Archive for March, 2010
Why Keep Doing the Thing That’s Holding You Back?
Posted by: | CommentsAre You Sick of How Things Are Working Out Right Now?
I’m sitting in my home office in Silicon Valley today while writing my accountability blog post. The sun is shining through the window on my face and I feel pumped up! I want to share some life changing experiences with you I’ve had this week in my coaching practice.
Albert Einstein said the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
I’m sure you agree with Einstein. A little professional support can be the one thing to help you change your unproductive patterns and realize outcomes you want now to show-up in your life. I’m so excited about supporting my coaching clients in producing positive results in their lives which they wouldn’t be able to create without my support.
You see, I’m their accountability coach. I help them see their “blind” spots. I help them clearly define their goals and create measurement systems. Using my system, my clients know immediately if they get off track and when their goals are met. Do you realize that people don’t do what they don’t want to do even if it jeopardizes there goals and desires? This is mostly a subconscious phenomenon.
I’m convinced! Accountability coaching is such a huge factor in fine tuning my performance now that I see it in action. When you’re held accountable for your commitments, you learn so much about who you are and why you make the choices you make in business and life. Being straight with yourself helps to uncover the unconscious patterns of behavior in your life that are not serving you well.
Patterns are like software programs in the way we feel, behave, and how we respond to our commitments. You may be familiar with some of these situations:
- I’m afraid of what’s going to happen in the future if I don’t get my business generating money soon
- I’m always late to appointments and I look like I’m not really committed
- I hate making my calls, so my business suffers
- My affairs in business and life don’t work out like I want them to because, for some reason, I don’t spend the time to nurture my relationships
- My days go by and I don’t get to the most important things on my priority list
- My family and friends don’t recognize my value as a person
- I’m bored and life seems so limiting
I’m certainly familiar with all of these challenges. What about you?
The feelings you have when these thoughts dominate your thinking serve to warn you that you’re not meeting your needs and to do something about it. The reason why we continue to repeat these limiting “mental software programs” over and over is they do provide us value in some areas, but now we are in business and we are responsible for the bottom-line. We are responsible for what happens in our relationships and the results we experience.
These automatic ways of responding prevent us from having success with our most important goals. It so easy for us to convince ourselves we have valid reasons for missing the mark. A little accountability can reveal a big problem.
Who in your circle really holds you accountable for your goals? Whether it’s friends or family, no one will challenge you like your coach to stretch your talents and abilities to attain your goals. You only need a coach if what the coach does represents a significant value in your life beyond what you typically would do on your own. A stretch for one person may be routine for another.
The problem has been with us for a long time. It’s referred to in the New Testament by Apostle Paul in the book of Romans. Paul acknowledges he is faced with the same challenge of saying one thing and then doing another as I write about in this post. He then offers hope to those who believe there’s a way out. Paul’s solution is to come to the truth.
Can I get an amen! As your accountability “preacher,“ I also want to share with you a message of hope. Come to the truth about yourself and be a whole, fulfilled, and authentic person. Align your actions with your words. And then be willing to stand in account for any inconsistencies in your life. “The truth shall set you free.”
It’s our “blind” spots which we are not aware of that effect us the most. Where I am right now in my business and life, coaching is the thing that’s going to get me to the next level. Depending solely on learning from listening to CDs, DVDS, and reading books and course materials won’t get me to where I desire to be in the next 90 days to six months. I already have thousands of dollars worth of these inanimate resources sitting on my shelf. And I already know what I want and need to do! Studying a book won’t hold me accountable.
There must be a better way to fulfill your goals and dreams! I have coaches who help me with strategy, assessing my strengths and weaknesses, and I also have an accountability partner who I meet with every morning for 10 to 15 minutes and we help sculpt each other’s day in a powerful way.
You may be asking yourself why Coach Donald has coaches. It’s because I’m unable to uncover my own personal “blind” spots. Coaches realize this fact. Corporate executives rely on coaching to maximize their performance.
Time is my most valuable resource and I don’t want to waste it. Time is more valuable than money. We tend to hold on to our money but waste our time. It’s crazy! Isn’t it?
I need someone who can see through my “bull” and make me aware of how I’m sabotaging my own goals. I want to be held accountable for my “word”. And what I commit to I really want to accomplish in a timely way and with less stress.
Having a coach is like making an investment. You expect to see a return on the deal you put your money into. When you hire a coach, you should expect the same kinds of returns on your investment.
Do you have challenges doing what you don’t really want to do? If you’re tired of missing out on the things that are the most important to you in your life, and you need to get them done in the next 90 days to 6 months, keep on reading for the solution.
I want you to consider working with me as your business coach because I have the coaching expertise and business acumen to help you powerfully sculpt your future. You will learn so much about yourself because I will hold you accountable for your commitments and help you create new support patterns and systems to enable you to stay on track.
My Coaching Tune-Up sessions focus on helping you save time and money by supporting you in shaping the life you want. What is it you need to get done in the next 60 days to six months? It’s about getting you fined tuned to the way you want to show-up in your business and life.
Sign-up for a complimentary Coaching Tune-Up with me today to get some valuable coaching around your specific goals. I promise you will receive tremendous value during our complimentary session.
Let me share with you a little about where I’m focused on today. Fortunately, my business allows me to do 90% of my communications via the Internet, phone, email, and fax allowing me to engage in one of my passions: travel.
I’m realizing life is too short and I want to start living now while I have good health to enjoy some of the things I love to do. I love experiencing new cultures and learning new languages. I love great food, being by the ocean and walking on the beach. I love the smell of trees and the rustle of leaves in the wind.
My focus now is about having balance in my life. And I am held accountable by my coaches for producing these results for myself and family. I know the missing thing for me is I want to satisfy more of my meaningful desires.
I’m so excited about my journey to transform my self to do more and be more of what I want in life. Do you need support in getting those things done you know you won’t do? Call me today at (866) 323-9123 and I’ll give you a free coaching session so you can see how my support can help you to minimize your frustrations and move towards your goals and desires.
Business Coaching: Starting A Business On An Empty Tank
Posted by: | CommentsBusiness coaching you when you’re on an empty tank is like trying to launch a plane the runway on a tank of gas. Creatvivity and lots of prayer As a lender who works with entrepreneurs and start-up companies, my motto with them is always “show me the money!” When a prospect opens up their wallet and pays money for your product or service, then you can say you have a valid business. Until you have real customers who are credit worthy, most lenders and investors won’t give you funding for your business dream because you haven’t proven it works. I recommend to every business owner I coach to do everything you can to leverage your assets to put your firm in a strong position before you attempt to secure financing from outside sources.
Before you get your first sale, you only have an idea which could work. You don’t have a business. Being turned down for financing can be a good thing for you. This may sound counter intuitive since rejection doesn’t make you feel very good, but it’s truly a great source of valid feedback. It often means you need to do more work to prove your business plan. I get financing clients who procrastinate about writing their business and marketing plan, but they want me to help them get hundreds of thousands of dollars for their dream. Would you invest in an entrepreneur who hasn’t written a comprehensive plan? You should try to see it from your lender’s or investor’s point of view.
Whether you’re looking for financing or to raise money from an investor, your goal should be to make sales as early as possible to generate real revenues for your new venture.
Recent sales are the evidence I want to see at Donald Hunter Financial. Contracts, invoices, purchase orders, all show a market for your products or services. And you want to have well established customers with a great track record for paying their bills
A huge benefit of bootstrapping your way to profitability is the more products or services you sell early on, the less outside money you need to raise to make further investments to position your company for growth while at the same time securing your intellectual property and branding your products and services.
Generating cash flow through an actual sale may be the only option for service companies or businesses with few assets to secure financing. Bootstrapping means you will need to give away much less equity in your company to investors.
A Warning to Bootstrappers
Before I go further, I have one caveat for you. Leveraging your existing assets is a great goal, but you don’t want to run out of money trying to do it all yourself. Once you run out of money, no serious lender or investor will work with you. I say this because most financing sources want you to have current funds available to invest at the time they decide to approve you for funding. The amount you’ve already invested doesn’t matter. So keep a balanced approach when going it all alone!
Benefits of a Bootstrapping Mindset
- It keeps you focused on revenue generation
- You keep control over your idea
- You get to reap more of the financial rewards
- You learn to manage your limited resources efficiently
Types of Businesses Where Bootstrapping Make Sense
- The business relies on your proven personal talents and skills
- The business doesn’t require large sums of capital to get started on a small scale
- You already have good industry contacts
Type of Businesses Where Bootstrapping Doesn’t Make Sense
- Lots of R&D is required
- You need expensive equipment to deliver your product or service
- A prototype costs lots of money to build
- You have no prior experience serving the market
- Your business requires economies of scale and scope
As a business coach, I help business owners and entrepreneurs figure out whether they can start-up without outside capital. I guide them through the process of analyzing their sales model from the perspective of rapid revenue generation. My goal is to help them to construct a business model focused on producing a few quick sales as soon as possible.
Bootstrapping Tips
- Spend your funds only on marketing and sales activities directed at a well defined target market.
- Make sure your target customer is credit worthy.
- Create the lowest cost prototype which is good enough to make a sale (E.G., paper design or video).
- Develop the product only when you get a purchase order in-hand.
- Don’t go out and rent office space and purchase unnecessary equipment
There are lots of alternative ways I can help you to fund your business growth. If you generate invoices or purchase orders, you‘ll have access to fast, flexible financing options through my Money Tree Cash Flow program. And most importantly, your credit isn’t an issue with these funding alternatives. Invoices or purchase orders from a credit worthy customer allow you to get cash to fund daily operations and to manufacture your product. You won’t need a loan or capital from an investor to fund your operating costs in the start-up phase! You can rely on factoring or purchase order finance for immediate cash, which is not a loan. Sign up for a complimentary finance consultation to speak to me about ways in which I can help you fund your business.
Bootstrapping Consulting
Are you a “bootstrapper”? What are your top three goals you need some help with right now to start up your business? I can help you develop ways to target your customers to focus on generating immediate sales to prove your business idea meets a true customer need.
You’ll then be in an excellent position to seek funding to expand your business at a much faster pace. Then, I can help you get quick cash for your invoices and purchase orders through my Money Tree Cash Flow program.
Call me today at (866) 323-9123 or sign-up for a complimentary session in my Bootstrap to Profitability Coaching Tune-Up program. I’ll help you develop your business strategy to take advantage of your bootstrapping opportunities straightaway.
Donald Hunter
Make Your Business More Robust When You Rent A CFO!
Posted by: | CommentsFinancial Planning for Start-Up success
Rent your very own CFO for critical business decisions
Would you ever think about building a house without hiring an architect? Then, why would you ever think of starting business without first hiring a business financial planner to help you with the start-up phases of your business? After reading this post, you’ll realize a financial planner is one of the best professionals to guide you through the start-up phase. It’s like renting your own Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
My definition of start-ups below includes ventures led by entrepreneurs or brand new business owners. It also includes ongoing businesses who want to launch a new division. For example, I help out-of-state or international businesses who want to start-up operations in California.
Let’s define the type of financial planner who would be right for this CFO advisory role. Financial gurus who focus on stocks and mutual funds would not be your first choice. A planner who focuses on personal financial issues wouldn’t be your second choice either. An agent who focuses on selling insurance products may only give you a partial solution. You need a financial planner who works exclusively with businesses. Your best choice in this case is a financial planner who thinks like a CFO.
I’m sure you’d agree that starting up a business can be frustrating and confusing to make sure you’ve done everything you need to do to increase your chances for success. The rest of this post shares with you some key business areas in which your CFO planner can help your company.
I’m often asked what types of financial planning services I offer business owners. I typically reply that I help business owners cover their “assets.” Literally, that’s what a financial planner will do for you. In a “nut shell”, I help you:
- Make sure you don’t give away more value in your company than is required!
- Determine if you will make a profit.
- Capitalize your new venture.
- Minimize your personal and business taxes.
- Minimize risks (liability) to your business and to you personally.
- Incentivize your employees and key advisors.
Often, there are other start-up areas where a business owner wants me to help them save time and money. I help clients with setting up all aspects of the new venture. Here are a few bulleted categories to help you get a sense of what you must do to launch a business in the various phases of starting up and then growing your business.
Start-Up Business Services:
- Sign up for your business license
- File for your fictitious business name statement
- Help you develop your logo, letterhead, and business cards
Start-Up Marketing Services
- Define your vision, mission, and purpose
- Determine your target market
- Create your 30 second elevator pitch
- Identify where you need to network for generating leads and referral relationships
- Design your sales model
- Write powerful sales scripts
- Create your marketing plan
Online Marketing Services
- Create your social media plan
- Define your blogging plan
- Design your multimedia plan: podcasting, videos, and presentations
- Develop your lead generation strategy
- Create your sales pages
- Drive traffic to your online properties
Business Planning Services
- Write your comprehensive business plan
- Develop your financial model
- Conduct competitive analysis
- Prepare your financing package
- Construct your investor capital presentation
Financial Planning Services
- Decide how much to pay key advisors, board members, and employees, including incentives
- Understand tax advantages of how you bring capital into your business
- Determine the best organizational structure for your business (S corp., LLC, partnership, LLP, or incorporation)
- Decide on types of liability and business continuance risks and insurance
- How to buyout a partner upon dissolution of the partnership or death
- Depreciation recapture
- Buying and selling business use property (1231)
- Buying and selling depreciable personal property (1245)
- Buying and selling depreciable real property (1250)
- Taking section 179 expense
- Choose appropriate depreciation schedules
- Set up and plan for retirement plans for owners and employees
- Transfer of ownership strategies upon death or at retirement
Organizational Development
- Create your organizational chart
- Role development to make clear what you expect the role to produce
- Recruit key advisors and board members to fill your organizational chart
- Leverage hiring assessments to understand personality types and how interviewees will fit the role and the team
- Prepare interview checklists to discover interviewees’ strengths, weaknesses, goals, and personality fit
- Create recruiting strategies to locate superior talent
- Mentor employees to maximize their performance
Have you considered all of the various financial planning options I’ve laid out for you above? It is critical for you to think through all of these options to ensure you maximize your profits and minimize your costs and risks.
I snuck in some marketing and sales options for you too because without a clear marketing plan, it doesn’t matter how well your financial plan has been designed.
Organizational goals are important to get right the first time, as you grow your company. This is why I included the list of must do’s for hiring and team development.
There are many other steps to consider when defining and launching a new start-up company or division of an existing company. Seek expert advice to help you through this process to maximize your investment dollars and valuable time.
Rent A CFO
Rent me to get help on a business challenge you are currently facing. For more information on what I can do right now to help your business, you can call me at (866) 323-9123 or sign-up for a complimentary CFO Coaching Tune-Up session with me.
I developed a comprehensive financing report for business owners and entrepreneurs who need loans or investor capital. You can download my Business Survival report to get an overview of your financing options.
Donald Hunter Financial
