Is your business successful? Are you being responsible for learning your business and open to the changes necessary for it to grow and thrive? Are you training your employees on how to be better "entrepreneurs"? Are you hiring the right people to join your team?

As business owners, we have our dreams and have been thinking about them and living them for a long while. We then hire people that are needed to support our vision and forget they don't have the same dreams. They have their own dreams. It doesn't mean that can't support our company's vision and mission, it simply means they are not on the same page as us or even in the same paragraph. It's simply a lack of communication and focus on the training and development necessary to grow.

The result? Your business is not operating at full potential. Employees leave the company and "bad mouth" it to 250 of their closest friends and family. Quotes are under priced and products given away unnecessarily. Goals, are not achieved, if ever established. Mistakes are not being resolved to the satisfaction of your customers. You're working too many hours and have an unrealistic expectation that others should as well. Operational changes are based on a "new flavor of the month" concept.

1) When hiring employees, take the time and care to hire people the way you would purchase equipment. Do you know most employees are hired within 4.3 minutes of meeting them? We normally take much longer to purchase a copier or computer even longer to purchase a truck. Yet, we don't take the same care in hiring the driver of that truck. A quick rule of thumb is to take the person's annual salary and multiply it by 25 percent. That's how much money you'll lose every time you hire a person that quits or is fired. It doesn't include the people that have quit and are still on your payroll!

2) You've made a profit today, but what about tomorrow? Take time to "get real" about your money. Then train your employees to better understand a financial statement. In fact, 99 percent of employees are not well trained in reading the numbers and making appropriate business decisions. They simply look at the numbers as do many business owners and base their decisions upon how they're "feeling." Have a CPA or consultant help you learn to use the numbers to make a difference in managing your company.

3) Achieving results is not an event it's a process. Set goals for your business and yourself, and have your employees set goals that support these. Also, have your employees set personal goals that can make a difference in their professional development as well as personal life. Then work those goals. Be focused. Support each other when these goals are not being met. Too often we give up too soon. Or we'll hit a hurdle and rationalize why it won't work. Learn to "not give up" and you'll achieve your goals. Your company will flourish and you'll have happier and more productive employees.

4) Obstacles are simply opportunities for a business to shine and grow or the opportunity to lose a customer. Train your employees and yourself to really look at your business from the eyes of your customers. What works? What doesn't work? Does your office need to be refurbished? Do your sales people need better training to work with different types of customers? Do products need to be displayed differently? Are your phone skills updated? When you have upset customers are they handled appropriately and responsibly? Are your computers and software up-to-date, along with the appropriate training on how to use them? Are your envelopes, letterhead, business cards, web site, and other business communication tools all consistent?

Many years ago a successful general manager of a company told me how to get a quick fix regarding whether a company is well run or not. Since then, when I visit a company, I look at the bathrooms. Are they clean? Corners dirty? Paper in receptacles? Soap readily available? It's very surprising the correlation between the quality of the incidental, small things in a business and how well the business is run.

5) Every successful business owner has made mistakes. Hit hurdles. How do you effectively clean them up and learn from them? If you're placing blame, you need to remember for every finger that's pointing outward, you have three fingers pointing back at yourself. See the issue from the point of the customer. Then, instead of assuming you know how to fix it, ask the customer what it would take. Then negotiate for success. Now take that training and use it with your employees.

6) Are you living your life in a balanced manner? Are your employees spending time with their families? Are you? My clients that are work-alcoholics can't come in before 7 a.m. and must leave by 7 p.m. When I mean leave, I mean leave work at work. It is surprising that even the families with good relationships got better. Interestingly enough, even more was accomplished during the day. And, they had more fun coming into work.

In particular, focus on your newer employees, those still trying to make their mark and developing their professional acumen. When at work, have them focused on work. Limit their number of hours. Young people without a life outside of their job literally will look at their job as 24/7. Encourage them to have a life outside of the job. Have them get involved in community projects, trade associations, chambers, or get their MBA. It not only develops their leadership capabilities, it makes them happier and healthier employees.

7) We all have paradigms of what "success should look like." This can get in our way of being effective. It can come from reading a book or comparing ourselves to the industry average. We love to compare our business with others, and then make assessments as to whether we're doing as well as we should. We will either find ourselves on the "short end" or we've inflated what is working. Neither is providing clarity in supporting "direction" for our business.

Questions you should ask yourself and have your employees answer include: Are you profitable? Do you have low turnover? Are you able to spend time with your family? Do you enjoy what you're doing? Do you have a high percentage of customers that provide repeat business? Are you continually developing new customers? Are you able to develop new products, services and processes effectively? Are you providing on-going development opportunities for your employees? Do you yourself? Are you able to work together harmoniously even when you don't agree? If you've answered yes, why are you comparing? If no, get a coach, who can be a resource, to resolve the issues based upon what your company needs not the latest fad.

Success is what you make of it. Living your professional AND personal life fully is what life is all about. But, only IF you're doing what you need to do, when you need to do it. IF you're learning from your mistakes and taking full responsibility. IF you're able to read and learn from your financial numbers. IF you're confident in your own success without comparing it to others. IF you're continually developing yourself and your employees. IF you're doing all of these, then you're providing the "direction" necessary for your business to thrive. And, it will!

Copyright, Jeannette L. Seibly, 2002