One of the most satisfying things about coaching business owners is when a client really begins to make strides in achieving their goals. I recently read a small, self-published book titled This vs. That by Bronwyn Bowery-Ireland that contained a chapter that illuminated the real conflict most of us have in moving toward our goals.

The author uses contrasting pairs of words to illustrate her point in each chapter, and chapter 4 is called Action vs. Delay. Interesting, I thought. One usually compares action with inaction or delay with speed.

There are a lot of people with good ideas and plans, but very few of us actually take action. When we take action all kinds of things begin to happen. Here are some examples:

• Schedule sales meetings and Sales increase
• Ask clients for referrals and business increases
• Action leads to more action

The list goes on. But Action can also leads to opportunities that we never imagined. Let me give you an example.

Rich & Lisa Hanson are successful music teachers and own Lakeview Music. Rich teaches guitar and Lisa is a vocal teacher. They are also worship leaders and have a band, Search No More.

Their goals included increasing the profitability of the teaching business and marketing their ability to provide substitute worship leading to area churches to cover regular staff’s vacations.

At one of our coaching sessions we were talking about their desire to lead worship at churches and retreats and also find more places for the band to perform. As we talked, it became apparent that they needed professional recordings to help promote their worship leading and band.

As we discussed the process of putting together a recorded sample of their music, Rich informed me that they already had ten original songs written that they had been performing live for years.

I said, “Great, now all we need to do is record them and produce a CD.”

Next, Rich confessed, “Five years ago I purchased a multi-track digital recorder, but have not recorded any of our music yet.”

The next step was clear, Rich needed to take some action and record something. I asked Rich if in the next two weeks he could record 30 seconds of one song and the recording must include at least 3 tracks. Each track is an instrument or vocals. Rich agreed to do this. Two weeks later Rich showed up with a 30 second recording that included five tracks. This action lead to more action.

By taking regular steps forward from that point, in about a year, Rich & Lisa produced a professional CD that has the potential for radio play, marketing songs to nationally recognized musicians and supporting the marketing of his business. Check out the results at: http://www.searchnomoreband.com

Moving beyond Delay and taking action has resulted in: excitement in his current students and their parents; credibility with potential students; increased visibility, reputation and income from church venues. 

This was what we expected from producing a CD.  But his action has led to more opportunities than we never dreamed of for Rich. 

In July the bass player in his band recommended Rich to the president of Trinity Lutheran College in Everett, WA for the Guitar and Modern Worship Professorship.  The president contacted Rich and when they met Rich was able to give him a CD.  A few weeks later they hired Rich as a Professor! 

Taking action will open all kinds of doors, sometimes ones that you never dreamed of.

Are you stuck in delay? Take some action next week and see what doors it opens for you.

In February I was able to visit my brother Bill in Corona, California. During the visit we talked about his contracting business, Landmark Site Contractors.

Bill and a partner started the business in 1996 as a paving company. By 2001, they had purchased two paving machines and had about 28 full-time employees on the payroll. They also had a smaller concrete crew they kept busy with curb and gutter work and the occasional flatwork, and also employed one grading crew.

Their favorite jobs were “turn key” projects; ones in which they take a project from the ground, or in this case, underground, up. With their particular mix of employees and equipment, these jobs proved the most profitable. However, they accepted many other assignments where final paving was the only portion of the contract they got.

As an example of the type of jobs they were doing in 2001, two projects demonstrate their versatility.

• In Coachella, they placed concrete flatwork on a project involving three schools,
• In Victorville, it was 100,000 sq. ft. of asphalt in a residential tract.
• They also placed 4,500 lineal feet of curb and gutter, and sidewalks as well. On the paving portion, they used 1,500 tons of asphalt over a 12-inch, class 2 base. After final construction of the housing tract, they overlaid the final 1-inch layer of asphalt as a finish coat to bring streets to final grade.

But around 2006 things begin to change, jobs were harder to get. At bid openings, where there used to be five or ten contractors bidding a job, there were now 20 to 30. When there are that may contractors bidding on one job, someone is bidding low and not making any money.

Bill didn’t want to work for free, so he began looking around for different types of work. What he found was park construction. He had been doing jobs with underground work (power, water, drainage and sewer), grading, cement work, asphalt and planters. A park has all of the same components, but instead of lots of asphalt with a few planters it is a lot of grass or sports fields with parking lots around them. The best part about the parks is there were not a lot of contractors bidding on the work.

From 2006 to today Bill has been building parks.

I have never heard Bill complain about the state of the industry or the economy. He has always been watching and listening to what was happening in the world around him.

• In 1996 there was a place for a small niche Asphalt paving contractor and he filled it.
• In 2006 that niche was disappearing so he began looking for his next niche. What he found was park construction.
• Now in 2011 the work on parks is slowing down and Bill is already looking for his next niche.

This story illustrates how successful businesses need to always be aware of change and be proactive in response to new opportunities. Take a fresh look at your industry. How can you position your business to ride out change and prosper in a changing world.

I recently heard of a businessman who took two years and created a five year business plan for a business that he hoped to open. Financing was arranged and suppliers were secured, in a large part because the plan was so well thought out and researched.
The five year plan was right on the mark, amazingly the projected numbers and financial results were almost identical. I wish I could say that they all lived happily ever after.

What went wrong were years six, seven and eight. There was a feeling that having been successful in years one through five somehow guaranteed future successes, the business was operating on auto pilot, just keep repeating what had been done. Autopilot assumes that there is a course or route mapped out and by making small course corrections periodically the destination will be reached in the end. But what if the destination is not planned? It is like planning a trip from New York to Chicago, every turn, eatery, hotel defined and reserved. Upon arriving, remember that the true destination is Los Angeles, then setting out without map, GPS or plan.

The five year plan was a great start, best that I have seen as a professional business coach. The plan would have been complete had it been a living plan. A living plan is one that has no expiration date, as one year is lived another is added on the far end keeping the ultimate destination in view. In this case, when year number one was close to completion a year six would have been planned. Each year as the results are reviewed, adjustments to the five year plan are made, always keeping a five year perspective. Adjustments can take into consideration changes in the market, competition, technology, pricing, economy, but ultimately adding a new last year to the plan.

Make planning a part of your routine, and compare results with the plan, by doing so you can objectively critique both the planning and the actions that produced the results. Most important, make sure your five year plan still has at least five future years.