I recently attended a workshop hosted by Heather Yakes titled 6 Secrets to a Profitable Business That Can Work Without You. Heather is an award-winning business coach and she shared strategies and proven techniques to increase profitability, make a team more effective and get a grip on time management.
I really enjoyed the workshop and I took away three key action items that I believe are worth sharing.
There is No Such Thing as Time Management
I frequently fall into the trap of letting my email inbox and outside requests on my time, dictate how I spend my days. “Self mastery” is what we really need to focus on according to Heather and I agree. She recommends that we identify the most important actions for the week (e.g., team time, new business, marketing, client work, free time, etc.). Once you have identified the important actions, begin blocking your calendar with dedicated times for each action during the week. Most important, do not sacrifice your time to reorder priorities or focus on other activities. For example, we have dedicated Monday mornings to team meetings at Marketing Works and we do not sacrifice this time for other activities. Here is a rough outline of how I try to organize my work week.
Another important lesson I learned a while ago is to create your to do list each day and prioritize/rank the most important actions. Do not begin on #2 until #1 has been completed.
I also have benefited by establishing my top 5 actions for each week. This has really helped me in prioritizing my time and remembering what is important. I outline my top 5 for how I can best impact Marketing Works, grow my faith and improve as a person. I now am more focused on being a better business owner and father/husband. I also share my top 5 with others to hold me accountable.
Identify the Triggers to Grow Your Business
During the workshop, Heather shared a simple formula to use when identifying the best ways to grow your revenue and profitability.
# of Leads X Conversion Rate = Customers X # of Transactions X Average Sale = Revenue X Profit Margin = PROFIT
I have found it is helpful to work backwards by defining the desired profit for a period and then determining the number of leads needed to reach the set goal.
Heather shared that her clients have increased revenue by 46% and profitability by 61% through using this formula and continually tracking success period over period. She also indicated that the two quickest ways to impact revenue and profitability are to focus on increasing the # of transactions with a customer as well as increase the average sales (increasing your prices). I have used a similar formula in the past and agree that this is a great tool.
Build a Winning Team
There are many critical elements to building a winning team. However, for the sake of this article, I am going to list the six that were shared during the workshop:
- Strong Leadership – It is so important for the business owner or executive to serve as the proactive company leader and guide. As a leader, your #1 priority is the team and creating a team that can lead the business without you.
- Common Goal – You must outline the goal(s) for the company and team. However, even more important is to describe what the team can do to support the goals. For example, you need to share “Here are the three things I need you to do to make these happen. Do you understand your role and how you can help us achieve the goal? If we accomplish this goal, we will do [outline reward] to celebrate our success.”
- Rules of the Game – Create your internal processes to help drive the company forward at all times.
- Action Plan – Establish the action plan to achieve success as a team and how everyone needs to contribute.
- Support Risk Taking – Build a culture where everyone is comfortable taking risks to achieve the company goal and vision.
- 100% Involvement/Inclusion – Ensure everyone has a role, is involved and feels a part of the team.
Please let me know if you would like an introduction to Heather or chat about anything I outlined above. I am here to help. bill@marketingworks360.com.