Relationship Coach Demystifies the Power of Connections
By · CommentsYour relationship coach can help you block your limiting associations and amplify the positive forces in your life which can give you the energy to propel you to a fast break success. Firstly, depending on the size of your vision or the complexity of your goals, you may need to develop new connections and structure new partnerships to create your vision or create your goals.
So on Tuesday, I wrote to you about how your “limiting beliefs” keep you stuck in business, your career development, and financially. I talked about how the star coach of the Los Angeles Lakers Phil Jackson can see what his players don’t see on the court. And that I can see what my clients don’t see on the court of life, career, and business.
Relationships is another fruitful area where your coach can help you gain power and synergy. As I discuss relationship coaching over the months to come, it won’t be limited to keeping or finding a mate or dating. I plan to mull over all aspects of business and personal connections you have in your world.
Optimizing Connections and Your Relationship Coach Can Help you to
- Diagnose how people in your game of life (core team members) can make or break you financially
- Highlights the opposing factors and opponents who are literally trying to block you from reaching your goals and being successful
- Works with you to create a plan of action to optimize your relationships with your core team members (business and personal) and eliminating or blocking your opponents in your business, career, and life — and help you get on to creating new connections to help you win the wealth championship you desire
People Verses Task Orientation
Before we move into other articles which highlight the deeper aspects of relationships in your life, I want to address one challenge that a lot of you may be dealing with right now. Do you think of yourself as a “people person”? Or do you sometimes have challenges when it comes to creating and sustaining relationships?
You may have vast connections you’ve made in life. Then you’re what I call a ”people magnet.”
You can spot a people oriented person by the fact that they only talk about the people involved and what was said and who did what. They want to know who was in the meeting or involved in making the decision. And they are less likely to get into the details of actual tasks. Matter of fact their eyes glaze over when you give them too many details. They are best suited for sales positions.
But it’s very hard work for some of us to broaden our relationships in business. We know we need to make the phone calls, network with other business owners, and get connected online in social media.
And then do you find yourself slipping back into working on the tasks that need to get done and slowly the people oriented things just don’t get done? But you know connecting with people is where your money is made.
Some people are task oriented. And they don’t naturally focus on developing relationships. Well if your vision or dreams require you to influence others or partner with others to reach your goals, then you need to overcome this weakness.
You know the “people oriented” folks need you as much as you need them. They can’t see the “trees for the forest.” And that’s where you come in with your ability to plan and break things down into detail steps for them.
In the next article, I will discuss the plan of action your relationship coach can help you create to deal with your people connection situation. And for you task challenged folks, I’ll be getting to how you need to cope with your detail and task focus.
The goal of this article is to frame the discussion about the power of your connections and associations and discuss some aspects of relationship building. Watch for more articles from me on relationships and building and sustaining profitable connections because as you’ll see the subject is very complex and can be looked at from hundreds of angles.
Future Articles Will Discuss
- Who’s On Your Team?
- Who Are Your Opponents?
- What Are Your Opposing Forces?
Relationship coaches can help you sort out your present connections and develop valuable associations on the Court of business, career, and life when it comes to your team members and your opponents. And my goal in this article as a Master Coach is to show you how your destiny is impacted by every relationship in your life.
Team coaching and optimization Helps You eliminate and avoid Your Negative relationships and Increase Positive connections.
Negative Associations and Relationships Block Your Progress
Just one bad association or close relationship you know could lead your life in the direction you most want to avoid.
I say this because negative influences coming from the people on your job, or who are in your business or life stop you from taking forward action. They block your progress when your almost about to make the “three pointer” in your business, career, and financial decisions.
And they snatch the ball right out of your hands because you allow other people in your life to distract you from your dreams and goals.
And the scarry fact is many times you’re not consciously connected to what’s really going on in your life because these influences live at the subconscious level in your mind. And if you know what’s going on that’s holding you back you tend to not want to do anything about it because you don’t want to offend the people who are in the game of your life: bosses, customers, employees, partners, spouses, etc.
Relationships get really complicated sometimes as you already know. And you get stuck playing a game you know you can’t win without coaching.
Stay In the Connections Game
Get a relationship coach to help you master the art of “profitable relationships.” A relationship coach will help you sort out the positive and negative influences on your team which have direct influence over your finances.
And you have negative forces and opponents you need to watch out for which you’re not always conscious of their influence upon you. Your coach will help you block these negative forces and the opposing team’s negative behaviors and influences from getting to you financially.
I have two ways you can get more information about mastering your connections and core relationships:
1. I offer no obligation Optimizing Connection and Relationship Coaching sessions for you to get more information on how I can help you get ahead financially. It’s easy.
You can call me at (866) 323-9123 or email me right now to schedule your complementary session.
Or go to my complementary Optimizing Connections and Relationship Coaching page to enter your contact information and I’ll contact you to set-up your consulting session.
2. For business owners and real estate professionals, you can get my complementary financing report here: The Business Survival Report
The reason I say that financial coaching resembles the coaching practices that Phil Jackson goes through when he coaches Kobe Bryant is simple. Phil can see what Kobe can’t see on the court. And I can see what my clients like you can’t see on the court of life and business.
You know financial Coaches Are Your Eyes And Ears On the Court of business, career, and life. And my goal in this article as a Master Coach is to show you how your destiny is simply an accumulation of every moment of your life. So read on.
Financial Coaching helps you to
- Relate to investments and money in empowering ways by uncovering and transforming your negative beliefs about money
- Helps you identify the people in your life who negatively and positively influence your financial decisions and behaviors
- Works with you to create a plan of action to ease financial stress in your business, career, and life and get on to the road of creating the wealth championship you deserve
Coaching Helps You Minimize Your Negatives and Increase Your Positives
As we grow older in the game of life, we take on beliefs which may have served us well in our younger days. But those same beliefs are causing disruptions now in our business, career, and life — especially financially.
You’ve got to stop and pay attention to this sneaky one. Because it creeps in and corrupts your life in ways you couldn’t even imagine. So that thing we do is innocently believe what we hear in the news or read on the Internet. And we subconsciously begin to form beliefs about how the world is without critical evaluation of these ideas because they come from so called experts and our favorite politicians. . We want to:
Personally:
- Stop living month-to-month
- Pay off debt and cut-up your credit cards
- Make investments which creates wealth for you rather than disappearing on you when you most need good returns
Business and Career:
- Grow our sales
- Cut marketing costs
- Find stable employment
- Earn a promotion and increase our salary
But you don’t get what you want because you’re in conflict with beliefs from your past, including current negative beliefs about the economy. And many of you are working 60 hours a week now when you should be enjoying traveling to exotic places, driving a brand new car, and helping to invest in your children’s and grand kid’s education.
I know you understand the whole world has been impacted by the slowing economy. And this is the time when we really need to get a grip on our negative beliefs about the economy and business, career, and investments so we get back on the road of living our dreams.
Do you know What the negative beliefs are you have about money? Financial coaching will help you uncover and transform your limiting beliefs.
Phil Jackson gets into his player’s heads all the time. Phil thrives to prevent limiting beliefs from forming and causing his players to go cold on their shots. Phil can’t prevent every negative belief from taking hold in a player’s mind, but his coaching abilities keeps his players performing at a high enough level to win championships.
As a coach, the negative beliefs I’m hearing from people who are stuck today financially include:
- You know there’re no jobs out there
- I’m not good at sales
- It’s a bad time to start a business
- Banks are not lending so I can’t get a business loan
- I should wait until the economy gets better before purchasing anything
- I know the economy isn’t going to get any better for the next ten years
- The democrats are spending our future on “big government” and I just need to vote in the republicans
- And many more limiting beliefs are out there…
Limiting Beliefs Block Your Progress
I don’t know if you share any of these beliefs, but the fact is these beliefs have very little to do with what you need to do to make your personal future brighter. Just having one of these convictions or any negative idea as a core belief for you could lead your life in the direction you most want to avoid.
I say this because limiting belief such as the ones I just mentioned stop you from taking forward action. They block your progress when your almost about to make the “three pointer” in your business, career, and financial decisions.
And they snatch the ball right out of your hands because you allow other people in your life to distract you from your dreams and goals.
And the sad fact is many times you’re not consciously connected to what’s really going on in your life because these convictions live at the subconscious level in your mind. And if you know what’s going on that’s holding you back you tend to not want to do anything about it because you don’t want to offend the people who are in the game of your life: bosses, customers, employees, partners, spouses, etc.
Life gets really complicated sometimes as you already know. And you get stuck playing a game you know you can’t win without coaching.
Well my goal here is to share with you how your beliefs control every thing you do in life, what you have in life, and what you ultimately become in life. Your core beliefs creates your destiny: day by day, hour by hour, and minute by minute. Your destiny is simply an accumulation of every moment of your life. This is the key point to remember from this article.
Now in the next article, I will continue this very important and timely discussion with the two game points I sited above which included:
- Identify the people in your life who negatively and positively influence your financial decisions and behaviors
- Create a plan of action to ease financial stress in your business, career, and life and get on to the road of creating the wealth championship you deserve
Stay In the Game
I have two ways you can get more information:
1. I offer no obligation financial coaching sessions for you to get more information on how I can help you get ahead financially. It’s easy. You can call me at (866) 323-9123 or email me right now to schedule your complementary session.
Or go to my complementary consultation . page to enter your contact information and I’ll contact you to set-up your consulting session.
2. For business owners and real estate professionals, you can get my complementary financing report here: The Business Survival Report
Why Keep Doing the Thing That’s Holding You Back?
By · CommentsAre You Sick of How Things Are Working Out Right Now?
I’m sitting in my home office in Silicon Valley today while writing my accountability blog post. The sun is shining through the window on my face and I feel pumped up! I want to share some life changing experiences with you I’ve had this week in my coaching practice.
Albert Einstein said the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
I’m sure you agree with Einstein. A little professional support can be the one thing to help you change your unproductive patterns and realize outcomes you want now to show-up in your life. I’m so excited about supporting my coaching clients in producing positive results in their lives which they wouldn’t be able to create without my support.
You see, I’m their accountability coach. I help them see their “blind” spots. I help them clearly define their goals and create measurement systems. Using my system, my clients know immediately if they get off track and when their goals are met. Do you realize that people don’t do what they don’t want to do even if it jeopardizes there goals and desires? This is mostly a subconscious phenomenon.
I’m convinced! Accountability coaching is such a huge factor in fine tuning my performance now that I see it in action. When you’re held accountable for your commitments, you learn so much about who you are and why you make the choices you make in business and life. Being straight with yourself helps to uncover the unconscious patterns of behavior in your life that are not serving you well.
Patterns are like software programs in the way we feel, behave, and how we respond to our commitments. You may be familiar with some of these situations:
- I’m afraid of what’s going to happen in the future if I don’t get my business generating money soon
- I’m always late to appointments and I look like I’m not really committed
- I hate making my calls, so my business suffers
- My affairs in business and life don’t work out like I want them to because, for some reason, I don’t spend the time to nurture my relationships
- My days go by and I don’t get to the most important things on my priority list
- My family and friends don’t recognize my value as a person
- I’m bored and life seems so limiting
I’m certainly familiar with all of these challenges. What about you?
The feelings you have when these thoughts dominate your thinking serve to warn you that you’re not meeting your needs and to do something about it. The reason why we continue to repeat these limiting “mental software programs” over and over is they do provide us value in some areas, but now we are in business and we are responsible for the bottom-line. We are responsible for what happens in our relationships and the results we experience.
These automatic ways of responding prevent us from having success with our most important goals. It so easy for us to convince ourselves we have valid reasons for missing the mark. A little accountability can reveal a big problem.
Who in your circle really holds you accountable for your goals? Whether it’s friends or family, no one will challenge you like your coach to stretch your talents and abilities to attain your goals. You only need a coach if what the coach does represents a significant value in your life beyond what you typically would do on your own. A stretch for one person may be routine for another.
The problem has been with us for a long time. It’s referred to in the New Testament by Apostle Paul in the book of Romans. Paul acknowledges he is faced with the same challenge of saying one thing and then doing another as I write about in this post. He then offers hope to those who believe there’s a way out. Paul’s solution is to come to the truth.
Can I get an amen! As your accountability “preacher,“ I also want to share with you a message of hope. Come to the truth about yourself and be a whole, fulfilled, and authentic person. Align your actions with your words. And then be willing to stand in account for any inconsistencies in your life. “The truth shall set you free.”
It’s our “blind” spots which we are not aware of that effect us the most. Where I am right now in my business and life, coaching is the thing that’s going to get me to the next level. Depending solely on learning from listening to CDs, DVDS, and reading books and course materials won’t get me to where I desire to be in the next 90 days to six months. I already have thousands of dollars worth of these inanimate resources sitting on my shelf. And I already know what I want and need to do! Studying a book won’t hold me accountable.
There must be a better way to fulfill your goals and dreams! I have coaches who help me with strategy, assessing my strengths and weaknesses, and I also have an accountability partner who I meet with every morning for 10 to 15 minutes and we help sculpt each other’s day in a powerful way.
You may be asking yourself why Coach Donald has coaches. It’s because I’m unable to uncover my own personal “blind” spots. Coaches realize this fact. Corporate executives rely on coaching to maximize their performance.
Time is my most valuable resource and I don’t want to waste it. Time is more valuable than money. We tend to hold on to our money but waste our time. It’s crazy! Isn’t it?
I need someone who can see through my “bull” and make me aware of how I’m sabotaging my own goals. I want to be held accountable for my “word”. And what I commit to I really want to accomplish in a timely way and with less stress.
Having a coach is like making an investment. You expect to see a return on the deal you put your money into. When you hire a coach, you should expect the same kinds of returns on your investment.
Do you have challenges doing what you don’t really want to do? If you’re tired of missing out on the things that are the most important to you in your life, and you need to get them done in the next 90 days to 6 months, keep on reading for the solution.
I want you to consider working with me as your business coach because I have the coaching expertise and business acumen to help you powerfully sculpt your future. You will learn so much about yourself because I will hold you accountable for your commitments and help you create new support patterns and systems to enable you to stay on track.
My Coaching Tune-Up sessions focus on helping you save time and money by supporting you in shaping the life you want. What is it you need to get done in the next 60 days to six months? It’s about getting you fined tuned to the way you want to show-up in your business and life.
Sign-up for a complimentary Coaching Tune-Up with me today to get some valuable coaching around your specific goals. I promise you will receive tremendous value during our complimentary session.
Let me share with you a little about where I’m focused on today. Fortunately, my business allows me to do 90% of my communications via the Internet, phone, email, and fax allowing me to engage in one of my passions: travel.
I’m realizing life is too short and I want to start living now while I have good health to enjoy some of the things I love to do. I love experiencing new cultures and learning new languages. I love great food, being by the ocean and walking on the beach. I love the smell of trees and the rustle of leaves in the wind.
My focus now is about having balance in my life. And I am held accountable by my coaches for producing these results for myself and family. I know the missing thing for me is I want to satisfy more of my meaningful desires.
I’m so excited about my journey to transform my self to do more and be more of what I want in life. Do you need support in getting those things done you know you won’t do? Call me today at (866) 323-9123 and I’ll give you a free coaching session so you can see how my support can help you to minimize your frustrations and move towards your goals and desires.
Tips to Bootstrap Your Way to Immense Profitability
By · CommentsBootstrap Your Way to Immense Profitability by Proving Your Idea Solves A True Customer Need!
As a lender who works with entrepreneurs and start-up companies, my motto with them is always “show me the money!” When a prospect opens up their wallet and pays money for your product or service, then you can say you have a valid business. Until you have real customers who are credit worthy, most lenders and investors won’t give you funding for your business dream because you haven’t proven it works. I recommend to every business owner I coach to do everything you can to leverage your assets to put your firm in a strong position before you attempt to secure financing from outside sources.
Before you get your first sale, you only have an idea which could work. You don’t have a business. Being turned down for financing can be a good thing for you. This may sound counter intuitive since rejection doesn’t make you feel very good, but it’s truly a great source of valid feedback. It often means you need to do more work to prove your business plan. I get financing clients who procrastinate about writing their business and marketing plan, but they want me to help them get hundreds of thousands of dollars for their dream. Would you invest in an entrepreneur who hasn’t written a comprehensive plan? You should try to see it from your lender’s or investor’s point of view.
Whether you’re looking for financing or to raise money from an investor, your goal should be to make sales as early as possible to generate real revenues for your new venture.
Recent sales are the evidence I want to see at Donald Hunter Financial. Contracts, invoices, purchase orders, all show a market for your products or services. And you want to have well established customers with a great track record for paying their bills
A huge benefit of bootstrapping your way to profitability is the more products or services you sell early on, the less outside money you need to raise to make further investments to position your company for growth while at the same time securing your intellectual property and branding your products and services.
Generating cash flow through an actual sale may be the only option for service companies or businesses with few assets to secure financing. Bootstrapping means you will need to give away much less equity in your company to investors.
A Warning to Bootstrappers
Before I go further, I have one caveat for you. Leveraging your existing assets is a great goal, but you don’t want to run out of money trying to do it all yourself. Once you run out of money, no serious lender or investor will work with you. I say this because most financing sources want you to have current funds available to invest at the time they decide to approve you for funding. The amount you’ve already invested doesn’t matter. So keep a balanced approach when going it all alone!
Benefits of a Bootstrapping Mindset
- It keeps you focused on revenue generation
- You keep control over your idea
- You get to reap more of the financial rewards
- You learn to manage your limited resources efficiently
Types of Businesses Where Bootstrapping Make Sense
- The business relies on your proven personal talents and skills
- The business doesn’t require large sums of capital to get started on a small scale
- You already have good industry contacts
Type of Businesses Where Bootstrapping Doesn’t Make Sense
- Lots of R&D is required
- You need expensive equipment to deliver your product or service
- A prototype costs lots of money to build
- You have no prior experience serving the market
- Your business requires economies of scale and scope
As a business coach, I help business owners and entrepreneurs figure out whether they can start-up without outside capital. I guide them through the process of analyzing their sales model from the perspective of rapid revenue generation. My goal is to help them to construct a business model focused on producing a few quick sales as soon as possible.
Bootstrapping Tips
- Spend your funds only on marketing and sales activities directed at a well defined target market.
- Make sure your target customer is credit worthy.
- Create the lowest cost prototype which is good enough to make a sale (E.G., paper design or video).
- Develop the product only when you get a purchase order in-hand.
- Don’t go out and rent office space and purchase unnecessary equipment
There are lots of alternative ways I can help you to fund your business growth. If you generate invoices or purchase orders, you‘ll have access to fast, flexible financing options through my Money Tree Cash Flow program. And most importantly, your credit isn’t an issue with these funding alternatives. Invoices or purchase orders from a credit worthy customer allow you to get cash to fund daily operations and to manufacture your product. You won’t need a loan or capital from an investor to fund your operating costs in the start-up phase! You can rely on factoring or purchase order finance for immediate cash, which is not a loan. Sign up for a complimentary finance consultation to speak to me about ways in which I can help you fund your business.
Bootstrapping Consulting
Are you a “bootstrapper”? What are your top three goals you need some help with right now to start up your business? I can help you develop ways to target your customers to focus on generating immediate sales to prove your business idea meets a true customer need.
You’ll then be in an excellent position to seek funding to expand your business at a much faster pace. Then, I can help you get quick cash for your invoices and purchase orders through my Money Tree Cash Flow program.
Call me today at (866) 323-9123 or sign-up for a complimentary session in my Bootstrap to Profitability Coaching Tune-Up program. I’ll help you develop your business strategy to take advantage of your bootstrapping opportunities straightaway.
Donald Hunter
Make Your Business More Robust When You Rent A CFO!
By · CommentsFinancial Planning for Start-Up success
Rent your very own CFO for critical business decisions
Would you ever think about building a house without hiring an architect? Then, why would you ever think of starting business without first hiring a business financial planner to help you with the start-up phases of your business? After reading this post, you’ll realize a financial planner is one of the best professionals to guide you through the start-up phase. It’s like renting your own Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
My definition of start-ups below includes ventures led by entrepreneurs or brand new business owners. It also includes ongoing businesses who want to launch a new division. For example, I help out-of-state or international businesses who want to start-up operations in California.
Let’s define the type of financial planner who would be right for this CFO advisory role. Financial gurus who focus on stocks and mutual funds would not be your first choice. A planner who focuses on personal financial issues wouldn’t be your second choice either. An agent who focuses on selling insurance products may only give you a partial solution. You need a financial planner who works exclusively with businesses. Your best choice in this case is a financial planner who thinks like a CFO.
I’m sure you’d agree that starting up a business can be frustrating and confusing to make sure you’ve done everything you need to do to increase your chances for success. The rest of this post shares with you some key business areas in which your CFO planner can help your company.
I’m often asked what types of financial planning services I offer business owners. I typically reply that I help business owners cover their “assets.” Literally, that’s what a financial planner will do for you. In a “nut shell”, I help you:
- Make sure you don’t give away more value in your company than is required!
- Determine if you will make a profit.
- Capitalize your new venture.
- Minimize your personal and business taxes.
- Minimize risks (liability) to your business and to you personally.
- Incentivize your employees and key advisors.
Often, there are other start-up areas where a business owner wants me to help them save time and money. I help clients with setting up all aspects of the new venture. Here are a few bulleted categories to help you get a sense of what you must do to launch a business in the various phases of starting up and then growing your business.
Start-Up Business Services:
- Sign up for your business license
- File for your fictitious business name statement
- Help you develop your logo, letterhead, and business cards
Start-Up Marketing Services
- Define your vision, mission, and purpose
- Determine your target market
- Create your 30 second elevator pitch
- Identify where you need to network for generating leads and referral relationships
- Design your sales model
- Write powerful sales scripts
- Create your marketing plan
Online Marketing Services
- Create your social media plan
- Define your blogging plan
- Design your multimedia plan: podcasting, videos, and presentations
- Develop your lead generation strategy
- Create your sales pages
- Drive traffic to your online properties
Business Planning Services
- Write your comprehensive business plan
- Develop your financial model
- Conduct competitive analysis
- Prepare your financing package
- Construct your investor capital presentation
Financial Planning Services
- Decide how much to pay key advisors, board members, and employees, including incentives
- Understand tax advantages of how you bring capital into your business
- Determine the best organizational structure for your business (S corp., LLC, partnership, LLP, or incorporation)
- Decide on types of liability and business continuance risks and insurance
- How to buyout a partner upon dissolution of the partnership or death
- Depreciation recapture
- Buying and selling business use property (1231)
- Buying and selling depreciable personal property (1245)
- Buying and selling depreciable real property (1250)
- Taking section 179 expense
- Choose appropriate depreciation schedules
- Set up and plan for retirement plans for owners and employees
- Transfer of ownership strategies upon death or at retirement
Organizational Development
- Create your organizational chart
- Role development to make clear what you expect the role to produce
- Recruit key advisors and board members to fill your organizational chart
- Leverage hiring assessments to understand personality types and how interviewees will fit the role and the team
- Prepare interview checklists to discover interviewees’ strengths, weaknesses, goals, and personality fit
- Create recruiting strategies to locate superior talent
- Mentor employees to maximize their performance
Have you considered all of the various financial planning options I’ve laid out for you above? It is critical for you to think through all of these options to ensure you maximize your profits and minimize your costs and risks.
I snuck in some marketing and sales options for you too because without a clear marketing plan, it doesn’t matter how well your financial plan has been designed.
Organizational goals are important to get right the first time, as you grow your company. This is why I included the list of must do’s for hiring and team development.
There are many other steps to consider when defining and launching a new start-up company or division of an existing company. Seek expert advice to help you through this process to maximize your investment dollars and valuable time.
Rent A CFO
Rent me to get help on a business challenge you are currently facing. For more information on what I can do right now to help your business, you can call me at (866) 323-9123 or sign-up for a complimentary CFO Coaching Tune-Up session with me.
I developed a comprehensive financing report for business owners and entrepreneurs who need loans or investor capital. You can download my Business Survival report to get an overview of your financing options.
Donald Hunter Financial
Are You Really Accountable for Your “Word”?
By · CommentsCan you believe the first quarter of the year is almost gone? Time flies when you’re having fun! Are you noticing this year that the same actions you have taken in the past are not producing the results they used to? If you are doing the same things over and over and missing your target – it’s probably a good time to try out something new.
Well, I have a simple message for you. If you want to get more stuff done, you need to be accountable for your “word.” When was the last time you were able to check off all the items on your weekly commitment list? I’m sure you’d agree the truth is that most of us have a wide gap between what we hope to accomplish and what we actually do.
I was talking with a close friend at dinner on Sunday about the roadblocks she keeps running into when it comes to meeting and achieving important goals.
She was talking with a sense of utter desperation, telling me that no matter what steps she takes she just can’t master a meaningful goal she’s ever set for herself.
When my clients use the techniques I’m about to share with you, they get massive results. You need strategies to get control over powerful motivating levers in your life. Accountability techniques make it almost certain you’ll do what you say you’ll do. Accountability coaching is the way many executives and top performing professionals raise to the top of their game because coaches help them become answerable to their own goals and commitments.
Start keeping track of the things you say you will or want to do and see how often they get done. In reality, we are not always our “word.” But, the point I’m making here is the more we are our “word” or the more we answer to our selves, the more you’ll accomplish what you say you want to get done in your personal or professional life.
Leap Ahead Coaching
You may have heard of all or some of these accountability strategies. I didn’t realize the power of these ideas until I fully understood the psychology behind them. I now creatively leverage simple accountability techniques such as the ones below to effortlessly increase how much I get done on a weekly basis. It’s truly cool!
- Time blocking
- Accountability partner
- Peer group
Time Blocking
Just the fact you create space on your calendar for a particular activity increases the probability you’ll get the task done. If you’re true to your “word”, you’ll follow through. Time blocking increases the probability of completing that task, but it isn’t always enough to ensure every item gets done or for every person.
You’ll need to avoid distractions during the blocks of time you’ve allocated for a particular project. If you have complete focus on your activities during the blocked out time, you’ll increase your creativity and productivity with this one idea alone.
Accountability Partner
If you time block and also commit to your accountability partner you’ll be more likely to perform a specific task. For example, if you say you’ll get up at 5:00am to go swimming tomorrow morning, the likelihood you’ll get up at 5:00am and actually go down to the pool in your swim suit and jump into a pool is very slim.
However, if you’ve agreed to meet a friend at the pool at 5:00am, the probability you’ll really show-up is significantly improved because you wouldn’t want to disappoint your friend.
Peer Group
Peer groups are similar to an Accountability Partner except you surround yourself with a group of people who have similar interests. Say for example, you have a goal to become a public speaker. The probability you’ll actually stick with your goal is much higher if you involve yourself in an organization for professional speakers.
I know this might be a little scary for you, but let the community know what you’re up to. When you become a part of the community, declare your goals and intentions to key members of the community so you force yourself to be responsible for your “word.” This will be a powerful motivator for you.
Many people who desire to be public speakers start off in Toast Masters to gain experience presenting in front of audiences. Toast Masters has a formal feedback process which helps you understand your strengths and weaknesses to help you improve your presentation skills over time.
Your next step could be you join the National Speakers Association (NSA) to collaborate with other professional speakers. NSA helps you stay in tune with trends in professional speaking. You also learn successes and challenges of other presenters.
Over time, you’ll naturally begin to pick-up the skills of public speaking through osmosis, learn to market yourself as a speaker, and identify the activities you need to follow through on to make the transition into making your professional speaking dream a reality.
Here you immerse yourself into the peer group hoping the identity, talents, and mindset of the group rubs off on you.
Take note that organizations like Toast Masters and NSA create the structure for you to force you to be accountable. Your coach can help you creatively apply the “peer group” effect when formal communities don’t exist. It’s amazing how a skilled accountability coach can increase a person’s results in one session.
Being Your “Word”
These are a few of my Leap Ahead Accountability Coaching strategies to help you get “leverage” on yourself by realizing what being your “word” does to help you stand out above the crowd. You’re no longer leaving your life up to chance when you are your word. An accountability coach helps you be your “word.”
Coaching Tune-Up
Do you want my help to become the “rock star” of your dreams? I help business owners, entrepreneurs, and corporate employees get “leverage” on their life to help you:
- Double your sales in six months, which will enable you to buy the car or dream home you want.
- Get your projects done, which have up to this point been evading you so you can take them off your list and free yourself for bigger and more rewarding things.
- Get your blogging and social media plan created and implemented.
- Get the chapters in your book written which isn’t going anywhere right now.
- Focus on your marketing to generate more leads in your business and improve your cash flow.
- Raise capital for your new venture by getting your business plan done and your capital presentation completed.
- Get the promotion you know you deserve and make your family and friends proud of you.
- Get financing in place to improve your cash flow or invest in commercial property.
- And much more…
No matter what your goal is right now, I’ll help you to creatively apply powerful accountability tactics in your personal and professional life to help you be your “word.” Don’t leave your success up to chance!
I invite you to call me at (866) 323-9123 to sign-up for my Coaching Tune-Up. I’ll give you a complimentary session where I’ll help you right away to get much more done, which will increase your self-esteem and create more success in your life.
Business Leaders Discover the Value of Being Coachable
By · CommentsBusiness Leaders Discover the Value of Being Coachable!
One thing professional athletes and business leaders have in common is both of you need to find the right strategic coach to maximize your results. A growing number of business leaders such as business owners, entrepreneurs, speakers, coaches, consultants, and corporate executives find coaching to be the best way to breakthrough their invisible barriers.
Are YOU coachable? When you think of all the great athletes in basketball, football, golf, and tennis, how many of them do you think would have been successful without a premier coach?
Tiger Woods is the best golf player in the history of the game. Why does he still work with a coach?
Coaches provide feedback, support, a different perspective and accountability to lift your game to a higher level.
Most people who are truly committed to their objectives, goals, success, and their quality of life work with a coach. Great leaders surround themselves with consultants who provide expert support and who are there as a “sounding board” for them to sharpen their ideas, polish their goals and create balance to enhance their decisions.
So, why don’t we seek expert advice when it comes to living our own personal lives and running our businesses? When it comes to our own lives we struggle because we think we should be able to do it alone based on our willpower. We sometimes end up overburdening our own friends and family because we expect a level of support that they are unable to give us.
Tiger knows the value of expert advice in golf and business, but he lacks maturity in life in terms of spiritual knowledge. This makes him vulnerable to all the temptations in the world which affect all of us, especially when we’ve achieved great financial success. I suspect this will be the next area in Tiger’s life where he’ll seek out balance through an expert who understands issues of life
I mentioned above that coaches have coaches. I am a coach, but I also have different coaches I work with on a regular basis because it’s only human to have invisible barriers. I’ve discovered coaching is the best way for me to overcome my blind spots.
Invisible Barriers
- Your weaknesses
- Your strengths
- Your blind spots
The tricky thing for you to understand is that most people who desire to be business leaders already know what they want and have powerful strategies they need to follow. The challenge is they don’t know how to get it done! It’s not enough for you to know what to do. You need help in breaking through your invisible barriers to execute on what you already know you need to do. You need to be coachable! I give you the “secret sauce” below.
The most successful people in business are those who understand who they are; those who are honest with themselves about their strengths and weaknesses. These successful business people develop strategies to perform at a high level no matter the environment they operate in.
Improving on your behavior patterns is critical to getting what you want in business and life. Much of our behavior is inherent and our upbringing shapes how we respond in various situations.
Do you realize that many people don’t even recognize all of their strengths? Yes that’s right; they don’t use the power they already have at their becking call! Compound this with the fact that people don’t want to admit to their weaknesses even when they’re aware of what they are.
It’s critical for you to know:
- How you react to problems and challenges.
- How you persuade others to your point of view.
- How you act in response to changes in your environment.
- How you react to rules and procedures set by others.
“All people exhibit all four of these behavioral factors in varying degrees of intensity.”
–W.M. Marston
Assessment Tools
I can help you with assessment tools to find out where you stand. My assessments will give you the information you need to clarify your invisible barriers. The point I’m driving home here is that logical intelligence is just one factor that determines your success. Emotional and behavioral intelligence are just as important for you to grapple with to make a measureable difference in your life.
Coaching can help you to:
- Improve relationships with your family, employees, and peers
- Enable you to be a better team player
- Double your sales
- Increase your effectiveness in influencing others
- Focus on what really matters to you in business and life
- Stop doing the things which have nothing to do with your business and life goals
- Leverage your strengths
- Mitigate your weaknesses
What would Michael Jordan have accomplished in his life if he had not been coachable? I would venture to guess much less than the intensity at which he played for years in the NBA. Michael was so bad at basketball in high school, he didn’t even make the team.
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
- Michael Jordan
How do you view failure in your life and business? Because Michael was coachable, he accepted advice from his coaches who knew what it took to be a great basketball player. I train constantly to become a premier coach for my clients. Jordan’s coaches helped him to capitalize on his strengths and mitigate his weaknesses. Michael became a premier basketball player in the NBA and his coaches are revered as among the best coaches who have ever coached the game.
Many business owners I interact with in my business, at networking meetings, and on conference calls, don’t appear to me to be coachable. But, their progress is slow. They’re dissatisfied with their progress and change their focus frequently because they can’t figure out why they’re not breaking through their barriers.
It’s not about your intellect!
It’s not about your will power alone!
It’s not about me dumping a lot of information on you.
I’m sure your already drowning in too much information.
The Secret Sauce
Coaching technologies make the difference by fine tuning your performance.
Coaching technologies can be used to find out where you are currently, your invisible barriers, and clarify your goals.
Coaching technologies can help you create your intellectual, emotional, and behavioral roadmap in your life to powerfully reach your goals.
Do You Need A Coaching Tune-Up?
Test drive my strategic coaching program right now! My Coaching Tune-Up will help you turn-up your performance in the areas which will give you the power to accomplish your specific goals. I only worked with people who really want to make progress in business or in their life.
Call me at (866) 323-9123 or click this link to sign-up today for a complimentary Coaching Tune-Up with me. I will let you test drive my strategic coaching program for free so you can experience the power of my coaching prowess.
Each month, I give away one free assessment. This is an opportunity for you to discover where you’re at right now, which will enable you to breakthrough the invisible barriers which have been in your way for years!
In last Thursday’s Turn Your Purchase Orders Into Real-Time Cash post, I laid out my Purchase Order Finance (POF) process for you. At the end of that real-time cash post, I introduced my MONEY TREE (MT) Program. Today, let’s take a look at how my MT can benefit your business.
Money Tree
Who said money doesn’t grow on trees? Money Tree is an asset-based lending program for factoring and purchase order finance. MT evaluates your business assets, your industry trends and ongoing business feasibility.
Once our financing criteria is met, you have unlimited access to quick cash advances for your invoices or purchase orders. This real-time cash program relies primarily on the credit worthiness of your customer who issues the Purchase Order.
MT enables you to fill orders or fund your payroll without waiting for your customers to pay your invoices or for you to deliver on your purchase orders. Direct payments are made to your suppliers (for raw materials) or Lines of Credit. Your domestic suppliers will receive direct payments or Letters of Credit will be posted straight to your international suppliers on your behalf.
You can use Money Tree to access unlimited cash as long as your customers and suppliers meet the requirements of MT. From this perspective, money truly does grow on trees! You can now take on large orders knowing you have unlimited real-time access to cash to deliver your product or service.
Industries Served BY MONEY TREE
- Manufacturing
- Apparel
- Distribution
- Staffing
- Transportation
- Energy
- Service
- Printing
- Technology and IT Services
- & more…
Money Tree is typically available to all industry segments, except for construction projects.
MONEY TREE transaction Types
- U.S. Supplier to U.S. Customer
- U.S. Supplier to Foreign Customer
- Foreign Supplier to U.S. Customer
- Foreign Supplier to Foreign Customer
Your Suppliers
To qualify for my Money Tree program, your suppliers must know your product and be able to produce it in time and to meet your customer’s stipulations. Your supplier must have a good business history and track record of producing and delivering goods.
Required MONEY TREE Documentation:
- Completed purchase order finance Application Form
- Your invoice to your customer
- Your supplier’s invoice to you
- Your purchase order to your supplier
- Your profit on the transaction – gross margins must be >than 18%
- Your business History
- Your most recent profit and loss (P&L) statement
- Your most up-to-date balance Sheet
- Your time frame to produce the finished goods or to deliver your service
- Credit information on your customer
- Your supplier Information
- Your supplier delivers finished Goods or unfinished Goods
How Money Tree Purchase Order Finance Works
Step1: Your Customer gives you a purchase order for goods.
Step 2: You give your supplier your company’s purchase order to fulfill your Customer’s purchase order. The gross margin between the two purchase orders should be a minimum of 18%.
Step 3: Your supplier ships goods to you (non finished goods) or to your customer (finished goods). Payments to your supplier is made directly by my MONEY TREE program immediately or based on your MT contract.
Step 4: If the goods (unfinished) were sent directly to you from your supplier, then you will finish making the product and you ship the finished goods to your customer.
Step 5: You send your invoice for your customer’s order to my MONEY TREE program for factoring.
Step 6: MT will then factor your invoice to your customer. Your advance will be issued after subtracting supplier payments, factoring and POF fees. When your customer pays your invoice, then MONEY TREE will collect advances paid to you and factoring fees. All remaining funds are forwarded to you.
POF Money Tree Examples
POF Example 1: U.S. Supplier to U.S. Customer
You are a clothing manufacturer. You have been in business for three years and your Profit and Loss Statement and Balance Sheet looks good. You received a large order, but you’re maxed out on credit from your suppliers. Your sales price to your Customer is $100,000 and your total cost to produce your goods is $75,000. Your gross margin is 25%. MONEY TREE will purchase the goods for you from your supplier, give you 45 days to produce the goods, charge you a 5% purchase order fee ($5000, 5% of $100,000) and factor your receivables.
POF Example 2: Foreign Supplier to U.S. Customer
You are importing telescopes from Korea. You do not need to receive the goods, The telescopes will be shipped directly to your Customer, which is a large U.S. retailer. The cost of the goods is $500,000 and you will sell them to your Customer for $700,000. Your gross margins are 20% (after all your import costs). My MONEY TREE program will open a Letter of Credit to your supplier and will factor the receivables. When your Korean supplier ships the telescopes, then your Korean supplier will get paid. When the goods are landed in the U.S. and shipped to your U.S. Customer, MT will factor the receivable from your customer and pay the purchase order to your supplier from the MONEY TREE funds advanced to you.
POF Example 3: Foreign Supplier to Foreign Customer
You are an international seafood broker. You are buying seafood in Jakarta from a trustworthy supplier and selling it to a credit worthy Customer in Columbia. The gross margin on your deal is 18%. My MONEY TREE program will finance the full transaction by wiring funds to your supplier of seafood for $40,000 and collect payment from the Colombian Customer of $55,000, less our MT factoring fees, insurance and inspection fees.
Complimentary Money Tree Advisory Services
- Contact me right now at (866) 323-9123 or click this link to sign-up for a free finance consultation with me to discover how my Money Tree helps you get unlimited cash to improve your cash flow.
- Sign-up for my free financing report to discover more financing options to grow your own “money tree.”
Turn Your Purchase Orders Into Real-Time Cash!
By · CommentsTurn your purchase orders into cash right away.
You have assets in your business such as invoices and purchase orders to help you get control over your worrisome cash shortages, which are keeping you up at night. You don’t need to worry anymore, because I can help you get over your cash flow hurdles!
Have you been turned down for a loan from your bank? Asset based lending such as factoring or purchase order finance (POF) is often misunderstood. You can use POF when traditional banking options turn you down. Banks traditionally focus more on your business past performance. Purchase order finance lenders look at the value of your business assets (E.G., invoices and purchase orders).
POF Defined
Purchase order finance is a financial service that enables a business to purchase raw materials or finished goods for products to be sold in a matter of weeks. It is short term financing and usually paid off within 30 to 60 days.
For example, “The San Jose, California Police Department received an order for one hundred servers, dual processor computers” The police department used a purchase order to buy their servers from Dell Computers. Dell promised to deliver the order in 30 days. Dell used POF once Dell received the PO from the police department so they would have the cash on-hand to pay their suppliers for computer parts and salaries to build the 100 servers which the San Jose Police Department ordered.
I’m making the assumption that Dell needs to use POF because they are cash constrained or they use POF as a financing strategy. This is an over-simplified example, but it gives you the ways how POF could be used to finance your transaction. I have more examples below to help you further understand how POF (or asset-based lending) can work for you.
Benefits of Purchase Order Financing
- Expand your capacity with your key suppliers
- Guarantee timely deliveries to your customers
- Take on larger orders to increase your financial bottom line
- Expand your business without increasing your debt or selling equity
- Leverage cash now to pay your suppliers, for marketing, payroll expenses, and other things you need in the short-term
POF will work for your business if you have orders from creditworthy customers, but don’t have cash right now to pay your suppliers so you can deliver the product or service to your buyer. When you find yourself in the position of not being able to promptly fill your customer’s purchase order, this can be a precarious situation for you. You may be at risk of losing the order and the profit to help you pay for critical operating expenses. Beyond your inability to deliver the product or service on time, you may lose future orders from this buyer. And that ain’t good!
You will need PO financing when:
- You need expertise to handle the financing
- You need additional working capital
- You need a quick response to an immediate sales need
- You don’t want to incur additional credit risk (domestic nor foreign)
- You don’t want your Customers and sellers to know each other
- You want the opportunity to make additional profit
Purchase Order Finance Criteria
- Management expertise and proven products
- Well developed sourcing strategy
- Bona fide and Non-cancelable purchase orders
Candidates for Purchase Order Finance
- Companies in start-up or growth phases can use your purchase order or contract from a credit worthy customer to pay for your raw materials, products, and payroll. POF is a great financing option for companies involved in Intellectual Property, Start-Ups, Services, or Consulting. You probably recognize all of these situations include companies that have no hard assets as collateral.
- Your customer must be reputable with a good credit line. And, your purchase order must be verifiable.
- Usually POF is more expensive than factoring your invoices. It’s another financing alternative for start-ups, companies less than 2 years old, and companies with the opportunity to grow. One good thing about POF for you is your company can avoid debt payments and you don’t have to give up any equity for Venture Capital funding.
The POF Process
I offer factoring and purchase order finance through my Money Tree Program. Money Tree qualifies you and your customers and suppliers, and manages distribution of funds.
The process is straightforward. You provide me with a copy of your customer order and a cost projection of your cash requirements to fill your customer’s order.
I pay your vendors or suppliers directly for goods or services you need to deliver your customer’s order. Once you’ve delivered the goods or services and they’re accepted by your customer, you then have an accounts receivable. At that point your contract with my MONEY TREE program will convert to a Factoring transaction.
International Business
Your suppliers may be located outside the United States. I can help you make payments to your foreign suppliers through Commercial Letters of Credit. Commercial Letters of Credit can shield you from the danger of importing products from foreign suppliers. I’ll give you examples of how this is done in future posts.
Call me right now at (866) 323-9123 with your POF questions and concerns.
In my next post, I will discuss the MONEY TREE program and how it can benefit your business; just one of the many resources at Donald Hunter(TM) Financial. Contact me for your personal complimentary consultation and sign up to receive a free copy of my Business Survival Guide for 2010.
Breakthrough Sales Ideas for Small Businesses In 2010
By · CommentsOn February 2, 2010, I hosted a training conference call with my sales mentor Eric Lofholm. Thank you for sharing great tips with the Donald Hunter Financial community.
Eager entrepreneurs and business owners around the planet dialed in to get some “golden sales nuggets” to help them boost their financial results.
This call was fantastic! And, I’ve made the recording available to you below! Eric touched on powerful ideas to help you breakthrough your fears around selling. I picked up a couple of “golden nuggets” on this call which will boost my sales results!
My breakthrough was in the area of getting connected to the benefits influence skills can produce in my life by linking personal financial outcomes to my persuasion abilities , which is actually a powerful business coaching technique.
What benefits would you enjoy in your life if you were to double your sales results?
As you listen to this valuable call , you will discover :
- Why a top insurance salesperson consistently out performed his peers
- How to embrace persuasion skills by changing your view of selling
- How your fear of selling can stifle your results
- Why Eric’s proprietary “Sales Mountain” process can help you produce predictable, sustainable outcomes for your business
- How focusing on three sales systems will boost your results
You can request the slides for this call by emailing me or following Eric’s instructions at the end of this recording. My contact information is always at the bottom of every post.
Complementary Sales Tune-Up Coaching Program
If you have any fears around selling, you should take advantage of my Complementary Sales Tune-Up sessions today. Increases in your sales means you’ll be stronger financially. My goal is to help you get into a stronger financial position long before you need commercial funding.
I’ve spent the past two years studying persuasion techniques, strategies, and sales processes to enable me to produce better results in my own business ventures. My sales and marketing mentors include heavy weights like:
- Dan Kennedy
- Berry Rhein
- Eric Lofholm
- Genie Laborde
- Stan Billiue
- Tommy Hopkins
- Zig Ziggler
- Etc.
I’d like to be your breakthrough business coach and help you to get incredible sales results in 2010. You can sign-up with me today for your complementary Sales Tune-up Coaching session.
In your complementary session, I will mentor you with my powerful coaching technologies to:
- Assess your personal sales goals
- Identify your limiting fears around selling
- Guide you in developing powerful strategies to enable you to generate leads online and offline on a daily basis
- Help you to breakthrough what to say, how to say it, and when to say it to increase your sales conversions
- Improve your financial bottom-line through helping you create a “burning desire” to produce breakthrough sales results
I’ve discovered through studying coaching technologies, persuasion techniques, and financial planning a powerful link between what you believe about your finances and the impact your beliefs have on your sales results. My business coaching will help you “play at a level 10”!
Are you prepared to receive the sales outcomes you’ve been seeking? Increase your influence skills and you’ll improve your business cash flow too.
“Share” or “tweet” this post below with your network.
Your comments on Donald Hunter Financial give other business owners and entrepreneurs access to helpful resources you have like your own web site or blog. And your remarks add value to the conversations I initiate here for you every week.
