The Law of the Rubber Band

Owner

I have just started reading a book by John Maxwell called “The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth”  One law jumped out at me and inspired this post. Maybe it was the catchy title, or maybe it was because it resonated with me personally. It was law #10 – The Law of the Rubber Band.  A rubber band is only useful when it is under tension. The same applies to your life, if you want to grow and improve. Simply put it is says that growth can only happen when there is tension between where you are now and where you could be.  

So ask yourself these questions:

Dealing with serial sickies

Your team

The classic ‘sickie’. It’s part of New Zealand working folklore, and while most people can honestly admit to ‘chucking’ the occasional sickie, others can stretch the limits of their employers by frequently taking sick days for vague or elusive reasons. In some cases it can get to the point where they are no longer reliably showing up to work.

Sick leave is a legitimate entitlement, and many people genuinely need that time to manage their health or chronic conditions — both mental and physical. In those cases employees should be fully supported via the applicable employment entitlements.

But what if you suspect an employee is misusing their sick leave?

The Discipline of Market Leaders

Marketing, Planning

No company can simultaneously excel at delivering market leading performance in all three value disciplines. This is because each disciplines requires completely different operating processes, different ways of thinking and behaving. When a company choses one ‘lead’ discipline to excel in they are placed to become market leaders.

Conversely, when a company attempts to excel in all three disciplines they become, at best, mediocre at all and will oscillate in the market. Which market discipline is the right one for your company?

Wealth Building Tips from Warren Buffet

Financial Management

If you have never heard of Buffett, Forbes currently ranks him as the third richest man in the world and he is arguably the world’s greatest investor. He has amassed his fortune by making astute investment decisions and investing in businesses.

“You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.” – Warren Buffett. Here is what you should learn from Buffett:

Still Using A Spreadsheet to Track Leads?

Marketing, Sales

While spreadsheets are relatively easy to use and widely known, it’s definitely not the most efficient or effective way to collect, analyze, and manage business data, especially if you’re a company that’s hoping to grow in the near future.

There are clear distinctions between the features of a CRM versus a spreadsheet. If you have to manage multiple leads coming in and have a multi-step sales process, using a CRM system may be a step worth taking, and need not cost much.

Get Some PPE for Your Business

Owner

You shouldn’t operate dangerous equipment without suitable PPE and likewise, you shouldn’t operate a business with out suitable risk protection as well.

Being in business brings with it a level of [business] risk, and the construction industry is about as risky as it gets. The failure rate for construction businesses is only exceeded by the hospitality industry, but this is one statistic where being near the top is not a good place to be. So what can you do to build a protective shield around yourself as a business owner against things going wrong. Here are 5 quick tips

How to make your emails look professional

Marketing

People these days expect your business to have a domain name and a website. An email address like jsmith@yourcompany.co.nz tells people you’re serious about your business. 

Free email services, such as Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo, are great for personal use, but when you use a free email account for business purposes, people will start to doubt your professionalism and credibility.  If you want your prospective clients to take you seriously and you don’t have your own domain name email address, I recommend you….

How to stop wasting money on advertising

Marketing

There was a classic statement from a company executive I read once (can’t remember who) that said, “I know we waste 50% of the money we spend on advertising, I just don’t know which 50%”.

That might be okay, but not ideal, if you are a big company with a big marketing budget. Most of my clients don’t fall into that category, so I am insistent that money spent of direct advertising is as effective as possible and is intended to generate an action or response by a prospect.

Have trouble getting paid sometimes?

Financial Management

Have you had trouble to be paid for work completed at times? You do the work to the required standard, or better, but the client still seems to have an excuse not to pay you. Frustrating, isn’t it?
The law may be on your side, but the cost and hassle to exercise your legal rights sometimes seems more trouble than it’s worth. Some clients know this and use this to their advantage.

So, how can you avoid this problem….short of using the Hells Angels as your credit control department.

Coaching word map

Why a business coach has been essential to our growth

Owner

Like many other ambitious business owners in the trades, I was finding myself overwhelmed and consumed by the endless stream of details required to run a roofing company. Days often seemed like unending series of decisions and tasks that were mine alone. Now bear in mind that Kelly, my husband and business partner, also had his own set of daily decisions and tasks in which he found difficulty in delegating.

Overwhelmed by the day to day, together we were not effective managers. I was personally frustrated by the pace at which our business was growing.

I decided it was time for some outside help…..