Crisis mode

 I was recently chatting with a colleague and as we spoke some similarities in the issues we came across were common between our entities. We are finding that clients are staggering within the business environment. The pressures are quite great for many and many are finding the conditions to be overwhelming. 

Well...someone's got to handle it. We can't all run the opposite direction. 

• Indecision
• Lack of discipline
• Poor budgeting 
• Inadequate planning
• Disorganizeed 
• Insufficient preparation
• Fear of failure 
• Not enough knowledge 
• Inexperience 
• No team 
• Weak systems 
• Limited access to financial information, funding, and technical assistance 
• Undesirable people skills

These are all reasons that businesses experience challenges and these listed are from within. They don't really include factors beyond the skills and abilities of the business that impact externally. 

Can we ever be prepared for the unforeseen? 

As we know, it is virtually unrealistic to expect one person to be on the ball with every aspect of the business. It is for this reason that business functions best when there's a team involved, but you must be selective. 

Who we have on the team is important to the success(es) that the business is likely to encounter. All of these areas can be delved into further should you decide to book a planning session should you need help in these areas. Should we not have the talent in-house, we can connect you with those in our network who have those competencies. Either way, there's always a solution. 

Check back often for updates and read/reread our articles based on your business needs. Have a phenomenal day! 

Understanding customer service within your business

Customer service like everything else in business is under revision. It is feeling the pressure of the pandemic and lots of promises formerly made by organizations are failing under the test of the pressure. 

You can no longer reach anyone in most organizations. The reliability of most entities have been put under pressure and they are failing to reach the most basic of expectations. 

COVID has impacted entire departments within organizations where everyone within the said department can be put in isolation/quarantine. This disconnected the organization's ability to be able to deliver on certain basic functions.

With the displacement  caused by  Covid-19  there are many organizations that do not know the experiences of their customers. Simple transactions like document processing, payments on accounts, receivables on accounts, administrative matters, and all else seemed to have gone out of order. 

Lots of organizations are blaming the broad back of COVID, and the occasional bad weather now we are in hurricane season. 

Who is suffering as a result? Well let us start with the elderly, who have having quite the challenge adjusting to using technology with which they are not fully familiar. They try to make calls for clarity only to speak with someone who can offer little more than polite dialogue since they are not even in the same country and don’t know the people within the organization they are supposed to be representing. The elderly will have issues with, among other things; online payments, health and medical insurance claims, seeing the fine print on the screens, being able to speak with someone who can offer solutions that are tangible. The world within which they must now function makes them seem obsolete. 

The youth with education programs that have instructors not fully competent with the technology themselves, but the youth get blamed for not attending class when they spend hours waiting for admittance to the class, or instructors to even show up. How do I know this? I’m a remote worker so I get to observe some of this behaviour through the youngsters in my domain. 

Those in between, who in many instances are now realizing that being able to see and pronounce a word does not necessarily mean they understand what is being communicated. The breakdown in communication is huge, and it doesn’t help when most cannot spell and are unable to adequately use grammar to ensure what is intended is being communicated. 

Can the current situation be blamed on COVID though? I say NO! COVID has caused us to pause and consider what we have taken for granted for way too long. We have not learned the lesson the first time around and COVID makes us repeat the pauses/shutdowns to see if we would identify what we missed and adjust our behaviours to suit. It feels like we are taking 40 years to complete a 30 day journey. [Only some will get this.] 

This is a time of reset in all relationships, public and private. We need to come to a place of empathy where we take the time to understand each other. In this environment, we wouldn’t be listening to respond, but to understand.

Sometimes when you listen to someone express themselves, even when they are thinking, if you don’t interfere with a response but remain silent, you will observe them arrive at the solution themselves. They didn’t need advice but a listening ear. They wanted the support of someone hearing them think. 

The other aspect is when people require the services/products of vendors who provide them. They ask for concessions, they want to negotiate already bottom out prices or they price your work then wonder why you don’t want to take their offer. However the experience has been when situations like this come up is that not only does one do the work, but then they have to beg to be paid. Many of us have learned the hard way and we’re done with it. 

To be clear, if you want to get into business, then have the money to get the business planning done - there’s no such thing as a discounted lawsuit. They don’t say that they got what they could afford but they, the customer, will malign your name and damage your reputation. Be careful when you are doing business. Take every effort to communicate clearly in this era of distorted understanding. Ensure that you put everything in writing since people learn in various ways and therefore relate differently to information. 

What have been your experiences over the past 2 years? Feel free to share. Have a wonderful Sunday. 

Starting a business....are you serious?

Entrepreneurship is a word that's touted about a lot these days. Everyone seems to want to begin a business of their own, and who can blame them. There are certainly better educated, greater connected, and have more resources. However, you can imagine the questions that come to mind when we look at todays businesses. Let's look at a few.

• Why do so many of them fail?
• Do we really know why we want to be in business?
• Have you thought out the process well?

Let's stop at these three. Since these alone can take quite a bit of time. Let's look at them succinctly.

Businesses fail due to:

• Being under capitalized
• Poor operating systems 
• Weak marketing & sales 
• Poor accounting & cashflow management
• Weaknesses in human resources - training deficiencies
• Lack of discipline and planning
• This list is not exhausted

We want to be in business for a variety of reason

• Some don't want to work for someone else
• Others just want to be their own boss
• There are still others who just want to be creative and can't be bothered with much else
• Many want to make money that they can spend as they wish
• They saw someone do it and it looked easy
• Many don't like their current bosses 
• Some want to genuinely make a difference in the lives of others with their product / service
• The reasons are endless 

We thought

• This would be a walk in the park
• This much strategy was not required
• We could do it ourselves without much expenses or help as we know our field
• Why did we leave our jobs, we had it made when we got our payment from where we were employed (and, we didn't have to work as hard)
• We didn't want this much work, just more money. 
• We didn't have a vacation since leaving our last jobs and we don't have money to go on vacations either 
• If I had only known better, I wouldn't have left 
• Well, we're too committed to turn back now. 
• If I could do this all over again, I would do this so much differently

Business is never easy. As one friend put it, you have money problems either-way - too little / too much. There are many who believe that they wouldn't mind having too much money. It is often heard said, I know exactly what I would do with that money if I had it. 

So are you serious about starting a business? If not, please don't. It would be more trouble than profit. However, if you are, then you need to make contact with someone like me in your area. There are plenty great consulting resources out there, and they are some that aren't so great. You must do your due diligence. 

So starting and expanding a business, especially when you are serious can be quite rewarding. Surround yourselves with others who have achieved some of the things you desire - learn from them taking the good and leaving the bad behind. Yes you'll find many have flaws that make it difficult to work with them. Be prepared to endure, so that you can enjoy.