techniques Archives - Page 7 of 16

Wolves & Monthly Meetings

October 14, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

This afternoon is our 4 hour monthly management meeting (curious about what we talk about? It’s all here). Though none of us technically have ‘time’ for this meeting, it is imperative that we make time. It is our time to look back at the month to see what worked, what didn’t work and determine what our course is for the upcoming month. If you are self employed, have you taken your company’s pulse this month? Have you looked at how you did in the last month? Do you have an action plan for exactly what you need to do in the upcoming month to measurably move your business towards its ultimate goal? If you haven’t, I challenge you to find some quiet time and do just that.

In other news, did you know that Bramble Berry donates 5% of our total (gross) sales to non-profit groups?

We’ve done this for the last 12 years and have continued to do so, even during these difficult economic times. This month, we financially supported Conservation Northwest, a Pacific Northwest organization that helps to keep the wild … wild. In addition to donating financially to non-profits, we also donate time. I sit on the board of this organization. We have our Annual Planning Retreat this weekend where we’ll be working on the five year strategy for the organization. Between today’s 4 hour Bramble Berry meeting and an entire weekend of planning for Conservation Northwest, my brain should be suitably limber for the upcoming month’s challenges.

My New Normal

October 4, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

I’m done. I’m saying ‘Sayonara’ to a bad habit that I picked up in November 2008. I’m going to quit saying, ‘When things return to normal.’ That sentence ends a million ways, ‘When things return to normal, we can start advertising in your magazine again. When things return to normal, I can finally buy you a functioning computer. When things return to normal, we can finally raise the price on our Otion Soap Bar Experiences. When things return to normal, I can finally start to look for a new warehouse.’ When, when, when … how about never, never, never.

I’m not one of those people that believes that as soon as I (complete this sentence: move to a new state, finish my degree, break up with my boyfriend, marry my dream guy, move out of my parent’s house, pay off my credit card debt, get my weight under control), my life will be better. I’ve always plowed ahead, telling myself ‘This is your life. This is your reality. Live it now. Don’t live in the future.’

So, why am I doing it with business? I think it’s because the drop in the stock market and consumer confidence in late 2008 was so mind blowing that I couldn’t comprehend that maybe, just maybe, everything really was changing that quickly. My puny comprehension couldn’t take in the scope of a new playing field. Instead, I just waited, along with the rest of the nation, until ‘the recession ended.’ Every panel I’ve listened to or spoke on this year had at least one speaker saying, “Well, when the recession ends, I’m going to…” or “I’m hearing that the market is improving so I’m just holding on until …”

We keep being told the recession is ending, that the housing market is stabilizing and that we’ll soon return to the halcyon days of 2005. That’s fine. You go ahead and wait for that but I’m done waiting. I’m going to act as though our fractured marketplace and our difficult economic climate is the new normal. I’m re-adjusting what I think ‘healthy’ profits look like and I’m going to get realistic and engaged in what the current economy has to offer. To hope, wish, and pray for anything else is just bad forecasting on my part and it does a disservice to my company, my staff and my customers.

What does that mean? It means that I’m going to get up earlier, stay up later and be hungrier than ever before for new market opportunities, for new customers and keep my eyes focused on the prize: building a company that lasts the ages, that is around for my grandchildren to inherit and love the entire process. And, it means that I’m not waiting around for the market to turn around to lay plans for my better future: I engaged the services of a commercial broker last week to look for new warehouse property for Bramble Berry and I’m forging ahead with our expansion plans into soap mold manufacturing. I’ve readjusted the tint on my rose-colored-glasses considerably but I’m still holding on to them because I know, eventually, someday, I might need them again.

Nellie Cashman Award Luncheon

September 16, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

Greetings from Seattle! I’m down here for the Nellie Cashman Awards Luncheon, meeting with the genius Melody from CraveParty and then getting interviewed by the ‘Chat with Women‘ radio show later today. It’s a jam packed day.

I’m honored to be a finalist for the Nellie Cashman Award. T he Nellie Cashman award recognizes and honors women business owners who have enhanced the status of women entrepreneurs through their vision, perseverance and fearless, relentless leadership in business and the community. There are five nominees (pictured above) and we’re already getting nervous for the speeches we need to give at the awards gala. Supposedly, there will be an audience of 350 people (eek!) and we each get 5 minutes to talk (double eek – that’s a long time!).

Right now, I’m waiting to meet with Melody from CraveParty. She is a phenomonal businesswoman; a definite force. I’m excited to hear what she’s been up to. Last time we met, we shared social media strategies and the importance of building supportive community for women owned businesses.

The Chat with Women radio show later today is for all five Nellie finalists. We’re going to be discussion the following questions:

1. Tell us about your company?

2. What was the reason you started your own business?

3. What is your secret to success?

4. What has been your biggest challenge and how did you solve it?

5. If a women from Women Business Owners called you and ask you what was your most important lesson – what would it be?

It’s going to be a lot of talking in one fast hour! And in case you’re wondering, there is no ‘secret’ to success. It’s a combo of luck, being in the right place at the right time, a great support network and loads of hard work. I have a big announcement to share with you later tonight and I can’t to get home and tell you about it.

Stick To Your Knitting

September 14, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

You’ve heard me harp on this subject before (here and here) but right now, it’s very near and dear to my heart as I prepare for the Bramble Berry Monthly Management Meeting – or what I like to call the “Did you do what you said you were going to do?’ meeting.

Since 2004, our Management team has met monthly to discuss the following:

Budget – How on target are we? Is there any corrective action we need to take?

Critcal Numbers – This varies for each member of the team. My critical numbers revolve around web traffic numbers (visitors, how long they stay on the site, what browser they are using). Erik (Otion store manager) has numbers around foot traffic and conversion rate for the retail store. Norm, the COO for Bramble Berry tracks labor per order and other logistics numbers. We review the numbers and discuss any corrective action that needs to be taken or celebrate good numbers.

Management Reports – What happened in the last month? Where are you stuck? This is where we give a brief update for each project we are working on.

Additional Issues – If there are any major issues (holiday staffing, acquisitions, warehouse reorginization discussions), this is when we do it rather than holding up individual reports.

Accountability – This takes place at the end of the meeting. We review our Quarterly Goals and discuss progress on them and we review our Monthly Goals. We have three answers we can give: Done, Progress Made or No Progress Made. An ‘NPM’ is super bad and we try really hard not to ever have these.

If you’re a small business, this is a great excercise to do with an Accountability Partner. Having another person – a real live living breathing smart adult – is an entirely extra level of accountability to just yourself. Just as you do better on a workout program when you have a buddy to do it with, having schedule monthly review sessions is integrals so you can see where you’ve been – and what steps you need to take to get where you want to.

Think of it like updating your map every single month. I consider our Monthly Accountabilty Meetings to be one of the integral reasons that Bramble Berry has successfully grown from a seat-of the-pants-start-up to an established, flourishing company.

PS – That adorable knitting needle mold can be found here.

First Things First

September 7, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

My Mastermind Group in Bellingham is reading the Steven Covey book, ‘First Things First.’ One of my book clubs read Covey’s ‘7 Habits’ book and this was the perfect follow up. The book is a classic for a reason – it’s got some great recommendations and advice for getting your life under control. This is a great book for me personally to read because I struggle with my schedule and getting everything done.

In the book, Covey discusses the concept of the Four Quadrants. He recommends trying to spend the bulk of your time in Quadrant II, or the ‘important, not urgent’ cateogry. Covey makes the case that many people spend all of their time putting out daily fires and never truly work on things that move them towards their ultimate life vision. Daily fires are (a) a waste of time and (b) leads to something he dubs ‘urgency addiction.’ This is when you literally become addicted to the adrenalin rush that happens when you solve an emergency. This happens more and more when you over promise, when you can’t say no, when you over schedule yourself or when yousimply haven’t taken the time to truly thing through your week and find yourself surprised when things come up. Curious if you’re addicted to urgency? You should get the Covey book to take his full quiz or there is a small one here that might give you a window into your answer.

When you live your life only in Quadrant 1 or 3, you never feel in control and never feel like you’re done with anything. But, if you plan your schedule around completing things that are truly important and not urgent, it can actually reduce the time you spend in other quadrants.

The key is that our daily tasks and priorities need to be consistent with our lifelong goals and vision. The way to do this by determining your vision for your life and following it up with good planning. Covey literally has you write down every single task that you need to do, rank them and then do them in order of importance. The main thing is to not get bogged down with the tiny details and instead, take a bird’s eye view of your entire week and plan your week around the things that really matter to you. Covey recommends taking 1 hour every week to literally plan your entire week out, rather than being reactive all week. In this system, you drive your schedule – your schedule shouldn’t drive you.

I’m experimenting with one of the Covey scheduler’s that is fully online – PlanPlusOnline and really liking it. But, I’m a go-go-gadget kind of gal so anything that is high tech, I’m prone to like. This is basically my simple notebook online and on steroids. The other gals in my Mastermind Group have used more of the weekly, paper based planner like you can find here. No matter which method you use, it is liberating to plan your life around your big ‘rocks’ (working out, time with family) rather than just trying to schedule task, after task, after task and never getting it all done.

When Success Comes Slowly

August 29, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

When Success is Slow, What Can You Do?
by Jack Canfield

Pop Quiz: Can success be sped up? Is there an antidote to slow outcomes despite arduous planning and actions taken? What’s the secret for seeing huge results right now?!

I get versions of these questions frequently from people who feel frustrated at sluggish progress in their success journey – despite all the know-how and principles they rigorously employ.

Let’s get one thing straight…

When we admire someone’s success, or even our own, we often focus on the end result and not so much on the effort (and time) that it took to get there. This can cultivate unrealistic expectations, especially the idea that overnight success can happen through careful strategy and an execution of sound advice.

The truth be told, success typically follows a series of little events and achievements that can seem to take an eternity, that include a few disappointments along the way, and that challenge everything about you to the core – your stamina, courage, integrity, and even your willingness to keep going.

If you focus on what’s not working, guess what: You’re likely coming from a place of aggravation as your mind wraps around all that is wrong.

You may even have negative thoughts like “I’m not good enough,” “It will never work,” or “Something must be wrong with me.”

What this mentally does is engender more of these counter-productive feelings. And given what we know about the Law of Attraction, you attract what you are feeling. So negative experiences, people, and results will beget more negative experience, people, and results. There’s not much success in that.

The key, then, is to focus on what IS working. To do so, I recommend two simple practices: journaling and meditation.

Maintaining a journal (I call it an Evidence Log, Results Journal, or Gratitude Journal) is a great way to steer your attention to the positive and continually renew your vision for yourself.

Start each day with reflections on what you are grateful for in your life (list them out!) and end each day with notes on what went right (again, write them down), however small they may seem.

Spend time each day in quiet contemplation, prayer or meditation.

Meditation can be powerful tool for arriving at solutions to problems and shifting your attitude so you can attract success sooner rather than later. The magic of meditation is its ability to essentially shut down the outer layer of your judgmental, highly-critical brain and allow your unconscious mind to take over. This is where you enter a deeper state of inner peace and joy, tapping into a higher level of creativity that will help usher in the results you want. (Don’t know how to meditate? Lots of books and materials are available to guide you this practice. It’s easier than you think. )

Let’s say you’re doing ALL these things, but you still aren’t happy with your results…

I’ll ask you then, are you taking real ACTION?

You may be taking the actions you are used to taking. But if you keep doing what you’ve already done, then you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten. It’s a matter of practicing some new behaviors. Shake things up a bit and see if you can take new actions or modify existing ones.

Remember the Rule of 5.

Every day do five specific things that take you toward your goal. Change up the five actions regularly and be open to feedback so you know when you’re off course.

Lastly, I want to remind you about patience.

It’s natural to underestimate how long a certain goal can take, especially a profound one. When I set a goal to become a millionaire the year was 1983. How long did it take? Eleven years. It took time for Chicken Soup for the Soul to hit the bestseller lists. You could say our tenure on the New York Times list was more than a decade in the making. That’s a lot of patience for someone who initially wanted overnight success.

So, yes, patience is a virtue. But keep at it, and in no time, you’ll be only one week, or one day away from your ultimate success.

Remember… be grateful, reflect on what IS working and continue to take ACTION!

Jack Canfield, America’s #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you’re ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Accountability Matters

August 19, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

My Mastermind Group has mini accountability groups within it (not sure what a Mastermind Group is? Article on that is here. Or curious about what an Accountability Group does? Article is here.). My goals are always pretty simple – flossing, working out, yoga, meditations daily – simple, clear and achievable. They’re always good goals to have and actions that I might not undertake if I didn’t have a weekly check in with people I like, respect and admire.

I’ve been researching the training program for running a marathon (no, I’m not ready to commit. I’m just looking) and one of the keys that keeps coming up in the training is that consistency is everything; the little daily tasks matter.

Jack Canfield says the first step towards keeping your accountabilities to others is to always, unfailingly, keep your commitments that you’ve made to yourself. If you’re one of those people that consistently breaks promises, arrives late to everything, always has an excuse about why you missed a deadline or disappointed someone, this advice is key. You have to start somewhere and keeping your promises that you’ve made to yourself is the first place to start.

If you’re in business for yourself, accountability starts with you. You can’t look at your employees and expect them to magically say “This is my fault and I will fix it” or “I said that I would do it and my word is my bond” if you’re not delivering on these principles yourself. Everything in an organization is top down. So, if you’re not conscientious with your words and actions, the team around you won’t be either.

In order to grow yourself personally and your company professional, it is imperative that you identify and get rid of lack of accountability within yourself and your corporation.

You do this with a simple 1, 2 plan.

1. Make and set goals yourself.

2. Keep them no matter what.

It is that simple. If you can’t keep your promises to yourself, how do you expect to keep them for your friends and family?

For more on improving personal accountability, the epitome on accountability is the QBQ! book by John Miller. Or consider starting your own Accountability Group for whatever goals you’d like to make. Start small, keep your commitments to yourself and start down the one path achieving astonishing results in business and at home.

After Lip Balm Clean Up…

August 14, 2009 Filed Under: Lip Products

Isn’t it a pain to clean the waxy mess after making lip balm?
Here’s the secret to cleaning those oily, waxy, messy containers.Gather up some of your old melt and poursoap scraps and melt them in the same container that contains your lip balm residue. Once it’s melted, swirl the hot soap around in the waxy container (try and touch all of the waxy spots). Why you ask? The soap absorbs the oils in the lip balm just like you had added them to your soap base. Once it’s all mixed together you can *dump out the soap and wash the container in HOT water.

*No, I don’t literally mean throw the soap away. You should know me a little better than that by now. I’m not one to waste soap (ever). Pour the soap in a mold and let it cool. It’s perfectly fine to use. It might not be the prettiest soap you’ve ever made but it’s still consumable. And all the extra oils will make the soap super luscious to use while inhibiting lather.

Frozen with Indecision

July 24, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

Yesterday, I spoke at the Women Business Owner’s monthly luncheon for a panel focused on driving a growth oriented business in a difficult economy. The Women Business Owner’s group meets at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle on the last Thursday of the month and exists to “propel resolute women entrepreneurs to embrace their fullest vision of success”

The panel primarily focused on the realities of doing business in an economy with sticky credit markets (banks aren’t lending without lots of hoop jumping), scared customers (people aren’t spending money because they’re worried about stability), and jumpy vendors (vendors are requesting pre-payment for orders when typically Net 90 would have sufficed).

Some really great advice came out of the panel discussion:

1. Run the numbers – Assuming you can find a bank to lend to you, don’t take money that you’re not 100% sure you can pay back. Funding losses through a credit line has never been wise and it’s especially unfortunate in our current economy.

2. Keep an eye on the Cost of Goods Sold – Watch your margins. Don’t sell for a loss. You’re not Wal-Mart and can’t afford to have loss leaders.

3. Marketing matters – Ignore social media at your peril. Reach out to customers any and every way that they will have you.

4. Don’t cut across the board – Foolish companies cut across the board. Really foolish companies cut where their customers notice. Be strategic with your cuts thinking 2 to 4 years ahead of time.

5. No one is going to save you – If you’re waiting for your white horse & handsome prince to come in and look at your books, tell you what to do and hold your hand through the whole business process, Dede Henley told us, ‘Don’t hold your breath. He’s not coming.’ Take charge of your destiny. Learn how to run your company. Do the stuff you don’t want to do. Find a mentor to guide you through the rest.

6. Action Matters – My strong belief and the message I tried to convey is that action – any action – is better than no action. Do not look out into the world at large and fret about things that you cannot control (the economy, peak oil, rising sea levels etc…). Focus on the things you can control in your sphere of influence.

You can take charge of your destiny by creating a small business that you build one customer at a time. You can take charge of your quality of life by committing to a fitness routine. You can take charge of the depth of your relationships by committing to authenticity and deep connection with your family and friends. You can take charge of how you react to outwardly disappointing circumstances.

If you want to have a great business in two years, what steps do you need to start taking right now to create a stable and predictable sales cycle? Do you have your Big Hairy Audacious Goal (a la Jim Collins)? Have you broken it down? What are you doing right now, today, to make sure that you’re successful and rising above the rest in the future. Don’t be frozen with indecision. Take small baby steps until you reach your first workable goal. Then, just like a mountain climber going from camp to camp, start putting one foot in front of the other until your next goal is achieved. You can do it. The secret to success isn’t a secret at all – it’s try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try again. And then, try some more.

Don’t be a time manager, be a priority manager. Cut your major goals into bite-sized pieces. Each small priority or requirement on the way to ultimate goal become a mini goal in itself.

–Denis Waitley

I’ve posted many blogs on setting and achieving goals. You can review them all here.

Starbucks & My (new) Clover Obsession

June 29, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

I got to take a behind-the-scenes tour at Starbucks Headquarters with their Vice President in charge of e-commerce. That’s us in front of the original Starbucks sign. How cool is that?

I learned some very practical sales application practices for Bramble Berry but what I was most excited about was Starbucks emphasis on communication, internal brand messaging and the atmosphere of quiet collaboration.

Every meeting at Starbucks starts with a coffee tasting. It’s a way of bringing everyone together, grounding everyone and educating team members about product lines.

Starbucks also had their values and mission visible, everywhere. It was inspiring to see how well they’ve integrated their values into their practices – their product design, their marketing messaging and their on-site amenities. Seeing how well they publicized their values inside their company gave me some ideas on how we can integrate our values better into Bramble Berry’s daily routine.

I also got the scoop about some of the uber cool, limited edition, small batch coffees coming to Starbucks in the next few quarters and they sound delicious. By far my favorite part was the Clover. It is basically the next big thing for the coffee connoisseur. There are a handful of the Clover machines in Seattle for you to try. It’s a single-cup brew cofee machine that brews limited edition, rare coffee, one cup at a time. It is so specialized that there’s a Clover certification at Starbucks, above and beyond regular barista training. To learn more about the Clover or find a location near you that’s brewing with the Clover, click here. I can’t wait to try my next cup of Clover-brewed coffee. It was so good that I didn’t have any urge for cream or sugar – just the straight coffee. If you get a chance, try it. As for me, I’m already angling for another visit so I can get some more of that delicious Clover-brewed coffee.

Simple is Good. And, it Works.

June 22, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

A very wise friend of mine (Ms. Erin Baker from Baker’s Breakfast Cookies) recently shared one of her secrets to keeping on track and on target with goals.

A notebook and a list.

It’s that simple. Ms. Erin plans out her day every evening before leaving the office. She estimates how much time it will take to get something done fills out her day, via the notebook and the list.

She says that if she can’t get it done, it doesn’t go on the list. And then, she stays focused, going down the list and checking things off, not getting distracted. If it wasn’t important enough to get on the list to start with, it doesn’t need to be

done – not that day at least.

I’ve tried various productivity methods (‘4 Hour WorkWeek‘ and ‘Getting Things Done‘) and they haven’t quite worked for me. They don’t have quite enough flexability for my zany, madcap work flow.

But, I do need something to keep me in line or else the ‘zany’ takes over and nothing productive really gets done.

The list is working for me. I’m on my 2nd Chronicle Books Hammerpress Notebook (love it!), try to use special pens (pink, bright green, fun colors!) and derive immense satisfaction when I cross something off the list. The concept doesn’t have a book to explain it and there’s no daily blog to explore it. But, simple is good. And, it works.

Lynda Applegate on Thriving

June 15, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

I recently attended the Women Presidents’ Organization annual conference where Lynda Applegate (professor at Harvard, author of numerous books) spoke on how to not only survive but THRIVE in this economy. Her main premise was that small companies can really take advantage of this economy because of how nimble we are. I took the following notes during her presentation. They’re a bit choppy but all still excellent points for coming out of this recession strong.

In order to thrive in this economy, we need to execute on three things:

Stabilize – shore up cash flow, make sure processes are solid, reaffirm pricing models. One way that we’re doing this at Bramble Berry is to look over all of our sourcing to make sure that we’re getting the best pricing we can on everything. And, of course, we renewed our line of credit to make sure we have ready access to capital.

Strategize – focus on the essentials but don’t let opportunity pass you by, ruthlessly execute strategy. One way that we’re working on executing our strategy is by developing new lines within our existing company. Look for an announcement about a creative flanker line debuting mid July from the Bramble Berry family.

Innovate – try new things, be an industry leader (within reason. Don’t neglect your core business while innovating). We took this to heart by purchasing the Heavy Duty Mold line and are now manufacturing soap molds from a warehouse in Bellingham.

The key question for any small business right now is “How do I take control of my business and how do I stabilize?” This is no time at all to be reckless. There is tremendous uncertainty out there and none of it is really known. Cutting without strategy is not the answer. If all you do is cut fat, then muscle, then bone, you will not be prepared to come out of the crisis healthy. You don’t know what to cut unless you’ve thought ahead to say “Where are these opportunities going to be?” What if you lay off your staff only to realize that the economy is bright again but you can’t take advantage of those opportunities? As you think about the opportunities, as you stabilize, be sure you are strategizing at the same time and continue to build your business with precision and focus.

Innovation during this time is going to be critical. “You cannot fix the economy by throwing money at it. It is not a money mess. It is the failure of sustained innovation.”

New leaders often emerge during crisis: 18 of the 30 companies in the Down Jones Industrials were founded during an economic downturn.There are opportunities for those with cash still in this market. However, this can bring another issue up: buying on a whim.

Don’t buy anything just because it’s cheap! Do not ever buy businesses just because they are cheap. It’s like shopping at a discount store and there are discounted stuff on the table and you pick something out and go “I don’t know what I’m going to do with this but it’s SO cheap!” And then you never use it. Don’t buy things you don’t have a clear plan for.

Crisis helps focus business and drive efficiency. It is much easier to teach values of frugality, sacrifice and patience to employees, partners (and your children) during this time of turmoil.

By running your business better, you will start to build more recognition by the fact that you’re a survivor. People will start to flock to you.

If you sit here waiting on the sidelines, you’re going to miss the biggest opportunity of your time. Whether that opportunity is to really lead your company and make it stronger and build your brand around the fact that you’re a survivor, whether you’re seeing those adjacent opportunities, whether you’re cutting back so you can get strong At all times though, keep your eye on why you’re doing what you’re doing, on your strategy. What’s the medium term positioning that’s going to help me think through where I’m going and how do I play defense to make sure I’m strong in the back?

Getting Your First Line of Credit

June 1, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

Bramble Berry’s line of credit came due last week and I’ve been diligently working to get the paperwork together to renew our line of credit. This morning, the line of credit was renewed at terms I was pleased with.

Why a line of credit? You can use personal credit cards to finance your business but it gets expensive. Credit cards charge around 9% (for those with extraordinary credit!) to 22% interest rate. That’s an expensive way to finance your business. A line of credit from the bank will be anywhere between prime +.5% to prime + 2.5% (depending on your creditworthiness). Right now, you can get a line of credit for around 4.5% interest. No matter how you look at it, that’s less than your credit card.

Also, lines of credit come due once a year. Ideally, you should be utilizing your lines of credit actively and paying your line of credit down to $0 many times per year. However, it does not come ‘due’ monthly like a credit card, leaving your cash for when its convenient for you to pay the line. One caveat: a line of credit is not meant to finance large capital expenses (like a new vacuum forming machine or forklift, for example). Credit lines are meant to augment your normal cash flow situation.

For example, if you get a big order from a national chain and the national chain offers you ‘Net 90’ terms (meaning, they will pay you for your order 90 days after receiving it), you will need to find a way to order all the raw materials, make the product, ship the product and then wait the 90 days to get paid. Most small businesses do not have that kind of cash on hand.

A line of credit will help you through this cash flow crunch more cheaply than a traditional credit card.

What do you need to receive a line of credit? To get a line of credit, the bank wants to know that you have a business plan, assets to back up the line of credit and strong financials. You’ll want to go to the bank that you have your business (and/or personal) accounts with. Make an appointment with the Business Center or Business Banker to discuss a line of credit. Hopefully, this is not the first time they have seen you. Ideally, you have been dropping off care packages to them every quarter or at least every year to make sure the bankers know who you are.

To establish your first line of credit, you will need:

1. Three years of personal and business tax returns. If you don’t have three years of business returns, it’s okay. Bring three years of personal tax returns.

2. A personal asset sheet. This is a document that lists all of your assets (bank accounts, stock holdings, cars, properties) and all of your liabilities (mortgages, credit card debt, notes payable to friends or family). Even though Bramble Berry is established and has a strong financial history, the bank still asks for my personal asset list every year because ultimately, they want you to personally guarantee the money they’re lending your business.

3. Your business plan. It’s okay if you don’t have a business plan right now. You will need one to show to the bank. Don’t be surprised if your banker also wants to come see your studio in action. Our banker visits our warehouse routinely to confirm that the inventory we claim we have is here, to make sure that things are operating like I say they are and to keep our relationship up-to-date. If you don’t have a business plan, here’s the link to a simple series I designed on writing a business plan for you to get started right away.

4. A well rehearsed, confident answer on why you need a line of credit. Banks do not give lines of credit to be nice, because you think you deserve one or because you suspect you have a great plan. Just as luck favors the prepared, so do bankers.

I was turned down a few times from large, national banks before a local bank finally took a chance on me. So, if at first you don’t succeed, try again and keep going to smaller, more local banks until you find a bank that is excited about your business, your plans for the future and wants to work with you.

It’s up to you to have a business plan that makes sense and is bankable. No bank, no matter how local, will just give you money because they like you. You have to maintain a compelling reason for them to keep lending to you. That’s why lines of credit need to be renewed yearly – to ensure that the business rationale for lending to you remains the same. I make sure to keep that relationship working well by meeting with our bank quarterly to update them on our profit and loss, any new business plans and drop off bars of soap as a ‘thank you’ for their trust in me and the Bramble Berry family of companies.

As you grow, a line of credit is essential to your repertoire of tools for success. Start working on establishing one today.

Putting Fear in its Place

May 22, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

As you move forward on your journey from where you are to where you want to be, you are going to have to confront some of your fears. Fear is a just a natural part of living.

Whenever you start a new project, take on a new venture, or put yourself out there, there’s usually some fear involved. Unfortunately, most people let fear stop them from taking the necessary steps to achieve their dreams.

Confronting your fears is a very necessary step in achieving success.

There is simply no other way.

Fear can be a helpful emotion, as it tells you when you need to be extra careful, keenly aware, and cautious. Fear is not an emotion that is telling you to stop. In fact, it’s telling you just the opposite!

Acknowledging your feelings of fear helps you know when you are stepping out of your comfort zone. It points your awareness to areas where you could improve and grow.

Successful people also feel fear. Yet they don’t let it get in the way of anything they want to do–or have to do. They understand that fear is something to be acknowledged, experienced, and taken along for the ride. They have learned, as author Susan Jeffers suggests in her must-read book, to “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway®.”

Fear is more of a signal that we should stay alert and cautious. We can feel fear, but we can still move forward anyway.

Think of fear as a 2-year-old child who doesn’t want to go grocery shopping with you. Because you must buy groceries, you’ll just have to take the two year old with you. Fear is no different. In other words, acknowledge that fear exists but don’t let it keep you from doing important tasks.

Also realize that so many of our fears are self-created. We might frighten ourselves by fantasizing negative outcomes to any activity we might peruse or experience. Luckily, because we are the ones doing the fantasizing, we are also the ones who can stop the fear and bring ourselves into a state of clarity and peace by facing the actual facts, rather than giving in to our imaginations.

If a fear is too great for you to overcome, try breaking it down into smaller challenges.

Try starting out by doing the parts of the project that don’t scare you so much. You need to give a speech in front of a large group? Try giving your speech in front of a small group of people who care for you. Work your way up until you are able to feel the fear but still move forward. As you do you will build your confidence and eventually you won’t feel fear surrounding those issues because you’ll have done them enough to count it as a skill.

As you move toward your goal, don’t attach yourself so much to the outcomes.

Keep moving toward your dream doing everything you can to create what you want, then let it go and see what shows up. Sometimes the universe will have a better idea in mind for you and present a better opportunity when you were expecting something completely different. Don’t let fear keep you from moving forward. Even if the horrible outcome that you imagined happens, the universe will always provide for you another way to succeed. So be on the look out!

Trust that no matter what occurs, you are smart enough and strong enough to keep looking for, and attracting, opportunities.

If you are willing to try new experiences in spite of your fears, then more new experiences will present themselves for you to try. And the more you try, the more you are likely to succeed!