8 Principles of High Performance for Small Business Owners in the Covid Economy

Clearly the world has shifted and standard processes for doing business will continually change. 

The CEOs of companies from Macy’s to Ford, from McDonald’s to American Airlines have all used the same word to describe the fallout: Unprecedented.

The blow has been swift and massive. The Society for Human Resource Management found that 52% of small business owners surveyed - expect to be out of business within six months?

If business owners are not proactive addressing specific areas of their business with new methodologies and with a new way of thinking, it is likely that their business will go away and never come back.

With that said, how have you changed? What’s been the impact of your change in the last 7-8 weeks? 

My goal of writing this article is to be brief, yet, effective by providing information to help your business endure and prosper. 

I am not a business guru. I am a small business owner and business coach that uses PROVEN and practical methods to drive revenue and profits. There are no gimmicks or magic pills that will help you do well in business. Growing a business is like baking a cake or building a house. You should have a recipe and/or a plan.

So now let cut to the chase and I will give you my recipe (principles).

Think Creatively… Apple is a company synonymous with creativity. It’s a brand that’s encouraged others to “Think Different.” Creative thinking and imagining new ways of transforming your operations, marketing and sales will be imperative. Creativity challenges old ways of thinking and opens up new doors for new possibilities. An illustration of creativity during the covid-crisis is a bike shop that rents bikes to the community and/or offers memberships that allow them to switch to a different bikes once a week.

Avoid Negativity… protect your mind from the media. What you think and what you say to yourself and to others amounts to your attitude. Negativity leads to frustration, depleted energy, and distrust. Leaders must model the behavior they want to see. Leading by example includes showing your team/family how to communicate and interact with others.

Take More Action… it is important to work at levels far beyond what is consider standard. Don’t think compete… think dominate. Every day, you have to do something you don’t want to do. Everyday challenge yourself to be uncomfortable, push past the fear. Don’t play by the agreed upon norms of your industry. Create new ways to take over your sector because a huge percent of businesses will close due to covid and you can take more market share.

Plan Every 90 Days… have yearly, quarterly, and monthly plans. A business with no plan is a plan to go out of business. Planning helps us to stay the course on our top strategic priorities. The plans are designed to outline how you will reach your goals. How are you going to get new customers at the lowest acquisition cost? How are you going to follow up and follow through to your current customers to increase repeat business? How you’re going to hire the right people? The plan shows where you are now in relations to where you want to be. What resources will be needed to execute the plan? What needs to get done first? How much will it cost to execute the plan?

Have a Daily Plan… having a daily plan will help manage – daily distractions. Without a plan, the days' distractions will quickly take over: the phone rings, you start to answer emails/text, your staff interrupts you, and before you know it, lunchtime has arrived and you have little accomplished. It is important that your plan is written down somewhere: On a calendar, notepad, stored on your computer, or phone. Do not go through the day winging which tasks are important and what needs to get done first.

Understand Your Business Numbers… Warren Buffet said the language of business is accounting. Accounting is a systematic process of identifying, recording, measuring, classifying, verifying, summarizing, interpreting and communicating financial information. It reveals profit or loss for a given period of time.

Often as business owners we jump into the airplane cockpit and we look at all the gauges, dials, levers, and say – well I don’t know what this does, but, let’s play with it for a while and see if I can get the hang of it. Well… no wonder we’re having problems. What’s missing for most small business owners is the ability to read and understand the dashboard.

Focus on Most Profitable Activities… pay attention to $200 an hour work and NOT $15 dollar an hour work – such as answering the main phone line or doing field work. Example: if you own a plumbing business – in most cases, you shouldn’t be doing any more field work. Think of it this way…grunt work will get you a paycheck – while executive work will get you a profitable and salable business that can work without you. 

You should be in your office focusing on growth – more leads, better sales conversion, creating more profit margins, building a stronger team, better processes and systems, educating yourself on new technology and methodologies. Looking at your numbers, examining the dashboards and reports, interpreting the KPI’s & metrics for better decision making.

Ongoing Business Education… education and training is being proactive…Howard Schultz CEO of Starbucks stated: “Starbucks is not a major advertiser; people think we are a great marketing company, but in fact we spend very little money on marketing and more money on training our people than advertising.”

90% of the population will not look to improve their skills unless they have to as a part of their job, or government order, such as a person that is forced to take DUI classes after a DUI conviction.

Still, these days, professional trades like doctors, accounts, nurses, lawyers, financial planners, and business coaches - get constant education.

Some these trades have mandatory continuing education requirements because - without them, people wouldn’t keep up with necessary changes in their industry. 

What if you doctor wasn’t update with relevant critical knowledge? Would you let your doctor still operate on you?

At most companies there is very little or no training. Great business owners development themselves and their team. They understand the wisdom in taking time to sharpen their skills to be more productive and achieve peak performance.

In closing, as you formulate to reopen and restore some routine in your business, remember to be strategic, hard-working, and be optimistic about what you can do.

If you need help. Call me ASAP to get a 90 minute coaching session ($450 value) along with one month of no cost- live weekly business coaching. ($1200 value). There are some conditions to meet in order to get my complimentary coaching sessions.

I’m going to give you some really good value that will increase revenue in your business.

I have spent 9 years and 18,000 hours: researching, learning, and studying small business models and franchise systems that deliver proven results. The methods I recommend have been tried and measured with clients from over 24 industries. 

I have a simple methodology that you can grasp, and ACT ON! It will instantly impact the performance of your business. I have seen the results of looking at over 150 million dollars of successful transactions and deals done that I would love to share this with you. 

I don’t mind gifting it to you without charge – I’ll buy it for you (my time) - but there is an expectation…a very respectful one. If I do that – you must spend the time filling out a questionnaire and assessment so that I can help you understand the health of your business.

The direct benefit to you is that you can take action to make improvements that lead to better profitability.

It will require you to be at your computer with access to a phone with complete silence, if possible, for up to 90 minutes.

Reserve your appointment NOW to get your one month of free live coaching.

I’m sure you already know that if you keep doing what you’re currently doing…not much will change. And how much will that cost you? Think about that – you do nothing it will cost you something.

By doing nothing to change your current situation – this would be a common mistake that 85% of business owners do. So I say to you…please don’t let that be you.

Call me at (725) 222-8144

calendly.com/coachtonybrace   

With Success,

Tony