I consult and train on business plan development.  Like most others who do this, I encourage those I assist to make their business plan a living document.  Revisit it often.  Review and update regularly.  That makes a lot of sense in today's world, but the reality is, most of the time these end up in a drawer collecting dust.  They are useful because they help a person think through their business venture.  Having to articulate something in writing is very good for that.  Additionally, the process of writing a plan creates buy-in when the whole team is involved, not to mention the fact that it helps ensure that partners are on the same page.  And, the most common use for a plan I've seen is to secure funding from a lender or investor. So, the plan is written and accomplishes much of the aforementioned things. 

But, do they revisit it frequently?  Is it fluid?  Does it get updated?  No. 

Rarely, if ever do most small business owners actually update their plan. The version they took to the bank is the last version ever drafted (until they need another loan). 

Do they operate according to the plan?  Maybe.  But, for the most part, the plan is placed in a drawer and collects dust.

I've found that one of the valuable uses for the Business Model Canvas is helping a business keep their plan fluid.  Helping them think through changes and make changes to the plan is best done when they have a visual tool that makes it simple and easy to think through adaptations, changes and improvements.  The business model canvas keeps the business planning process alive, even after the business plan document is stuck in a drawer to collect dust.

What helps you maintain perspective of your company's direction and keep the plan current?

Yes, you know where this is going... How do you eat an elephant?  You eat it one bite at a time.  Cliche.  This valuable principle has been taught this way over and over by parents in homes, teachers in classrooms, trainers in corporations and executives in boardrooms around the world.

Today, I heard it put a different way.  Perhaps not quite as simple but definitely more insightful.  I spent the day with Chuck Coonradt and several business professionals from the Utah Small Business Development Center network.  Chuck is an author and founder of The Game of Work.  He is also an Angel Investor in the Park City, Utah area, which is where we met today. 

Here is Chuck's straightforward way of stating the elephant eating principle: "When you decrease the size of the problem, you increase the emotional willingness to solve it." 

This is perhaps not as rich in imagery, but it is definitely more instructive.  It hints at why we really need to think about eating elephants one bite at a time.  Emotional willingness to solve a problem is what every great leader seeks in those they lead.  

Where have you seen this work?

I have a friend who works for Utah State University as their director of the Utah Small Business Development Center office in his region.  He recently shared an interesting experience with me.  He is working with a group of students who are doing some basic research for a local company that was considering adding a soda parlor to their business.  Although it is a small, isolated bit of research, the results support the importance of marketing.  Here's what he told me:

He concluded with this insight, "Just goes to show the value of good marketing."

Here's what I'd like to know from you, comment below to name a product or service you favor and give me one sentence explaining why.  I'll do a quick comparison of your preference with the marketing message from that company.  The results should be interesting. 

This week I had the pleasure of lunch with Susan P. Rice, founder of Cavanagh Services Group, Inc.  Cavanagh specializes in integrated project management and transportation services for hazardous and industrial waste. She started the company in 2002 after securing an SBA loan to purchase 30 waste containers and within one month had landed a $600,000 contract.  Since then the firm has grown rapidly and currently services areas throughout the country!  She was recognized by Utah Business Magazine’s “Fast 50, Utah’s Fastest Growing Companies”, and also received recognition in 2010 as one of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Winning Women™.

Before lunch, in a brief presentation on entrepreneurship, Sue shared some great ideas regarding how the company has survived and thrived.  She spoke of peaks and valleys.  We've all heard about peaks and valleys, and we've all experienced them. 

On this topic her thoughts were brief but sound.  When in a valley, look at the obstacle and turn it into an opportunity - this is quite natural for her because in addition to owning her own company she is a very competitive athlete.  (How many ladies do you know who religiously read every issue of Sports Illustrated cover to cover?) 

And what of the peaks?  When at a peak, you've got to resist the temptation to coast.  Sure, enjoy it!  But, at the same time look for valleys.  Search them out.  Where are the areas you can improve?  This helps ensure that you will better survive the next valley and may even help you avoid valleys you would otherwise have been forced to pass through.

Words of wisdom.

What specifically have you done in your company that has worked well for you with regard to peaks and valleys?  I'd love to read your comments.

In the book, The Gift of Fear, Survival Signals that Protect Us From Violence, by Gavin de Becker, is found an interesting excerpt.  It refers to the way circus elephants are trained:

The author goes on to discuss how this dynamic affects people who, when young, are repeatedly told certain things and believe them throughout their lives.  It caused me to wonder how many great leaders and creative entrepreneurs in embryo do not develop to their potential because they were trained by chains that sounded like this:

I am certain I've had business clients whose eyes have been somewhat opened to the fact that the chains were only illusions and that they indeed could and would succeed.  And what opened their eyes?  Perhaps a bit of encouragement and sound business plan coaching helped, but ultimately it was their effort - their actions.  When they act upon their ideas, they catch a glimpse of their capacity and more importantly their potential.

I believe this little story of how elephants are trained is powerful for parents and teachers of young people.  We can learn a great deal about the importance of the message sent by our attitude and language towards a child's achievements (or lack thereof), their creativity, their entrepreneurial spirit, etc.  How many of the potentially great leaders and entrepreneurs of the future are held down by the illusion of great chains that in reality don't exist?

Share a comment below and tell me where you've seen these so-called chains at play (or seen them broken).

Today, I had lunch with Jeri Mae Rowley, a highly respected speaker, trainer and... well, and "saddle-maker's daughter."  She tells the story of how she remembers hearing her grandfather, Ray Holes (yes, that Ray Holes!) say to her as he tapped away on the leather of a custom saddle while customers were in his shop, "Aren't we lucky!  Those people work hard for so little and they choose to do business with us." 

Not only is Ray Holes a nationally known saddle-making legend, he was also humble, appreciative and wise - wise in how he shared his vision!  Ray shared his vision with each member of the family who worked in his shop - including Jeri Mae Rowley. He shared it in simple conversation and by genuine example.  Living your vision is the best way to deeply communicate it to others.  Ray believed in treating others respectfully - whether they were customers, employees or even competitors - and he believed in appreciating them too.  Those two key components, coupled with best-of-the-best quality went a loooooong way to building a business and covering whatever shortcomings he or his business may have held.

Do your employees know your vision by what you say and do daily?

The news may seem to be filled with stories of business people with no morals.  This, however, is a different kind of story (and I suggest that the world is just as full of this kind of story as the other, they just don't get the same kind of press partly because people seem to seek justice more than they wish to recognize honor).  This is the story of my brush with Mr. Harold "Hal" R. Wing.

Just over nine months ago, I had the privilege of meeting Hal Wing.  We had arranged for his presentation to a group of about 90 people eager to learn about entrepreneurship.  Mr. Wing did not disappoint.  He arrived early - probably because there's a lot of open road here and, yes, he was in one of his famously fast sports car (a Porsche to be exact)!  He set up for the "show."  I had only asked him to come talk about entrepreneurship, bit it was indeed a show.  Both inspirational and impressive. 

Mid-way through his presentation he climbed to the top of a Little Giant ladder and demonstrated how he had yodeled his way to success (he really did yodel from a ladder in the early days in retail demo areas to garner the attention of the crowd - but that's a story for another time).  Latter, he declined to have lunch because he didn't eat lunch - hadn't done so for years.  Said that in the early days he became accustomed to living in his car, working hard, pinching pennies and simply ate one meal per day and spent the rest of the day selling his ladders.  That one-meal-a-day thing stuck (and that one meal is apparently not lunch).

I found myself wondering, exactly what kind of guy is this?  Doesn't eat lunch.  And, here he is, in his seventies and yodeling atop a ladder in an entrepreneurship presentation.  As I thought about it, I realized this is a man of great integrity.  He adheres to what he believes.  He teaches by being, not just by saying (thus he was atop a ladder).  He didn't say, be energetic, he was energetic.

To me, integrity is truly making one's actions consistent with one's beliefs.  It takes real discipline.  It is a virtue.

I believe integrity had been his way from the very beginning and point to this evidence as published in CNN Money.  After starting and growing a company that was grossing well over $1 million per year, Mr. Wing, experienced a reversal of fortune.  The article states:

Of course, the company Mr. Wing started (and then restarted) has grown to be worth much more than that today.

So, I pay tribute to Mr. Wing.  He passed away earlier this month, August 6, 2012.  May he rest in peace.

Auggggh!  I saw it again.  I hate to see something as important as a family be torn by strong disagreements in the operation of the family business.  Here's a good little 30-second list that from www.RuralUtahBusiness.com that may be useful in avoiding this sad situation.

Today my wife is bottling salsa.  This year our little garden has done well.  There's nothing like a BLT sandwich with fresh tomatoes and lettuce (no, I don't raise pigs - I go to the store for that).  Although our tomatoes have done well, she needed a few more than were ripe in our garden.  So, I stopped by the local fresh produce stand, Harward Farms. 

They operate a well-run business that has developed and maintained a great reputation throughout the local region they serve.  As she was carefully moving my purchase from the display basket to a box I asked Traci, their cheerful produce stand operator, if the people who started the venture were still around. 

I was delighted to here that Jake and Lenny began operating the produce stand business when they were just youngsters after their father gave them charge of a small piece of farmland.  Two generations earlier their grandfather had started Harward farms, but now their once-little produce division has expanded to nearly thirty roadside stands throughout Utah.

Lesson: Start young.  I love this lesson.  I started a business when I was 15 years old and was dabbling in entrepreneurial ventures even before then.  I work a lot with businesses in remote, rural communities and have learned that long-term, stable growth typically comes from within - meaning local startups.  The key: teach kids (beginning in elementary school) to value innovation and entrepreneurship.  Of course, it also doesn't hurt if they know how to work.

Lesson two: Business models are adaptable.  With the right business model, even as other family farm operations are threatened by the move to large-scale, commodity-style production, the small agriculture business can thrive.

Congratulations Haward Farms!

I have a friend whose company has done better and better in spite of the downturn in the economy.  I have several friends like that in fact.  But, the friend I’m thinking of gave me the opportunity the other day to revisit a simple business principle.  He called and told me how they were growing and hiring new employees and people were taking on new responsibilities.  He then lamented over the difficulty of getting people to do what they are supposed to do and do it right.  I reviewed with him five simple pieces of the puzzle that must always be present if you wish to have people manage themselves effectively.

1.       Clearly communicate the DESIRED RESULTS

2.       Provide and discuss GUIDELINES

3.       Put in place all RESOURCES needed to get the job done

4.       Establish a means of ACCOUNTABILITY.  How and how often will you hold them accountable?

5.       Discuss and commit to stand by CONSEQUENCES - positive outcomes for successful execution and negative consequences if not.

The FranklinCovey course, 7 Habits for Small Business Managers, refers to these five components as the essential pieces of win-win performance agreements.  When we do this well, we lay claim on the mantra for Habit 4 – Think Win-Win.  The mantra for Habit 4 is “Let them manage themselves.”  Unfortunately, if we neglect any one of these five keys to a win-win performance agreement, “letting them manage themselves” can be an absolute disaster.  All five are critical.

So, in which of the five key factors was my friend derelict?  Accountability.  He hadn’t really held his people accountable, and he knew it.  He understood the principle well.  But, there is a big difference between understanding and applying.  He thanked me for the conversation and advice.  I thanked him for letting me provide some guidance and offered further help.   That’s the joy of being a business counselor.  We get to do the fun part, and our clients get to do the hard part.  But, when they do it well, their payoff is tremendous.  And ultimately, when the client's business soars – that is the true payoff for me!