Right now, you’re either thinking:

Yeeehhhhaaa, what a great year I’m having… bring on the second half of the business year,

Aaaaahhhh, this year is NOT going to plan. It’s awful and business is bad or at best, very average.

Which one are you?

If you’re in the Yeeehhhhaaa camp, brilliant work. Keep it up… keep your foot on the pedal and make 2015 your best year yet! Go for it and don’t forget to enjoy the journey along the way – celebrate your business success throughout the remainder of the year.

If you’re in the Aaaaahhhh camp, don’t be disheartened. There’s still half a year to achieve the business success you’re seeking and hopefully have planned for.

Remember the parable of the hare and the tortoise? Who won the race? The tortoise, of course… with the slow and ‘steady as she goes’ approach. You can do this. You can achieve everything you want in your business this year.

Here are my 5 Top Tips to ensure you finish off the year in style and achieve the business success you want.

Tip 1 – Remember your ‘What’
Your what? That’s code for reconnecting with your big vision for your business. This year is likely to be a stepping stone towards a much bigger vision. Even if you are off track, it’s easy to get back on track if you have clarity around the big picture you are aiming for… What’s the daring dream you’ve created for your business and life? DREAM for me is Destiny Represented Evocatively, Actively and Magnetically. What’s your dream?

Tip 2 – Remember your ‘Why’
Your ‘why’ is another way of saying… Why do you want to achieve your big vision – your DREAM™ –for your business? Why is it important to you? What will life offer you when you achieve it? How will your family benefit? Is your family your ‘why’? Is giving them the life you want them to have the reason you get out of bed each day? Reconnecting with your ‘why’ and feeling the emotion of its importance will help you to be magnificently motivated to achieve your goals over the remainder of the year.

Tip 3 – Live in the Moment
Remember, regardless of how far behind the ‘8-ball’ you might be feeling, there’s a lot of your life that’s good now. Rejoice in that. Think about choosing happiness as a state of being now and not something you strive to achieve in the future. Practise being grateful for all that you have, and how about being generous with all that right now? How about sharing your gifts and resources with others? I promise you, regardless of how challenging business is, you’ll feel a lot better for living in the moment and appreciating all that is good around you.

Tip 4 – Redouble your Focus
Now that you’ve reconnected with your ‘what’ and ‘why’, it’s time to redouble your focus on achieving the goals you’ve set this year. Firstly review them to ensure they are still relevant for the remainder of the year. Great if they are, biff them out if they are not, and create new and better goals that can be achieved this year.

Then the key is getting on and doing the work – accelerated action is required. As Shakespeare says: “Nothing comes from doing nothing”, so kick yourself into gear and get going. Prolific and profitable productivity is required by everyone.

Reassess all your strategies – your branding, marketing and sales strategies; your financial projections – can you remove cost from the business to achieve the desired profitability? Your customer delivery and happiness strategies – are they serving you? Evaluate every part of your business to ensure it’s operating at its optimal level.

Tip 5 – TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More!
Business success is a team effort. Remember, you’re the leader of the business. You should be working on the parts of your business that suit you, your skills and your personality, and using your leadership abilities to inspire your teams into accelerated action. Hopefully they benefit too when your business does well.

You should be looking at your business and streamlining it – delegating, automating and outsourcing as appropriate. These days business are increasingly ‘lean and mean’ with great teams (actual or virtual), business partnerships and collaborators all working together towards achieving success. How does your business fare in this area? How can you inspire your teams more?

5 Top Tips for Business Success
Well they’re my 5 Top Tips to achieve Business Success in 2015. Of course, there are many more tips I could give you.

If you allow me one more, it’s gotta be to believe in yourself and your ability to be, achieve, and have everything you desire in business and life. Never forget that. Don’t let that little voice within suck the sizzle out of your dreams.

Go for it. You’ve got this. 2015 is your year! Enjoy it.

ACTION: What are you going to do differently to achieve even more in 2015? I’d love to hear your thoughts. How about jotting them down below?

Which Are Your Most Profitable Customers?

I regularly ask my coaching clients the following three questions:

How many customers do you have?
Which customers are the most profitable for your business?
Which customers do you enjoy working with the most and why?

The last question is the easiest for my clients to answer because they can give me an emotional response rather than a fact-based response. The first two questions require analysis of their business, and most of my clients have usually not done that prior to meeting me.

I find that most businesses I work with have never actively thought about the profile of the customer they would like for their business. In pondering this issue, I devised a four quadrant approach to customer profitability and management. I call it my ‘L⁴ Customer Profitability Quadrant’.

Understanding the L⁴ Customer Profitability Quadrant’s power in relation to your business will require spending a bit of time working out the numbers. The gross margin for each customer needs to be calculated as follows:

Customer Gross Margin = Total Customer Sales – COGS for Customer/ Total Customer Sales x 100

So for instance, if Customer 24 buys $2000 of services in one year, and the cost of goods sold is $900, then the equation is:

Customer 24 Gross Margin = 2000-900/2000 x 100 = 55 percent

Using my example above, the customer gross margin calculation means that with the combination of products and services sold to Customer 24, the gross margin is 55 percent.

Another way of stating this is that for every $1000 of sales made to Customer 24, $550 contributes to the business’s gross profit.

We then rank all customers for enjoyment with 1 being low enjoyment and difficult to work with, and 10 being very enjoyable and easy to work with.

Once this information has been determined it is plotted to create the L⁴ Customer Profitability Quadrant as depicted in Table A.

Table A

Customers fall into four quadrants.

In the bottom left quadrant are the customers that are low in profitability and enjoyment, so I call this the ‘Lose Them’ quadrant.

In the top left quadrant we have highly profitable customers, but the enjoyment factor is low. I call this the ‘Look Out’ quadrant.

In the bottom right quadrant, are the customers that are really enjoyable to work with but they are not very profitable to the business. I call this the ‘Lift Up’ quadrant.

In the top right quadrant are the customers that are highly profitable and are highly enjoyable to work with. I call this the ‘Lots More’ quadrant.

‘Lose Them’ Quadrant
I wonder how many businesses have customers that are really hard going and not very profitable to the business? This type of customer sucks the life out of the business. Because this type of customer is difficult to work with, they will also often be time consuming to service. Having to work with customers that fall in this category is a waste of time and energy. That time and energy would be better spent working with enjoyable and profitable customers and finding more profitable customers for the business.

‘Look Out’ Quadrant
Customers that sit in the ‘Look Out’ quadrant are a challenge and risk to a business. They are highly profitable, but they are not enjoyable to work with. As this is a high risk quadrant, personally I don’t think any business should have too many customers sitting in it. Rather, they need to be moved to the ‘Lots More’ quadrant or out of your business.

The challenge with these customers is the profit they contribute to your business, notwithstanding the low enjoyment factor. If these customers were to leave your business, it potentially results in a major impact on profitability. Yet, because the enjoyment factor is low, there is a real chance they may not be loyal to your business, so there is a flight risk; they could find another supplier at any time and therefore impact the turnover and profitability of your business anyway.

‘Lift Up’ Quadrant
Customers in this ‘Lift Up’ quadrant pose a quandary for your business. They are good customers to deal with and service, and are probably highly loyal to your business, yet they are not very profitable. Often, because these customers are good to deal with, your staff will ‘over service’ them in order to maintain the interaction, because it is enjoyable.

This is actually an easy dilemma to resolve. These ‘Lift Up’ customers are already wedded to your business, so given the opportunity the chances are very high that they will want to buy more from you. Often customers are not aware of the full range of products offered by a business, or the business has not considered the full requirements of the customer in making offers. Depending on your business, the easiest way to address this situation is to find out more about what your customers do and what they might need from your business, and make offers.

‘Lots More’ Quadrant
These customers are your goldmines, and should be treated like kings and queens. They are highly profitable to your business, and they are enjoyable to work with.

The key here is to analyse what makes them enjoyable to work with: is it the company; the industry; the type of products and services they buy?

Once you have analysed this for your business, you can start working on targeting more of the same types of customers to your business.

Finally…
If you would like to read more about my L⁴ Customer Profitability Quadrant and how it could be applied to your business, then please go to www.adelemclay.com/free-resources and download the FREE E-book entitled: Who Are you Most Profitable Customers? This resource will help you to fully understand the nature of your customers and find ‘Lots More’ highly profitable and enjoyable customers for your business.

Other articles on Branding, Marketing and Pricing:

Increase Your Prices and Make More Profit
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?
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?

Small Business Cash Flow – The Ultimate Guide

Small Business Cash Flow – what is it?

Cash flow is the sum of all the cash received into your business, less all the cash payments being made from your business. Positive cash flow is when there is more cash coming into the business than is being paid out of it. Negative cash flow is when there is more cash being paid out of the business than is being received by the business.

Small Business Cash flow issues arise in a small business for two major reasons:

The small business doesn’t have enough revenue (gross income) coming into the business compared to its expenses, and/or
The small business doesn’t have good internal financial management and administration procedures in place to support the business. This could mean the business has difficulty collecting its accounts receivables; it has too much cash tied up in stock; and/or it is spending too much money on business overheads/expenses/assets.

Many small businesses mostly focus on gross income and profit – before or after tax. While both are important in business, cash flow is the life blood of all businesses, and without it they eventually die.

Yet, very few small business entrepreneurs spend much time thinking about cash flow or understand how critical a business driver it is. The key transactions in business that affect cash flow are:

Sales (cash and credit).
Purchases (inventory and business expenses).
Business loans (new and repayments).
Business assets (buying and selling them).
Investments

The key principles of good cash flow management are simple. Firstly, the small business needs to ensure it has more income coming into the business than expenses; and the business needs to have its accounts receivable paid on time so it can pay its own creditors.

I have developed the SPEARHead System™ – 50 Strategies for Supercharged Small Business Cash Flow to support entrepreneurs to manage their cash flow. For the FREE E-book, please click here www.adelemclay.com/free-resources

What does SPEARHead System™ mean?

The SPEARHead System™ covers all aspects of small business cash flow as follows:

S – Sales Receivables
P – Payables and Purchases
E – Expense Management
A – Asset Acquisition
R – Residual Cash

Head – how do you ‘Head off’ or ‘SPEARHead’ your competitors to ensure your business never loses a customer and attracts all the customers to it that you are seeking?

For my FREE E-book entitled: SPEARHead System™ – 50 Strategies for Supercharged Small Business Cash Flow please click here http://www.adelemclay.com/free-resources/#spearheadsystem

Let small business cash flow issues be a thing of the past for you and your business.

Other articles on Small Business Cash Flow :

Cash Flow Problems in YOUR Small Business
Small Business Problems – Why are YOU in Business
Small Business Cash Flow Problems
Cash Flow in Business
Cash Flow Projections – Important in Business?
Projected Cash Flow – Relevant in Business?
How to Solve Cash Flow Problems: Inventory Turn

Mega Entrepreneur Defined!

What’s a Mega Entrepreneur? That is the most common question I have been asked since launching my Mega Entrepreneur Programme for entrepreneurial success around the world.

The definition of ‘mega’ according to the Oxford Dictionary is ‘very large or huge’. That’s part of what being a mega entrepreneur means to me, but that’s not all of it. Very large or huge is relative and personal. Very large or huge for me could be quite small for you.

Becoming a Mega Entrepreneur with my Mega Entrepreneur Programme means working towards being worldclass at what you do in business, regardless of how very large or huge you want your business to be. It means being worldclass in every aspect of your business. Worldclass leadership. World class branding. Worldclass marketing. Worldclass sales systems. Worldclass operations management. Worldclass people processes. Worldclass planning and finance.

A Mega Entrepreneur is focused on creating a worldclass business; the journey towards being worldclass is never ending. It is a constant, yet that is the excitement and joy of it.

One of the many measures of success in becoming a Mega Entrepreneur is the size of the financial reward within the business and in the pocket of the Mega Entrepreneur. How very large or huge do you want your game of business to be?

“Small business success means making money: thousands, millions or billions. You choose.” ~Adèle McLay

As a Mega Entrepreneur you decide how ‘mega’ you want to be. It’s your journey in business, supported by me and my Mega Entrepreneur Programme.

The journey on the Mega Entrepreneur Programme encompasses seven modules:

VIVA Leadership™
Brand Star™
Tri-POD Planning and Finance™
LOVE Marketing Mastery™
REAR Customer Delivery™
ROLE People Performance™
MAGNET Sales Systems™

The Mega Entrepreneur and their team will work towards continuous mastery in each of the modules during the journey. The financial rewards will arrive as a result.

Why become a Mega Entrepreneur?

Why not? Do you want to be more successful as an entrepreneur? Do you want to make more money in your business? Maybe you had a big dream or vision for your business and life, and your journey towards that achievement hasn’t been very successful so far.

What was your vision for your business? What is stopping you achieving it? Fear? Lack of knowledge or business support? Personal confidence?

What are the consequences of you not achieving your vision for your business and life? Disappointment over an unrealised dream? Not having the financial security and assets in life that you promised yourself and your family? A feeling of letting yourself and your family down?

Yet, by achieving your dream or vision for your business, life would be different. Financial freedom would be assured. Financial freedom also offers something else. Choice. You would have choices with what to do with your money… bigger house… more houses… cars… holidays… philanthropy… and much more. What do you want as a result of your entrepreneurial success? Whether you want it or not, you will also receive recognition with your increased success. You may well feel more loved and appreciated by your family, friends and community. Is that important to you?

You can achieve everything and anything you want in business, so long as your WHY is big enough. What is your WHY for being successful in business?

Once you have determined your WHY, then decide how big you want your success to be. I challenge you to think big. Dream about becoming a Mega Entrepreneur… at whatever level you want to play at in business. Become worldclass in your industry within your business. Nothing is stopping you other than your own beliefs and actions.

If you would like to learn more about business and becoming a Mega Entrepreneur, please download any/all of the FREE resources that may be helpful to you at www.adelemclay.com/free-resources

I look forward to hearing of and/or supporting your success as a Mega Entrepreneur.

Other articles on What Makes Successful Entrepreneurs:

Seven Secrets of Super Successful Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship vs The Meaning of Life
What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?
All Work + Little Play = Boring!
Entrepreneurial Success without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
Millionaire Mindset
NZ Entrepreneurship Success
Leadership Qualities
Supercharge Your Profitable Business!
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?

Leadership Qualities

Guest blog by Dr Jane Cox

A common myth to dispel at the start is that leadership qualities are the same as the qualities of a good manager – they are not. Some great leaders are good managers, but many good or even great managers, have very little by the way leadership qualities.

Managers get the best out of processes and procedures, leaders get the best out of people.

Leadership qualities can be fluid in definition; in some cases the very qualities that defined a leader’s great leadership qualities in one set of circumstances work against them in another; an obvious example that comes to mind is Winston Churchill, Britain’s Prime Minster during World War II; very few people would argue that his dogged determination and utter single-mindedness was a major factor in the eventual Allied victory, but after the war the public had no appetite for that very same dogmatism and he was effectively thrown out of office.

Which illustrates another key point about leadership qualities – leadership qualities are about taking people willingly along with you, not just telling them what do.

All that said, there are some common traits I think one can define as “leadership qualities”.

These are:

Honesty
Integrity
Ability to admit your mistakes
Ability to handle stress
Compassion
Flexibility
Tenacity
Mental (if not psychical stamina)

The ones that get missed in most people’s list of leadership qualities are compassion and flexibility, which is why tyrants & bullies often get mistakenly thought of as great leaders – no great leader leads through fear.

I recall some years ago reading an article about two very different heads of businesses.

First was T.J. Rodgers, CEO of Cypress Semiconductors, who was nominated as “America’s toughest boss at the time”. In Fortune magazine he is described as a crypto-sadist! The plaque above his desk gives you an insight into the man’s character. It reads, “Be realistic; demand the impossible! “, and demand the impossible he did. Employees were given short deadlines and, if they were not met, their paycheques were stopped until they had complied.

“Everyone is treated equally in this firm”, said TJ, “my cheque is also stopped if I fail to deliver on time”. Then he added in his inimitable style, “Of course I don’t have to worry about that crap as I am a millionaire”.

Employees didn’t last long as a rule but those who could stand the pace earned top rewards. And the results spoke for themselves. At the time to company held seventh place in a highly competitive industry.

The other businessman featured was the late Sam Walton, then the richest man in the USA with a personal fortune of $25 billion (at the time the second richest man is only worth a paltry $8 billion!).

Sam’s approach to his Wal-Mart employees was totally different. When his fatal cancer was diagnosed, Sam climbed into his Cessna and spent his last few months visiting as many of his 345,000 Wal-Mart employees as possible. At these meetings he was hugged and kissed by thousands of tearful people, all of whom loved him dearly. One of his last comments was, “No man had this much fun making money”. Starting at the age of 44 he built this business in 30 years through developing loyalty and pride in his people.

Were both men successful? I suppose the answer is “yes” when one relates their achievements entirely to business, building shareholder value and all the other bean-counting measures.

Were both men great leaders? Not in my book.

Dr Jane Cox is a business psychologist, who works with large corporates and entrepreneurs, supporting them on a range of business issues, including leadership, communication, performance improvement, and much more. Dr Cox and Adèle McLay are business partners, having created the Millionaire Entrepreneur Business School that is launching in 2015.

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!
What Makes Great Entrepreneurial Leaders?
All Work + Little Play = Boring!
Entrepreneurial Success without Fulfilment: Who Wants That?
Millionaire Mindset
NZ Entrepreneurship Success
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?

Millionaire Mindset

Guest blog by Dr Jane Cox

Today, we live in a world today that is extremely fast paced and ever changing. We live in danger of getting bogged down in the rat race. The time equals money trap.

Wealthy and/or fulfilled people have a different mindset – a millionaire mindset: they operate on the same clock, they too have 24 hours in their day, but have an abundance of free time to use as they please.

How do they do it? Because they have the right mindset – a millionaire mindset. T he right mindset is key

The body achieves what the mind believes!

For most people the challenge is for them to change their beliefs about money and their own worth.

The struggle for most people is that our beliefs tend to be generalisations about our past, based on our interpretations of painful and pleasurable experiences. Most of us do not consciously decide what we are going to believe. Instead; our beliefs are often misinterpretations of past events.

But the mind is like a garden; if you want to change what grows you have to first change the seeds you plant.

A great way, in fact the only way, to start a change in ingrained beliefs, i.e. our current mindset, is create real clarity of purpose.

Knowing exactly what you want will change the way you think, feel and act at any moment. From the moment you gain a strong sense of clarity for a task, you will create focus. Focus means that you are in control and putting your life in the direction that you want go.

Happiness and wealth come from clarity; when you know what you want and you are moving towards your target. These dynamic movements create happiness and wealth. People who fail to gain or maintain clarity, lose track of time, suffer from confusion and feel like they are constantly playing catch up.

People with a millionaire mindset ANTICIPATE, they don’t REACT.

The best first step to developing your millionaire mindset is to ask yourself these questions:

What is my vision?
What do I really want?
What is my mission?
What is my purpose?
What specific actions do I need to take?
What will happen if I don’t do this?

Without (honest) answers to these questions you can’t begin to develop clarity and without clarity you can’t even begin to develop a millionaire mindset.

My 10 top “shortcut” tips to a millionaire mindset.

Change your thoughts and you change your world. Realise that you have as much ability to make money as anyone else.
Keep your mind open for opportunity. Read, listen, observe, and take note of where business gaps exist, or opportunities for investment may be found.
Step outside of your comfort zone.
Be prepared to put in the work to make the money.
Recognise that money is a tool, and tools are there to be used.
When you lose your fear of money, money loses its fear of you.
You might not feel able to make a million, but you could well make £100 one thousand times. It’s the same thing.
Get into the habit of spending less money than you make.
Know your strengths and abilities. They are worth a lot of money to you.
Keep learning. The more you educate your mind, the more knowledge you have to share and utilise.

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