Help Your Business Succeed

by Pat OSullivan on March 14th, 2012 / No Comment

Category: Leadership, Mentoring Questions, Strategic Change

Pat-OSullivanSPECIAL GUEST BLOG By Pat O’Sullivan, Strategic Development Mentor, Mentors.ie

Start-up businesses often require the advice of those with experience in their field or industry. Existing businesses don’t always meet their goals. Both of these businesses can benefit from having mentors. Mentors have long been associated with encouraging, steering, and advising. Mentor.ie has taken that concept to the next level as it relates to the business world.

It doesn’t matter, what size business or company you have. A mentor can offer you helpful tips, organizational advice, and strategy assistance. This is a good way to get your business on track to success. You will discover veteran professionals among the mentors at Mentor.ie. There are also individuals who were former executives here. With their assistance, you will be able to choose a better business model and to meet your goals.

Years of Experience

Mentors at Mentor.ie have years of experience and expertise. The working knowledge offered by mentors is a benefit to your business. If you need help tackling challenges, mentors can be effective. They can share proven techniques, as well as, advise you on direction. These veterans can also serve as board members for businesses.

Strategy Expertise

Some businesses need to define their strategy. Other businesses will find that it is necessary to re-define strategy. With the help of a qualified mentor, you can do just that. The approaches applied through Mentor.ie focus on business, people, sales, and operations. Expertise in this area can prove invaluable. Your strategy should be designed to lead to your overall success.

Long-Term Objectives

Long-term objectives are important when it comes to business success. This is especially essential when it comes to start-up business models. Mentors offer experience that will aid you in making plans for the future. These are long-term methods with on-going objectives. Mentor.ie works to share experience that requires action-oriented techniques.

Mentor.ie is staffed with individuals that have worked in various fields. They have both national and international experience. Their expertise can be a great benefit to your business. It is possible to meet your goals and productivity. At the same time, business owners can plan for the future with mentors at Mentor.ie.

What’s Your Strategy?

by Pat OSullivan on March 9th, 2012 / No Comment

Category: Leadership, Strategic Change

Pat-OSullivanSPECIAL GUEST BLOG By Pat O’Sullivan, Strategic Development Mentor, Mentors.ie

Strategy is essential when it comes to setting up a successful business model. This is the case no matter what field or industry you are working in. It is not always easy to define what your strategy is. Many businesses struggle with this type of concern. Mentor.ie offers you the assistance that you need for defining and re-defining your business strategy.

Mentor.ie takes a proven approach at conducting business. This model looks at components like business, people, sales, operations, and strategy. Each component is valuable and necessary for you to accommodate. A qualified mentor will help you to better organize your business. The mentors at Mentor.ie offer years of professional experience. They also have expertise in a variety of areas. This experience and expertise are resources for you when you start to define your strategy.

Looking at Your Field

One of the ways to best compose a strategy is to look at your competition. Who are the players in your field? Are they successful? Mentors can assist you with this sort of information. They often apply their own professional experience with consulting duties. A look at your field will help you to adjust and to apply a winning strategy.

What Has Worked

Mentors don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to composing a strategy. Strategies that have worked in the past are good models. Fortunately for clients of Mentor.ie, mentors have worked and served in diverse fields of expertise. They know how to help start-up companies and businesses. Taking notice of the current climate and proven tactics and strategies, you can put together a successful model.

Utilize Mentors

No one wants to repeat the mistakes that other businesses have fallen to. Avoiding mistakes is a big part of conducting business. Mentors are resources to help you to avoid pitfalls in business. Utilizing them is a smart way to plan ahead in your strategy.

The veteran business professionals at Mentor.ie are skilled at corporate governance. These are individuals who have served on boards of multinational companies in some cases. Mentors offer you decades of knowledge and experience. It is possible to define a strategy with their help that will transform your business and how it performs. This is invaluable expertise at its best.

Employee Capabilities and the Prevalence of Technology

by Pat OSullivan on February 1st, 2012 / No Comment

Category: Human Resources

If employees and executives are frequently guilty of downplaying HR’s role, often so too is HR in assessing employees’ ability to manage information. Computers first appeared in schools over 12 years ago and today are used by 75 percent of employees to access the Internet for three hours a day on average. Still, many in HR are reluctant to give up basic self-service benefit management tasks that would save a tremendous amount of time and allow them to better address company objectives.

While it is true that online benefits management can be a scary prospect for those who may be less computer savvy, having access to employee benefits online is another way to provide greater employee satisfaction through accessibility and choice. In fact, many employees will expect online access, especially today’s younger generation for whom iPods and IM are part of everyday life.

Self-service HR has become so invaluable that a September 2006 Forrester Research report termed it “an essential core application” for businesses. The report pointed to the ability of Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS) to help manage personnel costs, operate efficient business processes, comply with regulations and manage legal exposures, and optimize the value of human capital.

HR personnel who are currently postponing  the introduction of a self-service HRMS in their business should consider implementing such a system in the near future – not only to provide better value for the company but also to allow them to focus on key strategic tasks that are unique to their role.

The Evolution of Strategic Planning

by Pat OSullivan on January 18th, 2012 / 67 Comments

Category: Finance, Leadership, Strategic Change

“Meticulous planning will enable everything a man does to appear spontaneous”.

-Mark Caine

In the workplace, the words “strategic plan” tends to either energize people or drain them, depending on their past experience with the discipline. There is immense value in having a strategic plan that aligns people and processes to achieve shared goals.

Sounds like common sense, right? Doesn’t every organization have one? No, some companies do not have one, says Pat O’Sullivan, Strategic Change Mentor, Mentors.ie

Misperceptions about what is involved in creating a practical and effective strategic plan can create false barriers to undertaking the process. Some of those misperceptions may be rooted in business practices that were popular many years ago.

In the 70′s and 80′s, during the peak of the TQM (total quality management) movement, people would spend hours upon hours developing lengthy, detailed 5+ year strategic plans that often ended up in someone’s files, never to be seen again. Strategic Planning was viewed as a dull and laborious task that quickly became outdated.

In the 90′s, the speed of organizational change revved up to a pace that dictated strategic plans be shorter and relevant for just 6-12 months. Later, during the dot-com era, strategic planning became almost non-existent or perhaps too “old-school” to be perceived as adding any value to an organization.

Fast forward to 2011. The economic downturn has provided time for leaders to reflect, recalibrate, and strategize for the future. What made organizations successful in the past may not be what will keep them successful in the future. Today, more organizations appear to be taking time to develop simple strategic plans as an inclusive process, and one that may combine the best of all lessons learned from the past.

The strategic plan has six core elements:

Vision- A Vision Statement: defines the optimal desired future state – the mental picture – of what an organization wants to achieve over time; provides guidance and inspiration as to what an organization is focused on achieving in five, ten, or more years; functions as the “north star” – it is what all employees understand their work every day ultimately contributes towards accomplishing over the long term; and, is written succinctly in an inspirational manner that makes it easy for all employees to repeat it at any given time.

Mission- A Mission statement: Defines the present state or purpose of an organization; answers three questions about why an organization exists –

WHAT it does;
WHO it does it for; and
HOW it does what it does.

Is written succinctly in the form of a sentence or two, but for a shorter timeframe (one to three years) than a Vision statement; and, is something that all employees should be able to articulate upon request.

Core Values- Once a Mission, Vision, and Core Values are defined, it is critical that senior leaders consistently communicate them: the “why we exist,” (Mission), the “where we are heading in the future,” (Vision), and “what behavioral norms are expected to be upheld by all when interacting to accomplish work together” (Core Values).

Strategic Areas of Focus (SFAs) – These help a company to sustain or grow in order to create competitive advantage. The conditions and nuances that affect SFAs are used to determine in which direction a particular SFA is moving and how a company can exploit unrealized opportunities.

Strategic Goals- Strategic goals are statements of what you wish to achieve over the period of the strategic plan (e.g. over the next year, five years, ten years.) They reflect the analysis you do that starts with creating a vision, a role statement and a mission statement, and then your analysis of your environment, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Action Plans- Having a great idea is one thing, taking action and having a step by step process is what will make your business succeed. The problem is nobody ever showed you where to start in your own small business. The mistakes which need to be rectified by small business owners are:

  1. Disorganization- As a business owner and entrepreneur, you probably have many creative ideas but you don’t have a system and step-by-step action plan to make these things happen.
  1. Too Busy-The average small business owner has an endless list of possible tasks to complete every day. You need a system to identify what small actions you can take today to create massive results. It’s called leverage.
  2. Undefined Goals- Without a clearly defined set of goals, you will struggle to make business decisions and create a powerful business. The end result is mediocrity and a drain on your resources.

Simple strategic plans can be created collaboratively, updated frequently, and most importantly, implemented to ensure a Return On Investment for companies.

Schedule a Complimentary 2-Hour Business Review Session with Pat by clicking here.

Building Your Own Business – More Than Just an Idea!

by Pat OSullivan on January 11th, 2012 / 143 Comments

Category: Leadership, Mentoring Questions

“In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield”.

— Warren Buffett

Most business owners start with a great idea and lots of enthusiasm. Some people are so excited about their business idea and so eager to get started, they fail to recognize

Pat O'Sullivan

what is actually involved in operating a business. In other words, they fail to recognize the importance of planning.

As a business owner, you’re hardwired to enjoy a greater level of risk than the average person. But, if there’s one thing you don’t want to risk – especially in today’s economy – it’s your personal financial security, says Pat O’Sullivan, Strategic Change Mentor, Mentors.ie.

The common financial mistakes made by small business owners are:

Not Understanding the Collection Process and Cash Flow

Too many small business owners are so focused on making the sale and fail to recognize the importance of collections. For most entrepreneurs, making the sale and delivering the product or service is much more exciting then the mundane task of collections. In order to generate sales entrepreneurs extend credit to “high risk” customers. If you do not collect on your billings, you gave away your product or service for free. You will not stay in business too long if this occurs too frequently.

Ignoring Your Current Cash Position

Financial projections rarely work out as anticipated and therefore a cash reserve should be established. It is that cash reserve that sustains you when business does not run as smoothly as you anticipated. If you fail to appropriately manage your cash and your credit availability, you may find out that you ran out of money and credit just when you need it most.

Debtor Collection

Ensuring debtors pay punctually is crucial to the survival of a business. The outstanding debtors checklist need to be reviewed frequently and reminders sent to any account balances overdue.

Neglecting taxes

It really is crucial to make sure the organization is in conformity with all taxes to avoid Revenue interest and penalties. A business has specific tax obligations from the first day of trading not just when it becomes profitable. A sole trader needs to also budget for payment of income tax.

Not having a Board of Advisors

An advisory board should enable you to establish your priorities, objectivity and create accountability. One of the best ways to use members of your advisory board is to have them review your business plan and pre-qualify your major business decisions.

Although you can bring in friends or family members to fill these roles, it is crucial to have seasoned professionals that can provide honest and direct guidance. We recommend that you have a minimum of three advisors:

  • A seasoned solicitor with the appropriate experience for your business
  • A Business Consultant or Mentor with either finance or management expertise
  • A qualified accountant – to set the business up and crunch the numbers throughout its progress

The very nature of a business owner is to constantly evaluate new ideas and business strategies. Without direction and accountability to control these ideas, you may be diverting too much attention away from achieving your primary goals. These common mistakes made by business owners if corrected can help their businesses grow by manifolds.

Schedule a Complimentary 2-Hour Business Review Session with Pat by clicking here.

Operations Management:Effectiveness and Efficiency

by Pat OSullivan on December 28th, 2011 / 3 Comments

Category: Strategic Change

SPECIAL GUEST BLOG By Pat O'Sulllivan, Strategic Change Mentor, Mentors.ie

There are many different definitions out there for what operations management is, but for the purposes of this article we will sum it up as:

"an area of business that is concerned with the production of goods and services, and involves the responsibility of ensuring that business operations are efficient and effective.”

In a simplistic definition this is the role of operations management, doing the right thing, at the right time, for the right price. I short the role of operations management is to protect the profit margin and keep the costs in line to deliver what was promised, when it was promised and for the price that was promised. Rest assured that unless you are in a rather unique industry if the costs of making the good or service exceed the quoted costs, your company will end up bearing the burden of the increased cost. 

Business comes down in short to 2 factors- Sales Price and Cost. Each part of the above equation has a dramatic impact on the continued operation of your business, and in effect how long you are in business. Effectiveness will have a dramatic effect on the sales price of your product, as customer perception and your relevant place within the market will determine whether or not you can charge a premium price within your field. On the contrary efficiency controls cost variables that can dramatically impact the profit margin of the business without having to go after your customer for an additional cost up. 

So how do you know that your operation is effective, and more importantly how do you define effective? Many companies use KPI (Key Process Indicators) measures to determine effectiveness, Six Sigma uses VOC or Voice of the Customer to determine the CTQ (Critical to Quality) requirements that will spell out whether or not you are effective in your operations. Effectiveness is more however about meeting the contractual requirements in all areas, and this equals a perceived value in the marketplace. 

Efficiency on the other hand is optimizing the use of all your resources to deliver the goods or service at the best level. Efficiency will dictate whether or not as an operation you will be able to deliver consistently at the profit margin and deal with the fluctuations of your industry in a way that keeps you on top as an effective entity. Efficiency is about resource optimization, but without being effective it is irrelevant how efficient you can be, because it is not sustainable in the long term. Efficiency without effectiveness will develop a perception in your industry as a cost cutting bottom-feeding organization and cannot lead to sustainable profits. 

Debt Restructuring When Cost Management Isn’t Enough

by Pat OSullivan on December 14th, 2011 / No Comment

Category: Finance

SPECIAL GUEST BLOG By Pat O'Sulllivan, Strategic Change Mentor, Mentors.ie

In today’s economy, simply managing costs may not be enough to keep your company alive. What do you do when your business has already negotiated the best terms with vendors, stripped suppliers down to the barest of inventory to run the business, and cut operational costs to a shadow of their former selves?

Just as many home owners are in negative equity, many SMEs are left with debt that far outweighs the value of their assets. At a time when the company was valued at €10M, borrowing against future sales for expansion may have been a smart decision for both lender and borrower.

However, if an assessment in early 2011 has suddenly reversed this trend – your €10M company with €5M in debt has become a €2M company with €5M in debt – both borrower and lender are apt to panic. The borrower may be laboring under the burden of finance payments which current revenues cannot support, and the lender is not confident they will get all their money back if the borrower goes into receivership or liquidation. With such fears influencing the actions of both parties, is it any wonder that debt restructuring negotiations are often highly stressful and emotional processes?

One of the services we offer at Mentors.ie is to act as a broker or mediator during a debt restructuring negotiation. As an objective third party, we’re able to benefit both the borrower and the lender while removing personality conflicts, emotion, and unreasonable negotiation tactics from the situation. Our goal is simply to achieve a resolution that is fair and equitable for both sides. It’s simple to start with the common objectives of both parties – neither group will benefit if the borrowing company goes bankrupt. Therefore, both parties must negotiate restructuring taking into account new valuation realities and future projections.

Often lenders and borrowers are so fixated on the current mess that they fail to consider the future possibilities of a continued partnership, which a restructured debt may bring them. As management consultants, our job is consider resolving the current problems while advising both sides on how current challenges may result in future opportunities. Excessive emotion and stress and lack of relevant experience often preclude the parties from doing a deal that delivers the best possible result to both parties.

When cost management isn’t enough and you’re faced with the difficult challenge of debt restructuring, consider bringing in a good mentor to assist both parties and achieve the ideal outcome for all involved. 

Managing Diversity at the Workplace

by Pat OSullivan on September 15th, 2011 / 5 Comments

Category: Human Resources

SPECIAL GUEST BLOG By Pat O’Sulllivan, Strategic Change and HR  Mentor, Mentors.ie

Opportunity for all

It is important to hold no bias when we talk about making opportunities available for employees. Everyone in the company should have equal opportunity to make their way up the organisational ladder. The more opportunities are provided to people, the more the likelihood of them making the most of it.

Simple statistics clearly indicate that in this way we can exponentially enhance the performance within our organizations. It would be a fool who ignores the potential of all employees and does not allow the competence levels to be increased, nor the performance to be realized. By implication, it means that those previously disadvantaged in a global or national context need concerted efforts to accelerate their development and exposure so that they can more fairly compete in an extremely competitive global job market.

One must be a little careful about the nature of opportunities given though. As an organisation, performance must be rewarded undoubtedly, but recognition also has to be extended to employees trying to convert an opportunity into some big but stumbling along the way.

We need to open ourselves up to new and different ways of doing things, not prematurely judging them. Then we need to embrace those aspects that will give us the competitive edge in our markets, and impact positively on our company results and profile.

Responsibility from all

Diversity is termed “The condition of being different” (Webster’s Dictionary). This definition conjures up images of a dreaded illness, whereas, in fact, the management of diversity is the process of successfully managing people who are different. It is the act and practice of leading different people in attaining organizational and personal goals.

How much better it is then to view diversity as the opportunity of being different. But with opportunities come responsibilities, in any situation.

The condition of being different does not mean that one is right and the other is wrong, or that one is superior and the other is inferior. Being different only adds another perspective or dimension to a situation. The responsibility that goes with managing diversity is to identify and use the added value of individual differences in a positive way to meet the needs and objectives of an organization. Each individual and grouping has added values that need to be identified and utilized in order to improve productivity and efficiency, and reduce the interpersonal dysfunction that inevitably seems to plague different people who must work together.

There also exists mutual responsibility with regards to diversity. It is not just within the realm of management to ensure diversity is effectively harnessed. Diverse individuals must also stand up and be counted. Only by everyone working together and bringing their “added value” to the organization can a new enhanced organizational culture emerge.

Community from all

Having a strategic shared vision in any company helps to keep all employees focused on the goal. However, having the strategic vision is not enough. There needs to be strategic alignment throughout the organization to ensure that individual and team efforts will result in the goal being realized.

In order to integrate efforts, cohesion amongst the workforce becomes an important issue. However, what we must not confuse is “cohesion” and “sameness”. Sameness will engender a group think mentality. Without new and creative ideas, the growth and potential of any organization will be stifled. Cohesion gained with diverse people will create energetic, creative and innovative teams working towards a common goal – an unbeatable combination!

For is it not as M. Scott Peck writes in his book The Different Drum: “In and through community lies the salvation of the world…as the only way to achieve international peace…(is if) we learn the basic principles of community in our own lives and personal spheres of influence.”

Have you ensured that you don’t have a melting pot scenario at work? It is time to move away from blandness to a mixed texture in the workplace that enriches not just the organization, but each of us as human beings as well.

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