Tag: smallbusiness

If not now, when?

by chuckfasnacht, posted in entrepreneur, franchising, Goals, goalsetting, leadership, startup

It’s easy to put off a major decision isn’t it? I know I’ve done that from time to time. Haven’t most of us?

This time of year I like to review the goals with which I started the year and reframe or rethink how I want my life to change in the coming year. Recently, I saw a post that reminded me of what I got WRONG in the past when setting a new business plan or personal goal. So this year, please join me in doing it better.

Step1: Pray about it first! I’m going to seek Gods help in setting goals first. In the past I would set a goal and then ask my higher power to bless my ideas. This year, get God in on the action early. Let’s have our higher power help us with wisdom and direction.

Step 2: Grab a copy of my book! Can adding process improvements and systems improve your control over outcomes? Whether your starting a new business or scaling an existing project or business you can always learn new ways to apply your talents. Available on Amazon or at my blog.

Step 3: Make a plan! Simple. Clear. Steps.

Have a blessed day and be a blessing!

Where you look you will go

by chuckfasnacht, posted in entrepreneur, franchising, Goals, goalsetting, leadership, lifelong learner, startup, startup

Recently, I received accident avoidance training, which I recommend by the way. In this training event, the teacher was a race car driver, and he said when you are in a spin or if you feel like you are about to lose control always “look where you want the car to go.” He used examples of NOT looking at the ground, or NOT looking straight ahead in a turn. In the case of driving a race car or avoiding an accident, it is important to NOT be looking at the other cars.

The example the trainer used that was the most profound for me was that of a field with a tree in the middle of it. If you were driving through a field and you looked at a tree, saying, “I have to miss the tree…I have to miss the tree…” the premise is that you would indeed draw closer and closer to the tree until you hit it! By looking where you DON’T want to go, your eyes will draw your hands to a position that will create movement in the direction of your gaze.

Conversely, when you want to avoid an obstacle, it is important to look where you want to go. It works when you are going through a turn, and it works for when you want to avoid an accident. It works because our body follows the direction of our focused attention. Whether you are riding a bicycle, a motorcycle, or driving a race car, Look where you want to go!

What a fantastic analogy to goal setting!

If you have read other personal achievement books, you will recognize that we humans have a reticular activating system that will cause us to gravitate toward the focus of our attention. If we are focused on successfully completing the writing of a book, we will find ways and ideas to help us along that path. Likewise, if your goal is to generate more impact with your chosen work or talents, such as a self-directed business, your mind will work to find a way to help you achieve the goals you focus on. Regarding the way our brain works while goal setting, your body will try to create that which the mind is focused upon.

Choose your focus!

Buy your copy of The Franchising Fast Lane today.

Believe in your success

by chuckfasnacht, posted in entrepreneur, franchising, leadership, lifelong learner, startup

Have you ever succeeded at anything before?

Think back to a time that you set out on a new journey or attempted something new. How often did you think about it? A lot? All the time? Were you obsessive? Most likely your new effort was so mentally absorbing that you found yourself driving to work and forgetting how you got there. You were moving along on automatic while thinking about your new shiny new idea. Using the analogy of being a birth mother, it is something that they will think about every day continuously until giving birth. Then they find out that they can’t sleep without being totally engaged in the well-being of the baby.

So it is with starting a new business—no matter how much help you get, and no matter how much the systems and processes have been fine-tuned to allow you to make it happen! It will require a commitment of your psychological attention, as well as your resources of time and money. It will become your baby! Being in a well developed franchise system affords you access to the tools and processes but it will still require YOUR investment of time, energy and focused effort.

So, going back to the earlier question, what have you succeeded at before? You learned to drive a car. When you first started, you had a goal of passing the test, but then found out that passing the test was only the first step in mastering the driving experience. Then comes the continual improvement of your skills and the ability to build on previous knowledge. Pretty soon you were driving across the country and experiencing the freedom that comes with ability to control your own destiny.

So take the first step, you can do this!

Buy your copy of The Franchising Fast Lane today.

If you think you’re lost

by chuckfasnacht, posted in entrepreneur, franchising, Goals, lifelong learner, startup

I started traveling with a new position and my first assignment was to shadow a mature, retired Marine Colonel. You may have heard it said that “there is no such thing as a retired Marine.” Ultimately, once they have had the discipline and experience drilled into them they never go back. I’ll call him “Jay”, and Jay taught me a lot about traveling and developing habits and routines that would enable me to always find my rental car keys, paperwork, the next hotel, and clean bathrooms. In the days before smartphones and GPS systems being everywhere, we used maps to get from one place to another. “If you ever think you’re lost,” he said, “its because you haven’t gone far enough.”

I was thinking about this pearl of wisdom this week and realized how it is such a simple yet valuable lesson. It has happened several times when I thought I was lost; or had gone too far; maybe missed the turn; when I remind myself of this principle. If I THINK I am lost or on the wrong road, just go a little bit farther down the road. The feeling of moving in the direction of a goal when we aren’t getting enough feedback, will sometimes make us think we are on the wrong track or maybe we should turn around. Don’t give in! Keep on going in the direction of your dreams. If you are unsure, keep going. Soon you will KNOW WITH CERTAINTY whether you are on the right track or not. Just go a little bit further!

Ownership mindset!

by chuckfasnacht, posted in entrepreneur, franchising, startup

Being an owner can sometimes be a very lonely role. It is common to find that the owner is the first to arrive and the last to leave. Employees will do what they are paid to do generally, but a person with an owner’s mentality won’t mind going the extra mile to provide excellent customer service. The ownership-minded person won’t walk past an errant piece of litter, and will typically give better attention and more personalized service than those with an employee mentality. An ownership mindset is a major differentiator between a corporate owned business and a locally owned and operated franchise location. The locally owned and operated franchise business will typically provide better service, and show a personal interest in the customer. As a consumer, don’t you prefer to do business with a customer-centric enterprise, assuming they have all the proper training and business format?

Buy your copy of The Franchising Fast Lane today.