It just goes to show it is never too late in life to do or change things. My father (now 86), who has never been to Australia had more or less given up all hope of ever seeing where his father was born and bred. However, due to a combination of unforeseen events the opportunity arose, and my father was determined to take advantage of the situation. It was a tiring and emotional trip for me, let alone my father, but it goes to show how if you truly want to do something then you can make it happen.

The key to achieving your goals is actually setting goals that are genuine. Very often I find that people set goals for themselves which sound good, but in reality they are not things that they really, truly want. So there has to be a genuine desire to create the determination and drive behind anything that you really want.

To test this out, think of the things you most like doing, and then imagine what you would do (or actually have done in the past) to make those things happen. You clear your diary, you make time, you make money, or you do everything in your power to allow you to achieve it.

So next time you set a goal, make sure you really want it, believe that there will always be a way of achieving it, and then set yourself mini targets so bit by bit you make it possible, and ultimately realise your dreams.

Anyone with children will know how easily they deal with new technology. How often have I asked one of my daughters to install some new software or set up a new piece of equipment? An expert on tap, but is it really that difficult?

Now I am a real novice and I don’t always get it right first time, or even second, but I keep trying and bit by bit it is becoming clearer. And for businesses today, like it or not, a presence on the web is important, especially with the massive increase in the use of phones and tablets that can access the internet. More and more people are turning to the internet to find out information, be it the times at the cinema, cheap car insurance (is there such a thing?) or booking a holiday. Imagine how big your market could be.

So my advice is to take the plunge. Begin with one thing, why not join LinkedIn for example and once you are feeling more confident try something else, and before you know it you’ll be wondering why you were so reticent.

So often, when I first start talking to potential clients or even when I have started working with new clients, they say that they haven’t got time to spend with me, let alone working on the issues they need to be coached and trained on. Of course this is a genuine issue, and one which it is very hard to find a way around, except to say that I know from the last 9 ½ years experience of working with business owners, that the time spent sitting back and thinking through changes to be made, and actions to be taken, is time well spent indeed. In fact I would go as far as saying that putting time aside to plan the next steps will be every bit as financially important, as making a sale, or having a meeting with a new lead.

Talking through an issue with a business coach is invariably hugely beneficial, providing you actually do the things that came out of the discussion. I recently met with one of my clients who has been really struggling with time issues, and even in the short time we spent discussing his most immediate problem, the way forward became blindingly clear very quickly.

Take the time to sit back and analyse all the things you are spending time on, and then see which of those are making money (or potentially making money). Concentrate on those and off-load as many other things as you can, either to your employees, or possibly by outsourcing. Basically if you haven’t got time to concentrate on managing and directing the business because you are too busy doing “stuff”, then you urgently need to address your situation and find ways of changing it.

The same thing applies to many aspects in our lives and our businesses. I know I keep on about doing something, or taking some action rather than waiting for things to happen, but I truly believe that we don’t get many chances in life, so surely it is better to have a go, than forever wonder what might have been. From a business point of view, as in life, you don’t get many chances to try things out, so whilst I am not encouraging wild risk taking, next time you have a good idea (which you have carefully done the numbers on) why don’t you bite the bullet and make it happen. Remember don’t think “what if it fails?” think “what if it works?”

So why not take some chances, so you don’t look back in a few years time and think “I wonder what would have happened if I had done…..!”

As no doubt I have said before, the real reason most people don’t do cash flows is because they don’t know how to, so they use one of the statements above as an excuse to avoid writing them. However, for those of you who are still sceptical, let me give you some food for thought.

First and foremost doing a cash flow with forecasted sales targets gives you something to aim for. Of course the targets should be in line with your overall end goals, and they should be stretching but not unachievable. The sales targets need to be made clear to all the team, so that everyone can celebrate the successes, and strive for greater things. Of course I can accept that forecasts are just that, but I can assure you, if you write these figures down, you have a lot more chance of hitting them, than if you just think about it.

Secondly a cash flow allows you to plan for capital expenditure and/or employment of new staff as you grow. Once you have set your sales targets for planned growth, you can then work out when you can afford to pay for new and improved pieces of equipment, or new staff to ease the workload.

Thirdly you can plan your marketing strategy and marketing spend against your sales targets. By working out your clear target market niches, you can then plan how you intend to market to them. This in turn allows you to budget for the expenses incurred.

Fourthly, once you have done your cash flow (or cash flows if you want to look at different scenarios) you can see if there are likely to be any negative months, and if so will you need a bank loan or an extended overdraft facility. If you can present well thought out and logical figures to your bank well in advance of the potential problem times, they are far more likely to help you out.

Finally it gives you control. All too often I work with business owners who have little to no control over their money. As the business grows, and you have less detailed knowledge of some of the expenditure, it is important to be able to check your actual figures against your budgets, so you can quickly see if things are going as you expect, or if there are problems or things not going to plan.

So I hope I have convinced you about how important doing cash flows can be. If you’re not sure how to do one, give me a call.

The problem is, if you spend your life worrying about what others think, you tend to avoid risk taking, or going out on a limb, in case people laugh at you. However, this can also mean basic business principles, such as asking for the order, doing seminars, or following up your leads, are avoided because once again you may be afraid of the reaction you get.

As I have grown older I have learnt to understand that it doesn’t matter what the other people think, because I need to do whatever it takes to achieve my goals and dreams. If other people think I am strange because of it, that is their problem not mine.

Now I am not advocating rudeness, or total lack of regard or respect for others, but more an understanding that you should live your life for you and your nearest and dearest’s ends, not just to please others. Too many people never say or do what they really want to, for fear of upsetting people, and as a result stay unsatisfied or even unhappy all their lives.

If you have goals and dreams, you have to work hard to achieve them, and often this may mean doing things which others consider pushy or which make them feel uncomfortable. However, the more you work on these things, and the more you do to make your life and business how you envisioned it, the greater your self belief and confidence becomes, bringing you contentment and security.

The thing that is most obvious to the outside world is, of course, how you treat your customers. Do you keep them well informed, do you treat them with respect and are you always consistent in how you communicate with them. However, it is also the unspoken things which are important to promote consistency. For example, if you claim to be providing high quality products, then the literature you have to support it, the way you and your team look, and everything else that supports your product or service must have the look of quality about it. Any inconsistency can quickly raise suspicions and you can easily lose business by creating uncertainty in your customer’s minds.

So that is the external consistency, but what about internal consistency, ie how you relate to your team. The most important point is that you are fair and consistent with all. To be able to do this you must make it completely clear what is expected of all your staff, and what culture they should buy into. In this way you can reasonably discipline people when they do things incorrectly, or don’t do things they are responsible for. Equally well you can offer praise every time they go the extra mile, or exceed expectations.

So if you find that you are inconsistent either externally or internally, take a good look at your systems and procedures, check your job responsibilities and re-examine your business culture. You’ll be amazed at what simple changes to things like this can have on the success of your business.

As I have often said, doing things is a whole lot harder than not doing things. Talking about anything is easy, but actually putting it into action is a different matter altogether.

I have told quite a lot of people about the good news bulletin which I am videoing weekly, and in so doing have asked people to send me stories for me to include in it. Of course many have said “great idea, and “of course I’ll send you things”. However, when it comes down to it, I have only had 3 stories sent to me so far. The benefits of sending something about their company are good not just for the general community, but of course it allows them to get free publicity as well. So you might think I would be inundated – but no (so far).

So I would just like to put this thought out there. How many of you are contemplating doing something positive in your business or even talking about it, but then failing to take any action. You know it will benefit you and your business and yet you still do nothing. Isn’t it about time you started to do more and postulate less?!

Of course this is a recipe for disaster. Assuming you know your break-even point (but being wrong about it), and therefore having misleading targets, could potentially cause the business to go bust. Therefore when things change, such as taking on new staff, or costs of materials have risen, or rent or rates have changed, then the break-even will also change and it is essential that you recheck to ensure you alter monthly targets accordingly.

On another note I made an assumption last year about my conversion rate, and found that I was out by 10%. Again assuming numbers wrongly could have thrown me badly off target, and had we not checked we wouldn’t have been able to react and change things to improve our numbers. In my case we decided that we needed to increase the number of meetings I was having, so we took on a new part-time telemarketer, which had an immediate effect. However, we didn’t just leave it at that. We also reviewed our sales process as a whole, and started changing things to improve my conversion rate as well.

So making assumptions about anything is always risky, but in particular when it comes to your numbers it is even more so.

When I first started out with my own business, I found things pretty tough going at the outset. A lot of money going out and little to none coming in. In fact I was beginning to wonder if I had made a horrible mistake. So I turned to others for advice, and the best, cheapest and most immediate piece of advice I was given, was to start writing down all the good things that happened during any given day, however small they might seem. Sometimes this could mean writing down that it was sunny, or that I had a good conversation with someone, but what it did was start to bring more positives my way (and if truth be told, helped me to see more positives in things that previously I had seen at best as neutral, but more likely as a negative). Within 3 weeks of starting this process I had my first client, and things were underway. Now I don’t keep this up all the time by any means, but from time to time if things start to look a little worrying, I revert to this method, and it always works for me.

So imagine if more and more of us try this. On a personal basis it will be good from your own point of view, but if lots of individuals all start doing this and getting more good things then imagine how this could cause a tidal wave of positivity, which would be good for all of us.