Double Your Profits – Part 1 – Making the Shift

January 27, 2009 | Bottom Line, Process Design, Profitability | Beth Schneider

By Beth Schneider

Today was my day to talk to potential clients. I had a successful, determined woman we’ll call "Sally" on the phone. I listened as Sally told me about her plans, frustrations and fears. You see she was determined to grow her company, but had a bad experience. Sally took steps that were intended to move her forward, and instead of success, things went wrong – quickly - and she lost $20,000. I wish her story of loss was unique, but unfortunately I hear different versions of her story all the time.

Situations like these:

I just spent all this money on my marketing, but all my expensive leads are all falling through the cracks because I don’t know what to do with them. Now I’m out the marketing dollars and I still don’t have any clients.
I just hired this person who messed up everything I gave them to do. Not only did I end up doing everything myself, but had to first fix what was done so poorly! It took me more than twice the amount of time it should have.
I have all these ideas, but I can’t seem to connect all the dots. Now I feel like I’m just going in circles. Nothing changes, nothing gets done . . .even though I spent a fortune on live events, coaches and products.
I could easily get more clients just by asking for referrals, but I can’t because it takes so much time to close the sale – time I don’t have! Even if I could make the time, I have no idea how we’d handle the new sales and fulfill the work. I’d really like to grow, but I just don’t see how it’s even possible.

You see, I felt compassion for Sally when she was telling me about her $20,000 loss. Yes, that’s a lot of money, but the bigger loss was that her confidence in doing anything differently was shaken. If she gives into that fear of growth and expansion, then that, in itself, will certainly cost her a whole lot more than $20,000.

The answer to Sally’s problem (and the others listed above) is to be prepared for growth by making the shift from thinking about “what” needs to be done to “HOW” to do it. I’m sure you’ve heard a million times not to worry about the “how”. Dream big and it will all come together. Well, when you are talking big picture, then yes, dream and dream big. But when it comes to taking action, if you don’t want to lose your shirt, you have to think about HOW things will get.

This series is about just that.

HOW to set your production to run with out you
HOW to set up your contractors and employees for success
HOW to streamline your efforts so you get more done, with fewer steps
HOW to get more out of your marketing efforts

The “hows” are the specific steps taken to complete something. For example, if you were setting up a teleclass, there are a number of steps you would need to take. Put up a web page for registrations, write the copy for the web page, write the email announcements, send the emails on a specific schedule, create the email schedule, etc. You see, it’s bringing together all the pieces and then connecting all the dots.

Only when the dots are connected, will you then have the control you need... without having to do it all yourself. You maximize your efforts and reduce the waste. You get more from your people because you’ve set them up for success.

Here’s the formula: HOW = success for you, your people and your business. It’s a win-win-win.

See you at part 2.

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