How to Stay Calm During a Pandemic: What is an Enneagram Anyway?

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Co-authored by Nita Black and Paula Milner

Why do we get angry when someone makes an irritating comment? Why does being in a certain place or situation upset us? The Enneagram assists us by helping find the answers to these types of questions. As business owners, it is often very difficult to hold things together, particularly during a pandemic. Knowing how to stay calm can be hard for anyone.

What is an Enneagram anyway? Milton Stewart, the Founder of Kaizen Careers, shares that an Enneagram is like taking a personality test, rather than vaguely listing your likes and dislikes. It also explains your reactions and how you relate to events. The Enneagram is a 3×3 configuration of nine personality types in three Centers. There are three types in the Instinctive Center, three in the Feeling Center and three in the Thinking Center. Every Center consists of three personality types that have the assets and liabilities of that Center in common.

You might wonder why Enneagram should be important to a business owner and really anyone else who takes the test. Milton explains that the Enneagram gives you a deep analysis of your actions and “allows you to acknowledge them and make any necessary changes to react better to the circumstances.”

As parents and teachers, learning about Enneagram is a good idea to use in the classroom or as a home activity. As a school-teacher and passionate advocate for inner city kids, Milton agrees that it is advantageous to offer the Enneagram test as part of the school curriculum. The perfect add-ons to an Enneagram program for children include having them invest in ways of self- and personal-growth, offering them something positive to put in their ears daily, and providing advice on how to think about what they want to be when they grow up (not just for kids, for parents too!)

Over the next 12 months Kaizen Careers foresees making a positive impact on families and classrooms by offering three different online courses. An online coaching program is now being offered to parents who may be experiencing “cabin fever” while practicing the Covid-19 social distancing guidelines while staying home from work with their kids. Also, the company plans to launch a new book on the Enneagram which will be used in conjunction with Enneagram services offered.

If you want to explore the use of the Enneagram both during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, please reach out to Milton Stewart with Kaizen Careers, so he can share his extensive knowledge of how to use the Enneagram to stay calm during a Pandemic in your home and your business.
If you love your business and have a passion for doing what you love to do, but need help with the business side of things, please contact us. We hope you enjoyed this blog – co-written by Nita Black with NitaBlack.com and Paula Milner with Kelem VA
Empowering Business Owners to Reach Their Full Potential!

5 TIPS ON HOW MATURE WOMEN CAN CLOSE OUT THE YEAR WITH A SMILE

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As seen on SixtyandMe.com

Let me guess: You are a woman over 55, getting busy with holiday preparations, traveling plans, and family gatherings with children and grandchildren. Maybe you have your business matters to wrap up and touch base with friends. Or maybe, for once, you just want to stay home alone.

How do you balance everything at the end of the year: the time you spend (coming and going), the energy (going out of your way to nurture someone in need), and the money side of things?

Years ago, as the holidays were approaching, I was going through a painful divorce, having to be a single mom to my two daughters at 3 and 5. It was December, and I had landed my first job as an accounts payable clerk at a national bank.

This was a great opportunity for me in a lot of ways. However, it broke my heart to leave my girls during the day with their Grandma so that I could work at a paying job. My monthly salary was $450. My house note was $387. That did not leave a lot to pay for food, clothing, utilities, and transportation.

With two young children and working, I was always behind on doing laundry. Like it was yesterday, I remember my friend Jennifer stopping by on Christmas Eve to say hello. She helped me fold clothes! So, that year, she was my “Santa Claus.”

We all need a thoughtful friend, so let me share 5 tips I’ve used to help myself and others to keep smiling.

Tip #1: Smile at Everyone

Smiling prevents wrinkles – seriously! When I look at pictures of my Grandmother, I see myself in her, and not just because fat cheeks run in our family. When we smile, it’s like a Christmas tree, all lit up. And when we frown, our checks sag, showing how unhappy we are.

Even if you don’t have fat cheeks, smiling creates positive energy that boosts your spirit from the inside. It’s a great way to help yourself be happier while also spreading the feeling to those around you.

You should try smiling at someone who looks miserable. If you keep smiling, they will almost surely follow your example.

Tip #2: Give Time to Someone New

If you’re not yet retired, or have decided to continue working a bit longer, you probably know that getting paid by the hour defines time as money. So, giving time to someone new – helps you keep things in perspective.

When I say ‘things’, I mean having a home, a family, food in the fridge, transportation to come and go, network of friends, other things. Think about making a ‘blessing’ list of all the things that you have, which you often assume everyone has.

When temperatures were below freezing last year, I met someone new at church – a guy named James. He was sleeping under a bridge with cardboard as a mattress and a thin blanket coverlet.

He told me he was new in town and had landed a job that started the next Monday. After he got paid, he would be able to rent a room somewhere until he could afford something better.

James made me think about all the things I was taking for granted in my life. James was simply thankful to have a job lined up and had no complaints of his current circumstances. He made me more aware and got me thinking about how I could share what I had in ways I had not thought of before.

Tip #3: Balance Your Checkbook Before Going Shopping

Years of balancing your checkbook (or maybe not enough years?) have probably made you despise doing it. But go ahead and balance it today. Why? So that you can plan ahead for any extra expenses during the holidays.

One method I have used in the past is the envelope system. With so many bank transactions now electronic, sometimes it is easy to lose track. So, you can simplify the balancing process by setting aside money for gifts and party expenses using an envelope for each category.

That way, your budget is in each envelope, and you can manage how much you spend or save during this time of the year. When the envelope is empty, hopefully you will have made all your planned purchases and will not be tempted to keep on spending money that you don’t have.

Of course, these holiday spend envelopes would be in addition to keeping up with your regular bills and expenses. However, starting the new year with a clean slate and being up to date on paying your bills creates a good feeling!

Tip #4: Look Up and Out, Never Giving Up

For those of us who own a business in retirement, we are familiar with the phrase “working on your business, not just in it.” This tip is to look up and beyond today.

You might consider using the following steps for goal-setting and timelining your next steps:

What is it that you want to accomplish next year? (For example, make another $1000 a month = $12,000 next year.)
What action steps do you need to take in the next 30 days to work toward accomplishing your goals? (For example, identify and connect with job opportunities that you expect will lead to at least $250 additional income every week.)
How do you want to measure success? (For example, number of contacts made for job opportunities; number of contacts who said “yes”; dollar amount earned toward the monthly goal of $1000 in additional income.)
Repeat every 30 days for 12 months to reach your goals for the year.
You may also find helpful my Cash Maker Goal-Setting Calendar template, so email me if you want to try it out.

Tip #5: Prepare for the New Year

In the preparation stage is where the real fun begins, when we purge the old to let in the new. This tip is twofold – financial and non-financial.

Do Up the Financial Side
Gather all your financial and other documents for the previous year to organize for your year-end reporting. Consider using Dropbox or Google Drive to scan and digitally store your yearly documents, setting up similar files for the coming year.

De-Clutter Your Home and Office to Free Space
Make a visual inventory of your home and workspace to identify clutter. This is an ideal time to de-clutter by storing or discarding items (or even giving things away) that are not creating joy in your life.

By de-cluttering, your mind will be more agile so that you can engage in new conversations and new activities without being bogged down.

Use these tips to help you do what you love and enjoy what you do! Be blessed.

How do you prepare for the holidays in relation to your personal and business life? What tips do you have for ending the year with a smile? Please share in the comments below!

Let’s Have a Conversation!

Choosing An Exit Strategy

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A few years ago, three partners of a local CPA firm sat around the table talking. All of them were Baby-Boomers in age and they talked about what would happen to their 20+ person firm after they retired.

Two choices seemed logical. One, they could entice a larger firm to buy them out or, two, they could hire and train staff to replace them. Either choice required work to build value in the firm and maximize the anticipated “sale” of the business in the future.

At some firms, seasoned Baby-Boomer partners are preparing to exit within the next ten years. They may have children (or grandchildren) in the family who are being groomed to take over the business.

(Eighty-four percent of multi-owner firms surveyed in 2016 by the American Institute of CPAs said they believe succession will be a big issue for them in the next decade.)

Plan

Planning your future exit from the business can differ depending on the size of the business.  Regardless of the industry you are in, training future partners in advance is important for Baby-Boomer entrepreneurs to plan for.

Some businesses include mandatory requirements in written agreements, describing how an outgoing partner must transition clients to work with their replacement.  Partners or co-owners who opt to sell their part of the business may encounter roadblocks because the market is saturated in their area of expertise. This poses a challenge for soon-to-be retirees and their firms.  Planning in advance will increase the probability of a successful sale for those who hope to sell their career-long business at an acceptable price.

Young professionals who are looking to buy in to an existing business must be sensitive to business founders approaching retirement, as many have spent their careers building their firms and may be hesitant to step away.

Opportunities

If you are a young Millennial looking to buy out the owners or you’re a partner or co-owner who is planning on retiring soon, open and ongoing communication is a key element to successful transition.

At some firms, particularly those providing professional and technical services on things like taxes and financial matters, owners can decide to expand their firm now to avoid a leadership gap when they retire. The business might establish specialties in specific areas so that the founder can appoint younger talent to lead in those niche services.  Existing owners may think about when to strategically give notice of retirement to co-owners, so that younger leaders have a firm timeline for when they’ll become partners.

In one business, with a staff of about 10, the co-owners re-organized to have multiple people serve a single client.  This makes a client more likely to stay with the firm when the founder or co-owner leaves the firm.  Ten percent of multi-owner CPA firms surveyed by the AICPA in 2016 reported that they’ll likely look to merge with another firm after their current senior owners retire.

In a merger situation, large firms may shop for specialty expertise in smaller businesses, related to their industry.  They’re likely to ignore a firm without a strong niche. Firms who avoid technology, like using paper instead of cloud-based systems, may drive away interest from a potential buyer.

Ten years ago, small firms most often merged with larger organizations because they lacked a succession plan.  That’s changed, with many firms now merging as a strategic move. Large firms may offer pricey technology, for example, that small firms need so that they can compete and reduce costs.

Summary

As Baby Boomers retire, younger entrepreneurs have immense opportunities to buy into a solid firm.  However, generations may clash. For example, a retiring founder may choose to meet with clients face-to-face, while on the other hand incoming partners could pick email communication.  There is a huge opportunity for multi-generations to learn from each other on those fronts.  However, buy-out deals can fall apart because of different philosophies on how to do business.  Planning in advance will mitigate fall-out and maximize returns for the founder(s) when they are ready to exit.

Experience success!


NIta Black, CEO/Business Strategist
www.NitaBlack.com

“We provide business tools to help clients monetize their ideas.”

5 Tips on Marketing to Boomer Women

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According to the Pew Research Center, 38% of daily newspaper readers are ages 55 to 64, while 50% are older than 65.  People 50 years and older watch the most television, Nielson reports.  Baby-Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964.

Top Magazines Read by Boomer Women

Many of the top 20 magazines in the U.S., according to Statista, have significant female boomer audiences.  (Source: www.ama.org – Sept. 2016)

AARP reported reach of 44.78 million readers.  59% of readers between the ages of 50 and 69 are women.  Below are stats reported by AMA for other top magazines:

People
77.5 million readers
73% are women
32% are Baby-Boomers

Better Homes
48.12 million readers
81% are women
51.5% median age

Time
45.52 million readers
48% are women
50.0 median age

Digital Savvy

The younger end of the Boomer age range may be computer-savvy, while the older end may be less compelled by digital outreach. The Nielsen report suggests younger boomers must be using the web: the 50-plus segment spends almost $7 billion online.

The internet is also boomers’ primary source of intelligence when comparison shopping for major purchases.

Today, the marketing focus remains on the younger generation. “I agree that 18 to 34 is still the celebrated demographic,” says Denise Fedewa, Leo Burnett’s executive vice president and strategy director. “There’s both ageism in our culture and ageism in our profession of marketing. But some of it’s not even malicious ageism. Some of it is just, ‘I want my brand to feel young and modern and youthful, and the only way to do that is to be targeting it to the young and modern and youthful.’ But that’s simplistic thinking.”

The Baby-Boomer age range also includes a variety of caretakers: some are still caring for their own children, some have taken adult children back into their home and others are caring for their parents. Baby-Boomer women are often in transition between caring for children and focusing on herself, which changes spending habits.

Willing To Change Brands

It is important for a marketer to understand the female boomer audience, to address certain myths.  For instance, that she’ll use the same brand of hair spray or soap that she started using at age 28.  Brand proliferation has completely changed the marketplace.  Research shows that Baby-Boomers are willing to try a new brand if there is better customer service, as opposed to a better price.

Willing To Spend

Are Boomers saving for retirement? Yes and no. We shouldn’t just assume that Boomers are only interested in saving their money. They’ve worked a long time to save their money and to spend their money.

They may be looking for something new such as a faster computer or sporty car or nicer furniture. It’s their turn now, after years of spending money on their kids.

Research shows that Boomers think of themselves as ten years younger than they are. They are not sitting around wrapped in a blanket in an old rocking chair. Boomers in their 50s are very different from women in the 50s when they were growing up.

Marketers typically use images of extremely active Boomers or very old, nothing in-between. Fedewa says, “It’s like they’re either showing Boomers as a feeble person who’s no longer relevant, or you’re showing them as this uber-in-shape person who can do what a 25-year-old can do,” she says. “That’s not relevant, and that doesn’t resonate with people, either. Those are some of the clichés we need to overcome.”

Universal Insight

There may be ways to reach the female boomer without specifically naming her or featuring her image. Fedewa ran LeoShe, a Leo Burnett effort that focused on marketing to women 45 years and older.

The study found that women took pride in their wisdom, experience and in feeling good about their current phase in life.

“Yes, it would be nice for society and culture to acknowledge boomers a little more, show them a little more inclusively, to include them in visuals and so on,” Fedewa says. “But there are also certain universal insights, certain formative times in your life, that people have. They continue to be able to relate to those experiences for the rest of their lives. I don’t want to say the only way to appeal to boomers is to show boomers or to portray insights about boomers, because sometimes it’s just human experience insights that will resonate with them, too.”

Fedewa says much of her work at Leo Burnett has considered the voice of the female consumer and the older consumer, and she also espouses the idea of changing the story. “We feel really energized by this opportunity to change the conversation,” she says. “We have almost taken it on as a mission for ourselves.”

Experience success!


NIta Black, CEO/Business Strategist
www.NitaBlack.com

“We provide business tools to help clients monetize their ideas.”

7+ Facts About Baby-Boomer Women

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Baby Boomers are those born between 1946 and 1964, making them 54 to 72 years old, and the U.S. Census Bureau indicates an estimated 74.1 million of them in the U.S.

Photo:  Carolyn Michael-Banks
CEO/Founder of A Tour of Possibilities, LLC
www.ATOPMemphis.com ~ at the LevelUp Conference 2018

The estimated number of Boomer women is 38.44 million. In addition to their existing assets, Baby-Boomers are set to inherit $15 trillion over the next 20 years. Add to this the fact that women drive 70% or more of all consumer purchasing.

Despite these figures, Nielsen estimates that less than 5% of advertising dollars are targeted to adults aged 35 to 64. According to the report, “Typically, once a group of consumers reaches the so-called ‘cut-off’ age of 49, marketers ‘go back to go,’” the report says.

Knowing more about Baby-Boomer women can help you market to them. 7+ facts:

1. Once the college bills are out of the way and children launch their own households, the discretionary spending power of 50-plus women soars. They spend 2.5 times what the average person spends. Women are the primary buyers for computers, cars, banking, financial services and a lot of other big-ticket categories.
– Marti Barletta, Primetime Women

2. Born between 1946 and 1964, Baby-Boomer women represent a portion of the buying public no marketer can afford to ignore. With successful careers, investments made during the “boom” years, and inheritances from parents or husbands, they are more financially empowered than any previous generation of women.
– Mary Brown, Carol Orsborn, Ph.D., Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer—The Baby-Boomer Woman

3. Over the next decade, women will control two thirds of consumer wealth in the United States and be the beneficiaries of the largest transference of wealth in our country’s history. Estimates range from $12 to $40 trillion. Many Boomer women will experience a double inheritance windfall, from both parents and husband. The Boomer woman is a consumer that luxury brands want to resonate with.
– Claire Behar, Senior Partner and Director, New Business Development, Fleishman-Hillard New York

4. The number of wealthy women investors in the U.S. is growing at a faster rate than that of men. In a two-year period, the number of wealthy women in the U.S. grew 68%, while the number of men grew only 36%.
– The Spectrem Group

5. Women account for 85% of all consumer purchases including everything from autos to health care:

  • 91% of New Homes
  • 66% PCs
  • 92% Vacations
  • 80% Healthcare
  • 65% New Cars
  • 89% Bank Accounts
  • 93% Food
  • 93 % OTC Pharmaceuticals

American women spend about $5 trillion annually…over half the U.S. GDP.

6. Women represent much of the online market – Digital Divas by The Numbers

  • 22% shop online at least once a day
  • 92% pass along information about deals or finds to others
  • 171: average number of contacts in their e-mail or mobile lists
  • 76% want to be part of a special or select panel
  • 58% would toss a TV if they had to get rid of one digital device (only 11% would ditch their laptops)
    51% are moms

Source: Mindshare/Ogilvy & Mather

7. Women and sports. Women make up:

  • 47.2 % of major league soccer fans
  • 46.5% of MLB fans
  • 43.2% of NFL fans
  • 40.8% of fans at NHL games
  • 37% of NBA fans
  • Women purchase 46% of official NFL merchandise
  • Women spent 80% of all sport apparel dollars and controlled 60% of all money spent on men’s clothing
  • Women comprise about one-third (34%) of the adult audience for ESPN sport event programs

Source – www.she-conomy.com

Here’s what research says, as provided by Jan Marino, BoomerCafe.com:

As the unofficial spokesperson I feel compelled to let you know what I’m hearing from 10K of my closest boomer friends. Here’s a list of ten things that we Boomers want and need from service providers:

  1. Explanations and education about your product or service intelligently delivered informing us why we should invest in your product. 
  2. Options about what the trend of the service/product is … i.e. what’s its “shelf life” 
  3. Engagement with us. We really want to mentor and help others not make the same mistakes we did. We may appear arrogant, but we’re not…we just don’t want to be ignored. 
  4. We want you to know that we control over 70% of the disposal income in this country and we have lots of places to spend that money. We won’t spend it with companies that ignore us or call us aged or aging (even if we are both … you don’t need to remind us). 
  5. Use clever and well thought out campaigns for marketing. Don’t be afraid to go mobile. Offer us deals and great products especially women’s clothing. We have lots of money to spend on clothing, but not many of us can wear a size 0 or show our midriffs. 
  6. We are health conscience and not as worried about our sex lives as ads claim. Help us stay in shape and look good. 
  7. Our pets are part of our family and we think they need stuff, so we’ll splurge on them. 
  8. Our parents are a huge part of our lives and we are taking care of them. Products and services that makes life easier for them and us will sell if treated in an intelligent way…. i.e. NO cold calling…form relationships with families. 
  9. Reinvention and career services that help us stay on top of trends and technology are imperatives. We want to stay well-informed, so we can talk to our children and grandchildren. 
  10. We still care about changing the world and philanthropy. Get large numbers of us interested in worthy causes. We fully understand that the earth’s resources are limited, and alternative methods hold great returns.


NIta Black, CEO/Business Strategist
www.NitaBlack.com

“We provide business tools to help clients monetize their ideas.”

First Down?

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“Can you imagine a football game where they don’t keep score? That’s what most businesses are,” Chuck Richards, CEO of CoreValue Software says.  Running a business can be like playing a game with no scoreboard.

Marcus DiNitto, the Contributing Writer for an article published by The Business Journals in June 2017, interviewed Richards who identified three smart ways that increase value by fixing operational elements of an organization. Click on this link to read the full article and download a free assessment tool.

The Market, The Processes, The Metrics

According to CoreValue, nine out of 10 business owners who complete the assessment program (see free assessment tool) do a poor job documenting their market.  Why is this important?  It enables the business with internal communications so every employee is on the same page.  If borrowing funds or selling the business, the information shared externally is key to the outsider(s)’ financing or purchase decisions.

When goods and services are sold, the business promises to deliver to the customer what they purchased.  There should be documented processes in place to ensure this delivery of goods and services.  Every business should have a back-up plan so that operations are not reliant on any one individual, particularly solely reliant on the owner.

“A business owner has an obligation to make sure employees understand the company’s goals and objectives and how they are helping the company reach those goals and objectives. Rarely do companies have effective metrics of performance,” Richards said.  “…employees almost never know if they are winning or they’re losing at work, so they tend to keep busy. But it’s not very productive; it’s not very targeted.”

Knowing the company’s goals and metrics for success makes the work more fun, not only for the owner but also for the staff.

Big Hairy Goals

Remembering when I first started working at a large national bank, we had lots of meetings – meetings about new loans in the pipeline, new employees and organizational changes, and the bank’s financial benchmarks.  At the time the bank’s Return on Equity (ROE) was roughly 6%.  Return on Equity is calculated as Net Income divided by Net Worth.  I distinctly remember one meeting when a new CEO and Board Chairman had been chosen.  He came right out of the chute and said our five-year target for ROE was 21%.  Yowsa!  (We thought he was crazy.)

Five years later we were right at 22% ROE, having exceeded our goal.  What an exhilarating feeling it was to work as a team and make good things happen.

Think about your business as if you were playing football.  What are the plays to make the next first down?  Does your staff know what the plays are and how to score?  For more information on how to fix operations and set metrics, contact Nita Black at (901)413-1315 or go to her website at www.NitaBlack.com.  You can also find Nita on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Experience success!


NIta Black, CEO/Business Strategist
www.NitaBlack.com

“We provide business tools to help clients monetize their ideas.”

Starting with Sales – FAQs for Startups

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“Learn how to sell.  It’s the best investment you will ever make.  Mark Cuban says so.”  This is a quote from Jeff Haden’s article at Inc.com (August 2017) – enjoy the short video interview of Mark Cuban, billionaire investor, NBA team owner.

You need an angle – email me at info@NitaBlack.com #businessstrategist if you would like to discuss.  You need a sales budget.

How to Budget Sales.

One way to get an idea of a reasonable sales budget for a startup is to look at the industry data. Starting with census data, even though it is always dated, will help a start-up know how many companies are out there and average sales. Go to www.census.gov to pull Sales/Receipts by NAICS industry code. Start with the U.S., then the state, and then MSA and/or county to review geographic reports. Look at the total number of companies in each geographic area and calculate average Sales/Receipts per firm.

The industry information tells you how much was sold by your competitors.  It helps clarify the size of your target market, in dollars spent with your competitors by potential customers.  White papers and other research should help you estimate sales – a key line item in your budget.  The Sales Budget helps you set goals for all other line items in your budget.

Choose the information that is most relevant and comparable to the startup. Assume that it will take at least three to five years for a startup to reach the average Sales/Receipts per firm in the industry. Be conservative in your sales estimates. Consider preparing at least three scenarios of most likely, best case, worst case estimates so that appropriate planning can be considered for required capital, labor, and other resources.

Often, cash flow problems arise because of high growth as well as low growth.  Below is an example (see case study) of how the industry data can be used as a basis for the Sales/Receipts budget.

Sales Budget Process – Case Study.

The Market – XYZ Flooring Company is part of the Construction sector 23, doing business as a specialty trade contractor classified as NAICS 238330 and competing in the Memphis, TN MSA. Can you see how this information maps?  We start with the Construction sector, then choose a specific trade within the total sector.  Next, we look at the US data, data by state, data by Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), data by city and/or county.  These levels of information usually tell us something that helps us compete for customers.  We choose the most relevant data, based on the company’s mission and vision.

The Sub-Sector – The construction industry sector has three major groups of companies – (1) Construction of Building (236), (2) Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction (237), and (3) Specialty Trade Contractors (238). Specialty Trade Contractors include flooring, as well as poured concrete, structural steel, framing, masonry, glass and glazing, roofing, siding, electrical, plumbing and HVAC, drywall, painting, tile and terrazzo, finish carpentry, site preparation, and other specialty trade contracts.  Within the 238 sub-sector, there were 39 Flooring contractors reporting under NAICS 238330 in the Memphis MSA for 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. These businesses employed 175 workers with an annual average payroll of $6.9 million.

Geographic Region – XYZ Flooring competes for business primarily in the Memphis MSA, although growth is expected through sales in the three states of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi. 2007 information reports 187 flooring contractor businesses in the state of Tennessee, 67 flooring contractors in the state of Arkansas, and 42 in the state of Mississippi. Average annual sales size per business is reported as $917,000 by Tennessee companies and $652,000 by Arkansas companies.  This lets us know what may be a reasonable sales budget for XYZ Flooring.

Base Budget Plus Future – As a startup XYZ Flooring’s Sales Budget assumes it will take five years to reach the average Sales of approximately $652,000. The first-year sales are $385,000 based on 5 to 6 retail (consumer) orders per month at $2950 average price per order. Approximately one-half of the annual sales are retail resulting in a total retail sales budget of $194,700 annually. The remaining sales budget of roughly $192,500 includes 10 commercial orders a year at $19,250 per order. The company’s budget is based on an 80% pipeline of orders already placed, with 13 retail orders or $38,000 lined up for the first quarter plus $46,200 in pending commercial orders.

Growth Assumptions – Our source of referrals for both retail and commercial customers are well-established and are believed to support the current Sales/Receipts Budget. An annual growth of 10% for the first five years is assumed conservative, based on industry data provided by xxx Flooring Association which indicates recent historical industry sales growth of 12% to 15% per year.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

As the startup builds a track record each week, each month, each quarter, and each year, budgets should become more reliable. Who knows, a startup may outperform the industry in the first year so using several scenarios will help predict company needs and avoid crisis management.  Below are a few FAQs to help you as a startup.

  1. How do I calculate Breakeven Sales? Breakeven Sales in dollars is equal to Fixed Expenses divided by Gross Profit Margin.
  2. How do I calculate Gross Profit and Gross Profit Margin? Gross Profit in dollars is Revenue less variable Cost of Sales. Gross Profit Margin as a percent is Gross Profit in dollars divided by Revenue.
  3. How do I calculate Net Profit and Net Profit Margin? Net Profit in dollars is Revenue Less Total Expenses. Net Profit Margin as a percent is Net Profit divided by Revenue.
  4. How do I calculate Breakeven Sales plus $100k Profit? Breakeven Sales in dollars plus $100k Profit is equal to Fixed Expenses plus $100k divided by Gross Profit Margin.
  5. What costs are typically included in the line item variable Cost of Sales? Variable Cost of Sales includes materials and labor costs which vary with Revenue. For example, a $10 widget may have $3 in material cost and $3 in labor cost for a total of $6 in variable Cost of Sales per widget.
  6. What is positive Cash Flow? For example, Client ABC orders 100 widgets at $10 each which equals $1000 in Revenue. Client ABC pays Startup Business XYZ on the date of the order. Business XYZ has thirty days to pay Vendor to purchase product and twenty-five days to ship to Client ABC. Positive Cash Flow in this example is $1000 for thirty days until payment by Business XYZ to Vendor is made.  It’s great if you can collect money from your clients first and then pay your vendors and your people later.  That way you have cash in the bank before you actually need to spend it.
  7. What are Fixed Expenses in a Business? These are typically rent, utilities, insurance, office staff, W-2 employees, and other expenses that must be paid each month, quarter, or year, regardless of the level of Revenues in the Business. It is important to hold fixed expenses at a very low level, in the case of most startups.
  8. Why does a Business need research? Research should answer questions that help a Business compete and survive long-term. These are questions like (a) Who am I competing with, (b) Where are my competitors and what do they “look like”, (c) What are my target clients buying, (c) Who can pay for what I sell, (d) How much will they pay, (e) How much are my competitors charging and many other questions.
  9. What is a Sales Plan? Unless clients are begging you for business, typically, you must go find them. You must evaluate who your “best” client is and how to reach them. Where do they live/work, what do they do, why will they do business with you, and how will you reach them? The sales plan includes who you should contact, how often contacts should be made, in what ways should you contact, what actions should be taken over what period, and what goals within what timeframes can be reasonably attained.
  10. Why is a Sales Forecast important? A financial forecast starts with the Sales Forecast. This can be based on industry data, regional demographics, or other information. The goal of a good Sales Forecast is to estimate the financial performance of a Business for the coming day, week, month, quarter, year, or years. It helps set the expense budget for the same period. If actual Sales are significantly less than the Sales Forecast, the management of expenses becomes even more critical for long-term survival of a Business.
  11. Why is a Marketing Plan important? A Marketing Plan has several core components that, when completed by the Business Owner, will clarify how to reach clients that will buy from you. A Marketing Plan includes the estimated cost so that you can budget for these expenses. It is an integral part of the Business Plan, identifying the unique selling proposition of the business, the competitors of the business, and strategies to connect with and/or retain clients so that the Business generates adequate revenue to operate in a profitable and successful manner.

Learning how to sell without a Sales Budget is like learning to water ski with no boat.  Your sales budget will clarify what products and services are sold and which ones drive the most revenue.

For more information on building sales and other business strategies, contact Nita Black at (901)413-1315.  You can also find Nita on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Experience success!


NIta Black, CEO/Business Strategist
www.NitaBlack.com

“We provide business tools to help clients monetize their ideas.”

Are You a Steel Magnolia?

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What is a Steel Magnolia anyway? Let’s read what Wikipedia says.

STEEL MAGNOLIAS IS A 1989 AMERICAN COMEDY-DRAMA FILM DIRECTED BY HERBERT ROSS. IT IS THE FILM ADAPTATION OF ROBERT HARLING’S 1987 PLAY OF THE SAME NAME. THE PLAY AND FILM ARE ABOUT THE BOND A GROUP OF WOMEN SHARE IN A SMALL-TOWN SOUTHERN COMMUNITY, AND HOW THEY COPE WITH THE DEATH OF ONE OF THEIR OWN.

THE STORY IS BASED ON ROBERT HARLING‘S REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE OF THE DEATH OF HIS SISTER, SUSAN HARLING ROBINSON, IN 1985 DUE TO COMPLICATIONS FROM TYPE 1 DIABETES. HE CHANGED HIS SISTER’S NAME IN THE STORY FROM SUSAN TO SHELBY EATENTON-LATCHERIE.

 

THE TITLE SUGGESTS THE MAIN FEMALE CHARACTERS CAN BE BOTH AS DELICATE AS THE MAGNOLIA FLOWER, AND AS TOUGH AS STEEL.

As a woman in charge of her own destiny, maybe you can relate. Delicate and tough?

Ideal Leadership Traits

Have you thought about your leadership style lately and what traits you possess? How would you describe your ideal leadership traits?  Those traits that you seek and want to possess long-term.  Are you patient and calm, pushy and arrogant, somewhere in-between?  How would you describe yourself as a successful leader?  What does it take to be successful in business, or really at anything you decide to tackle?

Of course, you probably know Fred Smith or know of him. As the CEO and Founder of Federal Express, you can watch his video produced in December 2016 and read the article in Entrepreneur.  His tips for success start with “Believe.”  Believe in what you are doing, with all your might.

Or you might research successful women and how they define success. In Forbes Magazine (July 2016) in the article How Do We Define Success for Women Entrepreneurs, Patti Greene asks the following questions:

  • If a woman organizes her business to focus at least as much on growing a successful family as growing a larger business – is that success?
  • If a woman really enjoys performing the work of the business – delivering the product or service herself and choosing not to become an employer – is that a successful entrepreneurial outcome? Let’s remember that if we didn’t have the non-employer businesses we would need to create approximately 22 million more jobs across the country to take their place.
  • However, if a woman’s aspirations are to grow a much larger company, does she have access to the resources, particularly those of capital and network, to build that type of company successfully? Research findings over the past few years are fairly robust that women have equal access to debt based funding, while still lagging substantially in accessing equity capital.

Lead for You

We can google this and research that, all day long, been there, done that, searching for the definition of success. The main thing, imo, is that we do something. We make the best decisions possible at a given point in time and then run with it.  We look at ourselves often, celebrate the wins (even small ones), and percolate the fixes every day, one day at a time.  Yes, success can be like brewing a good pot of coffee – percolating is good!

Leadership Self-Assessment

If you are a business owner or a wannabe business owner, or just want to take some time for yourself to self-reflect, answer the following statements with the answer that best describes you.  We ask you to use one of the five following answers:

a. I disagree.

b. I somewhat disagree.

c. I agree.

d. I somewhat agree.

e. I strongly agree.

There are no right or wrong answers.  This should be a quick run-through – ready, set, go!

  1. I am more of a visionary and less analytical.
  2. I am more detail oriented and less big picture.
  3. My business and personal goals have been updated within the last six months.
  4. I made money last year.
  5. I know my banker.
  6. I owe money to a bank and/or outside investor, family and friends.
  7. My financial records are in good order and bookkeeping is up to date.
  8. I have at least three written goals to attain within the next five years.
  9. I like thinking and planning strategically.
  10. I have a strategic plan in place that has been updated within the last twelve months.
  11. I am open to advice from others.
  12. I have an established customer base.
  13. I have written and current job descriptions for myself and my staff.
  14. Each of my staff participated in a job performance review within the last twelve months.
  15. I offer health and retirement benefits that cover me and my staff.
  16. Each of my staff participated in a job performance review within the last twelve months.
  17. I have identified my target market in dollars and unit volume.
  18. I have a marketing calendar in place for the current year.
  19. I know what job positions will be needed for the current year.
  20. I have facilitated a team meeting with my staff within the last thirty days.
  21. I know how I stack up against other companies within my industry.
  22. I have a tax problem with the IRS.
  23. My technology strategy and IT support are clearly identified and in written form.
  24. I know what capital expenditures are required for my business over the next two years.
  25. I have identified a specific exit strategy and timeline.
  26. I have obtained a valuation of my company from an objective third party professional.
  27. I have a clear and defined process or processes to deliver my products and services.
  28. I have a clear and defined process or processes to keep my customers happy.
  29. I have a problem changing directions, even when something is not working.
  30. I like new things and have a problem consistently finishing a project well.
  31. I totally trust all my employees.
  32. I like projects.
  33. I like continuity.
  34. I like change.
  35. I have a comprehensive communications strategy that is working well with my staff members, my customers, my prospects, and with the public.
  36. I know my competitor’s unique selling proposition and how they are successful in their business.
  37. I have a rock star management team with few gaps in expertise/experience.

If you have now completed the above assessment, total the number for each answer. Total up all the a’s, the b’s, etc.

The point of this type of assessment is to identify your behaviors and clarify what is important to you, your family, your business.  Look for common threads in your answers, where you are now and where you would like to be – in terms of your own behavior.  Identify changes that you want to occur and then sleep on it.  Next, do your research to help you set realistic goals for making these changes – by specific dates that you set for yourself.

If you want feedback, email your self-assessment results to info@NitaBlack.com.

Are you a Steel Magnolia or do you even want to be one?  To identify tools and strategies that can make you more money AND ecstatically happy with what you are doing, contact Nita Black at (901)413-1315 or go to her website at www.NitaBlack.com.  You can also find Nita on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Experience success!


NIta Black, CEO/Business Strategist
www.NitaBlack.com

“We provide business tools to help clients monetize their ideas.”

Creating a Top-Down Plan That Sticks

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Imagine building this bridge with no pics and no plan.  No research, no second opinions.

This is what we mean by Top-Down – starting from “what it looks like” to adding in all the details, to adjusting with improvements that make it better.  In this blog we use the numbers to paint the financial picture first.  Next we identify the sweet spot – the core business that makes us happy and makes us more money.  From there, it’s organize, clarify, and then share our dreams through a written plan.  A living, breathing, ever-evolving plan for success.

Are you ready to go for it?

Tip #1 – Begin with the numbers.  Use a simple spreadsheet to put a monthly cash budget on paper. There are many free resources on the web.  The one I use the most is an Excel spreadsheet which you can download from Microsoft Office Online.  It is a one-page tool to help you estimate cash in and cash out.  SCORE also has a very good template which compiles data assumptions, keyed in by the business owner.  The data is then used to create pro forma financial reports (automatically created in the template, yeah!)

The key components of the initial cash budget include Sales, Number of Sales in Units (e.g. # Widgets Sold), Average Ticket Price Per Sale, Variable Cost per Sale, Gross Profit, Overhead, Net Profit or (Loss).

If you have ever prepared a plan for a lender to review, he/she will quickly look over the first couple of pages and then flip to the back of the plan to look at your numbers.  Even though we are working on the numbers first, they will go in the back of the plan, once completed.

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Tip #2 –  Take the numerical budget and begin writing your business story narrative, to create your business plan.  Describe your sweet spot – what you do really well, that you love to do, that people will pay for.  Then think about your end game.  When – not if – you are successful, what is your exit strategy?  An exit strategy can be “go public” or “leave legacy for my family to continue to operate a profitable business” or “sell to a major corporation within 10 years.”

At this point you should have completed the initial draft of a numerical budget, the description of your sweet spot, and your end game or exit strategy.  These three things make up the foundation of your business plan, upon which you can now create the rest of your plan.

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Tip #3 – Do research by googling to answer questions about your budget, your industry, your competitors, and your prospective clients.  Set up a cloud-based repository for documents, such as Dropbox.com, so that you can organize information first and then pull bits and pieces of relevant data into each section of the business plan.

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Tip #4 – Most business strategists suggest that you write the Executive Summary last.  My recommendation is to go ahead and write out your top-level vision (in the form of an Executive Summary) by completing a paragraph on each major section in the Plan.  This way, assuming you have completed the numbers in Tip #1 above, you now have the first draft of an Executive Summary which we will call a Business Review (temporarily) along with a basic cash budget.  This does not mean that your plan at this point is complete.  This is only the beginning.

Major sections in the Plan include

(a) Company Description – What products and services do you sell?   What is your mission and vision of the business?  Include your sweet spot in this section of the plan.

(b) Management Team – Who leads the team?  Who will follow?  Who is needed to round out the Team?  Include years of experience, types of expertise represented in the Team, and education of key members of the Team.

(c) Target Market – Who do you sell to?  Where are they located?  What do they like?  What do they need?  Why do they spend money and what products and services do they buy?

(d) Competition – Who does the same thing that you want to do?  Who else solves the problem that you solve, through the sale of products and services?  If your answer here is, “I have no competitors.” – that answer will be FALSE!  Everyone in business competes with someone.

(e) Marketing – What is your USP – Unique Selling Proposition?  Where can you reach your potential clients, through what media (such as online, television, radio, print materials)?  What are your marketing needs to reach how many people in order to sell what you need to sell?

(f) Sales – What is your sales plan, who is your sales team, and how are you going to build your pipeline of clients?  What is the timeframe to scale your business to the next level?

(g) Operations – How will you deliver the products and services that you sell?  What kind of quality controls will you have in place?  What are your fixed operations versus operations variable to sales?

(h) Finance – What are your gross profit margins, your breakeven sales, your overhead/fixed expenses?  What internal controls will you have in place to protect all assets, including cash in the bank, equipment, intellectual property?  Include your draft numerical budget in this section of the plan.  Return to the budget periodically to fine-tune, as other parts of the plan develop.

(i) Future Developments – What does your business look like one year out?  Three years out?  Five years out?  Ten years out?  What technology, new equipment, or systems have you identified that need to be explored, once the company can afford to invest due to planned growth?  Include your end game, your exit strategy, in this section of the plan.

(j) Appendix – What core business forms will you use?  Create or pull samples to keep organized as part of the business plan.  Key documents to gather may include a copy of the lease agreement, copies of vendors agreements, resumes for each team member, website content and social media documents, employee handbook, company policies and procedures manual.

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Tip #5 – Once you have drafted the Business Review (as outlined in Tip #4), sleep on these thoughts for several days. Go back and review to edit your thoughts and clarify what you want your business to look like.  Then begin to pay attention to more and more details.  The next steps to completing your plan will be the most tedious for most entrepreneurs.  A lot of us are dreamers and think big.  We hate to slow down to describe all the details to someone else.  But guess what?  This makes up the guts of the plan, all those tiny details will make a difference between success and failure.

Use the concise description of each plan section included in the Business Review to expand the body of the business plan by writing out more details for each section.  The details of your plan should include description of your products and services, your customers, your competitors, your operations, and your industry.  You can add charts and graphics to the business plan, once the core sections of the plan have been expanded.

When you get finished or at a good stopping point in completing the detailed plan sections, it is time to re-visit the numbers and then revamp the Business Review again.   Once each section of the business plan has “meat on it”, then you can change the title of the Business Review section to Executive Summary.  You are close to being ready to share with a selective few people who you know, love, and trust.

The Executive Summary goes at the front of the business plan, right behind the title page and contents page.  The financials go last.

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Tip #6 – Include your contact information on the title page and in the footer on every page of your plan.  Include page numbers on every page, except the title page.  Include the “date last revised” at the bottom of the Title page.  Be careful to research the company name, the domain name, email address, mailing address, colors, and type of logo, before finalizing.  This may save you money if you take a little time to identify the best name and other information, in order to maximize customer reach.  Consult with a business attorney to evaluate the optimal legal structure for what you have planned, before spending any money.  Consult with a CPA to discuss tax and licensing requirements, as well as options for bookkeeping and keeping business records organized, before spending any money.  Even though you are very excited about what you want to do, slow it down enough to decide on the best choices for you before spending too much money.  Then, on your mark, get set, go!

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Tip #7 -Don’t forget that the best plan is one that works for you, the business owner.  It is part of the learning curve.  That is, we practice what we do and develop a discipline to revisit the plan monthly, quarterly, annually.  The plan helps us do what we say and say what we do.  This is how the big companies have grown to be big; this is how you can do it, too.  Listen to the feedback that you receive from others, but stay focused on your dream and what you know will work well for you and your clients.  Also, be open to facts and numbers, sometimes a better way of doing things is revealed that was not part of your original plan.  Be objective, passionate, flexible, firm.

Start your business with a plan and then work your plan to make it work for you.  This will save you time and money, plus…have more fun!  Life’s too short not to give it your best, your all.

For more information on Creating a Top-Down Plan That Sticks and other business strategies, contact Nita Black at Info@NitaBlack.com or go to her website at www.NitaBlack.com.  You can also find Nita on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Experience success!


NIta Black, CEO/Business Strategist
www.NitaBlack.com

“We provide business tools to help clients monetize their ideas.”

Visualizing Your Dream

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I love posting things on the wall to organize my work day.  What about you?  What about birthday stickers and different emoji posts on Facebook and in texts?  But when it comes to visualizing my dream business, what I want when I grow up, I can get stuck.  All words and no pics – makes for “no fun” these days.

Back in the day, I decided to attend a class called “Operation Jumpstart”.  The materials were provided by the Kauffman Foundation which is a well-respected resource for tons of research and business tips/materials.  The course was offered by a local non-profit and the cost was nominal.  The biggest commitment I had to make was the time to attend 36 hours of class time over a 12-week period and complete assigned homework.  Yikes!  Little did I know that I would feel like I was in grade school again.  A story board (think emoji board, in today’s world)?  Are you crazy?  What is this going to do for me as a “seasoned” business strategist?  I do not have time for this, nor did I ever like to draw.

After the initial rebellion, I proceeded to quickly put together the bare necessities to complete the board as assigned.  When the next class was held, I was ready to turn mine in and be done.  Over-achiever maybe?  I was surprised to learn that no one else in the class had the understanding that this was homework, so the assignment was repeated and due date was extended to the following week.  Oh, well, I am ahead of the game – but wait?

As I looked at what I had done, it became more obvious to me that I had not thought through many of the underlying components of the story board.  If I was going to spend my time doing this, I needed to do it right – do you agree?

The five major sections on the story board were (1) the Entrepreneur (that’s me/you), (2) the Customer, (3) the Products/Services, (4) the Money, and (5) the Future.  On the original board, I had pulled clip art to quickly fill in the “blanks”, so to speak, so that the story board would cover the five major sections e.g. homework would be completed with elements as required – and not much work on my part.  The purpose of the story board was to tell the story of your business, the who, what, where, and how.  Much to my surprise, I found the story board very helpful in forcing me to continue to clarify what I wanted to do, who my customers would be, where I would get the money to do what I wanted to do, and what the future might look like.  More importantly, what exactly was I going to sell?

I know this is risky (maybe too transparent for some readers), but below is my original story board.  Although roughly organized, this is where I started with my story – addressing the five important sections. Below is my storyboard.  I am no artist and you can say or think whatever you wish…can you say “cheesy?”

For example, let’s start with the Entrepreneur – that’s me.  See the lady in the black dress with a briefcase and flying over tall buildings like Wonder Woman?  Well this is me!  Don’t ask me why, but I just liked this image and thought it was appropriate.  Sometimes I really do want to fly over tall buildings, but think better of it later.  The rest of the images reflect the visualization of my dream at that time in my life.

The more I looked at the story board, the more work I saw that I needed to do.  Too, too busy, and so many things I wanted to do.  And the title – I put that up there last and then changed it a couple of times.    You will see on the flip side of the story board, the title changed again.  I guess this is part of the evolution of any plan – figuring things out, and not being afraid of changing if it is not the best fit at that time.  The story board should evolve into a visual component of the business plan, like it or not!

On the flip side of the vision board (above), you can see the Future in the top left-hand corner with a “Sold – for Value” sign.  This means that the vision was to grow the heck out of this business to create value thru revenue and earnings so that it could then be sold – maybe to a major banking system that needed fee income and more commercial loan customers.  Sounds out there, to some of you, but I believed this could happen.

The Entrepreneur, that’s me, and my picture are on the bottom left of the story board with the phrase “The Collaborator”.  This is the branding – collaborator – that is still important to me today.

The story board (today we might call it an Emoji Board or Info-gram?) made things more visible to me – several ideas were formed that previously I did not have.  Even though I’m not an artist, I was glad that I took the time to complete the board – even if it was a not-so-favorite class assignment.  Of course, when I look at it next month, there may be more work to do.

Oh, well, this is entrepreneurship…I love it.

For more information on Visualizing Your Dream and other business strategies, contact Nita Black at Info@NitaBlack.com or go to her website at www.NitaBlack.com.  You can also find Nita on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Experience success!


NIta Black, CEO/Business Strategist
www.NitaBlack.com

“We provide business tools to help clients monetize their ideas.”