If a company waits until they get a product perfect before launching it, the product will never get launched and the company will miss the window of opportunity. Actually, this isn’t a new story. The first telephones, televisions and light bulbs have been upgraded and improved since their inception. The difference is those inventions took decades to improve. Today we are improving technology and product creation by the nanosecond.

The capability of mobile phones, the quality of web sites, and the ability to sell by the Internet has dramatically changed in the last 20 years, and changes are only happening at a quicker pace.

If Apple had waited to get the iPod perfect, we still wouldn’t have seen one because the technology keeps improving. Arguably, having a less than perfect product only inspires customers to buy the upgrades and latest versions of the “incomplete” products they already love.

Conversely, the stories of Toyota recalls that damage corporate reputations can also happen when innovations are not properly designed and tested and rushed too quickly into the market place.

So what does a business owner do?

Ready

Bringing innovation to the marketplace is the only way to compete in the new economy. The world is A.D.D. and innovation rules, no matter how good and reliable your products once were. If it’s not new it gets lost in these rapid changing times. Be in creation mode at all times, continuously looking for the next best thing you can develop. Being ready means no resting.

Shoot

You have to come to market every year with something new because the competition is. 10 years ago AOL was the most visited website on the Internet, and now it is obsolete. Amazon began as a virtual bookstore, now they are a virtual mall and debuting cutting edge technology like the Kindle series.

Sure Microsoft laid an egg with Vista, and they heard the customer complaints and followed it with an upgrade of a working design by bring to market Windows 7. The fact is they kept shooting even when they missed the target with a product.

Aim

In the new economy you put the product in the air and then you refine it to hit your target as you upgrade. What used to be done in testing labs is now done in real time in the market place. Yes there are consequences with products such as Rolaids which were removed from shelves and the well known Toyota recalls, but this is how the game is played today.

Do you have the stomach for it? Are you ready to innovate daily and do product testing in real time? The new economy rewards the gamblers and innovators who are less concerned with targets to shoot at and more focused on shooting and hoping to hit a target.

Once this habitual plodding happens, business leaders miss good opportunities because their minds are more focused on just getting through one more month instead of looking for big jump opportunities.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Is your budget for this year set with expectation of improvement or with the fear of repeating 2009?
• Do you have wiggle room to capitalize on a fresh opportunity or do you feel overwhelmed in time and financial resources; therefore, you only hope to make it through the year?
• Are you on high energy rush and expecting to have a record performance year, or are you using the same mindset you used to survive 2008 and 2009?

Opportunities for every business will be available this year. Those leaders who are looking for them will find a way to take those opportunities and turn them into long-term success. Others will be waiting on the right time to take on such new ideas, which means those business executives will go lacking while the aggressors take more market share.

Use this month to awaken your senses, get your people vibrant in their attitudes once again and grab your share of opportunities that are ripe with potential. In talking with a gentleman who owns 600 rental properties, someone asked him if he was feeling the pinch of the economy where people were not paying or he was left with open properties. He didn’t even respond to the question, he just offered a different perspective.

He said, “I’m not worried about how many open properties I have because now is the time to focus on the great opportunity to buy more properties, so I’ve been on a buying spree getting some great deals.”

Think of your perspective. Are you more focused on the negative impact the economy has had on your business, or are you focusing on the opportunities that can be grabbed while everyone is looking the other way? This is your wake up call.

Burning man is a one week retreat in the middle of a dust bowl with no food, no water, no showers, no cars, just what you carry in on your back or bike. It is intended to be an “out there” experience and from what people who have attended told me, you will see anything and everything going on at this retreat. When I say everything, suffice it to say, it is impossible not to be shocked at Burning Man because it attracts the freest of the free spirits and the edge is pushed more and more each year. I would guess not many CEOs attend Burning Man.

Which brings the question for all executives: What is proper to share on social media? The challenge with social media is that your personal and professional lives collide and for the “In the full disclosure of who I am” category it is actually a great resource for people to investigate who you are. Everything about who you are.

Employers are looking at social media pages such as facebook, twitter, and linkedin to see what employees and prospective employees are saying. The same goes for executives who are being “checked out” by employees, clients and competitors.

I have a number of clients who follow me on my personal pages as well as my fan page www.facebook.com/russelljwhite2 and they get the full me. But where is the Too Much Information (TMI) line drawn?

Would I share about my Saturday night in the strip club where I got 5 lap dances, had 8 beers, and was escorted out of the club by the bouncer for rude behavior? Would I share my disappointment about my employees letting me down? Would I go on a rant about how I hate Mondays?

Curiously, I have read each of these remarks by people who at that moment were employed somewhere. Is there a different standard for executives? I don’t think so.

Based on my observations the level of TMI has more to do with the age of the person posting than anything else. The younger people feel more open with their expressions and are willing to broadcast an almost open stream of consciousness. Conversely, some executives resist any contact with social media and prefer to remain a closed book. In either case, this is a misuse of a medium that is here to stay in some form or another.

Everyone needs to find their comfort zone. As with all media, there are the extremists on both ends of the spectrum who enjoy the shock value of what they put out there. Everyone has their hot points where they enjoy a good rant. For some people social media is their bullhorn to the world. Just keep in mind each post is an entry into your internet record which has public access.

The best advice I’ve heard about social media postings is to consider everything you write, link, or post would appear on the scroll at the bottom of a TV program and everyone you know or has contact with you is watching.

As a three year old I apparently walked into the middle of a ladies group home meeting and announced, “This is what my daddy does in the bathroom.” And I started to grunt. A three year old doesn’t know the difference between what public knowledge is and what should not be shared. As a three year old doing this, the ladies’ laughter to the point of tears was an expected reaction. What if I had been 18 year old? I image the reaction would’ve been very different.

Some things are best left unsaid in an open forum. As a guide for your social media postings, find where you audience is comfortable with your level of TMI, instead of where you are comfortable with your level of TMI.

The Verizon map ads seem to appear on TV every 10 minutes. Their unrelenting message caused AT&T to fight back with Luke Wilson ads that just don’t work. Why? Because Verizon found the glaring weakness of their competitor and cleverly got the word out to potential customers while the AT&T ads are just attacks on a competitor. Sour grapes does not gain market share.

What is AT&T going to do about this?

AT&T Will Spend $2 Billion To Improve Wireless Network http://bit.ly/d8db63

Now they are making upgrades they should’ve done before. Instead of gaining momentum with upgrades it appears they got caught with their pants down and appear to be reacting to the competitor’s ads. Meaning, instead of gaining customers for the upgrades they appear to be simply trying to keep the customers they have. That is a dramatically different return for a $2 billion investment.

How could they have prevented this from happening?

1. Be honest with yourself about shortfalls

When I work with organizations on strategic planning we often discuss the problems they have in-house and problems the competitors have. Which list do you imagine is longer? Many executives are blind to their own in-house problems and seem more focused on justifying why their situation is like it is.

You must take the objective look at where your competitors are beating you. If you can’t see it, get someone to help you. Because, if you are myopic enough to miss your weak spots, don’t worry your competitor will show them to you and all the customers you have or had.
Identify the critical areas you must improve quickly to be more competitive. Remember, sometimes you have to ask someone outside of the family whether your baby is ugly or not.

2. Know when the game has changed

People with knowledge have a great understanding of how to be successful in the way things used to be. Still advertising in the phone book? Still think social media is for fun and games? Still think if you build it they will come?

How do you know when the game has changed? When the traffic patterns in front of your location (that you rely on for business) reduces to a mere shadow of what it once was, you need to recognize you are in a new game. Once upon a time people wanted a bank branch on every corner, now they want those services on their phone.

AT&T fell asleep on the importance of 3G upgrades and it gave the advantage to their competition. How has your game changed? New technology? New competitors? Your energy isn’t what it used to be and the job is more demanding now than it ever has been? These are all import things to evaluate because the game changes daily, and last time I checked it isn’t getting any easier.

Once you can grab an understanding of how the game is played today, you have half the battle over. The next step is what you are going to do about it.

3. Proactive is under your control, reactive is under their control

I used to have a picture on my wall of a stampede with the caption: “If you don’t make dust, you eat dust.” The ones in the front only make dust, the rest are eating dust. Making proactive change and getting in front of the curve is where success happens. Once upon a time in the 90’s the economy was so good everyone did well regardless where you were in the herd. Not today.

Today only those who are proactive in making changes, anticipate customer needs, and take the risk to be in front are the only ones making the success we all used to see. Laying back and following the lead of others means by the time you “arrive” the customers have already moved on. That is how fast business is traveling. Are you being proactive or are you like AT&T having to spend too much money to simply keep what you have?

One of the greatest complaints of employers is the cost of benefits now that medical has become the monster in the benefit room. What can organizations do to serve employees without breaking the bank? Join the information age.

Next Gen employees are information junkies and they have many information needs a corporation can meet with minimal cost.

Companies need to make available free podcasts or online self-study seminars for employees on among other things finances, wellness, marriage, and family. These are not those black and white movies from the 50′s on how to be a happy homemaker. This is raw information where employees can learn how to better manage finances especially in these economic times.

Wellness programs start with the mental side of dealing with stress, dealing with family issues and dealing with the scary times for those just beginning their work careers in today’s economy. Bosses are not the experts on these topics and sending employees to a one day, one size fits all seminar holds little value. Informational downloads can be appreciated at the employees leisure.

Not only will this offer new benefits to meet employee needs but it creates a culture of personal growth which is a great work culture that will foster organizational growth because the growth mindset has been established. Help the employees with their educational and informational needs and help your company create a culture of growth in the process.

The managers are going to always set the tone for the rest of the employees, whether it is a positive outlook, a negative outlook or a growth outlook. In order to keep your managers fresh, keep them growing and keep them in the right frame of mind, provide a book study that will improve their skills.

I’ve had a number of clients in the finance industry this year order my Russell’s Rules book for their managers to study and discuss in their weekly meetings. The rules are short, simple, to the point and have implementation action steps that are easy to do. By using practical application leadership books, you keep the knowledge base growing, the positive discussion active and the workforce happy with better leadership approaches being used with them.

Some basic steps for knowledge growth:

1. Make sure the book is something your managers will actually read.

I consider Peter Drucker one of the best leadership authors of all time, but unless your manager team is deep into the science of leadership and business, they will not finish a Drucker tome. Short, to the point and immediately applicable books might not make the best seller list, but your managers will make it to the back cover.

2. Have meaningful conversations about what was to be covered for the week and how these tools are going to actually be put into practice.

The discussions will allow people to offer their spin on the information and how they plan to use it. If the group truly is interested in growing on a personal level the conversation will truly be beneficial to the organization. As the executive you will also see who is making the effort to make a difference and who is going through the motions just to follow along. This information becomes your growth as you better learn who cares and who doesn’t and who may be dragging down your team and who may be the best selection for your succession plan.

Reading leadership information without putting it into practice is not going to give you the return on your time investment; therefore, be sure to build in accountability to putting these things into practice.

3. Make it fun.

If this becomes a chore for your managers or an addendum to your weekly manager meetings, it will take on an air of unimportance and a necessary evil. Have fun with it, get people involved. Use the book you’ve selected as a way to talk about the parts of your organization you want to grow. Even when the economy isn’t facilitating market growth, the growth inside the organization should always continue.

Check out this video for a piece of managerial growth education.

The Beatles White album has a message recorded backwards under the song Revolution Number 9. I had access to a radio studio turntable, so I could play the album backwards and hear what the words really said. These were the surprise prizes that were shared from person to person; the “inside” information made us feel in the know, clever for having figured it out, and part of a special crowd.

DVDs now do the same thing with Easter Eggs. They are exciting to discover, and the customer feels special and rewarded. And the best part for the customer — sharing the “secret” with someone else! For example, the Cars DVD has hidden treasures aficionados enjoy. If you’ve seen “Boundin’ with Mater,” you are an Insider!

Even TV shows. The little icons prior to commercials on Fringe spell words in code.

What are you doing to create the buzz of word of mouth marketing for your surprise prizes?

Do you know about the “secret menu” at In and Out Burger? Have it “Animal Style!” Are you a Maker’s Mark Ambassador with your own barrel of private stock bourbon? Now you want to be an Insider don’t you?

Define the “Insider”

Insider: A customer who feels special. A customer possessing special knowledge. A customer who has been given a unique and remarkable gift. A person who resists the invasion of the masses.

Insiders are going to be the best salespeople you have — and they will sell your company and products for free, and with greater enthusiasm than many in your paid sales force. With the speed information now travels across the Internet, a single person can create a tidal wave of information and buzz!

Create the “Insider”

Resist the temptation to overexpose an Insider opportunity. Let your customers do it for you! Avoid publicity. This flies in the face of conventional marketing wisdom, which is, in fact, its special power. It is non-conventional. It creates selectivity. Here are steps to consider in creating your Insider:

1. Define who you want to “qualify”

Who you want to qualify establishes your parameters. Are you looking to create buzz through a “membership” program? Correct mistakes overwhelmingly? Let your customers create the “inside” information? Have customers occasionally have discoveries and tell others where to find them? Your Insiders need to reflect the culture you are creating with your organization and products.

Maker’s Mark is a small distributor of high quality bourbon that is worth the extra expense to their clientele. Maker’s Mark’s “Ambassador” program is focused on those loyalists who want to be part of the Maker’s Mark family. Both the company and the loyal customer like the family feel and status identification of their product.

2. The discovery

Insiders love the discovery. It’s the surprise prize. The discovery has to be exciting, remarkable, and of value. In the early days of HBO, the movie channel used to offer a gift movie at midnight one night during the end of year holidays. In the listing it simply listed it as “movie” with no fanfare or promotion. One year, it was the movie Ghostbusters, which was a real surprise because it hadn’t been released on videotape and was barely out of the theaters. The unexpected discovery was exciting! I got to tell everyone the next day what they missed. I was an Insider who got a treat others missed out on! The discovery creates buzz, creates scarcity and makes the Insider feel special.

3. The gift

Maker’s Mark sends gifts unannounced. They just appear in my mailbox. Surprise! They are always gifts of quality that I can display, use and share with friends and are linked to the use of their product.

Some are gifts of immediate practical value such as engraved glasses and stirrers, and some are gifts of prestige. I’m proud to say there is a barrel of Maker’s Mark in their warehouse with my name on it. It’s a gift of recognition that my “Ambassador” status has significance.

I received a certificate announcing the birth of my barrel. I receive updates on its progress. My barrel will not be ready to be tapped for 7 years (how’s that for anticipation marketing!) — and notice how I say it is “MY” barrel. Roughly 18 names are on the 50-gallon barrel, but it’s mine! I can even have special engraved bottles made to share with friends. The extra expense for these VIP bottles? Who cares — I look like I am “The Man!” giving those away. This is what most Insiders value: the peer recognition of owning such a gift. I have given some of my Insiders golf towels from Augusta National, home of the Masters. It’s not the towel — it’s the comments from their friends that are the gifts.

4. The access pass

Insiders like special access. Whether it’s the password to a special website page or access to a “forbidden zone,” Insiders like the special treatment. On a distillery tour, the tour guide decided to take the small group where “we really shouldn’t go” through a door that read “No Unauthorized Admittance.” The buzz of the group at the end of the tour was being able to see behind the scenes.

It was doing the forbidden that made us feel special. It’s the backstage pass. It’s the press credential to get onto the field. All insiders want to feel special. It’s what we tell our friends about.

5. Keep it fresh

McDonald’s Happy Meals regularly change the toy inside with savvy movie tie-ins. The kids may not be in the driver’s seat but they make the fast food selection. They are the Insiders who were able to get the “limited edition” Mater toy.

You need to keep your Insider’s attention fresh. Your Insiders want to be intrigued. If every year you send out pocket knives (as one of my vendors still does), they lose their appeal. Since I fly so much, a pocket knife is now actually undesirable because if I forget it’s part of my normal pocket contents, not only will I lose it at airport security but I now have the inconvenience of getting pulled for a special security check. I no longer feel special. The vendor is no longer in touch with my needs, therefore I no longer feel like an Insider.

Insiders want to be appreciated, pampered and know the company is in tune with them. The minute you lose freshness with your Insiders they will feel less appreciated.

6. Listen to the Insiders for what they create

If your organization is lucky enough, your customers will create their own Insider information (I mean the good kind.) Nothing is better than word of mouth you never had to initiate. It’s information that takes on a life of its own. Be familiar with the buzz, enjoy it, and work to keep it for Insiders only without trying to overly capitalize on it. Why?

7. How to lose Insider buzz

A. Allowing the masses in.

Waffle House once had its Insider lingo: Scattered, Smothered, and Covered. It was the inside way to get special treatment to your hash browns for the after-midnight crowd. Word traveled fast about the lingo, and people knew there were options but not sure what they meant. Sadly, now some menus actually explain the words’ meaning and promote those options. Insiders no longer feel part of the inside few because now everyone is an Insider.

You will lose your Insider once the masses become the Insiders and the buzz will be lost.

B. Easy entry premium clubs

Airlines have their premium clubs trying to make frequent flyers feel special but the clubs have lost much of their meaning. What good is early boarding for premium club members if 85 percent of the passengers are in the club? What good are upgrades to first class seating if, as a flight attendant told me, the bean counters are removing 25 percent of the first class seats and replacing them with coach seats to make more money once they realized 25 percent of first class seats were being filled with premium upgrades? Thanks, USAirways! Now I feel so special!

A premium club has no meaning unless it has scarcity.

What are your scarcity items Insiders crave? What is the Top Secret information only given to Insiders? How are your customers creating buzz about your company or products? What are you allowing Insiders to discover? It’s the multi-million dollar marketing advantage you need to get in on.

When I bought this house I live in on the lake I was looking for not just a nice house but a good deal and great investment opportunity. That fact that we found a house underpriced because of an acrimonious divorce just wanting to get rid of the last connection they had was my good fortune! Had we not signed the papers the day we did the opportunity would’ve been lost because literally there was a couple flying across the country from Seattle to come put a contract on it. They were in the air when we inked the deal! Oh yea! That’s opportunistic!

Those reading this can scoff but winners take control and grab opportunity when it presents itself. I got to watch the Panthers beat the Packers at Lambeau Field because I grabbed opportunity. I got to see a Styx concert in Vegas for free because I grabbed opportunity. I met my breakeven figure for the year before the year started because I grabbed opportunity.

Opportunistic seems to have a negative connotation to it, I figure that’s because there are more people who miss out on opportunities than those who grab it. Be the one to grab opportunity and elevate your optimism to opportunism.

These are questions that I work on daily with small business owners.  Most business owner’s think in terms of one line item when they try to grow their business – revenue.  This is logical choice.  After all, if revenue is higher, you must be making more money, right?  Wrong.  While this may be the case in a perfect world, it often leads to business owners struggling for years to make ends meet when the mathematics of the business just do not work.  What can be done to fix the problem?  It’s simple.  We just have to change the number so that the math works.

We recently helped a client who had been consistently loosing money for seven years – at a rate over of about $175,000 per year.   When talking with the client, his solution was that he needed more sales.  If he could just get more sales, he would be profitable.    We sat down with him and did a thorough break-even analysis.  Using his current cost structures, it was going to take nearly $3 million in sales for him to breakeven.  He was currently sitting at $700,000.   The answer to his problem was not sales, it was his cost structure.

We looked at his cost structure and compared it with his industry peers and were able to pinpoint a few key area where his cost were out of line.  We then implemented a strategy to fix those key areas.  Within nine months, his business was profitable.

The logical answer to growth is on the revenue line as the ultimate goal in a business is usually to make a profit.  No matter how much you have in revenue though, that does not mean you are profitable.  Make sure you know what your breakeven point is and how your cost compare with your competitors.  Start your goal setting from the bottom line profit and then move upwards to look at what you need to do to reach your target goal.

The next step after getting to or increasing profitability can then be moved toward reinvesting the profit into your business to grow it even further and compound the positive effects.  Stand back, monitor the progress, and let it grow!

Chad is a Charlotte CPA who works with small business owners and individuals on a monthly basis to provide them with proactive guidance and advice on how to grow their business, minimize their tax liabilities and grow their bottom line. Chad is also a primary contributor to his firms blog – Beancounter Ramblings You can find our more about Chad by visiting his profile here: Chad Bordeaux

Does this sound cruel to you? Does this sound like I have my priorities all askew? I am in a competitive world just as you are and everyone should be looking for ways to make your business such a draw it cripples your competitor.

I learned this years ago when I was working a cable television trade show and part of my compensation was to have a booth. It just so happens my booth was in between HGTV and the Playboy channel. Because of my antics in the booth, the games I was running and the prizes I was giving away created an excitement that drew a critical mass of people. Once there was the critical mass, people started to noticed and wondered what they were missing and the crowd grew even more. In fact for that show I out drew both of my neighbors purely because I created the right excitement and enthusiasm and had a plan to draw a crowd. Isn’t that the purpose of a trade show? It’s the same purpose for your business.

1. Create excitement

What are your employees doing to create excitement to draw in customers? Every day is a challenge to grab customers and the excitement and enthusiasm of your employees can become contagious in drawing in customers! Make sure you have the right people with the right attitude to create the right atmosphere for customer growth! Have what your competitors don’t have – employees that want customers.

2. Draw your target

Business growth is all about survival of the fittest. Who is the weakest in your industrial pack? Target them to cripple the business by creating such a draw in your own business that their customers prefer you. There is nothing wrong with taking down a competitor in the right way. I am not saying trash a competitor, or create mud-slinging type marketing. The right way is creating such a demand for what you have to offer your competitor no longer can stay open. Netflix changed the way people rent movies and their competition has been crippled. The only way you gain market share is to take it from someone else. Keep in mind there is a competitor who should be approaching you the same way. Fortunately for you, most of those weak businesses will end up closing and use the wimpy excuse of blaming the economy.

3. Be consistent

Growth only happens with a consistent expectation of growing, measuring growth and making every action a step in the growth direction. I’ve watched companies put on a growth push and everything went successfully! Then they say ”that worked well” and start high-fiving each other and sit back and rest. All the growth advantage they gained starts to drift away over time until the next growth panic attack. Leave that approach to your crippled competitor because panic attack growth is exhausting and not sustainable and eventually they just can’t make that one last push because they see growth efforts as exhausting.

In sports people love to be with a winner, and business is the same way. Customers want to be aligned with a company that is exciting, vibrant and growing. Be that company.