$crew the High Profile Entrepreneurs...

From time to time here on Social Media you'll see meaningless quotes from the Super Duper Entrepreneurs such as Musk, Branson, Lord Sugar, and Zuckerberg...

You'll be given glimpses into their mindset, success strategies and tactics that have made them wealthy - the deal is that if we copy them, then we'll become wealthy just like them...

You may even be invited to learn the secrets of the Wolf of Wall Street or a top flight CEO who earns $millions and has share options into the stratosphere...

Should we listen to their pearls of wisdom...?

Yes of course...

Should you believe that by copying the theme of a sound-bite you too can buy your won Necker Island..?

No of course not...

How Bill Gates made his fortune, or how Abramovich made his Billions are intriguing and interesting - but approximately useless to the other 99% of people who simply don't understand the basic principles of achievement...

Unlike you reading this Blog of course...

I can pretty much guarantee that these highly successful people won't tell you that the secret of their success was reading Think and Grow Rich and then standing back and watching the money flowing in...

They didn't read the slogans that are now attributed to them - they didn't need to because success is simply a consequence of;

The RROK Success Formula

(Opportunity x Action) + (Location x Timing) = Achievement

According to this Formula, lets look at Richard Branson signing Mike Oldfield to Virgin Records...

Richard Branson had a record shop - just one - and had scraped enough money together to open a recording studio call The Manor...

One of the Engineers happened to hear a demo tape of Mike Oldfield and recommended that an Album should be produced - that demo tape was what would become known as Tubular Bells....

This was the first Album release from Virgin back in 1973 and effectively made the business - enabling both the Sex Pistols and the Rolling Stones to be signed to the label later...

John Peel on played the entire Album on his radio show and it went to #1 on the UK charts and stayed in the charts for 279 weeks - it continues to dip in and out every decade...

Tubular Bells has sold around 18 million copies and counting...

I met Mike Oldfield at a party in the Bahamas, he is a lovely guy - and I get the feeling that whilst he is clearly talented; he still can't believe his luck...

Back to the formula...

Scoring each of the sections on a scale of 0 to 10 the Virgin Formula looks like this...

(Opportunity x Action) + (Location x Timing) = Achievement

Opportunity = 10 The Engineer recommended that the Demo Tape was excellent gave the opportunity to Virgin...

Action = 10
The Record was made, promoted and circulated, even John Peel joined in teh action on his radio show...

Location = 10
Mike Oldfield and Branson were  in London and the Studios are in Shipton-on-Cherwell - just 1 1/2 hours away...

Timing = 10
The Album was "of it's time" a work of a teenage genius waiting to be discovered, and Virgin needed new talent...

(10 x 10) + (10 x 10) = 200

A perfect score - one of Virgin Atlantic's 747's is called Tubular Belle in homage to this single Album arguably being the catalyst for the whole Virgin Empire...

So there you have it - do the same and you'll get an Airline...

Errrr...

Perhaps not; by just saying "Screw it; lets do it..." you won't automatically get your own Airline, or you won't sign the next Mike Oldfield to your struggling Record Label...

You'll probably get scared and then go bankrupt...

The challenge is that for 99% of people the formula doesn't stack up...

1. Opportunity - whilst there are endless opportunities out there, they don't recognise them as such so they pass them by...
2. Action - they are too risk averse, they procrastinate too much  think too much and talk themselves out of doing anything...
3. Location - they stay in the same town, and expect it to the the one place on earth that is perfect for high achievement...
4. Timing - the best time is always now, but they sabotage themselves through lack of knowledge and awareness, they hesitate and the time is missed...

Here's what the formula looks like for too many people...

(2 x 1) + (1 x 2) = 4

And that's the level of achievement they get to...

For too many people Action is a ZERO - which reduces the outcome even further...

Then they think that achievement is hard, not for them or for someone else - someone who knows something they don't or is somehow more fortunate, gifted and connected than they are...

It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy - a continuous cycle of hope rather than dreams, thinking rather than doing and being more scared of the potential for failure than ever the reality could be...

It's not that they can't do something amazing - it's just that they create the environment where the chances or so slim that they may as well win the lottery...

And then they sign up to a Wealth Workshop, go and see a Success Guru and think that by simply modelling the behaviours of the super elite - they too will achieve something remarkable...

But - they don't - and they likely won't...

Unless...

They change their approach to the Formula...

There is no magic incantation, simple guaranteed method; but there are some Rules that can increase your chances of achieving something remarkable...

1. Opportunity...

   
   Step 1 - understand that Opportunity is everywhere, and that the only limitations are those we place on ourselves...
   
   Step 2 - keep learning; opportunity favours the prepared and the intelligence to decipher them from all the background noise...
   
   Step 3 - remember that you have been taught to think on scarcity mode, that risk is bad and only the lucky get wealth; so simply learn a new set of rules...

2. Action...

   
   Learn to say YES| to opportunities; even if they seem a bit daunting or risky. Start small with going to a Workshop when you are invited, attending a conference, doing something different; buy a book and read it then email the author and thank them...
   
   Most of all, avoid thinking and procrastinating - the assumption that most people mistakenly make when the "think about it..." is that they actually know what they are doing - none of us really have the capacity to evaluate opportunities, mainly because they are outside our frame of reference... 

3. Location...

   
   Move - you are not a Tree...
   
   Go where the people, opportunities and environment are that give you the best chance of being discovered. If you want to be a Film Star - you'll probably have to leave Cardiff a couple of times...
   
   Travel and experience the new - put your self in the flow of ideas, people and opportunities that you would otherwise have...

4. Timing...

   
   Perhaps the trickiest one of all - being not only in the right place but at the right time too...
   
   The more you move, connect and learn to recognise that opportunity is everywhere - the more "right time" opportunities will come your way. It's the Law of Attraction - you do not have to create opportunities, you simply have to open to the possibility of them being available...
   

Build your life so that Formula works for you - no magic just a little bit of application...

How do you score on the Formula...?

What is the area that needs to be improved..?

Remember - Results are a lagging indicator of attitude, application and work, theRROK Success Formula simply predicts the outcome for you..

I knew for me that Location and Action were the two missing ingredients that I could improve...

So I took the opportunity to move - a lot - we are in our 15th House in the third country we have lived on the second continent - so plenty more to go at here...

And I took Action - 12 years of night-school for example, to catch up on my education that I didn't get...

Oh Yes - and you had better be prepared to work your little socks off too...!

I have the privilege to work with and call friends some of the most amazing people, entrepreneurs and business owners in the world - if you'd like to hang out with them and join us on the journey - take a first step into the risky unknown and drop me an email...

davidholland@resultsrulesok.com 

At least you start to change the Formula in your favour by taking some positive Action...

AND...

You could buy one of my books - they are actually pretty good...

Business Growth - Your Business Rules OK...

Available on Amazon - HERE...

Strategy VS Tactics - which is which...?

It's a bit like Mark Up and Margin - everyone knows the words, but lots of people seem to get them confused...

*Mark Up is profit expressed as a percentage of the Cost, whilst Margin is the profit expressed as a percentage of the price...

So what is a Strategy and what is a Tactic...?

In 2014 Walmart CEO Doug McMillon stated that the Strategy for growth for the company would be...

...to win on four key customer dimensions; price, assortment, experience and access...

Translated to mean lots of cheap stuff that is fun to buy and easy to get at...

This strategy could apply to other companies too. Maybe an airline, restaurant chain even a hotel group...

How to put a Strategy together...

The major challenge I find is that Business people get it wrong at the start...

For example, a recent conversation at after one of our workshops in the bar...

"we manufacture food additives and we are getting screwed on price from cheap importers and payment terms from our customers; what should our strategy be...?"

Get out of the food additive's business...

You see, none of us are in the "XYZ" business - we choose the "xyz" business to achieve our Vision - what type of business we choose to build is part of our Mission and a fundamental aspect of Strategy...

I asked the lady at the bar what her Vision was - and she had no idea, either what she was trying to achieve or why she was doing it...

She was running her business to make money - she'd lost her passion, her raison d'etre, her why...

Rule #1 - do not run your business to make money...!

Money is a consequence of Vision, Purpose, Passion and Excellence - build something that adds value to people and the money will show up..,

In order to define your business Strategy and Tactics you must start with your Vision - what is your "why", does your business pass the "so what*.." test...?

*The "so what..." test can be applied to a variety of business decisions and actions - "I'm in the food additives business..." - so what...?

Alternatively...

"My Vision is to change the way people relate to food and enable them to live healthier, longer and happier lives - at the moment I am achieving this by providing  the worlds finest herbs, spices and natural ingredients to independent restaurants and specialist food producers..."

A little different...?

What is your Vision for you, and your professional accomplishments...?

Having a compelling Vision does not mean you have to be in business - it's probably the toughest way to achieve anything...

Look at the first part of the Vision above - it could be achieved through Nutrition Training, Education, Restaurants, Medical Practitioners; it could also apply to Mr Jamie Oliver...

The Vision defines both your Purpose, Passion and Why - it's then over to the Strategy to define the What, and the Tactics give you the How...

Once your Vision is clear - then you can move onto making a strategic choice - do you build a business, a charity, lead an organisation or start a movement...?

Of course, many people think it's too late for all this - they have been in the "widget" manufacturing business for so long their very identity is defined by the "widgets" they make and the market they operate within...

This is really dangerous, we used to call moments of inspiration a "Jack Daniels" moment after the Gibson Guitar off site manager meeting - now we have to consider the "Uber" moment when some kid in his back bedroom who isn't as passionate about "widgets" starts a disruptive movement that wipes you out; and you won't even see them coming...

If you are already in business start being Innovative and Creative and thinking outside the "widget" - again - you are in business to achieve your Vision, not to make "widgets"...

Your Vision remains fixed - your strategy can change...

OK so we have a Vision - and at the moment we'd like to achieve it through the delivery of food additives or whatever business you like - what's next...?

Strategic Choice...

What's your Mission - what will you do to deliver on the Vision..

In military terms the Vision could be to eradicate fascism from Europe, the Mission is to secure the Normandy beaches and the Tactics are Airborne Assault followed by amphibious landings with air support..

Choosing your business is just the start of your Strategic Development - it's important; but not the end of the process; we need to speak to a Mr Porter here for guidance - ref Michael Porter - Competitive Advantage LINK

Most people choose a business because it's what they know - Accountants runs Accounting Practices, Chefs run Restaurants, Beauticians run Salons...

Or they run a business because their Father or Mother started it years ago and there is a sense of loyalty, heritage and historical identity associated with it..

These are of course natural, and when blended with practical strategic choices, they likelihood of long term success is a lot higher - there is a reason that lots of start ups don't make it - they don't know what they are doing...

So if you are starting out - or starting with a going concern, assessing your business idea strategically is a great starting point...

Michael Porter defines 5 Market Forces that should be taken into consideration when developing your business; it challenges us to be critical about the environment we either will be or are operating. Remember, the market changes and this process should be carried out at least annually to take account of environmental, social and economic changes...

For example - here's the model applied to a Business Coaching Business...

 There is a load of Coaches out there, the barriers to entry are low and they have to be a competitive bunch...

Substitution through technology is a threat, however the power of suppliers and customers is low...

So to thrive in this type of market environment - I have to choose make a number of Strategic Choices...

If you are going to go into the Coaching business - you need to go down the Differentiation Focus route for example...

Walmart are going down the Cost Leadership route...

This starts to define the way you have to structure and design your business; it should guide all the decisions you make about products, services and the way you market and sell them... 

You can even plot your Strategy on the Strategy Clock and mount it on the wall as a reminder of the choices and focus of the business...

Note - low value high price is destined for failure - not a real surprise but when it comes to services and products that you want to charge a premium for, at least do your customers the courtesy of being good at it...

OK - so you have made your Strategic Choices - now we can move onto developing the Tactics that will contribute towards them...

What are Business Tactics...?
Tactics are the things you do to support the Strategies...

For example - as a Coach in order to define myself from others in my market and achieve competitive advantage through differentiation I have published 48 Books, I have worked in 25 Countries, I read a book every couple of weeks and my approach to clients unique...

Whatever business you choose to be in and whatever your Vision and Strategic choices - your tactics must lead towards them...

I see so many companies that have a great Vision and even Strategic Clarity - but the tactics are not supporting them..

For example, some years ago, a Nut and Bolt supplier in the West Midlands had a Vision to "Transform how Engineering Components are attached to each other, making them safer, more reliable and more efficient..."

So far so good...

The Strategy was to be one Focussed Differentiation - providing specialist solutions to a specific market and being recognised as the leader within it..

However - when it came to Tactics - it went wrong...

The team thought that they were a Nut and Bolt business - so just kept designing and selling nuts and bolts, that could be sourced from anywhere...

Their mindset and tactical approach was Low Added Value and Medium Price point - 8 on the Strategy Clock...

What they could have done was consider the following Tactics...

1. Innovation - attaching components together does not mean a nut and a bolt. It can include adhesives, welding, 3D printing, rivets - but they decided to remain a simple "me too" nut and bolt provider...
2. Naming - if you are going to lead through focussed differentiation then name your products. Having a product name of "M8x25x1.25" is not going to excite anyone - plus if you Google that you'll get thousands of places to get it from...
3. Bundling - sell "kits" that solve a problem for your customers, build the "Happy Meal " of the Nut and Bolt world.
4. Service - deliver the products within 2 hours of ordering, be open 24 hrs a day 7 days a week..
5. Cross Sell - provide tools, training, clothing that your customers are buying from somewhere else - chase after budget share not market share...
6. Partnership - work with your customers at the design stage, get specified and built into the design so they have to buy from you...
7. Reputation - deliver customer service so amazing that people send you unsolicited bottles of wine, testimonials and thank you notes. Be so good that you have a waiting list of people who want to come and see how you do what you do...
8. Training - recruit, train and develop your team so that the Vision, Mission, Strategy and Tactics become the DNA of your business ...

There are plenty more - but you get the picture...

There is a place in the market for a successful high growth and profitable business, that supports your Vision - all you have to do is match your Strategic Choices and Tactical implementation to be in sympathy with it and you will have no choice but to be successful...

Or you can keep selling cheap nuts and bolts to a market that wants high value innovative fastening and component attaching solutions - and get nowhere quick...

Finally - if you ask me about Business Strategy, I'm going to ask you about your Vision...

This is the start point for everything...

David Holland MBA is Business and Executive Coach - he's also a Husband of 30 years; to the same person too, Dad to two amazing boys, an only Child (explains a lot...) a Drummer and a Biker...

His cooking sucks - apart from Christmas breakfast which is awesome, ask Jon and Rich - but he can fix cars, is kind to animals and is really good at enabling people to achieve remarkable results both personally and professionally...

He's published 48 books, (thank goodness for spell-check...)worked in 25 Countries, lives in France and has offices in Luxembourg, the UK and the USA...

His friends call him Dutch and Lynn calls him anything she likes because we all know who the boss really is...

You can come along to one of his events - click HERE to find out where in the world he'll be appearing next...

AND - you can even drop him an email to see how he can be involved - he'll even do a keynote for your conference if it's due to be held somewhere warm...

davidholland@resultsrulesok.com

Simple Strategy for Life Success...

Success and Achievement can be tricky...

You have to have the right mindset, skill set, attitude and beliefs. You'll have to have a vision, a goal and an objective along with positivity, endurance and the ability to battle through against all the odds...

What if it didn't have to be that difficult - remember the Personal Development industry and the Master Wizard Guru Practitioners only make money from people TRYING to be successful - not from those whom actually ARE...

That's why they will tell you its a long-term programme, with complexity and stages and hoops to jump through - it raises a dependency on the PROCESS of success and largely ignores the ACHIEVEMENT of it...

Success and achievement is simple - when you really know what you want...

And - what you want is not necessarily a Ferrari, house in Monaco or a Trophy Husband or Wife...

How is it done...?

Here's a simple way of achieving more - anyone can do it and you don't need any incantations, injections or to have your personality disrupted in any way...

It's something I have done since I left home at 17 - and I see others practice the same regime with remarkable results...

In life we have two "states" we can be in - Happy or Sad - everything else is just a different variation on either of these two...

You can be tired and Happy, you can lose a Relationship and be Happy; equally you can win a Client and be Sad, or win the Lottery and become Sad...

Job #1 - choose to be Happy for at least 80% of the time - I really don't know why we have the privilege of being Human and on this amazing planet...

The other 20% will be used figuring out what you don't want to do again...

But I'm pretty sure it's not to work for a an idiot for 40 years doing something I don't enjoy in the vain hope that I can retire and have fun from the age of 70 onwards...

I'm greedy - I want to be Happy NOW...

And so should you be...

It's a simple THREE step process that even a child can do - so here we go...

1. Choose being Happy as your Goal...*

2. If something makes you happy - keep doing it...

3. If something doesn't make you happy - stop doing it...

How Simple is THAT...?

What this means is that you will only work doing what you enjoy, with people you actually like...

* providing being happy doesn't mean breaking any laws, codes and hearts of course...

You will live with someone that you love and loves you back. You'll surround yourself with others who are kindred spirits - and you'll also remove your self from some relationships and networks that aren't serving you...

It means stopping doing stuff and starting doing other stuff - not rocket science and you don't need to go on a 3 Day Retreat to the Bahamas to figure it out...

For more guidance - check out this Video...

When asked at school what he wanted to be when he grew up, John Lennon is famously credited with saying - HAPPY...!

So that's it - a short Blog for a Monday...

5 Reasons I hate living in Metz...

Metz is a town on the east side of France - it nestles between Luxembourg and Germany and the Moselle river flows through it to the North where it eventually joins the Rhine on its way to the coast... 

It is full of foreigners - most are French, but the occasional German, Swiss or even Belgian has been known to sneak in too; they even let the English live here, that is how bad it’s got...

We have lived her for 6 years now and I have learned some very painful lessons, that actually make me question why we came here in the first place, and also challenge my sense of identity and national pride...

1. The French People - as a Brit I had expectations about the French, about their attitude and behaviour, their acceptance of “foreigners” and attitude towards the British... 
   
   They do have an attitude, but it turns out that they are friendly, warm and engaging - their attitude is disappointingly welcoming and generous; they really make the Brits look bad and I'm not happy about it at all... 
   
   Everywhere we go the keep on smiling at us and saying “Bonjour Monsieur Dame...” or they help us out by speaking slowly so we can understand them - they even attempt to speak English to us sometimes... 
   
   I feel bad because I reckon if someone from France went to live in the UK - they’s have a really tough time of it - so they are making the Brits look bad by being so nice, warm and friendly - it has to stop otherwise their reputation will be shot...
2. The Architecture - it’s old and out of date. The Cathedral was started in the 13th Century and still isn't finished. 
   
   The streets in the town centre are narrow and cobbled, designed for people and tourists - I can’t even take my car down them... 
   
   Apparently there is “history” here from the Maginot Line to the Knights Templar there’s a Museum, an Art Gallery, Theatre and Opera too - but no Greyhound track, the shops close on Sundays and everyone seems to wander round being happy - can’t be right can it..? 
   
   The buildings don’t match - the skyline is a crazy mix of heights and designs that appear almost random - and worst of all in the square you have to sit outside in the sunshine to drink tiny cups of coffee and unhealthy croissant...
3. The Food - there are no Fish and Chip shops, no KFC and no Burger King - not even a Starbucks. Instead we have to endure local restaurants and delicatessen that sell hand made local foods and produce... 
   
   In the restaurants the cooking is all “French” so we have to endure a variety of meat, fish and poultry all cooked to perfection served with sauces, fresh vegetables and local desserts; what I really want is cremated meat and two boiled vegetables, one of which should be a potato of course... 
   
   There is even a place where they sell fresh vegetables and local wines, pates and meats - the food has to be eaten within a couple of days because it has no preservatives added; how ridiculous is that...?
4. Cremant - there is an alternative to Champagne. It is called Cremant and is produced using the same methods as Champagne but it can’t be called Champagne because this is the Lorraine region - and no one is going to buy a drink called Lorraine... 
   
   This is not right, being British I expect to be charged ate least 50 Euro for a bottle of Champagne and yet here, we can get Cremant for around 10 Euro - I'm not used to this sort of value and I will be writing to my MEP to get the practice banned... 
   
   They even make cocktails out of the stuff and the glasses are huge - much bigger than in the UK too. Even so, we have never seen any drunken brawls, people throwing up in the street or collapsing in a stupor - it is not what I am used to and I don’t like it...
5. Weather - I have to wear sunglasses, especially when walking along the river because the water reflects light in to my eyes, they are expensive and should be unnecessary... 
   
   We don’t have endless rain and fog - OK so it goes cold in the winter but the Spring, Summer and Autumn are gorgeous - being British I expect the weather to be wet, windy and grey at least 90% of the time. 
   
   So now I have nothing to complain about or moan about and it just won’t do...

So as you can see, Metz is truly awful - it’s full of friendly French people with cobbled streets and medieval squares full of people drinking fresh coffee or local Cremant with fabulous food in the sunshine...

Worst of all - it means that us Ex Pat Brits have nothing to moan about - which is exhausting...

As you can see Metz Sucks - so don't come here and spoil it...