Do You Know Your Unique Qualities?

Have you ever considered yourself having any unique qualities? What are they? What makes them unique? What about your business, is it unique?

Most people would say that they don’t have any unique qualities. But business owners should think twice. Most business owners are unique but they may not know it and certainly not know why they are unique.

There are 4 simple questions that will help you better understand how and why you are unique. These same questions will also help you grow your business. They are:

• Why do current clients/customers continue to do business with me?

• Why do new clients choose to do business with me?

• Why do referral sources refer clients to me?

• What would friends/loved ones say are my natural talents/gifts?

Asking you these questions is only the first step. The second step (and most important) is to ask your current clients and customers. Ask them to be very honest with you. Make it worth their while to answer these simple, but very essential questions for your business.

There are also several questions for you to answer yourself. They will not only help you as an individual but will also help the business as well. They are:

• What gives me the greatest results with the least amount of time and effort?

• What activities do I do effortlessly, that energizes me, and produces extraordinary results?

• What vital few things produce 80% of my results?

Taking the time to ask your clients and customers and yourself these simple questions will make a tremendous difference in how you approach your business.

If you don’t know the answers to these questions, then you are probably not operating your business at its greatest potential.

Is This The Type Of Results You Are Looking For?

As a business owner, is this the type of results you are looking for? Would you accept this from your team?

What does this graph indicate? Lower sales? Plummeting profits? No matter what it is, it looks scary, doesn’t it?

But without any type of indication of what is being measured and what the timeline is, it’s an assumption at this point that the results are awful. There just isn’t enough data to tell us much except whatever is being measured is sure heading south quickly.

Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution? Lose weight, spend more time with the kids, quit smoking, or get organized? I’m sure we all have at some point in time. What were your results? Did you achieve what you wanted? Making a New Year’s resolution is nothing more than establishing a personal goal. It more commonly involves stopping something that we are doing or includes starting something that we aren’t.

In the business world, we commonly utilize the S.M.A.R.T. method for establishing goals. S.M.A.R.T. stands for:

Specific — stated in clear, objective terms

Measurable — the results of the objective can be measured

Achievable — the goal is in your realm of responsibility and control

Results-Oriented — the goal should define the specific results to be achieved

Time-Bound — specific time-frame information or target deadlines are included


You should establish personal goals in your career as well. In fact, both your personal goals and career goals should be supportive of each other. Establishing and achieving both personal and career goals can generate a synergistic effect. Achieving one of your goals should get you closer to achieving another one. For example, stating that you want to get more organized at work and work fewer hours should support your personal goal of spending more time with your family and friends.

Similar to the S.M.A.R.T. method above, before you establish personal goals, you must be sure of a few things. It’s important to evaluate your goals before you commit. There are several questions that you should ask first:

Can I actually control it?

Do I really want it?

How much time will it take?

How will it impact others?

How will I measure my success?


The answers to these questions are critical if you intend to be successful with your goals. These questions are your foundation to helping you become victorious. Make sure you understand why these questions are so important.

OK, the chart above is actually one of my goals from the first of the year. I set out to lose weight and get back in shape this year. This graph shows my progress. I lost over 40 pounds from January 1st to June 30th. I feel tremendous and I have so much more energy. I am running 3.5 miles three times per week now and love every minute of it.

It just goes to show you, if you want something bad enough and you make it a goal, it can happen.  This is definitely the results I was looking for!

Create a Do-Not-Do List

Do you find yourself struggling to get everything on your to-do list completed every day? Do you have a difficult time maintaining focus on one issue at a time until it is completed? Do you consistently carry several of your to-do’s over to the next day? Don’t fill badly, you are not alone. Many individuals find themselves struggling to get everything done each day. It’s almost become accepted that you can’t get it all done in a day. And for some reason that you do, you feel guilty because you are all caught up.

The problem isn’t what’s on your to-do list; the problem is everything else around you going on at the same time. It’s the e-mails, phone calls, voice mails, drop in questions, meetings, etc. It’s all the distractions that are keeping you from completing your tasks. It is those not planned for issues that keep you distracted enough to keep you from getting your items done.

So, how do you fix this issue? It’s simple. You need to start looking at each and everything that you do in a day and recognize those things that little or no value for you and your business. You should ask yourself three questions: (1) As a business owner, should I be doing this task? (2) Can I delegate this task to someone else? (3) Should this task be done at all? Once you have determined that you shouldn’t be doing these certain tasks, write them down on your do-not-do list. Make sure you remind yourself that as a business owner, this isn’t something that I should be doing

Just as you have created a to-do list, you must also create a do-not-do list. This list should contain all of the tasks and situations that are distracting you from your projects at hand. Every time you complete a to-do list also complete a similar not-to-do list. If you just add one new item to your to-do list, then add one new item to your not-to-do list that could keep you from completing the task in a timely manner. Keep these lists side by side. Keep them visible to you. Every time you look at one list, look at the other. They should become parallel with each other.

I’m not saying you should never read your e-mail, take phone calls, listen to voicemail or return calls to clients. I’m just stating that while you are on a mission to get this particular task at hand completed, focus on the task, not the million other things going on around you. It’s just as important to unlearn bad habits as it is to acquire new ones. It will be difficult at first but as you begin to see you are actually completing your tasks much quicker, you will gain momentum. It is amazing to me what we can actually accomplish when we really want to. Keeping all the distractions at a distance, or better yet, handing them off to someone else, is the key to completion.

So, go ahead and give it a try. Start your do-not-do list today and let’s see how successful you become with completing your tasks.

Now That The "Big Game" has Come and Gone, What's Next?

Today marks the 60th day since Super Bowl XLV came and vanished in North Texas. It was a very interesting week. Thousands of visitors crept into our area at the same time we experienced some of the worst winter weather we have seen in years. Two winter storms, back to back, all but crippled the entire area during Super Bowl week. But still, after all of that, six major cities involved with the big game boasted an increase from sales tax revenues for the month of February. Fort Worth, which played host to the Pittsburgh Steelers during that week, collected $6.9 million in sales tax revenue, a 4 percent increase over the same month last year. Many small business also have reported that they experienced a much larger than normal increase in sales during the same time period. Considering all that occurred during the “super week” turned out to be a very positive experience for many.

For many business owners in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the events leading up to and surrounding the 2011 Super Bowl created an influx of sales and revenue during the fourth quarter of 2010 and the first quarter of 2011. But for these owners, just as it was for the Packers and Steelers, it takes four quarters to come out on top.

Now that the Big Game has come and gone, business owners must begin to develop a strategy for the remainder of 2011. A strong first quarter can get a business moving in the right direction, but without a strategic business plan, owners can start to lose focus, miss opportunities, adopt bad habits, get in comfort zones and make excuses. All of which will negatively impact the owner’s business.

The Growth Coach of Fort Worth is developing a game plan for business owners to succeed and grow their businesses for the full four quarters by focusing on:

• Leveraging marketing
• Keep customers and attracting new ones
• Increasing the average transaction size
• Increasing the frequency of purchase
• Saying ‘no’ to bad business prospects

Increased sales and revenue in the first quarter look great on paper, but like the Super Bowl, businesses are judged by the culmination of four quarters.

If you would be interested in learning more how a “coach” can help you improve your game plan, give The Growth Coach of Fort Worth a call.

2011 Challenges: Economic Uncertainty, Sales Growth

The Growth Coach of Fort Worth ‘Business Barometer’ Survey Polls Local Small Business Owners;

Sheds Light on Internal and External Challenges Expected in 2011


FORT WORTH, TX – As the first quarter of 2011 shifts into full gear, business owners must analyze the top challenges they expect to face in the coming year and how it will impact their business. According to a survey conducted by The Growth Coach franchise system in which Tim Fancher, local owner of The Growth Coach participated in, the economy remains on the top of small business owners’ minds, along with generating sales growth.

Based on survey responses from The Growth Coach, 57 percent of small businesses in Fort Worth view the economy as the greatest external factor that can pose challenges for their businesses in 2011. Although a recent article by Bloomberg News stated that American’s confidence in the economy has increased, many small business owners remain skeptical of an economy characterized by an unemployment rate above nine percent and continuing income fluctuations.

The survey also revealed that 76 percent of owners in Fort Worth view the ability to generate sales growth as the top internal challenge facing their business in 2011.

“It is crucial for business owners in Fort Worth to constantly evaluate their business and look ahead so that they can focus on the greatest challenges that will impact their business,” said Fancher, owner of The Growth Coach of Fort Worth. “By taking a detailed look and better understanding these challenges, business owners are able to develop strategies and best practices that address these issues.”

The Growth Coach specializes in providing affordable group coaching workshops to business owners and executives utilizing its proprietary Strategic Mindset® process. In addition, they provide face-to-face coaching, Coaching Club (tele-coaching), as well as coach entire sales teams and management teams to be more effective with a strategic-focusing process. All initial coaching services come with a 100 percent money-back guarantee. The Growth Coach excels at transforming the mindsets and behaviors of clients to achieve superior and sustained results. Specifically, the coaching process helps clients gain clarity about where they want to go, develop continuous action plans to get there, and receive on-going accountability to stay on track.

For more information on The Growth Coach, please visit http://www.thegrowthcoach.com/.


About The Growth Coach

Founded in 2002, The Growth Coach is the only pure business coaching franchise system with the single purpose of helping drive success and balance the lives of business owners and professionals. Their goal is to help clients gain greater focus so they can work less, earn more and enjoy more fulfilling lives. They help clients to transform their mindsets and behaviors to achieve superior and sustained results. Clients include small business owners, franchisees, self-employed professionals, high-end sales and financial services professionals, and sales teams and management teams from businesses of all sizes. The Growth Coach operates in more than 140 markets across North America. For more franchise opportunity information, visit http://www.thegrowthcoach.com/.