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Your business is up and running and growing… and you want to grow your business further. You want your growth to be smart and effective and you want to avoid costly missteps and expensive “rabbit trails” that can pull you off track.

The problem is: You’re busy. You’ve got a full plate. You’ve got enough to do without piling on other activities (even though you know that business growth is critical). So, do you cut back on current success to encourage growth? Do you cut back on future growth to enjoy current success? Neither of those options is ideal!

There’s good news and it’s something you already know. With effective delegation to an assistant, you can enjoy even greater success today while strengthening and building your business for an even greater future.

This probably isn’t news to you but here’s why I’m mentioning it: I’m holding a free teleconference for a small group of people who will have the opportunity to “pick my brain” and learn what you can do to grow your business with more effective delegation or through the better use of a VA.

Teleconference overview
The teleconference is called “Full Schedules to Fulfilled: Delegating and VA’s for Business Growth” and it is free to a limited number of participants. I’ll be joined by my colleague Deb Walker and we’ll offer some advice and answer your questions about delegation and working with an assistant and how those elements contribute to growing your business.

Even though you know that delegating and having an assistant are good ideas, there may be techniques, ideas, challenges, tricks, and tips that we can help you with. Drawing from my years of experience as an entrepreneur of several small businesses, as a project manager, and as a productivity advisor for business owners around the world, I would love to share some “delegation mastery” ideas. And Deb’s insight will be valuable too. She brings a wealth of cross-industry experience to her work at ContemporaryVA and the oversight she provides to a staff of 30 VA’s ensures consistent, high quality work gets delivered to clients.

Normally I charge for all consultations but these calls (which I will be recording and plan to use in the future for promotional purposes) will be completely free. The teleconference will be about 60 minutes in length with 10 to 15 people on the call and we will specifically cover these three areas:

• Delegation Effectiveness
• Whether a VA might work for you
• How to use your VA more effectively

…and how these “tools” can grow your business.

I’d love to see you there!
If you already have a virtual assistant, we’ll show you how to use them more effectively by turning them into a valuable, proactive business asset (rather than a helpful but reactive order-taker). If you don’t have a virtual assistant already, we’ll show you why this might be the next best step for your business; a step that will transform your business in ways you never realized were possible.

So, if you’d like to grow your business and have been looking for an “edge”, this call could be it. But there are only a few slots left (I’ve already had some interest from a couple of my other channels) and I’d love to include you in the teleconference! Just enter your name and email address below and we will send the dial-in information to the first twenty who sign up!

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Can’t wait to speak with you!—

Related posts:

1. When Business Growth is Bad – Part 2
2. When Business Growth is Bad – Part 1
3. When Business Growth is Bad – Part 3

Are You Trying to Be Too Smart?

Travel’s with Leo-Sydney (Beautiful photographs!)

Twitter Adds Local Trends Tracking Tool

The Simplest Secret to Business Growth

iPad Web Design and SEO: First Looks

What the Web of Tomorrow Will Look Like

Read more of my favorite posts on HeatherVilla StumbleUpon.

Happy reading!

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3. Weekend Reading: My fav’s from this week: 2/19/10

In a couple of days, my calendar is going to ping me with a reminder. It’s going to say “One month in – how’s it going, Heather?” This reminder is for me to review the new business strategies I intended to integrate into my business this year.

Each year, I list out a bunch of strategies I want to integrate into my business. Some are marketing strategies, some are productivity strategies, some are customer service strategies; that kind of thing. I always have a really bold and vibrant vision of the year ahead and it’s easy for me to actually create so many strategies that I simply can’t implement them all effectively.

What I find is that over time, some strategies simply can’t be done in the day (because I don’t have time, for example) while other strategies become quickly integrated into my daily routine.

I was speaking with a colleague of mine who does something similar. She had developed several strategies she wanted to integrate into her year. For example, she wanted to increase her article marketing and she wanted to do more blog commenting. We usually chat about our strategies from time to time so I asked her how hers were going nearly one month into the year. The blogs were easily integrated in and are now a habit for her. The articles, however, are not. We talked about the reasons that could be and what she and I discussed might be helpful for you, too:

• Integrating new strategies into your daily schedule is important to do from time to time, but not always easy. I’ve found that if you want to be more successful at making them habits, you need to do everything possible to make it super-easy to do. The easier they are, the more likely you’ll do them and the more likely they will become habits.

Take exercise as an example: Lots of people make a New Year’s Resolution to start exercising… and then they fail. One of the reasons is that exercise might be an hour or two commitment a few times a week: Driving to the gym, working out, showering, driving home. It adds up so it’s not compelling to do. The secret to integrating it into your life is to make it really easy at the very beginning. Start with a 5 minute workout at home; have a friend call to remind you. Then, increase your workout to ten minutes. Then to fifteen. Then twenty. Eventually you will find yourself at the gym doing a full workout, but by then it will be a habit. To get there, though, it had to start easy.

It’s the same with my friend and her articles: Instead of writing an article a day – her original goal – she should start with an article a week. Or, split the work between herself and a freelancer. Eventually, she can increase her own effort. And she should decide ahead of time what the article will be about, rather than staring at a blank page.

And it’s the same for your 2010 goals. The goals that easily integrated into your business – celebrate them. And the ones that you’re struggling with one month in – take baby steps and make them easy. You may not start out as boldly as you had originally dreamed but making them easy will help to make them habits.

Have a great time!

Related posts:

1. It’s March. Do You Know Where Your Resolutions Are?
2. First Things First
3. When Business Growth is Bad – Part 2

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Does Your Customer Want 
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Hilarious FarmVille Parody Ad Tells It Like It Is [VIDEO] – This totally cracked me up.

WARNING: This Video Will NOT Change Your Life

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Why You Don’t Need to Mimic Someone Else’s Fame

Read more of my favorite posts on HeatherVilla StumbleUpon.

Happy Reading!

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And that investment starts with something that you might not have considered: Separating your business and personal finances. Surprised? Here are the reasons.

First, you’ll want to separate your business and personal finances for tax purposes. If you keep them combined, you might not be eligible for certain deductions, but if you separate them, you may be entitled to deduct expenses for your home office and mileage allowance. Likewise, you may be responsible for paying certain taxes on your business that do not apply to your personal income. Separating your finances is the only way to ensure that you properly follow all tax laws and receive all advantages to which you are entitled by law. That can grow your business by clarifying your paperwork and possibly making more money available (because of more deductions) which you can reinvest in your business.

Another important reason for separating your finances is to get a loan or a grant so you can invest in your business. Separating your finances helps to establish a paper trail and helps you to create financial reports that demonstrate the business’ performance. If your finances are separated it will be much easier to determine which income and expenses belong to the business itself.

Third, separating your finances can help you decide how best to grow and develop the business as well. You will be able to see the areas in which the business excels as well as those areas in which it needs some extra help. You can generate targeted, accurate reports and financial statements that show at a glance how the business performs in various areas.

How Can I Separate My Business and Personal Finances?
The easiest way to separate your business and personal finances is to open a business bank account. If you use credit to make business-related purchases, apply for a card in the name of the business. Have all payments made to the business account, and use only those funds and the business credit card to make purchases.

How Do I Get Paid?
You have multiple options for paying yourself. Some business owners find it best to write themselves a set paycheck every week. If you are confident that the business will retain enough funds to pay your salary each time, this will streamline the process and make it easier to accurately pay your personal income taxes.

However, if your business is new or unstable, you may find it better to pass funds through the business account to your personal account. You might decide to retain just enough money in the business account to pay for expenses, and transfer everything that is left into your personal account. This is an ideal solution for those who have many personal expenses but few business expenses and earn wildly different sums on each contract.

Setting Up and Maintaining Bookkeeping and Accounting
Many business owners find themselves confused and overwhelmed by the paperwork that is involved in maintaining separate accounts. Consider hiring outside help. A Virtual Assistant company can set up and maintain your bookkeeping and accounting. Your VA can even handle payroll, writing your paycheck each week. You can maintain as much or as little control over the process as you desire. You can hire the VA for a set number of hours per week or per month, or simply retain his or her services on a per-project basis.

Ultimately, separating your business and personal finances can seem like a complicated task in the short term but in the long term it is an effective way to grow your business.

About the author: Heather Villa, MBA CMA MSM, is a Business Coach and Entrepreneur. She helps business owners achieve success in operations, productivity, project management, and social media. Read her other articles at http://hireheathervilla.com/resources/articles/ and visit http://heathervilla.com for more information.

Disclaimer: © 2009 Heather Villa. Permission is granted to repost this article. Article must be published in its entirety, including author bio, and all links must remain intact.

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In a recent blog, The Three Natural Phases of Successful Small Business Growth, Jantsch talks about the 3 phases that he sees small businesses progress through.

The first phase is foundation, the second phase is growth, the third stage is momentum. Jantsch describes each phase and encourages readers to identify where they are.

To recap (and to add on to what Jantsch has said):

• Foundation is the early start-up phase where entrepreneurs start their business and work through all of the initial stage work, like creating systems and developing the business plan. In this stage, the business owner is often working solo and the work, although thrilling, might not be extremely profitable.

• Growth is the next phase where the business moves from a solopreneur who runs it all into a revenue-producing machine that probably includes additional staff and refined products or services. Jantsch wisely says that businesses feel the pull to add new markets and products but the better choice here is to narrow your markets and focus.

• Momentum is the third stage and businesses owners who achieve this stage hit a “zen” stage in which they just keep doing the smart, profitable things again and again to consistently build a strong business. But this stage is so easy to fall out of that mindset and it needs to be carefully cultivated and nurtured to be successful. Jantsch also says that this is a stage when other businesses want to partner and align with you.

Jantsch’s blog is so relevant to the work I’ve done and it mirrors closely the clients I’ve worked with over the years as well as the businesses I’ve been involved with.

As a consultant, I’ve helped businesses jump into that Foundation stage. As the owner of IAC Professionals, my staff helps businesses (often those in the growth stage, run by entrepreneurs who need to delegate in order to grow).

If you’re a small business owner looking for the next step in your business, you should consider where you are in this spectrum and how you can advance your business to the next level.

Until next time!

Related posts:

1. When Business Growth is Bad – Part 3
2. When Business Growth is Bad – Part 1
3. When Business Growth is Bad – Part 2

So far, I’ve talked about out-of-control business growth that costs so much up-front, the business cannot keep up. And, I’ve talked about business growth that spikes (increasing then decreasing) so that the business is stuck with a high bill from the brief burst of business.

And in this blog, I want to talk about yet another problem of business growth that I’ve seen:

Problem 3: The lack of control over the business. When a business grows – whether it’s a sustained increase or a spike, the business owner/director/manager tends to lose control over that business. In some cases, customers “take over” in the sense that they might demand additional efforts which might not normally be granted but which are added because the money is there. In other cases, business partners “take over” because they see the money coming in from a certain market and they want to follow those dollars. In other cases, resellers “take over” because they feel that they are bringing in enough money for the business to make demands on the business. One example I’ve seen is a consultant who was asked by a client to design his website. Business was busy and the consultant should have said no, but the client was generating so much revenue that the consultant couldn’t say no. It didn’t go well and the consultant lost a client and the revenue. And another example I’ve seen is a reseller who earned so much money for a manufacturer that the reseller started demanding price cuts and excessive promotional considerations.

Solution 3: The best thing to do is stick to the business plan. (Uhhh…you have a business plan, right? MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A BUSINESS PLAN…then stick to it). If you’ve done your research and you start the business with the confidence that the plan is going to work then you should be okay (assuming that your research led you in the right direction). Yes, you may need to shift with the market, but that needs to happen carefully and thoughtfully and not “on the fly” based on whoever is sending the most money right now. Your business plan should be your North Star that guides your business. And when you need to change your business plan, you take time to do it carefully.

There are certainly other problems that result from too-fast, unmanaged business growth, but these are three common ones that I see from time to time.

Related posts:

1. When Business Growth is Bad – Part 2
2. When Business Growth is Bad – Part 1
3. The Three Stages of Small Business

But in my last post I mentioned that not all business growth is good. Growth that happens too fast, for example, without any warning, can cause financial, manufacturing, warehousing, and customer service problems galore.

In this blog I want to talk about another problem of too-fast growth.

Problem 2: Rapid growth that is unpredictable may decline and leave a burden on the business. I’ve seen this recently in a colleague’s business. Just two years ago, business was inferno hot for him! He was so busy he couldn’t keep up with orders for the product his business created. Then the economy slowed. Today, his business is sound enough to pay his bills and allow him to put a little away for the future so he’s not worried about feeding his family. But he is concerned about his tax bill. The spike was unexpected and when he pays taxes this year on last year’s income, he’s paying taxes out of less money this year than he was earning last year. Not only that, as a manufacturer of goods, he has a small storage unit full of unsold items. That’s because he ramped up production quickly during that busy season, but he didn’t anticipate the decline… so he was still producing a high number of goods when the slump struck.

Solution 2: When your business grows, manage it carefully. Don’t just ride the rapids with an oblivious smile. Be aware that it may eventually slow down. Make sure you have money put away for taxes and other expenses that might lag into a slower period. And, watch the warning signs very, very carefully to make sure that your production doesn’t match today’s demand… but rather, that it matches tomorrow’s demand. Warning signs might include slowing orders, but even that might be too late. Get in the habit of proactively calling your customers and estimating capacity into the future. Offering discounts on bulk orders, even when times are good and customers are willing to pay top dollar, can help you keep your finger on the pulse of your customers’ needs.

So, business growth that is not carefully managed and spikes, then falls, can also be costly for a business in inventory and warehousing, taxation (and other lagging costs).

In the next blog, I’ll talk about one more business growth problem I’ve seen.

Related posts:

1. When Business Growth is Bad – Part 1
2. When Business Growth is Bad – Part 3
3. Free Teleconference: Fast, Efficient Business Growth for Busy Entrepreneurs Who Want to Be Busier

But the reality is, ALL business growth is not good.

Business growth is good when it can be managed and carefully cultivated. It’s good when a business owner can watch the growth and feel good about the pace and where it’s taking the business.

But when a business speeds up faster than expected, problems can happen. Here are a few problems I’ve seen in businesses that grow too fast, and some suggested solutions.

Problem 1: The business’ orders outpace its ability to fill those orders. This seems good, especially if the money is paid up front upon receipt of the order, and not upon delivery. But many businesses accept payment upon delivery. So, imagine that you’ve got a business that normally gets ten orders a month. And the money you earned from last month pays for the raw material for this month. That’s fine. But then you suddenly get 100 orders. Where will you get the money from to buy the raw materials? Will you have a supplier who can ramp up supply as quickly as you ramp up demand? And, if you lack the production capability to fulfill those orders, what will your unhappy customers do?

Solution 1: As bizarre as it sounds, make sure you have a contingency plan in case you grow to fast. If you suddenly get a huge amount of publicity and orders start flooding in, you might have to outsource, work weekends, get a bridge loan, or even buy from the competitors. And that’s just a short-term, stop-gap solution. Long-term solutions need to be ready to go once you discover that your growth is not a random spike but a sustained increase. Of course, you won’t want to buy up extra warehouse space or manufacturing capacity on the vague chance of business growth, but you want to make sure you at least know where you can get it quickly if you need it.

This problem is more common than people think. Have you ever heard the statistic that a depressingly large percentage of businesses fail in their first year? While there are many factors, this is a surprisingly large factor contributing to first and second year business failure.

In my next post, I’ll talk about another reason that some business growth is bad.

Related posts:

1. When Business Growth is Bad – Part 2
2. When Business Growth is Bad – Part 3
3. Free Teleconference: Fast, Efficient Business Growth for Busy Entrepreneurs Who Want to Be Busier

But one of the challenges that businesses of all sizes face is something I call ‘committedness’. And as a business works to strengthen itself, the ‘conundrum of committedness’ increases and can cause all kinds of problems.

Let me use the example of a consultant for a moment to give you an example of what I mean:

A consultant has 24 hours in a day. Presumably, at least half of that time will be spent eating, sleeping, and in personal pursuits with the other half (or less) on the business. Now, if a consultant wants to get more business (client commitments), he or she needs to do more marketing. As the client commitments start to increase, the time available to market tends to decrease.

Now, if the consultant only had to market once in order to get client commitments, and then those clients stayed around and sustained the consultant’s income, that would be okay. But, clients come and go and if a consultant wants to stay committed, they need to market more to generate new commitments.

So the first part of the conundrum of committedness is: The more commitments you have now, the less time you have to generate new commitments. But the less time you spend on generating new commitments, the fewer you will soon have.

In other words, the consultant needs to find the balance between staying busy with current clients so that there is a healthy income being earned, but also to leave enough time to market in order to get more clients.

All businesses face a similar situation, not just consultants. A manufacturer, for example, doesn’t want to produce too many products so that their inventory is completely overloaded. But they don’t want to produce too few products so that they anger their customers and drive them away.

Whether your commitment is related to time-spent, like a consultant, or products-produced, like a manufacturer, your business may suffer from this first part of the conundrum.

But there’s a second part to this conundrum of committedness that I will talk about in my next blog tommorrow.

Best,

Heather Villa

Related posts:

1. The conundrum of committedness – part 2
2. The conundrum of committedness – part 3
3. When Business Growth is Bad – Part 3