The Entrepreneurial (and independent sales pro's) Trap

Happy Friday!

One of the experts who will be training the participants (AND me) at
our upcoming Extreme Business Makeovers event in Orlando wrote
a great article that I thought would be well worth your time. Though
I'm still a "work in progress," I can say personally that Stephanie's
simple systems have helped me improve and be much more conscious
about working ON my business, not IN it.

Remember - if you want to save over 50% on your tickets to Extreme
Business Makeovers 2008, you must type the word - SUCCESS - in the
coupon code box on the online Check Out page after you click to
reserve your seats and select the one or two ticket option. The web
address, once again, is http://www.extremebusinessmakeovers.com

Here's the article ... Enjoy!
Thom

______________________________________________________
The Entrepreneurial (and independent sales pro's) Trap
By Stephanie Frank


by Stephanie Frank

You're a smart, hardworking entrepreneur, and you're moving fast.
You are highly educated in your field and your business is growing
and getting busier each day. But somehow, you find yourself stuck.
You're doing more tasks that take you away from your core business,
you are working more and earning less. You need help. Wouldn't it
be great if there was someone, anyone out there who could help you
take away some of the daily tasks so you could focus on the things
you really love?

Maybe you've looked, tried to work with or even hired people to
help you manage your business. But somehow, every time, things just
didn't go right, and there you were, left again with the mounds of
paperwork, details and projects to manage. Alone.

"No problem," you tell yourself. "I can do it faster myself anyway."

In that one statement, you just fell into the biggest trap of your
entrepreneurial career.

Growing and leading your business is by far the biggest challenge a
business owner faces. After all, you are highly specialized in your
field - which is not business management. Unfortunately for most
business owners, when a new employee or contractor comes into the
business, one of two things usually happens.

1. The business owner and new hire spend hours, days, weeks and
sometimes months working side by side, with the business owner
explaining all of the intricacies of the job. When the employee or
contractor gets good at the job, the business owner begins to
panic, wondering if the person will stay. When the person leaves
the company, the process repeats. Frustration, fear and doubt
plague the business owner.

2. The new person is hired and told briefly what is expected of
him/her. The big picture is provided and the person is left up to
his or her own judgment as to how the job gets done. The person
does the job in a different manner than the owner and is
reprimanded for doing things a new way. The employee feels
disempowered, afraid, and leaves. Frustration, fear and doubt
plague the business owner once again.

It doesn't have to be that way.

You can have the freedom, focus and results you want in business.
Solving this problem is simple. You probably weren't trained in
school as a business manager, so you must first understand that
business operations management is a required skill for a success in
business. Most people make it too hard, by hoping for a single
person to show up on their doorstep, smart, focused, creative and
able to take away the tasks that lay before them with hardly a
second thought. I'm about to burst your bubble, because that person
is probably already in business for themselves. It's up to you to
create the environment where other people can be empowered to
assist you. Here are four simple steps to get you started on the
road to turn-key success.

1. Create total focus.

Get out a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. Title the
page Total Focus. On the left side, write down all of the tasks you
do in a week, from answering the phone to shipping to providing
service and creating new products. On the right side, write down
the three things you love doing. Compare the lists.

2. Group tasks for easy delegation.

Next to each task, label it with one of the three major business
areas:

- Administrative (office paperwork)

- Sales/Marketing (attracting customers or making the sale)

- Production (producing/shipping and delivery of products or
services)

3. Start Documenting.

For each task, write down the steps to completion. You might start
with “Here's How We _____________” to prompt you. Use whatever
method is simplest for you - a screenshot, written or typed steps,
diagrams - just get it down on paper and put it in a binder called
Procedure Manual.

4. Get Help.

Begin looking for people to work on tasks that are not in your
"love to do" column. Start small. The right person works only a few
hours per week on the things that take you days.

There is no magic person who can do all business tasks (except you,
of course!). With your Procedure Manual in hand, you can delegate
properly, relax and enjoy building your business, the simple way.

Stephanie Frank is an internationally known author and speaker.
Take the free quiz "Do You Have What It Takes To Be The Next
Accidental Millionaire?" and receive $1,574 of business building
tools and resources at http://www.AccidentalMillionaire.com

Learning Entrepreneurship from a Billionaire!

How Many BILLIONAIRE Entrepreneurs Have You Been Able to Meet AND Learn From IN-PERSON?

(Note: Click above for Audio - The sound is clearer after first 40 seconds)

Bill Bartmann, who Inc. Magazine describes as "The Billionaire Nobody Knows," is one of the incredible experts who will be teaching us at Extreme Business Makeovers 2008!

Bill didn't take one million or even one hundred thousand and make his Billions. In fact, he and his wife Kathy borrowed $13,000 and grew it into a company that produced over $1 Billion in annual revenues. He's going to share with each of us how to navigate the waters of entrepreneurship to maximize our individual strengths and become the most successful entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs that we can be!

Describing himself as the "poster boy for failure," Bill is very down-to-earth and teaches in a way that we can all relate and apply.

Check out the brief, 10 minute preview call I conducted with Bill. (The sound quality leaves much to be desired, but you can certainly hear Bill's heart and experience loud and clear).

After that, GET REGISTERED for Extreme Business Makeovers 2008 by visiting http://www.ExtremeBusinessMakeovers.com and click to reserve your seat. Something Special: for my readers only, if you enter the word SUCCESS in the Coupon Code box at the Check Out, it will automatically deduct $100 from the advanced ticket price!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me directly at thom@burg.com.

I look forward to seeing you in Orlando!

All the Best,

Thom

It was MY idea

The victories won by a master of war gain him neither reputation for wisdom nor merit for courage. How subtle and insubstantial, that the expert leaves no trace. How divinely mysterious, that he is inaudible. Thus, he is master of his enemy's fate. -- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

It's almost comical how many times I've been in a meeting where I sold an idea or solution in such a way that I almost left no fingerprint on it. In fact, in most of the situations that I'm referring to, the owner, CEO or biggest VIP in the room believed THEY came up with the idea.

I gotta say, as much as I enjoy the outcome of actually getting what I was wanting, there's something in me at those times that just wants to jump up on the conference table and shout ... "DIDN'T YOU PEOPLE JUST HEAR ME LEAD HIM TO SAY THAT?"

However, I'm reminded of the quote above from The Art of War by Sun Tzu. And, although business isn't war, anytime you are presenting a concept or solution that involves change, there is great potential for conflict and therefore many of the same principles apply. Basically, Sun Tzu is saying that we can be masterful and be more effective if we don't worry about being recognized for it.

It's amazing how well this works in numerous scenarios - selling products/services ... gaining support for your new initiatives with staff, partners or vendors ... leading volunteers in a ministry or non-profit organization ... EVEN helping your teens to make wise choices and feel it was their idea!

So, despite my ego crying out to be recognized for my "brilliance," I'll keep choosing to swallow my pride and walk away getting everything I was looking to accomplish. But, between you and me - It was my idea ;-)

Going with the Flow

Well, Mother's Day turned out to be very nice - though not exactly what was expected. Here we showed up at the restaurant where we had reservations for over a month ... and they were CLOSED!!!! In addition, we were greeted by a police officer who told us that they would not be opening again anytime soon. (Of course, I "googled" it all right away on the ole iPhone, but apparently, there's no news about it and we still don't know what happened ... but, I bet there's a pretty long list of disgruntled ex-patrons out there now.)

Obviously at noon on Mother's Day Sunday, we weren't going to have any luck getting into another A list restaurant. Argghhh! Fortunately, I had been to a restaurant almost across the street with my two oldest boys one day, so I knew that the food was solid and that they didn't take reservations. Off we went to the new choice and made it in just in time to beat the later church crowd ("Thanks" Discovery Church for an earlier church time ;-)  ) We wound up having a nice time, the food was solid and the kids, especially, thoroughly enjoyed it. AND, since we saved a ton of money on what we would have spent as a family at the original restaurant choice, I told Jody that we could go out to one of her very favorite Japanese steakhouses - Mikado at the Marriott World Center - for a date night. So, she wound up getting her Mother's Day with no dishes and good and plentiful food AND another relaxing, higher-end date to boot! ;-)

If you're like me... these types of things happen all the time in business as well. Whether it's a marketing promotion or plans for a public program that we're putting on, it seems like there is often a fair amount of difference between what was planned and how those plans play out in reality. 

There are definitely some times when initial feedback you get seems negative and you just have to stay the course and fight on through to get to the goal you have established.

Other times ... perhaps too many times ... I find myself fixated on the MEANS and not the END. So, instead of adjusting the sail to capture the wind as it is really blowing, I figuratively shake my fist in the air and curse the wind for not blowing the way I want it to blow. In those times, I fall short of where I want to be, versus surpassing what even I had in mind.

Anyone else ever have experiences like that?

Be Blessed,

Thom

Happy Mother's Day

I was out shopping with my kids for my wife Jody for Mother's Day and ran across one of my neighbors and his child shopping for a card for his wife. He seemed almost surprised that we put the same effort into shopping for Mother's Day as we do Christmas and Mommy's Birthday.

I guess that between having 1 child and he and his wife both working and sharing a good bit of the childcare and household stuff (he cooks, cleans and is a very involved father), they had reduced Mother's Day to a "card holiday." Too bad. In my mind, that doesn't reduce the importance of Mother's Day, it just gives a little more depth to the celebration of Father's Day since he really does do more than most fathers I know.

Any way, in our house, with 6 kids (all home schooled by my stay-at-home wife), Mother's Day is pretty much one of the sacred holidays of the year ;-) It's off to church, then a brunch at one of her favorites - The Captain and The Cowboy in nearby Apopka - then home for a relaxing afternoon/evening.

Of course, I'm always reminded of something my buddy and former pastor, Dan Plourde used to always say on Mother's Day to his wife... "Honey, it's Mother's Day. You don't touch the dirty dishes or pans! They'll be there in the morning for you ;-)" (kidding of course ... he is a happily married man with 7 kids).

Well, off to shower and get Caleb (our 2 year old) ready for church. It's nice that the others can all dress themselves appropriately at  this point.

Have a super Mother's Day everyone!

All the Best,

Thom

Too Much Truth in Advertising?

Okay, so you know by now that we've got this event coming up June 19-21 in Orlando. I've been so fixated on making sure the event will be incredibly dynamic and life-changing, that I've been my own worst marketer and am off schedule by almost 3 weeks ... YIKES! (I know, I know... the plumber with leaky pipes)

But, at least I CAN say that the event itself is going to be AWESOME! I've got 14 truly amazing experts including Billionaire entrepreneur, Bill Bartmann. And, best of all -- beyond having great information and giving me their solid pledge that they will be sharing solid, immediately applicable content, they ALSO all have the right heart. These ladies and gentlemen truly want to help others learn from their successes and  challenges to break through to new levels of success.

My goal is that we don't just help our participants improve profits, but that we also help them envision and begin building a real legacy! To me, that's the really important stuff - the things we build, the people we touch and the example we leave. Those things last whether or not anyone 2 generations from now even remembers our names. That is truly leaving your thumbprint on the world!

Sorry for the rambling ... Can you tell I'm excited about this?

In any case, while I still consider myself a marketer, I've really taken my marketing hat off for this event. I'm not even going to be one of the expert speakers at my own event. And, the letter I wrote for the web site is probably the most frank, non-salesy thing I've ever written in business. 

It is my deep desire to present the unvarnished truth about this event and not come off like some "hucksters" that hype seminars which wind up being "pitchfests."  Of course, that leaves me feeling a little nervous. I KNOW what to expect when I write a standard sales letter for a client. Though I would NEVER lie in a sales letter or ad copy, I most definitely use techniques (just like sales professionals often do) to guide the audience and take action.

I have no clue whether a completely honest and open discussion about Extreme Business Makeovers and what people can realistically expect is going to be effective in making sure there is a full audience there to benefit from it. My secret fear (I guess not so secret NOW) is that I removed so much of the sizzle that people who visit the site won't see just how incredible the steak itself is. I gotta say ... I DO feel good about it though.  I know that people who show up are going to get EXACTLY what they expect and possibly more, instead of wondering whether or not we overhyped and attracted people who have get rich quick (and without effort) mentality.

I'd definitely like to know what you think! If you visit http://www.ExtremeBusinessMakeovers.com you can read my letter and all about the event and see what I'm talking about concerning the unvarnished truth.

Oh.. and since you've taken the time to read my posting, I'll even give you a little gift if you want to come to Extreme Business Makeovers yourself. If you put in the coupon code SUCCESS in the Coupon Code box on the Checkout page, you'll get $100 off the ticket price - EVEN off the Advanced ticket price.

Okay that's it ... sorry for the long posting again. I think I'm getting the hang of this whole sharing from the heart thing, but still working on keeping it brief! ;-)

All the Best,

Thom

Tricked By God

Have you ever had one of those times when God used circumstances to trick you into something that you might not have done if you were given the choice up front?

That happened to me last week. Here, I had gone with Jody to see a counselor at church about our oldest kids ... no major issues, just thinking they may benefit from being able to blow some steam about parents, life, etc... with an impartial outsider ... and, wanting to make sure we're striking the right balance between grace-filled and authoritarian parenting.

Well, it started off weird as the counselor looked at the waiting area and was a bit surprised because they don't usually take two people at once. Jody had heard that the counselor wanted us both there - when really what was said was that they wanted to see both of us as well (not meaning at the same time).

However, it turned out to be a God thing since our time there together revealed some mutual resentments and hurts that had been shoved under the carpet years ago and not dealt with. 

And, then another God thing ... apparently, the person in the slot right after us was finishing up their counseling THAT week, so that slot would now be available.

So... you guessed it. For the next several weeks, Jody and I will have back to back counseling sessions - first apart dealing with the muck in our own closets and then together, tuning up our communications and conflict resolution skills... a pretty cool thing to do before our 19th Anniversary which is coming up in August!

My point? If someone had suggested that I go in for counseling and that Jody and I have a little marriage counseling, I probably would have rebuffed saying that this isn't the right time with our annual Extreme Business Makeovers event coming up and that Jody and I are fine since we're not having any major issues and no one is running for the escape hatch. I guess I still could have said "no," but I've learned my lesson from other times God re-ordered my steps. Nope, God had to trick me on this one and I'm glad He did.

I think of the verse in Proverbs (16:9) where it says, "In his heart a man plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps."

How cool is that? He allows us to be the big goal setters for our lives ... what's the way we want to go? (ie... I want a lifelong and healthy marriage) But, since His ways our higher than our ways, He often changes the path that we take to get there. If we fight the circumstances that He allows to come our way that change our path, we tend to muck things up. But, when we start to see those things as coming from Him and look for how they fit in with our big goals, everything falls into place without strain and striving.

Has God ever tricked you? Are you open to it when He tries?

All the Best,

Thom

(Note: I promised more open and heartfelt postings ... hope this helps you when I share openly like this. It's not the most comfortable thing in the world to share the "behind closed doors" world with a ton of other people. But, there are plenty of places you can go for expert type articles. I'm no expert ... just a fellow "pilgrim" in business and in life!)