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Jun 21
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Charity Or Capitalism – What Drives Your Business?

By Business Coaching Entrepreneur Motivation Strategy No Comments

Empathy is a beautiful thing. It shows compassion, understanding and often presents itself in the form of charity.

Giving back to others, whether they come from a difficult background or struggle to afford certain things, is inspiringly profound and I’m fortunate to have so many clients that are always seeking to act in charitable ways.

But, at the end of the day, running a business based on capitalism means that giving out freebies can be problematic. Keeping an eye on the losses, the leeches and missed opportunities is essential to the growth and success of your business.

That being said, I believe that it’s important to determine whether you’re in it for profit or for charity.

Are You In It For Profit Or To Give Back? 

I tend to find that a large portion of my clients land up in a position where they’re guilty of providing services and doing work that they know they’re losing money on, or they end up keeping staff that they shouldn’t (those that are too slow, unproductive, etc.)

So a question that I ask many of them is, “are you a business or a charity?”

If you’re a charity, that’s great. I recommend going ahead and starting a non-profit organisation and making the world a much better place.

However, from a capitalist-based perspective, if you really want to do charitable work, then it’s often better to make a lot of money and then spend a portion of it on giving back, or even starting a large business that affords you the time and freedom to commit to charitable work.

As a business coach, it’s only right to remind you that running a business, which is aimed at bringing in profits for the shareholders, and trying to do charity at the same time is not a very smart move.

If you really want to commit to doing charity in some form, then perhaps telling your staff that 5-10% of the work that will be done is going to be pro bono, so it’s measurable and accounted for.

At the end of the day, I want my clients to be as profitable as possible.

Don’t get me wrong, I love that there’s so much empathy within my client-base and I respect that they want to do good in the world, but they aren’t doing themselves, their shareholders, or their staff any favours by wasting time, effort and resources.

The difficulty lies in looking carefully at your clients and staff – identifying who the charity cases are and making the decision to either keep them or let them go.

If you’re losing money, then it’s probably time to summon up the courage and do the inevitable. Getting rid of the charity cases will improve efficiency, free up time for new clients and allow for faster growth.

You need to be clear with yourself around where the charity starts and where it ends.

This might end up pissing you off, but at the end of the day, you have smarter choices and options to choose from if giving back is a priority of yours.

Remember that starting and operating a business isn’t easy and in order for you to keep on a trajectory of growth, certain sacrifices are absolutely necessary. Keeping a client that can’t pay at times or that needs you to bail them out of sticky situations will bring about more harm than good; the same goes for an employee that doesn’t quite grasp the role that they have in your business or that ends up slowing down the momentum with backlogs.

Decide what you want in the years to come.

I understand the ethical dilemma that you might be facing, but if you open up your perspective and look at it from Spock’s point of view: “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

This simply means that you should focus on driving your business to greater heights and then affect change at a larger scale, rather than catering to the handful of clients or employees that act as charity cases and slow down your business.

Or don’t.

The choice is entirely up to you. I’m not saying that it’s a smart choice, but you decide.

And if you are acting as a charity, willing to give away money without any return, then count me in; I’ll gladly be a business coach that does nothing and still gets paid.

I’m kidding.

It will drive me insane.

I’ll end up sharing more strategies, tactics and advice with you; I’ll seek any opportunity to help you become the success that you dream to be; I’ll give you the time, effort and energy that you require as a business owner and leader to become the very best.

It goes against my very fabric to do nothing and walk away with pockets full.

I’ll prove it to you:

+2783 253 3339

brent@spillly.com

Jun 15
Love0

Why Foresight and Forecasting Is Important For Your Business

By Business Coaching Leadership Strategy No Comments

Being an oracle or seer isn’t exactly on your priority list as a business owner. I get that. But using experience, perspective and the almost limitless supply of online information to predict, estimate and foresee the disruptions that end up shaping our world is absolutely essential to any successful entrepreneur.

Indeed, there aren’t any crystal balls or tarot cards that can predict the likes of Facebook, Google or Amazon rolling in and dominating their respective industries, but one thing is for certain: each of those successful companies had an element of foresight attached to them.

They were able to predict and understand that with the rapid growth in technology, there were new problems on the way. And that meant new solutions needed to be worked on before anybody else could realise the potential.

So why is business forecasting so effective and how do you start making it a part of your business?

Fortification Through Forecasting

 Being a business owner means that you have loads of responsibilities on your plate. The planning, effort and the hard work put in to maintain that business is already a struggle on its own, so finding new ways to keep it growing, improving and well-fortified will take up even more energy, time and dedication.

As a business coach and someone that’s all too familiar with the highs and lows of running a business, I know how difficult it can be to manage everything on that brimming plate of yours. But without seeking new avenues for growth and progressing your business to move ahead of your competition – you leave yourself susceptible to risk.

The less risk, the better. Right?

Although forecasting and prediction isn’t a cure-all for some of those risks, it certainly makes a huge difference if you’ve prepared yourself and your company to deal with the constant changes that are bound to come your way.

Ultimately, adapting to a mindsight of prediction will strengthen the fort that you create around your business. It forces you to plan ahead and formulate contingencies that will help strengthen your company – should some form of change occur.

This way, you’re always prepared for the inevitable and ensure that you are always moving towards the goal of finding new solutions before they’re needed.

3 Benefits That Come With Forecasting 

As you begin to consider an approach that makes effective use of forecasting, it would be wise to know some of the benefits that come with using it.

Firstly, it gives you the opportunity to formulate a more structured approach towards your business strategy. By using insights, trends and patterns to predict any new changes in the world (disasters, pandemics, new technologies/infrastructures, war), you can better prepare your business for any major changes and plan out how you’re going to deal with any problems that you might face.

Secondly, you’re able to estimate an increase or decrease in demand based on patterns and insights that you’ve gathered through historical data, or through predictive trends. This will allow you to plan ahead for an upcoming increase or decrease in sales; so you’re able to speed up or slow down production and employ or let go of staff to deal with changes in demand. The ability to be and remain dynamic is a powerful weapon.

And last, but certainly not least, with forecasting you’re able to allocate the necessary time and resources for emerging possibilities, rather than relying solely on guesswork and gambling. It allows for calculated risk-taking and prepares you to deal with the outcomes that could be either damaging or beneficial.

Research has also proven that businesses that prepare for the future outperform average ones by 200% higher growth and 33% higher profitability.

3 Ways To Approach Foresight 

Okay, so I can’t give you a crystal ball or a black mirror to use for scrying, but I can provide some tips that will help get you started with making effective and promising predictions.

Listed here are a few of the methods that can be used to get started with forecasting. Remember that not all forecasting is based on looking into the future for possible change, but gathering insights through any form of data that will ultimately come to affect the future of your business.

Use The News – the news acts as a great source of recurring trends and patterns that indicate changes in the environment, industrial landscape and technology.

By using the news to predict certain shifts in behaviour based on impending change, then you’re able to work on promising solutions or strategies when changes occur. Think about how companies like Apple saw the changes in technology with regard to music, bandwidth and connectivity, in turn creating the iPod, iPhone and MacBook; or Canon looking past analog film and exploring digital photography, giving us access to the amazing DSLR cameras of the day.

Look At Quantitative Data – with quantitative data, you look at existing data based on purchase statistics, historical shifts and current technology. You can use your company data to discover patterns and coincidences that help you mould new strategies, additions and solutions.

With this approach, you can look at trends and changes in population, culture, technology, the environment, etc. and make predictions to take action based on the data that you’ve collected over time.

Use Qualitative Data –  this type of data isn’t too focused on stats and figures, rather you gather opinions, knowledge and thoughts from your staff, leaders, customers and executives.

Using collected data from these sources could bring a lot of insight for your business; what changes could benefit the company, ideas for new services, suggestions to improve the customer experience, and even external predictions and thoughts into what might happen in the years to come. Listen carefully to outsiders and insiders to make better predictions.

Start Looking Ahead 

Being aware of the knowledge that history might hold, the information that the present keeps hidden and looking into where the future is heading will help you formulate new decisions to enhance and improve your business.

Historically, certain patterns and events end up repeating themselves; currently, there are new technologies creeping in and slowly changing the way that we do things; and while the future might be filled with ambiguity, the futurists, innovators and Elon Musks of our time all have a vision and idea about what the future might hold – so watch them carefully and prepare for the inevitable.

I don’t have a crystal ball, but if I did, it would show me that you and I are capable of doing great things together.

My foresight tells me that your business could make use of some new insights, changes and improvements that only a business coach like myself could offer.

So, take a glimpse into the future and see yourself working with me to make that business of yours remarkable, impactful and transformative.

Do it. Or Don’t. The choice is yours:

+2783 253 3339 + brent@spillly.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 31
Love0

Stop Playing In The Middle; Pick A Side, Dammit!

By Business Coaching Entrepreneur Strategy No Comments

A big part of building a concrete business strategy is in deciding the market that your company is going after, which can be difficult as every market is unique and all of them have certain dynamics that are to be considered when taking them on.

Every business also has a different approach as to what they are going after and within that playing field there’s always opposition to be considered. As a business owner, you want to find space where you’re not in direct competition with that opposition.

This is why I’ll often recommend to my clients that they should always consider and keep fully aware of the market that they are aiming for to adopt their product or service, as it’s not always a clear-cut path.

“Where Do You Play And How Do You Win?” 

As you’re going through the process of finding the right market to deliver to, your awareness shifts to dynamics such as size of market; the geography of that market; the LSM and earning potential that comes with those potential clients; and whether you’re targeting a large, mass audience or a very niche and particular audience.

Within every product or service, your market can often be divided into two categories that sit on either side of those dynamics mentioned. Bear in mind that there is always room for a middle-ground, but that’s the space that you want to avoid when picking a side.

I like to look at the two sides as the Rolls Royce and the Chappies sides of those industries; the Rolls Royce side refers to the most expensive, exclusive and niche markets, while the Chappies bubble-gum side refers to the cheaper, high-volume and open markets.

Essentially, your goal is to pick a side and work your product or service and customer relations into one of those sides, while keeping away from the middle.

It’s better to pick either the low-volume, high-margin route or to take the high-volume, low-margin route, as the markets tend to be split and function better in one of those two areas.

In South Africa, when you take a look at the retail and food industry, we have Woolworths that takes on the Rolls Royce model, with careful attention paid to high-quality import products that opt for a smaller target market that are willing to pay higher prices. They dominate that area of the market, with a greater experience to offer their customers and a more comfortable environment; which ends up being a bit more costly.

In comparison, you have the Shoprite brand that adopts the Chappies model, where there’s access to a much wider market, but with much lower pricing on their high-volume products which cater to people with lower incomes. The experience isn’t as great and less attention is paid to making the customer feel far more comfortable and at home, but the pricing is far cheaper and there are far more customers at the end of the day.

These two models work very well for the businesses in these spaces and when you find some companies that try to sit in the middle, like Pick ‘n Pay, there’s always a challenge to deal with as the bottom takes up most of the volume-based market, while the top takes the niche and exclusive market; while they struggle from the middle to cater to both ends, taking fire from both sides.

Pick A Side And Stick With It

 When picking and deciding on your target market, be very deliberate as to whether you want to find and attract Rolls Royce (high-touch, boutique, exclusive; better experience and enjoyment) customers or Chappies bubble-gum (lower priced, high-volume, wide audience) customers.

You will do your business the world of good if you choose to focus on a particular market and ensure that you deliver the best possible product or service that you can. Don’t fall into the trap of chasing shiny pennies that distract you from picking one side.

Try to avoid the middle and keep away from attempting to make both sides of the spectrum happy, as it doesn’t always work out for your business in the best way. You’ll be left under a load of strain as you compete with both the cheaper and expensive model, rather than dealing with one competitive force by choosing one of either side.

Take the time to consider the pros and cons that each of those markets present you with, weigh it out and determine which area suits your product or service best.

Being a fence-sitter has never really worked out too well for anybody, ask Humpty Dumpty.

And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, picking a side and being firm in that decision will help your business blossom in the best way possible.

The same applies when choosing a business coach to assist you in taking ground-breaking leaps to achieving the best your business has to offer; it’s either you want me in your court, or you don’t – there’s no time for indecision from the middle.

So, let me know whether or not you’d like to have a meeting, a chat, a face-to-face or a much-needed wake-up slap:

+2783 253 3339

brent@spillly.com

I’m kidding about the slap, but I mean, if that’s your thing… I know people…

May 24
Love0

Sacrifice Versus Stimulus

By Business Coaching Consulting Innovation Strategy No Comments

I’ve come to find that within a growing number of industries, more specifically in  tech-dominated spaces, that more and more entrepreneurs are becoming reliant on the idea of finding investors, or some form of financial backing before taking their solution to market and starting a business.

This notion that there needs to be funding or some form of stimulus before making the decision to create a business is somewhat ridiculous, in my opinion.

I don’t know if hard-work, sacrifice and the due diligence required to prove oneself in the market isn’t as important anymore; or if I’m just outdated.

Doing Sales Versus Hunting Down Investors

 I’m finding it quite interesting that more and more potential entrepreneurs are avoiding taking a route to success through the sacrifice of time, effort and resources in order to get their company started and off the ground – instead they opt for some sort of external funding.

This sort of logic shows that it would be wiser to spend precious productivity on chasing down investment and financial support in search of someone to fund your dream business – when all of that drive and ambition could be spent on developing the product and sales strategy to achieve that goal through one’s own volition.

There’s a lot of conversation around the idea that starting a company without funding is far too difficult or strenuous to be achieved in this day and age, and that spending time on a sales deck to lure in an investor would be the right way to go about making this happen.

But very few start-ups need this type of external investment and I find it a bit lazy to avoid the more traditional route of sacrificing your own resources and pushing your hardest to achieve success on your own terms, without the need for that sort of intervention.

I’m not saying that investors are a bad thing, either, but when too much emphasis is placed on financial support, it can be somewhat problematic and hinder your growth as an entrepreneur.

If the time is taken to develop the product or service and some sort of financial sacrifice is made to put your solution out there, then it’s far more applaudable and attractive to potential investors that could provide funding further down the line.

By putting more ambition and drive into your product or service and showing that you believe in what you’re bringing to the world, you’re likely to achieve far more results.

Other than the achievement that comes with that desire to make the necessary sacrifices to start a great business, you’re granted far more autonomy and freedom in the decision-making processes and feel much more empowered at the end of the day.

As someone that has invested and provided financial backing to people and their dream businesses, I always consider certain criteria and would never blindly give away money without weighing out the attitude and character of the entrepreneur, first.

That being said, one of the biggest motivators that will attract me towards investing in a potential business owner is their ambition and the momentum they’re able to create in pushing their solution through sales, sacrifice and determination. There’s a certain level of reluctance I feel toward giving my money to someone that doesn’t show me that they have these qualities and don’t have enough belief in their solution to brave the storm themselves.

I suggest to anybody that wants to start a business and conquer the mountains that come with being an entrepreneur, to have enough belief in their product or service to first engage in the sales, marketing and make the sacrifices needed to brave that inevitable storm.

If your ambition is to be an entrepreneur, a successful business owner and believe that you have what it takes to take your solution to the market on your own terms, but require a bit of guidance and advice: as a successful business coach, I can help you with that.

Perhaps you’ve been putting in the effort and have a solution that you know is of real value to particular markets and industries, but can’t get past a certain point and might need some financial intervention: I can also help you with that.

It’s quite easy to grab my attention, as my phone is always fully charged and I’m constantly reloading my emails page, waiting in anticipation for a client just like you – so, let’s make something happen, soon: [small investment required]

+2783 253 3339

brent@spillly.com

 

May 04
Love0

Stop! Don’t Chase Those Sleek, Shiny Pennies.

By Business Coaching Strategy No Comments

In providing simple, effective and strategic frameworks for my clients, especially those that run small businesses, I always make sure to include the Five Ones.

“What’s that, 51s?”. No, my friend. Five (5) Ones (1s).

This strategy is easy to use and apply to any business that wants to grow and that doesn’t necessarily have a lot of products or services that they offer. These businesses generally do one thing, or one of several things and don’t offer too many solutions.

Places like agencies, content production companies, even an apple farmer – they all specialise in one thing.

But, Shiny Pennies Are So Shiny, Though.

 Making use of Clay Collins’ strategy of the 5 Ones, helps business owners give themselves, their business, their team and marketing a focused and clear path to take when putting out a product or service that they specialise in.

Most of the 1-15 man businesses don’t deal with a large variety of clients and don’t supply a huge selection of products, or services. So, it’s important to find ways to gather the energy and intent to identify and market the product or service that they offer, in order to squeeze the best out of it for their customer or client.

It sounds easy enough to start implementing, but I tend to find that numerous clients that I end up coaching will fall into a wicked trap – one that I like to call ‘the shiny penny’.

A shiny penny, simply put, is a distraction from the intended goal and purpose behind what the business provides its customer; put it this way, you have a direction, a destination that you’re heading towards and along the way you stumble upon a shiny penny. This shiny penny arrests your attention and takes it prisoner to the newness and potential that it offers.

You’re now distracted and your focus is on the penny, instead of the intended destination.

This tends to happen to business owners when they become enamoured by what seem like new, sexy and innovative ideas along the way, but that push them off-course the predetermined direction of their business.

Often justifying shiny pennies, business owners claim that “it’s complementary to my business and we can do it quite easily, just hire one more person,” without being aware of the fact that it’s a different service, or a different kind of business altogether and requires a different kind of client.

The 5 Ones is a framework to remain on the path, without being distracted by the silly need to chase all the shiny pennies that are out there.

So, What Are These 5 Ones?

They are simple enough to understand and digest, with enough room to re-evaluate and realign them when necessary. They follow each other and each one should be thought about and implemented one after the other, for better results.

  • Start with One Client Avatar or a perfect client that you want to be focusing your time and energy on that will embrace your solution, product or service; they are the ideal customer that you want to be focusing on for the next period of time. Answer the questions: which industry do they belong to and what are the problems in that industry that we can assist with?; what is their geographical location and what demographic are they a part of?; what product or service do they want from you and how much of it should we supply?; how much and how often would they spend money with you?; where could you advertise to gain maximum exposure and are they traditionally or digitally inclined?

 

Remember to apply the 1:9:90 rule and figure out where that perfect client sits in the bigger picture – who is the primary audience member? Are they just lurking in the 90% and are happy with finding new solutions without really looking too far?; or are they in the 9% that will spread your brand, products and services, because they understand its value and importance; and if they’re the 1% that can influence the masses, how do you make them happy and appreciate your offering enough to start a snowball effect?

 

  • The second One, is One Solution that’s considered unique and that you can deliver with ease. It should solve the perfect client’s problem through your primary product or signature service and should differentiate you from your competition and should be double-niched to make it as unique as possible. Your USP becomes extremely important in this phase, as you need to convince clients to buy from you and with immediate effect; outline what makes your offering important and the unique problem that you are solving for the client; create a list of why your offering is better than what the opposition offers and why the client will adopt it; make it clear how you’ll impress and intrigue clients and provide a promise to deliver.

 

You want one product to sell to this one target; you don’t want five products, you don’t want ten, you don’t want 15; you want ONE amazing and unforgettable product.

 

  • The third One, One Marketing Channel speaks to staying clear of the shiny pennies and too many responsibilities – pick one platform or channel that you can become an expert on and that you know your client spends time around. You need to make a decision and decide whether or not you’re a B2B or a B2C business and once you’ve decided who you’re selling to, you need to make the decision whether you want to go ‘direct’ or ‘indirect’. Direct is generally the simplest approach, because it allows the vendor to sell to the customer directly.

 

Some great examples of these marketing channels include: social media, public speaking, affiliate marketing, public relations and email marketing (to name a few).

 

  • The fourth One, One Conversion Method relates to the way that you take the interested party that sees you on the marketing channel to a sales funnel and provide the necessary conversation to convert and get them to spend money on you. You should start looking at how to take them off the marketing platform and turn them into a client or customer. Finding ways to transform them from interested to committed and to start buying from you. There’s a variety of conversion methods out there and some of them include: e-commerce, virtual or physical sales meetings, webinars and freemium models (offering free, but charged additional features, services and goods).

 

  • The fifth One, One Year is the period of time that you need to apply this strategy in order to start assessing and evaluating the level of success that this method is achieving. It’s recommended to take a firm direction for up to a year and make slight tweaks and changes in the strategy where it’s needed. Keep in mind the importance of the impact your strategy will face when coming into contact with the enemy and that adaptability is critical, when needed. Constantly revise and revisit the method to get the absolute best out of using it.

 

I will reiterate the fact that no strategy is completely bulletproof and will bring about the exact results you’re looking for; so in picking the 5 Ones, always measure and re-evaluate it. Make changes and realign it if it isn’t working for you in any particular way.

To further your understanding of this strategy and its implementation, I recommend:

One Person (Me);

One Coach (Me);

One Meeting (With Me);

One Amazing Business Owner (You);

One Contact Method (Phone, or Email – with, guess who? Me!).

You’ll find no better combo!

 

Phone: +2783 253 3339

Email: brent@spillly.com

And PLEASE, for the love of Coffee, don’t chase shiny pennies!

Apr 24
Love0

I Wrote The Wrong Bloody Book!

By Business Coaching Freelance Strategy No Comments

As an entrepreneur, freelancer, consultant or a professional in any field, for that matter – try and stray away from dipping your fingers into too many flavours and always be aware of the shiny pennies that might arrest your attention on your journey.

Take it from me, I’ve had to learn the hard way.

While it has certainly been a great journey in self-discovery and personal growth, I’ve found myself quite deep-down certain rabbit holes and it goes without saying that I have my regrets. (Now my fingers are sticky and my pockets sag with those heavy pennies.)

Take Caution When Delving Into Rabbit Holes 

In the previous business that I owned, I became known by friends, family, staff and the food manufacturing industry as “The Atchar King”, where I was renowned for my excellent product and the great service that my business provided in that industry.

At the time it was certainly convenient for my identity, as that level of credibility can take you and your business to great levels and leave lasting impressions of you.

And I’d be lying if I told you that being dubbed a king at something wasn’t pretty damn cool.

However, that doesn’t quite carry through to my current occupation and the business coaching that I provide to my clients today. It would be great if it did, but it instead takes away from the image and identity that I’m cultivating at this moment in time.

When I started coaching in 2012, I began gaining traction in the media, communications and technology spaces, slowly becoming known as the guy that provides great entrepreneurial advice and insight to business owners in those industries. I had just started building a name for myself, when I made the mistake of chasing a shiny penny.

For those who are unaware of the concept, a shiny penny is any form of distraction from the original destination that you’ve chosen to move towards. When your business is heading to a particular destination, shiny pennies often pop up along the way and realign your focus onto other ideas, concepts or projects that you might believe are beneficial to your company at the time, but end up affecting the resources and effort that should be spent on moving towards your intended goal.

So I found myself a shiny, new penny: the freelance space.

I Got Distracted With Writing The Wrong Book

It had interested me for quite some time that the freelance space was one that businesses could utilise to cut back on the expenses of having permanent staff and that particular roles could be outsourced whenever it was required – and so I went down a deep rabbit hole.

As an interesting and insightful piece of content, I landed up interviewing 64 agency owners around their use of freelancers so that I could better understand how well the strategy worked for them, what their frustrations were, whether certain things didn’t work and all of the pros and cons that come with this approach to running a business.

With all of this great information that I had accumulated, I came up with a report and it ended up gaining plenty of traction and interest – to the extent that I wrote a book about the freelance space and how to successfully run a freelance business.

It was a 2-year long project that I undertook, with a lot of time, money and effort spent on the process of writing and self-publishing it.

It didn’t end up being such a bad thing, as it was transformed into an engaging set of course material, where it was lectured and taught at a few tertiary institutions and I had even done some talks around it in a few different environments – but it ultimately took away from the identity I’ve been aiming to achieve.

People started referring to me as “the freelance coach”, which isn’t what I do, or advocate.

The shiny penny that I had picked up and took with me on my journey was becoming a part of my identity and started to define the clients that I would attract. Truth be told, this works wonders if that is the particular niche, or double-niche, that you want people to recognise you for, but it’s not what I wanted.

I don’t want to be known as “the freelance guy”, or “the freelance coach”; it’s not what I offer and it takes away from the core of my business, who I am and what I do.

It takes time to change the narrative around the identity that you’re given surrounding a product or service that you’ve offered or sold and I’m still working towards changing people’s views on what I actually provide to them as a business coach.

Rubbing Salt In My Wounds 

As if writing and publishing that book wasn’t enough of a reason to distract people from the service that I actually provide and what I yearned to be recognised for, I decided to share my Business Bikes And Breakfast Radical Accountability Program (BBBRAP) with the world.

It was still in-line with the direction I wanted to take in coaching and included a great passion of mine, but people started to attach that niche that I created as a label around what I do.

Taking a slightly different approach, I published a lot of what I did in BBBRAP as visual content on the different platforms that I was on and soon became known as “the guy that does bike events”, or that I “coach bikers.”

This was, again, something that I didn’t want to be exclusively known for and I’ve had to learn the hard way to avoid making mistakes like this.

Stopping to admire and pick up the shiny pennies that constantly draw you in becomes problematic when developing an identity or image that you’re trying to make stick in people’s minds.

So I implore you to be careful of the distractions that come your way and always be aware of quick-sinking rabbit holes, as well as the glimmering shiny pennies that might detract from your core business identity and main source of income.

Try and keep away from these types of distractions if they aren’t going to enhance the image, label or personality that you’re attempting to cultivate around your business, product or service.

Like I mentioned earlier – I’ve had to learn the hard way and find it quite difficult to redirect the narrative people have of me and what I provide as a business coach.

For some real business coaching, without the labels of ‘freelance’ or ‘biker coach’, then feel free to get into contact with me for advice, strategic planning, understanding the market and growing a powerful and profound business.

I can assist you with all of that and plenty more.

Don’t be under the assumption that I’m just a badass biker freelance wizard coach – I have so much to offer you and your business.

It’s easy to find me, chat to me and set up the meeting that will change your life and business for the better:

+2783 253 3339

brent@spillly.com

But, I mean, if you are interested in that book of mine or keen on biking and business – I’m still your guy!

Apr 24
Love0

The Strategy Paradox – Tactics Or Subterfuge

By Coaching Consulting Strategy No Comments

I always talk about the fact that the word ‘strategy’ is often one of the most abused, overused and misunderstood words in any entrepreneur’s vocabulary. Everyone assumes they’re being strategic, when in fact, they’re being tactical.

Many of the clients that I work with and coach often get the concept confused as a means to describe their objectives and goals – rather than a methodology that needs to be constantly adapted to help them achieve success in their market.

Let’s do some real unpacking and figure out exactly how strategy works and how it effectively applies to business.

Unpacking War – The Origins Of Strategy 

There are many ways to build a company strategy, as there are numerous strategies and methodologies out there, along with a wide selection of tools that support the use and abuse of a great one.

But it should be said that there exists no perfect strategy methodology and that a lot of dependence lies on the complexity of the person’s barriers; like the maturity of their business and how quickly and aggressively they want to build the business and maintain it.

The strategies used for entrepreneurs need to feed the entrepreneurial dream, versus a corporate dream and they should most certainly be differentiated.

In unpacking strategy and it’s roots, you’ll find that it was born out of war with the need to ensure victory over a common enemy. The ultimate price to pay was that of death; with all the many fatalities war has brought there needed to be a way of thinking that would reduce loss and increase the odds of victory.

This boils down to the need of defeating your opponent in the most effective way possible. As soon as there are competitors in the same space; you cannot co-exist and need to take some kind of action to achieve a long-term goal of success.

“No Plan Survives Contact With The Enemy.”

The German field marshal, Moltke the Elder, said that “No plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy’s main strength,” meaning that any strategy is always vulnerable and rarely goes without the need for adaptation to the ever-changing circumstances in war.

This extends to the use of any strategy in pretty much any arena – whether it’s boxing, business, or battle. No strategy is bulletproof and should always be used with the clear understanding that circumstances can change at any given moment, so adaptability is key.

In business, you might build a strategy (with a solid plan of action) that you take to market and as soon as you engage with the enemy – your competition, clients, the industry – your plan ends up being imperfect, leaving you with no choice, but to adjust that plan accordingly.

You should never be completely comfortable with your strategy and need to realign it at multiple stages; it needs to always be flexible enough to change or adapt.

I’ve never seen a person, whether it’s one of my clients or someone in a competitive environment, build a 12-month or even 3-year strategy, get to the end and achieve their goals without changing that strategy – a perfect strategy simply doesn’t exist.

One of the biggest stories that come to mind reaffirming this is the battle of Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, a battle also known as “the Sound and the Fury”. These formidable boxers prepared for months studying one another’s fighting techniques, strengths, weaknesses and abilities, each coming up with a strategy to win the battle – until that plan came into contact with the enemy.

During the 3rd round, both boxers were forced to shed away their strategies, as Tyson surprised the world by biting a sizable portion off of Holyfield’s ear. In no way could Holyfield have planned for such an insane turn of events, throwing his strategy straight out of the window. Even with Tyson having lost control of his temper, none of what had happened was planned for and changed the outcome for both parties involved.This example provides insight into the ever-changing nature of strategy and how to approach it going forward, rather than believing it to be a fixed solution.

With Strategy, “It Always Depends” 

The answer to any strategic question or method is “it always depends”, as certain variables can alter the strategy at any stage of it being implemented.

It always depends on what the ambitions are, where we are in the market, how well we’re funded and what leads or resources we have; which results in a constantly dynamic and often imperfect strategy implementation. There’s always a strategy that makes sense at that given time and there are always factors that can alter its viability.

It’s important to understand that strategy is generally broken down into six core stages:

Understanding the current situation; where you are in the market, what works and what doesn’t, where or who your opposition are; your pricing and everything that talks to where your business is today.

Goals, objectives and what you hope to achieve; by making use of the variety of ways to set a plan of action and assessing how close or far you are to achieving your desired results; and knowing exactly what it is that you want to achieve and by when.

Implementation of high-level strategies that can be used to achieve the goals and objectives set, bearing in mind any changes that need to occur during that stage.

The tactics and methods used to activate those strategies in the best possible way and by when they should provide results, or will be in need of re-evaluation.

Granular-level actions to identify and decide who is going to be doing what, how they are going to do it and by when; what needs to be done daily, weekly or monthly to achieve the strategy.

Control and measurement of the strategy, deciding when and how to check-in and gauge the success of the strategy; making sure that what is being implemented is working or failing and coming up with ways to find out how to measure any needed changes.

In building your strategy, it’s always wise to check on these stages and understand how, why and whether or not the strategy is working for your business in the best possible way. Strategy isn’t as clear-cut as it may seem and taking the necessary steps to ensure that it’s suitable and working well is very important to any business owner, leader or entrepreneur.

What’s that? You want more?

You’re seeking more advice on strategy, tactics and how to assess or implement them into your business diet? I have all the right meal plans, supplements and measuring tools you’ll ever need to get your business into perfect fighting form;

Get in touch with me as soon as possible – let’s get you fit, strong and ready to eradicate your competition in the first round:

+2783 253 3339

brent@spillly.com

Let’s destroy your opponents, together!

Apr 16
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Looking Through The Customer Window – What Do They Want?!

By Business Coaching Innovation Strategy No Comments

Imagine you could look at a magical window that would show you what to look for when dealing with your client’s satisfaction – one that would help you understand what your perfect client looks like and wants.

This mystical tool will help to ensure that you’re building your service around the needs and desires of your client and ensure that you remain competitive in the market.

In that case, you don’t have to keep imagining. I might just have the right trick up my sleeve for you. No sleight of hand, no smoke and mirrors – just a simple quadrant that will aid in the first stage of your strategy.

Introducing: The Customer Window

During the delightful process of building out your strategy (especially your product strategy) and in understanding what your perfect client looks like, one of the tools you can make use of is a very simple quadrant that I’ve come up with for business owners.

It’s a great tool that I make sure I provide my clients with for their business and should be used on a regular basis (at least once a year) to check on customer-satisfaction levels and to ensure that you’re building your service for the client and remaining as competitive as possible in the market.

This tool should be used during the first stage of your strategic planning, when you’re going through the research phase and trying to understand what your ideal customer, or client looks like.

Investigating your customer-satisfaction levels ends up becoming extremely important in developing a sound strategy and it can be done through the use of questionnaires, or even asking your team internally.

Not only will it help you in understanding the customer’s satisfaction/dissatisfaction towards your product solution, but will also help you measure the adequacy/inadequacy of that entire solution and provide a more complete picture of your business delivery.

1 Window, 4 Questions = One Happy Camper 

In providing a method of analysis that aids in strategic planning, it will also bring more insight into how you should innovate products accordingly.

Each quadrant has a specific question that needs answering:

 

  • What does your customer want and not get from you? Think long and hard about that question and then map out exactly what you can provide for them. It can be solutions or additions outside of the actual product, as well; it could be that he/she wants quicker turnaround time; he/she wants more, or less, detailed reporting; maybe more face-time; even better pricing options; or benefits with the current pricing. What does he/she want and not get?
  • What does the customer want and get? It doesn’t seem like a difficult question to answer and that’s because it isn’t. It is important however, to recognise what they want and that you’re giving them what they want; identifying whether or not they are happy with what you’re providing to keep providing it in the best possible way.
  • What does the customer not want, but gets anyway? As important as it is to provide extra benefits or services, it’s even more important to recognise whether or not they even care about the fact that it’s there or not; if the customer gets something that they don’t even care about, you’ll be far better off removing it and saving the time or resources that it takes to give them that offering.
  • What does the customer not want and not get? Seems stupid to even bother asking that question, but in seeking an answer to that question, you have more to gain. By compiling a list to ensure that you don’t start offering crap that they don’t want, you make sure that you don’t start offering it in future. Rather avoid chasing a shiny penny that the customer doesn’t want or care about. Save the trouble; save the time.

So there you have it – an easy way to get right into the first stage of your strategy by doing some simple customer research and evaluating what the customer is actually looking for.

You get an idea of your perfect customer or client; what they want or don’t want; and where you can save time, energy and resources doing unnecessary work.

What do I want, but not get from you? A call, an email, a meeting with you;

What do I want, but get from you? Your interest, engagement and attention;

What do I not want and get from you? Nothing. You’re simply perfect;

What do I not want and not get from you? I don’t want you to not see me as the best business coach you’ll ever have and I’m waiting on you to reach out and make me yours.

You know how to reach me, you know an amazing opportunity when you see one:

+2783 253 3339

brent@spillly.com

Now don’t waste another second answering questions. Be like Nike and “Just Do It”.

Mar 09
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The 8-Layered Approach To Business Strategy

By Business Coaching Entrepreneur Strategy No Comments

In unpacking the most suitable strategy methods for my clients, I make sure to have them thoroughly understand this approach and how to apply it to their thinking in order to achieve some kind of business objective in the next 12 months.

This strategic approach is split into 8 layers that provide insight and analysis into the goals and measurements required to get some solid work done within a particular window period.

Let’s take a strong, hard look at how exactly it works and in what ways it will help your business shine.

 

The Situation, The Victory Conditions And The Goals

 

When looking at this multi-layered approach, there are first a list of questions that need to be asked and key information that needs some sort of identification.

Taking a look at the very top of the approach, you’re welcomed by the need to identify the current situation you’re facing in your business:

This is done by taking a look at some important factors like understanding your risk analysis using all of the right tools; where you sit financially from a cash-flow and liability perspective; understanding what the market looks like in terms of risks and trends; ensuring that you have the right product set for the market at this particular time and where you are in terms of producing your product; and finally, what the current state of your suppliers and staff look like.

Begin with confronting and truly understanding the current situation you’re in and answer all of those particular factors that apply.

The next piece to look at is your shareholder’s victory conditions:

Identify and think clearly about what the shareholder wants to achieve long-term (around 3-5, or 5-7 years); then mid-term (the next 12 months); and begin to unpack what winning and success looks like from a shareholder’s perspective in the next year of engaging in this strategy. When identifying what’s needed at this stage, you look at what winning looks like and by a set deadline, ensuring that you have all the necessary goals that need to be achieved at a particular time.

The third fundamental piece of information that you need to provide before moving on would be the actual business goals:

In finding the best way to go about this, make sure to break it down into a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal); what would be the single measurement to confirm that you’ve won or succeeded in the next 12 months? Would it be winning a certain account, getting x amount of people or clients, achieving x amount of turnover – it needs to be something that’s measurable.

Take it further and find your SMART goals (Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic and Time-based) and then set those objectives based on each business vertical, such as sales, marketing, operations, HR, finance, the product and the rest of the departments in your business.

After identifying your situation, victory conditions and goals – you can now decide what the initiatives are that you need in order to achieve these objectives.

 

Initiatives, Thrusts And Impact vs Effort

Based on the situation that you’ve analysed, the victory conditions that you’ve identified and the goals that have been set; it’s time to decide on the key strategic initiatives that will be run over the course of a year.

This takes your 12-month goal or objective and has them broken down into four key strategic initiatives that become a quarterly break-down of the year (3 months per initiative). Each of those quarterly initiatives can be divided further into thrusts for each quarter, which refer to the particular things that need to happen in each quarter to get closer to achieving the final year-end goal.

If you manage to complete all four initiatives, you’ll complete your goals.

It’s important to list what you’ll be doing in each thrust (usually 2-3 thrusts per initiative) and achieve them to move on to your next 3-month initiative. However, this can become a little bit difficult to manage all of these things, while running the business on a day-to-day basis.

So, I suggest putting those thrusts into an impact vs effort quadrant, where you can determine whether each thrust is either: low effort and high-impact; low effort and low-impact; low-impact and high effort; or high-impact and high effort.

You’re looking to find the low effort, but high-impact work and pay attention to that, leaving the high effort, but low-impact work to do last.

We want results that we get the most amount of impact from, while doing minimal effort. This has you focus on that first, then on high-impact, but high-effort work; thirdly low-impact, but low effort; and lastly, work that is high effort, but low-impact.

It becomes easier when you can decide which of those thrusts are more important to work on now and which ones can be focused on or left for later in the year.

 

Tactics, Resources, Sprints, Then Control and Measure

Once you’ve established and categorised the thrusts into appropriate positions and which of them will take priority, you can shift your focus toward deciding which tactics, resources and weekly measurements are needed to get those thrusts done.

There may be a need for particulars to get the jobs done, like: people, money, tools and applications, time allocation, smarter marketing – paying attention to the tactics necessary for completing the thrusts in the most effective way.

After identifying those required tactics and particulars, I suggest breaking it down into weekly sprints; figuring out what you’re going to be doing every week (sometimes bi-weekly) to try and push the business forward to achieve the thrust. Then at the end of each quarter, to re-evaluate those initiatives and take another look at those thrusts.

And last, but not least, as you’ll find in every strategy is the control measurement phase:

Identifying when you start doing these weekly sprints, how well the implementation of these actions are working and what other actions need to be taken to achieve the desired results. Paying attention to the what, how, who and when; how do you know it’s actually working?

You don’t want to get ahead three months, look back and say, “that was a waste”. So, it is important to step away from it on a monthly basis and look carefully at what’s been done over the past four weeks and ask yourself if you’re closer to achieving the thrusts and whether or not you need to speed things up, slow things down, realign, or just cancel.

Like with every strategy, you can (and should) always adapt, accordingly.

There you have it!

An 8-layered approach to a solid strategy that will have you achieving your goals like Christiano Ronaldo.

Speaking of goals: you should include me in one of them. Get yourself a powerful and kick-ass business coach that will take your business all the way to the top.

We can hang-out sometime, have a chat, a meeting, a sit-down and discuss where you see your business going in the next couple of years.

It’s so easy to reach me (almost too easy):

+2783 253 3339

brent@spillly.com

 

Mar 04
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Credibility – Your Success Currency

By Business Coaching Lifestyle Strategy No Comments

Perception is everything. All that we see and interact with is affected by our judgements and personal evaluations of people, places, brands and our surroundings.

Whether conceived or pre-conceived, our notions about people are a staple to our survival as human beings. We need to judge and discern whether something is right or wrong for us in any given situation and as humans, we tend to be both horrible and remarkable at doing just that.

That is why credibility is just so important. People will always have lasting, if not life-long impressions of you and your character, deciding whether or not you are deserving of their love or their hatred. Trust is fundamental in building a strong network of followers (and no, I’m not talking about Instagram).

 

Build and Become the Brand 

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, an employee and regardless of whether you’re 20, or even 50 years of age, building a brand is one of the most important things you could possibly do to serve you well.

A brand is not to be mistaken with simply having a logo or a website, but how your customers perceive you and ultimately how you have affected them. It is so important to be aware of the impression that you leave on your customers and people in general, because it will ultimately lead to what they spread through word of mouth.

Recently, in a state of frustration, I put out a tweet that said:

Ask yourself the question, “what brand am I building and putting out there?”

Do you leave a positive and lasting impression on every person that you meet? Yes, every person that you interact with becomes important, as you never know where that person might end up tomorrow.

The people that you went to school with, the family that you grew up around and the people that you work with from the very beginning, all have the possibility of impacting your life in some way later on in life. Always be aware that a person’s status or influence in the present could be changed in the future – the junior staff that you started out with could someday end up being CEOs, high-ranking officials, or even your boss. Imagine that nightmare.

The impression you leave can last a lifetime.

 

Start Filling Your Bank With Credibility 

One of the most powerful ways to leave a strong and lasting impression, one that is impactful and unforgettable, is to develop your level of credibility.

Credibility is your ability to leave a positive and memorable point-of-view on your identity, one that says you’re an honest and remarkable person that people can respect, trust and admire.

Through this, you will have the ability to create a strong network of support and a following that you can be proud of. If you’re seen as honest, impressionable, hard-working and capable, you sign-up for unwavering respect and the power to have people follow and look up to you.

In order to grow a successful business, especially in South Africa, you need to have a strong network. This network starts at school and keeps growing all the way through to your employers, colleagues and even your opposition; everyone can be your network.

The power and size of your network is directly proportional to your success.

People don’t necessarily remember the work you do, but rather how you did the work. Were you trustworthy, honest, diligent in every move you made? You become a merchant that trades in trust, giving others the opinion that you are credible; and dare I say it, incredible.

 

Become Viral Like The Coronavirus

Seth Godin, writer of the Ideavirus has an excellent take on marketing and how important the customer is when spreading your brand to more and more people. He talks about becoming like a virus – contagious to your customers, so that they spread your product or service to as many as possible.

Your credibility should do the same thing. You should become contagious in the way that you disseminate yourself, as a brand and as a business owner. Let the love and respect of your character spread like wildfire, so that as many people want to be involved with you.

Apply it to your daily diet and ask yourself, “who am I meeting today and what will those people be saying about me in the years to come?”

Build yourself a trail of ambassadors that will follow you on your journey and share your virus with the rest of the world.

Sharing is caring, after all.

 

Be The Leader That Keeps On Leading

By becoming the leader of your own personal brand, you begin a trend that will open up more networks and a stable, unbreakable following. By taking on the responsibility of reliability and trust, you open the doors to becoming more respected, admired and remarkable.

It starts with one follower that will invite and inspire many more to join in on your mission. I quote Derek Sivers, “the first follower is what transforms a loon into a leader.”

You become like the Pied Piper, leading and gathering people with your harmony of trust and honesty – strengthening relationships and forging an undying perspective on the amazing person that you are.

Are you unique and remarkable?

Or are you forgettable and easily replaceable?

I sometimes find that being trustworthy and honest starts with a firm kick to the groin.

We could also just start out with a strong-ass cup of coffee, so join me for one, we can discuss how to shove you in the right direction. Or if you’re a little bit shy, too afraid to catch the Covid:

 

Call me on 083 253 3999 or email me: brent@spillly.com, Let’s plan a risk-free Zoom meeting, sometime soon.