Like Nobody's Business

OPEN BOOK MANAGEMENT

Key Elements

* Provide employees and key contributors with all the information they need to help the business be successful

Financial data

Profit data

Performance data

Cost of goods/services sold, etc.

* Train these good people how to use and understand this information

* Give these people responsibility for the numbers under their control.

* Provide these people with a financial stake in how the company performs.

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Book_Management

The Human Equation (book)

Fast Company Magazine (February, 2007 issue, page 112)

For More Info

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Lalita Amos

http://www.TotalTeamSolutions.com/podcast/podcasting.htm

http://totalteam.blogspot.com

214 615 6505, 3895 for questions or comments

Considerations for success in achieving 2007 goals:

Courage -- see Wesley Autrey

Structures for existance

Structures for fulfillment

What matters most

Resources:

Landmarkeducation.com

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"That which matters most must never be at the mercy of that which matters least."

-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Never confuse what you want in your business with what you'd be willing to settle for.

Further, be clear that your business exists to fully fund your life and interests -- not just to make money. Be clear what you want the money for, so you make certain that you pay due diligence to those things as well.

Special thanks for 2006:

- John Weymouth (Medisurg.com) and YorkAli Walters (imajination.com) for insisting I podcast (blame them).

- YorkAli for opening up the blogosphere for me.

- Rodney Amos for helping me sort out the the audio issues.

- Jim Horan, Lynne and Toni (onepagebusinessplan.com) for a new world of planning execution.

- Toni Nell (springboardconsulting.biz) for her support and friendship.

- You listeners

- My clients for their courage and commitment.

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On a recent call with consultants from all over North America, we generated a list of things we could do to get the most of this waning year. Here are the highlights of our conversation (with my own offerings added for spice) and my invitation to try some of the things we're doing now to ramp up for 2007.

* Take someone new (or weird) out to breakfast or lunch.

* Send out information to begin lining up speaking gigs.

* Finalize my own One Page Business Plan. Done!

* Write out 3 things I won't do again in 2007. Oh, Lord -- just 3 things.

* Remember the power of "Thank You."

* Pick people to help shamelessly. I like this one.

* Finish that one project I've been procrastination on. Mine is a booklet on habits, thinking and business success.

* Build on successes from the past.

* Schedule two, 1-week vacations for 2007. For me, that means no tech.

* Write down three things that would make 2007 better.

* Do year-end check-in calls with clients (as Jim Horan of One Page Plan fame says, "leaving the sales hat off.").

* Attend holiday parties with a smile and a question.

* Call five non-clients I haven't spoken with in 6 months.

* Take the last week of 2006 off.

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While on my "one page kick" I didn't want to leave out one of my favorites: The One-Page Proposal: How to Get Your Business Pitch onto One Persuasive Page. I found the book several years ago and have used the principles the author espouses religiously in my business with great success.

Key elements:

- Title and Subtitle, defining the entire proposal

- Target and Secondary Targets, clarifying the goals of the project

- Rationale, with information about the client's needs and why the project is needed

- Financials, with info on what money is needed and how it will be spent

- Status, showing where things stand now

- Action, listing the next steps and what you need the prospect to do.

While this process isn't workable for all types of proposal opportunities, it can help introduce you and your thinking to a prospect and have them chomping at the bit for your detailed plan.

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Consider bringing in others to help round out the gaps. However, as you're marshalling the troops, be sure to focus on the things that matter -- particularly before you start creating a business proposal for services.

Joint Ventures

What you need to know about a joint venture (JV) is that it is a business entity (partnership or corporation) that the members or member organizations create. Wikipedia lists these reasons to JV:

Internal reasons: spreading cost and risk; maximizing financial and other resources, creating economies of scale, accessing new tech and customers, leveraging innovative managerial and process practices.

Competitive goals: gaining the upper hand on the competition, generating velocity in market entry, increasing flexibility.

Strategic goals: use of synergies, improved technology and other skills, diversifying and broadening reach.

Collaborative Ventures

Here, several business owners or specialists join forces to gain market advantage. Things to consider, chiefly, are how you'll manage risk and cost -- items that are usually taken care of in a JV arrangement. You'll need to consider how you'll manage budget, communication, contracting among each participant (who'll be the prime contact and contractor and who'll be the subs), fees for each service offered/needed, which services are strategic and which ones are tactical and, of course, you'll need to ensure that everyone has the kinds of insurance and other protections in place.

Do the background check on each participant. This way you can head off trouble in advance. Anyone who would be unwilling to be checked isn't someone you want to work with. If you're the one with questionable info, be sure you can truthfully and fully explain the circumstance. People can understand if you've fallen and gotten up. No one, however, likes surprises in a business deal.

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Everybody says they provide great customer service, but are they extraordinary or just plan ordinary? Some considerations:

* Remarkable will get you heard over the din.

* Remarkable isn't what YOU think it is -- it's what your customers, vendors, suppliers and employees think it is.

* Remarkable may be something small.

* People may insist that your remarkable offering isn't feasible, necessary or possible.

* Remarkable may develoop over time and be inperceptible to you.

Read:

The Big Moo

The Purple Cow

The Red Fez

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For more info:

Question Line: 214 615 6505, pin #3895

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www.totalteamsolutions.com/podcast/podcasting.htm

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Everybody says they provide great customer service, but are they extraordinary or just plan ordinary? Some considerations:

* Remarkable will get you heard over the din.

* Remarkable isn't what YOU think it is -- it's what your customers, vendors, suppliers and employees think it is.

* Remarkable may be something small.

* People may insist that your remarkable offering isn't feasible, necessary or possible.

* Remarkable may develoop over time and be inperceptible to you.

Read:

The Big Moo

The Purple Cow

The Red Fez

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For more info:

Question Line: 214 615 6505, pin #3895

Comment Line: 214 615 6505, pin #3386

www.totalteamsolutions.com/podcast/podcasting.htm

totalteam.blogspot.com

When you have the systems, the business plan and the structures to succeed, what gets in the way of your ability to win?

Lewin's Model of Change

Unfreeze: old systems comes back to conscious arwareness and there's a committment to change

Move: create and apply the new systems, strategies and plans

Re-Freeze: lock in new behaviors such that they become automatic

While you're changing, there are several types of resistance mindsets (Denise O'Connor)

Survivor (Covert/Unconscious): unaware that they're out of synch. Think they're operating from the new system

Zombie (Overt/Unconscious): seem unable to change and don't see their behaviors as resistance

Saboteur (Covert/Conscious): pretend to support the change, but inwardly hope the change will go away

Protector (Overt/Conscious): believe their refusal will help the company

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As the final part of this series on business planning, we cover Objectives, Strategies and Actions. These elements round out your business plan and will help clarify what you want to produce, the broad approaches and specific actions you'll take.

Useful Business Planning Resources:

+ The One Page Business Plan for the Creative Entrepreneur

+ Fast Company (great magazine for business owners)

+ Business 2.0 [6-month subscription]

Requests:

+ Record an intro to this podcast. Want to know more? [email protected]

+ Visit my Guestmap and let me know where you're listening from

+ Take a quick survey on this podcast (www.totalteamsolutions.com/podcast/podcasting.htm)

+ Tell a friend about this podcast and about the e-zine

+ Comment on the blog (totalteam.blogspot.com)

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