David versus Goliath: How Small Business Beats the Corporates

Despite their corporate speak, corporates have crippling limitations. A lean and dynamic small business has few, if any, of these debilitating impairments.

David is you and me. Goliath the cumbersome corporate.

Here are 10 reasons why I’d rather be David than Goliath.

BUREAUCRACY

David. Let’s fix this right now.

Goliath. Lots of layers, time decay, complicated procedures and a cast of thousands.

SPEED OF CHANGE

David. Change can be implemented at 9.01am tomorrow.

Goliath. Slow and cumbersome path to change. Like turning around the Queen Mary.

POLITICS

David. ‘Playing the game’ is exhaustive. David is just interested in outcomes.

Goliath. Faceless men and women in large offices playing their own games, far away from their customers and frontline team.

CARE

David. Deeply care about customers and staff recognizing them as the lifeblood of the business.

Goliath. Insurers and banks care more about hiding behind inflexible protocols. Holding their line seems paramount, despite frustrated customers and staff. 

AUTHENTICITY

David. Your business reflects your authenticity.

Goliath. You can’t be authentic. Perhaps at the start, but not in the end.

CONTROL

David. Absolute control over the business.

Goliath. The culture of the organization ultimately controls the organization.

ETHICS

David. You decide what you stand for. This is cultivated with your team, customers and suppliers.

Goliath. Share price and profitability is king. Recent employee exploitation through paying below award wages demonstrates greed in all its ugliness.

RELATIONSHIPS

David. Relationships are everything. People deal with people not businesses. Business relationships often develop into lifelong personal relationships.

Goliath. Transient and fleeting. Often subject to what someone, or the company, can get from a relationship. Relationships have little or no currency beyond the next restructure.

LOYALTY

David. Loyalty shown to employees, customers and suppliers is reciprocated.

Goliath. Loyalty is talked about a lot. But egos, dollars, politics and ‘new strategy’ ensure its assassination.

LEGACY

David. What do you want to be remembered for? Then go out and do it brilliantly. Others will notice and judge.

Goliath. Will anyone remember a bank or insurance company? Corporates spend silly amounts of time and money broadcasting their greatness and virtues. It doesn’t work. Everyone knows.

Add a comment on what it is that you love about your business over the corporates.

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

The world ends one hour before the Christmas Party

I still get amazed at how people freak out at the end of the year.

Normally rational people become obsessed with getting everything done before the Christmas break.

In my final blog for the year I take a light-hearted look at the crazy final weeks of the working year.

The Christmas Goldfish. Every year certain individuals think the world will end this Christmas. And then on their return in the New Year they realize it didn’t. But like a goldfish they forget again next Christmas. 

The Empty-Inboxer. They must get their inbox empty before the Christmas Party or face Armageddon. 

The Festive Networker. Don’t want to see you in July but must see you on the 21st of December to tick off that catch up before Christmas.

The Christmas Card Strangers. You bought stationery from a supplier five years ago so Bob, Susan and Michelle sent you a signed Christmas card.

The E-Card Giver. No-one likes an e-card. Ever. Please just don’t send them.

The Customer with absurd requests. Can you renovate my bathroom before Christmas? There’s four weeks to go. Can you ship the exact leadlight glass we need for our feature window from China before Christmas? What the?

The Nominator of advanced deadlines. Projects not due until June next year with a 90 day lead time are suddenly now subject to “It would be great guys if we could cover this off before Christmas.” 

And what happens when everyone comes back to work after Christmas.

The Christmas Goldfish has forgotten their anxious and irrational behavior.

The Empty Inboxer is disappointed when they return to an inbox with exactly 103 emails in it. 

The Festive Networker has forgotten you. Again. Until next Christmas.

The Christmas Card Strangers are blissfully unaware of your existence.

The E-Card has been deleted from your Inbox but lives on in your deleted files directory.

The Customer with absurd requests found a cheaper supplier who mucked up their order and dispatched product in March.

The Nominator of advanced deadlines privately accepts this was unrealistic without mention and directs you to meet the original deadline of June.

So the message here people is that these people walk amongst us in December.

I remind you to anticipate this behavior and not get drawn in.

Politely but assertively dismiss it.

And the moral of the story.

The world doesn’t end one hour before the Christmas Party.

And finally, thanks for your support in reading The Fourth Moon Blog.

I wish you a safe and enjoyable break. I encourage you to reinvigorate yourself and come back bigger and better in business next year.

As a tribute, please beat the Christmas rush, and buy you or a friend in business my online coaching program Fourth Moon Mastery here .

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

The Two Lumberjacks & Sharpening the Saw

With everyone plugged in to the global village of business, we need to keep ourselves physically, mentally and emotionally healthy.

The ability to view business as a series of short sprints rather than one long marathon is paramount.

Taking short pauses or breaks between these sprints is the key to reinvigorating yourself.

In The Fourth Moon, I use the story of the two lumberjacks to illustrate this principle.

“There were two lumberjacks that made a bet on which one of them could cut down the most trees in a day. One of them was a huge brute of a man nearly 130 kilograms, while the other was a smaller lean man weighing just 80 kilograms. At dawn they started their competition having agreed to finish cutting trees at sunset. The larger man went out hard and chopped down trees for five hours straight without stopping for even a brief moment. In contrast, the smaller man went slowly and purposefully about his work. Every hour he stopped to sharpen his saw and take water. As the midday sun shone high in the sky and the mercury hit its peak, the larger man fell down to the ground exhausted, his saw blades worn down to nothing. He looked over at the small man with pity in his eyes. 'I've cut down over 20 trees, you've done half that’ he said laughing. The smaller man looked up calmly and said 'But it’s still six hours until sunset. I have energy and a sharp saw’.”

You can guess who won the bet.

One of the critical tactics to achieving sustainable business success is the discipline of taking short breaks to reinvigorate and reinvent yourself. The legendary author and educator Stephen Covey referred to this as sharpening the saw.

Sharpening the saw keeps you fresh and sharp. It clears your head to allow new things in. New people, skills and opportunities.

Overexerting yourself and working to the same run-sheet every week and month will provide you with spurts of sporadic or fleeting success. But it is unlikely to provide sustainable success. I consider sustainable success to be delivering winning performance with predictable outcomes for 3 years or more.

Not sharpening the saw can lead to relationship, physical or mental breakdowns. Customers and staff leave. Opportunities pass you by.

Everything starts to dissolve around you, with you too exhausted to remedy it.  

So schedule those pauses and breaks into your daily, weekly, monthly and annual routine.

Stay fresh and sharp to take on the world.

And remember the little lumberjack, who was still going strong at sunset. Long after his bigger stronger counterpart was flat on his back and beaten.

To learn more of the steps to sustainable business success, secure your copy of The Fourth Moon here. 

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

What Traditions have you started?

When I was a kid, we’d learn of family traditions. Both in our families and others. These family traditions ranged from the family Sunday Roast, to our Italian neighbor’s tomato sauce-making day to the annual family vacation at the same seaside location each year. 

It was only when I got older that I reflected on how these traditions started within families. Someone had to think of the idea, initiate it within their family and gain wide support for it to be adopted as an ongoing tradition. 

Who were the people in each family that started these traditions and how did they do it? 

In recent years I decided to attempt starting a tradition in our family. And I’m proud to say it stuck.

As a singer, I make a good blogger. Unfortunately, I was not blessed with the dulcet tones of Freddie Mercury. However, for some strange reason I can do a half decent version of old Satchmo Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World.

So one Christmas after lunch, I announced to my family that I’d like to sing them a song. I then proceeded to belt out Satchmo to the best of my limited ability. It was fun, everyone laughed and clapped. An invitation for others to sing followed. But no-one took up the offer. 

I then extended a future invitation to everyone to prepare a song for next year’s Christmas lunch and perform.

What happened in the years following has been amazing.

Since then, most of the adult children have had a go at banging out a tune. The kids have got involved with some songs and dance routines. Last year, my sister Deb and husband Rod even did I got you babe dressed in full Sonny & Cher outfits!

Each Christmas we all eagerly anticipate what people will sing later in the afternoon.

I feel quite chuffed that I’ve been able to originate and establish a tradition.

Which got me thinking about business.

If family traditions can be established and survive generations, what if you started some traditions in your business?

What tradition could you start that would be really memorable. What tradition could you start that would be anticipated in advance of it happening? Be savoured by recipients or participants. 

Think about adopting a tradition around your customers, employees or community. What would it be?

It could be activities or benefits provided for customer recognition. It might be activities or reward for your best employees. It might be adopting a chosen charity and supporting them ‘hands on’ or financially. 

What are one or two traditions that would make a significant difference to others while making your tradition truly memorable?

It could be fun and make you, and others, feel great. A tradition could make you stand out.

But do it for the right reasons. It’s funny how when you do something from the heart, the rub-off tends to be positive anyway. 

Dare to be different. Do something.

Better to be accused of being different or eccentric, rather than boring. In an often cynical world, people are searching for feel good experiences.

Let me know what tradition you are going to adopt within your business?

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

The Stakeholder Quadrant

In The Fourth Moon, I introduce Tom and his team to the Stakeholder Quadrant.

The Stakeholder Quadrant includes four groups:

1.    Customers
2.    Employees
3.    Shareholders
4.    Suppliers

What’s really interesting about these four groups is how they each uniquely influence your business.

Successful business owners adopt a fanatical and fastidious dedication to understanding each of these stakeholder groups. They invest in building greater relationships together on a win-win basis that delivers leverage to both parties.

Here’s a quick run-down on recommended tactics for each of the Stakeholders.

Customers

In the B2B world, in which most of us live, customers don’t want to do business with ‘businesses’ they want to do business with ‘people’.   

Establishing relationships based on integrity and trust is critical. To do this you need to listen to your customers and help them achieve their dreams or avoid their fears. This takes time and guts.

Act in a way that converts your customers into raving fans. Walking billboards.

Employees

Employees are the lifeblood of any business.

If you engage, empower and reward your employees they will play a bigger game for you.

Explain to them your top goals – your Mission Goals - and get their buy in on helping you achieve them.

Provide them with their top goals – their Crew Goals – and educate them on how delivering on their Crew Goals leads to the achievement of the business’ Mission Goals. Promise them that you will appraise them and remunerate them based on delivery of these goals.

Retention of existing talent and attraction of new talent will follow.

Shareholders

Ensure that shareholders wear an independent ‘hat’ in assessing the business, asking questions and providing feedback.

Be timely and generous in management reporting and sharing information.

Even if you work operationally in the business and own the business, adopt the habit of wearing two hats. An ‘operational hat’ and a ’shareholder hat’.

Under your shareholder hat, think about the business objectively as an investor and ask questions around commerciality, risk, profitability and ROI. 

Focus on transparency, objectivity and commerciality.

Suppliers

Often forgotten as the fourth member of the Stakeholder Quadrant, the humble supplier should be seen as an inverse customer relationship. You are the customer to your supplier.

Like your customers, you want absolute commitment from your suppliers. You want guaranteed supply of the best products and services. At the best price. On the best terms. 

You want suppliers that can bring you a competitive edge. Suppliers that help you add value to your customer relationships.

Aim to build long-term relationships with suppliers. Treat them with respect, communicate with them and pay them on time. Share your vision and needs with them. Ask for their help.

View suppliers as part of your business model and nurture these relationships.

How to optimize the Stakeholder Quadrant

I encourage you to appoint a Custodian within your business. 

One for each Stakeholder. Four in total.

Choose a Custodian that is the best person suited to the stakeholder group. Ask team members to nominate themselves or others as Custodians. Generally, the most suitable Custodian will be obvious.

Each Custodian is responsible for the culture of their stakeholder. Your entire team must commit to supporting the Custodian.

Custodians should report periodically to the team in Monthly Team Meetings (or quarterly at a minimum) on current stakeholder sentiment.

Adopt the Stakeholder Quadrant methodology in your business now.

For more on this and other strategies to transform your business, learn more about my digital e-coaching course Fourth Moon Mastery here

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

Don't let Black Clouds & Dream Takers steal your Chi

Chi is a Chinese word meaning life force energy or life breath. Keeping your Chi healthy and protected is a vital success strategy, not just in life but in business.

Black Clouds are those people around you that are constantly negative. These people dwell and feed on negativity and cynicism. 

Dream Takers are those people that diminish, shut down or doubt your big ideas. When you share your dreams their eyes glaze over, their face becomes cast with doubt and their tone changes. They are astonished that you would even consider such an idea. 

Stop allowing Black Clouds and Dream Takers to steal your Chi.

So who are these Black Clouds & Dream Takers?

They are in business. They can be a difficult business partner that isn’t so much glass half empty but rather ‘glass smashed against brick wall’. They might be the silent saboteur employee who hijacks your strategy. Or that passive aggressive customer you just can’t please. Maybe even that sarcastic supplier that bemoans your smallest request.

They are family and friends. Family and friends can often be damaging through influencing your dreams and aspirations. The ‘Doubting Thomas’ who is always vocal about the negatives when discussing your ideas claiming “Why would you do that?” and “That will never work”. The “Eternal Worrier” who offers nothing constructive but a series of agonizing ‘oohs and aahs’ accompanied by pained expressions. “I just think it’s a bit risky” they offer without any questions or comprehension of your idea. And finally the ‘Not Interested’ who never asks you anything about your business or acknowledges your victories. Their monk-like silence and complete lack of interest can impact you without them even uttering a word.

How does this impact you?

More than you think.

Whether consciously or subconsciously, constant exposure to these Black Clouds and Dream Takers can be toxic. In fact, exposure to them at critical times in your life can impact your Chi so detrimentally that they take you down with them.

How do you know if the Black Clouds and Dream Takers are affecting you?

Typical signs are these. You feel anxious before seeing them. You experience physiological changes when in their company such as shortness of breath, heartburn or anxiety. You feel severely drained of energy or mildly depressed after seeing them. You may feel frustration or anger that strikes you as out of character when compared to your normal demeanor.  

At worst, you may even begin to doubt the validity of your ideas, dreams and self-worth.

What should you do about Black Clouds and Dream Takers?

The short answer is to cease, limit and control your contact with them.

Consider to cease contact immediately with any parties that are highly toxic. People that are passively aggressive, abusive or overtly negative towards you have no place in your life. This is a big call but you need to remove yourself from them. 

Often family or long-term friends can play this game. And you are tired of it. When you don’t want to cut yourself off from them, I suggest you limit your contact. This can be done surreptitiously without drama. One tactic is to set a time limit for your catch up before departing. Another might be to simply stretch out the frequency of meeting up together. For particularly challenging family and friends, perhaps birthdays and Christmas.

And finally, I suggest you practice how to control your contact with them. This could include the forum in which you meet – meeting in a group, doing an activity together (movie) or choosing a neutral venue. It also includes moderating conversation and deciding to not discuss particular topics, or politely but assertively shutting down conversations when they drift in to Black Cloud or Dream Taker territory.   

You dreams, aspirations and big ideas are too precious to surrender or have them torn down by Black Clouds and Dream Takers.

Don’t let them steal your Chi

Next time you feel this happening, close your eyes and repeat the following mantra three times.

I deny you access to my sovereign being. You do not influence or control me.

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke