 BY GEOFFREY JAMES, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, INC.COM Musk is as innovative a management theorist as he is an inventor and business owner. Who knew? Elon Musk is best known as an innovator, business owner, visionary, and bon vivant. What gets lost in that public image, though, is that he's a management theorist. Musk seems to approach running a business much as he'd approach a complex engineering project: Figure out what works and do that, even if it doesn't make sense to anyone else. About a year ago, Musk wrote an email to his employees at Tesla that neatly encapsulated his thoughts about management and corporate culture. I've written about parts of that email previously but only recently realized that, in 11 short rules, Musk laid out, well, basically everything you need to know about management. Here's my edited version:
Now, I've heard and given some of that advice before (notably, numbers 4, 6, and 9), but the remaining eight points are not only highly original, they're also "cut the Gordian knot" solutions to the knottiest problems that plague most companies. Seriously. As an author and reviewer of business books, I'm pretty aware of what turns up in that kind of literature. Management theory hasn't changed in 50 years. I haven't seen or read anything really new in terms of management technique for, gosh, at least the past two decades. So here's Elon Musk--boom!--slapping 11 techniques, of which eight are 100 percent original and iconoclastic. This tour de force is as amazing in its own way as the successes of Tesla and SpaceX; more amazing, maybe, because those successes might have been possible only because Musk rethought how companies should be run. Anyway, publishers send me business books to review and I've built up quite a library of "to read" volumes. After reading Musk's letter, though, I looked up at that shelf and thought to myself: Why bother? I could read that entire library and not get as much true business wisdom as Musk crammed into a single email. So I threw the books into a crate and carried them out to the recycling bin.
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 By: Joyce Walsack, Contributor for Bergen Review Media From opening ahead of schedule to taking the business virtual, these businesses are offering helpful and creative solutions to meet the needs of their customers during COVID-19. Businesses are growing more responsive and creative in the face of COVID-19, identifying their customers’ changing needs and offering solutions. Excellent service is always about responding to customer needs. Here are six businesses finding creative ways to do so, despite the difficult times. Cleverdale Country Store Meghan Cesari’s seasonal market near Lake George, New York, wasn’t due to open for the season for another two weeks, but her customers had concerns about venturing into crowded supermarkets. In response, Cesari stocked up and opened Cleverdale Country Store in mid-March. An early opening was not the only adjustment Cesari made. As the store’s fifth season kicks off, no customers are being allowed inside to shop the aisles of unique, locally made goods. All orders are being taken over the phone, for pick-up or delivery. By instituting these changes, Cesari has been able to keep her four employees on the payroll and provide a much-needed service to her community. Joann Fabrics In many areas of the country, craft and fabric stores have been forced to close along with other non-essential businesses. This, just when parents have kids at home to entertain and crafters have more stay-at-home time on their hands. Joann Fabrics is continuing to supply consumers through its curbside pick-up program. Customers who purchase online will not pay a delivery charge if they drive to the store to pick the order up. Once at the curb, customers call the store, give their order number and an associate brings the order to the car. Blue Dragon Karate Karate Master Jeffrey Asuncion is on a mission — to help his students gain confidence and lead a healthy lifestyle. When coronavirus shut down his Blue Dragon Karate Academy in Matawan, New Jersey, Asuncion wasn’t about to abandon that mission or give up on his students. Instead, he took his classes digital. By logging into Zoom from their homes, Master Jeffrey’s students can stay connected to their coach and their classmates. His students have barely missed a beat, as they stay in shape and progress toward their individual goals. Retailers have been asked to provide an essential service, while keeping both their customers and employees safe. 18 Lumber
To keep the building trades moving, material suppliers have remained open for business. Retailers have been asked to provide an essential service, while keeping both their customers and employees safe. For family-owned 18 Lumber, in East Brunswick, New Jersey, the solution is to keep the glass storefront between employees and customers. Contractors call in orders — oftentimes from the parking lot — and pay over the phone. Paint and hardware items are bagged and placed outside for the customer to retrieve. Lumber and other building materials stored outdoors are loaded by the customers themselves. Any needed assistance locating the correct product is provided by yard employees from a safe distance. Road Runner Sports Road Runner Sports is not a gym, but that isn’t stopping the company from helping customers stay in shape. The athletic footwear and apparel retailer is offering online training to a customer base missing its favorite local workout spot. In addition to free delivery and an online size finder, the company’s website offers videos by Trainer Chad, advice on staying in shape and links to free workout apps. Honey Brook Organic Farm When COVID-19 forced the closure of their Pennington, New Jersey farmer’s market, Sherry Dudas and her husband Jim Kinsel knew they had to regroup. Their Honey Brook Organic Farm had fresh produce and specialty food items for sale and their customer’s still needed good nutrition. In mid-March, Honey Brook stepped up its web presence and began taking home delivery orders for boxes of fresh greens, eggs, meats and organic grocery items. The service is new and growing, with deliveries currently being made weekly to the central portion of the state. Despite the difficulty of the times, responsive businesses are identifying their customers’ changing needs and offering solutions. The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies5/27/2020  The ultimate sales machine. "Chet Holmes is one of the greatest teachers of marketing, sales, and business success in the world today. Chet's incredible book will supercharge results in every part of your business."
Chet Holmes has been called "one of the top 20 change experts in the country." He helps his clients blow away both the competition and their own expectations. And his advice starts with one simple concept: focus! Instead of trying to master four thousand strategies to improve your business, zero in on the few essential skill areas that make the big difference. Too many managers jump at every new trend, but don't stick with any of them. Instead, says Holmes, focus on twelve critical areas of improvement—one at a time—and practice them over and over with pigheaded discipline. The Ultimate Sales Machine shows you how to tune up and soup up virtually every part of your business by spending just an hour per week on each impact area you want to improve. Like a tennis player who hits nothing but backhands for a few hours a week to perfect his game, you can systematically improve each key area. Holmes offers proven strategies for:
ReviewThis book will be a classic for as long as businesses seek to improve their profits, their sales, and their futures. (Jay Conrad Levinson, author of the Guerrilla Marketing series) This is by far the best sales book I have ever read and I have read hundreds. As someone who runs [more than] fifteen companies and employs more than six hundred people, I can honestly say this is a book I will refer to for decades to come. (A. Harrison Barnes, CEO, Juriscape) No hype or theory here. Chet offers sound, yet simple, business advice to grow your business stronger than ever! (Tom Hopkins, author of "How to Master the Art of Selling") Chet has the best material Ive seen for how to attract an army of top producers and how to get the most out of them once you get them. (T. Harv Eker, bestselling author of "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind") "The Ultimate Sales Machine" [is] a book that puts it all together to help you dramatically increase your sales if you are wise enough to follow its advice. (Michael Gerber, bestselling author of "The E-Myth" and "E-Myth Revisited") "The Ultimate Sales Machine" is an amazing book that will powerfully change the way you do business. Chet Holmes is a one-of-a-kind talent and this incredibly practical book is the embodiment of his highly successful approach. (Stephen M. R. Covey, author of "The Speed of Trust") Reading Chet Holmess book can turn your business into a high-performing, massively profitable, superior money-making force in whatever field or market you compete in. . . . Its essential reading for anyone craving business greatness and prosperity. (Jay Abraham, author of "Getting Everything You Can Out of All Youve Got") Chet has the best material I've seen for how to attract an army of top producers and how to get the most out of them once you get them. (T. Harv Eker, bestselling author of "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind") Chet has the best material Iave seen for how to attract an army of top producers and how to get the most out of them once you get them. (T. Harv Eker, bestselling author of "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind") Reading Chet Holmesas book can turn your business into a high-performing, massively profitable, superior money-making force in whatever field or market you compete in. . . . Itas essential reading for anyone craving business greatness and prosperity. (Jay Abraham, author of "Getting Everything You Can Out of All Youave Got")  Setting direct health concerns aside, it has now become clear that coronavirus will not pass without leaving some long-term business and economic consequences in its wake. While it might be tempting to focus on just staying afloat in the moment, putting out the fires as and when they threaten to appear, it’s crucial to plan for the future of your business and be fully prepared for what will come next. Here's a helpful eight-step guide to getting started.
1. Find leads and customers ahead of time As many businesses are going to be focusing on the here and now, struggling to maintain normal running operation, this could be your chance to build a new network of prospective customers. Putting time and effort into generating new leads now will ensure that you have a pool of potential customers to rely on once things have calmed down. In addition, your leads should have increased confidence in you as a business. If you’re looking for new clients at a time when most of your competition is going through a crisis, you’re showing your customers you’re on top of things. 2. Adapt your services to the current situation In many parts of the world, the general public being advised to stay at home poses serious difficulties to businesses. If your company follows the B2C model and relies on face-to-face, in-store interaction with clients, this presents a serious threat, particularly in the long run. So get creative and brainstorm different ways you can still deliver your service or products. One obvious example is that of restaurants and cafes operating home-delivery only or offering free delivery, discounts, weekly or monthly subscription-style deals and other incentives helps to stay ahead of the competition. 3. Market your solutions with coronavirus in mind Ask yourself whether your product or service could be of additional use or relevance in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, and adapt your marketing to reflect this, especially if you’re introducing an altered service for the duration of the outbreak. Increased and flexible marketing is also crucial right now, because many people will wonder whether certain businesses are still operational. Make sure your target audience knows you’re open and still going strong. 4. Ensure your services will still be relevant at later phases It’s important to consider not only how to survive as a business during the outbreak, but also to have a strategy in place for what’s going to happen afterward. Don’t assume that once the threat to public health has passed, things will just go back to the way they’d been before the outbreak. One key consideration is that being confined to their homes will likely lead to many customers switching to online or otherwise remote solutions, and it shouldn’t be assumed that post-coronavirus, they will go back to the solutions they’d used prior to the outbreak. Let’s say you offer B2C or B2B financial services directly to customers. Until now, customers may have chosen you over automated solutions for the perceived reliability and security of your individual, personal approach. Now, at a time of prolonged home-confinement for many, customers will go over to automated, remote services. Once the outbreak has been contained, fintech companies offering the automated solutions might find themselves more successful, and you might have fewer customers left. This is why it’s important to be flexible and adapt your services so that they are not only useful during the outbreak, but remain the best choice once everything has calmed down. 5. Identify the challenges to your business In order to strategize effectively and implement all of the above points, a good starting place is a list of challenges your business might face. It’s crucial to strategize for different scenarios and take every possibility into account. Consider everything from disruption of supply chains to difficulties in communication, generating customers and competition with other businesses in your market. Regardless of how you think the outbreak is going to pan out and how it might affect you, plan for every conceivable scenario, including the worst you can imagine. 6. Plan solutions with several scenarios in mind Once you have your list of challenges, it’s time to develop several solutions to each. It’s impossible to accurately simulate what’s exactly going to happen, so it’s better to put the work into preparation and strategizing now than be caught unawares and unprepared. 7. Use alternative solutions to maintain daily operation If it hasn’t done so already, coronavirus will likely disrupt your travel arrangements, communication, staffing and perhaps even supply chains eventually. Instead of simply cancelling business plans, events and trips, brainstorm creative alternatives and solutions. For example, if you’re due to receive a visit to your office or production area — for instance, from a prospective customer — they might be unwilling to make the trip given the current state of affairs. Offer them an alternative, such as a FaceTime meeting. Or if the main purpose of their visit was to see your premises, send pre-recorded footage. 8. Implement tech upgrades to keep communication flowing With the potential threat of most, if not all, of your staff working from home at some point, it’s important to plan ahead how to ensure communication will remain as efficient as possible. Phone calls and chats are not going to be fast enough, especially with all the home-life distractions. Consider using online platforms for your planning and comms, Google Docs for collaborative documents that everyone can edit and comment on, Asana or similar software for business planning that keeps everyone on the same page and the likes of Coggle or Stormboard for brainstorming and file-sharing. Start introducing these now, so that if worst comes to worst and everyone’s working from home, they’ll be comfortable and proficient with the new methods of communication. There’s no telling how this situation will unfold. Things might return to normal within a few weeks, or we might be facing a worldwide recession a year down the road. For businesses of all kinds, it’s important not to give up, to have a firm strategy in place and to remain adaptable and flexible in order to remain successful. |
Written, Compiled & Edited byThe Bergen Review Media Team Archives
August 2024
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