Business Growth Radio - Solutions on Demand

This is an unconventional article on a conventional topic - getting loans. Without knowing your business situation I will assume using cash instead of borrowing is an option. Here was my first lesson in small business finance - cash is your rarest resource and only use it to (1) buy an appreciating asset (building) or (2) something that generates revenue (new equipment). Otherwise do you need it? If the answer is yes, look at your financing options. Podcast Topics; Cash is a rare resourceType of incorporation determine the type of loansPurpose for getting a loanLeasing as an optionImpact on and by credit ratingAlternative financingNext podcast

Part 5 of the Finance Series focuses on three options: Payment Processing Factoring Simple Borrowing One of the biggest complaints I hear from clients and read about on online landscape forums is getting paid on time. This creates serious problems that negatively affect: Meeting payroll. Hiring new employees and not add pressure to existing staff. Cash or credit to service sales - purchasing materials and supplies. Funding marketing and gaining new customers. Regardless of what options you choose for cash flow improvement or business funding, the one thing that remains critical is repayment of the money within the terms and conditions plus using prudent financial controls within your business. Have questions about business financing or how to manage your ‘cash-flow’ like a pro? Reach out to GreenMark Consulting Group at www.greenmarkgroup.com or info@greenmarkgroup.com. Steven Cohen is President of The GreenMark Consulting Group and has been a successful entrepreneur for over 4 decades building profitable landscape companies.

The last Green Industry Pros podcast (GIP14) covered Accounting & Invoicing with a reference to ABC or Activity Based Costing. Putting together an effective budget doesn’t require ABC but sure helps. We start this discussion with the types of budgets available to a landscape business owner and then focus on where to start. One last thought, a budget has two demands to be effective: accuracy and forecasting. Types of Budgeting Systems. Traditional: created for a period and uses the previous year as a starting point.Zero-based: every year starts from scratch. Last year provides insights but instead you start at zero.Flexible: ongoing adjustments based on sales forecasts and the impact on production projections.Rolling: it takes a year long view and at the end of every period (a month or quarter) it is dropped and a new month or quarter is added to maintain a 12 month budget. Start with either the Traditional or Zero-based System, then as your competence and confidence increases move to Flexible and Rolling Budgets. Now the question moves from the system to its use. This is a quick overview, and we choose the choices most appropriate for small landscape companies. Your Options: Master budget, Operating budget, Financial budget, Cash budget, Labor budget, Capital budget, and Strategic. Our recommendation is to start with the operational budget and then add the cash budget.  

In Article 1 we over viewed the documents you should receive monthly; whether provided by an accountant or from a software package. Article 2 focused on Staying Profitable. This article starts at the strategic level on the types of accounting and then moves to how to make it work for you. There are 2 types of Accounting, Financial and Managerial. Financial Accounting is well known to most business owners. It meets the requirements of investors, creditors, and government taxing agencies. The standards for proper Financial Accounting in the United States are set by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Financial Accounting is a legal requirement and you must play by its rules. Managerial Accounting is not ruled by any standards except common sense. There are several models employed like ABC (Activity Based Costing) and are unique company to company. So what is it? It takes the same numbers and recasts it to track true costs by step, activity, product / service line, or customer. It provides you with the total cost of each step in a process. At this point you should ask yourself - why do I need to know this? The why is your ability to answer the following questions: Who are our most profitable customers? What are our most profitable products (services)? Are our products (services) correctly priced?

We are sure the following are universal rules for maximizing time at training, however if the people running the session are less than professional, the following will force theem to make it work your time. Questions: What is the major obstacle to your business being successful today?If you solve #1, what is the major obstacle to being successful in the future?How did the people develop the session materials? Test it? Up date it?What type of support can I expect after the session is over? (Both Free and Paid) Bring: copy of vision, mission, and value statementscopy of recognition & reward systemcopy of what is currently measuredcopy of back office support processescopy of human resource processescopy of marketing processescopy of sales processescopy of customer service processescopy of project management processes This does not have to be extensive - one sheet per process will be sufficient. Here is our rationale: if you don't have these in place then the business is out of control, if its out of control profitability is almost impossible. During our Boot Camp you will have the opportunity to build or modify core processes that will drive consistent performance.  

Although this show is dedicated to landscape companies, these 4 cores are applicable to all businesses. The focus is on those landscape business owners planning to attend one of our upcoming Boot Camps in February. 4 CORES; CORE 1: Guiding the BusinessCORE 2: Running the BusinessCORE 3: Getting the BusinessCORE 4: Doing the Business Look for tomorrow show for to prepare for GreenMark Boot Camps.

Staying Profitable builds on Article 1 and drills down on 9 essential management disciplines for profitability. GIP Show 14 details the first Management Discipline - Line of Sight to Business Goals. Terms variable costsfixed costs Mindset On or Under BudgetFrugality Methods Hold a training session and educate everyone on how they affect profitability. Rearrange your calendar and make 2 hours a week for meetings - no excuses. 1 Hour for field supervisors and 1 hour for internal employees. Create or improve work orders (or whatever you want to call it) to include: (1) list of materials, the cost of the materials, a space for recording how much was used, a space to record why it is off budget; (2) list of employees working the job, estimated labor hours for the job, a space for how much was used, a space to record why it is off budget. Collect it at the end of the day. Once a week meet with supervisors to discuss the work orders. There only 2 reasons you are over budget - bad estimates or poor supervision. This will be awkward but it is a discipline. Soon the supervisors will know what is expected of them which will impact how they control work. Once a week meet with internal employees to discuss cutting costs. Pick a theme for the month, electrical usage for example, and challenge them to reduce it by 10%. Keep the theme until you have achieved the 10% or what is possible. Then move on to the next major cost area. Never stop, you are creating a culture of frugality that will increase profits.    

Part of our Market Services offer is an ongoing research service. Part of this process requires a close examination of the economy to decide what forces are affecting your customers, and how will it affect their buying decisions. We combined several approaches (contained in our Business Primer) including stock picking; we built this economic cycle model. The Economic Cycle Based on the Wave Theory, the economy can be viewed as a series of waves with crests (tops) and troughs (bottoms) with two faces – Expansion and Contraction. When you add the economic principle of price communicating value, we divided it into 4 conditions: Expansion where True Value is Greater than Market PriceExpansion where True Value is Less than Market PriceContraction where True Value is Less than Market PriceContraction where True Value is Greater than Market Price

The essence of business success is the ability to assess market conditions and the competition, create a winning strategy that your current resources can perform, and then executing it right the first time. What impact is the economy going to have on our business? How are our customers going to respond? How are our competitors going to respond? What impact will it have on our mix of products and services? This broadcast will cover gWORX 4 elements for conducting a market analysis. Topics: Regulatory - federal, state, and local government laws and regulations that will impact your industry and/or your customersEconomic - where is the global and national business cycle and it will impact your industry and/or your customersScientific - scientific & technological advances that will impact your industry and/or your customersZeitgeist - what is the prevailing "group think" that will impact your industry and/or your customers

Although this reads for the new company, the intent is your phoenix rising from the ashes - the company built on the same ground as the old. There 4 Operating Principles that provide the foundation for success and growth: Accountability Feedback on Results Peer Support Planning as the CEO’s (you the business owner) Job 1 Why? Over my 4 decades of business consulting with the large and the small plus years of researching organizational excellence, these 4 were found in every success story.

Instead of hiring a Turnaround Artist or leaving your company to someone to do it for you, what if you DIY? Season 5 is "DIY Turnaround for the Business Owner" that wants to fix their own mess. Show 5.1 is an overview of the 13 shows and where you can can access to the materials.

This the last show of Season 4 - Owner as Executive and for the 2018 Growth Year. Next year - 2019 is also focused on growth and starts with Season 5 - DIY Turnaround for Biz Owners. The purpose: you are dissatisfied with the performance of your business and want to fix it yourself with a little help from your friends (Joe Cocker in the background). We will cover over the 13 weeks what made GrowthWorx successful - how we turned around small businesses from under performing with stagnant growth to growth that is fast and sustainable rewarding business owners with increased profits. But this is bigger than profits, it is about generational wealth and jobs.

What is an ESOP: Employee Stock Option Plan? ESOP is a kind of employee benefit plan, similar in some ways to a profit-sharing plan; Shares in the trust are allocated to individual employee accounts; Over a $1m in sales, owners want to sell, minimum of 10 employees, profit greater than $200k a year, must be a Sub-chapter S or C Corporation...

When You Leave or Die – What is the Legacy Start with Profit, Not Revenue Expand Capacity Through Quality

Today's Topics: Start with Profit, Not Revenue Expand Capacity Through Quality Today’s show and the next 3 are focused on bringing the topic of Owner as Executive to a close. Since our first show (SHOW 4.1 Chapter 1: The End Game – A Self Managing Organization), everything has been about your mindset as a business owner. Seasons 1-3 in 2018 focused on ‘What To Do’, this Season it has been ‘Who Are You’.

This our final article in the series of Growing Managers. We started with the Discipline of Management, covered Promoting Smart, and the last edition was running a Manager Nursery. We identified the difference between management and leadership, what attributes to look for when promoting, and how to develop from within instead of hiring from the outside. Now the question is - how do I measure performance?

3 Topics for today’s show: When and How Do You Plan to Depart Maximizing the Value of the Business Building Operational Plans

This article (and podcast) starts a new series on Finance for Landscape Business Owners of all sizes. The series is based on feedback the staff at Green Industry Pros Magazine received from its readers in 2018. We start with a summary of the basics for looking at your business and the next 10 articles.

Now that you have built a position that plays to your strengths, create positions around you that cover your weaknesses.

Based on your assessment profile or strengths and weaknesses, build your position description first.

This is a continuation of Show 4.2 - Chapter 2: Who Are You? We discussed are you a member of the .0025 club, the elite business owner who innately has all of the tools required to build a market dominating company? I don't and haven't met that person yet. Therefore that leaves you with 2 choices..

Our approach to research is pragmatic - find out what is working and then explain it. Here are the best of the best: Ichak Adizes and the Process of Growth Nassim Taleb and Antifragile GrowthWorx and the Theory of Everything

A Self Managing Organization - Start of Season 4 and introduction of the book - Owner as Executive. Show Notes: http://www.ownr.life/2018/10/season-4-book-owner-as-executive.html Linkedin Article #1: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/self-managing-organization-part-1-william-eastman/ Linkedin Article #2: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/self-managing-organization-part-2-william-eastman/ Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/growth.worx/?ref=bookmarks

Over the last 4 decades, I spent several years running a leadership and management program for supervisors, managers, and executives. The following list is a summation of that experience and growing several companies. Once you have started developing your own talent, here are some rules for leading and managing: 5 Rules of Leadership When in Charge, LeadUnity of CommandChain of CommandBe What You ExpectTreat Everybody as an Individual 5 Rules of Management Bring Order Out of the ChaosRemove ObstaclesProblem Solving, Not Fault FindingSolve Problems, Not Treat SymptomsEverything has a Budget Checkout the article @ Green Industry Pros Magazine or The GreenMark Consulting Group.  

Supporting podcast for the May/June Green Industry Pros magazine article.  5 Management Disciplines: Bringing Order Out of ChaosRemoving Performance/Results ObstaclesMaximizing the Use of ResourcesOn BudgetEliminating Waste The Mix of the 3 Organizational Skills Required of Managers: Technical SkillsPeople SkillsConceptual Skills The 2 Attributes of Effective Managers: Self-ManagementWorking Under Pressure  For More Information - contacts us at 833.RUGREEN or greenmarkcoaching@gmail.com

Support of Article 3: Promote Smart in partnership with Georgia Urban AG Council and the GreenMark Consulting Group. Summary The focus on Growing Managers is hiring from within; growing your own. The same issues addressed in Articles 1 and 2 apply to hiring if you have no internal alternatives. As we move forward, view the following attributes and skills serving a dual purpose - how to identify internal candidates or screen the externals. Growing Your Managers requires: Skill Sets Technical SkillsPeople SkillsConceptual Skills Attributes Self ManagementWorking Under Pressure

In the last article/show we asked - “Where Are You?” Which small business group does your company belong to - the Elite 5%, the Successful 15%, or the Struggling 80%? (If you didn't read it - go back now! It was a primer for why the Elite 5% are the Elite 5%). 4 Characterisitics of the Elite 5% - the High Impact Firms Focus on ResourcesFocus on StrategyFocus on ClientsFocus on Marketing and Sales If you would like to review our 34 Best Practices of Fast and Sustainable Business Growth - Contact Us

Support of Article 2: The Discipline of Management in partnership with Georgia Urban AG Council and the GreenMark Consulting Group. The Self-Discpline requires managers to self-manage: Focus on ContributionManage Your Time to Drive EventsMaking Core MetricsA Model for Problem Solving

I left corporate consulting many years ago to focus on the engine of the American economy - the small business. The statistic that defined my decision was 90% of all new jobs were created by just 5%. These companies were very small, under 20 employees and could overcome the odds to achieve exponential growth. I was hooked, and it became my obsession. I found there were three groups of small businesses - the 80% that were surviving or just hanging on. 15% that were successful but uncertain about how to take it to the next level, and the cheetah’s - the Elite 5%. This posed the question - how did the 80% make it to 15% and then become the Elite 5%? I will detail how the 80% moved into the 15%, how the 15% joined the Elite 5%, and how they stayed there.  

If you could look down on most businesses you would witness crab like movement. Never moving consistently in one direction. Instead each leg has a mind of its own with the result the company never harnesses its resources to achieve objectives. Main Topics: Self-Directed and Self-Managed organizations require a real-time measurement system. Think like an Executive, not an Owner. The job is not to do the work of others, rather holding your direct reports (managers) accountable for earning their checks. Supervisors are to manage the people doing the work by established processes and measured on efficiency. Managers are to manage supervisors by how well they enforced or improved processes and measured on results. The Owner’s job was to pay attention to the near future by looking for threats and opportunities to prosper regardless of uncontrollable events. The Owner created a culture of performance, results, and teamwork. The highest honor in the company was to become the Friday Quarterback to Calibration and Alignment Meetings.

Where we have been discussing the Green Industry Pros Series on Quit Making the Labor Cruch Worse Article 1 - Your Reputation in the CommunityArticle 2 - You Have to Understand the Job Before HiringArticle 3 - Which is Harder, Figuring Out What You Want or Spotting the BS?Article 4 - How Do You Really Write a “Help Wanted” Ad Without Attracting Rent-a-Wino’sArticle 5 - So They Can Work in Landscaping, Should Work For You? This Months Green Industry Pros Article & Podcast - How Long Do You Want to Overpay Them? Podcast Highlights The Two Work Orientations - Occupational or OrganizationalBuilding Loyalty to You and the Company Next Month's Article - We Start a New Series on Growing Manager's

Where we have been discussing the Green Industry Pros Series on Quit Making the Labor Cruch Worse Article 1 - Your Reputation in the Community Article 2 - You Have to Understand the Job Before Hiring Article 3 - Which is Harder, Figuring Out What You Want or Spotting the BS? Article 4 - How Do You Really Write a “Help Wanted” Ad Without Attracting Rent-a-Wino’s This Months Green Industry Pros Article & Podcast - So They Can Work in Landscaping, Does That Mean They Should Work For You? Podcast Highlights Setting Up the Selection Interview - Building the Script Conducting the Interview - How to Gain the Truth Without Paying Your Hand Post Interview Decisions Making - Ranking the Candidates and Creating the Cut Next Month's Article - Onboarding Talent

This the fourth article in a 12 part series on Quit Making the Labor Crunch Worse! for Green Industry Pros online magazine. Creating a Magnetic Title & Introduction Start with what the job produces - not what it does. Summary of KSC’s (Knowledge, Skills, Certifications) What do they need to know, what must they be able to do, and certificates must they hold/tests they must pass.  What Makes You Different This is all about how can they contribute to the future - yours and theirs

Shows 1 and 2 covered Using Brand to Attract the Right People and Getting Right Inside First. So let us pick up the conversation with Eligibility. The 3 Essential Questions that Resumes Must Answer: A Question of Match. Ask them to give a list of their certifications, what they have learned and where it was practiced, and any education or training you consider important.  A Question of Character. Their work history say allot about them. This is the second paragraph on their resume. Ask them to list both why they took each job and why they left. You are trying to decide if there is a pattern of trading time for money until a better deal comes along. A Question of Intent. The closing paragraph. Why are they responding to this offer and what are their expectations? What you are trying to decide is how wide the gap between what they expect and reality. If this individual has everything else going for them, at least you know the first issue to address - closing the gap with reality. This three paragraph resume will force them to give the information you need, not a laundry list. You can sort it into the YES pile - people to interview; the NO pile - people to avoid; and the Maybe pile - interview because they might fit another position. Show GIP.004 - Writing Ad Copy that covers Shows 001, 002, & 003.  

HR Series: Quit Making the Labor Crunch Worse Show GIP.002 Do You Know What The Job Really Is Before Hiring? Topics: Core Processes: Has the company mapped the core processes to ensure a position or role is linked? Key Responsibilities: Based on an organizational chart, has the company assembled job descriptions from process maps? Knowledge, Skill Requirements, and Certifications: Based on job descriptions, has the company determined the minimal level of knowledge, skills, and certifications required for employment? Although we are using industry experts from landscaping, Show 2 applies to all small businesses. It is the second in our series on "Quit Making the Labor Crunch Worse", with Gregg Wartgow of Green Industry Pros and Steven Cohen of GreenMark Consulting Group. They discuss all of the pre-work required to find the right people. They define right people as individuals who have the knowledge, skills, and certifications required to perform - in HR terms eligibility. Then they cover the issue of fit - do they fit your organization and their work group - in HR terms suitability. The right person for the job is someone who can perform and will fit, and they are out there! How do we know? They are working for someboday - just not you. Show 2 provides the understanding who is the perfect fit so you can attract them to your company (covered in Show GIP.001). It also lays the groundwork for Show 3 on how to sort the BS from the Truth on April 27th.

There are two emerging trends all small business owners must get a handle on quickly - economic growth causing a tight labor market. What if you became the “employer of choice” representing a profession that makes a difference and provides an opportunity to grow? That requires an understanding of what good talent wants. By the way, today’s generation wants what we wanted and what our parents wanted: An employer that makes a positive impact in the community and positions itself as a market leader;An employer that solicits and values each employee’s contribution, and;An employer that inspires excellence throughout the organization, rewarding good people and refusing to tolerate slackers. Join Gregg Wartgow, Editor-in-Chief of Green Industry Pros magazine, Steven Cohen President of the GreenMark Group, and #ownrlife Host William Eastman for the first of eight shows discussing the future of human resources in small landscape company’s.

William Eastman, Executive Producer of BIZLIVE,news and RichmondBIZLIVE interviews Greg Hofbauer of Nimble Pitch and GroundWorkDesign on his development of Nimble Pitch and its applications.

SEASON FOUR - Raw Feed (Originally Broadcast on 16JAN15 @1206PM on RichmondBIZLIVE) Companies that Changed their Markets & Niches Linda Heath - Sensis Advertizing Agency: Microsegmentation or Gaining Market Leadership by Going NarrowAndy Shulick - Creating Innovation Teams: How to Build the Team to Rethink Everything.William Eastman - WalMart / Target Superstores and The Brookeside Group -  Reshuffling the Deck

SEASON FOUR - Raw Feed (Originally Broadcast on 9JAN15 @1206PM on RichmondBIZLIVE) Companies that Changed their Markets & Niches Mark Deutsch & Rick Grossberg - Charim and Leadbury: Use of Social Media to BreakOut in their Markets.Ben Meredith - MagicTech: CRM Pioneer's: Beyond Desktop Based SoftwareWilliam Eastman - Amazon and Dennison Lubricants - Changing the Location: Making Tade Happen at Client Sites

SEASON FOUR - Raw Feed of the 5.15.80 Business Performance Model William Eastman Summary of SEASON ONE - "Getting to BreakEven" The performance level of 80% of all small businesses can be described as "Hanging On". If your company is here, how do you get to a consistent BreakEven and move into the 15%?Summary of SEASON TWO - "Managing to BreakThru" The performance level of 15% of all small businesses can be described as "Doing OK, but What Do We Do Now?" If your company is here, how do we figure out the next steps and BreakThru to the elite 5%?Summary of SEASON THREE - "Leading the BreakOut" The performance level of 5% of all small businesses can be described as "Market Leaders". If your company is here, how do Sustain our Dominance and BreakOut to the next level?Overview of SEASON FOUR - "Rethink Everything" In order to BreakOut and Sustain Market Dominance, you need to "Rethink Everything". If you started with a clean slate, what would you do differently to (1) create uncontested markets? or (2) make your competition irrelevant, or (3) capture a major trend early and own the wave?

What is the impact of money on your brain? For many it is like crack. The research claims we have 2 orientations to money: our friend and as addicts. Our friends we focus on long term relationships and the goal is to accumulate. The addicts amoung us once started, cannot stop until it is gone. The goal is the experience. Ever wonder why some people easily accumulate wealth and others burn through it regardless of the amount. Check out http://www.cbsnews.com/news/this-is-your-brain-on-money/ - it is worth the read.

SEASON THREE - Raw Feed Mark Deutsch: Selling Your Business - Negotiating Professionally Rich Grossberg: Buying a Business - Negotiating on Your Own William Eastman: Owner as Executive - Closing the Loop - Quickly Surviving your 1st REINVENTION Cycle

SEASON THREE - Raw Feed Linda Health: Finance - Determining New Product Price Andy Shulick: New Product & Service Development - Quickest to Market to Become New Product Launch Leader Mike Carroll: Marketing & Sales - Starting from Scratch - What Would You Use Now?

SEASON THREE - Raw Feed Linda Heath: Finance - Estimating New Product Development Costs Andy Shulick: New Product & Service Development - Testing New Capabilities that Exceed Customer Expectations Mike Carroll: Marketing & Sales - Maintaining New Product / Service Price Integrity

SEASON THREE - Raw Feed Linda Heath: Finance - Alternative Sources of Financing Andy Shulick: New Product & Service Development - Product Testing to Maintain Price Integrity Mike Carroll: Marketing & Sales - New Product / Service Commercialization Note: Show 35 was cancelled due to Thanksgiving Holiday in the United States and content included in upcoming Shows

SEASON THREE - Raw Feed Linda Heath: Finance - Self Finance or Fund Growth Through Debt Andy Shulick: New Product & Service Development - Using Expert Forums to Determine Superior Value Ben Meredith: Marketing & Sales - Identifying Most Profitable Customers; Present and Future

SEASON THREE - Raw Feed Mark Deutsch: Selling Your Business - Building the Deal Team Rich Grossberg: Buying a Business - Building the Deal Team William Eastman: Owner as Executive - The Critical Elements of Leadership & Management

SEASON THREE - Raw Feed Mark Deutsch: Selling Your Business - What is Your Motivation? Rich Grossberg: Buying a Business - What is Your Motivation? William Eastman: Owner as Executive - Characteristics of Effective Leadership

SEASON THREE - Raw Feed Linda Heath: Finance - Using Retained Earnings for Growth Andy Shulick: New Product & Service Development - Supplier & Customer Driven Innovation Mike Carroll: Marketing & Sales - Collecting Market Intelligence to Identify Future Competitive Advantage

SEASON ONE Finance: A Culture of FrugalityBrand & Strategy: Becoming Customer IntimateMarketing & Sales: Enhancing Sales SkillsOwner as Executive: A Culture of Performance

SEASON THREE - Raw Feed Summary of Season One - William Eastman Achieve Operational EfficiencyDistinctify the OfferProfessionalize Leadership & Management Summary of Season Two - William Eastman Market Penetration & PositioningAggressive Marketing & SellingOperating @95% Capacity Review of Season Three - William Eastman Selling & Buying a BusinessREINVENTING the Business