Category: Business

So you’ve finished your due diligence process, had in-depth discussions with all of your advisers and professional consultants, completed all the essential steps that are required to properly value a business, arranged your financing and taken the leap. What should you now do with your new business to make sure that it successfully traverses the pivotal transition phase, and then doesn’t just survive, but thrives?

You will already know quite a lot about the business and its requirements before you take control of the keys. You should have spent many a long hour in preparation and have drawn up your own comprehensive plan already. This is one of the essential prerequisites when you plan to own a business. They say that when you move a house plant from one position to another, it goes into shock. The same analogy can be used when it comes to the business, and you will need to ensure you minimize the “shock”.

The first point that you’ve got to remember is that you’ll need to keep all your attention on your goals. Now, probably more than ever, it is essential that you’re not distracted and that you allocate as much time as is humanly possible to this new enterprise.

Wherever possible, have the previous owner add some much-needed stability by staying around for a predetermined period of time. He or she can act as an advisor and can be seen (but maybe not heard as much) by clients, customers, employees and vendors. Try not to make any sweeping changes, as clients and employees may react unfavorably. If you make small changes, make sure that you view the results before you progress to make others.

Take the time to meet all the key players – your employees and your vendors. Create a one-on-one, personal relationship with your staff right from the start. Maintaining employee morale at the outset is vitally important and make sure that you establish a positive mode of communication. Try to get in touch with every vendor, if you’re able to, and do whatever you can to establish a positive relationship with these important players.

The previous owner and employees represent a wealth of information and you should make sure that you gather this data before you consider implementing new procedures. You may be in charge, but you are still “the new kid on the block” around here, so make sure that your decisions are based on a solid footing.

Don’t be tempted to throw out any procedures, especially record-keeping and bookkeeping. You need to be able to compare where you are now and where you are going in the future, with previous results. You will not be able to make informed decisions otherwise.

Your customers, who sustain the business, are familiar with being dealt with in a particular way. By all means, review the customer relationship policies and procedures, but don’t be tempted to make any wholesale changes. Your goal is to keep those customers at all costs and to make sure that they are happy during the transition.

You may now own a business in an unfamiliar industry. It is important to get to know the ins and outs of the industry as quickly as possible. Familiarize yourself with the technology, software, programs, procedures and how to handle potential problems in the future.

Establishing goodwill is one of the main objectives at this point. When you purchase business assets, one of the key elements is this goodwill and whilst somewhat intangible, it is very valuable. Consider doing something for all your key players – clients, employees and vendors. Give some kind of an introductory special offer, of some significance, to your clients. Think of an enhancement that you can offer your employees, maybe some improved working conditions or an upgrade to their terms of service.

In summary, remember that you now own a business which is dynamic. You have to give a great deal of your attention to the critical early days and make sure that you grow the business and strive to reach your highest goals.

Businesses want to be ranked #1 in the eyes of their customers; they want their businesses to be talked about. However, there are many businesses in the same industry, targeting similar markets, fighting for the same potential clients’ attention. The same is true for politicians: they compete with each other for the same voters.

If you want your customers to select you instead of somebody else, you need to be different. It is not enough just to be different, but also different in a way your customers will appreciate. For instance, if you are the only one in your industry packaging the items in a blue case … this will make you different; but maybe is something your clients don’t care much. On the other hand, if you are the only one in your industry offering free shipping, chances are that you will be at the top if the rest of your service also matches your clients’ expectations. You have to find what makes your business unique (usually called “unique selling proposition” in marketing terms) and tell everybody.

The question now is how to articulate your “unique selling proposition” in a way that your clients and potential clients will not only understand, but effortlessly remember. The solution is: use a slogan. A slogan is a short sentence that explains what makes you unique. Good slogans are easy to be remembered, they stick on people minds. A slogan makes it easier for your business to be remembered and talked about. It can help setting your business in a privileged position in a competitive industry.

Finding the right slogan is both a difficult and easy process. While it is difficult to come up with good slogans, it is easy to recognize good ones. You, as business owner, can easily recognize if a slogan is appropriate for your business. No one else knows more than you about your business. The question is who can come up with the slogans? You could involve your employees for instance. After all, they know the message that you want to transmit … In fact, they know it so well that they most probably suffer from the “Curse of Knowledge” syndrome. The curse of knowledge means that they know so much about your business’ unique selling proposition that for them, an also for you, it is difficult to realize what it feels like not to know it. Any slogan crafted under the curse of knowledge syndrome effect will not take into account that potential clients do not know yet about what makes you unique.

Therefore, the slogan development process must include outsiders. You need sloganeers that are not affected by the “curse of knowledge”. They can provide you with their slogan suggestions and you can recognize what works for your business. It works best when the process follows an iterative refinement: sloganeers suggest slogans first, then you tell them what works for your business and what does not and sloganeers provide suggestions again. This way, your preferences are taken into account in successive slogan suggestions. It is hard to tell how many slogans suggestions you will need. Usually, business owners get the right slogan after 20 – 30 slogan suggestions, but more may be needed.

You have done already the hard work of building your business and differentiate from your competitors. Now, all you need to do is to communicate in an effective way what is especial about you, what makes your business unique. Find some outsider sloganeers and get a slogan for your business; it is a small investment with a huge return.

A private jet charter normally caters for between 1 and 18 passengers although private charter jets can carry up to 30 passengers comfortably. Because of this, corporate parties are today using, in ever increasing numbers, private jet charter as a cost effective business option when large numbers of staff need to move simultaneously and securely between destinations. With few limitations on the choice of departure and arrival points, as well as the choice of flight time, “increased flexibility of travel” is another key feature of the business jet charter. Flights are no longer dependant on the proximity of a major airport to the chosen venue as private jets are normally able to land at smaller, rural or private airports. Time on board a private jet can also be used more productively as business charters allow the corporate client to utilise the privacy afforded, for business purposes.

Should the private jet charter client choose to use the flight for the purpose of relaxation, then the benefits of the personalized service provided by a private flight attendant are obvious. Even the process of checking in for a private jet charter is far less stressful than the procedures applicable to a commercial jet flight, so relaxation begins well before the flight takes off.

When boarding a private jet, the first thing apparent to the passenger is the unfamiliarity of their surroundings. The spacious cabin and interior finishing of many private jets immediately puts the flier at ease and if this is not enough, the five star in-flight catering options are always conducive to an elevated mind set. For business travellers fearful of the links beween air travel and the risks imposed on it by the modern day terrorist, private jet charter is definitely the flight medium of choice. Since 911, the increased demand for private jet charter flights has created a greater supply of private charter companies, private jets and private jet pilots. The subsequent increase in competition between operators in this sector of the air travel market has seen the private jet charter become a truly affordable way to fly for a whole new business demographic: the small to medium sized company.

Additionally, and especially since the introduction of the Euro, companies situated within the European Union have begun to use the private charter jet as a means to visit clients in neighbouring member states. The business “hop” is rapidly becoming as popular as its long-haul counterpart in countries such as Portugal. Today, private and business charter flights regularly fly to and from Faro Airport in the Algarve region of Portugal as well as Lisbon and Porto Airports in the North of Portugal. Portugal’s many private and municipal airports have also added to the popularity of the private jet business charter amongst national businesses, as well as those businesses from overseas wishing to explore the opportunities afforded by the growth of the Portuguese economy.

Portugal’s tourism sector, which has significantly strengthened its infrastructure since joining the European Union, has responded to the needs of this new business traveller by evolving a new, business tourism genre. Companies have formed to broker the services required by the traveller who steps out of a private charter jet and on to Portuguese soil. Complementary business services, such as: luxury hotel reservations, event management, limousine and luxury car hire, yacht charter and corporate gift services have all experienced linear growth in parallel to the rise of the private jet charter broker. The sinergy of these business services means that the business and private jet charter traveller can now leave all of his travel arrangements in the responsible hands of one event organizer; A to B has never been so easy.

Live one day at a time emphasizing ethics rather than rules.”
Wayne Dwyer

Whatever Happened to Business Ethics?

Ethics: The discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation; a set of moral principles; a theory or system of moral values; the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group; a guiding philosophy; a consciousness of moral importance.

Corruption: Impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle; depravity, decay, decomposition; inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means (as bribery); a departure from the original or from what is pure or correct.

Whatever Happened to Business Ethics?

After the Enron and WorldCom incidents, there seemed to be some progress in the business culture toward operating with some type of ethical guidelines but, after recent experiences, I wonder if we have made any progress.

What I find disturbing is that many individuals and organizations think it is completely okay to be unethical, if it gets them what they want. Even though I am a huge supporter of free markets and capitalism, there can be a dark side if the operation is void of ethics.

I agree with info-commercial guru Kevin Trudeau that the mandate of all publicly traded companies is to make money for the shareholders — end of story. The result is a conspiracy theorist’s dream come true where, at all costs, a profit must be made. Ethics are not part of the picture.

Here are examples that most of us have heard.

-HMOs withholding acceptance because their numbers are off this quarter
-Insurance companies intent on delaying or refusing payment so executives can get performance bonuses
-Information about the harmful effects of drugs withheld from the authorities
-Misleading advertising to induce sales
-Protection of reputations with cover-ups
-Used car dealers turning back the odometer
-Building contractors taking deposits and not completing their work

And on it goes!

What is most disconcerting is the group of individuals who actually don’t see anything wrong with that type of conduct. In fact, in some university ethics classes, students did not see anything wrong with lying to get what they wanted.

But the point here is that it is not okay to compromise your ethics to get ahead.

Here’s a quote that outlines my general sentiments.

“The truth is that good ethics sometimes is good business, but sometimes it’s not. It depends on one’s goals and how one defines good business. Sometimes, good ethics can end in bankruptcy. Of course, so can bad ethics.

A fairer statement is that good ethics can be a very powerful business asset and that good things tend to happen to companies and individuals that consistently do the right thing and bad things tend to happen to those that even occasionally do the wrong thing.

But the crucial point is that the moral obligation to live according to ethical principles is not dependent on whether it’s advantageous. People of character do the right thing in the pursuit of virtue, not self-interest.”
Michael Josephson
Author and Business Professor

So the question is:

Are you a person or business of character that is committed to doing the right thing?

I recall, from my automotive-consulting days, that a sales manager asked the sales rep to lie about previous history and damage to a used car they were selling. The sales rep did it to keep his job but he had sold his soul.

The reality is there are no excuses for unethical conduct.

Thankfully now some individuals are being held accountable for their actions. In addition, individuals who did not take part in the unethical conduct but had knowledge of such events or actions are also being held accountable for their sin of omission.

You are not immune from prosecution if you have knowledge of unethical conduct.

I agree with Michael Josephson. In the long term, ethical conduct is a very powerful and positive asset to you and your organization.

I know that most of us at some time or another have either pushed the ethical limits or at least thought about it.

The key is: Don’t cross the line.

Be courageous and do the right thing.

Lives have been destroyed because of unethical and corrupt conduct. It is time we all took a stand.

Yes, each of us can make a difference and reap rewards from our good conduct.

Not that long ago, I was asked to be part of a mastermind group. Two of our primary objectives were:
-to set a good example; and
-to expect ethical conduct in the personal and professional development industry.

That’s an example of how we can each do our part to make a difference.

Lawmakers now understand there has been little consequence or accountability for unethical behavior in business but recent jail terms for guilty executives provide new hope.

I have found that individuals who are clear and strong in their identity, values, purpose, and passion are far less likely to succumb to the peer pressure of unethical or corrupt conduct.

Small business management is no small task. To keep a company open, one really has to be aware of every aspect of their organization. If company managers want to do more than keep the doors open, if they want to see growth and potentially franchise, they have to be even more careful to ensure that all aspects of the enterprise are very balanced and that the business is protected. There have been some seemingly very successful enterprises in the past that have failed because the owners and the management have failed to see some problems or risks that were putting the whole company on the line. With the proper information and education, anyone can protect their business now to ensure its growth and success in the future.

Knowing how to go about small business management can be very difficult. Luckily, there are a lot of resources out there for companies to help them understand not only the nature of their business but the fine balance between profits and market risks. Individuals can go to the library and find that they have a huge selection of books and guides that will provide them with enough information about managing your enterprise, in fact they may very well have enough to read for the rest of their life!

The bookstore is the same way, though individuals may find a lot of the books at the bookstore more relevant because they carry the latest and greatest books that can offer not only the timeless management tips and techniques, but also new things to try. Many find they can attend courses and classes. Basically, professionals can spend all of your free time learning how to run a better business. But, will they help? Will owners really be able to learn everything they need to know to run a better business?

The Internet has become a great way to learn about small business management. Most companies probably don’t have a lot of extra time to dedicate to school, courses, and reading, so Internet education really is a great way to go. In very little time each day or each week, anyone can attend online classes or receive online information that will provide them with the information they need to run a better company. Managers simply have to pick and choose carefully which information they buy into, as it may not all apply to them and their enterprise.