Experience Sharing

All to often people share their two cents when not asked. People tend not to follow advice they receive without solicitation. A more effective method of helping one another is through experience sharing.

It is arrogant to assume that you have the answer to someone's complex problems after briefly hearing about the story. There are so many nuances to a situation that one could not possibly understand in a short briefing.

Through experiencing sharing, one is able to help see a route taken and use it to help them develop their own solution to their problem that addresses all of the nuances. This type of thought process is found in the major entrepreneur and president organizations, such as Entrepreneurs Organization.

I have learned many things and created many solutions to my challenges through experience shares of people within my professional circle. I encourage all entrepreneurs to join an organization such as EO and establish a trusting inner circle that will openly share experiences and help sharpen your skills.

Risk Management

All businesses are indirectly in the insurance business. I am not referring to the traditional types of insurance, rather I am referring to the management of risk. The people we hire, the technology we put in place, the operational procedures we produce are all a form of insurance we invest in to protect and strengthen our businesses. There is the flip side, what is the cost of not having them? What is the risk?

An example: A business is a store that only has one person that works in the store. The store owner feels like he cannot afford the $15,000 annually to hire a part time person. To fully understand his predicament, I have him do a little bit of workplace reconnaissance.

1. Confirm that the business is operating in a risky manner.
2. Estimate the potential loss if the employee was to get sick, injured in an accident, or quit?
   
3. The owner estimated this exposure at $8,500.
   
4. The owner took that risk and deducted it from the costs associated with hiring the part time person and he realize the actual increase of costs is $6,500, not the initial $15,000 that the owner assumed.

Armed with the actual costs the business owner was better able to make his decision. He was now informed and could properly manage his risk.

As business owners and managers, we need to manage this risk. The owner determined that the $6,500 additional investment was affordable so he hired the person. In addition, he understood the investment needs to yield a return. He set forth additional tasks for the two person team to complete to help get more value out of the investment.

This approach will help you make decisions that are based on risk adjusted numbers. This outlook has helped me lower my risk and strengthen my company. I hope it can do the same for yours.

Directional Clarity - The Child Test

As business owners and managers, we are often put to the test. We face all sorts of situations that there is not a handbook on dealing with. We need to be able to count on ourselves. Here is the test I give myself before taking action.

I imagine my child is watching me and learning from me and I ask myself "Do I want her act in the way that I am about to act?" This relates to everything. If I am disciplining someone, training them, everything. Do I want my child to learn and mimic my actions. Think about it, this approach makes you break down justifications and leads you to make a deliberate choice of doing the right thing or the wrong thing.

This "Child Test" has helped me work through countless situations. I hope it helps you do the same.