Coach Firm March 2019
You see problems. We see possibilities.
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March/April 2019
THE RIGHT TIME TO HIRE A BUSINESS COACH
You Don’t Need to Go It Alone
There’s no reason to face the existential frustrations of running a business alone. Asking for guidance isn’t a cop-out. In fact, looking to someone else for advice is sometimes the only way you’ll be able to gather the insight necessary to take your business to the next level without going through trial-and-error tribulations. Many of us get wrapped up in this idea that we have to control every single part of our lives to be a leader, but that’s not true. One of the qualities of a leader is the ability to be malleable. By putting aside your ego and addressing the areas where you feel you’re falling short, you’ll become the leader you always saw yourself as.
There is no better place to turn than to an experienced professional when you’re facing problems.
It comes down to being fluid and knowing the right time to make the hard choices for your company. When I started my first business in my 20s, I did everything myself. I didn’t know any better. From the paperwork to the legwork, from the scheduling to the marketing, I thought I had it all figured out. What I had figured out was how to waste a whole lot of time teaching myself the ins and outs of the business, only to fall short until I learned the right way to do it. As you can imagine, that didn’t turn out to be a world-class display of time management skill. But what it did do was pave the way for me to learn every aspect of the working world so my clients didn’t have to. Let my youthful mistakes and adult successes be the doorway to taking your business to the next level. You don’t need to be intimidated; a business coach can mean different things for different businesses. Here’s how you know when it may be time to make the call: Your results are lacking, you can’t pull off your plans to the best of your ability, you’re no longer motivated to allocate your time and resources better, you’re constantly irritable or frustrated by employees, you feel as though your ideas are the only good ideas; or you just need someone to confide in about your recent business struggles. There is no better place to turn than to an experienced professional when you’re facing problems. Don’t be overwhelmed. All you have is time.
lose by telling you how it is, and many times, that’s exactly the kick in the
pants you’ll need to get your affairs back on track. By taking a step back and working through the processes side by side with a mentor, you’ll be able to quickly identify and remove the obstacles that are causing these mental blocks.
A proper business coach will be there to guide you through the tough times and bring you back down to earth during the good times, all while passing along advice to bring your business to a sustainable and profitable level. Whether you’re looking for growth, retention, or increased efficiency, there’s always a conversation to be had. And when you feel you’re ready for that conversation, your friends at Coachfirm will be here to listen. With coaching services in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, there’s never a wrong time — or place — to take the next step. If you mention the newsletter when you call or go online at Coachfirm.com , we will provide you with a free consultation.
The most significant help is getting someone to take an objective look at your operations. You’ll be bringing on a professional with nothing to
-Bob Scott
www.coachfirm.com
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You see problems. We see possibilities.
SPRING HAS SPRUNG
4 Factors That Might Be Affecting Your Business’s Growth This Season
2. Employee Training Business growth doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Just as leadership from your management team should be a major focus, your employees need a solid foundation of knowledge in order to cultivate their own growth in the company. This spring, consider revamping your training programs by moving to online platforms that customize learning paths for each new employee based on previous employees’ feedback. 3. Customer Loyalty While it is important to increase brand awareness and expand your customer base, it is essential to also increase sales potential with your existing customers. Look for opportunities to grow your profits with the customers you already have through add-on sales, customer loyalty programs, and referral business. 4. Social Responsibility When you adopt policies of social responsibility, you affect your community — and therefore your customers — in a positive way. Take the month of March, for example, which is National Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month. You can get your business involved in various organizations geared toward raising awareness. Through sponsoring events and donating money, you can widen your client base while simultaneously helping others.
Spring is here, and watching flowers sneak up through the soil in your front yard may remind you to consider growth of a different kind — the growth of your goals the previous quarter or you took these last few months to recover from failed marketing efforts and missed opportunities, spring provides a great opportunity business. Regardless of whether you soared over your revenue
for overall growth. Still, it’s hard to knowwhere you should focus your energy. To aid your efforts, here are four factors to consider for strategic business growth.
1. Leadership Similar to nature’s processes during springtime, business growth begins far below the surface, through good leadership. Your employees’ perception of you and your company’s mission is what determines their motivation to work hard. Take a step back to evaluate your leadership tactics and determine if they match your ideal business model. Often, replacing poor leaders with stronger ones makes all the difference in a company’s success.
How to SurviveWorkingWith Members of Your Family
It’s All About Who You Know, and That’s the Problem
No matter howmuch you love your job or howmuch pride and excitement go into a day’s work for you, if one of your coworkers also happens to be a family member, things can get complicated in a hurry. Whether it’s a family-run business or a newfound work-based relationship, the excitement can quickly wane as you realize just howmuch time you’re going to have to spend with your kin. From past rivalries to complex, built- up emotions, things can escalate when you mix business with family. The good news is that this level of familiarity doesn’t have to be a bad thing, it can also work to your advantage — no matter howmuch you used to fight over the remote. The benefits of working with a family member are broad. While it’s different for every family, there is likely a mutual level of respect there as well as an understanding that you’re willing to protect one another when the going gets tough. All of these things can be used to work toward a common goal together that you would be hard-pressed to find with another coworker. Your familiarity with one another can lead to a less-stressful environment where you feel more comfortable expressing yourself and practicing good communication skills with someone you’ve known a long time. This is, of course, the best-case scenario.
In the worst case, you are always at each other’s throats and
bringing up indiscretions that significantly decrease your productivity and comfortability level. An excellent way to prevent these types of grievances is to draw a hard line about what needs to be left at the door when you get to the workplace. By setting boundaries and making sure you both understand your roles in the company, there will be less room for emotions to throw off your workflow. Treat your family member as you would any other employee, and don’t give them special privileges, or your relationship with your other coworkers could be strained. No matter what the relationship is, working in the family can add unnecessary layers to an already stressful environment. The important thing is to make sure your lines of communication stay open and your emotions wait until after you clock out. Play your cards right, and you may find yourself working with your best friend — or at least a tolerable nuisance.
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HOT LEADS: Stock Market Trends for 2019
Follow the Leader
GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR DIGITAL HOME ASSISTANT
It’s safe to say that right now, the American economy is in pretty good shape, with businesses
merging, expanding, and flourishing left and right. While the state of the market is always subject to change, the problem is finding a spare
More and more people are welcoming in the Amazon Echo or the Google Home into their spaces. Everyone knows they make great Bluetooth speakers and can tell you the weather forecast, but they’re also capable of so much more. Digital assistants can do a variety of tasks depending on how much you want them to do for you. For example, if you want your digital assistant to be heavily involved in your daily life, you can use the Echo or the Home as the core of your “connected home.” You can connect numerous compatible devices to these assistants, including other Bluetooth or networked speakers, lights, thermostats, coffee makers, refrigerators, and even microwaves. Of course, therein lies the challenge — you must have compatible devices to make a connected home efficient. And let’s be honest: Many of us aren’t going to buy a connected fridge or Wi-Fi enabled lightbulbs just to get the most out of our digital assistants. What you can do, however, is make use of what you already have. Here are some ways to put your digital assistants to work without committing to a connected home. Both the Echo and the Home make excellent communication hubs. In the home, they can be used as a local intercom system. Do you have a few Echo Dots or Google Home Minis? If you do, you’re set. You can communicate in any room where another device is present. Your digital assistant can also make outgoing calls. As long as the device has access to your contacts (or the person you’re trying to contact has an Echo or Home), you can easily make the connection. Want to send a text message? No problem! You can dictate a text to anyone in your smartphone’s contact list and send it without ever touching your phone. Aside from communications, the assistants can handle calendars, appointments, emails, and more. You can ask for information relevant to you, like “When is my flight again?” Google Home can recognize your voice, or the voice of anyone in the house, and respond accordingly. There’s no worry that anyone’s calendar or appointments will be mixed up with yours. If you want to learn more, search for tutorials online. We’ve only scratched the surface when it comes to what these digital assistants can do for you.
moment to keep up with startups and new players taking the stock market by storm on the daily. The fact remains that now is as good a time as
any to buckle down and take a serious look at this year’s trends. If you want an inside look at the types of stocks that are projected to take off this year, then you came to the right place. Tech Markets Surprisingly, tech stocks are projected to underperform this year. While it’s not necessarily their business that’s lacking, investors are being warned to stay away from stocks that are expected to have high yields and high valuations. This means the tech sector. It’s gotten to a point where so many people are following the years-long trend of investing in tech companies that company valuations have exceeded their potential for earnings growth. This could mean a serious chink in your investment armor. Volatility 2018 was a dramatic year for the stock market. Between growing concerns over the treasury, the problems in the European Union, and a full-blown trade war involving China, investors had their work cut out for them. This year, experts are projecting a market destined for a rebuilding period. This means that investors should be patient. The number of promising leads seem few and far between, so you’ll need to sit on your cash until you think it’s hit bottom. The Staples and a Late Bloomer Some things never change. While a few of the major players may change every few years, the giants are set to remain on top for this year. Some of the safest investments you can make this year are projected to be companies like Facebook, Starbucks, Johnson & Johnson, and Apple. One of the more surprising entries to the top of the list is Sprouts Farmers Market. They nearly doubled their revenue from 2013 to 2017 and experts don’t see this growth slowing down anytime soon.
Good luck, and happy hunting!
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BUSINESS COACHING
INSIDE
A Look at What a Business Coach Can Do for You
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Reorganizing Your Efforts for Strategic Growth This Spring Dealing With Family Members in the Workplace Taking a Look at Promising Trends in This Year’s Marketplace Are You Getting the Most Out of Your Digital Home Assistant?
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Celebrate Dr. Seuss
1 BOOK, 2 BOOK
Who Was Theodor Geisel?
On March 2, Read Across America Day is celebrated by students, teachers, and community members in towns throughout the country. They chose that date to pay homage to one of the most beloved children’s authors who was born that day: Theodor Geisel. That name may sound unfamiliar to you, but
by a long shot. But Seuss did not break into the children’s literature industry easily.
Seuss and his nearly 50 children’s books almost never got off the ground. His first children’s book, “And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” was denied by more than a dozen publishers. Legend has it that Seuss was on his way home to burn the manuscript when he ran into an old friend who suggested another publisher. The rest is history.
Given the enthusiasm for reading Dr. Seuss has fostered in children for the past eight decades, it’s no wonder the National Education Association chose his birthday to mark a day dedicated to celebrating reading. After all, he’s often quoted as saying, “You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read with a child.”
“Dr. Seuss” should ring a few bells.
His name alone is so associated with literacy that in 2007, the author of an article in U.S. News & World Report that chronicled the history of 1957 — the year “The Cat in the Hat” was published — wrote, “Greece had Zeus — America has Seuss.” In 2001, Publisher’s Weekly released a list of the bestselling hardcover children’s books of all time in the U.S. Of the books in the top 100, Seuss authored 16, which is more than any other author on the list
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