THE 90 Day Plan to Increase Your Income and Have the Time to Enjoy It!!

In September, 2006, I put my home on the market. Although I am a native New Yorker, after 18 years in the Bay Area, I consider myself a “real Californian”, so I did the California thing and had it staged.

I knew from both research and hype that staged homes sell faster and for more money than non-staged homes. Quality sells, particularly in a competitive marketplace. So, about 90 days before I put the For Sale sign on the lawn, I was off to the races on the staging idea.

What happened after I hired the stager you ask...well, most of my belongings, furniture, pictures, and personal stuff went into a storage area and some new, more streamlined pieces appeared in its place. The goal was to:

o help a potential buyer understand what each of the rooms could be used for,

o get a buyer to want to pay my asking price,

o prove that the value of my home is in the details,

o somewhat, but not totally, depersonalize it, so the buyer could imagine living in it with their “stuff”

o and make it the “best in the marketplace” during a slowdown in the real estate market.

That got me thinking about how I work with my clients and their businesses...I work with the same principles as the home stagers. The key ideas I was supposed to focus on during the somewhat gut -wrenching process of house staging were the same ones I work on with my clients: clarify, quantify, justify, and modify, in order to amplify success.

In January, didn't you think that 2007 will be your best year ever? Let me tell you that’s the standard response at the beginning of the year. However, it does not just magically happen by the end of it.

So, we are going to stage your business. I am giving you a 90 day plan, which is generally how long it takes to jumpstart your income, whether you are starting, growing or thinking about selling your business.

Let’s Start with:

Tip # 1 YOU NEED TO CLARIFY WHAT YOU NEED AND WHAT YOU WANT
BECAUSE IF YOU DON’T, NOBODY ELSE WILL.

Let me tell you about a young woman I met when she was finishing up law school and we started talking about her plans for the future. She mentioned to me that she had no interest in joining a law firm because she wanted the flexibility that an associate was guaranteed NOT to have if she ever wanted to make partner. But, she also wanted the income that went along with a big city law firm offer.

Whether you are starting your business or well into into it, you need to set the ground rules for what you want out of it and how much effort you are willing to devote to making want you want actually happen. You need to clarify to yourself, your family, your friends and your client what you want in order for it to become a reality.

All of my clients begin their coaching with several assignments.

First, I would have you come to our first session dressed as if it was the most important meeting of your life. I spent half of my career running Human Resources for major corporations. If you do that for a living, you know, within the first four minutes of meeting someone, if you are going to hire him or her, regardless of his or her resume. Whether getting a job or getting a client, all of you know that first impressions are important. Research shows that in that four minutes, first impressions are made up this way:

o 55% visual impact, dress, facial expressions and body language,
o 38% tone of voice
o 7% what you actually say

How you walk into the room, shake your hand, maintain eye contact, and the attention to detail on how you put yourself together for the meeting tells a lot about your confidence and how you will fit with the culture, which is as important as your ability to do the job. You would be surprised at how many people don’t have a convincing handshake, a commanding and confident presence, or don’t take the time to shine their shoes. Attention to detail makes an employer or a client take you seriously. And a word of caution. If you meet with your next potential client two or three times before closing the deal, which is the case many times, make sure you keep a log of what you wore to each meeting. There is a good chance that you will forget what you wore and show up in the same outfit again. Unfortunately, for you, your potential client probably will remember you wore that same outfit last time and conjure up any number of reasons why, none of them positive.

So, think about with whom you can dress rehearse your first impression and go home and practice. Remember, your potential next client may be drawing conclusions about you before you have gotten to excite her with your presentation. Don’t lose your shot at the next best deal on things that are so easily fixed.

Next, I would ask you to tell me in 30 seconds what your business is. You need to be able to fine tune your “elevator pitch”. In a study conducted by a professor at University of Toledo, she concluded that the first 30 seconds make or break the connection between two people when they meet for the first time.

You need to be able to capture the essence of your business in a few sentences, so go home and practice until it rolls off your tongue.

Then, I would ask you to make a wish list of what will define success in your life. Notice I said “your life” I don’t want a list of business success factors. I want to know about your personal life too. So, your list might have an income goal, a fancy car, retirement at age 50, travel with your family and friends, community service, even a Nobel Peace prize. I don’t care as long as it is all inclusive.

And finally, I would have you write your obituary. Now, I am not trying to bring you down with this seemingly morbid thought. What I am looking for is a document that represents how you want to be remembered. It should be “New York Times” worthy. It should reflect your wishlist, even if none of the items on it have happened yet.

Over the next few weeks, sit down and make a wishlist and write your obituary. Once you do, or if you already have done this, make sure you pull them out several times a year and see that you are doing the necessary things to keep it on track and make the documents come true. Update and modify them as needed. And, most importantly, don’t procrastinate to the point where wake up later in life and have regrets that you didn’t accomplish your goals and dreams and are not remembered the way you so brilliantly wanted to be when you wrote that obituary.

Now let’s go back to the law student. She is now an attorney who specializes in elder law. When she started out, she did not have the confidence to stand in front of a group and give a talk about her business. So, she started by practicing in front of me, including dressing for the image she wanted to convey. And then, she practiced in front of small groups of seniors from her church and she got her first client. As far as her wish list, it included working the 4 day week, getting married, having a family and earning as much as a partner in somebody else’s law firm in significantly less time. Her income last year was over $400,000, she works Monday through Thursday, 25-30 hours a week and last year she and her husband had a their first child. So far, she is living her definition of success.

Next week, I will share with you Tip #2, REMEMBER, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS SO MAKE SURE YOU KNOW YOURS.

Visit us at Bay Area Business Coaching, www.bayareabusinesscoaching.com, to learn more.