By Lisa Thomas,

Hurry up already, What’s taking so long?!?

When I’m standing in a room full of professional  and business women speaking on this subject, I often say, ” you know….. “patience” …..my fellow leaders,      really is a virtue!!!”

Read on!

I’d gotten a live pot of tulips for mother’s day last year and they were absolutely gorgeous.  Because I love plants and seeing their growth, I was excited that I would have a chance to experience tulips for a bit longer than just this one time.  So I watched them grow taller and taller week by week.

One day I decided it was time to re- pot their beauty so they could grow even larger. Soon after being transferred the tulips slowly wilted and died…no more beautiful tulips!

But for me there was hope.

Having a green thumb, I thought no problem, I’ll just see what happens if I water the soil for a while. Surely tulips will reappear again. Now, I knew nothing about tulips, but I did know that if I water a soiled seed; in this case a bulb, something would soon grow.

So I began watering the soil as I did my other plants, watching every month or so to see if something would reappear. I’d longed to see the multicolored tulips like before, but after several months I saw nothing.  In fact, one day it looked like the dirt was turning a moldy gray color.

Would I ever see the tulips?

I began to worry after about 7 months. Had I killed it by moving and disturbing the soil too soon? Had I over watered it? I was plagued with thoughts of how I must’ve done something wrong!

I should’ve seen something by now.  My other plants had grown so much since this one entered the family.  But in spite of my worries, I chalked it all up and still watered the soil.

Another month passed and nothing.  Frustration had now begun to set in. I mean all this work and no plant, just moldy dirt. I couldn’t take it anymore so I finally went to the store and bought a small tiny plant that I admired and place it on top of the soil. I had to have something to deal with my mind about this watered soil not producing my beautiful flowers when“I” had expected.

Sometimes we’re like that about other things in life, right?  We get impatient with ourselves and others because we don’t see the results we’ve been longing for “when” we want them.  In fact, in some cases we stop dead in our tracks, because we’re working real hard or so we think and there’s no harvest that we can physically see.  It doesn’t come fast enough so we quit. Little do we know the harvest is about to take shape. It is germinating, finding it’s way to the universe; the physical world for all to see.  Rather than wait, we “kill it” right there at that critical point when things are about to break through.

I deliberately put the small plant on top of the soil I’d been watering to trick and train my mind into thinking my works were not in vain.

After a month of training my brain,  I removed the small plant and there I saw something peek through the soil. It was the beginning of life; it had forced it’s way to the surface.  It took 9 months of constant watering, nurturing and caring for the soil to see something come through – 9 months!!!!…Sort of like birth. It takes 9 months to birth a child. The baby is conceived which we cannot physically see but the process and system of creating life is happening. It’s happening  “inside the mother” so that life can emerge fully equipped for the world after the 9 month period has passed.

How many times have you started to venture into something new and just before things pop, you get mad and quit?

Many of my clients who are successful business women and executives find themselves in this predicament time and time again. There’s something they want to achieve but have never done, and they want it so bad they can taste it. The problem lies in wanting it right now or on their time line. But sometimes a big harvest doesn’t come right away.

The system and time line for growth is an unknown factor, yet they operate like they know how long it takes.

Most of the time, we under estimate the manifestation time line and we lose faith in our abilities to produce. Small milestones are necessary to trick the brain into “knowing” you can and will produce.  Les Brown once said, “we don’t truly know our potential because we aim too low and make it rather than aim too high and miss”. I believe you should and can aim high, however set milestones that help you see the results.  Let’s face it the world wants results and so do you. Set yourself up to win.

I didn’t know a lot about tulips, but I knew that a watered seed in the right soil that’s cared for in a systematic way would produce a harvest. I also knew that depending on the plant, the time line could be a month or several months to fully come into physical existence.

If you ever find yourself wanting to give up and give in, wait a while and stay the course. Nurture your soul as I did by training your brain that there are results being produced.  Give yourself a break and acknowledge things are just delayed by your time line but not by the time line of growth.  After all, with a big goal, you aren’t always certain how long it really takes anyway, but you do know consistency produces. Enjoy the journey and watch the riches of life manifest!!!

Lisa Thomas provides Life Coaching for Women. Her mission is empowering women worldwide. She is a Expert Success and Leadership Coach, host of The P3 Power Boost Radio Show and Visionary for Women. Lisa has been featured on NBC, Fox 8 News and various radio shows around the country.

Contact her directly for your Private P3 Power Session where you will begin the journey of discovery. It will be the best 60 minutes of your life. Remember, power, passion and purpose begins with the spirit of who you are.

For a private P3 Power Session, media inquiries, speaking engagements and free life changing videos, visit http://www.theP3Group.com

“When we are born we come into the world fully equipped with nothing lacking, nothing missing; it is only our thoughts, our feelings and our emotions that drive us into thinking that we are inadequate”…..Lisa Thomas

Three Things to Watch for That Could Get Your Business Issued a Warning Ticket

By Chia-Li Chien

It was a sunny, early spring day and we were on our way to the North Carolina Zoo. While traveling on Highway 49 and enjoying the scenery, we noticed a state trooper. Sure enough, as soon as we made eye contact, we got pulled over. The officer asked my husband T.C. why he was not wearing a seat belt. Well, due to his torn left shoulder, he wore it differently. The state trooper collected his information while we waited silently in the car with T.C.’s favorite NPR show “Car Talk” now turned off. The trooper came back with a warning ticket and informed T.C. that unless he had a doctor’s order, he must wear the seat belt the correct way, meaning visible and not under the arm. It was a relief that T.C. just got a warning ticket, nevertheless, it’s on his driving record now.

In small business, no one polices your business, not even the IRS. Your CPA and the IRS don’t really care whether or not you make a profit, although if you do make a profit, you may end up owing them more money. But they don’t serve as your “cash police.”

How often have you wondered, “how come there is no cash in the business checking account?”

Here are three warnings to be aware of if you want your business to continue to create value. Remember, no one is policing your business but you.

1.       Negative Net Profit – Perhaps you don’t know your net profit until your CPA completes your tax return. I would say that all of my clients do check their profit and loss (P&L) statement on a monthly basis. If you don’t, you should get in the habit of checking that P&L on a regular basis to know whether or not you are running your business with a positive net profit. If you are, congratulations, but if you are not, you just got yourself a “warning ticket.” Analyses are needed before you slash expenses. You might want to start by looking at which product or service can bring in more net profit. Or look at which customers are more profitable than others and why. Often time, increasing company revenue is the best way to get in the black. However, positive net profit does not necessarily mean you’ll have cash in your business checking account, especially if the business is carrying a huge debt that may or may not show on your P&L statement.

2.       Negative Cash Flow – While you are checking your monthly financial statements, you might want also to check your cash flow statement. This tells you how much cash you have on hand. If you have negative cash flow for a while, you may begin to feel like you are running on a treadmill. Borrowing working capital from the bank or an infusion of investment capital may not solve the problem.  Cash Flow Formula:

Net Profit from Business

+     Accounts Receivable at Start

-      Accounts Receivable at End

+     Inventory at Start

-      Inventory at End

+     Accounts Payable at End

-      Accounts Payable at Start

+     Cash from Assets SOLD

-      Cash Paid to Purchase New Assets

+     Depreciation/Amortization

-      Debt at Start

+     Debt at End

=     Cash Flow

By looking at this formula, you can see there are many variables to determine cash flow. For example, you might have positive net profit, yet a huge amount of accounts payable on large outstanding debts. It will be hard to breathe if your business shows a positive net profit, but has very little cash or even a negative cash flow. If you have negative cash flow, your business just got another “warning ticket.”

3.       Not enough Return On Investment – Take the business net profit divided by total assets and you get your return on investment (ROI). Have you done this calculation for your business yet? There are many industry benchmarks you can compare to determine if you have adequate ROI. There are two other types of ROI:

Product ROI = Gross Margin / (Average Inventory + Average Accounts Receivable)

(of that particular product)

Customer ROI = Average Accounts Receivable / Gross Profits

(of that particular customer)

Obviously, you must have GOOD financial data in order to analyze your business. Sometimes it may take up to an entire year to get data clean enough to accurately complete the above analyses and avoid those “warning tickets.” Your CPA may provide such a service on a regular basis for you. If this is very foreign to you, hire a fractional or virtual CFO (Chief Financial Officer) for your business to monitor these vital signs on a monthly basis. That CFO is your safety belt, there to make sure that you not only avoid any “ warning tickets” that go on your record, but also to make sure you don’t endanger yourself and others while on the road.

As a business leader, you’re not only responsible for you and your family, but also people whose families rely on you. So be aware of the warning signals and make sure you are enjoying the ride and not attracting the negative attention that might get you a “warning ticket.” This is fundamental in building value for your business.

Chia-Li Chien, CFP®, CRPC, PMP; helps women entrepreneurs in creating business value that transforms their world.  She is the Award-Winning author of Show Me The Money and columnist for WomenEntrepreneur.com & Fox Business online.   She is available for consulting, speaking engagements and workshops.  She can be reached at http://www.chialichien.com or jolly@chialichien.com.

From publicly traded large companies, to privately-held small businesses, thousands or even millions of dollars are spent annually on marketing. However, marketing is by far the most difficult business activity for which to measure return on investment (ROI). In today’s multi-media world, businesses have a plethora of marketing tools to leverage, but many of us may feel we can’t even catch up with the latest news, much less integrate the newest technology into current marketing efforts and strategy.

Marketing, by definition, means to create a favorable condition for sales. Your ultimate goal is to convert prospects into end-users, customers, or clients. In addition, customer loyalty activities are necessary to retain your customers. For years, marketing experts have used the “what’s in it for me” approach as the primary way to communicate their message through print and digital media (such as on-line advertising, social media, video, etc). But does that approach consistently create a pull effect (meaning pulling your customer to you)? Are you considering whether or not your marketing includes a message of positive social impact?

So what does social impact mean? According to Rachel Bellow and Suzanne Muchin, partners at ROI Ventures, it means “social intention; an intentional effect on society that has progressive consequences of social justice, access, equity, opportunity, environmental issues; but not political.” Environmental issues refer to those efforts focused mainly on the marketing environment of the human experience, human behavior and its sustainability. For example, Groupon and Google are putting the power in the hands of their end-users, thus creating social impact. It’s a good idea then, as a first step in marketing planning, to think about the positive social impact of your products or services.

A majority of entrepreneurs start their businesses with the intention of making more money and becoming financially independent. But most of them also have a great passion for doing good works for our society. (It does seem in today’s world, people want to matter more and they want their products or services to matter more.) When money and meaning ultimately meet at that crossroads, people put more demand on producers for it, and expect more from whom they buy. It’s the ultimate win-win for both buyers/users and providers, whether they are publicly traded companies, non-profit organizations, government suppliers or small businesses.

Have you considered tweaking your communications to include “what’s in it for us?” How much of a positive social impact do you bring to the marketplace? Bellow and Muchin at ROI Ventures, top experts who help entrepreneurs, philanthropists, policy makers, universities and innovative non-profits, offer social impact branding strategies for companies ready to make a positive social impact. Bellow and Muchin started ROI Ventures in 2007 and have experienced rapid growth in the social impact communication arena. Here is an example of their work:

What can you learn from a profitable, fast growing, yet intentionally socially aware company to create the stickiness of a brand that ultimately helps its providers and end-users?

• Business model alignment starts with your passion and purpose. This means taking a good idea to a great idea and helps create wealth for the owners as well as society.

• Utilizing both vertical and horizontal niches to expand the market. Bellow and Muchin apply a niche concentration on social impact communication. They apply that niche horizontally across for for-profits, non-profits and small businesses. In addition, they vertically apply this strategy across go-to-market messaging and branding services for integrated marketing and communication.

• The SHIFT from the norm. The output of your products or services plays a part of how human behavior affects a movement. The shift will occur if you have the right message. As a result, there is an effective pull from your end-users who seek you out.

Regardless what marketing tools you use to broadcast your message, you must consider the social impact in the message or content. Or, “what’s in it for us?” But it’s beyond just the communication – your intellectual property or “know-how” can be packaged in a way that leads to creating positive social footprints, further extending the reach of social impact. That is your return on investment on your communication and marketing.

Chia-Li Chien, CFP®, CRPC, PMP; helps women entrepreneurs to convert their business into meaningful personal wealth. She is the author of Show Me The Money and columnist for WomenEntrepreneur.com & Fox Business online. She is available for consulting, speaking engagements and workshops. She can be reached at http://www.chialichien.com or jolly@chialichien.com.

Chia-Li Chien | Dec. 8, 2010

Like most immigrants who come to the U.S., I continue to foster my own culture in my family, especially by way of Chinese food. When I first came to the U.S. at age 21, I did not have much cooking experience. Over the 22 years of living here, I kind of made up my own cuisine of mixed Chinese and American food in my day-to-day cooking. However, these days, my teenage daughter loves to “order” her favorite American food while I am preparing meals.

Initially, there were many American recipes that I tried and failed at. I had the most success with recipes from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food. Their traditional spaghetti and meatballs is at the top of the order list from my daughter. She has a sweet tooth, too and always wants a traditional apple pie. So, once again, I followed a recipe from Everyday Food.

In Chinese cooking, we don’t use many lemons. But I love lemons, especially because they have significantly lowered my cholesterol. So instead of following the recipe and using the juice of half a lemon in the freshly sliced apples, I used the juice from a whole lemon.  Well, you can image the look on my daughter’s face. She did not want to eat that pie at all. I have to admit, it was a bit tart and citric, but I LOVED it. To make sure my husband did not make the same face my daughter had, I left him a big note that night to tell him to make sure he added sugar to his piece of pie if he found it too tart.

The next morning, he told me, “Honey, that is the best traditional apple pie I ever had! There is no tart lemon taste at all.” So I tried it and he was right. You see, T.C. and I love to eat and cook a lot. He immigrated to the U.S. when he was 12 years old, so he knows much more about American cooking than I do. T.C. told me that in fact, the extra lemon might have helped to ripen the apples overnight, actually making the pie filling much sweeter than expected. Guess what, that next day my first homemade traditional apple pie was gone in a very short time. My daughter decided she loved it and the orders are coming in again.

I’ve seen many of my clients without solutions for branding, with difficult to sell goods and services, or painful P & L’s continue to thrive. Why? They persist, waiting it out with patience while demonstrating consistency in their imarketing, sales, and operational processes. Like adding too much lemon in my traditional apple pie, it just goes to show if you are not patient enough, you’ll never get to taste the sweet results.

Of every six new businesses starts, five close in five years according to the Small Business Administration. Many of them survive the first five years, yet still struggle to make ends meet. Depending on whom you speak to, those business failures could be due to:
•    The brand having no stickiness
•    The wrong products/services
•    Not enough profits
•    And other similar reasons

Entrepreneurs are pros at getting their clever, innovative ideas off the ground. However, many fail to have a plan to sustain their big ideas and/or follow through with the plan. Instead, they jump to next hottest idea on businesses promotion without the flexibility needed to make the change. They sometimes drop the ball just when it gets rolling. Patience is not one of the entrepreneur’s typical personality traits.

As an entrepreneur, you might want to consider the following as you expand new ideas, products, and services into the new or same market space. And remember – it takes patience.

Have a 12-Month Marketing Calendar.  See sample here from our PROFITS MATTER® 1-Year Growth Action Plan (1GAP).

Read more here..

I don’t believe in any one business solution overly much. Perhaps I did put too much lemon in my homemade traditional apple pie. Just waiting overnight helped to validate a method I can now use the next time. The result was sweet. Remember, patience is a virtue when it comes to marketing your business. The first results may not come out as you expected, but in a while, you may just enjoy results that will have your customers ordering again and again.

Chia-Li Chien, CFP®, CRPC, PMP; helps women entrepreneurs to creating business value that transforms their world.  She is the Award-Winning author of Show Me The Money and columnist for WomenEntrepreneur.com & Fox Business online.   She is available for consulting, speaking engagements and workshops.  She can be reached at http://www.chialichien.com or jolly@chialichien.com.

So let me share a scenario with you. A woman is entering her “empty nest” period. She has been very accomplished and recognized in her area of expertise. However, for some reason, she increasingly feels a sense of unrest. With her new freedom comes a time to explore what comes next in her life. It may be partially what she will do in personal life, but it also centers on how she views herself and her career. Even more importantly, how will she make a difference? When someone speaks of her accomplishments, just what will they say? Do you know someone like this? Or perhaps, is this a description of you?

Career transitions, whether voluntary or involuntary, can be stressful. If you have had the security of a previous success, it is often difficult to “step out” to the next stage. After all, you have worked for years to become comfortable. Perhaps being comfortable is no longer enough! If you are embarking on a major mid-life career transition, I offer some tips to consider:

1. Take an honest look at yourself. What are your strengths, challenges, marketable skills? Evaluate your past experiences—volunteer successes, workplace accomplishments and valuable family experiences. How have these influenced—positively or negatively—your transitions? How can they help you with your next transition? Which skills may you transfer?

2. Step up your self-care. Major changes are both physically and emotionally taxing. You need self-care now more than ever. It’s ok to be inwardly focused during this time. Many women find that it is an ideal time to engage in some career or personality assessments. Give yourself the gift of self-exploration and appreciation.

3. Engage your curiosity. What went wrong, or right? What could you have done better? What worked really well? Is there anything you would change, if you could? Your world is an empty palate. Paint your own portrait!

4. Focus on what you want and less on what you don’t want. Keep your eye on the prize. The investment you make in focus will pay you multiple dividends.

5. Find support. Since your transition affects your family as well, it may be better to seek the outside support of friends or professionals. An outside resource may just give you the objective viewpoint that could make the difference for you. They will push you to next level when your loved ones are too “polite” to be assertive.

6. Work on your own thoughts. Often your own “self-talk” can be your worst enemy. Calm your fears and reinforce your sense of hope and happiness. A positive attitude is a great benefit.

7. Reassure (or avoid) those who are threatened by, or jealous of, the change. It’s too easy to be pulled down by negative influences. Be protective of your environment. You desire to be in a supportive and forward-thinking atmosphere.

8. Create your own rite of passage. Ceremony and ritual help with all transitions. Celebrate your small successes! Eventually they will add up to your milestones toward achievement.

9. Let go of how things were “supposed to be” and accept “how things are.” Don’t allow your mind to keep replaying those same mistakes from your past. Find appreciation for what is. By now you have lots of stories and experiences. Focus on the future while appreciating the experience you have gained from the past.

10. Keep things in perspective. Or try on a new perspective. Don’t get stuck. Remember, the only constant is change. Wouldn’t you rather drive change than be driven by it? Relish the opportunity to control your destiny!

A successful career transition is just that. It doesn’t happen overnight. There will be ups and downs. However, you’ve been through this. You are at an ideal stage to consider a little risk. Enjoy what lies ahead. In the end, only you will be the one to judge the success of your next transition!

I recently had the opportunity to be a mentor, deal screener and speaker for the 4th annual Angle Capital Summit.  Although there were specific things to look for as a deal screener on behalf of the investors, I couldn’t help but to reflect on an article I recently wrote about G.U.P, as well as some of the material in my book Show Me The Money.

Many of the applicants at the Summit looking for funding had very little training in how to prepare a presentation for investors. Most had some type of business plan to start with, but some did not even have an executive summary. If you’re serious about your business, you must be prepared.

So what does an investor look for? Although I acted as a deal screener, I don’t necessarily have any interest in investing in a company I work with, but I do certainly have an interest in seeing that company succeed. As I’ve worked with clients over the years, there are many things we purposely put in place. Owners have to create a win-win situation for themselves and investors. You, as the owner, as well as the investors, are taking a risk on your ideas.
Here are twelve common mistakes to avoid as you prepare your investor presentation:

1.    Having no clear business model. Only one out of ten deals I reviewed had a solid business model. There are three components of a business model:  1) Owner’s passion and business purpose; ideally equaling what the customer is willing to pay you. 2) Core competency of key processes and key resources. 3) Economic engine or profit formula, which includes a plan for diversifying revenue sources.

2.    Not the right time to introduce your idea to the market. Some ideas I saw at the Summit were frankly out of date. If you want to introduce an old idea, make sure to innovate or create a mash-up compelling enough to repackage the idea for presentation.

3.    Not the right place to introduce your idea to the market. Did you do enough market research to present your case? How credible is your source of market research?

4.    Not having the right team of people to implement your idea. Most companies I reviewed are weak on implementation, meaning they were short on resources to implement their ideas. Resources include vendors, and most likely a team of other professionals. Identify them properly.

5.    Not planning to work in and run the business. I’ve seen, over the years, that some people just want the title without the work of the start-up. Well, that’s a good strategy for an exit plan, but at least at the beginning, you must be an integral part of your business, which will help you in the future to know how to react quickly to market changes.

6.    Entering without 10,000 hours of industry experience. Most of the deals I explored at the Summit were from people who did not have actual industry experience. According to research reported in Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers,” you need about 10,000 hours of experience in the industry of your business idea. If you personally don’t have it, have someone on your team who does.

Read mistakes 7 to 12 here.

Not everything has to be perfect in order to find funding, but nevertheless, put your best effort forward to show you are serious about making your business idea work. No one will know you are serious about succeeding until you have a complete plan. The amount of work, research, and thought you put into an entire business plan will speak louder than just a one page executive summary.

Chia-Li Chien, CFP®, CRPC, PMP; helps women entrepreneurs to convert their business into meaningful personal wealth.  She is the author of Show Me The Money and columnist for WomenEntrepreneur.com & Fox Business online.   She is available for consulting, speaking engagements and workshops.  She can be reached at http://www.chialichien.com or jolly@chialichien.com.

I had the pleasure of speaking with P3 Pearl, Jeannette Fitzwater on a cold wintry day. We both snuggled up to a candid conversation about her vision and passion for developing and leading others into their greatest potential.

I was fascinated with Jeanette’s journey of success however what most fascinated me was the golden nuggets she offered for women during this particular time of year.

We are upon a new year and we’re all looking at new goals and visions. We often choose new things or recommit to old goals. Jeannette offered strong recommendations that will catapult you into a successful experience in 2011.

As you might imagine Jeannette who lives in the roles of mother, wife and Senior Vice President-Director of Corporate Services, she has mastered a few things around seeing a vision, setting goals and accomplishing them.

She shares what has made her successful throughout the years and we are certain that if you applied you too can gain new experiences of success. We invite you to listen in on the candid interview with a note pad to write down your goals. Determine your plan of action and find new ways of making your every dream a reality in 2011.

Hear two great quotes to live by and what Jeannette knows for sure. You don’t want to miss our time of educational dialogue!

Visit Jeannette at http://www.JRFitzwater.com

Chia-Li Chien | Nov. 10, 2010

Are you exhausted from working IN your business? Many business owners struggle to grow their businesses, but not because they did not have the right tools. Most in fact, have all the tools they need, but are not using them strategically or consistently.

Lily’s business was going gangbusters, and in the spring of 2010 she was busier than ever, thanks to a new email marketing campaign she started. She was able to secure many new clients through that one effort. However, by October 2010, Lily felt her business had decreased considerably, mainly because she had no clients to work with at that point. You see, she had dropped the ball and was no longer running her email campaign on the monthly basis she had begun in the spring. As a result, she found herself with no follow-up calls and her prospects pipeline had dried up.

Joanne conducts annual free seminars every fall, consisting of two seminars every other week for three months. She emails seminar invitations only to her existing clients, asking her clients to bring someone who might be interested. In each of the seminars, she will get an average of thirty-five attendees, ten of whom will book appointments with her team right on the spot. She has been doing this consistently for the past five years. Are her seminar topics really that attractive? Is her email letter really that compelling? According to Joanne, even if you had the worst email letter ever, and the worst seminar topics in the world, if you are consistent, your pipelines will remain filled. It’s the discipline that really matters.

Let’s take a look at two words I have used here and their definitions:

Discipline (according to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discipline):
A rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity

Consistent (according to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consistent):
Showing steady conformity to character, profession, belief, or custom

So why do business owners struggle to have the discipline to do what they are supposed to do consistently? Well, we live in a multi-media and multi-tasking world, for one thing. One of my business colleagues told me once, “The worst person to work for is YOURSELF.” You put in more hours than ever, are more distracted with many different clients with many different projects, and on top of that, you have a team to manage and new prospects to attract. There are so many things to do and still you may find yourself asking, “Where does the time go?”

Do you remember your college days? You most likely had a set schedule of what day and time to attend the classes you selected. You may or may not have liked the class subject, but at the end of each semester, you probably had completed what you were supposed to do and received a passing grade.

I did the same with my workweek schedule for my business. See below for a sample of what my working week looks like. I’ve also asked my team to know when I am doing what and I do stay on that schedule accordingly.

There are couple things that you might consider:

• Green Time is your money making time – make it a priority.
• Client Retention Time is your money making time too – make servicing your clients top priority in your business.
• Marketing and Sales are Income Generating activities – block them out accordingly if that is your role in your business.
• Continuing Learning Time. Knowledge helps build your common sense. Remember, you can’t teach others about common sense, but each of us can continue honing our common sense skills through varied training, reading, etc.
• Personal and Family Time. Take care of yourself in body, mind and spirit. Take time with family as well. I take a 30-minute nap during my 3 to 5 pm block because my brain needs a break before I can continue on. Listen to what your body is telling you – if you’re tired, take a break.

A weekly schedule can help each of your team members too. You see, being organized saves everyone a lot of time in getting the right thing done right!

See my personal sample here.

There are a few rules I follow and train my clients and team to follow that you might also want to consider:

•    Don’t return phone calls or emails during the day. Because I am busy servicing scheduled clients and working on scheduled tasks, I only return calls when they are pre-scheduled via email. I return email in the late afternoon or early in the morning. This may not be realistic for your business, nevertheless, set your own rules and train your clients and team accordingly. Remember to stick to your own rules.
•    Use your weekends wisely. Depending on the stage of your business and life, you may be very busy over the weekends. To be quite honest, weekends are my sacred time, and I protect them well. I would rather sacrifice a party, or a hiking trip for a good 2-hour nap to recharge my batteries. Or, I use the weekend to catch up on projects. I enjoy cooking and love to make delicious meals not only for just the weekend, but also preparing them for the week ahead.

I love what I do and am rewarded by watching my clients grow consistently in the right direction. But each successful business owner has their own internal time clock of the best time for doing certain things. Once you get into a routine you can follow, stick with that. Make changes as you see fit. After all, it’s your time – make it worthwhile.

So, where does your TIME go?

Chia-Li Chien, CFP®, CRPC, PMP; helps women entrepreneurs to convert their business into meaningful personal wealth.  She is the author of Show Me The Money and columnist for WomenEntrepreneur.com & Fox Business online.   She is available for consulting, speaking engagements and workshops.  She can be reached at http://www.chialichien.com or jolly@chialichien.com.

Do you visualize a typical leader as being clad in a suit and spending many hours in meetings? While I have to admit that I have shared some of these same impressions, I have had my eyes opened. As a participant of Leadership Maryland, I spent a weekend in Baltimore exploring some of their Health and Human Services issues.

Our class was introduced to Col. Charles Williams of MCVETS and Dennis Murphy of Our Daily Bread. Both gentlemen were founders of non-profit organizations/projects, several decades ago. The Colonel led the effort (and still does) to rehabilitate our veterans as they experience problems after they return home. Mr. Murphy has developed and runs a wonderful complex and numerous programs to help the homeless to return to being stable residents of the community. And believe me, neither one would typically fit our stereotype. Despite these differences, I was able to observe 10 concrete traits that we see in successful leaders.
1. Entrepreneurial Spirit –they took an idea and searched for creative ways to make it work.

2. Perseverance—their leadership has spanned decades. Often times they went on to Plan B, C, D, or more, without giving up or losing stamina.

3. Passion—oh my, they had this! And this passion for serving became infectious to their volunteers.

4. Problem Solving—the clients of their programs would be involved for a longer-term period, perhaps two years. They were committed to solving the root cause of the issues, rather than simply treating symptoms. As a result, they experience an unusual level of success, in which clients do in fact become independent.

5. Clear Vision—they saw what could be done, without focusing on the obstacles. They were able to paint this vision for others. They continued to stay committed to their initial vision.

6. Flexibility—while they remained focused on their goals, they realized that as others became involved, new approaches and ideas would surface. They leveraged these thoughts to enhance the initial vision.

7. Enabling others—they inspired others to be involved and gave them meaningful roles to play. Most impressively, a large percentage of their volunteers/employees were former clients who had success stories to share. They had “walked a mile in their shoes” and truly had credibility.

8. Accountability—they relished the opportunity to be held accountable for their actions and shared great pride in their success.

9. Humble Spirit—these leaders worked through others. They were happy to speak about their successes, but seldom used “I” in their conversations.

10. Collaboration—they had no interest in forming silos in the community. They reached out to other non-profits, churches, economic development groups, etc. so that the community benefited as a whole. The community shared in the vision and the work. Together they celebrated their successes.

I believe that they have given us a template to consider when we evaluate our own leadership roles or are developing the capabilities of a future leader. The traits seem so simple in nature; however they truly stand out among the crowd. I encourage you to look within your own company and community to identify these traits. Through effective leadership a simple vision may become a reality!

For additional information of these outstanding programs, you may wish to reference their websites:
www.mcvet.org
www.catholiccharities-md.org/emergency/our-daily-bread

Jeannette Rudy Fitzwater brings over 20 years of varied executive and management experience in Human Resources, Training, Strategic Planning, Marketing and Sales. Jeannette is a Registered Corporate Coach!

Watch small businesses grow as corporate spending increases.

I recently attended Financial Planning Associates (FPA) 2010 Annual Symposium & Sponsor Expo in Charlotte, NC. I attend the FPA Symposium each year simply to keep up with my continuing education credits. Dr. Robert (Bob) Froehlich was one of the presenters in the Symposium. I am writing this to specifically document what Dr. Bob had to say in his presentation because 1) what he suggested holds true for the future, and 2) it makes sense for small businesses.

When general consumers think about the stock market, they use it as an indicator of how well the economy is doing. Yet many investors use the stock market as an indication of whether to buy or sell from their portfolio. According to Dr. Bob, what matters in investing are the EARNINGS of publicly-traded stocks. Earnings are the only indicators to drive the overall stock market volume. If earnings go up, expect to see the market volume go up.

“There is no correlation of the housing market with the stock market,” said Dr. Bob. “In 1999, the housing market reached a 25-year high, unemployment was at 4% – the best in 40 years in the U.S. – but the market crashed at 2000,” Dr. Bob continued. He concluded that housing and employment really do not drive how the stock market fluctuates.

I guess this is logical – if publicly-traded companies show earnings, that indicates they are profitable and performing as their shareholders expect. This potentially will lead to issuing dividends and greater return on investment for the investors. When publicly-traded companies issues dividends, traditionally it drives up the buying volume as well.

Dr. Bob believes that the combination of the earnings and cash inside these public trading companies will fuel the overall economy:

1.       Increase of on-going inventories rebuilding for the next 18 months. In January 2010 the recession recovered 10 months earlier than expected. Most corporations had cut back in inventory orders during the recession, but today the demand is high and they’re very busy refilling their inventories.

2.       Increase of capital spending. As of June 20, 2010, there were approximately $600B undistributed corporate profits or cash, the highest since 1950. Examples of this include: the buy back of company stock, increase in dividends, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in cash, investing in themselves to increase productivity and market share, and the hiring of employees.

3.       Growth of global economy. Traditionally, the global economy has trended to about 3% growth in the past 25 years. Today, the growth rate is about 5%, primarily due to huge growth in China (11.9%), India (double digit growth) and Singapore (19%). (No, the failure of the economy in Greece does not make whole lot of difference in the global economy.)

Dr. Bob suggests overweighting dividend-paying stocks in equity holding of a portfolio within the following three segments:

• Energy
• Financial
• Health Care

One reason for this recommendation is due to the amount of fixed income and the growth of boomers’ portfolios. Boomers not only need income, but also the growth of their portfolio to ensure that they don’t “outlive their money” (potentially for 30+ years).

What does all these mean for the small business? Consider the following:

• Gain Market Share FAST. If your marketing or sales teams are not already doing so, get on the program fast, because if you can’t fill the order for a hungry corporation, someone else will.
• Make sure your operating systems are solid. Ensure your processes and resources are in line to handle this upcoming boom.
• Get the right people on your team. You need a team of the right people to ride the economic tide. After all, they are the largest asset you have that can help grow your business.

You can have full access to the Federal Reserve monthly Economy snapshot – for example, I am part of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. What they do best is provide historical information. However, their snapshot will also will provide insight into how to forecast the economic future.

I don’t know if Dr. Bob is right or not, but his points certainly sound very logical, given all the facts from the economy snapshot. The bottom line is to pay close attention to what your clients are doing. Don’t miss your opportunity.

Chia-Li Chien, CFP®, CRPC, PMP; helps women entrepreneurs to convert their business into meaningful personal wealth.  She is the author of Show Me The Money and columnist for WomenEntrepreneur.com & Fox Business online.   She is available for consulting, speaking engagements and workshops.  She can be reached at http://www.chialichien.com or jolly@chialichien.com.