How to Stay on Course to Stay the Course in Your Business

By Dr. Joanne G. Sujansky, CSP

Few things have kept my company, KEYGroup® more effective over the long term than operating as what I refer to as a Vibrant Entrepreneurial Organization (VEO). I consider this approach vital to fully engaging myself and those who work with me. My hope is that the VEO concept can work for you in your business:

• Vision: Since I started my business in 1980, I have followed an evolving vision for KEYGroup®. Dr. Jan Ferri-Reed joined the business in 1985, and has been President of the company since 2000. Together, we share the big picture with everyone who works with us, including our full-time and part-time employees and subcontractors. We encourage them to be innovative, to offer ideas for new products and services, and to take risks that help us to drive the business forward.
   
• Loyalty: We attempt to exemplify what I call the new face of loyalty. Today, people are reluctant to wait long times for good things to happen for them. Our job is to challenge everyone who works with us with work that satisfies them so we “keep the keepers.”
   
• Balance: We emphasize high productivity, minimize stress, and keep work-life balance firmly in mind whenever we can. Working like crazed bees 24/7 eventually wears people down. The light of creativity grows dimmer, and people become less healthy. We work hard to be flexible, accommodate personal challenges, and keep work and life in balance. Balance is essential to your health and the health of your employees. Staying balanced helps us to distinguish what is critical from what is not. Being in balance helps us to make reasoned decisions.
   
• Success: We produce a winning tradition by working to achieve successful outcomes and to celebrate them when they occur. It’s our belief that winning can become a wonderful habit. When people win, they want to win again.
   
• Communication: We work to raise our communication with each other to an art form. Our success at KEYGroup® rides on our ability to communicate with each other the significance of what we do. We take pains to listen to each other as intently as we can. Most of the time we say things four times in four different ways to be sure that what we said is what people heard.

Here are some other practical suggestions you may find useful:

1. Partner with other firms. Two things are true about other companies. They are your competition and they are potential resources. If your company culture and capabilities are complementary with another firm, consider the benefits of collaborating and cross-referring work. Perhaps you can share finder’s fees for work referred.

2. Find or start a mastermind group. A mastermind group can serve as your board of directors and is a marvelous way to get expert advice. You can reciprocate by sharing expert advice of your own. There are people in the world of business who can help you strategize and keep your business growing. Seek out ways to gather with them and find ways to mutually advise each other about business problems and hurdles.

3. Form long-standing client relationships. Cross-selling your services with existing clients costs less than seeking business with new clients. With current clients, you already enjoy credibility. That is not true with prospects until they get to know you. Find ways to let clients know about your services. And engage in informative acts of kindness like sending articles that could benefit them. Find ways to send spontaneous thank-you notes and to remember them with cards on birthdays and holidays.

4. Always keep new business in your horizon. You can do this by winning new clients and by up-selling existing clients. Even though up-selling current clients is more economical than winning new ones, winning new clients is a must for any business. Plus, you need to add business in ways that outpace business losses through normal client attrition and down times when clients may be inactive. In any event, your most basic business is to continually replenish your business with new work.

5. Volunteer when you can. Volunteer work provides lots of personal satisfaction. Plus, you can sometimes pilot new ideas and new programs with the organizations you volunteer with before you introduce these ideas and programs to clients.

6. Grow and network through association involvement. This is an effective way to stand out before many people and become more of a household word to them. As president of the American Society for Training and Development, I had the opportunity to speak before 10,000 people. This resulted in a relationship with the International Federation of Training and Development Organizations (IFTDO) that led to me doing business in more than 30 countries. Working with associations also helps build mutually beneficial networks and partnerships with other firms.

7. Develop multiple income streams. If you speak somewhere, your books, CDs, and products make excellent back-of-the-room sales and help to establish your credibility. Remember: In the eyes of others, if you are an author, you are an expert in your field.

8. Let the numbers guide your decisions. Manage your finances with great care, and always keep your eyes on the money. Track revenues and costs to pinpoint profitability during lean and abundant times. Track staffers’ time and compare their time costs to your out-of-pocket costs. Most importantly, keep up good relationships with your accountants and consult with them when decisions might have an impact on your profitability.

9. Know when to negotiate around fees and when to cut losses. My experience has been that if money is the very first thing a prospect talks about, the relationship will likely not work for us. That’s not to say that we do not negotiate. We do, but we avoid reducing fees, per se. And if work turns out to be unprofitable, we either renegotiate fees or exit the client relationship.

10. Do what is right, always. Follow your conscience and stand true to your ethical principles. For me, behaving ethically is a must in my personal and business life. And acting honestly develops a reputation others respect and admire. That is worth far more than extra income.

11. Prepare for business transitions. No business ever stays the same. In the business of my company, we have transitioned and evolved at least three times. And I’m sure there will be more to come. When transitions come, you need to step back, see where your business is now, where you want it to be, and how you want to get there.

I am sure you come to business with profound optimism. But optimism needs to be balanced with specific operational strategies that give it workable form. These rules of the road can help you leverage your optimism and enable you to reach the business destinations you envision for yourself and your company.

© 2006 Dr. Joanne G. Sujansky, CSP
www.joannesujansky.com

Dr. Joanne G. Sujansky, CSP, has over 25 years experience helping leaders increase organizational growth and profitability by creating and sustaining what she calls a Vibrant Entrepreneurial Organization. She is an international keynote speaker, founder of KEYGroup®, and the author of numerous books on leadership, change, and retention. A member of the National Speakers Association, she holds its highest earned designation, Certified Speaking Professional. Reach her at 724-942-7900 or at www.joannesujansky.com.

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