Every tool has a purpose to help you achieve your objectives.

Every tool has a purpose to help you achieve your objectives.

Most of us involved in small businesses are looking for that secret that will bring all of our efforts to a point where we can enjoy the most success. I have seen it in the eyes of attendees of my seminars for years when I ask the question: “Just how much do you have left after everything is paid and you are counting your profits?”

The strained expression on the attendees faces can be read as if they are sad and disappointed because many of them have worked long hours and their efforts are not always rewarded. Many of these fine Americans for free enterprise have quit a job with little or no security where they worked for a small amount for someone else. They took the gamble of starting their own business, and it seems they are working for even less than when they worked for someone else.

That just wasn’t the way it was supposed to work. This is particularly true when I conduct a seminar close to April 15th, the tax day of America. Small business owners look at all the money they handled during the past year, yet many will only have a little or none left—even though they have passed great sums through their businesses.

I am not saying that we are going to explore how everyone can change, but I am saying that after we complete this series you should be better prepared to have your business work with a purpose. That purpose will enable you to make better business decisions with a directive to making more profitable business decisions.

That success can be defined in many ways. For some, success is defined by the amount of money they receive, where others have a variety of degrees that define success. There are many ways to succeed and fail. No matter how our business ends up, we should all have the same goal, if we are going to build our business on sound principles.

That goal is to position our business so it can operate at a degree of success without our presence. If your business is going to grow, then you must have, in position, sound business principles that can be used by all of your employees when a question arises.

START THINKING ABOUT SELLING YOUR BUSINESS
Each of us should have a goal to sell our business. Those of you who have been in business for years might be thinking of selling your business, at least someday. But others of you are just starting your business, and you may not know just where you are going or how you are going to get there. For both of you, I would suggest establishing your first goal of having your business ready to sell.

That’s right—from the beginning you should have a goal of making your business successful to the point that it can produce with you present on not. This is sometimes very difficult for us to accept because our ego makes us think nothing works without us, but the successful business runs just the opposite. Successful businesses in most industries develop a system for running their business effectively. This system involves wearing many hats and learning much more than the original purpose the business was started for in the beginning.

During this series, we are going to look at “Why Small Businesses Succeed” and what tools those businesses might use to accomplish their goals. In every industry, there is always someone who succeeds and others who stand around with amazement wondering how and why someone else makes it. The premise is that we all start with the same opportunities and the same item to sell.

That’s right, we all have the same first tool—dirt—everything starts with the dirt from this earth. Then we will explore the creative and industrious attributes and ask if they are enough to make something that others desire, and that is what makes the world go around. The fact is that we all have the same opportunity, but it is how we do something and present it to the buying public.

Of course, there are exceptions to every set of circumstances, but there are certain things you can do that will improve your opportunity to succeed. Another way to look at this is the simple tool that those of us who live here in America use every day. The tool is the tool of the 26 letters of the alphabet—think of these 26 letters as 26 tools; how we arrange and use them can determine the way in which others understand our offering.

We are going to first look at the tools that are imperative to success, and then we are going to examine “Why” it works for some and not others. This approach is meant to help each of you determine your direction and improve your proportion and chance to succeed. The item that is sold isn’t as important as the approach of the tools that are required in order to accomplish our task.

During our next segment, we are going to outline where we are headed and how we are going to get there. We will relate the various tools in our toolbox and just why we will use them in the manner we do. Each tool will have a purpose, and after you see the selection, you will then be able to select those tools that will best help you to achieve your objectives. We will see how others have used some of these tools in our toolbox. These are the tools that are so important to the success of our businesses. When I say tool, this does not mean an actual tool, but rather it may just be a procedure used to facilitate the means to the ends.

I would encourage each of you to obtain a three-ring binder; start with this article and place each of the next series of articles in that binder. Each of these articles will examine the question “Is Your Business Toolbox Full?” With the next article, we are going to start laying out your toolbox and voice the concerns of your business. In addition, we will look at successful businesses and explain to you what successful businesses do and why they do it. This will be a series of articles that will be designed for you to refer to as your business attains different degrees of success.

If you have any questions, feel free to call me at 1-317-546-9000, e-mail me at stephen@a-1awards.com or write me at the address below:

Stephen L. Capper
A-1 Awards, Inc.
2500 North Ritter Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46218