Written for EO by Sarah Mueller, CoverWallet Are you the type of person who wants to get out of your 9-to-5 job and finally realize the dream of being your own boss? Starting and growing a business is an exciting endeavor. But it’s also a huge responsibility, considering all of the factors that go into keeping a business afloat. Smart business owners protect their organization against unexpected incidents that can drain your finances. That’s where business insurance comes in. Business insurance helps you protect your financial, intellectual and physical assets, from a loss in case of problems including property damage, theft, loss of income or employee injuries and illnesses. With so many insurance policies available today, choosing the right business insurance can be confusing and overwhelming, and making a mistake in your choice could lead to financial losses due to claims. Don’t Fall In to These Business Insurance TrapsBefore you make any decisions about the business insurance that’s right for your organization, check out these five common business insurance misconceptions to avoid: 1. “It’s good to be over-insured.” Too much of a good thing can be bad for you, even when it comes to business insurance. Yes, you want comprehensive coverage, but you’re just wasting time and money if you buy policies that your business doesn’t need. Seek professional guidance to help you better understand what insurance products you need for your operations. Create a list for risk assessment and to help you identify the type of coverage that meets the requirements. Always ask questions if things are not clear to you. 2. “I have an LLC so General Liability insurance is not needed.” You may think that your limited liability company (LLC) is covered against all liabilities. Wrong! You still need protection against claims, which is where General Liability insurance comes into play. Otherwise, you may be asked to shell out money for medical expenses in case there are claims for things like third-party injuries that take place within a business. 3. “Having homeowner insurance covers home-based business.” Are you planning to set up operations in your home? If this is the case, you should look into buying a policy that is dedicated to your business. As the name implies, homeowner’s insurance protects you against financial losses from claims related to your home, but it does not protect your business. There are many different kinds of business insurance to choose from. Consider buying General Liability insurance. You can bundle Commercial Property and General Liability insurance policies into one called a Business Owner’s Policy. 4. “I don’t need to make changes to insurance once I buy it.” There’s no point in having coverage if it doesn’t have the right coverage in place. Keep in mind that the needs of your business change and, as your company grows, it’s crucial to revisit your insurance coverage regularly to make sure it covers exactly what you need. To make it easier for you, take note of significant changes in your business and consult your insurance agent to see if they affect your policy. 5. “Workers’ compensation coverage is not necessary.” If you don’t employ people in your business, you don’t need to buy Workers’ Compensation coverage, right? Wrong. This is a common insurance myth. In fact, most states require businesses to have Workers Compensation. If this is not the case in your area, consider getting this coverage to protect the business against financial losses due to medical expenses from injuries sustained at work. Sarah Mueller is a marketing manager at CoverWallet, a tech company that makes it easy for businesses to understand, buy and manage insurance—online and in minutes. The post Protect Your Growing Organization with Business Insurance appeared first on Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. via Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization http://bit.ly/2D7S9tG
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Written by Mark Moses, founding partner of CEO Coaching International and the author of Make Big Happen. A version of this article originally appeared on Mark’s blog. Your numbers never lie.If your sales are falling short of the targets you’ve set, it’s going to be right there in black and white—and maybe even some red.
The reasons for those shortfalls, however, are often mired in gray areas among your people, your processes or your vision? It’s no wonder struggling CEOs have so much trouble identifying the source of issues. Better questions lead to real answers. If your sales are running short, begin by asking these seven questions to bring into focus your problems and potential solutions. Why do you think your sales are falling short of plan?“Why?” can be a very powerful question, as long as you don’t settle for the first answer. The 5 Whys technique pioneered by Toyota forces you to drill deeper into your issues until you’ve identified the root cause. For example:
Bingo. Turns out your sales problem isn’t a sales problem: It’s a staffing problem. Now fix it. What are the three or four specific and measurable activities that you are measuring every day, week, and month that drive your top line growth? Can you show me the report?It’s shocking how many blank stares I get from struggling CEOs when I ask these questions. That tells me the problem runs deeper than a lack of sales. The problem is a lack of vision. If you were clearer on where you wanted your company to go, you’d have the steps in place that will get you there. So go back to your Crystal Ball. It’s three years in the future, you’re standing in the middle of the biggest party your company’s ever had, and you’re celebrating. What are you celebrating? What is the big target you hit? Once you have that big vision locked in, write down the measurable, actionable steps you took that led to that result. Bring that list to your leadership team tomorrow and get cracking. How are you holding yourself and the sales team accountable for hitting the numbers?I like great big scoreboards posted in the office, where everyone on your team can see the company’s progress. That kind of visibility keeps everyone accountable and focused. But you, the CEO, need to be held accountable, too. Check in regularly with trusted members of your leadership team, mentors and your coach to make sure you’re acing the key tasks only a CEO can manage. On a scale of 1 to 10, how effective do you think your sales leader is?Why do you rate him or her at that level? What do you think it would take to make that person rate as a 9-plus? Do you think this person is one of the best in the country in that role? What would it take for them to be the best in the country in that role? 7? 8? Can you coach this person up? 6 or lower? Why is this person still working for you? Top companies hire top talent. They don’t fret about paying for a top salary. They identify the best people in the business and make the proverbial “offer you can’t refuse. Is your sales team properly trained and equipped. Do they understand your sales goals? Have they adopted them?Forget all those emails and bulletin boards. There’s only one surefire way to make sure your staff is working toward achieving your goals for the company, and that’s with an annual planning session. And no, you can’t run this session on your own. Bring in an outside facilitator like a CEO coach to run the session. Doing so sends an important message: you, as CEO, are doing your part to right the ship and set sail for BIG. If you participate rather than facilitate, chances are good that your staff will be more open with their feedback, and much more receptive to the plans you put in place. Is your sales compensation plan 100% aligned with the sales results you are trying to achieve?To quote my good buddy and colleague Chris Larkins, “Your salespeople are going to do exactly what you compensate them to do.” A one-size-fits all sales comp system allows your sales people to follow the path of least resistance to their commissions. Make sure your sales comp is focused on your goals for the company, not your sales team’s desire to get paid. Consider a 50/50 salary and commission structure. Incentivize new sales that boost your earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) and broaden your customer pool over small repeat sales to existing customers. Who are your best customers and how are you taking care of them?Five-star customer service, including speedy product delivery and billing, are the important day-to-day considerations. But the customers who can make or break your business aren’t just customers--they are key relationships that the CEO has to own. When was the last time you took your big buyers out for dinner, or offered some marquee sports tickets? Strengthening those bonds strengthens your business, and can lead to new opportunities, new connections, new products and new markets. As for your smaller customers, what percentage of their business do they do with you? Can you bill in advance annually or create a loyalty program to get those sales up? If you ask these tough questions, you’re going to arrive at solid answers. Some fixes might be as simple as streamlining your billing process. Others will be hard, like replacing popular but underperforming sales people. But if you ignore the conclusions that these seven questions lead you to, you’re just headed for another round of sagging sales, more questions and more trouble. Mark is an EO Orange County member. His firm coaches more than 160 of the world’s top high-growth entrepreneurs and CEOs from 20 countries. Mark has won Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award and the Blue Chip Enterprise award for overcoming adversity. Mark Moses has been an EO member since 1995. Check out why successful enterpreneurs like Mark have chosen to join EO.
The post 7 Questions to Ask When Your Sales Are Falling Short of Goal appeared first on Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. via Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization http://bit.ly/2HMYhNL Student Entrepreneur With a Passion for Small Business Looks Back on His EO GSEA Experience2/1/2019 Dave Calnan participated in 2018 EO Global Student Entrepreneur Award (GSEA) Global Finals in Toronto, Canada. His company, SourceAcademy, partners with talented students who freelance to create affordable websites for small businesses. The innovative organization offers a clear win-win situation: Students get real-life professional experience while businesses get a creative and affordable service. Today, Dave Calnan (pictured at left) is home in Cork, Ireland, working hard to continue growing and managing his business. We recently caught up with him to ask him to reflect on his experiences at EO GSEA. Describe your journey to EO GSEA Global Finals.My friend Marie was the Irish finalist at EO GSEA 2017 in Frankfurt, Germany. She asked me to come as her guest, and I had an incredible and inspirational few days surrounded by these student entrepreneurs and EO members. I told myself (and the incoming GSEA chair) that I was going to be back next year, as a national finalist. What was it like meeting other student entrepreneurs from around the world at the Global Finals?It was unreal. I’m a people-person, so I loved getting to know this diverse group of people from all over the world—learning how things are different and similar where they’re from. I learned a lot about different cultures, as well as their businesses and specific industry insights which have been extremely helpful. How does EO GSEA compare with other business competitions you’ve taken part in?What I really like about EO GSEA is that it feels like it’s 70% about the entrepreneur and 30% about the business. All of us are more than just what we’re doing at the moment, and taking that into account is all too rare. I appreciate EO doing that! How did GSEA change you as a person? As an entrepreneur? As a world citizen?Well, after EO GSEA 2017, I realized how little I knew of the world after meeting people from a few countries I hadn’t heard of and many more I couldn’t point to on a map. So, I learned all the countries in the world before my own GSEA so I would be a little less ignorant! I made an effort to get to know as many people as I possibly could while I was there. It’s such a unique, talented, inspiring group of people that I am shocked and honored I am a part of. I wrote a blog post a week or so before my GSEA about impostor syndrome. I had no idea how I was getting to compete on the same stage as all these incredibly talented people from all over the world. I was nervous. Talking to other competitors helped me realize that many of them had similar feelings. It was reassuring to know I wasn’t the only one faking it until I one day make it! Taking part in the competition also cemented for me that I was going to continue down the entrepreneurial route after university rather than a traditional corporate career. Tell us where you and your business are today.SourceAcademy is still going. Making websites was never the end-game, but rather a way to work with businesses, get to know their pain points and be in a position to make broadly applicable solutions for their problems. What’s happened quicker than I expected is realizing how much administration small businesses deal with. In the last few months, I’ve launched a new platform called Be Freer, which automates admin for small businesses. I’ve found the transition from being a student entrepreneur to a full-time (grown-up?) entrepreneur difficult. My first business at 15 started as a way to avoid studying for state exams, and that pattern continued over the next seven years! I still haven’t quite figured out the self-discipline part of it, but I’m getting there. There have been times of anxiety, watching my friends from college move away and start jobs they are loving and wondering if I made the right choice. But every time I get positive feedback from a client, it reminds me that I’m on the right path! I love small businesses. I love working with small businesses. My primary goal is to help small businesses run their businesses and make their lives even a little bit easier. If I can continue to solve interesting problems and work with interesting people I’ll be incredibly happy!
Have you stayed in touch with EO members or EO GSEA participants?I happened to have plans to travel for the summer after GSEA, so I spent every moment possible at GSEA getting to know people and asking if I could come visit! In the end, I met up with about 10 GSEA and EO people during travels from Dublin to Amsterdam, to Athens, to Cairo, to Tel Aviv, to Bahrain, to Colombo, and then Perth! Catching up with each one of them was the highlight of my summer, as they were able to give me local insight into their city and deliver the “real experience.” One of my judges from the semi-final round invited me to his house in the Netherlands during my travels (thank you Eduard!) and Dave Stein from EO Brooklyn gave me the best recommendations for what to do in New York. I text back and forth with EO Ireland member Stephen Shortt [pictured at right] almost daily (sorry, Stephen!). He has helped me out a lot personally and professionally. Those are just a few of the EO members I got to know over the few days in Toronto but there are too many to mention I’ve chatted with since! It’s a goal of mine to become an EO member. I have a bit of growth ahead of me to get there, but I’ll apply to EO Accelerator and then EO itself—keep an eye out! Student entrepreneurs interested in applying to EO GSEA can learn more at gsea.org. If you’re an entrepreneur interested in joining EO, learn more at eonetwork.org. The post Student Entrepreneur With a Passion for Small Business Looks Back on His EO GSEA Experience appeared first on Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization. via Octane Blog – The official blog of the Entrepreneurs' Organization http://bit.ly/2D0DLDF |
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November 2020
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