Master-Mind Alliance: The Key To Less Work, More Life, Balance

5 Business Management Tools To Master
Written by Richard Paris Borough, Ph.D.
Adapted from http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol11/tests.htm

When you own it, the success of your business is directly related to the quality of your management skill. Management skill - I'm talking about behavior, things you personally do - and how well you do them. It's all about behavior, your behavior. When you master your management behavior with the following tools you create a wonderful life.

1. A Long-Range Plan. Underlying every business is a mission or purpose for the existence of the enterprise. Other than making money, the business also does something benefiting humanity. Sometimes this is not obvious but it is there. A business owner may not formalize this mission/purpose in writing but it's a good idea to do so. The goals people set for the development of the enterprise can then be evaluated in terms of how closely they connect to and support the mission/purpose. Of course, the link should be definite and clear. Traditionally a written business plan is the primary road map stating how those who steer the business will get from where they are to where they want to be ASAP. I'm not a proponent of a big fancy complicated business plan for small businesses. I do think you should write something but simple is indeed the way to go. You probably have enough if you are clear about: where you want to go, how you will get there, what resources you will need, and where you can get help when you need it. It's obviously a good idea to make financial projections and to talk about how your business will operate, i.e. who will be in charge of what. And most importantly you'll definitely want to detail how you will market and sell what you offer.

2. A Realistic Budget. Following a Long-Rang Plan, you'll next need a written budget document that covers everything. Realistic is the key here. Your budget should allow for anticipated expenses, wages/salaries and other compensation; payables and receivables; and all other financial obligations plus a little extra for unanticipated expenses. The best practice is to work your budgeting on a monthly basis. There are a lot of reasons why two thirds of the millionaires in the world are self-employed. One reason is that they keep a close eye on the money, look at it everyday or every week. And your budgeting behavior and monitoring activity go hand in hand.

3. Job Descriptions. Most businesses have employees. Even one a person business has an employee, the one person who operates it. Job descriptions outline the tasks and responsibilities of employees. They are instrumental when it comes to ensuring maximum productivity as well as harmonious interaction between all the people. Again the key is simplicity and clarity. Job descriptions need to be reviewed for relevance at least once a year as part of your routine employee assessment procedure.

4. A Make More Money Plan. A Make More Money Plan is a creation of mine. It's a detailed "behavior driven" description of exactly what you personally to do make money in your business. It is about your money making role and your money making activities. I think everybody who owns or operates a business ought to have one. I've named this a Make MORE Money Plan to emphasize the challenge to constantly do better. Once your top money making activities have been detailed then you need to consider frequency. How often will you need to implement each of your top money making activities in order to make the money you need to attain your financial goals. Once frequency has been addressed, then you're ready to go to a calendar and schedule times to perform your money making activities. And yes, implementing your top money making activities, according to a set schedule, is a fabulous organizing mechanism. And yes, your money making activities are in fact little performances. They can be practiced. You can get feedback on how well you do them and use that information to make your money making activities work even better. This is how progress occurs, by getting reliable feedback and using it to do better next time. When done right, everything in your Make More Money Plan will relate to your goals and to your mission.

5. A To Do List. The rubber meets the road at your To Do List. This is nothing more than a snap shot of what you will do today or tomorrow or this week. Tasks are arranged in order of priority or importance. Obviously money making comes first. Along with a To Do List, you should keep track of your accomplishments along the way. Scorekeeping is essential for it tells you if you're winning or loosing and by how much. Without adequate scorekeeping you have no idea where you are or what to do next.

Now to make these five basic tools operate in a "fool proof" manner - that is, so smoothly that you do not need to be constantly and forever overseeing them - well this is the big trick isn't it? Yup! Figure out how to do this then true freedom, independence and contentment are yours.

Question is - how can you figure this out? My suggestion: take a lesson from Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Thomas Edison and others who became fabulously successful by pooling knowledge, experience and wisdom in a spirit of harmony. These three household name individuals regularly met to talk about their business and what they needed to do next. Their little group operated like an informal board of directors. They bounced ideas off each other. They helped each other solve problems and set goals. And the spark or the glue that held them together, and made this alliance so powerful and so effective, was accountability. Each member of the group would be held accountable for his progress by the others. There's a name for this activity. It's called Masterminding.

Napoleon Hill wrote about these success producing alliances in his book "Think And Grow Rich." If you've not read this gem I recommend it. Hill coined the team "the Mastermind" meaning that when a few individuals come together for a shared purpose, a "third mind" is created as a consequence of their interaction. And this third mind is far greater than the sum of its parts.

History shows over and over again that no one becomes fabulously successful alone. It's too hard. No one acting alone can possibly know enough. Almost always, great success is achieved as the result of great teamwork. There are a few lone wolf success stories but there are hundreds of thousands of teamwork/alliance success stories. Team means: "Together Everyone Achieves More." To me a team is an alliance of peers who are dedicated to helping each other get better at getting good.

Even Bill Gates utilized the Mastermind Principle when he and two roommates started Microsoft in their dormitory at Harvard. And it worked for them.

The power of a group of like minded individuals working in a spirit of harmony nearly always outshines the power of the individuals working alone. I know this to be true because for the past 20 years I've made my living by facilitating Master-Mind Groups for small business people. Master-Mind Groups work. The interaction among the members makes mastery of the five business management skills possible and a lot easier too.

You may use this article in whole or in part on your site as long as you link back to Master-Mind Alliance and give author credit.

Richard Paris Borough, Ph.D. , is President of Strategic Business Development; a Humboldt County, California based small business consulting firm. He is director of The Master-Mind Alliance -- and also publishes “Keys To A DONE BUSINESS” -- a monthly newsletter featuring business management best practices.