It's the 4th Quarter and it's time to make a big play!
We are we
ll into the 4th quarter...and a year is soon drawing to a close. In football when it's the 4th quarter it's do or die time. You might see a big play, or great defensive stand...or the quarterback throwing a long bomb "Hail Mary" kind of pass hoping that the receiver catches it and get's a fast touchdown or a big gain in yardage.Isn't this time of year like that now for you in your business or life? It's time for the big play. Or do you breathe and take the loss, but begin to prepare properly for the new year ahead?
I say that you are the one with the time clock...no one else but you is putting pressure on you to throw that long bomb...or make that big play now!
But, do an analysis of your life or business and begin to plan out what really needs tending too now!
Rank the importance of the key areas of your life and if it is highly important to make change, make change now. Don't wait. Work on the most major concerns first. Make the calls and take the actions needed to change what it is that's affecting you or hurting you most.
If it's money, call a financial planner...and get an action plan going. If it's a debt, talk to a trustee in bankruptcy and work out a plan for creditors.
If it's a health issue, call the doctor, go to the gym, get a personal trainer or a nutritionist.
If it's a family or relationship issue, get counseling, reach out, come to compromise, get some help to right the ship at home.
If it's a work issue, work on your resume, start networking, talk it up with others to maybe make a job change.
If you need more accounts and clients, reach out, make an action plan to meet 15 new clients between now and the end of the year...make things happen, network, joint venture ask for referrals...just grow your business.
The fact is you have to take action and although there is no time clock on you to get going, you do want to get going on the most important things first.
Begin with your most pressing issues first but then get into action, call the people and contacts you need on your side to help you take care of the things in your life that need changing the most.
So today, I encourage you to take that first step, the 4th quarter is now and it would be nice to end the year with a touchdown!
Go team!
How to beat the Recession in your business...5 key ways
As I sit down to write this article, I am still hearing that for a lot of us it's the "Economy Stupid"...the economy is playing havoc on our minds. There is a lot of uncertainty for sure. IN the U.S. the economic recovery and jobs are the 2 most important factors that saw the "Republicans" and the "Tea Party" came out as big winners. The American people are worried about jobs, money and making it.Don't kid yourselves either, it's the same here in Canada. We don't want big government any more. We want responsible government and to say so long to the old boys and fat cats that spent, spent, spent. I mean just witness what happened in the Toronto Mayoral race.
So, yes there is a "Sea" change taking place. The economy is shifting. You can count on not counting on anything anymore. Change is rampant, things are moving faster and faster, there is more noise, competition, bankruptcies are up and there is a concern about our future out there...and there are no if's and's or buts about it.
So what can you do as a small business owner to rise above the recession?
Well...here are 5 things that come to mind...the first thing is to niche. Find that niche that you can do better than anyone else and market it to the exact channels your going after.
Find your niche:
One example of this is my friend Tiina Veer. She is a great business woman. She's young, passionate and creative. She is a plus sized woman. She is a top notch yoga teacher and is a massage therapist.
But...being a plus sized woman, Tiina can relate to how other plus sized (BBW) are challenged to do yoga, especially in an environment where they aren't watched and one in which they feel safe in.
So Tiina, does Yoga for Round Bodies. Brilliant! She owns that niche. Everything she does is geared to helping Big Beautiful Women. From retreats, to counseling, to yoga. Tiina leads a wonderful class too and may even branch out to plus sized men too in the not too distant future.
But find me one yoga class in Toronto doing what Tiina does, the way Tiina does it.
She's an avid social marketer too...often found linking up with her peeps on Facebook.
So...find your niche and build on it.
Get into the Green:
Get into the green. The Green business is about to take off in Ontario... A recent article in the London Free Press newspaper suggests that the Green industry is taking a new turn in the Province of Ontario... to quote...
"The green energy revolution is entering a new phase in Southwestern Ontario. It’s progressing from harnessing alternative energy sources to opening manufacturing plants at which the harnessing tools — such as wind turbines and solar panels — are built. And that could spell hundreds, maybe thousands of jobs for the London region, still reeling from a recession that sucked away 4,400 jobs in the last year."
Ontario has a number of things going for it. We have a close proximity to the U.S., we have a good labour force and excellent infrastructure (roads, transit, high tech). It's all making us the place to look for green sector investment.
Add to the fact there is a huge solar power project about to be happening soon...in fact the London Free Press quotes,
"Ontario is getting so much attention from European and North American manufacturers it's "turning heads in other provinces. Alberta is now looking (at the Ontario Green Energy Act and feed-in tariff program). What is going on in Ontario is hard not to notice," he added.
Also, the Ontario government struck a $7-billion deal this spring with Korean industrial giant Samsung under which it will build four manufacturing plants in the province, employing 16,000 - about one quarter of the jobs permanent."
So if you want to beat the recession, go green.
Go after the new:
The other hot trend is to tap into newcomers. Yes, it was a bit of an issue and political hot potato for Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, but newcomers are coming to Canada n a steady basis and is the impetus to our economic growth. Without new immigrants we would probably have negative population growth. So newcomers are ensuring that Canada stays on the plus side of the ledger as far as growth goes.
But they bring skills, know-how, money and they are in need of products, services and skills. As Canada reaches the tipping point with now more than 50% of Canadians born elsewhere, this sector is too hard to ignore.
Tap into the niche markets of newcomers. You will be justly rewarded.
There is a "new Canada" just over the horizon — home to a diversity of skin tones, birth countries, languages and religious faiths unprecedented in the nation's history.
By 2031, at least one in four people in this country will have been born elsewhere, new population projections from Statistics Canada suggest, and just half the working-age population will belong to families that have lived in Canada for at least three generations.
As Sultan Mahmood suggests, Canada's multiculturalism enriches our social fabric...
How many of you know what your clients are passionate about? Do you know what kind of hot dog they like? Do you know their golf score? Or do you know their birthdays?
Jack Mitchell does. So does Harvey MacKay?
Oh and are your customers having fun? Do they enjoy the buying experience?
If you go to Pikes fish market in Seattle their clients are having a blast...fish flying everywhere, employees joking, singing, yelling, having fun.
Paddy Lund the dentist in Australia is the closest thing to experience unconditional love in a business contest according Randy Basch former Fed Ex executive.
If you aren't putting the customer first you're going to lose out.
Case in point, I was at a Country Style donuts location near the Rogers Centre. I went in needing change for a $20 bill, so I could feed the parking meter. The clerk at this location told me no...no change without buying something.
Okay, fair enough, I want a country bit...for $0.25 ...she refused to sell it to me. But I am buying something, I replied. She refused again. Not only that she left the counter and went into the store room and shut the door behind her.
She left! Refusing to honour my transaction.
She finally came out to and agreed to the business transaction, but it was under protest and she yelled at me as I left, that she would never do that kind of transaction again.
I phoned Country Style head office to complain, they took my complaint, but never followed up with me to make things right or let me know they had contacted that clerk.
Personally, I won't go to Country Style again. Ever. Bad service...and wouldn't you know the Tim Horton's I go to in the morning welcomed me with open arms...in fact I know the clerk at the drive through personally, we chat, we joke and I get excellent service...even for just buying a coffee in the morning.
So make sure you are excellent at treating your customers like gold...because they are.
Pinch the pennies...
Finally, the other key trend to beating the recession is to look at your expenses. How many you have had a review of all expenses and seen where you can cut back.
Call your accountant and re-group...re-calculate, find the waste, shop around, get deals, negotiate ...just do what you have to to stop the financial bleeding.
If you follow these 5 steps you will have a much better business at hand. I wish you nothing but the best in 2011.
Cheers/David
