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E A<br />
Survive<br />
staying in business, you really should think twice about<br />
why you do all that hard work.<br />
Once you have a clear picture of where you are going--the<br />
most important thing is to increase your level of action.<br />
You may have slowed down during this survival period<br />
- making fewer sales calls, reducing your marketing and<br />
promotional efforts, retarding product development.<br />
Now it’s time, rev up the engines and get moving again<br />
How much effort does your business plan call for What<br />
does your strategic plan say If you don’t know, or if<br />
those plans are no longer relevant, you need to freshen<br />
the business plan or create a new strategic plan. It doesn’t<br />
have to be a perfect plan, but don’t just lurch into action.<br />
Don’t move forward without a plan!<br />
Detail the measures of activity and performance for your<br />
company. In my business these include leads generated,<br />
sales conversations, relationship and networking<br />
conversations, articles written and published, new<br />
customers signed, consulting contracts, course registrants,<br />
web hits, press releases sent, press mentions, radio<br />
interviews, key notes and speaking engagements, and of<br />
course, revenues, profits, and cash-in-bank.<br />
Your measures may be different but the process is the<br />
same:<br />
1. Make a list of each key measure. These will include<br />
both what I call results goals and activity goals.<br />
2. Establish a performance goal for each, by week, month<br />
or quarter--whatever is most appropriate. Then, up the<br />
ante--you’ve most likely slowed down and the whole<br />
point here is to increase your activity. So take whatever<br />
your goal is for these items and stretch it. Reawaken the<br />
action habit.<br />
3. Set up a system for measuring and reporting on each of<br />
these keys, and then try to get rid any shortfalls.<br />
4. If your need to spend is still greater than the cash<br />
coming in, cut back everything that is not revenue related,<br />
but don’t hurt your current--or future--revenue streams.<br />
Look for ways to reduce overhead--but not sales and<br />
marketing expenses.<br />
Now it’s time, rev up the engines<br />
and get moving again<br />
time to bump it back up. If you don’t have cash available<br />
there are a whole host of guerilla marketing strategies<br />
which call for limited spending.<br />
Finally, get a coach or a mentor. Get someone to be an<br />
unbiased and insightful sounding board, someone who<br />
can both critique your plans and present objective counsel.<br />
Now--envision your next growth spurt. Envision your<br />
business expanding profitably. Figure out what it’s going<br />
to take, and get busy again.<br />
If you are serious about getting back on the growth track,<br />
contact us about our Growth System and entrepreneurial<br />
coaching services. Also, we can review your business or<br />
strategic plan, and work with you to make it current or<br />
help you build a new one.<br />
Paul Lemberg is the President of Quantum Growth<br />
Coaching, the world’s only business coaching franchise<br />
system built from the ground up to rapidly create more<br />
profits and more life for entrepreneurs. He is also<br />
<strong>Executive</strong> Director of the Stratamax Research, a business<br />
coaching and strategy company specializing in helping<br />
entrepreneurial businesses quickly increase short term<br />
profits for sustainable long term growth. Copyright©<br />
2006, Paul Lemberg. All right reserved. For information<br />
contact FrogPond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email<br />
susie@FrogPond.com http://www.FrogPond.com<br />
Here’s a special word about marketing: Most likely you<br />
have cut back. Mistakenly, this is often the first area cut<br />
when people think their survival is threatened. Now is the<br />
<strong>Executive</strong><strong>Agent</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> 23