Entrepreneurs, more accurately termed “Solopreneurs”, often believe that they are an island, that they must accomplish everything on their own with their own resources.

These Solopreneurs think that they are maximizing their chance of survival and profitability.

They are totally WRONG.

Two Kinds of Business

Consider what Michael Gerber says in his world-famous book The E-Myth: Revisited

Entrepreneurs, more accurately termed “Solopreneurs”, often believe that they are an island, that they must accomplish everything on their own with their own resources.  These Solopreneurs think that they are maximizing their chance of survival and profitability.  They are totally WRONG.  Consider what Micheal Gerber says in his world-famous book The E-Myth: Revisited.

“Picture the typical entrepreneur and Herculean pictures come to mind: a man or woman standing alone, wind-blown against the elements, bravely defying insurmountable odds, climbing sheer faces of treacherous rock–all to realize the dream of creating a business of one’s own. The legend reeks of nobility, of lofty, extra-human efforts, of a prodigious commitment to larger-than-life ideals. Well, while there are such people, my experience tells me they are rare.” – Micheal Gerber

I agree with Micheal Gerber that this image is absolutely absurd!  As long as you are a solopreneur, working on every facet of your business, you will be your business’ number one problem!!!  As Gerber explains in his book, there are 2 kinds of businesses:

1. People-dependent businesses
2. Systems-dependent businesses

Which Are You?

How do you know which one you are?  Well, simply ask yourself this:

“if I (or anyone else in my company) were to leave my business for 6 months, would the business still exist when I came back?”

If you answer YES, then you have a systems-dependent business.  If NO, then you likely have a person-dependent business.

What IS a Systems-Dependent Business?

So what IS a systems-dependent business?  Consider this: McDonald’s can deliver the exact same promise – the exact same food and customer experience – whether you are in Edmonton, Toronto, New York, or Kalamazoo.  And it’s delivered by disinterested, teenage kids – some of the least qualified employees on the continent.  And this do this BILLIONS of times every single year, at thousands and thousands of locations from sea-to-sea.

…and yet you can’t ever deliver that level of consistency to one set of customers of your one business, located in only one city or town.  What’s the difference?

The difference is SYSTEMS.  Your business depends on you (people-dependent) while McDonald’s depends on systems – the people can be swapped in and out.

I will now ask you: why is it that you are taking care of making sales calls, balancing the books, dealing with inventory, answering calls, cooking, cleaning, and doing all of this ON YOUR OWN?

True Entrepreneurs

The true entrepreneur sets up a system, then delegates it.  Once that’s taken care of, then they create a system for another area of their business, and delegate that out. And they do this with every area of their business until they ARE able to walk away for 6 months or more.

And the funny thing is that it is often the mundane, monotonous, pressing / urgent, and repetitive tasks that distract an aspiring entrepreneur from actually doing the “big-picture” items that will actually take their business to the next level.

Build a SYSTEM for these mundane, monotonous, and repetitive tasks, and DELEGATE.  Then get re-focused on the MOST IMPORTANT things… building your business, learning new skills, ideas, and strategies, and maybe even spend more time with your kids, spouse, family, and friends.

Systems for More Than Business

And what if you don’t own a business?  Well, in your family life you likely DO have many mundane, repetitive tasks that take time away from being with your family.

• Perhaps processing application forms for a charity you volunteer for.
• Perhaps calling all of your relatives for the forthcoming family reunion.
• Perhaps it’s really a pain for you to balance the family cheque book at the end of the month.
• Or maybe it’s a hassle to always be coordinating the parents for Johnny’s soccer team.

Any of these items could be systemized and delegated.

So many routine and mundane tasks…

• WHAT IF you could get someone else to do any or all of this?
• Would that make you extremely happy?
• Would that give you more time to be with your family, kids, and friends?
• Would your life experience be better if you just didn’t have to deal with any of that boring, productivity-killing, repetitive brain-freeze?

Well, having your own Virtual Assistant (VA) may or may not be a fit for you.  To find out if and how a VA would help you in your specific circumstance, contact Tina at 1-877-977-4776, or Info@SaveTimeBoostProfits.com to get a FREE 30-minute consultation.

Why do you employ people? For each of them to produce value, resulting in net profit in excess of the amount you pay them.

Why would you accept less than that? I know some of us are saddled with unions, relatives that work for us, people we’ve inherited and can’t easily get rid of, and many other excuses, however here are a few pointers that I think will help.

Remember, getting the job is the first job of someone who wants to be an employee. After that, every day, they have to prove to you why you should still hire them. and not give them the sack.

1.   Link their income to their production.

Work out what your real net profit is, your incremental profit, and a way to measure the output of every employee. This takes some analysis and a spot of Work Study (Organization and Methods), but it is well worth the exercise.

• Don’t be too generous, and remember you’re not a socialist organization. People should get paid according to what they produce, not what they need.
• Set traps to catch rats. Take a really good look at productivity, shop your own business, record phone calls, restrict Internet use, use Secret Shoppers, send one employee on leave for a week and see if the others cope. If they do, get rid of the worst one.
• Educate your employees about profit and business.
• Look after your champions, and remember that people change.

2.  Increase the production of your salespeople.

Teach your salespeople to sell, make them accountable, don’t accept excuses, have a sales meeting EVERY day, and fire your worst salesperson on a regular basis. Focus on results, not pipe-line, reputation, branding, market share – just the bottom line. Get them all onto a commission-only basis. Beware of  “sales trainers” – they usually can’t sell.

3.    Weed out the leeches and parasites.

Make their job unbearable if necessary; simply give them lots of work that they hate and micro-manage them. They’ll soon leave if you do it right. You’re in business to make a profit, and you don’t owe them anything.

4.   Learn to Delegate.

The best program I ever attended to learn about management was the Dale Carnegie Management Course. I learned a lot of valuable information about delegation, and I highly recommend it. Most “managers” have no idea how to manage, motivate, or discipline people. Your people need to set their own goals, report to you how they’re doing and how they will improve, and be accountable for their commitments. No excuses acceptable.

5.    Understand Joint Ventures.

In my business, everyone I deal with is a JV partners. I run my company with no employees, no risk, no cost, no overhead and little time. So I make a lot more profit and I don’t have to deal with losers and users. Lean and mean. Learn how JV’s work.

6.    Don’t hire socialists, smokers, or people who don’t need a job.

If you need an explanation for this one, you have a problem.

7.   Reward innovation, honesty, loyalty, and ambition.

These qualities are hard to find. Look after your champions and lock them in with residual commissions and long-term incentives.

8.    Familiarity breeds contempt.

Don’t be their “buddy”, maintain your distance, be strict, hold people accountable, and lead by example.

9.    Set up a “Dress and Grooming Code”.

When people look good, they feel good, and they do better work.  Set and maintain high standards in every area of your business.

10.    Train them, train them, train them.

Especially in the Joint Venture mindset.

I knew a jeweler who attended a Dale Carnegie management training program with me  and returned to his business a changed man.  Suddenly, mall security guards started arresting thieves in his store.

When he remarked to one of the security guards that it seemed that crime was increasing in the mall, the security replied that the crime rate hadn’t changed – the guards had simply started intervening and arresting thieves, whereas before, they had turned a blind eye. They were rewarding my friend for his change in attitude towards them. But I digress…

What REALLY Motivates Employees

In his book, “Persuasion IQ”, Kurt W. Mortensen discusses a working paper by Kenneth A. Kovack of George Mason University, Fairfax, VA. Kovack researched the differences between what motivates employees and what managers think motivates employees. Here’s the data:

What Motivates Employees as Ranked by Employees

1. Interesting work
2. Appreciation of work done
3. Being well informed
4. Job security
5. Compensation
6. Growth and promotion opportunities
7. Good working conditions
8. Personal loyalty to employees
9. Tactful discipline
10. Help with personal problems

What Motivates Employees as Ranked by Managers

1. Compensation
2. Job security
3. Growth and promotion opportunities
4. Good working conditions
5. Interesting work
6. Personal loyalty to employees
7. Tactful discipline
8. Appreciation of work done
9. Help with personal problems
10. Being well informed

“Shared Ownership”

One thing that I believe will cover many of these requirements is “Shared Ownership”. I’m not talking about giving your staff shares in your company.  I’m talking about profit-sharing Joint Ventures, where employees get compensated in direct proportion to the value they add as measured in profit.

Front line employees are often to privy to information of which management is blissfully unaware, and many times by design. Empowering your employees by partnering with them:

• gives them an “ownership mentality”.
• reduces absenteeism, laziness, and shoddy work.
• increasing motivation, loyalty, productivity, interest, enthusiasm, and innovation.

Managing the Potential Downside

Opening opportunities to your staff has its downside and risks, and therefore should be carefully managed, watched, and controlled, while allowing enough freedom and accepting enough damage through honest mistakes and inexperience to remove fear and hesitation.

Clearly defined boundaries, regular, open communication, and quick feedback, and awareness of the power of operant conditioning, with it’s requisite fast reinforcement, is essential.

As “partners” (without legal implications, please), most of the above motivational factors (we should also be cognizant of Hertzberg’s Hygiene Factors here) will be more than adequately addressed, indeed enhanced, and your bottom line will see the results.

Two business owners met in a pub in Seattle in late January of this year. We’ll call them Larry and Bob to protect their identity. I had met with Bob to discuss increasing sales in his office furniture business and given him an idea to use. He had identified Larry as a potential Joint Venture partner for this marketing system and arranged a meeting.

Bob’s offer went something like this:

“Larry, we both sell good office furniture and we both offer great service. You’re not to far away from where I am based, as you know, and I have an idea to run by you. What is your average closing ratio? In other words, out of every ten people you pitch, how many buy from you?”

Larry replied that he sold about two in ten.

“So, Larry, what do you do with the other eight prospects? It cost you good marketing money to find them, and they all have an urgent need for office furniture, and they can afford it, or you wouldn’t be talking with them. If they leave your store, they’re going to buy somewhere else, right?”

“You’re right, Bob. What do you suggest, Bob?”

“I suggest that you say to everyone who doesn’t buy from you, ‘I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you today. I know you’re serious about getting some office furniture right away, and I hate to waste your valuable time, so I’m going to call a good friend of mine who offers equally good products and service to what I do, and ask him to meet with you and see if he can help you.’ Then you call me and set up an appointment with your prospect. I’ll do the same for you. That way, Larry, we each get to see 18 prospects instead of 10! I see your pre-sold prospects and you see mine!”

On average 50% of the referred customers buy using this technique of cross referring unconverted leads between businesses.

Since they instituted this simple, yet effective system, both Larry and Bob have seen significant increases in their sales figures, at absolutely no cost or risk. Try it in your business; work WITH your “competition”, and make more money!

I talked recently with a fellow who has a staff of eighty-five people that are not his sales team. He wants to increase his sales, so I suggested he consider turning these employees into salespeople. “But that’s not their job!” he protested.

Exactly. And that’s why most business owners overlook their greatest underutilized asset – their non sales employees. I got very excited when I realized that there were 85 people who could help increase his sales with no cost or risk!

The Unrealized Value of Your Employees

Every person on earth wants to feel important, recognized and appreciated. We want to feel that our contribution is important and that our ideas and suggestions are valued. Plus, we want to feel that we get rewarded for any value that we create. I have found that our employees at the coalface often know more about our businesses than we do. Their suggestions are based on real life, real experience and real opinions. They have insights and recommendations which could radically improve our bottom line profits, if we only gave them a reason to share those ideas, listened, and rewarded them accordingly.

Unleash Massive Sales!

Your employees want to feel a part of the business. They want to feel that they have secure jobs and that they can increase their income without moonlighting and arriving at your business half asleep. By listening to their ideas and providing them non-threatening and easy to use, understandable sales tools with a system to measure and reward results, you can unleash massive sales! When we understand that our businesses provide products and services that relieve pain and create value, we can train our employees to perceive “sales” differently. Use this massive, neglected resource – the cost is miniscule and the results are extraordinary – improved productivity and loyalty, decreased employee and customer attrition and increased sales and profits, innovation and motivation.

Give your employees what they want and the sky’s the limit

Zig Ziglar said, “You can get anything out of life, if you’re prepared to give enough other people what they want.” Most employees dread going to work and we can change that. Give your employees what they want: a voice, an ear, an opportunity, security, self esteem, reward, motivation, purpose and recognition, get your ego out of the way, and the sky’s the limit.

How workers ranked what they considered important, starting with the most important:

1. Appreciation for good work,
2. Feeling “in” on things,
3. Help with personal problems,
4. Job security,
5. Good wages,
6. Interesting work,
7. Possibility for promotion,
8. Loyalty of Management to workers,
9. Good working conditions,
10. Tactful discipline.

Apply this knowledge to your management systems and win!

If you do what you love:

• You will be good at it.
• You’ll be able to work for longer periods of time.
• You will be happy.
• You’ll get better results.

If you do what you’re not good at:

• You’ll do a poor job.
• You’ll get tired easily.

Good managers delegate to strength, not to weakness. Smart entrepreneurs do only what they’re good at and subcontract or delegate that which they don’t do well themselves. Adlai Stevenson said,

“It’s hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.”

Likewise with Relationships

If you don’t like someone, your business with that person won’t go well. The relationship will be weak, flawed, and subject to communication blocks, misunderstandings, and stress. Games will be played and excuses made, respect lost and objectives sacrificed in the name of peace. Work ONLY with people whom you like, trust, and respect. Those strong relationships will carry you to your goals faster. Albert Einstein said,

“Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.”

Awareness Requires Introspection

In order to accomplish the above two objectives, doing only what you’re good at and working with people you like, trust, and respect, one has to do some introspection, some self-analysis, some gazing at a mirror and examining of the past.  What didn’t work in the past, and what did? When you objectively review your past performance, you will see the above two success criteria becoming blazingly obvious. Be aware of your strengths and weaknesses, and of whom you’re working with, and adjust your battle plan accordingly.

Time Reveals Ones’ True Nature

Also, realize that people change. They either reveal who they really are over time (the mask slips, and you realize that the jolly old friend is an evil old fiend) or they change their attitude and choices as their true nature starts finding a way out. One can only behave contrary to ones’ real self for a period of time; the act wears thin. Rika says,

“When someone shows you who he really is, believe him.”

When you see that people are not who you thought they were, or that they have changed, remove them from your life as soon as possible, or suffer the consequences. Replace losers with winners. Herbert Swope said,

“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure: which is: Try to please everybody.”

Your first responsibility is your objective, not making losers feel good.

Where Are You Headed?

With the above in mind, perhaps it’s time to look at what your business will be like in a few months’ time.

1. What do you love doing and do really well? That’s all you should be doing; the rest should be delegated, subcontracted, or removed from the picture.
2. Who do you really enjoy working with, people you like, trust, respect, and can rely on to do exactly what they promise, when they promise to do it, and much more? Who goes the extra mile, and doesn’t need constant motivation, managing, and manipulation? These people should be rewarded and protected from the underperformers. and parasites. High maintenance people become a real pain in the neck and slow your progress.
3. What is the ideal picture with the most benefits and profit, along with the least risk and frustration?

Good leaders constantly reevaluate and adjust their action plans and tactics in order to achieve their objectives. The know themselves, and they’re very realistic about their fellow soldiers. Study Churchill, Montgomery, and Patton, and you will see master strategists at work. They’re not addicted to their tactics, and they are strongly committed to their objectives. As the leader of your business, success is not an option; it’s a responsibility for the sake of yourself and your good people. Churchill told us, “The price of greatness is responsibility.”

Joint Venture Brokers are strategists.

They don’t:

• Do things randomly.
• Grasp at straws.
• Leap onto every new, flavor-of-the month start-up scheme.

They are sophisticated entrepreneurs who are very selective and careful with the allocation of their time and attention. They carefully and objectively consider their options and focus on profit and long-term income and potential.

Why Most Fail

The concept of “FEEDERS” is essential and foundational to your Joint Venture success. The reason why 97% of the people in Network Marketing, for example, only recruit three or four people and then quit, or take years to get any traction, is that they simply haven’t Feeders to bring them an ongoing line of new recruits. The reason why most “Motivational Speakers,” “Coaches,” and “Consultants” have no money or customers is because they don’t have Feeders to feed them business on a regular basis. Any salesperson or business owner that understands this concept will make serious money.

What Works

A “Feeder” is a mechanism that continues to feed you prospects and business, given that you follow up and manage the process and the people correctly. Smart Joint Venture Brokers create the situation where all their Joint Ventures feed each other, and they have Feeder events and systems that operate consistently and predictably. They use leverage, delegation, duplication, and leadership to set up and maintain these Feeders. A Feeder that doesn’t work is carefully monitored, manipulated, tweaked, fixed, and adjusted until it either produces or is discarded, and it is weighed an evaluated solely on its performance, potential, profit, positioning, and productivity.

Salespeople, Joint Ventures, seminars, Bootcamps, newsletters, websites, book, CD’s, reports, centers of influence, give-aways, talk, conference calls, databases, webinars, and most of all our other Joint Ventures, are all Feeders, as long as the systems are properly and professionally established and coordinated. This is one of the skills that we teach at our DollarMakers Certified Business Mentor Training program. By creating self-duplicating systems and Joint Ventures that feed each other and attract new business by design, we use a technology that creates exponential growth and wealth with no cost or risk, and very little time. “Feeders feed, losers bleed.”