Decision Making: The process of choosing one course of action
over another.

In a Harry Potter movie one of the characters says something like “Our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”  The same is true in business. The decisions you make today will determine the state of your business, as well as your life, in the next year, the next 10 years, 20 years, 100 years…

Every day we make thousands of decisions, from deciding what to eat for breakfast to how to pitch the big deal.  The number of decisions and their complexity is growing exponentially, on a daily basis it seems.  To be successful it's not only about strategy, planning and implementation, it's about making prompt, intelligent decisions.  It doesn't mean being perfect, it means being smart. A good way to avoid "analysis paralysis" is to use one of three basic strategies when faced with a decision you're having trouble with.

1. The Ben Franklin system. When Ben Franklin was faced with a decision he would write a decision at the top of a page and below divide the sheet into two columns; the left for the negative consequences (Cons) of the decision and the right for the positive benefits (Pros). Try it. Write out as many Pros and Cons as you can think of and then compare the importance of what you’ve listed.
   
   
2. Cost / Benefit Analysis. All business decisions have explicit and implicit costs associated with them.  The challenge is to acknowledge the implicit, less tangible, long-term costs and benefits.
   
   For example making a long term investment, like a strategic planning effort, might seem like a poor investment if that analysis was based on a one-year time frame. Look out over 3 to 5 years. Consider the risks and benefits over the short and long term. What is the risk of not making the investment? What are the costs – both tangible ($) and intangible (lost time, productivity, opportunity).
   
   
3. Get over yourself! What you think and how the outcome affects you isn’t necessarily the best gage to use in making a business decision. Ask yourself how the decision will affect – and be understood – by other stakeholders, i.e. your clients, your vendors, your employees, the community, the environment, etc.  Believe it or not, in life and in busienss – it’s not just about you. Look outside yourself.
   
   Ask for input. Larger company CEOs and presidents have advisors – they need input and advice. Self-employed and small busienss professionals need outside, unbiased opinions too.  (shameless plug for Bold Vision’s Ocular Forum, peer advisory groups)
   
   

Leaders make informed, prompt decisions; they don’t vacillate. Study the information and make a decision. Don’t second guess yourself. Track results, make adjustments along the way, looking forward – not back.

Be BOLD – Make the decision.

Interesting Note:  John Maxwell, author of a number of leadership books, says that "ninety-five percent of the decisions a CEO makes could be made by a reasonably intelligent eighth-grader. The CEO gets paid to make the other five percent."

Maine’s first Whole Foods Market opens on Valentine’s Day. I’ve been a fan of Mr. Mackey’s stores since the mid-80’s when the first Dallas Whole Foods opened. (There are now 7 in the DFW area) At that time the store wasn’t much larger than a 7-11. The store opening here in Portland is 46,000 square feet and the new store opening at Houston and Bowery on Manhattan’s lower east side is 80,000 square feet. This company is doing something right.

That ‘something’ is staying true to the vision, the values and the mission they set out almost 30 years ago.

Vision - Values - Mission; they’re all different but interdependent and staying true to that interdependency is critical to achieving the level of success Whole Foods Markets has - and continues to see.

Whole Foods Vision:
"Our children and grandchildren will have a sustainable future, meaning they will be living in a world that values human creativity, diversity, and individual choice. Businesses will harness human and material resources without devaluing the integrity of the individual or the planet's ecosystems. Companies, governments, and institutions will be held accountable for their actions. People will better understand that all actions have repercussions and that planning and foresight coupled with hard work and flexibility can overcome almost any problem encountered. It will be a world that values education and a free exchange of ideas by an informed citizenry; where people are encouraged to discover, nurture, and share their life's passions."

Whole Foods Core Values:
• Selling the Highest Quality Natural and Organic Products Available
• Satisfying and Delighting Our Customers
• Supporting Team Member Excellence and Happiness
• Creating Wealth Through Profits & Growth
• Caring About Our Communities & Our Environment

Whole Foods Mission:
To be a dynamic leader in the quality food business that sets the standards of excellence for food retailers.

Ok, so let’s get this out on the table. The latest lobster “issue”: Whole Foods, while originally banning the sale of live lobsters in their stores because of animal cruelty, will now be selling live lobsters in the Portland store. The lobsters will be supplied from a NH based company that has agreed to a kinder and gentler handling process than traditional methods. The store will not send the lobsters home live, however. They will kill the lobsters by electrocution before bagging them up for customers.

As silly as this might sound, as silly as it may actually be - or not – that isn’t the issue of this article. What is the issue is that even this latest announcement is right in line with the company’s Vision, Values and Mission. Whether you care if they sell lobsters, care where they get them or if they give them to you live or electrocuted - you must admit the company has integrity. Right down to Mr. Mackey deciding Whole Foods Market has paid him enough money and doesn't want any more. Last year he made the announcement to this effect and he’s reduced his salary to $1 a year.

Mackey opened the first Whole Foods Market in 1980 in Austin Texas with 19 employees, a clear vision and firm values. Today this company employs almost 42,000 people. They walk their talk and made $2 billion gross profit in 2006 -PLUS they do good things. We could use a few more of these formula businesses in Portland.

Talk about being BOLD. Walk your talk and follow your vision. That's where it all starts.

The next issue of The BOLD Bulletin, our e-journal for self-employed and small business professionals, will be coming out next week so sign up now to receive yours by email.

The next Ocular Forum applications are due by 2/21. Go to www.ocularforum.com for information or give me a call at 207-221-3492.

I'm preparing a survey for self-employed and small business owners covering a number of areas. I hope you'll agree to participate - completely anonymous or course. I’ll put a link to the survey on a post here when complete. Everyone who participates will be welcome to a copy of the results, if interested. If there’s a specific question you think would be a good addition to the survey post a comment here to let me know.

To read an excerpt from John Makey's letter to employee's of Whole Foods Market regarding his $1 salary read on.

Did you know it's about FIVE times more expensive, on average, to win a new client than it is to retain an existing one? So, how many of you allocate a good portion of your marketing budget to client retention?

What have you done for your clients lately?

You sent Holiday cards… No? Perhaps you sent the warm and friendly, “Have a Happy Holiday” notation on the bottom of their December invoice.

When you consider how tough it is to win a new client, add to that the importance of good customer testimonials; courting your existing clients with the same fervor, if not more, seems like a no-brainer. But, few of us do.

I’d like to hear from you. What marketing effort do you have in place that focuses on your clients?

A Harvard Business Review article titled “Getting the Most Out of All Your Customers" analyzed and reported on the marketing budgets of business-to-business service firms. The authors asked, "How much of a service firm's marketing dollars should be spent on new client acquisition versus how much should be allocated to current client retention?"

While they didn’t give a blanket, across-the-board-response, the conclusion was a “significant portion” of the marketing budget should be allocated to client retention. Even though this principal is especially true for those of us in the service business, the principal holds true in other businesses as well.

Keep in mind marketing cannot improve customer service or market share, retention marketing efforts can improve customer loyalty and “mind”share - which can buy you time when you need to do some fancy footwork as things don’t always go as expected.

How much of your marketing budget is spent on retention marketing?

Spend some time thinking about your best clients –the clients that not only buy a lot from you but those who also buy a little, but buy often, as well as those who buy a little, but always pay on time and are happy with their purchase. Take your blinders off and acknowledge how important these clients are to your business and allocate your budget accordingly. In spending less on attracting new clients and more on retaining existing clients, you’ll see your revenues go up, not down.

So, be BOLD. Invest in your clients.

Service businesses are very different from product businesses, especially when it comes to marketing. Marketing for the Service Professional: Attend a 90 minute lunch-and-learn program about marketing for the service professional. Learn how to effectively promote your services and your special expertise. Participants will work through the internal and external characteristics of a successful marketing / self-promotion plan to meet the unique requirements of a service business.

At the workshop you will create an outline for your own business' strategic promotion plan that you can take action on immediately.

Wednesday, February 28; 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 pm. $50

Call Lynnelle at 207-221-3492 to register or for more information. www.boldvisionconsulting.com