When is enough enough?

I was recently asked: How do you decide when you have enough information and it's time to execute on your plan?

My response is fairly straight forward:

When you find yourself reading the same thing over and over, doing the same thing over and over and not finding or accomplishing anything really new. And, when you begin to feel that enough is enough.

The trick is to NOT let yourself to be the biggest excuse for not putting your plan into action.

When researching a subject, there is always the temptation to do one more Google search, read one more journal article, watch one TED video on You Tube out of fear that you may have missed something. This is called, Paralysis by Analysis.

When preparing to give a speech, there is the temptation to do one more rehearsal, make one more modification in the wording, add or subtract a joke, make one more adjustment of the tie or hair. This is called Stage Fright.

When taking steps to implement the plan, there is that moment when you look at the competition and they look BIGGER, SMARTER, RICHER, BETTER CONNECTED, ETC. than you are and you want to crawl back into your shell. This is called Lack of Self Confidence.

All of these excuses are in your head and barriers of your own making.

 The first step in your plan should have been a realistic assessment of your particular strengths and weakness. If you put together a plan, then you should know this already. If these barriers were real, your plan would have shown you that. And you should have made a decision about what to do about it. This should address the Paralysis by Analysis issue

The second step in your plan should be to make a realistic assessment of the opportunities and threats the environment present to your idea or plan. You should have built your plan to take advantage of the opportunity and at the same time to prepare your defenses against the threats. This includes preparing an exit strategy. This should address the Stage Fright issue.

The third step is related to the first step, strengths and weaknesses. If you have done it well you have included an analysis of your competition and their strengths and weaknesses relative to you and one another. You will have found that they are "human" too. Your plan should include a strategy for exploiting their weaknesses and avoiding confrontation with their strengths. This should address the Self Confidence issue.

The point is to know that whatever your plan is, IT WILL NEVER BE PERFECT.

But you will know your ready when it is the BEST DAMN PLAN you can make today to deliver today. Strive for PERFECTION but deliver and accept EXCELLENCE.

And remember, a PLAN is only a road map toward your destination it can be changed and altered at anytime during the journey. YOU ARE IN CHARGE.

Where the jobs are

There are many different reasons to set up a business or a career where one does. To be close to suppliers, raw materials, customers, transportation, etc. are some of the most common reasons. In the complex world of international commerce, these choices are even more critical. The commitment to locate is not a short term decision, despite the internet. Cost advantages in one sphere may be suddenly over turned by an environmental, technological, economic, social or political change in another.

Careers are the same way. Different skill sets are need for different industries as we all know. Steel workers concentrated around the big steel plants in the Mid-west and Great Lakes, oil workers around Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, actors in California and New York. Part of any sole/soul proprietor's business and/or career planning should include a realistic appraisal of the occupational distribution the area where you plan to settle. One place to turn for useful information is the U S Department of Labor's Mapping out a career: An analysis of geographic concentration of occupations

In a nutshell:

What you do for a living and where you live have a lot to do with each other. Explore the connection between occupation and location

Finding Happiness in life requires balance

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
Mohandas Gandhi

Finding balance in your life is the goal of becoming a sole/soul proprietor.

Nigel Marsh presents on perspective on "How to make work-life balance work"

Exit Planning: Planning for failure can never come too soon

I work, and have worked, a lot with entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial "want-a-bes" in the earliest stages of their enterprise formation. After listening to the things which fire their passion -- the germ of their idea, their pride of inventiveness, and their dream of wealth - they will ask for my help to find money for the project. Before I even consider the project, I ask them one key question, "And what is your plan B?" This determines whether this is a real prospect or a Dreamer. My exist plan for Dreamers is -- "Conclude the interview", "Move on" "But do it politely."


Dreamers use up your time and they don't pay for any advise you give them.


The recent catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico with British Petroleum (BP)'s Deep Water Horizon explosion and the oil well rupture has capture the national and international news. The crisis is now two months old with no immediate end in sight. This disaster brings home the cost of not having a Plan B.


Now you might ask, "What does BP, a multi-billion dollar international corporation, have to do with me and my small business? The answer is Everything.


Every oil well drilled is an entrepreneurial venture risking $100s of million dollars. BP has the experience and resources for opening new wells. One would think that they would have a plan B in case of failure or accident. But in their narrow, "get it done quickly and cheaply" mind set they have put not only the project at risk, but the company,and all the contingent stakeholders as well. These include those who depend upon the company for their livelihood, the investors, especially pension programs, their neighbors including the fishing and tourism businesses and the tax payers of the states and the nation whose oil they had been given a lease to exploit.


My clients, and prospective clients, don't have the resources of a BP. They don't necessarily have the experience or access to the expertise in their business that BP has. But going into a new business venture carriers the same risks of failure. And while the size their potential losses may be no where as large in absolute terms, they are proportionately infinitely larger for these entrepreneurs than they are to BP.


The lesson here is that BP did not have a Plan B for the Deep Water Horizon well venture. This is proving to be very costly for the company and all its stakeholders. Because there is no Plan B, it could even mean the end of the company as we know it today.


As sole proprietor of your business, you have placed everything you have at risk of success and at risk for failure. If you opt for some protection you might wrap yourself in a corporate form such as a LLC, Limited Liability Corporation, but even that will not totally protect you from the risks of failure.


So how do you protect yourself or at least minimize the risk of failure?


You do so by planning FOR FAILURE. I strongly recommend that you consult the following book if you doubt me - The Ten Commandments for Business Failure by Donald R. Keough.


Oh, I know, this is not the "positive thinking" that new age career/business coaches and gurus preach in their books and seminars. They teach you to think positively, develop a positive attitude, and practice "the Secret". They preach and practice the "build it and they will come" philosophy. But just as a candy bar in the late afternoon can give you a temporary sugar high, these doses of magical thinking don't stay with you very long, become habit forming and lead to a fat, obese ego at the risk of "personality diabetes".


Planning to fail is not negative thinking. Planning to fail is rational, realistic thinking. Planning to fail is like walking into the crowded theater, looking for the exits, and making note of the best route to take out of the building in case of fire. With such a plan, the show can be much more enjoyable. While you don't expect to use the plan, in the rare event that there is a fire, you know what you have to do to survive. Many others without such a plan will more than likely panic and their survival becomes problematic.


Planning for failure can also be planning for success.


At the end of the show, your escape plan can now be your exit plan. That is, you know where the exits are, you see the crowd moving toward the front exit and becoming stuck as they slowly make their way through restricting doorways. You, on the other hand, walk in the opposite direction, go out a side door, and get into your car thus beating the traffic. You succeeded in enjoying the performance and you saved yourself time and effort in the process by having an exit strategy or plan.


Planning for failure can help you to reduce your loses and planning for success can help you to maximize your profits. Planning for both contingencies is called EXIT PLANNING.


When is the best time to build your Plan B? At the same time you are building your Plan A. Too many people build their houses with all the doors opening into the house. If you look around, you will see that most businesses, because of fire codes, have their doors open out. That is their basic Plan B in case of emergency.

The big question today for everyone involved in the Gulf Deep Water Horizon venture is: "How do I get out of this catastrophe alive?" As we see from the news reports, nobody apparently planned for failure. Today they are simply trying to survive and if they do survive,for years to come they will be paying the price for their failure to plan for failure.

Do you have a Plan B? What is your exit plan for failure? What about for success?

Here at B. R. Bainton Associates, we are prepared to help you evaluate your risks and coach you in developing you own exit plan. If you have questions or comments please contact us at brbainton@gmail.com