Archives for May 2016

Who I Am and Why I’m Here

May 25, 2016 by rontester 7 Comments

I’m Ron

My name is Ron Tester and I’m a business coach. I help small business owners build profitable businesses that meet their financial goals while giving them back their time and their lives.

My History

Building my first business was a real struggle for me. As Michael E. Gerber would say, I knew how to do the work within that business, but I did not know how to run a business that did that kind of work. Although I struggled early on, I eventually built a sustainable business that provides me the freedom I was looking for when I started the business. The freedom to make my own decisions, create the business I had always wanted to work for (but couldn’t find), hire and work alongside great people, etc. Just as important, my business provides me with the freedom to take off when I want—spend time with my family and friends, travel—and know the business will continue to flourish even when I’m not around.

My Mission

As I began working with other small business owners, I realized that many were struggling just as I was. They felt overwhelmed by the amount of work they had to do. They didn’t know how to create the right strategies, execute the right tactics, hire the right people or build an effective team. Having been in their shoes, I vowed that the small business owners I work with would not have to struggle like I did.

I have now been working for myself since 2001, and earn a comfortable income, primarily from my own business, but also by coaching other small business owners to help them build the businesses they’ve always wanted. Together we develop the strategies and tactics they need to grow their business, then I help to keep them accountable to execute. And when they execute and get the results they’re looking for, we celebrate together.

Looking for Help?

If you are a small business owner who is looking for help taking your business from where it is to where you want it to be, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. You can email me at ron@rontester.com, and you can also find me on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

Time Management Tips for Small Business Owners

May 11, 2016 by rontester 1 Comment

Are You Managing Your Time or Is It Managing You?

It’s amazing how much some people manage to get done, while others seem to be stuck in a rut without enough time in the day to accomplish much of anything. But, here’s the secret (which is no secret at all): everyone has the same amount of time in every single day. It’s one way in which we are all created equal. Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day.

Where we are unequal is in the resources we have at our disposal and our abilities to deploy those resources. When people tell me that I have as much time as Oprah or the President (as if that’s supposed to make me magically more productive), I tell them that’s true, but I don’t have an army of minions at my beck and call. If I had hundreds (or thousands) of people doing whatever I tell them to, I’d look like a productivity machine, too.

Here’s the thing, though. None of that matters, and none of that helps me. I have what I have and my job is to make the most of it. In order to make the most of it, though, I’ve got to take action. Same goes for you. Here are the time management tips I’d recommend.

Track Your Activities for a Week

To get a real picture of how you spend your time, try tracking everything you do for at least one week. Use a small recorder to record when you start and stop any task, and include the time. Alternatively, just use an old-fashioned pad and paper. Don’t change anything for now; just live your life as you do.

Evaluate

Now look at how you spent your time. Organize each thing that you did into urgent, important, family, fun, and time wasters. Some things that are fun might fall into the category of time wasting and that’s okay, because you can place limits on some things to still allow yourself to have fun without going overboard wasting time.

Assign All Important Tasks to a “To-Do” List

Everything that is urgent and important should be scheduled. Some people put To-Do’s on their calendars, some send themselves emails via services such as followupthen.com. Some urgent and important things will also be family things. Put it all into the schedule or the list. Give it the amount of time you think it will take, adding a few minutes for padding to avoid run over and missed deadlines.

Schedule Fun Time

Don’t forget to put time for fun into your schedule. Fun often goes with family and friends and it is a very important part of your life. The trick is to schedule the right amount of time and the right amount of fun, without intruding on the important and urgent tasks and activities that you also must do.

Spend Time Each Night and Morning in Planning Mode

My friend and fellow entrepreneur Pam Montgomery recommends that you spend time each evening planning for the next day. I think that’s a great idea. Take the time each evening to evaluate how your day went, decide what could have been done better, or what needs longer or shorter times to accomplish. If you do this, you will get better at creating a plan. Each morning take the time to look over your schedule to remind yourself what is coming up so you don’t forget anything. Never rely on just memory or you will almost certainly get off track.

Create a Plan of Action for Each Activity

It doesn’t matter if the plan is for family time, for business, or something else — if you create a plan of attack for each item on your to-do list, you’ll accomplish it faster with fewer problems. One of the biggest time wasters is jumping from item to item. Stick to one thing at a time until it’s done and you’ll feel as if you have a lot more time in your day.

Train Others to Respect Your Time

If you have a business, especially if you work from home, you will often find that other people seem to lack respect for your time. The real issue is that you’ve not taught people to respect your time. As Oprah (or maybe it was Dr. Phil) once said, “You teach people how to treat you.” Are you teaching people to respect your time? If not, it’s time to start doing so. My mentor Connie Ragen Green guards her most productive time each day and doesn’t let anything interfere with her work.

Delegate

Never underestimate the power of delegation for getting more time in your day. A good assistant can almost double your time. So while you can’t actually get more time, you can get more done by delegating to an assistant. You can create a situation where you duplicate yourself by hiring an assistant or outsourcing some mundane tasks such as housework or lawn care. There is no such thing as a successful CEO who doesn’t delegate.

Be Realistic

Finally, it’s important to always be realistic about what can really be accomplished in any given amount of time. No matter how much you want to be, you’re not superman or superwoman—you’re just a human who is doing their best to manage the resources they have. If you’ve done your best and something doesn’t get done today, move it to tomorrow. As you get better at scheduling, you’ll get it down to a science on how long it really takes you to do any particular task and you’ll have fewer days where you don’t succeed.

I’d love to hear more about your best time management tips. Feel free to leave a comment below.

Money Management Mistakes to Avoid

May 9, 2016 by rontester Leave a Comment

If you own a business, you need to be careful.

I was recently speaking at Connie Ragen Green’s Weekend Marketer Live event in Los Angeles and a question came up afterwards about funding to start a new business. I told the person who was asking about my experience starting several businesses but also consulting with many startups. I know many of these mistakes because I made them, others I saw in businesses I was helping. I thought it would be good to share here.

Many entrepreneurs start out in business kind of wet behind the ears. They are full of expectations, excitement, and dreams but little else. They don’t take the time to look at the data surrounding their niche so that they can understand what is truly possible if they work toward it. Some will ignore all the facts that present themselves and walk right into failure. Others succeed seemingly against all odds. I recently reread Bill Murphy Jr.’s excellent The Intelligent Entrepreneur and I was reminded of a concept from Jon Ledecky: DROOM, which means “Don’t Run Out of Money.” (For a good summary of that book, check out this article from Entrepreneur magazine called “10 Rules for Entrepreneurs to Live By.”)

Getting back to it, though, here are some common money management mistakes entrepreneurs make:

Not Having Enough Start-Up Capital—Many business owners fail to realize how much it will take them to get their business started. They don’t raise enough starting cash and hit roadblocks before they even get off the ground. This is true for micro businesses and big businesses alike. Every business needs some start-up capital; you can’t really start free, and if you think you can it’s unrealistic. At the very least you’ll need to invest time and resources that you already have.
Spending Too Much Money at Start-Up—Conversely, may people over-invest in their start-up. They haven’t really looked at the big picture and start throwing money at the business without any budget at all. If you are starting a really small business that you believe you can earn a few hundred dollars a week doing, you don’t throw 20K at a website right off the bat. Be realistic about the type of tools you need to experience the success you desire. If you’re not sure whether you should make a big investment in something, email me. Get a second or third opinion. Seriously.
Not Paying Yourself—Many entrepreneurs start a business, start earning money, and either do not formally pay themselves, or they simply spend what they want out of the business account with no differentiation of what belongs to them and what belongs to the business. Until you can formally pay yourself, it all belongs to the business.
Not Looking at the Data—All of the above can be avoided by looking at the real data about your business start-up. Don’t spend more money than the data dictates. The things that you study—competition, your audience and so forth, will help you determine the price of your product or service. And how many people are in the audience will dictate how many people spend their money. Most of this can be determined before you even open your doors by asking the right questions and collecting the right data. This was a biggie for me. I hired someone to watch the money because I didn’t think I had the time/expertise to do it myself. That was a HUGE mistake.
Waiting for Perfection—Whether it’s a website, a book, or other type of product or service, don’t wait for perfection. First of all, perfection does not exist. There is always room for improvement. Due to this fact, if you try to wait for perfection you’ll never launch. Remember, if something is truly wrong you can work on it with future releases of your product.
Not Knowing When to Walk Away—The concept of sunk costs is often lost on new entrepreneurs. A sunk cost is the money you spent starting the business. When determining whether or not to walk away from a business, you never include sunk costs in your decision. That is money that is gone, that you will never get back no matter how hard you work if the idea turned out to be poor. Learn how to look at the data so that you know when to say when.
Reinventing the Wheel—If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. Time and again consumers show that they don’t want something they already love made better. (Think about Coke versus New Coke, for example.) The same can be said for online businesses. Many companies have already done studies on what colors of sites work best with various audiences, what type of websites work best with a particular subset of an audience and so forth. Go with the numbers, test small changes, but don’t try to be radical when so much already works fine.
Not Understanding That Customer Service Is Vital to the Bottom Line—Your customer service ability can make or break you. You may wonder how customer service has anything to do with money management mistakes, but if you haven’t pleased the customer and you offer no customer care, you’ll soon find out that it costs a lot more to keep acquiring new customers than to make the ones you have happy.

I recently tried to get in touch with a locally owned bakery about an event I was doing. I called them and they put me on hold immediately (“Please hold” but not waiting for me to respond). After three minutes I hung up and called back. This time they didn’t even bother with “please hold” before they put me on hold. I hung up, waited a few minutes, then called back. As the guy answered I said, “What time…” and he responded without listening, “Please hold….” I looked at the local bakery’s google page and the customer reviews were trending like this, “This place used to be good…,” and “The food is subpar and overpriced.” I went to Corner Bakery, a national chain, and did business with them.

Under-Anticipating Response—Nothing is worse than doing a marketing blitz and then finding out that your website has crashed. Be prepared for any major spike in traffic, whether by foot, website, or telephone when you do any type of marketing. Test your websites continuously and ensure that you have the right hosting for the type of traffic you need to make the kind of money you believe you can make.
Spending before Receiving—Another money management mistake entrepreneurs make is spending money before they actually get it. Just because someone owes you money doesn’t mean they will really give it to you. Be prepared with good billing procedures that your clients understand and respect. Then, never spend a single dime until you have it in your bank account.

Making money management mistakes is pretty much par for the course for any new entrepreneur, but you can avoid huge issues by paying attention to the numbers from day one in a realistic data-driven manner.

My final piece of advice: if numbers aren’t your thing, hire an accountant to keep track of things and explain them. I sit down with my accountant to review the numbers at least monthly. If I don’t understand something or something seems off, I ask and keep asking until I understand what’s going on and what, if anything, I need to do in response to the numbers. It’s your business, and you should do whatever it takes to make it work for you.

What is Software as a Service?

May 8, 2016 by rontester 1 Comment

Should You Consider Cloud-Based Software Programs for Your Business? I think so.

Software as a service

It used to be a ritual. I would buy a new computer for my company, then I’d shell out another $400ish for Microsoft Office Professional. As computer hardware prices dropped lower and lower, I ended up spending more for the various programs I needed than for the computer to run the programs. That old model is changing, though, and I for one am glad.

Cloud-based software, sometimes known as “software as a service,” or SaaS, has been around for a while, but it’s become the dominant software distribution model in the past few years. Basically, cloud-based software is a business model that uses licensing and monthly fees to allow the users to have access to using the software on the owners’ servers. The user will access the software using a special URL, username and password. As long as the user pays their monthly fee, they keep the software.

There are many reasons you should consider using cloud-based software—here are eight of them.

Automatic Updates Included – No more having to pay a large fee to upgrade outdated software. Now the upgrades happen anytime they’re needed without you worrying about them at all. It all happens seamlessly within the cloud-based system and you don’t even have to give it a thought.

Work from Anywhere – You are no longer tied to your desktop where the software is loaded. Now you and your staff can literally work from anywhere, often using many different types of devices. Location is now only limited to having a device and internet connection.

Scale Up or Down as Needed – Start small and build it bigger. You can even downgrade when needed during slow seasons. Most cloud-based software programs allow you to upgrade and downgrade easily without affecting the functionality of the software.

Smaller Start-Up Costs – A small business can get started with fully functional software that they need for a lot lower cost. They used to have to spend thousands to get started with the same software, whilst now that can literally cost less than 100 dollars.

Allows You to Globalize Your Business – You are no longer limited to hiring people in your geographical area. Now you can hire the best talent across the globe. They can sign into your system with their own device, using their own internet connection, thus giving you many more options than you had in the past.

Lower Training Costs – Most cloud-based software programs offer their own training, so users can sign on and watch videos already created and send messages to the helpdesk on their own without your involvement.

More User Friendly – They want many people to use it, so they need to make it user friendly. Most cloud-based software programs are designed with well laid out navigation, and some even let you change it to suit your own needs. Typically, you can use what you want, and hide what you don’t.

Fewer IT Requirements – You don’t have to have any IT on staff to help you manage cloud-based software programs. What’s more, you can find cloud-based solutions even for software you’re used to and that used to have to be installed natively, such as MS Office with their Office 365 solution or Adobe with their Creative Cloud option.

Cloud-based software programs have been a game changer for my businesses and are a great option to consider using in your business. Another little-known benefit is the ability to write off 100 percent of the cost of software subscriptions. When you pay monthly for anything such as rental furniture or software subscriptions, you can deduct 100 percent, whereas if you buy it outright you have to count it as an asset depreciate. (Do check with your tax advisor for current rules.)

Have you jumped into the world of cloud-based programs? Feel free to share your experience below.

How to Hire a Business Coach

May 4, 2016 by rontester 1 Comment

Everyone can get better. Even Michael Jordan had a coach.

Whether you’re just starting a business or you’re well into your venture, the idea of hiring a business coach may have come to mind. But you may be wondering if a business coach can really make a difference for you. To answer this question, you need to understand what a business coach does, and how to choose the right one for you.

Business coaching provides a way to interact with a professional who has your best interests at heart and can help you be more effective building your business and balancing your life and your business. Business coaches are a good mixture of accountability partner, sounding board, cheerleader and even emotional support. The business coach specializes in ensuring that all aspects of your life work together with the ultimate focus on ensuring that your business works.

Even the process of hiring a coach can be beneficial to your business. The coach will want to assess where you are right now with your business and find out where you want to go. An effective business coach will help you determine not just the direction you want your business to go, but will also identity actionable steps to take to achieve the goals you and your coach set.

Accountability — Checking in with someone else on a regular basis to tell them and show them what you’ve accomplished since the last meeting will give you someone besides yourself to be accountable to. For many people this helps them act in their own best interests and not put off anything, since most people don’t want to disappoint others.
Sounding Board — Talking plans and proposals out with a third party who is also well versed in your type of business will help solidify each plan you make so that you’re not going down the wrong roads to start with.
Cheerleader — Running a business is hard and some business coaches make excellent support systems and cheerleaders. In this way, you not only have a good plan of action to make your dreams come true but also someone to share your success with who has your best interests at heart.
Emotional Support – Many business coaches understand how home life can affect your business life. They can often help you deal with your family and friends when it comes to pushing your business forward.

If you need help identifying holes in your business plan, ways to fill the gaps, and how to create an actionable plan to push your business forward, then a business coach can definitely make a difference. The trick is finding the right business coach for your particular business.

In order to find the right coach for you that fits your business type and personality, ask the right questions of any potential coach. Plus, ask others for referrals before hiring any business coach. Finally, try working on a short-term project with them first. This can help you ensure that they are the right coach to push your business to the next level.

If you’d like more information about working with me, email me. We’ll talk about you and your situation to see if we’re a good fit. If we are, we’ll know. If not, I might be able to point you in the right direction.