Business Tips They Don't Teach you At School

If you have recently graduated deom college with your MBA, congratulations, but don't think that you're going to be a Fortune 500 Company CEO quite yet. Graduating with a business degree sets you up with knowledge and rules in which you should operate under, but just like with any degree, there are some eventualities that business school simply can't prepare you for. Let's take a look at a few basic tips every businessman can take to heart, even if they go against what they taught you in school.

Don't be afraid to take chances

One habit that many young business men and women have beat out of them by the time they receive their degree is their desire to take chances. You can succeed in business by taking a measured approach to every situation, but you will likely end up hating your job. There are going to be times when it is up to you to grasp that brass ring, and you may have to put your neck on the line to do so. The key is to know when the odds might be in your favor to do so and when you might get your head chopped off. It will probably take a few times around the block before you can recognize these openings, but don't let too many go by, you only get so many chances to make or break your business career.

You will make mistakes

Working hand in hand with the previous point, many recent business school grads think that if they move slowly enough and are careful enough, they won't anger anyone and they won't make any horrendous mistakes, either. Think about it, though. What fun would life be without making mistakes? By not making mistakes, you aren't taking any risks, and what is business without risk? It is normal for a recent grad to not want to make any waves when they first get hired, but it is equally as undesirable to simply blend in with the woodwork.

Don't accept no, no matter what

Being a successful business leader is all about desire and commitment. Getting your MBA, on the other hand, is all about compromise and being as vanilla as you can. If you are serious about making it in the world of business, you need to develop a memorable personality as soon as you can. If a client that you absolutely want to get keeps turning you down, don't be afraid to go the extra mile to bag them. It is up to you to think of creative ways to entice a client into seeing things your way. The more creative you are, the more personality that shows through and the more determined you are, the more successful you will be in the world of business. There are times to compromise and move on; you simply have to know when to refuse to lose.

When most people get their MBA, they think they have successfully built a home they can move into. The truth is that your MBA is only the foundation, and it is up to you to build the rest.



If you find yourself needing a business consultant, Estrada Strategies has great business advisors to help guide you in the right path.

Home based Business Advice

Here is some helpful business advice for the individual starting a home based business:

People may start a home-based business for several reasons. Some of these reasons include dissatisfaction with their employment, being jobless, having a wish to be their own boss, or a need to spend more time at home with either their small children or aging parents.

The first thing to remember while starting a home-based business is to be realistic in your expectations from the home based business. There are too many advertisements of home based businesses that boast of making quick money, but in reality, it actually takes between one and three years to make a significant profit from the business.

People who want to make fast money or who think they can start a home based business without spending any money until earning some money should not venture into the small home based business arena. Another piece of advice for home based business entrepreneurs is to spend time as much time possible researching their business idea by making sure there is enough of market for your product or service.

Learn as much as you can about small business by going through the various small home business sites. As with other jobs, it is better to write a business plan and to earnestly stick to it. Seeking the advice of a tax professional is very important in a home-based business. Although this activity may seem a bit expensive in the beginning, you will certainly make up for this expenditure by the different forms of savings you will be taught by the tax professional during the tenure of the home based business.

(Source: Kent Pinkerton) Back to Denver Business Advice

The BIG 10 Questions that Could Change your Business

by Life & Business Coach Dieter Pauwels October 17, 2008

Successful organizations understand that the key to increased productivity and profitability lies in the ongoing professional and personal development of people.

These companies create an environment where people can grow, develop their unique talents and align their values with a corporate vision.

Your answers to the following 10 questions might illuminate some areas for improvement:

1. What is your level of commitment to the personal development of your staff?


2. Do you know what motivates and inspires your staff and/or employees?


3. What are your company’s vision and core values, and how do you communicate them within your organization?


4. Are you confident your top people will be with your organization 1 year from now? How do you know?


5. If you would be asked to rank your leadership skills on a scale from 1 to 10, how would you rank yourself? How confident are you with your answer?


6. How do you empower your staff or employees to help them co-create your company’s culture?


7. Does your organization inspire creativity and open dialogue?


8. Are you getting the results you want?


9. Do your managers and/or employees have the necessary tools, skills and commitment to help others develop their true potential?


10. What do you want more of within your organization? What’s missing?

More and more companies hire a business coach to work with individuals or teams within their organization to facilitate changes within the context of the organizations’ culture to achieve extraordinary results.

Business coaching is focused on individuals, not business systems. It allows you to move your organization to the next level by investing in your employees at the highest level: in them as people.

Coaching is about developing the most important aspect in business today: leadership from within. It is only when people can effectively manage themselves that they can effectively manage, inspire, encourage and lead others.

Companies hire a coach to work with individuals or teams within their organization to:

• Improve individual performance and self confidence
  
• Increase effectiveness and productivity
  
• Establish open dialogue and creativity
  
• Improve communication skills (interpersonal and negotiation)
  
• Retain employees
  
• Align personal values and beliefs with a corporate vision
  
• Create a leadership attitude
  
• Gain clarity to make objective and thoughtful decisions
  
• Assist in developing measurable goals and taking responsibility
  
• Improve time management
  
• Build leadership, management and team building skills
  
• Manage work related stress
  
• Increase energy and overall well-being

The Importance of Seeking Business Advice

Aligning yourself with a trusted business advisor is one of the most valuable pieces of advice that anyone can give you. Entrepreneurs are by nature mavericks—--daring, inspired, “idea-people" with the grit to overcome extraordinary obstacles. They are visionaries who are empowered by an innovative idea, a passionate drive to set out on their own, and a burning desire to succeed. This independent, pioneering spirit is not only the power that drives entrepreneurial innovation, but it is also the perennial Achilles heel for entrepreneurs seeking the help of others.

Perhaps, the biggest mistake many entrepreneurs make is seeking business advice from a professional business advisor only when they are in trouble! A truly proactive entrepreneur surrounds himself with talented people, has a realistic vision, and is able to communicate his vision. Successful entrepreneurs bring in advisors to help them architect the future, chart a course, and stay on track when things are good, not just when things are bad. If you’re starting or jump starting a business, the importance of assembling a team of business professionals cannot be overstated.

Succeeding in business demands a proactive rather than a reactive approach. Seeking business advice is a good thing --- it is proactive, rather than reactive. The key to entrepreneurial success lies in the ability to plan, implement, execute, measure, and adjust. It is very difficult, in most cases, for an entrepreneur to accomplish all of these on his own. Having an impartial advisor--not an emotionally invested friend or family member—--can be an asset. Choosing a general business advisor is a serious decision. It is important that you select a business advisor who is competent, experienced and has both integrity and expertise---an individual that you can trust in this newly formed fiduciary relationship.

There are no hard, fast rules for making the decision to engage a business advisor. However, certain commonalities in business situations suggest the possible need for the advice of a business advisor:

• Management believes that performance could be better, but is uncertain on what steps to take to achieve these improvements.
• Management does not have the specific knowledge and skills necessary to solve the problems that it has identified.
• Management has the necessary knowledge and skills, but not the time or personnel to solve problems.
• Management’s efforts have not produced the desired long-term improvements.
  Management requires an independent, third party opinion, either to confirm a decision or to provide alternatives.

Business Consultant with New Approach Arrives in Denver

Written by T.P. Beh

“You can’t sell. Your business isn’t worth anything,” were the startling words Mike Tafoya received from his business mentor. How could that be, after he had turned a failing Southern California company around, making it into a multi-million dollar success story in just five years? What kind of counsel was that from a wise, trusted advisor? “You are the business, Mike,” he said, “Without you, it doesn’t work.” With those words, the lights began to go on, launching Tafoya on a new career path that would eventually land him in Colorado.

“What I came to realize,” Tafoya says, “was that my business was completely dependent on me.” Needless to say, Tafoya’s goal of selling the business for enough money to retire would have to wait. The stark reality of his situation forced him over the next three years not only to come to grips with his company’s deficiencies, but to take an entirely new approach as a business owner. With his mentor’s help, his redefined career goal became building a self-sustaining business that was profitable and thriving (which he could sell for enough to retire). In the process, he discovered Estrada Strategies.

Tafoya’s destiny in business became clear early in life. A Colorado native born in Pueblo, his family moved to Anaheim, California when he was a young boy. From the age of 12 he was busy babysitting, gardening and selling subscriptions for the Orange County Register, taking his first “real” job at 16 at a stained glass business, The Glass Hopper. By the age of 18, Mike had established himself as a successful real estate agent with one of the largest realty firms in Southern California, buying eight apartment units along the way. At 20, he was able to purchase the Glass Hopper, which he operated for four years.

Tafoya next took a marketing and sales position with WindowMaster Products, a San Diego window manufacturer, where he pioneered business for the firm in most of So. Cal’s largest counties. Due largely to his marketing efforts from 1984-1989, the company grew from $12 million to $50 million in sales. Upon leaving WindowMaster, Mike became the product and operations manager with a small glass installer in Mission Viejo, Heinaman Contract Glazing, helping the sub-contractor grow from doing $3 million to $12 million in business over the next five years (’90-’95). During his time at WindowMaster and Heinaman, Tafoya gained valuable leadership experience in employee management and coaching.

In October 1995, Tafoya became the owner of the struggling Richelieu Glass Co., changing its name to RGC, Inc. and multiplying its sales more than 10 times from $287,000 to $3,000,000 over the next five years. Having achieved a fair degree of success by the year 2000 at age of 43, Mike was hoping to do other things when he was smacked in the face with his mentor’s, “You can’t.” It forced him to take a hard look at the extent—and limits—of his business knowledge, experience and resources. Faced with problems he didn’t anticipate and couldn’t solve himself, Mike says he did what most entrepreneurs and CEOs do: “I hired a consultant.” Fortunately, he eventually introduced Mike to Reuben Estrada, owner of a business development firm, becoming a client of Estrada Strategies (ES) in 2001.

Rather than the kind of “quick fixes” provided by most consulting firms, ES offers clients a fully developed, long-term, business solutions program centered on training, coaching and mentoring. While companies commonly seek help with specific issues they have in, say, management or administration, ES focuses on modifying the perceptions and behaviors of the business owner. A guiding principle: “If you fix the business owner, the business fixes itself.”

Mike soon learned that one of the prime deficiencies at RGC, Inc. was a lack of what ES calls “a defined culture”—no clearly articulated connection to the passion and purpose of the business as well as rules of conduct or behavior, outlining the what, why, how, who and where of the company’s operations. As Mike now informs others, “Without defining these areas, there’s really no leadership, and the company lacks the ‘fuel’ it needs to drive the business.” Instead, it leads to conflict and chaos in the workplace. It also makes it almost impossible for the business to be self-sustaining, or to operate independently—much less to have real value.

The second piece of the puzzle ES helps businesses put in place are systems. “A company that isn’t systemized has little impact,” Mike states. Systems, including Growth, Client Retention, Administration, Operations, Information Technology and Finance, provide an operation with self-sustaining structures. Creating such an infrastructure allows a company to establish benchmarks for evaluating employee performance and to identify practices that lead to increased profits. As Mike puts it, “It helps the owner see the business from a higher plane, where he’s able to achieve measurable results, identify efficiencies and empower his employees to greater accomplishments.”

The Estrada Strategies program enabled Tafoya to put lacking systems in place at RGC and to define its culture. Once that was done he promoted his sales manager to V.P. of Operations and established a mentoring/reporting relationship with him, freeing Mike to be on site only half a day a week. Within two years, RGC had become a self-sustaining business that went from $287,000 to $3 million in profits, which enabled Tafoya to realize his goal of selling it with enough to retire in 2005.

Taking a year off to pursue personal interests and to focus on individual growth led Tafoya to “define the culture” of his own life. Realizing that over his 30 years of business experience, his true passion was people and that what he loved to do most was help others be successful, he came up with: “Building Lives, Building a Future.” From there it was an easy step to becoming an ES franchise owner. Moving to Colorado in 2007, Mike settled in Castle Rock with his wife Sharon and serves the Denver and South Metro areas.

Asking, “Do you know?” at his presentations, Tafoya likes to relate these kinds of statistics on new businesses from the federal government:
· 97% of all fail within 2 years
· 52% with employees fail by year 4
· 57% start with less than a $5,000 investment
· Only 20% of business owners have a college degree

As described by Estrada Strategies, “vision (another thing lacking at most companies) is an almost unattainable dream that serves as a driving force in the business.” It might sound unrealistic, but Tafoya’s is: “Turning the tide on the business failure stats in the Denver area.” Who knows? Natural that he is, with 30+ years of experience, he might just do it! He can be reached at miket@EstradaStrategies.com/DTC.