Coach Barrow

December has arrived - where did 2008 go?

If you haven’t done so already (and I bet you haven’t), it’s time to schedule some time to plan:

• which weeks in 2009 will be your vacation weeks?
• which days will be your days “off” work - when you don’t DO anything to do with work or money?
• which days will be dedicated to leading your team and managing your professional and personal stuff:

1. overall strategy
2. financial management
3. marketing systems
4. customer relationship management
5. operational controls
6. your support team
7. personal development

• which days will be focused on income generation?
• what will your production targets be for those days?
• which days will be allocated to entrepreneurial development?
• which days will be invested in advancing your own personal and professional skills?
• which days will be set aside to fulfill the priorities of your partner, your children, your immediate family and friends?
• which days will be gifted to charity?

It would be very easy to just “show up” again next year - and allow external influences to drive your life.

Look what happened this year - and ask yourself how much better control you would like to exercise going forwards.

At the risk of repeating myself, in 2009:

• do you have sufficient time?
• do you have a fabulous support team?
• do you have enough money?

Seth Godin’s latest book “Tribes” is a MUST READ for anyone who runs a business, provides a service or aspires to lead any team of people.

I read this from cover to cover yesterday, virtually in one sitting - and was inspired by the content.

It has certainly motivated me to “join the dots” as far as my thought leadership and web presence are concerned.

There is a message in the book that we are all leaders - and that this responsibility places upon us an obligation to lead by example, lead by motivation and lead by innovation.

My reading yesterday was focused on “how does this book change me?”

I’m going to read the book again next weekend and ask:

“How does this book change the people I work with?”

I suggest you do the same.

empty carousel, originally uploaded by rick.

It was going to be such a pleasant and relaxed evening.

After a restful Bank Holiday Monday, a 40-minute flight from Manchester to Glasgow would see me all set for a team training day on Tuesday.

No point in driving for 4 hours when I can fly for 40 minutes.

That was until I arrived in Glasgow but my overnight bag stayed in Manchester, courtesy of Flybe and the baggage handlers.

You know that awful sinking feeling, standing at the carousel and watching everyone else collect their luggage and walk away.

The flight was very quiet - not many passengers - so there was no doubt after a few minutes that the truck wasn’t coming back again.

Inside my case:

1. digital projector
2. 150 sheets of printed handouts
3. all my toiletries
4. complete change of work clothes
5. various chargers for iphone and other gadgets
6. overcoat with house keys in pocket

I wearily walk over to Servisair, where a long-suffering young man hands me a pre-printed notice with contact numbers and prints off a slip of paper with my “reference number”.

The system has me - I am no longer a name, I am a number.

I consider my options - and visit an airport shop to purchase razor, shaving gel, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant - and thank the fates that I have travelling at least in a shirt, jeans and shoes - and not looking like Eminem.

My 30-minute taxi ride to East Kilbride is time for me to think through my further options for the training day today - I will be dependent on the attitude and enthusiasm of the team at my destination - the Holiday Inn hotel.

I arrive and my luck changes - there are not one but two enthusiastic young ladies on reception, who sympathise with my plight, make sure I have a nice room and assure me that conferencing will be able to help at 7.00am the following morning (today).

Sure enough, I arrive in conferencing at the said hour and meet with “no problem sir, leave it with us, we will get it sorted”.

A bright young man with no name badge is, as I write this, making 12 copies of each of my 6 handouts and organising said projector for a 9.00am start.

I may be a little grubby this morning - and not dressed as Chris Barrow the business coach - but I do feel as if the Holiday Inn East Kilbride have cared about me.

And that level of customer service is priceless.

As the day unfolds, we will see where my suitcase ends up.

With my home town as start point, I am managing my expectations.

Monday was a “red letter day” for two reasons:

Firstly, we welcomed 2 new clients in one day to The Breathe Business Club.One “sale” was completed by Bonnie over the telephone, after the client had email correspondence with me and a telephone call with Simon - good teamwork. 

The second “sale” was confirmed after a potential new client travelled from Dundee to Edinburgh for a meeting with me at The Caledonian before our Business Club meeting here.

A delightful man who will mix so well with the rest of our community here in Scotland. 

He has read our ezine for some time and, having opened a new practice, felt it was time for business coaching. 

Interest in Breathe Business is growing and we are very ambitious and optimistic about the community of “serious players” and “rising entrepreneurs” that we are building in UK dentistry. 

The second reason for congratulation was the arrival of the first Breathe Business Club membership portfolios which contain:

• Promises and Expectations for our clients

• A detailed review of each quarter’s content (this will now be added to and become a knowledge bank)

• Copies of the various self-assessment forms that we use during coaching and

• An area to keep all the “stuff” we create - ezines, ideas, templates, letters, spreadsheets and so on.

It may not sound much to you - but it has been a labour of love for the Breathe Team and to see the first copies emerge out of the box was like witnessing a birth after a particularly long and painful delivery!

It’s just after 5.00pm on Friday and writing this post will be my last professional duty before I switch off and prepare for a glass of wine and a nice meal.

My working week has mostly revolved around my desk in Falmouth (as you can see, I’m a neat freak).

Its been a week of business development and, looking back, I have achieved the following:

•  upgrade of my Vodaphone 3G datacard to keep me on-line when I travel;

• Preparation for our second quarter of Team Training Days - “Focus on Time and Money”, including new PowerPoint slides and (working with Ernie) the creation of new workbooks and assessments;

• Follow up notes and slides from the first quarter of our Breathe Business Club meetings;

• Re-write of the wording for my web-site bio;

• Creation of a new cash flow forecast for Breathe Business v 2.0 - demonstrating the funding required for the business over the next 24 months;

• Review and re-arrangement of my calendar for the rest of the year;

• Decisions regarding the future creation, editing and issue of our ezine;

• Writing of various articles for both dental and coaching publications;

• Some long-overdue additions to my blog page - including my favourite links to client web sites (see over on the right hand sidebar);

• Some equally overdue work on my personal finances, including revisions to my personal cash flow forecast for the rest of this year.

Phew!

And I’m pleased to say that, along the way, I have replied to numerous client emails and even made time for some telephone calls with both clients, prospective new clients and the Breathe Team.

All in all - a very productive week - and a reminder of just how valuable “production down-time” can be.

I feel rested from business travel - and connected with my business and our team.

Guess what?

My to-do list still isn’t clear - and I’ll be spending a few more days next week on business development. 

Business is good at Breathe - but there’s always room for more!

I haven’t known such exciting times in business for many a year now and I’m privileged to be working with Simon and the rest of the Breathe Team. 

“I don’t know how to find the right people.”

Heard that before?

We certainly do - on a regular basis, from clients who are struggling and overwhelmed.

I spoke with a lady dental principal yesterday who provides 5 days a week of clinical dentistry and then runs her own business in the evenings and at weekend.

There is no point in building a team of low-paid people who bring every decision and problem back to you.

Like another struggling dentist I met yesterday who pays his staff between £6.50 and £7.50 an hour - that’s the wage range - and he wonders why nothing gets done unless he does it himself - duh.

Just like Gulliver, he and you will be pinned to the ground by numerous decisions, transactions, situations, relationships, crises, repairs, conversations, signatures, letters, emails, forms to fill in, calls to make, beans to count - and on, and on, and on.

Do you ever feel like that?

“Why don’t you all just leave me alone!!!”

There is a way out of that.

It’s called effective delegation to a highly-paid and well motivated team.

To do that you will need money and time and people.

And that buys you freedom from “work” and the opportunity to create some “wealth” as well as “income” - any hard-working fool can create “income”

I know - I have been there for 38 years this year.

A busy fool.

Now I’m on a mission to maintain my income and create some wealth.

Wealth for me, for my business partners, for my team and for my clients.

Wealth buys you freedom.

I want to be free.

My amazing week finishes on the main platform at Birmingham’s International Convention Centre, where I conduct the morning session at Dentistry Live! - a “warm up” for Jennifer de St Georges in the afternoon.

We enjoyed ourselves hugely yesterday, with an audience of 200 - and I’m delighted to say that, not only was the Breathe stand swamped with enquiries in the breaks, but I also welcomed back a dormant client into our Birmingham Breathe Business Club, simply on the basis of my presentation.

I don’t go to “gigs” with any other intention than to sign up ezine readers - so making a real sale was the cherry on the cake this week.

I think it is also a metaphor for where dentistry UK is right now.

Principals are ready to move to their next level - and willing to invest in themselves.

On Monday and Tuesday Simon and I worked at Chandos House in London with our London Breathe Business Club (principals and senior management - rising entreprenuers and serious players).

On Wednesday I stayed at Chandos House to present our Team Training Day on “teamwork”.

On Thursday I spent the day in practice at Bow Lane Dental Group in the City.

And Friday is the ICC in Birmingham.

What am I hearing?

That the independent dentist has woken up to the fact that corporates, Virgin Healthcare, regulation and recession mean that THEY HAVE TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

And different means:

• robust and smart financial modelling
• innovation and acceleration in marketing
• focus on concierge-level customer service
• teamwork like you have never seen before

It was also interesting that every one of the major players in the provision of membership schemes had a stand at the conference - they are booming as dentists wake up to the fact that they have to spread the cost of affordable family dentistry.

It’s Saturday morning and I’m breaking the rules by working at my desk on a free day.

I left home at 6.00am last Monday morning and arrived back at 10.30pm last night.

Monday morning I’ll be driving off to Bristol for another 4 days on the road.

Harvest time.

Breathe Business is booming - but we have vacancies for clients!

A two-week break commencing Easter Friday is keeping me going - plus plenty of tea, adrenalin and the feedback of appreciative audiences and clients.

My favourite comment yesterday:

Chris - when we first met you 4 years ago we were grossing £30,000 a month in sales.

We did everything you suggested and we now gross £80,000 a month is sales.

It’s time to get to the next level - can we rejoin your programmes please?