New Business Development – Page 356

A United Front

Team meetings are held for a reason.
Within the confines of a meeting room,
team members can debate
and even disagree with
possible courses of action.

Once the decision is made,
however,
and team members leave the room,
there has to be a united front.
That means support of the decision,
whether you agreed or not.
If you can’t dredge up support,
at least be silent on the matter.

There is no benefit to grumbling.
Grumbling says
the team can’t count on you to support them.
No one wants to work with a back stabber.

What if you know the decision is wrong?
That means short term pain
but long term gain.
If the decision is proven wrong,
your fellow team members
will remember you weren’t in favor.
You’ll be listened to
or even put in charge
of the next similar decision.

Deliberate Practice

I’m wrapping up a successful systems implementation.
When I was first hired on,
I didn’t know the software
we were implementing.

This was a stretch project.
I hustled to get up to speed.
I pushed myself to become an overnight expert.
All while facing a high possibility of failure.

I engaged in what researchers call
deliberate practice.

Geoff Colvin gives another example

“Tiger Woods –
intensely applying this principle,
which is no secret among pro golfers –
has been seen to drop golf balls
into a sand trap and step on them,
then practice shots from that near-impossible lie.”

Have you challenged yourself recently?
Have you set stretch goals?

Keeping The Ideal Customer In Mind

You see it on
Flip That House
all the time.

A flipper,
instead of thinking of
what her ideal buyer wants,
uses her personal tastes
with the house.
When the house gets put up for sale,
these personal tastes
decrease, rather than increase,
the price.

That is why I like to recruit
people as similar as possible
to my ideal customer
as sounding boards.
I’ll ask them ‘would you like this?’
If they say ‘yes,’
I go ahead.
If they say ‘no,’
I don’t.

It takes most of the guesswork out of decisions.

No Need To Be Perfect

I’ve never launched a perfect product.
Never.
I’ve launched very successful products
but none of them were perfect.
Some of them were far from perfect.

You don’t need a perfect product
to be successful.
What you absolutely need,
however,
is A product,
something prospects can buy.

So take your ‘good enough’ product
(good enough meaning
satisfying prospects’ needs
better than the competition)
and launch.

You can fine tune it
as awareness builds
and sales pour in.

Putting The Project First

I’m winding down a system implementation.
Although the client is very happy,
I refuse to take any credit.
My response is
‘I’m simply an extra pair of hands.
??? led the project.’

Why?

Because in order for
the system implementation
to continue its success,
it can’t be viewed as ‘my’ project.
It has to be owned by
a member of the executive team.

If that executive gets the credit
for this successful launch,
he will continue
to nurture the project.

If you are a project manager,
the project,
not your ego,
comes first.

Luck Vs Probability Of Success

I believe luck has a place in success
but I also believe luck can be
‘helped.’

In Creating Wealth,
Robert G. Allen says
“I would rather look upon luck
as a low or high probability of success.
And you can always work
on increasing your probability of success.
If you don’t have the right skills,
you can learn them.
If you aren’t trying hard enough,
you can try harder.
In this way,
you can increase the probability
that luck will smile on you.”

I’ve been looking for someone
to partner with me on a project.
Last week,
I was asked for insight on
a new product
requiring the same skills to develop.

Was it luck?
Yes
but luck helped by years of blogging,
years of helping others,
years of working my a$$ off.

Play-Doh For Halloween

I walked into Sam’s Club
and one of the big Halloween treat displays
was for…

Play-Doh

Brightly colored
sample sized containers of the classic toy
sold at introductory prices.

Brilliant, brilliant marketing.
There will be thousands of samples purchased
by health conscious, candy banning parents
and then given out
less than two months before Christmas.

Would a sample size of your product
be suitable for Trick-Or-Treaters?

Should You Start A Business During A Recession?

Short answer:
If you see an opportunity,
yes.

However, keep in mind
it will be even more challenging to get financing
(so bootstrapping often necessary)
and customers are less likely to
take a chance on a brand new product or service
UNLESS they are pretty darn sure
it’ll improve their lives
or there’s some sort of satisfaction guarantee.

As with any business started,
regardless of economic conditions,
expect it to take more time
and more money
than you budget.
Have a buffer for both.

We All Have Problems

I’ve managed a lot of projects
and I’ve heard a lot of excuses.

I’d rather not.

Hear the excuses, that is.
We all have problems, I understand that.
I don’t need to know your particular one
(especially if it is embarrassing or a private matter).

As a project manager,
all I need to know is
when you’ll get your task done.

So say a simple
“I’m sorry I missed the deadline.
I’ll have it to you by ___”
and let us busy project managers get back
to project managing.

Small Businesses In Tough Economic Times

Some experts are advising
small business owners
simply ignore
the stock and credit market turmoil.

The only thing you should ignore
is that advice.

If your company is doing well,
turn your focus to your key customers.
Call them up.
If they comment on the economy,
ask them if there is anything you can do to help
(and have a few good ideas of what you can do
if they say yes).

Even if they are doing wonderfully,
you’ve strengthened your relationship by asking.
You’ve become a true partner,
someone they can count on
and trust.

We all like to do business with people we trust.