Are You as Successful as You Want to Be?

What an interesting question to ponder.  The answer to the question begins with your definition of success.

What does success mean to you?

For me success is fully utilizing my God given talents and abilities to help other people achieve their full potential in life and business.

Now that you have defined what success means to you...

Do you consider yourself successful? 

 

Success is not a destination but a journey.  A long journey filled with hard work, great effort, and sacrifice.  

From my experience many people leave the success journey because it is too difficult. To them it is easier to take path of mediocrity rather than achieve their full potential in life.

Thomas Edison said, "Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work."

So which direction have you chosen: the success journey or the path of mediocrity?

Am I as successful as I want to be?  Absolutely NOT!  I have much to learn in this life and I look forward to the opportunity to help many more people achieve higher levels of success in their personal and business endeavors! 

For more information about Strategexe Consulting Group's business coaching, strategic planning, or marketing management services please visit www.strategexe.com or contact us at 502.500.0259.

I Made a Mistake...

I Made a Mistake...
I have and you probably have too!  None of us are perfect in life or business and the way that we deal with our mistakes will set us apart from our competitors!

How do you handle your mistakes? 

Do you acknowledge a mistake and move forward or do you blame others? 

From my experience the best way to approach a mistake is to acknowledge the issue, accept appropriate responsibility, develop a plan to correct the mistake (if possible), learn from the situation, and move forward.

Remember that our actions do have consequences and that not all mistakes can be fixed. There are times when saying I am sorry is not good enough. A mistake may cause you to lose money, develop a bad reputation, destroy a friendship, lose a customer or worse!

When a mistake is made it is important to turn the situation into a learning experience.  What will you do differently next time?  Learn from your mistakes and try not to repeat them.  The more often a mistake is repeated the more "expensive" it becomes.

Project Management Technology

We have developed a partnership with Basecamp for project management and collaboration with our clients.  We have added quite a few new clients over the past few weeks and this new technology will allow our team to manage your projects more effectively.  If you are actively involved in a project with Strategexe you will be receiving your Username and Password to access our project management website sometime this week. 

Remember that our Business Education Workshop is next Wednesday from 10 AM to 12 Noon.  Click the link below to learn more about this exciting event. 
 
Business Education Seminar: Leadership  

Thank you,   

Adam Robinson 

Strategexe Consulting Group
502.500.0259
www.strategexe.com

Success...Now What?

SUCCESS...NOW WHAT?
What at week it has been!  Over the past 10 days some Strategexe clients have achieved some monumental milestones in their businesses and I have officially completed all of the course work necessary to earn my MBA. 

Once a big goal or milestone has been achieved it is natural to want to step back,  reflect, relax a little bit, and maybe even pat yourself on the back; however, don't let the success go to your head or make you think that you have finally become a "success".

What exactly does success mean to you anyway? 

Will you ever arrive at a certain point or moment and say that "I am a success?" 

I hope that you never think that you have arrived at "success" because the moment you do you will stop growing as a person or quit striving to lead your organization to new heights, or as we have seen time and time again life has a way of beating the success out of you!

So what exactly am I trying to say?

Success is a moving target that will never be fully realized.  There is always room for improvement.  Be content and thankful for what you have and where you are at any given moment, but never stop looking for opportunities to grow!

The most successful people that I know are the most humble and continue to look for ways to improve.  Humility and an insatiable desire for personal growth are the two foundational principles of success in my opinion.

About Strategexe

Strategexe Consulting Group is based in Louisville, KY and offers a variety of professional services to small businesses including strategic planning, marketing management, business coaching, and business education workshops.  For more information about Strategexe or to schedule a complimentary initial consultation please contact Adam Robinson at 502.500.0259.

Social Media Marketing

Are you using Social Media to effectively market your small business?

According to Mashable 78% of businesses are using Twitter and 75% are using Facebook!  The key question is how many of these businesses are using social media effectively? 

Example:  If you have a Facebook page for your business how often do you make wall posts(posts)?

Businesses that post more that 8 times per week average a 10.23 percent response rate while those that post between 1 and 7 times per week receive a 0.33 response rate!

While the frequency of the wall posts is important the content of the posts are critical.  Is the content timely and relevant?  Does it add to or take away from your brand image? 

Social Media management is one of the featured marketing management services offered by Strategexe. Our team of social media experts will help you select the correct social media platforms to connect with your target market and create communication strategies that will create a strong brand image for your organization.

If you need help with using social media to marketing your organization please contact me today at 502.500.0259 to schedule a complimentary initial consultation.

Do Your Customers Love You?

Do Your Customers Love You?
Valentines Day is the perfect day to talk about how much your customers love your business!

Do your customers love your business?

 

Do you love your customers?

Your customers are not going to love you until you love them!  In order to show your love to your customers you  must provide them with outstanding products and services coupled with spectacular customer service. 

If your organization is not showing your customers "the love" I promise you that they will find an organization that will!

Okay, I will admit that this newsletter is kind of cheesy, but I am sure that you get the point.  If your business is going to thrive you have to take great care of your customers or they will find a competitor that will!

If you need help with identifying key issues in your organization or developing action plans to address your challenges contact me today at 502.500.0259 to schedule a complimentary initial consultation.  You can also visit our website at www.strategexe.com for more information about our products and services.

Confront the Brutal Facts

Confront the Brutal Facts
In Good to Great Jim Collins indicates that companies that become great confront the brutal facts of their current situation.  They do not sugar coat the issues or try to cover them with a band aid.  Instead they develop a plan to correct what is wrong in order to improve the organization.

Click the following link for strategies from Jim Collins on how to Confront the Brutal Facts.

What are the brutal facts that you need to face in your organization?

• Problems generating qualified leads?
• Converting enough leads to sales?
• Ongoing employee issues?
• Operational bottlenecks that need to be corrected?   

Every business large and small has issues that need to be addressed.  Great organizations address these issues quickly and in many cases use them as a catalyst for growth.

Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline. - Jim Collins

If you need help with identifying key issues in your organization or developing action plans to address your challenges contact me today at 502.500.0259 to schedule a complimentary initial consultation.

www.strategexe.com 

Urgent vs. Important

Urgent vs. Important

How often do you get distracted from doing the most important things to help your business grow? 
 

Does the "urgent" often overshadow the "important"? 
 

 If you are going to be successful in your business you have to focus and execute the most important tasks.  It is easy to lose focus as a small business owner because so many things can happen during a work day; however, successful business owners know the difference between the urgent and important. 
 

Urgent matters are those "small fires" that we have to put out.  While it is true that these small fires can become a raging inferno if left unattended, you must not let the urgent keep you from accomplishing the important tasks. In order to do this you have to know what the important tasks are!

 

 Each day write down the two or three most important things that you need to do for your business that day and make sure that they get done.  Get in the habit of doing this each day so you are focusing on the important and not letting the urgent keep you from business success.

Our monthly small business workshop is this week!  Our topic is Building Your Team.  I look forward to seeing you this Wednesday from 8 AM to 12 Noon. Prospective clients are always welcome to attend a workshop free of charge to experience how Strategexe will benefit your business. If you have any questions or need additional information please let me know.  

Building Your Team - The Right People

The Right People
Once you have determined the roles that you need to fill in your organizations and have developed the job description for each role now it is time to go find the right people to fill each role!  There are two key steps to finding the right people: Recruiting and Interviewing.


Recruiting
Recruiting is the process of finding good candidates who are capable of meeting the expectations outlined in the job description for a role.  The best source for finding qualified job candidates is usually your current network.  If you have to go outside of your network to find candidates consider local job boards rather than the national job boards.  From my personal experience I have found Louisvilleworks.com to be one of the best overall job board in the Louisville market.

Interviewing
Interviewing is the process of analyzing each candidate and choosing the person to file a role.  It is very important for you to prepare for each interview by developing a series of questions that will evaluate the person’s skills set and character. If you are interviewing multiple candidates for a role be sure to conduct each interview the same way in order to accurately assess each candidates strengths and weaknesses.
In addition to the actual interview process there are a variety of skills assessments and personality profiles that you can use to learn more about potential candidates.  I have taken many of these assessment and personally used them when making a hiring decision and I amazed at how accurate these tests are.  For a list of recommended organizations and peronality profiles please email me and I will send you a list.

Skill vs. Character
What do you look for when hiring a new employee?  Do you value skill or character?  From my experience skill is important but character is the most important.  Nothing is worse than hiring the wrong person to be on your team.  It is critical that you go to great lengths to assess the skills and character of a person before offering them a position within your organization. In most cases hiring the wrong person is far more expensive in the long run than waiting to fine the right person to join your team.
If you one of your strengths is not recruiting or interviewing you may want to consider outsourcing this function to a company that specializes in recruiting and selecting new employees.  This may be one of the best investments that will every make!

Human Resource Management
Many small organizations outsource Human Resource Management (HRM) functions. This can be a cost effective step to help you recruit new employees and stay compliant with current HR laws and requirements.  There are many quality HRM organizations in the Louisville market that specialize in helping small business owners with HRM.  Send me an email if you would like for me to send you a list of organizations that I would recommend for outsourcing HRM for your organization.

For more information about products and services offered by Strategexe Consulting Group please visit our website at www.strategexe.com or contact us directly at 502-500-0259.