Owners Get Lost! And Grow Your Business.

by Dr Greg Chapman, MBA

An Interview with Dr Greg Chapman on taking time off for small business owners. The interviewer was Donna Page of Nett Magazine.

Q. The experts say taking a break is essential for mental well being and family life- how difficult can this be for small business owners?

Most small businesses depend on their owner’s being there- when they are not nothing happens. The staff look to the owner to solve all the problems and the owner brings in the business. So if the owner is away, sales fall and problems requiring the owner’s attention can’t be fixed until they return. That’s why so many businesses close over Christmas- it is the only time the owner can get away, and their staff must take their leave then as well.

Q. Can you please detail some reasons why small business operators don't take breaks?

Most business owners are micro managers- if they give someone else the work, they mess it up, and the owner spends twice as long fixing things. So that get in the habit of doing most things themselves, and anything they give to staff, they have to look over their shoulder to make sure that things are done they way they want. Even if they only go away for a short time, things don’t get done properly.

This is the owners fault as they don’t have systems in their businesses so their staff can run things when the owner is absent.

Q. From your experience, what are the problems associated with small business owners who do not take breaks and do you believe many do take holidays?

If the owners don’t take breaks, they end up burning themselves out. So most do take breaks, but their businesses do suffer when they are away.

Q. What strategies can be put in place by small business owners to ensure breaks are taken?

If owners put in place systems in their business, they can give much of the work they presently do to others. They also need reporting in their businesses to ensure that the work is being done when they are not there. All big businesses already have systems and reporting in place- or else they would still be small.

Q. Is slowing down the business a good strategy?

If you mean slowing down the business so they can take a break, that’s a cost to the business. So while the store is closed for business, you are still paying rent. If you can keep it open, and have staff properly trained in your systems, you can be making money while you take a break. After all staff get paid when they are on holidays, so why not the boss?

Q. If the owner takes a break, how can that help their business?

There is an old saying that owners need to work on their business rather than in it. When they take a break, they are not faced with the day-to-day pressures of their business. This gives them time to think. Not just about their business, but also their life goals. The break will also allow them to re-energise. Owners tend to come back from breaks with a new ideas and a new enthusiasm to implement them.

Q. What are the top 5 ways to make sure you get the break you deserve.

1. Start to delegate as many tasks as you can to your staff
2. Monitor your staff’s performance and provide training to support them
3. Create reporting systems – what gets measured gets done.
4. Have systems for all tasks in your business
5. Take short breaks before trying to take a long break

Q. Any final thoughts?

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Remember all big businesses started as small businesses facing all the problems about taking leave from their business that you are. Everyone of them would have sort advice at some stage. Yes you will have to work to put all this in place, but then, you can take a holiday!

Learn how to make your business run without you Then you can Get Lost when ever you feel like it.

May Your Business Be - As You Plan It.

Over to You. What do You Think? Post Your Comments Below.

Dr Greg Chapman is the Director of Empower Business Solutions and The Australian Business Coaching Club and is Australia's Leading Advisor on Emerging Businesses and provides Coaching and Consulting advice to Australian Small Business Owners in Marketing & Business Strategies Planning & Systems. He is also the author of The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success.

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Making Your Business Run Without You

by Dr Greg Chapman, MBA

Most business owners waste their time doing low value work. They spend dollar time on penny jobs. Find out what brain surgeons do, and then change your business and your life.

May Your Business Be - As You Plan It.

Over to You. What do You Think? Post Your Comments Below.

Dr Greg Chapman is the Director of Empower Business Solutions and The Australian Business Coaching Club and is Australia's Leading Advisor on Emerging Businesses and provides Coaching and Consulting advice to Australian Small Business Owners in Marketing & Business Strategies Planning & Systems. He is also the author of The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success.

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Attention Small Business Owners – You can check out any time you want – but Can You Ever Leave?

by Dr Greg Chapman, MBA

Owning a business is a 24/7 job. Even when you are away from the office or store, it is hard to switch off. Almost everything you see somehow reminds you of something you need to do in your business.

You might be reading a book, and the hero enters a store that is selling in a way that gives you an idea for your business. The author may not own a store, but is likely to be very creative and wants to make their hero’s time in the store memorable in some way. Of course you would like that for your customers.

It is like the science fiction writer who dreams up all sorts of new devices to create a wonderland for avid science fiction fans. The funny thing is many scientists and inventors like science fiction, and are often inspired by the creativity of the science fiction writer who may have little or no science training. The scientist who reads about the idea then becomes intrigued by it, then obsessed, until they actually work out how to make it happen. There are numerous documentaries on inventions inspired by programs such as Star Trek.

When you leave your business at night, you too see ideas around you – what others are doing in the commercial world in other sectors, or even ideas dreamed up by TV writers. It is hard to switch off. The only time a business owner can switch off is when they sell their business when it becomes someone else’s problem.

However for most business owners they can check out – but they can never leave.
They are their business, and when they are not there- nothing happens. No-one wants to buy a business like this. Certainly, their family wants nothing to do with it, and the staff are just hanging around for a payout.

In order to be able to leave your business, you must have an Exit Strategy. The best time to create an exit strategy is when you start-up, but it is never too late.

Three things can turn your business into a Saleable Asset:

1. A Marketing System that generates predictable sales
2. A Business System that allows others to run your business without you
3. A Reporting System that enables you to manage your business when you are not there.

With these three systems you will be to check out from your business when ever want, and ultimately be able to leave it to some one else.


All you need to do now is to Empower yourself and take action ...

May Your Business Be - As You Plan It.

Over to You. What do You Think? Post Your Comments Below.

Dr Greg Chapman is the Director of Empower Business Solutions and The Australian Business Coaching Club and is Australia's Leading Advisor on Emerging Businesses and provides Coaching and Consulting advice to Australian Small Business Owners in Marketing & Business Strategies Planning & Systems. He is also the author of The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success.

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Control your computer (don't let it control you)

By Mark Byers

See your computer as part of the solution - not the solution itself.

Computers and applications can make life a lot easier as they allow you to do so much more than ever before. The problem is that just because there are tools that allow you do something, people sometimes don't question whether they should be doing it themselves - ie just because accounting software is available I should use it because it is "cheaper". What is not often considered are the hidden costs and the distraction from your core business, which can be costly.

You can effectively become a slave to the software - ie you are working for it.

With the internet there is now a whole different way of looking at, and engaging with computer systems; with the potential benefit of it working for you, rather than you working for it. With its in-built communication system the internet allows you to use applications built specifically so you can share information internally and with external providers that can do the non-core tasks for you, but still keep you in the picture - reducing the risk of business blindness (loss of direction) through abdication

The situation most businesses face today:

With the people being both internal and external.

With an integrated business system based on the internet, you get to solve two problems at once, at a business system level moving towards this:

and because the system is a fully hosted internet solution you don’t have the issues traditionally associated with PC based solution, like:

 Installing the software

 Installing updates / maintenance fixes

 Doing backups

 Purchasing servers etc

 Managing hardware servers etc

With added benefits of a internet based hosted solution, like:

 Potentially don’t need as much office space for people to work from, as people can work where best suits them, including at home if appropriate - saving time, money and the environment (less cars on the road!).

 Don’t need office space for servers and hardware

 People can be more productive, as have the information they need when the need it and don’t have to spend time communicating it.

Just because you can - doesn't mean you always should... to find out more benefits go to dontdiyit.com

Mark Byers is the CEO of myworkspace which is an Australian service that allows you to take control of your computer systems, allowing you to share the work out where needed and allowing you to focus back on the reason you got into business.

Over to You. What do You Think? We welcome comments but you need to contribute in a meaningful way to earn a backlink. Blatant commercial plugs will be rejected. Post Your Insights, Critiques amd Questions Below.

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Get Your Business Organised

by Dr Greg Chapman, MBA

Is this your business? You start your day with the best intentions- to complete an outstanding project which will improve your business. Then when you get into your office, you check your emails. Then you catch up on some paperwork and organising some orders that didn’t get sent out last night.

One of the emails is a complaint which you have to fix. Then a supplier calls to say there will be a delay in your order. Then phone starts to ring with everything from sales people to customer queries. Before you know it is lunch time, but of course you don’t stop for lunch. In the afternoon, it is more of the same- dealing with customers, following up on staff questions, and fixing problems. By the end of the day, you are exhausted. You know you have been busy, but is has been another Groundhog Day, and tomorrow you will do it all again, and if you have time, you might get onto that project.

This is a classic example of an owner working in their business. Everything they do is reactive. They can never get ahead of the game- just a hamster in a wheel going round and round, but getting nowhere. Unless you can find time to work on your business, this will be your fate.

OK, you know all that but how do you break the cycle?

The first step is to recognise that this is your situation. Diagnosis is the first step to cure! Next is to acknowledge that nothing will change unless You are prepared to change. Then you need to work out what outcome you are prepared to commit to for your business – an outcome for which you are prepared to make sacrifices in either time, money or effort – there is no such thing as a free lunch!

Subscribers to the Small Business Achiever - Business Owner Brief learned in Issue 102 the 9 steps that they should take to organise their business. Steps such as working out where they should be spending their time and strategies that will actually create time so they can work on their business.

In the Small Business Achiever - Business Owner Brief all the steps are revealed. Nothing is left out in the turnkey briefs designed for the busy business owner.

Get step-by-step advice that will improve your business every month.

May Your Business be as You Plan It!

Dr Greg Chapman

Over to You. What do You Think? Post Your Comments Below.

Dr Greg Chapman is the Director of Empower Business Solutions and The Australian Business Coaching Club and is Australia's Leading Advisor on Emerging Businesses and provides Coaching and Consulting advice to Australian Small Business Owners in Marketing & Business Strategies Planning & Systems. He is also the author of The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success.

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Selling a Business

by Dr Greg Chapman, MBA

The real test of business success is to see the value others place on your business. That is, how much they are prepared to pay you to own it. However, few owners see the return on their money and time spent building their business when they try to sell it.

Someone buying a business has similar considerations to someone buying a home. If the home is new or well maintained, and little expenditure is necessary to make it they way they want before moving in, the buyer will pay more. If the house is run down, and requires substantial renovation, they will insist on paying much less. Taking the analogy further, if buying a vacant block, they will have to also budget for the house to be built.

When buying a business, the comparison is between taking over a going concern, building up a run down business or starting a new business from scratch. Buyers will consider the saving in time and effort through buying a going concern that provides predictable incomes and operates smoothly when compared with one that has been managed poorly, or the effort of creating a new business.

Unfortunately, most businesses are totally dependent on their owners. When they aren’t there, nothing happens or sales drop. When a buyer looks at such a business, they will value it on its physical assets and its existing customer base. The value of the customer base may be heavily discounted if it is believed that the customers have a strong personal connection with the owner. Little or no value will be placed on the future growth potential of the business as the owner has basically done nothing to tap it. Why should a buyer pay for value that the current owner has missed. The buyer must put in the effort to unlock that potential and take all the risk if they are to be a success. They will also discount the value where it is possible key staff may leave soon after the existing owner. If there are no systems, all they are really buying is a customer list of dubious value, plus a few used assets.

Compare how a buyer values a well managed business. Along with the assets and the existing customer value, the buyer will see a marketing system which has allowed the existing owner to grow their business. They may see year on year growth in sales and profit. They will see systems in all areas of the business so if staff leave, they can bring in new staff and train them to run the business in the same way. The buyer in this case may pay 3 or 4 or even more times the annual profit of the business in addition to its other assets. (Highly successful listed companies sell for 20 times their annual earnings or more).

The difference between these two scenarios is business systems that ensure that the business runs smoothly, that there is a marketing strategy that provides predictable sales growth and systems that manage the people within the business. These systems make the success of the business independent of ownership. Whenever risk is reduced, price can be increased. The time to put in these systems is not when you are trying to sell the business. You can’t fatten a pig on market day, as one politician is regularly quoted as saying. These systems should be put in place now. They are part of your Exit Strategy.

The best time to prepare your exit strategy is when you start your business, but it is never too late.

Find out more about these strategies at:

The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success

This book, which has a forward from Tony Steven, the CEO of COSBOA, the peak small business organisation in Australia, comes with a $100 of business tools, and provides an easy to understand, step-by-step approach on how to improve your business, starting with your goals, right through to systems and sales.



Please visit Five Pillars for more information on “The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success”

May Your Business be as You Plan It!

Dr Greg Chapman

Over to You. What do You Think? Post Your Comments Below.

Dr Greg Chapman is the Director of Empower Business Solutions and The Australian Business Coaching Club and is Australia's Leading Advisor on Emerging Businesses and provides Coaching and Consulting advice to Australian Small Business Owners in Marketing & Business Strategies Planning & Systems.

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The Fifth Pillar

by Dr Greg Chapman, MBA

Most readers of this blog will already be aware of the

Four Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success

The first version of this, as my longest and most loyal subscribers know, was only 10 pages. It was, to be honest, a piece of marketing hype. Then I created a new version of this book which was a 10,000 word marketing brochure, although it contained some real content, unlike the first version. Many subscribers have complimented me on the quality of the information of this eBook, which if you have not received your own copy, can be downloaded FREE from the link above.

Some have told me they have taken the eBook as a blueprint for their business. Maybe I provided too much information to these successful people, as they never actually engaged me as their coach, relying only on the information in the eBook. However, I am always very happy to share what I know. My philosophy has always been the more you give, the more your receive.

While the feedback from this eBook has been extremely positive, I have been dissatisfied to the extent, that while the information was very highly valued, it did not result in action by owners to improve their businesses as often as I would have liked. So this year, I decided to move from the virtual world with a physical book that describes in some detail, the action Business Owners need to take. This book is called:

The Five Pillars of Guaranteed Business Success.

One extra Pillar! The Fifth Pillar is the missing piece in the puzzle. The piece that makes the difference between thinking about success, and being successful. The book is several times the length of the original and provides a step-by-step plan for Business Success. It is due to be published in September.

To find out more about the book, you can either watch out for further information on this blog or contact me directly.

May Your Business be as You Plan It!

Dr Greg Chapman

Over to You. What do You Think? Post Your Comments Below.

Dr Greg Chapman is the Director of Empower Business Solutions and The Australian Business Coaching Club and is Australia's Leading Advisor on Emerging Businesses and provides Coaching and Consulting advice to Australian Small Business Owners in Marketing & Business Strategies Planning & Systems.

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Diary of a New Business 10 - The Workflow Process

by Dr Greg Chapman, MBA

No business can survive without processes and procedures. But when starting a new business, detailed processes can often wait and evolve as the business grows. The initial way of doing things is rapidly replaced with a better way of doing things. So spending a lot of time on systems before you launch can result in unnecessary delays in your launch. Afterall, when you start, you are generally not that busy, so many of your systems can grow with your business.

That is not to say that you can’t start without any systems. You must have some idea on how you are going to provide your services. The fundamentals must be in place. But if you intend to automate things, quite detailed planning is necessary.

With a manual process, you don’t have to think about every contingency. If something only happens rarely, you can take the view that you will address the process for that when the time arises. But if you intend to automate your systems, the logic of what happens next has to be considered so that the automation can handle it.

As the Australian Business Coaching Club was to be largely automated, the steps for each visitor to the website had to be considered one-by-one. The visitor decides to optin- but fills in the form incorrectly. If there is not an error checking process, I could lose a lead. Here are some other questions that I asked:

· What are the steps a visitor must take to a sale?
· What are the automated follow-ups?
· What alternatives should be given and managed?
· What payment options?
· How to manage a failed credit card?
· How to welcome people to the Club?
· What happens at each stage of their membership?
· What is the induction process?
· How is their membership managed?
· Are there loyalty and referral programs?
· How do they work and how are they managed?
· What happens when they resign?
· What happens after they resign?

And we haven’t even begun to talk about the coaching process! How much automation should be given to each aspect of the business?

A map was created from the first contact through to the final goodbye. Even where automation was undertaken, emails had to be prewritten, which would be triggered by the process. Web pages needed to be created where there were to be links from the emails. And reporting had to be in place to monitor the whole process.

While a large number of procedures were automated, some manual processing was maintained where the programming was considered to be very complex and saving little time or where it was believed that the process would evolve.

Before you launch your business, map out the fundamental processes that must be there the day the doors open.

Next- Getting it all done.

Dr Greg Chapman is the Director of Empower Business Solutions and The Australian Business Coaching Club and is a Business Coach and provides Coaching and Consulting advice to Australian Small Business Owners in Marketing & Business Strategies Planning & Systems.

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