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How is your radar?

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Yes, this is the new home of Business Performance Coaching of sbishere.com Thanks for visiting!

I had an amazing meeting with one of the web’s most brilliant and relatively unknown, creative thinkers, Reg Cheramy from web2.0central.com

Reg lives in Edmonton, the same city where I live but in a different part of town. Towards the end of our meeting he suggested that I purchase ceoradar.com which I did (thanks Reg).

Meaning to You

When you think of CEO Radar, what does it say to you? What meaning, feeling, or service/content would you expect to see on a website by that name?

Live Large!

Greg Balanko-Dickson

IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States

Nice to have IBM confirm that business model innovation is the new differentiator and can pay off.

These and other findings are in “Expanding the Innovation Horizon,” the 2006 IBM Global CEO Study reporting on the agenda of CEOs in the next few years.. with 765 chief executives from around the world… Among the 2006 study’s findings: * Business model innovation is becoming the new strategic differentiator. “The business model we choose will determine the success or failure of our strategy,” one study participant said. In contrast to the findings of the 2004 survey, innovation in the enterprise’s business model garnered nearly as much attention as innovation in a company’s core processes and functions. * Business model innovation can pay off. In the financial analysis for the study, companies that have grown their operating margins faster than their competitors were putting twice as much emphasis on business model innovation as underperformers. Via IBM - Expanding the Innovation Horizon: Global CEO Study 2006 - United States

World Class Beliefs, Roles, Habits, and Behaviors of a Remote Control CEO

Actions are the physical manifestations of our beliefs. - Steve Siebold

Everyday my coaching practice reminds me that Steve’s statement is 100% true. Steve brings a distinction that I think we all know but have thought little about.

Beliefs Primer

Our internal frame of reference which is shaped by our parents, teachers, friends, and family is like lens through which we view the world and what we accept as ‘true’. Steve calls it ‘programming’.

Programming shapes our thinking that forms the basis of our beliefs which guides our behavior. We base our decisions and actions upon these beliefs and as Steve says, “Actions are the physical manifestations of our beliefs.” Read more

What Are Your Business Goals

Learn to Make Your Business Work For You

Yes, absolutely it’s possible to enjoy the benefits of owning a business that is effortless to run, efficient and effective.

First, you must make the transition from being ‘Hands On’ (at the center of everything) to creating the structure so you can operate the business ‘Hands Free’ - By Remote Control.

Business Performance Coaching Helps You Develop the Strategies, Resources, People, and Systems…

So the business starts to work for you because you have replaced yourself with systems, processes, training, and leadership skills. No longer are you at the center of everything and you are able to operate your business ‘hands free’. Read more

The Transition

What Does it Take to Transition from Solo Entrepreneur to Remote Control CEO?

I have been thinking a lot about this question as I have been living my own experiment in becoming a Remote Control CEO while here in Hawaii.I have also been working with clients who are working at making the transition to Remote Control CEO and decided to share my observations, learning’s, and overall big picture.

You might be a coach, consultant, or trainer asking the same questions:

• How do I get off the consulting and coaching money treadmill?”
• How do I create value in the marketplace without having to be personally involved?
• How can I create a passive revenue stream?

Beyond The Money Treadmill

Whether you are starting a second act business, planning a mini retirement, or just need a break from the business treadmill to make the transition from solo-entrepreneur to Remote Control CEO you will need to deal with a number of issues. Not the least is how to make money without involving your time, effort, and energy everyday.

Up to now you are probably the only person who has ever generated revenue for your business and delivered your services to your clients. The fundamental assumption in becoming a Remote Control CEO is that you must find a way to create value in the marketplace without your personal involvement on a continual basis.

Yet you are not ready to quit working entirely but need to find a way to get off the “services treadmill” and find a way to make money without always having to trade your time for money. In order for that to happen you need to shift from the Time for Money Business Model to one that is more sustainable.

Making the Transition to a Sustainable Business Model

The fundamental flaw in trading time for money business model that every coach, consultant, and trainer deals with is when you do not work your income stops. When you get your marketing perfected or word gets out in the marketplace of the great value you deliver - you end up on the treadmill of trading time for money.

Once you get on the treadmill of trading your time for money it is difficult to get off because your income comes to a screeching halt. Pretty scary because you do not want to work forever or at least you want to be able to pick and choose when you want to work - at least that would be a good place to start. Which would make more time available so you can to begin moving toward a more sustainable business model.

To make the transition there are a few things that you need to convert and modify so that you open up some of new time and energy.

1) Eliminate the Noise

Most solo entrepreneurs experience a certain amount of noise in their practice. What qualifies as ‘noise’? It is all the interference, racket, or projects that call for your attention. Many of these things are of our own creation.

In my own case, the noise in my life is created through blogging (writing, answering emails etc.), special projects I take on for my clients, and the large variety of podcasts and blogs I read.

• What are the activities you current indulge that could be eliminated without affecting your income and yet open up time on your calendar?
• Who can you talk with who will provide you with realistic feedback to help you identify time wasting activities?
• Where can you go or what can you do to retreat (i.e. vacation) to a place where you will experience a substantial shift in your routine, get in touch with your soul, or experience silence that it creates a new perspective?

2) Understand How You Currently Add Value

Right now the primary way you add value to your customer is through the services you provide. You might have a book or two that you sell but the primary source of income is from the coaching, consulting or training you personally provide.

In order to make the transition and become a Remote Control CEO you first need to identify what specifically it is that creates value, from the customers’ perspective.

• What is it that the customer is really buying when they do business with you?
• What is it that the customers ‘appreciate’?
• What do customers experience as a result of doing business with you? What is different, what changes and how specifically does the change occur?

3) Practice Intellectual Honesty, Apply Logic, Check Assumptions

I have long said that, “The great journey in business is to know yourself well enough that your business and personal life are in alignment.”? which means that business owners need to practice ‘Intellectual Honesty’. As Nelson Fabian says:

“A leader has to have, for instance, a healthy measure of integrity in order to inspire others to follow. Leaders also tend to have a capacity for reflection and a sense of self-awareness. This capacity enables leaders to periodically take stock of their standing, the way in which they are perceived, and the impact that they are having. In addition, it gives them a heightened clarity about what their personal concept of leadership is.” - Journal article by Nelson Fabian; Journal of Environmental Health, Vol. 67, 2004.

Intellectual honesty must extend into every area of the business and in every way holding oneself to a high level of accountability. This includes developing an intellectually honest, logically valid, and reasonably attainable business plan.

All of this requires keeping your thoughts and beliefs relative and in alignment with valid evidence and questioning your own assumptions, not just applying and acting on your assumptions.

4) Business Model Needs to Change

As a solo entrepreneur the main value you bring to the market is “answers” - in one way or another everything you do that creates ‘value’ for your customer is connected to providing them with “answers” in one form or another. Answers to the questions and challenges that haunt them and prevent them from moving forward.

So the big question is, “How do you still provide the ‘answers’ the market wants from you and your company but do it without an ongoing investment of “time, effort, and energy?”

You have to wean your business off of the “trade time for money business model” and generate more cash flow from sources that do not require your ongoing personal investment of “time, effort, and energy”.

5) Create a Business Plan to Prepare for the Remote Control CEO Phase

The need for a business plan should be self-apparent. Just in case, here are my reasons why I think a business plan is especially important. The biggest shift that a solo-entrepreneur that wants to become a Remote Control CEO is to make is adjust the business model.

Changing your business model is like making a major design change to your home or business. It is like converting your Ranch Style home (single story) to a three floor split level. That type of a major design shift requires considerable consideration, rethinking, and planning - the same is true of your business - major shifts in your business model benefit from a thorough business plan.

This is especially true as a solo-entrepreneur. The daily demands of serving clients, maintaining consistent cash flow, and managing your own administration leaves little time to invest in working on making the transition to a Remote Control CEO business model.

6) Escape the ‘Rock Star Syndrome’

One of the most subtle traps that coaches, consultants, and trainers get tangled in is what I call the Rock Star Syndrome. People fall in love with one idea or concept and some notoriety often follows.

Which often happens when your reputation is widely known in a specific industry, you write a book that successfully captures the imagination of your audience, or people are referred to you from people who know you and your work or people read your book and then call you to get more information your coaching or consulting.

Picking the low hanging fruit, is easy to do, but after someone harvests the main crop there is no more low hanging fruit plus it is very difficult to develop a sustainable business around picking up ‘low hanging fruit’ as it is unpredictable.

7) Train a Stable of Consultants or Develop a Range of Products

As a solo-entrepreneur you have two choices either develop a stable of consultants/coaches and train them to do what you do or develop a full range of products to educate, train, and support customers using a self-study approach.

Training and developing a stable of employees to do what you do is a lot of work and so is writing and creating a series of new products. The downside of the product approach is until you actually have products to sell nothing changes.

Hiring employees, even those with considerable experience requires a lot of training, educating, and development before they begin to contribute profits. If they do not work out, you have to start all over again and have lost time and momentum.

Selling your own products takes time to develop a respectable level of income to replace your consulting, training, or coaching work. I like this approach the best because provides the most control and at the end of the day you still own the rights to your products. Plus it allows you to make slow and steady progress without assuming the extra liabilities that come with hiring employees.

E-Learning is still in its infancy and continues to grow as the technology improves. I think it holds a lot of promise for a solo-entrepreneur who wants to make money with less of an ongoing time commitment.

Un-Retirement: Small Business Trends: Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance

Anita Campbell writes Small Business Trends - Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs and Work Life Balance…

…not only is there a trend toward Baby Boomers undertaking new opportunities as entrepreneurs, but that in turn is giving rise to new opportunities for enterprising entrepreneurs to serve this huge demographic.

I first began watching this trend back in late 2004 when I was writing my first book, Tips and Traps When Buying a Business and again in my latest book, Tips and Traps for Writing an Effective Business Plan.

Research shows that more individuals are choosing a post-retirement career jump, new business ventures or skipping retirement all together. More baby boomers are seeing retirement as a lifestyle change and a new opportunity rather than the conclusion of a career, and nearly 70 percent report that they expect to continue working well into their retirement years, according to AARP surveys. Anita Campbell, founder and editor of Small Business Trends, has labeled the phenomenon “un-retirement” and says boomers are the driving force toward a new balance of work and leisure. Via Courant

With 70 percent working in retirement, many seeking new business ventures, and viewing this as a “lifestyle change” spells a real challenge for employers with baby boomer employees and an opportunity for business owners that are looking for buyers for their business because they will be looking to Buy a Business, Not Start a Business.

Knowing What You Want

What do you want?

You can get anything you want, first you need to know what you want. I suggest that before you start to do any type of business planning, you first get clear about what you want to “Have, Do, or Be”.

• Have’s, there are things you want to own and possess. Things like your house, car, clothing, toys etc.
• Do’s, are things you want to experience. Traveling, scuba diving, sky diving, run a marathon etc.
• Be, are things you want to occur or stay. Be a great entrepreneur, expert in audio reproduction, recognized for your contributions to children’s issues.

What do these things have to do with business and planning?

They all provide meaning, significance, and value to our lives. A successful and profitable business is not an end in itself - it provides the resources to allow you to have, do, or be you.

I am currently reading this book. If you are struggling in coming up a list of things you want to have, do, or be perhaps it is because you are tired of the deferred living plan that 95% of the population follow. Why not give yourself permission to do something different? If this describes you, I recommend getting a copy of The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

Remember, your business is a conduit to provide the finances to live our dream. Do you know what you want?

Or perhaps you just know that you would like to Become a Remote Control CEO?

Lifestyle Design: The Best Reason To Be Self-Employed

When we were in Hawaii, my son and I went snorkeling off the beach at the condo on Maui and hour and a half later we looked back and were surprised how far we had gone. We showered off and then went for a swim in the pool. It was a great start to the day and we each had a great time.

I remember thinking to myself, this is a great way to live, doing what I want when I want. So today I want to introduce the topic of ‘Lifestyle Design’.

Lifestyle Design: Do What You Want & Run Your Business Too

Owning and operating a business does not mean you have to become a workaholic and kill yourself. You do have to know what you want and therein lies the problem.

As a business coach I always say that you can have anything you want but first you have to know what you want. I’m not talking about broad generalizations like being successful in business, make more money, or have more time off.

What Excites You? Get Real, Be Specific

No goals here, I want to know what excites you. I want you to identify those things that you can be, do, or become that really turn you on and get the adrenalin pumping. I am talking about things like:

• Mini-Retirement or take an extended vacation.
• Scuba diving in Hawai’i.
• Walking the lava flows.
• Working two days a week.

Well I have accomplished each of those goals in the last two months and it feels fantastic. Very satisfying and rewarding, after all when do you get a teenager to spend quantity and quality time? I count myself fortunate.

A Little Bit of Planning Goes a Long Way

It all started last October when over dinner I was musing with my wife if she would be interested in travelling if I could pay for the trips by combing a bit of business with pleasure. We decided to do some seminars with the goal in mind to make enough money to pay for the trip and expenses.

What we ended up doing was different but the end result was the same, paying for 60% of our trip expenses and going away for 7 weeks it really made a big difference.

What is it that excites you? What do you want to do?

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