Do you have one good reason "why" you should expand or go into business for yourself – even if the "sky is falling"  in this economy?

How about 10?

Right now is absolutely the best time to get into business, and I’ll give you 10 good reasons "why" – no matter what other people or the media say.

So how come a good "why" (or 10) is so important?

Seeding your mind with good rational reasons "why" not only helps the logical side of your brain accept new beliefs, you’ll soon discover you'll begin to see all situations as opportunities, just like great entrepreneurs do.

So here are my 10 very good reasons to start your business right now:

1)      Everything is cheaper.

Let’s face it, there is great value right now in this and in world markets. This is the right time for fantastic deals in virtually every category, from land and equipment to commercial office space, personnel and labour. As asset prices have been knocked down, there is really no better time to get into the real estate or financial markets, or even heavy equipment and construction. Some people have waited years to find value in these markets – and now that time has come.

2)      You can hire more team and better qualified people.

In an era when even Microsoft is laying off, you can find great resources at affordable rates. Thinking about getting your high-tech start up off the ground? There's no better time than right now. Thinking about forming a professional services firm? There are plenty of engineers, accountants and attorneys looking for their next opportunity.

3)      People are looking to change suppliers.

From a cost perspective, everything is "on the table" for most companies. If you can come in with greater value even if your prices are higher, you have a good chance at winning new business. You also have the advantage of being the “new kid on the block” when it comes to pitching your products and services, and many companies are desperate to find new partnerships with new companies with a different, better or more innovative way of delivering those products and services.

4)      Ownership equals tax incentives.

Business ownership offers a variety of tax benefits that aren’t available to employees. While taxes should never be the sole reason to go into business for yourself, it should be one reason to add to you “benefits of business ownership” list.

5)      Family and friends don’t want to (or can’t) invest more money into the stock or real estate markets.

That means they may be willing to finance a portion of your new venture, or the expansion of an enterprise that has proven itself over time. The main benefit is that they know you and have a relationship with you – and if you have a solid business plan that delivers real numbers, you’re chances of raising the capital you need increase exponentially.

6)      Suppliers are giving better credit.

Because the credit markets have virtually shut down, the business-to-business credit flows are keeping money circulating out of sheer necessity. That means a bullish outlook for companies looking for good terms on stock and/or inventories. The main advantage is that all parties have more incentive than ever for finding true "win-win" situations that allow for cash and stock flow. When everyone is looking to survive, great deals can be had.

7)      You can get good PR by showing you are "going against the trend."

The media loves aberrations – and if you are optimistic by expanding or getting into business now, you would be in that category. That means you can generate some great PR by demonstrating your “alternative” view of the market.

8)      You can buy everything you need at auction.

In addition to everything being less expensive, you can find great deals at auctions, especially in terms of any large equipment and office furnishings. Auctions are also a great place to find hardly used or “gently” used restaurant and bar supplies at great prices. These days, you may even be able to get deals on fleets of vehicles and trucks for a delivery service or hauling or construction company.

9)      You can find great  "low money" or "no money" down deals.

This is simply being aware of good opportunities others have buggered up, and finding deals where you could get an entire business simply by taking over a lease (along with all the equipment). Many business owners want out at “any cost,” meaning you can negotiate great “win-win” deals that allow the current owners an escape while giving you an opportunity to turn around what could be, if run right, a very viable business.

And finally …

10)  You’ve lost your job and you have to do something.

Sometimes, the best business decision is the one you are forced into, and the incentive (as well as need) for income is often enough to push those previously "on the fence" to strike out on their own. There’s nothing wrong with being in this position; it simply means there is greater urgency to do something that will start to generate income as quickly as possible.

There you have it. A new kind of "Top 10" list for those looking for good reasons to prosper and grow in this environment.

After all, it’s not circumstances that truly define us, but rather how we react to those outside forces that ultimately determines our success.

This article is reprinted courtesy of My Business magazine, one of the leading business publications in Australia.

Last month, we looked at the “Five Ways” and showed you how easy it was to get a 61 per cent increase in your bottom line … If you missed it, call for a back issue, because it truly is a great “secret” of business.

This month, we’re going to see how you can use those numbers to achieve an UNLIMITED marketing budget for your business.

That’s right – unlimited. Most companies aren’t good when it comes to figuring marketing budgets, and use a variety of figures, whether it’s a set amount per month, a set percentage of sales or just a number they decide on when a salesperson calls to sell advertising …

So if you could have an unlimited budget, how big could you grow your business? Let me show you how this works before I get into specifics.

Imagine you went to the bank and gave them $100. Then, 30 days later they gave you back $200.  How many $100 bills would you go to the bank with every day?

Now what if you could use that information to create an unlimited number of new leads and customers in your business?

Well, you can – if you focus on your “Acquisition Cost” and the “Lifetime Value” of your customers, topics we’ve looked at before but that now take on new meaning in light of the “Five Ways.”

Acquisition Cost is simply the cost of “buying” your current customer. If you’ve put $1000 into advertising and had 100 phone calls, you’re paying $10 for each of your leads. If only 10 of those leads “convert”, or make a purchase, you’re paying $100 to capture each sale.

Now, what’s this customer really worth?

Typically not much on a first purchase. But, even if it was just $200, you are putting in $100 and pulling out $200.  That said, in most retail businesses, a “bought” customer doesn’t begin to provide break-even or profitable revenues until the second, third or even fourth purchase.

However, the value of every purchase after those initial buys are just like gold for your business.

This is where the idea of the “Lifetime Value” of your customers is so important. Simply put, “Lifetime Value” is the amount of money your average customer will spend with you over a buying lifetime.

I’ve used the example before from my old dog food business. In that business, I knew my average customer would spend $800 a year on their dogs, and the average dog lived about 10 years. I presumed a customer would stay with me half that time, meaning the “Lifetime Value” of my dog food customer would be $4000.

What if I knew I could spend up to $38 to acquire each customer to get $800 a year per customer through my door?

Well, for my first month, I’d do better than break even. By my second month, my customer would be fully profitable, and at the end of the year, my marketing efforts would generate a better than twenty times return on my initial marketing “investment.”

So how often would you spend $38 to get $800?

It’s really just simple “marketing math.” Determine how much each new customer spends with you, figure your gross profit and “presto!” – you have your new marketing budget.

Let me explain …

In my dog food business, my customer’s first purchase averaged 6 weeks for delivery, totaled $108 and had a gross profit of $38.  Thus, my marketing allowance for “buying” each new customer – up to a total of $38 – was simply that.

Do your numbers and know that as long as you can cashflow the timing between when you pay for the advertising and when you get your customers’ money, your marketing results will be the same as if you were using the bank.

The idea of the unlimited marketing budget is to get you thinking in terms of your marketing efforts as investments rather than expenses. And with any investment, you are always looking for a return.

It also forces you to look at your advertising and marketing efforts in a whole new way. Why  toss thousands of dollars out your door looking to build a brand image when you could spend those dollars more tactically to actually increase your bottom-line – and build a brand as you’re doing it by buying customers?

Once you’ve bought your prospects and turned them into customers, know you’ll need to get them buying more, spending more and staying longer with your business. Why?

Because profits really come from repeat business, and your Return on Investment (ROI) is really determined by how long you keep customers.

Now you can see how these two factors – Acquisition Cost and Lifetime Value – add a powerful dimension to the “Five Ways” formula. Again, it works for any business in any industry or category.

In the next few months, we’ll get into more details about how to lower your Acquisition Costs and increase your Lifetime Value. We’ll also look at specific strategies to boost each one of the “Five Ways” factors in your business.

I would also be interested to hear what kind of results you get from these useful tools, now that you’ve realized their real secret is in the incredible value you can gain from getting the best information possible for your business.

A free resource

Our interactive “Five Ways” calculator remains active at the following link:

actioncoach.com/free-business-calculator-profit.php

It’s simple, it’s free, and it’s designed to give you an idea of how powerful the “Five Ways” can be for your business.

This article is reprinted courtesy of My Business magazine, one of the leading business publications in Australia.

Well, here's how ...

Let's use Leverage, divide to multiply that is ...

Break the task down, you need more leads and you need better conversion rates.

First the Leads ... if you read my first ever book Instant Cashflow you'll see more than 70 ways to generate leads.  I'll go over several of them oer the next few blog posts.

Today we are going to look at your conversion rates.  No use getting more leads when you are not converting enough of the ones you;re already getting.

Here's the top 6 ways to boost your conversion rates this week ...

1.  Measure it ... that's right work out what it is, exactly, not just a gut feel.  In fact, if you want to get serious you can measure the results every step of the sales process, measure it by every sales person, and my every marketing medium ... measuring it gives real growth ...

2.  Work out what you're spending ... when you know what it costs you to buy your leads (ie. $1000 advert that got 20 leads cost you $50 a lead) you'll get very serious very quickly at turning them into real sales.

3.  Follow Up ... if you think of every lead as money already spent, money already invested in buying the leads, then you will work out ways to continue to follow up with your leads, reasons to either call, write, email and ask for the sale again and again.

4. Make Offers and Ask for the Sale ...having trained literally tens of thousands in sales the biggest thing I see is sales people who don't ever really ask for the sale.  how many ways can and do you ask for the sale, remember, never ask a yes/no question, use a detail question like 'what day do you want it delivered?' as your close.

5.  Use more questions ... stop chatting, and selling and start asking questions.  Questions let your prospect talk, it let's them show you why they feel they want to buy ... less sell more questions that will sell for you ...

6.  Training, training and more training ... every profession and sales is one of them, needs professional development.  Doctors, lawyers, accountants all have to train for a set number of hours each year to stay relevant, sales is the same.  Find and attend the best courses, read the best books, watch the best video's and so on.

So, get to work, measure it, and then make the changes to boost your conversion rate and thus your bottom line ...

All the Best ... Brad Sugars

So, a short but to the point note today, are you all professional all the time or are you friendly with your prospects and customers ???

Remember, it never hurt to grab a sandwich with your prospect ... friendly is much easier too ...

All the Best ... Brad Sugars

You have a database of cold prospects to call, you want to make sales to.

You have to make the dial, wait for the answer, get put through and then it's ON ...

Sell or be SOLD on the fact that you cannot help, have nothing they want and are wasting their time ...

First Key, the first line out of your mouth had better WOW me or you're dead ...

And by the way ... how are you today DOES NOT WOW ME ...

Ask me a benefit filled question ... ?  But don't make it overly 'salesy' ...

Hi it's Steve from XYZ company and I'm calling to see if a 37% increase in your bottom line profits is something you could invest just 3 minutes chatting about?

Or ...

It's Mary from ABC company and my boss has asked me to call and find people who needed extra sales in this economic downturn ... are more sales something you would like to invest 4 minutes looking at ... ?

Get my attention and give me a benefit ... IMMEDIATELY ...

Then use questions rather than sales statements and you will win far more deals ...

All the Best ... Brad Sugars

How many times have you played the “Whatever Happened to ...” game.  Wondering why a certain customer who used to buy what you have to sell doesn’t buy anymore?

Is there a reason?  Or group of reasons?  Has anyone ever done a study on this?

Though the years, I’ve accumulated a group of reports from different sources ranging from different sources ranging from U.S News & World Report, the Harvard Business Review, and several trade magazines to half a dozen motivational and “secrets of successful selling” articles.  But (and here’s the amazing fact) they all have the same statistics.

Now whether this is one person copying what someone else has written or said or simply perpetuating a myth I’m not sure.

What we are sure of is that the statistics make sense because they worked in our business (and seeing them gave us a reason to develop a new customer-oriented marketing plan) and in other businesses as well.

Here are the numbers as repeated in books, columns, and from the mouths of let-me-tell-you-how-to-succeed speakers:

Why Customers Leave …

·         14% leave because their complaints were not solved

·         9% leave because of the competition

·         9% leave because they moved someplace else

·         68% leave for ... no special reason or what we call perceived indifference …

In other words:  Seven out of ten customers who used to buy from you left for ... no special reason ... I don’t believe that ...  I think there was a reason ...  Or a series of reasons:

       I think they left because you never told them you cared...

       I think they left because you never told them they were important

       I think they left because you never said “Thank you” and “Please come back and shop with us again ...”

Many times I have found that owners and operators are so busy minding the business they forget to mind the Customers, and in the immortal words of super salesman “Red” Motley, “Nothing happens until a sale is made”...

How many times have you walked in to the store and found no one to give you any help or assistance?

I heard the story of writer Ken Erdman tells of the time he and his wife were shopping in a Philadelphia department store ...  His wife found an item and brought it to the counter - but no one was there.  And no one to be seen ...  And so Ken simply stood in the middle of the room and yelled at the top of his voice “Help! Help!” Suddenly security people appeared from everywhere demanding to know the problem...

“There’s no problem,” said Ken.  “We just want someone to help us.” 

The Japanese handle that by having People stationed on either side of the door when you walk into their shops ...  They bow and say O-kyaka-san, which roughly translated means, “You are a visitor to my home.”

Do I feel that way when I walk into your business?  Is one cashier talking to another ...  Or a friend on the phone ...  Or busy fixing stock ... Or ... are they so busy minding the business, they forgot to mind the customer ...

A retailer friend proudly showed us his new computers ...  He could tell us how many pairs of pink socks were sold on any given day at any given hour ...   His carry-home briefcase was filled with voluminous printout sheets that he read with the same interest and the newest novel by John Grisham ...  He would pencil in notes on the margin, make references for future buying patterns, and the store as an office away from his office at home ...

His once-successful business went bankrupt ...

He was so busy minding the business, he forgot to mind the Customer ...

Now nothing is wrong with cleaning stock, taking inventory, and buying computers ...  It is to be practiced devoutly, to be admired, and encouraged.  But not at the expense of the Customer ...  Businesses often tend to build fences to hide behind ...

We did a series of seminars for banks at annual state meetings across the country.  We asked each of them, “How many made more than ten officer calls last month?” (“Officer calls” mean  the bank officers had to leave the bank and personally make a call on a Customer and potential Customers throughout the community.)  Few raised their hand.  Yes, it was written down for them to do ...  Yes, they knew it was important ...  But there were papers to read and sign and employees to watch and criticize and . . . well, there just wasn’t enough time ...

We remind them to “take the time,” or the competing bank would be out asking a simple question to the Customer: “When was the last time you saw your banker?”

They were so busy minding the business, they forgot to mind the Customer ...

And what of the phone call to a business questioning a bill ... And the answer, “Sorry, our computer handles that.”

Really?  What’s his (or her) name?  Can I talk to him?  If the computer is going to take care of the business, does that mean it takes care of the customer as well?  Shall we set up your business like a vending machine cafeteria?  Customers come in, look for the selection they want, dial their credit card number alongside  the tiny window opening, and click . . . it opens for them to take what they want ...

And those of you that rave about the tremendous success of home shopping on TV, consider this fact:  The total sales (while impressive) make up less than 3 percent of the total retail in the United States ...

·         People are lonely ... They want someone to talk to ...

·         People are critical ...  They want to kick the tires and touch the fabric ...

·         People are social ... They want to “get out of the house” and go somewhere . . . the local mall or business is fine ...

And so the next time the desk piles up with figures to beat and merchandise to buy and salespeople to hire, make sure it does not take up the greater part of your day ...  That belongs to the Customer outside your door roaming around looking for help in buying an item ...

Take care of your Customer.  If you do, you will have a business to take care of ...

The difference is simply that some people have become aware of the power of words ... 

They understand the words you use and the way they are used in a sentence can have a dramatic effect on the impact, emotion or visualisation that each person gets when reading something they have written.

And it’s this impact, emotion or visualisation that’s the difference between finding something boring or interesting.  To achieve real impact you’ve got to direct your piece to the person who’s reading it ... just like I did when I used the word YOU earlier in this sentence.  By using this word I have personally invited you to become a part of the world I’m visualising and writing about.

And its this visualisation and emotion that’s important ... Think back to when you were telling a friend a tall story and you were waving your hands around, acting out certain scenarios and telling it with such enthusiasm that your friend couldn’t help but feel a part of your story.

They were totally captivated by your verbal story ... Now all you have to do is to tell this same story in writing.  Write as if you were telling a good friend who is overseas the same story.

For some unknown reason we are taught that when you write anything you need to forget your emotion and feelings and write in a way that is guaranteed to put people to sleep ... let me give you an example ...

‘I am having a wonderful holiday.  I went and saw my good friends who live here on the Gold Coast.  They have taken me to Sea World and Movie World which was a lot of fun.’

Would you honestly talk to your friend like that in person ...?  Most definitely not, but its amazing how many people would write to their friends like that. Compare the above to ...

‘You wouldn’t believe how good the Gold Coast is.  It really is the perfect place to have a holiday. You should feel the sand between your toes and the sun on your face.  You can even see heaps of dolphins, seals and whales at Sea World just as I did yesterday.  Last week we went to Movie World which is just great ... you’d really enjoy it.’

So what do you think was the main difference between the first and second example ...?  It was the simple fact that the second example was written almost exactly as you’d say it verbally.  It also included the word YOU a total of 6 times ... once again inviting you as the reader to become a part of the story.

These 2 simple methods can be used with any writing you do ... from letters to advertisements you’ll get a better response when you add enthusiasm to your writing ...

Put a system in place to make sure you’re only ever selling to decision makers… and most importantly STOP wasting your time… it’s valuable.

2. Learn how to contact those so called ‘hard to reach’ decision makers… They’re only hard to reach because you haven’t found a way in yet…  Of course, timing has a lot to do with it but your marketing is your foot in the door, and it’s then, that your sales skills are put to the test…

Strategically the fastest way to contact a ‘hard to reach’ decision maker is to send them a marketing piece about yourself and your business that has a little yellow post-it note attached with this message, “Thought you should read this… CK.” By the time they’ve thought about who sent it to them they’ve read your letter …

Or, send them a letter that promises you’ll give them a call, and then when you speak with their secretary you can say that you promised to call them personally…

Speak with the right person, find out why they buy, and help them do it NOW…

3. How to create literally hundreds or new and qualified leads each and every month … Stop wasting your time working hard and chasing blind leads and get your marketing working for you and have your leads call you.  That way you’re only dealing with people who ‘want’ to work with you … I know in our franchise this is vital ...

4. Price is Never a Concern… Unless YOU believe it is first… The only sales people I’ve ever met who get heaps of price concerns are the ones who focus on it themselves… Get over it; make your customers focus on value and service instead…

Ask your prospects questions that focus on service, value and their needs, never price…

5. Ask more questions… The key to selling is having your customers sold before you ask them to buy.  And, the best way to do that is to have them sell themselves by answering your questions…

6. Listen and give positive strokes… After every question listen well, don’t jump in and make your point, just stay quiet, nod your head and agree, then ask another question…

Put bluntly, you don’t have to make your point every few minutes, just let them speak for a half hour or so and then bring everything they’ve said together to make your sales argument…  Remember, it’s things they’ve said that makes your sales pitch to them…

7. Never ask for the sale… Assume that they want to buy and just confirm details of the sale, like their address, the color, etc.  Too often people just forget to assume the sale, our franchise is built on the fact that people want to buy ...

All the Best ... Brad Sugars ...

PS.  Check in with my ActionCOACH team if you want more on this ... www.actioncoach.com ...