Finding Your Focus

Because of the economic situation we are in today, many people have asked me to comment on what small business owners can do to "survive" these hard and potentially risky times. What should they be doing each day, where should they cut back, where should they spend money, how are they going to keep their customers, what happens if their customers start cutting back on their spending.......?

There are many questions that quite frankly, I just can't answer. I have never lived through an economic situation such as the one we find ourselves in today - no one has. However, I keep looking around when I am out shopping, eating out, going to the bank, driving past the movie theater - and I keep seeing people out spending money.

There may already be a slow down in spending - but it certainly hasn't stopped, nor trickled down to the point of putting many businesses "out of business."

If you are familiar with my F.A.C.E. Philosophy - the F stands for Find. It represents the way we look for potential customers and employees - who they are, where they live, and how we can find them. But, it also stands for FOCUS! And today, more than ever, focus is going to play an important role in the survival of the small business.

In my child’s Taekwondo Academy, Master Lee has three rules of concentration that he teaches the students: "Focus the Eyes, Focus the Mind, Focus the Body, Sir!" As the students recite this with firm conviction at the start of every class, I am constantly reminded that this mantra is also appropriate for small businesses. Without focus, small business owners are lost. Without focus, we loose our internal customers’ (employees) loyalty, drive, and desire to succeed. Focus is what keeps us going each day – leads us to our goals, assists us in ultimately achieving success, and guides us through the entire entrepreneurial experience.

So what are you supposed to focus on? This would be a good time to go back and look at your original business plan. Trust me, it's kind of fun, much like going back and looking at your high school year book! Remember how excited and passionate you were when you were writing your business plan? When you were dreaming of how successful your business was going to be? Look at that plan - what were your main areas of focus? Where did you show the most opportunity for growth? What was the main objective of your small business - and have you deviated away from that at all over the years?

Survival today is going to include bringing the basics back. The basics of your business. The basics of customer service, and customer retention. Loyalty programs, smiles, deals. Make a list with two columns on it - the first column would contain the MAIN reasons that your customers are your customers - what is the #1 reason they come to your business to make a purchase. What is the #2 reason, the #3, and so on. Your list should only be 3-5 items. Then, on the other side in the second column, list all the other reasons your customers come to you - convenient location, nice employees, ease of ordering, etc.

Now - consider these lists - where have you been focusing most of your time and energy? On the 3-5 items in the main reason column, or on many of the items in the secondary reason column?

Today, keep it simple, bring it back to the basics. Think "pounding the pavement" when it comes to marketing. Think "keeping overhead costs down" when it comes to expenses - like turning off lights, using cold water, and adjusting your thermostat properly. Think "employee loyalty" when shaving off labor overhead - patience, training, incentives. Remember to appreciate and be thankful for your customers and their business today, yesterday, and tomorrow.

And always remember....."Focus the Eyes, Focus the Mind, Focus the Body, Sir!"

Embrace The Risk and Vegas Money

Going into business is risky business! It’s about one of the scariest thing you’ll ever do. But the most successful small business owner actually enjoys this risk! It’s like skiing down that challenging black diamond run, riding a roller coaster, or going sky diving. Driven small business owners love the adrenaline high they get from taking risk! Small business ownership is not for the faint of heart.

Take Martha Stewart for instance. Like her or not, she left her short career on Wall Street as a stockbroker to start her own catering company. That lead to a book, and the rest is history. Larry Page and Sergey Brin maxed out all their credit cards in an effort to launch the now famous Google website. And it was Victor Kiam – best known as the owner of Remington Products (electric shavers) and owner of the New England Patriots from 1988-1991 – who said; "Entrepreneurs are risk takers, willing to roll the dice with their money or reputation on the line in support of an idea or enterprise. They willingly assume responsibility for the success or failure of a venture and are answerable for all its facets." He is also famous for saying “I liked it so much, I bought the company!” about the Remington electric razor which was purchased for him by his wife.



The biggest risk of small business ownership is simply failure! Entrepreneurs do what they do to make money. To succeed beyond their wildest dreams – beyond those who have tried before them, and beyond those who will try after them. The very thought of the risk of failure spurs an Entrepreneur to come out with their guns blazing, putting it all on the line – to succeed. I have yet to meet an entrepreneur who is satisfied with a business that doesn’t turn a profit.


Unless you are extremely lucky (and I mean extremely), there is going to be a time period when your business is costing more to operate than it is bringing in. The time period it takes to break even varies from business to business, location to location, owner to owner. A successful small business owner needs to look at their working capitol as “Vegas Money”. And they must accept the risk of losing all their “Vegas Money”. “Vegas Money” is that sum of money you take on your trip to Las Vegas, to use for gambling. For instance – you decide to take $2000 out of your “fun money” account to go to Las Vegas this weekend and gamble with. If it is all gone by the time you need to go home, then it was just a cost of the trip. You should have expected to loose it anyway. If at the end of your trip to Las Vegas, you only have $50.76 left of your “Vegas Money”, then consider yourself lucky. Remember, “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” – and that includes your money!!! You could have lost it all. Now you have $50 left to take home with you!

If, the day you are ready to go home from Las Vegas, your “Vegas Money” has doubled –consider yourself blessed! Put it in your pocket and head for the airport – don’t expect to be able to repeat the luck each time you venture to the “sin city.”

That’s how I look at working capitol. You have to expect your business to take some time to break even. During that time, you are going to have to put some “Vegas Money” into it. You should set aside a certain amount of working capitol to use based on a number you come up with in a pro-forma, “worst case scenario.” That means, if you think your business will take 6-12 months to break even, you had better set aside enough working capitol to last the whole 12 months!!!! If you don’t have to use it all, great – if you do use it all within that 12 month time frame, and your business then starts making money, then that was just the cost of getting it going. Do not expect to have working capital left when your business starts to break even and/or turn a profit.

As you are utilizing your working capital, or Vegas Money – as I like to call it, remain positive. There is nothing more disheartening than listening to a new business owner talk about how much money they are loosing or have to put into the business. Even though many entrepreneurs write great business plans with 6 month, 12 month, or 2 year breakeven goals, they still seem surprised when they start using their working capital. My theory is that they are just uncomfortable with the risk. On paper, it is easy to predict that you will spend $50,000 in working capital to get your business to break even. But as you are writing the checks and your business plan turns into reality, suddenly the thought of putting another $50,000 into your business begins to become harder and harder to digest.

Each month, you should get closer to break even. Instead of focusing on how much money you put into your business that month, try focusing on how much closer you are to that breakeven point – that fictitious line between bleeding and blooming. For example, the first month in business, you may have had to put $5000 into your business. The second month, only $4500. That’s $500 closer to breakeven. Go back and look at your business plan. I recommend a business plan’s pro-forma be calculated worst case, moderate, and best case scenario. Depending on the type of business, overhead and other factors, the length of time in each scenario will differ from business to business. In the example above, let’s say the moderate break even length of time was set at 12 months. At a rate of reduction to the capital contribution of $500 per month, this business is only 9 more months from break even. That would mean that they would reach this milestone in 2 month less than their “moderate” business plan prediction. Not bad!

A common mistake made among small business owners is to think that they need to start “cutting back” on various items as they have to infuse working capital into their business. A quick glance at your business plan is a good way to keep yourself in check, bring yourself back to reality, and keep you focused. Sure it’s hard to have to put additional funds into your business. It always seems different on paper when you write your business plan – then when you actually go to put that money in. That’s why I recommend you keep your business pro-forma handy to look at in times like this. Look at month two. Spend the money on advertising, promotion, labor, etc. that you predicted you would. At the bottom of your pro-forma column, how much money did you predict you would lose that month? Be prepared to loose it. I know that it is far easier to write a pro-forma and look at it and say – “yes, but that’s not really how it will be. This is just on paper. I won’t have to put money into this business. It won’t really loose money, will it?”

If you predicted in month 2 you were to spend $1000 on advertising, but after writing that working capital check to your business to get by another month, you decide to cut out some of that advertising and only spend $500 – I can almost guarantee you that your success in month 3 will be greatly affected! It will be a vicious cycle. Each month, you will put in more working capital, and work diligently to find other areas to cut expenses. Your break even will move further and further away. Stick to your plan. Plan on loosing money for the “worst case scenario” period of time in your pro-forma…..and if you don’t, be happy, give yourself a huge pat on the back, go out for dinner – celebrate!!!!

One of my favorite sayings (that I overuse, according to my husband) is “slow and steady wins the race.” As a small business owner, you cannot fear slow growth. Growth is growth. And sometimes it’s slow speed is a blessing in disguise. Not everyone is going to like your business – not everyone is going to be a customer of your business. As long as you are continually moving forward, growing at whatever pace, you are successful.

Why Small Businesses Fail

According to a study by the U.S. Small Business Association, only 2/3 of all small business startups survive the first two years and less than half make it to four years. I'm sure you have heard similar statistics and wondered - why? Why do so many people fail at small business?

After wondering about this for many years, I have determined the following characteristics to be prevalent in a failing small business owner. Most people tackle small business failure by starting with "the typical failing small business is under-capitalized, has a poor concept, a poor location."

I believe, however, that there is a profile of a person that is more prone to find success in small business ownership, and a profile of a person who is more likely to fail in small business ownership. Below is a list of what I see as the characteristics of someone more likely to fail in small business.

• Not a risk taker
• Prefers a 9a-5p schedule, with paid vacations and maternity leave
• Did not think through their concept thoroughly
• Hasn't fully bought into the concept of their business
• Doesn't follow a system
• Does not manage time well
• Doesn't have a "whatever it takes" attitude
• Is not good at delegating

As you can see from my list, I believe that the failure of a small business usually lies more in the hands of the owner than the concept or business itself. Of the 8 characteristics I mention, 7 of them pertain to the business owner themselves, while only one of them points directly at the business concept.

We can all agree that not every idea for a small business is a good one. Plain and simply, there are some pretty bad concepts that actually come to fruition today. Luckily, there are also a lot of safeguards against these kind of ideas every becoming reality: Business Consultants, Bank Loan Officers, the Small Business Administration.

These entities can usually coach a potential small business owner from making a big mistake in their concept. Unfortunately, sometimes the wrong concept slips through the cracks. If one is passionate enough about their concept, and have enough money, they can usually make it come to fruition, one way or another.

Before beginning a business, there is a lot of work to be done. Especially if the concept of the business is "new" - something that doesn't exist in the marketplace today, or a new twist on an "old" concept. This biggest mistake one can make is picking a concept simply because they like it themselves.

When presented with a concept I have heard defending entrepreneurs say "I would shop there", and "I would use this service" and "I wish I had access to a company like that 10 years ago!!!" I, I, I......what about them, them, them, them?

A business cannot survive on only one customer - you! And - okay, here's some shocking news - not everyone agrees with you, thinks like you do, has the same likes and dislikes that you do, nor has the same needs as you do. In order for a concept to work, it must be widely acceptable and usable by a large number of potential clients.

So first thing first. How many customers does your business concept need to survive, grow, make money? And, are there that many potential customers "out there" just waiting for you to begin business? Is there a need, a demand for your business, your product, your services?

Enough of a need and demand that your business can last? How often will customers need your products and/or services? Many great ideas are just too "specialized" to work alone. Perhaps your idea could be combined with another idea or ideas to make a whole business. Is your idea solid, or simply trendy?

Sometimes it's just the wrong time for a concept. Take Krispy Kreme for example. They started their US expansion during the Atkins Diet craze! While the country is forgoing the consumption of carbohydrates in an effort to lose weight,

Krispy Kreme was serving up 22 to 47 grams of carbs per doughnut!!! No doubt today's society is more health conscious than they were 10 -15 years ago, but even the least health conscious consumer recognizes that consuming 6-11 grams of saturated fat per doughnut is not going to make your waist any thinner, or lower you on the waiting list for a heart attack! Thus, several Kripsy Kreme locations have closed their doors in recent years - because of bad timing, among other reasons.

Many phenomenal concepts also fail! No concept is impervious to the effects an owner, manager, or employees can have on it's success. Even some of the best concepts - with multiple prosperous locations, fail under the guidance of the wrong person. Take Starbucks for instance. Most people will say that this concept is a no-brainer. Yet early in 2008, Founder Schultz announced that they would be closing around 100 US "underperforming" locations. Yes, even Starbucks can fail!!!!!

No matter how great the concept - the small business owner can make or break their business. No one goes into business ownership to fail. We don't sacrifice our family time, borrow against our homes, gamble with our "nest eggs" just to fail. Certainly every small business owner wakes up daily with a commitment to succeed. Yet, so many struggle.

There is no magic potion for success, no perfect location, no concept impervious of failure. But there is the small business owner with better chances of success - the entrepreneur that is a risk taker, yet careful in judgment; a delegator, yet not afraid to do it himself; a driven owner, yet careful enough not to sacrifice personal relationships for business success.

Before you start your own business, ask yourself, do you have what it takes to succeed????