Business Education

Business Leaders This Responsibility Rule Exemption Doesn’t Apply to You

“You’re not responsible for the irresponsibility of others.” Or, “You can only control you, not other people.” Both are great pieces of advice to live by. Except, when you’re in a position of leadership. When you’re in charge, you are responsible for the actions of others. It’s a stark contrast to the peer-to-peer world. Because, your employees aren’t your peers. Sure, they’re good people. But, they aren’t your equal. At least, in terms of business structure. You are the authority. So, when a team member is irresponsible, you’re the one the customer will blame. It’s not fair, but it’s reality.

Why Employees Act Irresponsibly

Everyone does something irresponsible at some point. But, there are people who just can’t seem to get it together long-term. However, these are the exceptions, rather than the rule, a tiny percentage by comparison. You might have even been one of them, but eventually “grew” out of that phase.

In almost every workplace, there is bound to be someone who isn’t pulling their own weight. When you’re an ambitious, hard-working [business owner] who is committed to growing your career and the company, it’s frustrating to work with someone who seems interested in only doing the bare minimum.
—Fast Company

People act irresponsibly because they just don’t take their jobs seriously. To them, it’s just a paycheck — a paycheck they can get almost anywhere. Of course, this is very short sighted but it speaks to their mindset and overall attitude. When that personality shows up in your business, you’ll have to deal with it. There is no passing it off.

How to Deal with an Irresponsible Employee

If you’re in this unenviable position, you’ll need to deal with the situation directly. While it’s tempting to pass this off to a subordinate who is above the person in question, letting him or her know their behavior is known at the top is very powerful. (This alone could be enough to correct him or her.) But, it’s best to be clear. Here’s how to deal with an irresponsible employee:

Put the onus on him or her. Ask him or her how they can improve. Let them be a part of the solution right from the beginning. If they are unwilling or standoffish, that’s a big red flag that probably signals his or her time at the company is coming to an end.
Persuade but don’t preach. You can (and should) remind him or her of the company’s policies and procedures. But explain why, instead of just hitting him or her with a litany of do’s and don’ts. Enter into a discussion rather than just making proclamations.
Always lead by example. This is something you should already be doing routinely. Showing leadership not only helps others to reach their goals, it inspires others to succeed in more ways than one. Otherwise, you’re not really leading the company, you’re just a figurehead and people will instinctively understand that fact.
Follow-up regularly. Obviously, you’ll need to follow-up with him or her. But, think twice about doing so on a set schedule. The element of surprise will motivate him or her to do the right thing. If they don’t, it means you’re dealing with someone who just doesn’t care and isn’t a true asset to the business.

What other suggestions do you have for dealing with an irresponsible employee? Please go ahead and share your thoughts and experiences by commenting!

Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.

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These Marketing Channels area Waste of Money

May 16, 2017 No Comments

When you’re in business, every dollar counts, and, counts big. Revenue is useful for many purposes, particularly those which propel your company forward. You choose where you spend your money wisely, and, always look to get a solid return on investment. This is why you are careful about your hires and day-to-day operations because these are the very backbone of your organization. Of course, one of the ways to grow a company is to make more potential customers aware of what you offer. That can be tricky, especially when you have a strict limitation on the amount you can spend. Therefore, you do what you can to ensure that those dollars are working to get you more work and not just go out the door without coming back in the form of new business. Don’t Waste Money on These Marketing Channels Because we live in an age of on-demand information, there are more channels available than ever before to market through. It starts with you and your team, and, your website and social media presence are all essential. Though the latter two are very much used and highly popular, you have to remember that these are just tools. Even during lean times, companies spend a lot of money on marketing, hoping that the spending will result in future sales. Unfortunately, marketing is one of those areas where it’s really easy to waste money. —Inc.com A cottage industry emerged with the solidification of social media and is now a multi-million dollar industry. Traditional marketing remains an option, as does other forms of spreading the word. While you ought to be as ubiquitous as possible, there are marketing channels that are just a waste of money. Here are some things you ought to avoid because of their poor return on investment: Internet marketing courses. These courses are supposed to instruct you on how to market your business online. The cost isn’t really the issue, but the amount of time you’ll spend learning how to do it and then trying to implement it is an exercise in frustration and futility. Vendor-focused trade shows. Renting a booth or table at vendor-focused trade shows is often a very expensive proposition. This might be worth it if potential customers were also in attendance. However, because these are typically closed to the public, you’ll only be exposing your business to others in business, even in the same industry, meaning your competition. Suggested content. When you’re reading an article, you’ll see titles related to what appears in front of you. Those aren’t there by way of magic, but through ad dollars paid by companies to get you to click through and be redirected to another page. Search engine marketing. This one is something that very few people are able to get results through because of the sheer amount of money it costs to make it worthwhile. Even if you have a large marketing budget, you don’t control where your ads appear, how often they appear, and your ads will be in a crowded space filled with competitors fighting for the same attention. Market research. This can be outdated and/or skewed to bolster a certain, predetermined conclusion. What’s more, you have no real way of validating all the information these contain. Another thing you probably should avoid is mailing lists. These name and address compilations can easily be outdated, and, it takes a lot of time and effort to put a mass mailing together. What’s more, the response rate is very small, only between 1 percent and 2 percent. Some firms claim as much as 4 percent, but that’s still quite low. The smart way to get your brand noticed is to build personal relationships. One of my favorite equations to illustrate my point is how to build Trust. People buy from you if the like you and trust you. The only way to Trust, is by building a Relationship, and the only way to build a Relationship is through Communication. Not by e-mail or text or even phone calls, but by interacting personally with your prospects. Through this personal interaction and Communication, you build a Relationship, and in building the Relationship, you earn the prospective customer’s Trust. Once you have their Trust … assuming you’re likeable … you will have the sale! So, a low cost way to market and grow your business is to build Trusted Relationships, and watch your business grow. It takes time, but how badly do you want to succeed with your business? You can do more to sell your products and services because you know all the information. Invest time into networking, mentoring, and volunteering because these are all worthwhile. [shareaholic app=”follow_buttons” id=”26833294″]

Learn this Uber London Quebec Business Lesson Right Now

October 4, 2017 No Comments

Uber just lost its operating license in London. Then, Quebec passed tough new regulations. That caused Uber to announce a cessation of operations starting next month. There are many cities, municipalities, and unions suing Uber. Their claim is the ride-share company isn’t restricted by the same rules as taxis and like services. However, Uber remains popular with the public. It provides a different experience and often for a lower cost. But, it is definitely learning taking on government regulations is no easy task. 4 Helpful Tips for Entering a Regulated Business Industry You might want to start a business to help people. And, that’s what many others do successfully. Although, if it’s in a heavily or even a moderately regulated industry, you’ll face several extra obstacles than entrepreneurs in different fields. The truth of the matter is, starting a business in any industry presents inherent risks. But, this certainly doesn’t mean it’s impossible. If you’re building a new social network, creating a tech-enabled food delivery business, or developing an artificial-intelligence translation tool, there aren’t many demanding rules to adhere to. But if your startup deals with issues such as health care, finance, or education, things can be rather more difficult. —MIT Technology Review It’s actually far from impossible. You just have to be realistic and pragmatic. In fact, you need to take many things into account before you jump into a regulated industry. After all, you’re chances of stumbling or outright failing are undoubtedly higher. That’s okay, if you take it as a challenge, you’ll probably get some worthwhile lessons along the way. Here are four helpful tips for entering a regulated business industry: Conduct extensive research. This should go without stating but sometimes the obvious really needs emphasis. You need to conduct a lot of research before you take step one. Knowledge is power and there’s nothing more damaging than ignorance. As the saying goes, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” And, that’s not a place to start. So, do all the research you can. Talk to people already thriving. Chances are excellent there’s already somebody, somewhere succeeding in that particular industry. Find him or her and personally reach out. Be upfront and honest about your ambitions. If you are respectful and open, they’ll be far more generous with important information. Start very small and scale up slowly. One bit of advice that works quite well in every industry is to start small and scale up incrementally. It’s very risky to jump right in, front-loaded with debt, and hope everything works out. So, start small, test the market, get to know it, and grow little by little. Keep abreast of all pertinent regulations. Regulations don’t necessarily stay the same. The rules can change at any time. Understanding and accepting this is key. Do yourself a huge favor and keep up with those changes so you aren’t taken by surprise. Have you built a business in a heavily regulated industry? What other advice do you have? Please share your thoughts and experiences by commenting! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group. [shareaholic app=”follow_buttons” id=”26833294″]

Are You Delegating or Demanding

May 24, 2017 No Comments

Throughout the course of building a business, you’ll learn over time to delegate tasks and responsibilities to various people with the right skill sets. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs, like Sir Richard Branson and Mark Cuban, state no one can do it alone. That’s certainly true, you can’t do everything on your own and for those who attempt to do so, learn the hard way it’s an open invitation to trouble and even outright failure. The best business owners know their strengths and weaknesses and through this recognition, develop strategies and relationships which maximize their professional potential. Are You Delegating or Demanding? Delegating responsibilities is just part of doing business. Done smartly, this increases productivity and gives companies potential to grow and prosper. It also allows team members to realize their potential and creates a healthier and happier work environment. Delegating shows your confidence in someone and gives them pride to take ownership of certain areas. In addition, delegating allows you to focus on what’s most important while others can put their efforts into other tasks. Delegating is a great way to ensure that more tasks get done in less time, and it also builds team capacity. Unfortunately, a lot of managers don’t pay enough attention to the delegation process, and thus fail to reap the benefits. —Fast Company Another aspect of delegating is it gives you the opportunity to evaluate a person’s performance. When you give a team member responsibility, their approach and results will speak volumes about what kind of work ethic he or she has and what he or she believes are acceptable standards. In addition to evaluation, delegating gives you the ability to learn which of your team members are best suited for certain tasks. All of these things are great about delegating — if you are sincere. However, there is a real difference between delegating and demanding. Demanding does the opposite of delegating. It stifles creativity, decreases productivity, and poisons the workplace. It also drives a wedge between you and your employees, as well as creates tensions among your team members. Demanding doesn’t give you a true chance to evaluate, either, because it puts unnecessary pressure on people. Here are some signs that you’re demanding and not delegating: You rationalize unrealistic expectations. When you demand, you know it to be the case, as does the other person. This creates a need to rationalize unrealistic expectations, not only to the other person, but to yourself. In the end, no one is fooled, but, it gives you at least a pretense of having reason to demand. Your employees mislead or lie to you. If you get the feeling or learn that an employee is misleading or lying to you, there’s definitely a reason. Before jumping to conclusions, you should look back and think about the overall situation. For instance, if you interrogate an employee who wants time off, you’re creating an atmosphere where there’s little choice and lying becomes the only viable option. You create emergency situations. We all know that unexpected things crop-up from time to time, but, if you’re turning every surprise into an emergency, you’ll feel an undue urgency and that can easily lead to demanding. You justify your actions as legitimate and/or legal. If you ever have to ask if something is legal just to get it done, that’s troubling. You shouldn’t have to walk such a fine line because if you are, chances are excellent that even if it is legal, it’s not entirely ethical. You don’t want to deal with this or that. Delegating is done because it puts the best talent where it is most needed. Demanding comes from a need to get something done, particularly a task that you don’t want to deal with personally. Another sign that you’re demanding rather than delegating is your willingness to take credit or give credit to the person who deserves it. If you are taking credit of the work of others and not giving credit where it is due, that’s unethical and will undermine your entire organization. In summary, your employees are your greatest appreciable asset. Invest in them through servant style leadership by delegating with clear expectations and the kind of results you are looking for … then ask; “what can I do to help you succeed with this responsibility or project?” Want to find out about what a business coach can do for you? [shareaholic app=”follow_buttons” id=”26833294″]