Business Coaching

TechCrunch.com recently published an article about instilling ethics in small businesses. It sounds like it should be an easy thing – people should, after all, be moral and ethical in their everyday life, for the most part. But, as Enron and Lehman Brothers have demonstrated, it’s actually harder than it looks. What does that say for American businesses?

Harvard Business School professor Michael Beer researched the difference between companies that perform at high levels for extended periods and those that implode when they reach a certain size. When analyzing the spectacular failures in the recent financial meltdown, he found that:

• Of the original Forbes 100 (named in 1917), 61 had ceased to exist by 1987. Of the remaining 39, only 18 stayed in the top 100, and their return during the period 1917 to 1987 was 20% less
than that of the overall market.

• Of companies in the original Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index of 1957, only 74 remained in 1997; of these, only 12 outperformed the S&P 500 in the period 1957 to 1998.

• The average CEO tenure in the U.S. is 4.2 years, less than half the 10.5-year average in 1990.

Beer’s research left him with three core reasons for the failure of so many Wall Street firms in the fall of the economy in 2008: the firms lacked a higher purpose, and instead were focused on short-term gains, profits, and bonuses; they lacked a clear strategy; and they mismanaged their risk. Companies like Charles Schwab and US Bancorp were able to avoid the fallout by having a strong focus on customer service, honesty and transparency.
In business coaching, ethics can be a tough issue if the client’s ethics don’t match up with the coach’s – and it can matter so much, that some coach/client relationships have dissolved over it.

TechCrunch had some pointers on how to not get caught up in letting ethics slide. Do you agree?

Ferengis follow the Rules of Acquisition

If you’re a Trekkie, you might know the Rules of Acquisition of the Star Trek universe, a set of guidelines intended to ensure the profitability of businesses owned by the ultra-capitalist alien race known as Ferengi.

Turns out, these rules also apply to businesses in the U.S. and can be useful with business coaching. Well, not all of them (#31, Never make fun of a Ferengi’s mother, for example), but most of them. Here’s the complete list of the Rules of Acquisition. How can these rules help in your business?

Will a newspaper be an ancient artifact soon?

Just like the times…they just can’t stop changing.

As we’ve said before, the businesses that make it through the recession aren’t necessarily the most successful ones to begin with or the biggest, but those that adapt. This is something a lot of businesses and business owners seem to be having a hard time grasping. At the same time, several different industries are changing rapidly during this rough economic period, making some businesses even harder to stay afloat. For example, newspapers, magazines and print journalism are at risk of becoming extinct.

According to the latest Integrated Newspaper Audience finding from Scarborough Research, in its recently released Scarborough USA study, 74% of U.S. adults, nearly 171 million people, read a newspaper, in print or online, during the past week. The study examined newspaper readership, which captures media patterns and other consumer behaviors of adults across the country, and found that newspapers are still read in print or online by a critical mass of adults in the U.S. on a daily and weekly basis.

Gary Meo, Scarborough Research’s Senior Vice President of Print and Digital Media Services, notes that “While our data does show that print newspaper readership is slowly declining… given the fragmentation of media choices, printed newspapers are holding onto their audiences relatively well… ”

The analysis of data indicated that newspapers are being read by a majority of adults in print and online, but also that these Integrated Newspaper Audiences continue to attract educated, affluent readers. In an average week:
• 79% of adults employed in white collar positions read a newspaper in print or online
• 82% of adults with household incomes of $100,000 or more read a printed newspaper in print or online
• 84% of adults who are college graduates or who have advanced degrees read a printed newspaper in print or online

So…are newspapers really dying? They still might be…the findings say people read print OR online newspapers. Maybe newspapers are growing in the online sector, as the media industry seems like it’s moving that way.

What do you think? Can print news make a comeback? Or is everything going online? And, a more interesting question, could business coaching help some print companies stay afloat?

Brad Sugars helped donate 250 bikes to a local toy drive.

Brad Sugars recently donated 250 bikes on behalf of the N9NE Group, a partnership that owns and operates restaurants and nightclubs in Las Vegas,at local radio station’s KLUC toy drive. Sugars’ and N9NE’s donation helped KLUC achieve their 1,500 bike goal.

But people shouldn’t just give during the holiday season – they should give all year round.

ActionCOACH launched its Coaching for a Cause campaign last October to help non-profits and charities in the U.S. recession. ActionCOACH Business Coaches will donate their time to give these organizations pro bono coaching.

The overall goal of this campaign is to help non-profits raise at least an additional $2.5 million in donations and funds from October 1, 2009 through March 31, 2010.

Coaching for a Cause started before the holidays…and will continue for a few months after, extending “holiday cheer” and the spirit of giving.

What’s something your business can do that gives back to the community, whether during the holidays or not?

Happy holidays!

It’s no secret that just about every newspaper in the country has had to make cutbacks.

But still, newspaper circulation is actively decreasing, meaning the fate of the newspaper is in question.

According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, circulation for 379 U.S. dailies dropped 10.6%, based on a cumulative average for the six months ended Sept. 30.

This is the sharpest drop in sales in more than 10 years.

Nearly two-thirds of the country’s 25 largest papers posted declines of 10% or more.

While everyone has their predictions about what will happen to newspapers in a few years if things keep going like this, one thing’s for sure – as a business owner, your business must change with the times.

Several businesses, whether they’ve expanded their reach and their key products or changed their investment strategy, have had to change in order to weather the economic recession.

Even some newspapers have weathered it as much as they can by investing more time and energy in moving online.

For example, The Wall Street Journal sold an average of 2.02 million copies and online subscriptions during the six months ending Sept. 30, a 0.6% increase from the same period in 2008.

Recognize where the times are taking people. For newspapers, there is now a greater demand for news online rather than an actual newspaper.

Some people don’t like change, but not changing could mean the end of your business.

Fall is approaching.

With the change in weather, often this is the time of year when most people get sick. And even worse this year, in addition to viruses running rampant, a pandemic is going around, too.There have been about 70 deaths from swine flu in the U.S. so far this year, and people are taking precautions against the pandemic. Sometimes it takes a pandemic like the swine flu to force people to really take care of themselves; 40,000 deaths per year in the U.S. are from seasonal flu.

This can actually be compared to business. Let’s say an aspect of your business gets a “fever” – maybe you’ve never kept track of your numbers and it’s catching up to you – your business is at risk of getting sick.

Just like not getting enough sleep will eventually catch up to you and cause your immune system to weaken, not keeping all departments and business systems in top health will eventually catch up with your business.

Your company will be “sick” until you work to make it better. And that’s never good – sickness can slow any business down, and even cost it in sales, marketing or budget.

If your business gets a cold, treat it. Because if you let it go, before you know it, it could develop into something worse – like the swine flu.

And even worse this year, in addition to viruses running rampant, a pandemic is going around, too.

There have been about 70 deaths from swine flu in the U.S. so far this year, and people are taking precautions against the pandemic. Sometimes it takes a pandemic like the swine flu to force people to really take care of themselves; 40,000 deaths per year in the U.S. are from seasonal flu.

This can actually be compared to business. Let’s say an aspect of your business gets a “fever” – maybe you’ve never kept track of your numbers and it’s catching up to you – your business is at risk of getting sick.

Just like not getting enough sleep will eventually catch up to you and cause your immune system to weaken, not keeping all departments and business systems in top health will eventually catch up with your business.

Your company will be “sick” until you work to make it better. And that’s never good – sickness can slow any business down, and even cost it in sales, marketing or budget.

If your business gets a cold, treat it. Because if you let it go, before you know it, it could develop into something worse – like the swine flu.

Warren Buffet wrote a column about how the U.S. could lessen its debt.

“The United States economy is now out of the emergency room and appears to be on a slow path to recovery.”

That’s what billionaire Warren Buffet wrote in a column in the New York Times August 19. He added, “But enormous dosages of monetary medicine continue to be administered and, before long, we will need to deal with their side effects.”

Buffet is not so subtly referring to debt.

It’s tough to not incur debt, when it seems like the only answer is to borrow money. After all, when you need money, it seems like the solution – and the side effect, debt, is just something that comes later.

Money and debt are two things business owners must deal with every day. Credit is necessary and a necessary part of business. But borrowing beyond the capacity to pay is dangerous, as many large companies found out last year.

Overly leveraged, they couldn’t afford to meet their interest obligations, and many defaulted.

For those companies and individuals who have overleveraged themselves, now is the time to do something about it.

Brad Sugars, founder and CEO of ActionCOACH, says the best way to get out of debt is to not borrow excessively in the first place. However, if you do need to borrow, you need to stay on top of your numbers and make certain you can pay down your outstanding balances as quickly as possible.

These days, creditors and suppliers may be looking to extend or revise terms, because the credit markets are still tight, and everyone wants to “stay in the game” of business.

Try going to your creditors and see if you can change or revise your terms. Then get on a budget and stick with it.

“Knowing your numbers,” as Brad would say, is one key to succeeding in business and in life.

Knowing when to borrow (and when to pay down what you have borrowed) is key to long-term financial success.