Arnel's Blog

"How are you wired?" Part 3

 "How are you wired?": Part 3 focuses on knowing your Business Owner Profile. This profile shows how you work, run your business, and gives insight as to the type of business owner you are.   

 To know your Business Owner Profile, you can go to a resource created by a fellow colleague and friend, Chuck Blakeman. It is called "The Apex Profile" and it it can be found on the following link:  http://apexprofile.com/. 

There are three basic profiles: 1) Market Driven, 2) Process Driven, and Product Driven. These profiles are not tied to your personality. Once you determine your Apex Profile, you can learn how to use your strengths and cover your weaknesses in order to become a business owner who actually owns a business that produces results.  

When I work with clients in the series, "The 90 Day Challenge", I have all of them take the Apex Profile test in order to determine what are their primary and secondary business owner profiles. This allows me to help my clients make better decisions in running their business utilizing accurate information about     themselves.  

Let me share my results with you. I am S/M Profile (Systems/Market). My market focus was 29%, my system focus was 45%, and my product focus was 26%. 

What does that mean in regards to my business? From the Apex Profile, here are the recommendations:

1) I am a mix of a marketer and systematizer. This mix can grow a very successful mature business that makes money if the owner can get a product focused into the business very early on at the outset if possible.

2) One of my weaknesses as a S/M Profile is that I am not good in starting a business. I can be distracted by sitting around and thinking about the best processes for production or what the future looks like before the present has been taken care of.  

3) Here are some of my Identifiers: a) Detail oriented, tendency to be structured, but like new ideas and market ideas, 2) Good thinker/researcher with understanding of their market and customer, and 3) Creating Consistent Operations and Productions, a business manager who knows customer service.

I agree totally with these results, so I am working to systematize the process of the workshop and the series of "The 90 Day Challenge". 

If you are interested in taking the test and learning your business owner profile, click this link, Apex Profile . Click the tab, "Get Started". Type your e-mail address and click next. Apply this promo code, "DT201025"and you will receive a 25% discount for the test (Apex Profile Affiliate).  It will only take 20minutes to complete the test.  

My next post will be "How are you wired?": Part 4. This will focus on knowing your physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional energy and how it affects your performance in business. 

If you have any questions or comments about this post do not hesitate to contact me or drop me a comment.

"How are you wired?" Part 2

    "How are you wired?: Part 2" is about knowing your strengths and utilizing them to its maximum potential in your business.   As a result, you will obviously be running your business more effectively.  

Before any of my clients start "The 90 Day Challenge", it is imperative that we determine each person's individual strength.   I have them take the Strength Based Leadership Test from the following website: http://www.strengthstest.com/strengths-tests.html. (There is a small fee if you are interested in taking the test)

In the book, "Strengths Based Leadership" by Tom Rath and Barrie Conchie, they divide leadership into four domains: 1) Executing, 2) Influencing, 3) Relationship, and 4) Strategic Thinking.

"Executing" means "Striving and Working harder". 

"Influencing" means "Impacting and Influencing others"

"Relationship" means "Relating with others"

"Strategic" means "Thinking working Smarter."

So what does this all mean? Let me share with you my results based on the Strengths Based Leadership Test.

In the Executing Domain, I have the strength: Arranger. With this strength, I like to figure out how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity.

In the Influencing Domain, I have the strength: Maximizer. With this strength, I focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. I seek to transform something strong into something superb.

In the Relationship Domain, I have the following strengths: Relator and Individualization. As a Relator, I enjoy close relationships with others. I find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal. With the strength of Individualization, I am intrigued with the unique qualities of each person and  I posses a gift in figuring out how different people can work together productively.

In the Strategic Thinking Domain, I have the strength: Strategic. With this strength, I create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, I can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues and come up with a strategy immediately.

Knowing these five strengths based on leadership, I have been able to run my business more effectively.  I have been able to utilize my strengths and delegate work to people whose strengths are my weaknesses. With all that said, my business has been doing well in revenue over the last 60 days and it has definitely been more enjoyable.

If you do not know your strengths based on leadership, I highly encourage you to take the test and read the book. It will be life changing for you and your business.  I have included a link below to purchase the book (Amazon Affiliate).

After reading this post, please leave me a comment on what you think about knowing your strengths based on leadership and how it can change your business. I would love to hear your insight. 

If you need someone to help you interpret the results and implement the information into your business do not hesitate to contact me. I am willing to help.

The next post will be "How are you wired?: Part 3". This will focus on knowing your business owner profile in order to run a successful business.

Want more clients, you need to know "How are you wired?"

Do you want more clients? Well, I believe you need to know "How you are wired". 

Knowing "How you are wired" is broken down to four parts:

1. Part one is knowing what is your personality type and how it affects your decision making process. 

2. Part two is knowing your strengths and how to use your strengths effectively all the time in business 

3. Part three is knowing your business owner profile and how your profile affects how you approach running your business. 

4. Part four is knowing how you manage your physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental energy which leads to performance in your business. 

From my experience, when a person knows how he or she is wired, they can empower themselves to know what needs to done to obtain more clients.  The person is better aware and more effective in their business because a lot of the guesswork has been removed.

Let me share a story about how one my clients took his business to another level because he discovered how he was wired.  This gentleman was struggling because his business had plateaued and he could not figure out the cause and how to be motivated.   

I had him take a couple of assessment tests and I found out that he scored high on being "system focused".  I asked him, "Do you have a strategic plan on growing your business in 2010 and over?" He replied, "No". 

He explained to me that when he started the business 5 years ago, his CPA sat him down with 3 other advisors to help him come up with a business plan along with  financial projections. He achieved those financial projections 2 years ago!  

This client is highly committed especially  if he has a plan.  He is an avid runner and of course, he runs better when he is training for a race.  When he trains for a race, he follows the plan exactly and gets phenomenal results.

I asked him,"Would you be excited if we came up with a Life Plan in alignment with your Strategic Plan for your business with new SMART Goals?" He told me, "If I could get a new plan, I know I can accomplish it!"

With the information he shared with me on how he was wired in regards to competitive running and the results of the assessment tests, I was able to show my client that once he has a strategic plan for his business with SMART Goals, he will not plateau.  His primary motivation-- accomplishing the plan. 

Over the last couple of months, my client has been excited about his business. He is bringing in more business then he did over the last year. I truly believe that knowing how he is wired was the key component to his success.  

Once my client knew how he was wired, he had a choice to go for the next level. He became empowered to go for it. Moments such as this is the most exciting part of my business.

On my next five posts, I will be sharing the breakdown of the four parts of "How are you wired?" and give you links to take the assessment tests for your benefit. The series is: "4 Parts of Knowing How You are Wired = More Clients".

I am Insultant!

 Many have asked, "What is an insultant?"  An "Insultant" is a term that comes from the book, "The Breakthrough Company: How Everyday Companies Become Extraordinary Performers" by Keith McFarland.

I was doing some research on the web and I found this blog - Leading Blog: Building a Community of Leaders (www.LedershipNow.com). The title of the article is "Insultants Wanted" and it explains that insultants are needed in order for companies to breakthrough. Take a moment and check out the website and the article. I will share a brief description and my thoughts.

From the book, insultants are "inside consultants". The author of book describes them as those people “willing to ask the tough questions that cause a company to think critically about its fundamental assumptions. The value of insultants is that they will go to great lengths to get their companies to reevaluate a position or adapt to a changing environment.” 

I believe that in order to assist you to advance to the next level in your business, it is crucial that I always ask the tough questions.  For example, "Why do you do it that way?" or "Is there a better way?" I am always looking for ways for my clients to be more effective versus efficient. It is my role to push them to go out of their comfort zone so we can get the results they want.

I tell my clients to build their business based on their strengths, passions, and talents. One core belief of an insultant that I live by is that I will tell them the truth even if it means my client will be offended and/or I will lose them as a client. I see myself as Pinocchio's trusted advisor, Jiminy Cricket.  Not only do I tell you the truth, I encourage you and recognize what you do well.  

I believe insultants are needed if you are a small business owner with revenues under $1,000,000 and especially if your revenue is under $500,000. From my experience working with business owners and being a business owner myself, we are our worst enemy. Secondly, no one is willing to tell us the truth about our business and how we operate in our business. This why 48% of small businesses fail the 1st year in business, and 80% of them fail in five years.

I am always excited to recieved comments. Please leave me a comment below and let me know what you are thinking and how you feel about this post. If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog.