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  • ABOUT LINDA FEINHOLZ “Your High Payoff Catalyst”

Success Quote

Change 1 VISION And You Can Change It All!

Releasing objects and ideas we’re holding onto is a very powerful process. When I coach clients and they step up to a big purge or shift their thinking, then I know our work is having impact at a deep level. Getting rid of old ‘stuff’ is a natural by-product of good visioning and planning work.

And that goes for old business models and actions tied to old visions.

By developing your Vision for your Future Self and your Future Business Model… you automatically and naturally start getting rid of things that are not a match. In effect, you make room for the new you that IS emerging.

While we can each be grateful for the role our business model has played in our success, sometimes we need to gracefully let go so we can attract other things that match our vision as it now is and is in the process of becoming.

Ask yourself:

“Is this really me, and the business model I want to use, now?”

Have fun and enjoy the exploration. Re-evaluating your model and sorting through your message can be a really fun process, when you keep the bigger picture in mind.

Remember that this seemingly mundane question is actually a very significant step laying the groundwork and foundation for your next success.

Does Your Business Represent Who You Are NOW?

© 2008 Linda Feinholz

What was once a ‘perfect fit’ has changed, several times in fact. I was reminded of that when I joined 250 colleagues at our annual get together this week. That’s 250 of over 1,000 members of the ProVisors organization of expert business advisors in Los Angeles. As I chatted with people I haven’t seen in months, or even a year, we caught up on all the ways we’ve each grown and changed our own businesses.

Time and again in those conversations we described the business model we’re now using, and who we are as professionals and business owners. And for many of us, those models have changed.

Here is some of my own learning. You might find it thought provoking as you consider your own.

When I moved into independent consulting in 1994, it thrilled me. Coming from many years of consulting with corporate giants like Avon, Disney, and clients of mega advisory firm Ernst & Young, I had a treasure chest of planning, management and problem solving tools to use with mid-sized business’s challenges.

I trimmed and simplified the systems and processes of those complex large-scale companies down so they’d be perfect for professional services firms, fast growing start-ups, and second-generation family owned businesses.

Having my corporate background has been a tremendous door opener for speaking engagements as well as with clients. (Quite honestly, I loved that professional identity!) It’s also been a quick credential with colleagues who provide different services to the same clients. It’s enabled me to build a Rolodex of experts to solve my clients’ challenges in financing, insurance and legal matters.

That ‘credential’ has enabled me to build the independent consulting business that brings in a healthy six figures with no additional staff or infrastructure for nearly fourteen years.

However, just as my clients’ businesses have changed over the past few years, my business has changed. I’ve changed.

With each passing year, as my personal expertise grew, my interests and focus shifted – sometimes very naturally and incrementally. And sometimes I could see that I wanted to make huge shifts that required deliberate redesign.

For instance, during the first four years of my independent consulting work, clients asked me to develop business plans for them. I did many plans, and then realized that I was the most expert person about their strategy… and that was not the vision I hold for my clients.

I‘m passionate about people being more expert and more capable at their business. So I shifted from ‘doing’ their plans, to guiding them through the thinking and decision making and planning so that they are continually more expert in their business.

Did that change whom I work with? You bet! Today I work with people who want to become more skilled than they are now, and not those who want to outsource key decision-making to others.

Those big business credentials? They’re an interesting talking point, but nowadays prospective clients want to know other things: Can I help them get clear on their business vision and goals? How quickly can I help them build more effective teams? And what should they do about work-arounds they’ve used to avoid fixing obstacles?

The result? I have clients who realized they had by-passed a profitable niche by doing scattershot marketing. Others saw an unprofitable product could be a powerhouse door opener that always leads to up-sells that are 30-50% profitable. And some clients realize they’re devoting resources to a product line that isn’t part of their core offering, and holds a higher value if they sell it off.

Each time I think I’ve got my own business model set, the external world changes my own opportunities dramatically - new technology, changing business models across industries, new customer expectations for response time and so on.

Just as my clients have to stay ‘fresh and relevant’ for their customers, so do I. So, just as I challenge my clients’ thinking about their business, I repeatedly challenge my own.

Here are some questions I ponder:

• How long have I been delivering my products or services ‘this’ way?
• What circumstances brought me to this business model?
• Have those circumstances changed significantly?
• Does my model reflect what the market is seeking now?
• Does my message reflect who my clients are now?

What about you? When did you last check whether your own business model is a fit today for your opportunities and the way YOU want to work?

If you are in a growing stage of your business (or want to be), the strongest advice I can give you is: Go for Something That Reflects Your Future, Not Your Past.

Staying Fresh In Your Business

How do you get together with your referral sources? How do you keep them up to date on who you are in business these days?

I had a chance to catch up with 250 friends last week. I know that makes your eyebrows rise. “250?” you’re thinking.

Well, yes. Every summer the ProVisors organization throws a summer get together for it’s members. ProVisors is a Los Angeles based member association of over 1,000 professional – key advisors to businesses. I’ve been in the organization for nearly 14 years and it’s been a rich source of referrals to ideal clients as well as a great way for me to locate people who solve business challenges like insurance, financing, and legal issues for my clients.

We’re all very busy serving our clients, building our own businesses. Even with regular smaller networking gatherings it’s a real challenge to stay up to date with each other.

So one of the great things about our annual gathering is that it provides a chance for people to find out what’s changed in people’s personal and professional lives. And of course it’s wonderful to have someone else organizing it all so we can just show up!

So, in addition to this newsletter and monthly get togethers, the annual catch up is golden!

How are you staying in touch with your colleagues? I’d like to know.

Success Quote

Change 1 COMMITMENT And You Can Change It All!

Have you ever tried working out alone. How did it compare to having a workout partner? With a partner you’ll find yourself exercising even when you might have slipped because you can’t let your buddy down. Having someone who is relying on you in business can produce the same results.

For example, if you want to really make sure your project is done on time, make a commitment to others. Let those folks know the deadlines you’re using and exactly what you’ll be delivering.

In other words, assign your own public accountability.

Read through your appointments, and the projects that have been sitting incomplere. Ask yourself:

“Who shall I make myself accountable to, for which items?”

Make yourself accountable to someone for what you want to accomplish. This could be a coach you work with or it could simply be a business friend.

Even more powerful, find a buddy who wants to create the same High Payoff result. They tell you their weekly goals and you tell them yours.

Now you know you’re going to asked about how you did.

IS IT TIME TO “RESET” YOUR BUSINESS?

© 2008 Linda Feinholz

When is ‘too much to do’ finally enough? I mean enough to have you reach out and slap your personal and business ‘reset’ button?

I was working with my client, Brenda, last month when she looked me dead in the eye and said “There’s no way to get out from under this list of what I need to get done.”

We could have gone on and on about prioritizing her lists, rank ordering them by fit with her strategy or sorting by the highest payoff at the bottom line. She could have found relief by delegating to her staff the 80 percent that really doesn’t need her involvement to get things accomplished. We could have spent a lovely hour talking about techniques to get over procrastination. And that would have missed the point entirely.

All the business management practices in the world won’t solve matters if the real issue is feeling stretched to the breaking point. She was feeling overwhelmed, worried and incompetent to run her own business.

Why? Well… Read more

Shake it OFF!

Don’t you just hate it when someone appears to have their act together, just when you feel ‘snowed in’ – by papers, to do’s and things you really dream of getting done?

I know I feel like fleas are nipping at me as my inner critic starts listing all the comparisons with the fantasy I’m holding about other people. I’m certain they’ve got a better handle on their ‘stuff’ as I stare at my loaded desktop.

Helping my client, Brenda through her overwhelm was a great wakeup call for me, too! Every once in a while all we need is a physical image to shift the mental state we’re in.

So as my inner voice started to feel like lots of itching powder, I ‘changed’ my mind just like I’d shampooed and shaken them off. Sent the chatterers off in the backyard to play for a while, and took a fresh look at what I wanted to get done.

So grab your own itchy thoughts, shake them out and sort out what you’ll give your attention to for the rest of your day.

Is 3rd time the charm?

Where are these messages going?

Technology, love it or …

I know I’ll love it when I get this working!

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