For Your Success, February 2011

[For Your Success]

___________________________For Your
Success_____________________________

February 15, 2011 -- Volume 8, Issue 2

Welcome to the new format. Unfortunately I have not figured out how to
implement HTML on Google Groups, so I apologize to those of you who
were enjoying the large, bold, colorful titles.

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http://www.markck.com/pages/Success/Success%20Tips/planning.htm I
will be upgrading the webpage format in the near future, so keep a
sharp eye out.

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__________________________ Successful Planning
___________________________

I was recently invited to the Wyandotte Jaycee’s Year End Banquet.
Although I have been out of the Jaycees for several years, I
recognized many people at the event and got a chance to chat with
several folks I knew and others that I didn’t. Some of them were
planning to start or had started small businesses using the success
tools provided to them by the Jaycees organization. Success tip number
one: to begin a successful plan, seek out and find organizations,
tools and environments that will help support what you want to do.

Among the people I talked with was Kim who was from another Jaycee
chapter. Kim reminded me that when I was doing a lot of training
sessions for the Jaycees, she had me come out to her home chapter to
present on “overcoming shyness.” This puzzled me a bit because I have
never created or given any trainings on this topic. Discussing it
further, I learned that she was talking about a training I used to
give with my friend Allen Joseph on public speaking. Part of the
training includes having each attendee get up and give a two to three
minute extemporaneous presentation. Kim said that through this
training I had helped her to become more outgoing. She had asked me
out to train their group, apparently with the idea that my
presentation could help her – a bold step. Success tip number two:
seek and plan for opportunities that will aid you in achieving your
goals.

Kim seemed to have clearly overcome shyness. In fact, she brightly
explained that she had the confidence to start her own businesses! One
of them is her company called Face Flair which designs, creates and
sells peel and stick face appliqués. Her other, related business
provides face painting at parties and events. I asked how she had
started and she explained that she had begun with a CPG. The CPG – or
Chairman’s Planning Guide – is a tool that has been used by the
Jaycees for decades. It is essentially a miniature business plan which
they use to help the members to learn to think about and organize
projects. Kim told me that the first thing she did to get her business
going was to completely fill out the CPG for her business. This was a
smart move because businesses that have a plan are much more likely to
succeed in the long run. Success tip number three: to create
successful projects and businesses, begin with a planning tool like
the Jaycees CPG.

I asked Kim where she gets the appliqués made. She explained that she
had always been an artist, so she designs the original artwork for
each appliqué. One of the sections of the planning guide forces you to
list your resources. Using her personal contacts and engaging in
research, she found a company in California that could create
appliqués from her artwork. So she had this company make them for her
and she sold them at events and via her website. As time went on, she
kept researching and found the California-based company got them made
overseas, so she cut out the middleman. By doing initial research on
resources available to her, learning the ins and outs of the business
and continuing to search out resources, Kim kept the planning ball
rolling even after the business had started to make her product more
economical and appealing to her customers. Success tip number four:
planning is an ongoing process; to succeed, keep looking for new and
better ways of achieving your goals.

Of course Kim had problems along the way. Another important step in
the planning guide is to consider the issues you might encounter and
then list ways you might solve them. While it is impossible to foresee
everything that might happen to you in such ventures, considering
issues from the outset can help you to avoid being unrealistically
optimistic so you can honestly assess your situation and potential.
Once you get started, other, unforeseen issues will arise which will
challenge you to find better ways to achieve your purpose. By
listening to her Face Flair customers, Kim learned that many of them
wanted smaller appliqué designs. So she started designing smaller
products to meet her customers’ needs. Success tip number five:
considering problems and solutions from the outset can help you
develop a better understanding, see your situation more clearly and
prepare you for dealing with other issues that will arise in the
future.

As I noted above, Kim has always felt she was an artist. By starting
this sort of business, she played to one of her strengths. In the same
way, if you are planning something and hope to succeed, be sure you’re
planning a project or business that plays to your strengths. Kim had
always felt she was an artist because she liked creating art. So her
venture, which she says is really taking off, is based in something
she naturally enjoys and at which she is good. This means that she
will enjoy the process involved as much, if not more, than reaching
the goals she set to get her there. Success tip number six: if you
plan an enterprise around something you naturally enjoy, you are more
likely to succeed.

Have a great month!

______________________________Quotes to
Inspire____________________________

“Reduce your plan to writing. The moment you complete this, you will
have definitely given concrete form to the intangible desire.” -
Napoleon Hill

“If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into
someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not
much.” –Jim Rohn

“Whether you think you'll win or lose, you're right.” -Henry Ford

“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do
something about it now.” - Alan Lakein

“You must have long range goals to keep you from being frustrated by
short range failures.” –Charles Noble

“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man
contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.” -
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to
do with it.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
_________________________________________________________________________
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