Monthly Archives: October 2014

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6 Keys for Improving Business Success

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According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics 25% of Small Businesses fail in the first 24 months, less than 50% survive past five years, and only 35% are still in business after ten years.  There are many reasons given as to why small businesses fail. Some blame the economic conditions, changing competition, or government policies.

I get fired up when discussing business success.  The real reason businesses fail isn’t economic conditions, competition, government policies or most any other excuse.  The real reason is that business owners make mistakes in several key areas.

There are always challenges in running a business. I believe that if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, find out what successful businesses do and follow their example.

In the past 35 years, I have made mistakes and learned crucial lessons about business and how to grow profits. You too can improve your success and have the numbers up and to the right.

Increase Your Success

1)Passion, Profitability, Proficiency

The first key to a successful business is having all three P’s.  If you run a business and don’t have passion for what you do, boredom will set in.  With boredom, the quality of your work will decrease and so will profits.

Malcolm Gladwell’s research shows that it takes 10,000 hours to become proficient at anything we do. If you aren’t willing to put in the time to be great at what you do, you are limiting your business.

If you have passion and proficiency but have a limited market, you don’t have a business.  You have a hobby.  Your idea has to be scalable.

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Stop Multitasking and Get More Done!

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Are you watching the Bear’s game, filling out a contract, checking e-mail, talking on the phone, and planning your week all at the same time?  If this sounds like your work habits, your brain is in trouble.

Research at Stanford University by Dr. Clifford Nass and his team, to their surprise, found that when individuals attempt working on multiple projects they have trouble focusing on any one project. They have trouble controlling their memory and cannot switch from one task to another effectively.

The idea that if someone is a heavy multitasker is more productive was proven to be false. Surprisingly people who focus on one task for an extended period and then work on another project are far more productive.

What the researchers found was that when multitasking keeping information from different tasks separate in the mind was not possible.  Multitaskers were less efficient and took longer to finish the tasks compared to focusing for at least 20 minutes on one task.

The French medical research agency Insurm discovered that the brain has a two task limit to be effective.  Working on more than two tasks decreased the brain’s effectiveness.

To get more done focus on one or two tasks for at least 20 minutes or until the task is finished before switching.  To be more productive avoid distractions, have set times to check e-mail, check voice mail or preparing documents.

Question: What are some ways you improve your focus ?  You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Quote of the Week: “Juggling is an illusion. … In reality, the balls are being independently caught and thrown in rapid succession. … It is actually task switching.” ― Gary Keller

For more information about Radon Mitigation in homes, schools and commercial buildings visit us at www.nelsonradon.com.

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Effective Advertising: Staying in Contact With Your Customers

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canstockphoto2144922editedIn the modern connected economy being in touch with your customers is an absolute.  However, effective advertising has changed dramatically.  The days when a business would list in the yellow pages and hope to be found are history.   Running an ad in print media and hoping someone will read it is the proverbial needle in a haystack advertising.  Producing and filming ads for TV is expensive and often has a low return on investment (ROI).  Most TV shows are taped, and ads are skipped. They aren’t much different than spam in an e-mail inbox. The majority of consumers, including myself, consume most audio content through podcast and music through digital storage. Radio advertising is becoming a limited method to reach your customers.

Changing History of Advertising

A hundred years ago advertising was reaching a large market with the same needs.  The industrial revolution created a new economy built around large scale efficiencies like large factories, mass media, mass marketing and mass communication.

Seth Godin in his book Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers explains why traditional methods of advertising are no longer working.  Traditional advertising is based on interruption of your time. When watching TV programs every seven minutes, an advertisement interrupts the show, ads interrupt the music station you listen to, and billboards try to get your attention as you drive.

The concept of Permission Marketing is that you develop trust with a potential customer.  After you have their trust, then you can discuss what you offer. Traditional methods of advertising just aren’t an effective use of capital.

Social Change

The industrial revolution is ending and the economy that it produced no longer functions as it once did. This massive economic shift is also bringing great social change.  The good jobs that industry provided are becoming fewer and fewer. Income gaps between the people at the top of their industry and the average are likely to increase.

We now are in the growing phase of the new connected economy with all the opportunities that it will produce.  Yes, there will be displacement of workers and many of their jobs will change or cease to exist.  New jobs will be created to adapt to the changing market.  Yes, there are new challenges to marketing our products or services. But, by understanding the changes it opens up new opportunities.