Just completed facilitating a Business Growth Experience meeting and I ask each participant this question: which business accomplishment are you most proud of in the last 12 months? Received several responses I was not expecting:

1. Finally figured out why I was in business
2. Successfully integrated my religious beliefs into my business life,
3. learned to give up control and let me employees excel

were some of the answers.

What are you most proud of (business related) over the last 12 months?

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
ron@businessgrowthexperience.com
www.businessgrowthexperience.com

One of the biggest problems I see with small business owners is that they chase the money. When you chase the money, you lose focus, and people do not know what you stand for.

Focus is principle number 6 of my Nine Principles for Inspired Action.

After working with a client in the Business Growth Experience and suggesting she gets focused, I received the following email less tha a week later.

“I also want to give you some feedback on a suggestion you made for me in the last Business Growth Experience meeting. We discussed just focusing on 3 types of businesses. Well I’m getting more referrals for those types of businesses. I’m truly amazed. I’ve received about 10 referrals between cleaning, insurance, and real estate in the last week. Thank you.”

Stop chasing the money. Get focused on your customer. The money will come.

Ron Finklestein
www.businessgrowthexperience.com
ron@businessgrowthexperience.com

Ten Time Wasting, Productivity Stealing, Resulting Robbing Excuses that Make Life Hard.

As a business coach I work with people who could improve their results and productivity by making simple yet powerful changes in their approach to decision making. If you are not achieving your desired results, here are ten possible reasons why.   As you read, think about what you are doing and why you are doing it. The biggest reason productivity suffers is because of poor decision making. This wastes time and valuable resources. Time is wasted when we confuse activity with accomplishment. Activity is purposeless action. Accomplishment is purposeful action that leads to the results you want.

Getting clear on what is important and focusing on those activities will increase your productivity, save you time, and simplify your life. Take a look at these 10 time wasting, productivity robbing, and frustrating actions people take. How many of these apply to you?

1. Not staying focused. Stay focused on what is important and ignoring any other opportunity that comes along will increase productivity. Jumping from activity to activity will ruin your productivity!
2. Stop Multi-Tasking. You cannot focus and do multiple things well. Your productivity suffers. You think you got a lot done but none are done well and you would have completed more had you stayed focused. Studies show that focused activities allows you accomplish more.
3. If you are a business owner do not discount your product. You are not the Banker. On more than one occasion I wanted to help someone so I gave them some help by discounting my product. The ones that I offered this help to were the ones who valued it the least, who took the most time and accomplished the least.
4. You do not need to be an expert. People will be confused if you explain every detail. They really want to know why it works not how it works. It helps with your confidence level to know this info but you do not have to tell everyone unless they ask. Do not spend time trying to figure out every nuance of your product. Just go do what you have to do. If someone asks you a question you cannot answer, tell them you will find out and set a date and time when you will get back with them.
5. Stop waiting for your family’s approval. They want you safe and many time what you want, they see as risky. It is your life. Live it by your rules not theirs! Decide. Take action.
6. Stop going to networking events. Spend your time where your prospects are, not where it is safe. Most people you meet at networking events want to sell you their product. That is why they are there. I cut way back on my networking because the same people show up. They were becoming more like reunions.
7. Avoid the tire kicker. They want to tell the world they tried everything when in reality they will suck you dry and never take action. Do not waste your energy on tire kickers. On the flip side, work with people who are where you want to be. Be open and coachable. This will shorten your time to success.
8. Why do you do what you do? To be truly successful, spend as much time working on you as you do on your business. Results happen when you change what you do. The best way to change what you do is to change how you think. This could be learning new things, taking different actions, and being exposed to people who think differently than you do.
9. Stop believing the wrong thing. It is not skills that hold us back but our beliefs. Anyone can learn anything, assuming they have the desire and interest. I cannot tell you how many audio programs I listened to and did not implement what I learned. I would then listen to the same program 10 years later and wonder why I did not trust (believe, implement, execute, etc) what I first learned. I think of all the time I wasted.
10. Do not believe your limitations. Those limitations are things you learned as a child and you do not have to have the same beliefs now. It is not your fault if you are not happy with your life as it exists today but you are responsible and you can change it. As Michelangelo once said, “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.” Aim High  and take purposeful action

Call today for a free consultation. I can be reached at 330-990-0788

Ron Finklestein

Business Coach

ron@businessgrowthexperience.com

http://www.aboutbusinesssuccess.com

I received this from a friend of mine, Brian Doud. I thought it interesting. Pay close attention to Stephen Covey as he discusses the Speed of Trust and how quickly things get done when trust exists.

Chris: You talk a lot about the speed of trust. Can you explain, a little bit more in detail, what you mean by that?

Stephen (Covey) Well, here’s an illustration. Warren Buffett, who’s the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, always writes a management letter every year with his annual report and his management letters are studied widely in business schools and elsewhere in the country and
around the world. A year ago, in his management letter, he talked about the big acquisition that his company, Berkshire Hathaway, did of a $23 billion company that they bought from Wal-Mart. This company was McLane Distribution Company, $23 billion in revenue.

Now, Berkshire Hathaway is public. Wal-Mart is public. So these are two public companies. They have all the requirements of the public marketplace; all the scrutiny, et cetera. But to make this deal happen, it took place in a total of a two-hour meeting, and then 29 days later, Wal-Mart had their money from Berkshire Hathaway for a $23 billion transaction. Berkshire Hathaway did no due diligence, and Warren Buffett said, “I trusted Wal-Mart, I trusted the people I worked with. I knew everything would be in exactly the order that they said it would be, and it was.” He said, “We did no due diligence,” and in 29 days they did this deal.

In most mergers of this size, we’re talking several months, if not six, eight, ten, twelve months to close a deal like this, with armies and teams of accountants, CPAs, attorneys, et cetera, that come in and do all kinds of due diligence to verify, to validate, and it takes a lot of cost and it takes a lot of time. But the idea of the speed of trust is literally, both speed in terms of actual time that you can do things in, and also speed as a metaphor, to mean benefits, results, dividends that are abundant; and the fruits of high trust and the speed at which you can move are close to miraculous.”

What are you doing to create trust with the people you work with?

Ron Finklestein
Business Training at a great price: Http://www.aboutbusinesssuccess.com  

What is Your Intelligent Self-Interest?

Intelligent self-interest is defined as choosing what the most important to you with the intent to take action. Let us explore how this concept applies to business.

Many small business owners try to be all things to all people. They do not understand the power of focus. Successful people know they have a limited amount of time, energy, and money and they stay hyper focused on actions that will help them implement their intelligent self-interest (ISI). They ask themselves if a specific action is taking them closer to their ISI. If not, they ask themselves why they are doing it. If it not something that is taking them closer to their ISI, but it needs to be done, they delegate it or do it after hours (i.e., payroll, filling, email, etc.) If it not necessary, they stop doing it.

Making these decisions can be difficult but these decisions are essential for success.

ISI is documented in detail on my book Nine Principles for Inspired Action: A New & Targeted Perspective (www.amazon.com). ISI was identified after studying over 500 successful small business owners and what they did to be success. I have tested this principle with my client and the clients who embrace this concept have achieved great results. An example will help. I have one client that owned a three million dollar business and he was in 11 different markets, none of them were being served effectively. We asked him to pull back to one market and become the expert in his niche. His fear of leaving opportunities on the table in the other markets would not allow him to commit to just one market. We were successful in pulling him back to two markets. His thinking changed when he realized how much easier life was working just two markets. He had more time. He could go deep into his primary market. He implemented new tools that allowed him to sell his products oversea using the Internet. In a very short time his bottom line improved.

Here is a second example. I working with a client right now and he is absolutely brilliant, but he doesn’t any focus. We have a 30 minute accountability call weekly. In the last 12 weeks we have been working together he has presented 14 new ideas to me, without really taking action on what he really wants to do. Being brilliant is both a blessing and curse. Being brilliant allows him to see things that others don’t see, to engage possibilities that others to see. But it also has a downside. This downside is that it is hard to stay focused. He has finally settled on his ISI and started taking action. The peace of mind he is experiencing has been worth the pain of getting focused.

The more focused on your ISI the easier it is for your customers understand when to buy your products and services, for your employees to understand their role is in the organization, for your referral partners to know when to give your referral. It makes it very easier for people to do business with you because they know what you do and what your business stands for.

As a business owner, you have to decide your ISI, how your ISI applies to your business and how your business will create a value proposition that will serve the market. If you’re selling on low price, your business model must focus on efficiencies. If you business proposition is value and higher prices, you must define this so others can easily understand. Ask yourself: Why is my service (value) better than my competitor’s service (value)? Why would they buy my product? If you cannot answer these questions, how can you explain your advantages to your customers?

Do not try to answer this question alone. Ask your customers. They will tell you why they bought from you. Ask others why they did not buy from you. You will be totally surprised by what you learn.

Intelligent self-interest helps understand why you’re in business and the value you provide for your customers. It helps you understand what you as a business owner want from your business. The answer to these two questions should drive your behavior. If helps you get clear on the legacy that you want leave behind as your organization grows. It helps you understand what kind of employees would be successful in your organization. It helps you understand what kind of customer value and thrive on your products and services.

ISI gives you permission to say no. If someone asks you to do something not consistent with your ISI, say no. ISI gives you permission to change your thinking. ISI gives you an opportunity to clearly ask others for help. ISI is you business compass and it can be your life’s GPS if you let it.

To your success,
Ron Finklestein
www.aboutbusinesssuccess.com
Ron@akris.net

One Man’s 911 Journey

On 9/1/11 I just lost my job. On 9/11 I am setting in front of the TV watching the airplane hit the second tower.

I knew my life would never be the same. I knew it deep in my heart and soul. I knew that finding a job would be difficult at best. I knew I had to do and think differently if I were to thrive and prosper. I knew I needed to make massive changes and I did not what they were or how to make them.

Was 9/11 a terrible situation? Yes.

It never should have happened.

But it did and it changed my life in a very powerful and profound way.

I gave up the belief that I would work for a company and retire at 65 with a gold watch and a pension.

I gave up my belief in security. I created a new belief that the only security that exists is the security I create for myself. That is both a very frightening and empowering thought.

Were those transitions painful? Yes.

Were they hard? Yes.

Would I want to go through them again? No.

Would I change my response to them? No.

I am a different person. I am a happier person (most of the time.) I have better relationships. I am more independent. I created many new skills and I embraced opportunities that would not have been available to me otherwise.

I wrote four books and I am international published.

I created many new products that helped others achieve results.

I developed leadership skills that I did not know I had. I learned that leadership is a learned behavior.

I became an accomplished speaking professional. This was big for me. A major life changer in what I learned and how people respond.

I met many new people and many became dear friends.

I see change as something positive. It all depends on how I choose to react.

I now know my attitude is the determining factor in how good I feel and how I chose to respond to any situation.

I realized that I have helped many people. Many people have helped me.

I learned how much I hate the government intrusion into my life. America was created by people who were individuals who took charge. Who knew what they wanted and went after it. I want to meet more people like them.

I learned I want the American people to realize their greatness and stop being afraid.

I learned to better appreciate my wife and our children and how they need to learn their own lessons.

I learned I do not like negative people and I dislike it when I am negative.

I like the acceptance I feel from my dogs when I come home after a hard day.

I realized I am getting older and nothing will change that.

I realized I am not necessarily getting wiser as I get older.

9/11 did have a very positive impact on my life and I am thankful for the people who allowed this to happen.

To you, your life, your loves, your passion.

Ron Finklestein

Business Coach who wants others to take ownership

330-990-0788

ron@akris.net

How do you spell RESULTS?

The word “RESULTS” is unique. It is unique because it means many different things to many different people; mostly psychological (more money, better relationships, more customers, weight loss, better health, etc.)

Though the word “results” means different things to different people, the way to results has not changed, if you are willing to do the work. Let me share with you a simple process I teach all my clients to help them get clear on achieving the results the want to achieve.

R – Results – Defining a specific outcome that you want to achieve. Think of this as your intelligent self-interest, your burning desire, and the end results you will achieve.

E – Enthusiasm. You must be passionate about what you want to achieve. This enthusiasm will provide the motion to get you over the bumps you will experience. Without enthusiasm, action quickly fades.

S – Singular focus. Every decision you make must focus the outcome you want to achieve. You must measure all your actions on how your actions (or lack of) are taking you closer to your specific outcome.

U – Unvarnished truth. There are no excuses. You own it. Don’t hide from it. Don’t try to sugar coat the results with excuses like it is the economy. If something is truly outside your control, it may not be your fault but it is your responsibility. You chose to how you want to respond. You can thrown in the towel or you can draw on your enthusiasm and passion to get you through the tough times.

L – Leadership. Show your personal leadership and just do it. Lead by example.

T – Test, fail quickly, try something else, and test again. I call this failing forward. Test until you find what works (repeat as often as necessary).

S – Start the process over. Do it again. Do more of it. Do it faster. Do it with greater focus.

In the next 60 days I will be announcing a 90 days to massive results program. Let me know if you want the details and I will include you in the formal announcement.
If you would like these blog post to be emailed to you, go to http://www.businessgrowthexperience.com and download the report. “Six Questions Your Prospects Want Answered Before They Buy.” Each time a new blog is written you will get an email letting you know.

To your results,

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
ron@businessgrowthexperience.com

Are You Authentic?

I was watching what people post on Facebook and Google+. I noticed some of the people I know are different people in person then they are in the social media.

This got me thinking about what people want when they are looking for a product or service.

I think we have two types of problems:

1. We are learning not to trust marketers because they know the right words but many times cannot deliver.
2. Marketers are teaching us to ignore their messages.

Many times I have purchased a product or service because I felt the marketing message resonated with me. When I received the product, it fell far short or what I was expected.  The marketers used all the right words but the product did not deliver. I am not suggesting the product is bad, maybe it was just marketed to the wrong people or it solved the wrong problem. Maybe the marketing department did not communicate with the product developers.

I have read several reports that suggested we see from 1500 up to 10,000 marketing messages daily (TV, radio, internet, text messages, ads on free software, etc.) I see so many I stopped paying attention to them. I don’t think I am alone in ignoring these messages.

So what do people want these days? I think they want you to be authentic in your message. Say what you mean and mean what you say. I think they want you to be consistent in your message. I think they want you be straight with them. We often underestimate our buying audience. They are smart. They know what they want. They just want you to tell them how your product or service will help them. They are weary, distrustful and jaded.

Keep your message simple. Keep it truthful. Keep it authentic – just be real.

Need some high quality marketing strategies and tactic. Check out http://www.aboutbusinesssuccess.com.

Sincerely,

Ron Finklestein
330-990-0788
ron@businessgrowthexperience.com

The key to success is……

I received this email from Larry Crane. Though I have his release program, I love the story in this email so much I am sharing it (including his links). I have the release program and I use the release program, I leave it to you to decide if this program is for you.

Here goes…

Once upon a time, in a place that could have been any place, in a time that could
have been anytime, there was a beautiful house with a beautiful garden
surrounded by a rock wall.

One day the woman of the house saw three old men with long beards sitting on the
rock wall around her garden.

The women went outside and said to the old men:

“I don’t think I know you, but perhaps you are hungry. Please come into my home and I will prepare some food for you.”

To which one of the old men asked:  “Is the man of the house home?”

“No, not yet” she answered, “he has gone into the town market, but he’ll
be back soon.”

“Then we cannot come in” replied one of the elderly man.

Later in the day when her husband arrived home, the women of the house told him what
had happened.

The husband replied, “Well, tell them that since I am now home they can all
come in for something to eat. I have brought fresh loafs and fruit from the
market.”

So the woman went outside and again invited all three elderly gentlemen into her
house for something to eat.

“That is very welcoming of you, but the three of us cannot come in all at once”
replied one of the elderly gentlemen.

“Why not?” asked the women.

In that moment, one of the old men pointed toward the other two and said,
“His name is Wealth, his name is Success. My name is Love. Go inside and
ask your husband which one of us three you would like to invite in.”

Rather confused, the women went back into her house and recounted the situation to her
husband.

The husband upon hearing of the story got very excited and said, “Marvelous!
Since that is the case, let’s invite Wealth in so he can fill our house with
abundance.”

The wife did not altogether agree. “Why don’t we invite Success in? We could
do with more success trading at the market.”

The couple’s young daughter who was listening in on the conversation from another
room, rushed in and pulled at her mother’s apron pleading with her mother and
her father, saying, “Please, please, invite Love in. Then our home and my
lonely heart will be filled with Love.”

After a moment of silence the father said, “You’re right. Let’s listen to our
daughter. Go and invite Love in to be our guest.”

So, the women went outside once again and asked, “Which one of you is Love? We
wish for the one of you called Love to be our guest.”

Love stood up and started to walk up the brick path toward the women and the house.

And then…

The other two elderly men also got up and started walking up the brick path toward
the women and the house.

Surprised by all three men coming toward her the women of the house said, “I don’t
understand, you said all three of you couldn’t come in and I so I only invited
Love in. Why are you other two also now coming in?”

All three elderly men responded in unison, “If you had invited in Wealth or
Success the other two of us would have stayed behind. But you have chosen to
invite Love in, and wherever Love goes, Wealth and Success will ALWAYS
follow.”

Neat little story, huh?

And the moral of the story, as I’m sure you have already grasped, is this:

LOVE IS THE SECRET TO RECEIVING ALL THE WEALTH & SUCCESS YOU ARE LOOKING FOR.

LOVE IS THE SOLUTION TO EVERY PROBLEM.

The more you fill your life with Love – the easier life gets.

Are you ready to invite Love into your life (so Wealth & Success follow)?

Click here if you are.

Love,
Larry Crane
p.s. I totally agree with this and I am not getting any money to promote this product. I like the story, I agree with the story.

May your life (and mine) be filled with Love, Wealth, Success.

Ron Finklestein
Http://www.businessgrowthexperience.com
330-990-0788
ron @ businessgrowthexperience . com

I received this in an email from Jason Orman. It was the boost I needed today and I wanted to share with others who may need some moral support and encouragement.

**************************
Blueprint for Achievement
**************************

===> BELIEVE while others are doubting
===> PLAN while others are playing
===> STUDY while others are sleeping
===> DECIDE while others are delaying
===> PREPARE while others are daydreaming
===> BEGIN while others are procrastinating
===> WORK while others are wishing
===> LISTEN while others are talking
===> SMILE while others are frowning
===> PRESIST while others are quitting

– William Arthur Ward

Thanks Jason
Ron Finklestein
Consultative Business Coach