| |
| |
|
Entrepreneurialism Information |
|
|
|
Increase Profits with No Pain, No Change Approach
Implementing changes, even when they're good for your business, can be tough. As the old adage goes, old habits die hard and it's just as true in business as it is in our personal lives. It's simply easier to take the path of no resistance and revert back to doing what we've always done. Here's a way to skyrocket your profit potential by linking change to pain and payoff. Whenever I sit with a client who has hired me to assess and identify ways to streamline their business operations, we eventually get around to what I call the "no pain, no change" discussion. I can present a neatly packaged assessment report with recommendations for increasing efficiencies or streamlining processes, but new efficiencies and streamlining requires change. And, change typically meets with resistance because the way of doing things has become habitual. As the old adage goes, old habits die hard. It happens just as frequently in one-person operations as it does in businesses with 10s, 100s, or even 1,000s of employees. It's just easier to take the path of least resistance by doing what we have always done. And, until you realize how 'doing what you've always done' dramatically affects your bottom line, change is less likely to occur. For any change in behavior, procedure or practice, there must be a desire for it - the benefits of change must become more attractive than the comfort of keeping old habits. So how can a desire for change be ignited? That's where the "no pain, no change" discussion starts. Quite simply, I relate the recommendations I make to actual bottom-line benefits. Let me demonstrate by using a real-life client example. In a business assessment I did last year for a property management company, processing tenant payments was a four-step process from the moment the payment arrived, to the final posting and deposit of the funds. The company had two co-owners and four employees. Three of the four employees were involved in the payment processing procedure. Now, this may sound like no big deal to you, but keep in mind that, as a property management company, they receive several hundreds of payments from tenants nearly every week for all of the properties they manage. There are many days when no other work is tended to, and they clock overtime to process checks the same day they are received; and then they clock more overtime to catch up on the work that was cast to the side. The more property contracts the business acquires, the more time it takes to process payments. The more time it takes, the more man hours are clocked. The more man hours needed, the less efficient - and more costly - the process becomes. After talking with employees to understand the process they were using, and listening to the frustrations they were experiencing, it quickly became evident that the current procedure had lost significant value. What used to work perfectly had now become not only more vulnerable to errors, but costly. And, with the business continuing to grow, this was not a short-term challenge. With minimal investigation I discovered that the process could be shortened to two steps, performed by two employees, with one simple solution -- an upgrade of the property management software they were using. Naturally, the software upgrade was prominently placed in my assessment and recommendations report. I knew, however, that the owners would view this as an expense that would cost them more than $2,000 and, therefore would not likely top their To-Do list. Time for the "no pain, no change" discussion. In addition to recommending the software upgrade, I detailed a conservative estimation of the current 'real' costs associated with this procedure that primarily consisted of overtime and error reconciliation. I then detailed the estimated resulting costs associated with implementing the upgrade. The difference? A savings of nearly $7,500 a year! That's a significant profit leak for a small, 6-person operation. Do you think the owners were more motivated to change the habit that currently supports the $7,500 profit-draining leak? You bet they were! Suddenly, it was evident that the $2,000 software upgrade was an investment, not an expense. It carries measurable ROI. Because the client could now see an immediate (financial) pain, there was an increase in desire for immediate (procedural) change. Every critical process of your own business should be looked at with this same "no pain, no change" assessment. What is it really costing you to do what you've always done? Identify the pain, and you'll increase desire for change. Susan Carter is a small business consultant and author of business-building books that help small business owners and soloprofessionals 'do more with less.' Free book chapters and ezine at: http://www.successideas.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Entrepreneurialism - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Message to Prospective Franchisees for Franchisors Many franchise companies fail to send the proper message to their prospective franchisees. This is partly due to the over regulation and intensity of litigation in the industry. 5 Tips to Step Boldly into the World & Set Yourself Apart from Others "Real champions believe in themselves even when no one else will!" Author UnknownTo take your life and business to a level that makes you ecstatic there is a good chance you will need to step boldly into the world and stand distinctively apart from others. Here are 5 tips to support you to embrace the unknown in a big way and maximize your results. Entrepreneurs: Benefits vs. Features-Know the Difference! Entrepreneurs know their business. They know their product, their service. Creativity & Entrepreneurship - Key Questions From My Students Hello Creative Entrepreneurs!Thought for the day:"It is not easy being an entrepreneur, but it is always rewarding. It takes great discipline, self-motivation, hard work and perseverance to achieve your dream. Six Degrees of Separation Through just five or six intermediaries, you could be linked to millions of others. It is the notion behind what has been dubbed the small world effect. Will Your Business Survive Without You? I had a health scare in December.As it turns out, everything's perfectly okay. Create Your Entrepreneur Dream Team I hear it all the time. "What should I do about . Motivation and Commitment Why do people start small businesses? The most frequently cited motivation for business start-ups is to allow the entrepreneur to achieve independence; money is secondary. Is this surprising? The other reasons named most often are that an opportunity presented itself, a person took over the family business, or the person simply wanted to be an entrepreneur. How to Become a Successful Entrepreneur on the Web Becoming a successful entrepreneur in the online world is no different than becoming a successful entrepreneur in the brick-and-mortar world. Both tasks require vision, determination, and hard work. How You Can Earn $1000 A Week Part Time About 6 years ago I started to notice that certain friends of mine had quit their jobs but continued to live very luxurious lifestyles - seemingly without doing very much. I thought they must just be using up their savings until I discovered they were all making a fantastic living by spending just a few hours a week doing something I had never heard of before - "financial spread betting". Starting Your Business By The Book I've gotten several questions recently about the legalities of starting a business. So, this week I thought I would address a few of the more common legal issues most new businesses face. What Online Millionaires Tell Me They Are Worried About I just arrived back from the best seminar I have ever attended in the last 10-years.There were more "Underground" millionaires at Yanik Silver's "Underground" seminar than I've ever had access to at one time ever!Upon arrival, we had to sign Non Disclosure Agreements, and for very good reason. Surviving the Three Pitfalls of Business Ownership The morning sun sheds its brilliance and warmth on your sleeping face. 10:00 a. About Ending Competition 1. Why should I not compete with others?The very concept of "competition" is fear based. PR That Entrepreneurs Often Overlook If that sounds like you, here's what you may be missing once the new enterprise is launchedPublic relations that really does something about the behaviors of those key outside audiences that most affect your new enterprise.PR that uses a fundamental blueprint to deliver external stakeholder behavior change - the kind that leads directly to achieving your venture's objectives. Veteran Entrepreneurs Are Growing In Ranks When I'm not running my own business, writing articles about business, speaking to groups and organizations about business, or consulting with companies who want my advice about the running of their business, I teach a weekly class on the subject of (care to guess?) starting and running a business.To quote my frequently-mentioned and wise-beyond-her-years teenage daughter, Chelsea, "Dad, you really need to get a life. From Bank Clerk to Entreprenuer What seems like a century ago, I left school and joined a well-known High Street Bank. In those days working as a bank clerk was a well-established route for many school leavers and perceived to be a proper job with prospects. Lessons Learned from One Entrepreneur on Vioxx For the past ten-months, I tried every drug from the popular Vioxx, Celebrex and Aleve, to the long-standing Percocet, Ibruprofen 800, with some other fabulous ones like Fexeril, Ulltram, Naproxyn, and Antevert. (And, this is my short list). Build Your Own Board Of Experts The most successful entrepreneurs rely on their advisory boards to help spot new opportunities and potential pitfalls.Now you can have your own advisory board: a shadow board of directors. Entrepreneurship: Insight and Closer Look At The Entrepreneur Life as an entrepreneur is the American Dream. To be able to be your own boss, own your own business, never report to anyone else, work from home, make unlimited earnings and income potential, etc.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
