Appreciating Your Business Story was published in Edition 20 of the Inner Self Magazine. www.innerself.com.au

Very successful, wealthy, high profile advertising guru and, up until this point, extremely fit and
healthy, my client, let’s call him Jack, found himself in an emergency ward at 2am one morning last
week suffering chest pains. What events took this energetic self made man to this potentially life
threatening situation?

Back in September 2009, Jack’s small five man agency landed ten major publicity campaigns
scheduled for April and May delivery. Jack was busy dealing with normal day to day business and
the contracts were put to one side until January. Jack had been in this business for a decade and
could service these campaigns with his eyes closed. Talented with a natural instinct for marketing,
Jack was a creative animal who never bothered with business planning. That was for suits and bean
counters – not for a true artiste like Jack!

It wasn’t until one midnight after a month of consecutive 18 hour days, when his office manager was
diagnosed with cancer and departed on extended sick leave, his sales manager resigned and his
assistant left for her honeymoon that Jack looked at his exploding IN BOX and gasped.

Now at this point, he could have easily called an employment agency to organize temporary staff.
However he did not. You see, Jack trained people himself and held no value for training manuals or
work procedures. That took him away from doing what he loved best. This team had been with him
since day one – quite a record in the advertising industry. Loyal and reliable, they love working with
Jack and created their own working system while on the job. Jack believed in trusting people to
create their own best practice. He taught by example and repetitive instruction, was a great boss,
fun, flexible and very supportive. Now with three people gone and major deadlines looming, Jack
had no time to create training manuals for temporary staff to come in and assist. He wasn’t even
sure what his staff did in detail. He had relied on his office manager, now uncontactable in a private
cancer hospice, to run the show so he could get on with business.

So Jack did what he knew best. He worked harder and longer doing whatever it took to deliver these
campaigns. He also put more pressure on his graphic artist to pitch in and help. She could answer
telephones but as Jack had no system, no manuals or procedures outlined for her to follow, she
needed constant assistance. Increasingly frustrated with his graphic artist, angry with himself and
way behind with his campaign delivery, Jack suppressed his emotions with sugar and caffeine so he
could keep going by day taking four panadol each night so he could sleep.

Jack was so blinded by his personal “story” that he did not appreciate his current circumstances and
therefore fuel himself and his business with their value.

Every personal development guru delivers a similar message – gratitude. The common denominator
is to appreciate your life as it is regardless of anything else that is going on. Dr John F Demartini says:
“What you appreciate grows.” He is talking about counting your blessings. So when your wife leaves
you, the kids are sick and your small business looks like Jack’s, it’s kinda hard to feel grateful when
you’re in the middle of it isn’t it?

So Jack’s body gave him some time out to look at his “story” and consider its value in his business
and ultimately his life.

Eleanor Roosevelt said “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

What better way to appreciate your dream than producing a business plan that manages everything
you need to keep your business alive in every situation – good times and in bad.

Humanity has traded since prehistoric times. As an exchange of product or service in a transaction
between a buyer and a seller, what early man bartered 21st century man charges in currency. The
amount of charge is measured by our calculation of what it takes to deliver the product or service. In
Jack’s story, he was being paid one cow in exchange for four months ploughing in a field.

An annually reviewed business plan could have helped Jack to evaluate his resources, plan his client
proposals and projects and charge accordingly. Jack’s recent painful business experience clearly
demonstrates what is important to him. Jack’s need to do what he loves plus the driving force of
proving his worth to his father (one of Jack’s stories) effectively minimized his business risk
management strategy limiting his business sustainability.

When you mean business and you know what you value, appreciate the “story” that drives the
decisions you make in business (and in life) and match these with your business vision and goals; you
appreciate what you have – you count your blessings and add value to your life and to your business.

Author Bio:
Nichola Burton International Consultant for Branding, Business Planning, Personal Development, Human Behaviour Systems
PO Box 86, Sumner Park Qld 4074 Telephone: 07 3124 4051 +61414975201
www.nicholaburton.com.au Email: nicki@pushworth.com
Copyright 2010 ©

Hello 2010 was published in Edition 19 January 2010 in the Inner Self Magazine. www.innerself.com.au

Some perceive that this first decade of the 21st century is quite the Hollywood blockbuster.
Surviving the Y2K bug, we faced 911, Bali Bombings, Tsunami’s, Wars, Climate Change
and a Global Financial Crisis that changed the face of our geopolitical landscape. Others
perceive this first decade as a science fiction classic with technology advancing faster
than our perception of time.
In the stories of the first decade of the 20th century, families sat around the radio
together each night to listen to the news of the world, we met our friends at the local
Nickelodeon for the Saturday matinee, listened to Scott Joplin on the hand cranked
victrola, ordered from a Sears Roebuck catalogue, grew our own vegies, navigated by
the stars, shopped at the local five and dime store and managed business with the newly
invented typewriter. Fast forward to 2009, and we live in virtual on line realities where
technology has infiltrated our language as we daily Google, Skype and Facebook each
other while managing the business of our lives on our IPHONE, shop on E BAY, buy
groceries and exchange money on line, watch movies on You Tube and navigate our way
with the faithful GPS.
Nothing has changed. Our stories are still the same. We simply seek to connect in other
ways.
Those Hollywood blockbuster events that we survived in this first decade created
insecurity in the old models of economy and in many ways transformed traditional
paradigms of employment. In turn this has stimulated a booming global on line industry
with millions of enterprises offering products to service needs and voids that the modern
world brings with it. Previously limited to shelf space and shop frontage, 21st century
businesses can now easily register a domain, set up a website, access free networking or
blogging sites, create on line shops with PayPal to be in business with the click of a few
buttons and all from the comfort of your own home!
The struggle to market, brand and promote product or service, is a common symptom of
global business in every industry. I work with theatre directors, producers, public
speakers, artists, musicians, government departments, community associations, retailers
and health care professionals and regardless of size, structure, product and expression;
they all share the same frustration. What is my value? What is the value of a customer
and how can I attract and then service one?
My grandmother, born in the first decade of the 20th century, lived by the motto “waste
not want not”. As children we were fascinated by the magical colours of her legendary
button jar. Carefully dismantling clothing, everything was catalogued and saved for
future use. One child’s outgrown shirt would be unpicked and resewn into another’s
dress, one brother’s jacket would be altered into his sister’s pyjamas until scraps of
materials tired and worn out would be woven and quilted into floor mats and pot holders.
On the smell of an oily rag, that woman kept her children well dressed and her home
beautiful yet functional and running like clockwork. She was the ultimate in effective
resource management!
In 2010, many business mottos are the same – “waste not want not”. Regardless of the
century, no matter who you are, what you have done, where you live or any of the
stories you identify yourself with, you have things you like and dislike about yourself and
your life. In seeking to connect, you have already collected a magical button jar filled to
the brim with stories – behavioural patterns, beliefs, values and ways of doing things. As
technology provides a platform and resource for us to add value to our daily lives, the
stories we collect provide a platform and well of resources for us to add value to our
businesses.
One client I was working with shared his shame at the impending divorce of his fourth wife – a partner in his engineering business. This was not a new story. Over a 30 year period, this man had built and dismantled four businesses. He despised his pattern of moving into personal and business relationships so quickly (his average was 12 months) yet for me, this ability was impressive. A master salesman in relationships, he could identify value, capitalise quickly, build a new structure and maximise potential while servicing clients and maintaining a business. Once he appreciated the value of this behaviour pattern without judgement, he converted it into a business marketing strategy tripling his sales within 6 months. The only action required was to appreciate his stories, catalogue, unravel and reorganise them into new areas.
Nothing had changed. He simply became a more effective resource manager.

So hello 2010, regardless of what may come, value your collection of magical buttons
and see what you can use to add value to the business of your life!

Author Bio:
Nichola Burton International Consultant for Branding, Business Planning, Personal Development, Human Behaviour Systems
PO Box 86, Sumner Park Qld 4074 Telephone: 07 3124 4051 +61414975201
www.nicholaburton.com.au Email: nicki@pushworth.com
Copyright 2010 ©

I was at a day spa last week. It was early in the morning and I was the only customer so far. The owner was working with me and became was very distracted by his staff who were chatting and giggling and playing in the absence of customers.

I asked him if he had a plan for no customers and he angrily replied: “Of course not. I expect customers all the time. Why would I plan for none?” I explained to him that holding an image in his head of 100% capacity custom is a great big infatuation and fantasy. All of us in business subscribe to the same fantasy at times so he is definitely not alone. I mean, without a whopping big fantasy for inspiration, none of us would be in business in the first place right?

However, with a clear plan and simple easy steps to take and follow, that dream can be converted to a viable set of business goals that can be achieved and managed.

In business, as in life, there is an ebb and flow and seasons and cycles. There WILL be times when the phone will NOT ring and the shop WILL be empty. There will be times when equipment will break down or power or internet will be unavailable. There will be times when your team all get sick or worse still – YOU do.

John F Kennedy said: “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”

Create a schedule of activities for your staff for down time.

• This may be a time to clean out the store cupboard, desks, and staff kitchen or conference room.
• Catch up on filing; conduct an inventory for office stores or office files.
• Refresh Staff Training.
• Get on the phone and start marketing.
• Commence work on project development
• Get some research done for the proposals that you want to make to new customers

This list can be endless. Start with all the round tuits. You know – all those annoying little jobs that you never get around to. Start with them. Plan the time to sit down and make a long list of every possible activity that could be done when there are no customers.

That is the first step.

The next step is to ensure you have resources already set up for the staff to use in these activities.

• Ensure your Training Manuals are up to date and that you have one team member fully trained and able to take the rest of the team through the information.
• Have a marketing script ready to go with product and service lists, client activation database list and a campaign approach always on hand.
• Create a filing, storage and inventory map so that your staff know where everything needs to go.
• Establish a cleaning list and make sure you have all the equipment and cleaning detergents ready to go.

Someone has to be prepared for this in advance and that someone may be the office or store manager or the owner of the small business. This can be easily delegated and checked as part of your regular routine.

I know, when you are busy and stressed and exhausted, the last thing you want to do is MORE work.

Think of this as like making a commitment to yourself for a health and fitness regime. You recognise the need to feel a little healthier so you decide to join the gym and cut carbs and increase protein. As part of your new regime, you KNOW that you will fall off the wagon so you identify the possible circumstances when you are taken outside of your regular routine (going out to dinner, working late, travelling, sickness etc) and you consider and include the management of these circumstances into your health and fitness plan. So that when you get invited to cousin Julie’s wedding, you have a plan to stay on track.

Well, planning ahead in your business is exactly the same. By valuing your business enough to plan in advance, you can value your cost of staff by ensuring that they are productive regardless of the circumstance.

Planning for no customers becomes a critical aspect of your business planning activity.

Author Bio:
Nichola Burton International Consultant for Branding, Business Planning, Personal Development, Human Behaviour Systems
PO Box 86, Sumner Park Qld 4074 Telephone: 07 3124 4051 +61414975201
www.nicholaburton.com.au Email: nicki@pushworth.com
Copyright 2010 ©

Which holiday is more profitable – Easter or Xmas?

Gift Giving inspires marketing for a good 2 months prior yet with 4 days off in a row; an Easter vacation would certainly be a big seller. Everything in life is mercantile and these two holidays certainly can be quite the marketing wet dream for business depending on the appreciation of your creative entrepreneurship.

Which holiday costs the most?

For business, in Australia, April is a month of short weeks yet it is like an administrative graveyard from mid December until end January – although both constitute a substantial cost, we plan our operations around it and integrate it into expected business behaviour. Typically there is an ongoing public debate about staffing shopping times to balance the enterprise opportunity.

Doh – notice my first observations are expressed in business terms? Ha – three guesses what I love doing the most!!!
What about family or the various belief structures that value the “story” behind the holidays? What is it worth to take those four days over Easter and be with family and friends – take a break from work and just chill out and relax for a while? Bunning’s experiences quite a spike in sales as DIY purchases go through the roof while we garden and paint and renovate. My Greek in laws end their fast with quite the Sunday feast while my boys aspire to be the champion egg smasher year after year. With an appreciation but not a belief in the stories behind both the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic systems, I must admit that truly love attending Easter services in both churches to participate in and observe the ancient traditions.

So what is the value of a holiday or holy day to any of us?

When I look back, our family have never celebrated Easter to the same degree as Xmas. As a family who doesn’t like chocolate or sweets, Easter was more of a time to capitalise on the four day long weekend. We either performed at as many gigs as possible, or donned the Easter costumes braving shopping centres all over South East Qld as Chickens, Bunnies or Eggs. We’ve managed Festivals or run Seminars – renovated the house, caught up on office work OR taken a little holiday. In Oz, it is simply divine weather for Easter and indeed this is our travel industry high season – try driving to the Gold Coast on Easter Thursday afternoon?

Conspiracy Theorists postulate that business is conspiring to remove the religion from Easter and Xmas by turning them into major commercial activities and removing trading restrictions so that “poor” employees have no option but to work over the holiday.

What if the story behind these holidays was originally written for commercial mercantile reasons in the first place and organised religion was the easiest and most effective way to spam and sell the holiday to as many people as possible? If we conducted a profit and loss analysis of the Easter and Xmas holidays throughout the ages, I greatly suspect that the profit and loss would balance equally as it does today in the 21st century.

But isn’t it fun watching those old Charlton Heston Easter movies OR Monty Python’s “Life of Brian”, toasting hot cross buns, hiding chocolate eggs in the geraniums, cooking the Easter Roast Lamb, smashing red boiled eggs and vacating your life for four days?

Christos Anesti!
Buona Pasqua!
Happy Easter Everyone!