In a building project, the foundation must be strong and well thought out in order to allow for future planning and additions.  Likewise, with strong goals you can build a solid life and business.  The dream is the motivation.  Fulfillment of your dreams comes through big, yet realistic goal setting on three levels:

Long-Range Goals

If a building contractor wants to construct a building, he must first conceptualize the entire structure; he can’t just focus on a brick or a pane of glass.  Similarly, you should think big and develop the entire picture in setting your long range goals.  You need to decide what you want to achieve in the areas of spiritual, family, professional, financial, social, physical, and mental goals.

Medium-Range Goals

The building contractor must consider the steps from foundation mortar to high-rise glamour.  He also has to set a day-by-day timetable.  Even though he must be concerned with both foundations and final decorating touches, he knows that the first floor framework must be completed before the second floor construction can begin.  The same applies as you build your life and business – you cannot get so concerned about being at the top that it blocks your sight to what needs to be done today.

Short-Range Goals

Even the most prestigious builder of skyscrapers must still take care of dirt moving and mortar pouring.  Short-range goals are extremely important.  Unfortunately, many people ignore this category.  Even those who do take time for these details often set their short-range goals too high, so high that they become unreachable.

The fulfillment of dreams is a gradual process that needs to be worked out on a day-by-day basis.  The establishment of immediate goals provides the stairway that will carry you to the achievement of your medium and long-range goals.  What happens when you reach a short-range goal?  It should merely be the beginning of a new adventure.  You should transform those medium-range goals and aspirations into short-term ones; you should change long-range goals into medium-range ones; and then you should develop new long-range goals.

Realizing Your Goals

Fulfilling those dreams that link with each goal you achieve rewards your efforts, but your goals must also be realistic.  Wanting to buy a Rolls Royce on an annual income of $20,000 is hardly realistic.  Be realistic, but once you have attained one goal, decide to set your sights on something bigger and better.

Especially for your immediate goals, it is important to define your dreams and aspirations.  Write them down.  Consider what you want to buy or do when you reach those goals. How soon do you want to achieve them?  Visualize your dreams and goals by posting pictures or statements in private places in your home or car.  As an example, if you want to get a new car, go sit in the plush upholstery, drive it, think about it.  Do everything needed to reach the goal so you can make that dream come true.

If you haven’t achieved everything you have dreamt about in the past, don’t stew about it.  Forget about the past, make a decision to move forward, set your goals, and go for it!

I think that there are several other things we can do that will assist us in dealing with difficult people.  These ideas will also enhance our relationships with all of the other people in our lives.  Here are my suggestions:

Strive to act justly.

There is nothing in the world like working with people who have a sense of fairness and justice.  These kinds of people have integrity.  Integrity is a character trait to which we are all drawn.  One of the highest compliments I have been paid in my working career came from a 3^rd shift union steward who worked for me in the late 1970’s.  I had given my 2-week notice to my employer and, on my last night at work, my steward walked me to the door, said goodbye, and told me how much he was going to miss me.  I asked him why he was going to miss me because, over the time we worked together, we had certainly had our differences of opinion.  He responded that, while we had indeed enjoyed our share of differences, he had found me to be both reasonable and fair, character traits that he had not found in many of his previous bosses.  That statement made me realize that, as business leaders, we have an obligation to our employees and organizations to make sure that we always strive to act justly.

Learn to love mercy.

Many people will read the statement above and immediately think that showing mercy is a sign of weakness.  Those of you who know me or who have read my newsletters and blogs probably know that I am one of those individuals who tend to go against the tide of popular opinion.  I don’t do it to be controversial, but because I believe that businesses in America are failing at a high rate because people have lost track of the basics, the fundamentals that enable businesses to survive and succeed.  One of those fundamentals is showing mercy.  There is an old cliché that reminds us that “people won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  I have found that cliché to be completely true.  People first have to know that we are concerned about them, that we value them as individuals, and that we put this ahead of any business relationship we have or are trying to cultivate.  Every person on the planet has a need to feel cared for and to feel important.  The person who shows caring will win that persons loyalty and support.  Be careful, however, that your mercy is genuine and that you are using the right motives.  Mercy displayed insincerely is easily detected for what it is, and such mercy leads to suspicion and distrust.

Seek to walk humbly.

An old friend once told me that being humble means that we are teachable.  Being humble doesn’t mean that we are spineless and that we let people walk all over us.  What it does mean is that we never have an exalted opinion of ourselves or our abilities.  When we don’t think too much of ourselves, we are always open to learning.  We realize that everyone around us can teach us something.  In most of my consulting assignments, I learn as much as I teach.  One main reason that I learn is because I ask a lot of quality questions.  Ask a lot of questions, get a lot of answers, and learn a lot is typically the way I work.  Another reason that I learn as I teach is that I realize that the people I am working with have probably forgotten more about what they do than I will ever know…and that is fine.  My job isn’t to know more than they do; my job is to ask questions, probe, learn from them, and help them discover the answers they are looking for.

When you evaluate yourself and your approach to business, how do you fare in these three areas?  Even for those of you who scored yourselves high, I recommend that you tuck these ideas in the back of your mind.  Then, as you engage in your daily activities, grade yourself based on the quality of the encounter you have with each person you meet.

1. If you are at a networking meeting, skip the food.  You are there to work, not to eat.  If you must have something, grab a non-alcoholic beverage and sip it while you work the room.  No matter what anyone tells you, booze and business don’t mix.
2. Networking involves more than idle chat and handing out business cards. Take time to get to know people.  As I’ve mentioned in other newsletters, the quality of the questions you ask will, in large part, determine your success .  Spend more time finding out about others than you spend talking about yourself and your business.  What does their company do?  How long have they been in business?  What market segments are they focused on and why?  What is their take on the economy?  What are the greatest challenges they are currently facing?  People like people who are good listeners.  People will give their business to people they like and who can solve their problems.  If you listen, people will like you and, by listening, you can find out their problems and what you can do to help solve them.
3. Don’t spend the entire evening talking with one person. Work the room and get involved in several different conversations.  You can not only meet interesting people this way, but you can learn a great deal.
4. Take good notes. I always take a notebook or small pad with me wherever I go.  I take a genuine interest in the people I meet and jot a few notes about our conversations.  This is easy if you are sitting at a table.  If you are standing, it is a bit more difficult.  In standing situations, I remember key points of the conversation and jot down the notes later, either between conversations or when I am in the car.
5. Exchange business cards. Exchange cards only after you’ve had the chance to get to know someone and talk with them for a few minutes.  It means more than someone leading off with their card.
6. Follow-up after the meeting. The key here is to follow-up with everyone you meet, not just those with whom you might have an immediate business connection.  I make it a point to write a personal, handwritten note to each person I meet.  It doesn’t need to be long, just a brief statement that you enjoyed meeting them and hope to see them again.
7. Keep following up. Make it a point to make some kind of regular contact with the people you meet.  Please make sure you hear me when I say don’t be a pest.  Follow-up several times a year to keep your name and business fresh in their minds.  This activity is where taking good notes can pay off.  If you and I met at a business function and, during our conversation, I learned that your hobby is raising cocker spaniels, I will make a note of it and add that information to my contact file.  Six months later, I might be in a book store and see a neat book on this kind of dog.  I might just pick it up and mail it to you with a note that says,

Hi Dave,

I was at the book store today and this book made me think of you.  Enjoy it with my best wishes.  Hope to hear from you soon.

Warm regards,

Gary

If you received something like that from one of your business contacts, how would it make you feel?

Consider picture notepads. If you can afford it, have some notepads printed with your name, company information, and a small picture on them.  Mail them to your contacts and clients.  It’s an excellent way to keep your face fresh in their minds.  I also do this with simple “picture” stationary for writing “thank you” and “enjoyed meeting you” notes.

Networking can be extremely profitable if you work at it, stay focused on your goal of meeting new people and establishing new connections, and follow through to help nurture and grow new relationships and opportunities.

This particular Sunday, she brought a joke that made me both laugh and reflect.  Here it is for your enjoyment:

An elderly lady had always dreamed of going on safari in Africa.  She finally decided to take the trip and, when she went, she took her faithful dog, a poodle, with her.  On the second day of the safari, the poodle wandered off into the jungle and quickly became lost.  He was frantic and ran about barking and crying, hoping that the lady would hear him.  Instead of bringing help, his barking brought trouble.  A panther heard the noise and came to investigate.  As the dog saw the panther approaching, he became even more frightened and realized that he was about to be the big cat’s lunch.  The dog realized that there was no way he could outrun the panther, so he looked around to see what he could do to save himself.  He spied a pile of bones a short distance away and quickly laid down on the bones, put one of the bigger ones between his paws, and began gnawing on it.  As the panther approached, the dog said loudly, “Yum.  Best panther I ever ate!”  The panther stopped in his tracks, surprised and shocked by what the dog had said.  As the dog continued to chew on the bone, paying no attention the panther, the large cat decided that he did not want to be the dog’s next meal, and quickly moved off into the jungle.

A monkey, sitting in a nearby tree, saw this whole event and realized that the panther had been tricked by the dog.  He quickly ran after the panther to tell him what had just happened.  The dog saw the monkey chasing after the panther and knew that the monkey had to be up to no good.  Sure enough, the monkey told the panther what had happened.  The panther, now very angry because of the trick the dog had played on him, went running back toward the dog with the monkey on his back.  As he approached, the poodle continued to lie on the pile of bones.  When the panther was close enough that he could hear the dog, the poodle stood up, looked around, and said angrily, “Where is that stupid monkey?  I sent him away an hour ago to get me another panther!”

As I’ve said so often in the past, 90% of the truth in the world is said in jest.  While this joke is funny, it carries a picture of what many of us deal with in our daily lives.  How many of us, at one point in time or another, have found ourselves lost in dangerous and unfamiliar territory?  For most of us, it wasn’t in the jungle.  Most of us were at home, at work, maybe even at church.  We found ourselves in a bad situation with a group of hungry panthers (sometimes people, sometimes circumstances) circling, ready to pounce and devour us.  If you have been fortunate (or perhaps unfortunate – it depends on your perspective and attitude) enough to find yourself in this set of circumstances, what did you do?  How did you handle the situation?  Since I have been in many such situations, I offer the following for your consideration:

1. Don’t panic. Working yourself into an agitated frenzy never helps.  As difficult as it can sometimes seem to do, stay calm.  Maintaining a level head and a balanced perspective is critical to your survival.
2. Evaluate your situation. This is a good opportunity to ask some of those quality questions I’ve mentioned in recent newsletters.  What is your situation?  What are your current circumstances?  What resources do you have, both mental and physical, to draw upon?  What is the major challenge you are facing and how can you either solve it or gain an advantage over it?
3. Take the offensive position. I don’t mean that you should offend those around you, but that you need to remember that, in most cases, the best defense is a good offense.  Taking a proactive stance not only establishes you as a leader; it drives your creative juices in search of a solution.
4. Create a win-win proposition. Win-lose is easy to achieve; win-win is much tougher, but it is the approach that all successful people choose.  Many potentially disastrous events can be completely avoided if you (a) seek a solution that meets everyone’s needs and (b) handle the situation in a manner that allows everyone to maintain their dignity and respect.
5. Perform an autopsy. After the situation is successfully resolved, take the time to reflect and ask some additional quality questions.  If the situation took you by surprise, how might you have been able to anticipate it?  How could you have handled the situation more effectively?  What did you learn from the experience?

In order to benefit from difficult situations, be like the poodle; use your head your surroundings to your advantage.

On our very first broadcast in April, I gave an example of how an economy, any economy, works.  It involves the circular cash flow that is created by the exchange of goods and services in a country.  Here’s how it goes:

1. I go to the grocery store and buy a bottle of ketchup for $1;
2. The grocer pays an employee;
3. That employee pays his telephone bill;
4. The telephone company hires me as a consultant and I get my $1 back.

Break any link in the chain and the economy grinds to a halt.  Stopping the flow of cash can be the result of a slowing in demand (i.e. I lost my job and can’t afford to buy the ketchup) or an interruption in the supply (the grocer didn’t get a shipment of ketchup so there is none for me to purchase).

In the United States, we are currently in a situation where both sides of the equation (supply and demand) have been affected.  One has only to look at the credit markets to realize the painful truth of this statement.  Due to job loss, people can’t afford to get loans and, at the same time, due to overleveraging, many banks can’t afford to lend money.

Enter the Obama administration and the multi-faceted, multi-trillion dollar stimulus plan.  Obama and his administration subscribe to Keynesian economic theory, the brainchild of the late John Maynard Keynes.  Keynesian economics is based on the belief that demand drives the economy.  It works just like the model I described above, with the important exception that demand is assumed to be the driver.  As a result of this focus on demand, Keynesian economics tells us that, when a crisis strikes, people hoard their money, choke off the earnings of people and businesses downstream in the economy and, as a result, society as a whole is deprived of the wealth they could have created.

The problem with this process is two-fold:

1. Aggregate demand sets the stage for substantial government intervention and the perceived need to “prime the pump”.  This is what the Obama stimulus package is all about.  The goal, through government spending, tax cuts (not tax incentives), and lower interest rates, is to inflate demand and produce wealth.
2. The Keynesian approach also advocates the redistribution of wealth from the wealthy to the poor.  The thought process is that the poor are more likely to spend that wealth, thereby generating even greater economic growth.

At this point, let me ask you a question.  What would happen if the Free Market was left alone? Overleveraged banks and poorly managed companies would face a crisis, during which investors would insist that board rooms of irresponsible managers be swept clean, and new management put in place.  The days of corporate jets, the associated escapades, and ridiculous corporate bonuses and compensation not tied to performance would disappear.  In short, while it would be a painful process, the economy would heal itself.

So what is the problem?  The problem is that government cannot be seen as idly standing by and doing nothing.  On top of that, the liberal political agenda is to have more government involvement in the private sector, not less.  But it’s not all the government’s fault.  As citizens, we would much rather spend and consume our way out of this recession instead of living within our means, retraining or relocating for a new job, and expecting less from the government and relying on ourselves.  Creating wealth by spending and consuming is a wonderful thing.  Unfortunately, that’s not how it works.

The flaw in Keynesian economics lies in its basic premise that demand leads to wealth.  We can no more demand or wish to be wealthy than we can vote ourselves rich.  Demand does not produce wealth; capital does – both material and human capital. Both nations and individuals become wealthy by the accumulation of income producing assets.

Let’s bring it down to a very personal level.  Would you become wealthy if you lived beyond your means and always spent more than you made?  Would you retire young if you built up mountains of credit card debt on which you couldn’t even afford to make the interest payments?  The answer is an emphatic NO! However, you might retire wealthy if you consistently lived below your means and invested your savings in income producing assets.  My friends, the same is true for the United States as it is for each of us.  If we lived below our means, the government wouldn’t have to borrow money to fund current expenditures.  The money it saved on interest could be used for more spending or reduced taxes.  Lower taxes would give citizens more income to save and invest, producing even greater wealth.

One thing is certain – no one ever got rich paying interest on a depreciating asset!!

Deficit government spending is a good thing when it makes a country more productive and its citizens more self-reliant.  But – and this is a big BUT – the value of this added productivity must be greater than the total cost of spending. Democrats claim that the stimulus package does this, but when I look at the content of the stimulus package, believe me when I say that the Return On Investment (ROI) isn’t there!  Please realize that a significant portion of the Obama stimulus package is wealth transfer from future taxpayers to present day non-producers.  He plans to increase benefits for the unemployed by nearly $100 billion, and this is in addition to the hundreds of billions already being given to the unemployed.  Will someone please explain to me how paying people not to work produces sustained economic growth?  Also, the President’s plan to give tax cuts to people who do not pay taxes is not a tax cut at all – it’s a welfare check.  The notion that we can get rich by giving poor people money is ABSURD!

In the long run, the stimulus package will fail because it relies on a flawed economic philosophy that runs contrary to common sense.  If government spending is such a boon to the economy, why stop spending at $1 trillion dollars?  Mark my words.  When the stimulus package fails to stimulate, and I virtually guarantee that it will, the chorus from the left will be that the government didn’t spend enough.  This will trigger more government spending, a phase two stimulus package.  The problem is that we are already on shaky ground with nations like China who have been buying all of our debt.  They may decide that it’s time to cash in their chips.  If that happens, hyperinflation will arise and decimate what is left of our spending power.  At that point we, personally, and as a nation, will be dead broke!

Don’t lose heart!!  In my next blog, we’ll look at solutions!  There are ways out of this pickle.

Gary

www.optechs.tel

When hard economic times hit, it becomes of paramount importance that companies begin operating more efficiently and effectively.  In his book The Goal, Eli Goldratt talks about the fact the every business should be striving to complete the transformation process that turns raw materials into saleable product in a manner that allows the company to sell the finished item and be paid by the customer before the payment for raw material purchases is due.  Cash flow just doesn’t get any more positive than this!!!

In order to move an organization toward this kind of positive cash flow, here are some fundamental things every company must do:

1. Find the bottlenecks. A bottleneck can be defined as any area of your business where the flow of work is impeded.  A simple tour of your operation, with a clear goal of looking for excess inventory sitting, will often be sufficient to find enough critical bottlenecks that can be addressed quickly to improve the speed with which product moves through your operation.
2. Map the process. It is very simple to develop what is called a Value Stream Map (or VSM) of your operation or a portion of it.  VSM’s allow you to see bottlenecks graphically and understand what is causing them.  Armed with this information, minimizing or removing the bottlenecks often becomes very straightforward.
3. Invest in Employee Education. Improving a manufacturing process is not rocket science.  It does, however, take a good deal of discipline and a systematic approach to problem solving.  The fastest way to improve your operation and to increase throughput and reduce costs is by teaching your employees how to map processes and then empowering them to come up with solutions to the problems they identify.  Optechs specializes in training and leading teams in continuous operational improvement and we would welcome the opportunity to work with your business.

In summary, while the economy in the United States is far from positive, there are many things that companies can do to both survive and thrive.  Commit to understanding the core or your business, reinvent your company to improve revenues, find creative ways to drive inventories down to maximize available cash, improve the flow of material through your operation, and take time to train and empower your employees to help in all of these areas.  Doing so will help you survive today’s challenges and will posture you for explosive growth when the economy turns in a positive direction.

As a leader in top quality business consulting, Optechs stands ready to help you in all of your business endeavors.  Please feel free to visit www.optechs.tel for more information on how to contact and follow us.

Note: While the examples used herein primarily relate to manufacturing operations, it is important to realize that most of the suggestions offered also apply to service related businesses.

Inventory Management

There are three primary types of inventory: raw material, WIP (work in process), and finished goods.  Raw materials are materials that have been purchased and that will be transformed into a final product.  WIP is inventory that is in the transformation process but has not yet been finished.  Finished goods are products that have finished the transformation process and are ready to be delivered to customers.

Let’s start our discussion in the area of finished goods.  In good economic times, like the United Sates experienced up until 18 months ago, finished goods inventories tend to be managed rather loosely.  Many businesses don’t manage inventories tightly as long as demand for products remain high.  When tough economic times hit, these businesses are “stuck” — they have high volumes (and values) of inventory that nobody wants.  In addition, they may experience kick back from some customers who want to cancel orders and return merchandise.  At this point, inventory management becomes a critical focus of businesses as they seek to lower finished goods inventories in a wild attempt to (a) stay alive and (b) generate cash to help sustain operations.

What to do?

1. Work with your customers.  Come along side them, understand their situation, and work with them to help them utilize the inventory they have and develop realistic plans for future demand.
2. If the demand has truly dropped off, look for other outlets for the products.  Is there anyone else in the marketplace who needs and/or uses what you have?
3. Look at the margin that you have on your finished goods on an individual SKU basis.  How much can you lower your price and still cover your costs?  Will lowering the price substantially help stimulate sales in the short-term?  Remember that, in tough economic times, breaking even on the sale of a product may be perfectly OK because it (a) relieves inventory that is not moving and (b) provides some increase in working capital.
4. Take a good, long, hard look at slow moving inventory.  Every day that is sits on the shelf, it costs you money.  Brainstorm with your key sales and operations people about how to get rid of it.  As a last resort, write it off if that seems prudent.

Next, let’s talk about raw materials.  These inventories also tend to experience an “upward creep” during strong economies, and they often represent between 30% and 50% of final product cost.  Lowering and tightly controlling raw material inventories can generate cash for the business and protect the company into the future.  Here are some ways to reduce raw materials:

1. Work with your suppliers.  If you have more materials on order, negotiate a reduction in shipments and postpone or cancel some future orders.  Also, starting now, go to a pull inventory system, where your suppler holds a certain minimum amount of inventory for you, and you pull it and pay for it only as needed.
2. Ask suppliers to take back some of your excess inventory.  Even if there is a restocking charge, it may be better to have some cash in hand than to hang onto the inventory.
3. Do your homework.  See if there are other businesses out there to whom you may be able to sell some of your inventory.  Even if you have to sweeten the pot by reducing the price, cash is king and you may well need it to survive.
4. Convert your raw materials into other products.  This point may not have wide application, but let me give you an example.  If you are a plastic injection molding business, you may be able to use some of your excess raw material inventory by offering your customers a discount if they take a different color of material or a material that has slightly different mechanical properties.  It’s worth asking!  The worst a customer can do is say no.

For both finished goods and raw materials, it is also an excellent idea to put in place a slow moving inventory program.  A program of this type requires that all inventory be reviewed on a regular basis, usually monthly or quarterly.  You want to be looking for excess inventories compared to normal order rates and inventory that is sitting on the shelf as has not been consumed or sold.  There should be a review board to review the results of this inventory audit and make decisions about how the inventory will be dispositioned.

Finally, we will talk briefly about WIP, or work in process inventory, although this discussion will be continued in part 3 of this series, as we talk about reducing costs through operational streamlining.

WIP inventory is the result of improperly planned or poorly managed operations.  Consecutive operations with varying production rates, inadequate ERP/MRP software for shop floor scheduling, and lack of management focus all lead to higher than needed WIP inventory levels.  Reduction of WIP inventory requires a change in mindset and well as a different approach to analyzing and managing the business.  This will be addressed in part 3 of this series.

Remember this: inventory must always be moving.  Anytime inventory sits, it costs you money — no value is ever added to inventory that is not being worked on!

Benjamin Franklin, one of the great leaders in the early years of our country, once made a comment that, in order to become wealthy, one can either supplement one’s income or reduce one’s expenses — but that the quickest way to wealth is to do both at the same time.  In the business world, this is sage advice.  Reducing costs will be dealt with in my next blog, but today I want to focus on INCREASING REVENUES.

How does a business increase revenues?  Anyone who has taken a marketing 101 class will recognize the 4-quadrant model that says that we increase revenues by (1) increasing sales of existing products to existing customers; (2) selling existing products to new customers; (3) selling new products to existing customers; or (4) selling new products to new customers.  As true as these statements may be, they are, in my opinion, inadequate for dealing with today’s economy because they do not put sufficient focus on just how dramatically we must change in order to survive.

Businesses today must re-invent themselves, which means that they must, at a very fundamental level, rethink their business models.  What has made businesses successful and profitable in the past may not work moving into the future.  One company I have worked with created a compelling business model, in the early 1990′s, around having a dual profit center business.  One business unit was created to provide customers with quick turn-around tooling, and the other was a production unit to run those tools to create product for their customers.  This model worked well until the middle of last year, when, due to the economic slowdown, customers began canceling or delaying expenditures for tooling.  The company had a great deal of money invested in the tooling business and, with management believing that their business model was still viable, they hunkered down to try to weather the storm.  Now, a year later, the company is hemorrhaging money every month because they have not taken the time to rethink the underlying fundamentals of their business model.

Re-inventing a business is not as easy as it sounds, or even as simple as it may look on paper.  Why?  Because re-inventing a business requires that mangement do two critical things.  First, they must be honest with themselves and truly understand what is not working with the business.  What is preventing the company from surviving and moving forward?  Second, they must be committed to making whatever changes are required for the business to survive.

I was interviewing a potential client a couple of months ago.  The organization provides manufacturing services in the area of metal finishing.  Revenues are $10M per year, with about 50% of sales dollars coming from the automotive market.  With such a high level of automotive sales, it became readily apparent that the business was tanking.  When I asked what the company was doing to change, I understood that the management team realized the NEED for change.  However, when I probed further and asked if they were COMMITTED to making the change, the answer I received was uncertain.  My point?  Management must be committed to making change — or the change will never happen.

So what can companies do to increase revenues in these challenging times?

1. Do go back through the basic marketing model and see if there is any low hanging fruit that has been missed.
2. Visit your top customers (the 20% that represent 80% or your revenues) and take the time to tour their operationS.  You may well find opportunities for a greater value-add to their business that can give you the opportunity to get paid more and, perhaps, even reduce your costs.  At the very least, you will understand your customers better and you will have the opportunity to strengthen your relationship with them.
3. Learn to think outside the box.  Examine the core competencies of your business.  What made you successful in the first place?  What other products or services can you offer that are closely aligned with what you currently do?  What other markets can you serve?  Get creative and look for new opportunities!
4. Get away from the traditional sales and marketing methods.  A sales person making cold calls is wasting his time and not being productive.  Learn to creating a marketing strategy that (a) multiplies the effectiveness of your employees and (b) draws qualified customers to you instead of you having to search for them.

At Optimum Performance Technologies, we stand ready to help you in your journey to improve your business.  Please visit us at www.optechs.tel, to get all of our contact information.  Also, tune in every Tuesday, from 2:30 — 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, for our Economic Impact segment on www.charlieprofit.com.

Regards,

Gary Smith