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So many times I’ve heard the phrase, “You’re only as strong as your weakest link.”  This is touted in the military and throughout sports teams, as well as in business.  But what does this mean for your business?

Whether you hired your team 5 years ago or you’re just looking into expanding there are several key factors to consider when developing your business support staff and to keep your links consistently strong.

Personality.  Let’s face it, a drama filled workplace is not cohesive.  It is disruptive and draining for everyone – including your customers. Realistically no matter how hard you try to hide it or keep it behind closed doors, your customers will see and feel the drama vibe. This is why it’s very important to consider the personalities of the people you want to put together.  Consider what they bring to the table. Ask them how they problem solve. Ask them how they communicate best. But most importantly, talk to them about previous employers and co-workers If they immediately start talking about troubles and issues, it’s a sure fire bet that they were part of the problems.

Availability.  When you hire new people you have expectations of what is needed and hours that need to be filled.  Some people when asked about their availability will be limited based on their other commitments. Be sure to pay attention to their other commitments so you can determine if those obligations would bleed through into the work you need them to be present for in your company.  I encourage my personnel to have outside interests and to ‘get away’ from the workplace, but at the same time you want them to have a sense of commitment to your needs as well.

Drive. This is something that is harder and harder to find as you search for help.  The ‘sense of urgency’ is something that few people understand. You don’t want people who are just counting the minutes on the clock.  You want employees who are vested in what you are doing and understand the importance of deadlines. As an employer you need to decide if you’re willing to pay overtime to meet deadlines if it’s needed.

Strengths. To have success in a workplace you need people to work within their strengths.  Focusing on their weaknesses isn’t gaining anything for the team as a whole. Your goal is to have a unit who work together, each in their own area of expertise. You need to put together a group of people who have different strengths and those who are willing to work in their area of expertise. Admittedly, there are times in business when people will need to wear multiple hats and do other jobs, but for the most part you want them working where they will see success.  This creates strong people in a strong link.

Remember, one of the biggest assets – and personal audits – is to know your personal weaknesses.  Surround yourself with people who are good at doing what you can’t, or don’t want to.

Being a business owner is a multi leveled and sometimes multi personality, ongoing crazy train with mountain highs and valley lows intermixed.  Phew! 

“Never a dull moment.” they said. “Always an adventure”, they claimed.

Crazy train or not – this is your business.  Your life – YOUR adventure.  So buckle up!

Just as you need to visit the 50 ft view of your business  – you also need to drill down into your business on a regular basis.  Consider it a self inflicted business audit. Your business could have leaks you don’t know about. You could have potential issues you have let slide. And we all know that leaks – especially the unsuspecting ones are what can sink a ship.

A few things to consider …

If you have memberships and subscriptions for your business, yourself or your employees, you need to check on these from time to time. They could be memberships to online courses, subscriptions to software or access to platforms.  Some may be obsolete to your business but haven’t been canceled. Some you may have outgrown.  The more employees you have, the more you may find this internal audit pertinent to your business. If you are on the fence about keeping a service, reach out to the company and see if they have a lesser package or will discount your rate.  It’s amazing what some companies will do to save you as a customer.

If you sell products online, do you check for failed payments or abandoned carts? This is a huge area of leaking money.  If you have failed payments on subscriptions or on payment plans – they can easily get missed. You need to have these audited at least twice a month.  If you have an online store make sure you setup an automated abandoned cart sequence to reach out to your customers when they have left items unpurchased. 

If you change employees, do you have a procedure for offboarding?  Changing passwords, cleaning up files, transferring information. Many people think this isn’t necessary or perhaps they will get to it ‘later’.  We all know that ‘later’ is easily forgotten. Make sure you have a documented process for locking down information when employees leave the company.  This isn’t a process out of fear – this is a process out of necessity.

A profitable business isn’t just about making money.. It’s about finding the areas to save in.  A penny saved is a penny earned, right? Regardless if it’s new revenue through increased sales or found revenue in savings, it still increases your bottom line.  So don’t discount the ability to find savings for your business. 

Remember, just because it’s what has always been done, doesn’t mean it’s still relevant today.  Keep this in mind as you schedule quarterly audits of your business. 

Let’s go fly a kite….Up to the highest heights….

It’s time to soar above your business and take a look at the big picture. Zoom out on your business and layout the schematics for your master plan.  Allow yourself to dream – big!

Building a business can be like a puzzle but if you’re not careful it can feel like – and look like – you are building it blindfolded.  Imagine if you were trying to put a puzzle together without the picture? The pieces wouldn’t make sense. They wouldn’t get put into the right places – and ultimately you would take it apart and put it back together over and over again.

You need to compile all the ‘what ifs’ and all the possibilities and create a mind map of your incredible journey.

Sometimes we get so busy with the day to day details of running our business that we forget to dream. We have a set pattern we follow, fires to put out and when it gets right down to it, a business to run. This is what business is about.  And if you are a business owner you are continually in the heart of it.

Yet having that big picture – the ultimate dream, is something you need to visit from time to time. Regardless of what type of business you have there are always different avenues you could be adding to your business.  You could become an author, you could create an online course, you could become a speaker, you could give seminars, you could develop a complimentary line of products to go with your services, you could have retreats, and the list goes on.

Have a big dream – and visit it from time to time. Soar up into the clouds and look down on the dream.  Give it the 50 ft view. And when you look close you will see the red pin: “You are here”

If you are building your empire, no matter how long you’ve been in business, you need to advertise.

Let’s take marketing.

Marketing has been around since the beginning of time.  Even the crazy inventions, like the wheel, had to be marketed. So to say that there aren’t any ‘new’ ideas out there is pretty true. I’m not saying what you serve your marketing on, hasn’t changed but the same ideas and concepts, philosophy and psychology remain the same.  (If you haven’t caught our light bulb moment on Aristotle check out our Facebook page)

At the same time Marketing is the part of business that can get a little messy. (Hence, the napkins) Because even though marketing has been around… and around, it still requires specific knowledge about your products and your clientele as well as the best ways to reach them.  You will be providing solutions for your customers.

This then becomes testing.

Marketing is about finding the best way to reach your audience where they are. Whether that’s at their dinner table, at their gym or at the soccer game, you need to know where to find them. There isn’t a “Build it and they will come” exact science to marketing.” It’s like leading a horse to water….  You have to have the right water, in the right location and the horse has to be thirsty. The right marketing will make sure your product reaches your potential clients when they are thirsty.

Through marketing you will appeal to their dreams, their frustrations and give them solutions to their anguish.  You will be the answer they may not have even known they were searching for. You do this through direct mail, email, social media, video, etc.  Once you’ve discovered the medium and method that works you can begin re-targeting and reverse marketing.

Make sure to check back to see how these can work for you.