As an operations and systems guy, certain things just stand out for me… I see opportunity to fix, improve, maximize, economize, systematize and monetize. Most of my professional life was in operations, quality systems – ISO 9000, event management and training and development. My job was and is to observe, ask questions, expand opportunities, develop a plan and deploy a team together to fulfill the objective.

On my morning and evening walks I pass two Elementary schools. In the winter I’ve noticed one school in particular with an average of 1-2 windows open after hours or on weekends. Lights are also left on overnight or throughout the weekend. Not only does this scream inefficiency, but I’m paying for it with my tax dollars. Okay, so I haven’t been losing a lot of sleep over it, but since I’ve been thinking of what we do at DemGen, such things tend to come to mind and the light came on at 6AM this morning about this one!

So the question arises ~ what inefficiencies do you have going on in your business right now? Let’s narrow the focus to the human part of the equation. Are you overstaffed or understaffed? Are the wrong people in their roles and/or have the wrong skill sets? Are YOU, the entrepreneur, maximizing your revenue generating potential? We could also get into the whole EQ or emotional intelligence of the collective. I’ve read that the collective average intelligence (intellectual IQ combined with emotional EQ) can be drastically reduced by one person who exhibits poor control or ability in applying these innate skill sets. (I’ll get more into this in another post coming up on conscious leadership.)

At DemGen we invest a lot in ensuring that our team is working within their unique skills. Sometimes as roles evolve we need to make adjustments and split a role into multiple roles, for example. I sense it’s a good exercise to recommend keeping this top of mind in periodic reviews – review your workloads, who is responsible for what, and on what timelines. Ensure all know how it fits into the big picture and provide feedback loops and check points. We do this on a regular basis and it helps keep things and people healthy in all ways. If someone has been given a task that is not within their optimal skill set – we remove it while removing the de-motivated feeling and uplifting the motivation or MOJO factor.

Operational efficiencies are a key area of support that we assist our clients. Creating systems, having a plan or Future Vision Map is essential for all businesses. EMyth revisited is a great resource for any entrepreneur.

Gary Evans

Tweet

© 2012 DemGen All Rights Reserved.

Imagine camping in the middle of nowhere for 5 days with a small group of people you’ve never met before – with no supplies other than what you carried on your back after being dropped off by a bus on a road you didn’t think a vehicle could make it through…

I am ever grateful to have had that experience when I was 13 years old.  I remember vividly when the first guy to try on the pack (that would eventually become mine for the trip) fell over backwards!  Yes, I probably laughed for a moment with the rest of the guys, but then I quickly deduced who would be the next candidate…moi.  I learned a lot in that week about the deep woods stuff we see on shows today (but had no reference at all back then).

As I sat down to craft this message and considered my first real experience with a strategic partner, I was pleasantly surprised to revisit this long ago experience.

And really, isn’t running a business similar in many ways?  We feel our way through it and it gets easier and the experience becomes more fulfilling when we share it with more people and leverage our experiences and rewards.  AND….we have a much better survival rate the better we get at this.  Leading with leaders.

At DemGen, affiliates, alliances, joint venture relationships all fall under the same level of importance and are classified as a Strategic Partner – an important relationship to us.  The structure and design of these relationships are different, but the intentions are the same.

A strategic partner can arrive in many forms.  For example, I consider all of our team members KEY Strategic Partners, as they are all individual entrepreneurs and strategic to our business and that of our clients.  We take time to ensure there is a good fit for all parties involved and help each partner identify, clarify and hone their unique skill sets so they can operate in a flow state of competence.

DemGen also considers clients, prospects, complementary service and product providers, friends of the team, previous colleagues and alliances that we have met, that know, like and trust what we do to be Strategic Partners.  Our belief is to reward and offer value for value.  In other words if someone refers business to us and we benefit, so will they.  While many of the strategic relationships I’ve mentioned may seem straigh forward and grow organically, there are those that need to evolve through working together on short projects or in marketing lingo ~ to test and measure.

We are just about to launch one such project with a three-month trial that allows both parties to test out each other with limited risk.  In this case, the partner company has a need to outsource the sales and support side of their business and wanted to align with a team that can scale and evolve the business.  They like our capabilities and similar experience with other companies, and because they are up and running with some cash flow we are comfortable developing a base + revenue share model.  We’ve taken the time to get to know this company and they came to us because they are friends with one of our previous clients.

Like all relationships in life…they evolve.  Some that appear to be a match made in heaven can turn out not to be (we’ve had that experience as well).  But we all learn and grow and our intention gets clearer over time as does our ability to manage emotions and have a healthy dialogue.  One of DemGen’s core ingredients is focusing on the development of our (individual and collective) EQ or emotional intelligence.

Our passion is to help small to midsize businesses realize their ideal future vision.  I encourage you to review how to incorporate Strategic Partnerships into your growth plans to help your business thrive.

Gary Evans

Tweet

© 2012 DemGen All Rights Reserved.

Hello, my name is Gary Evans, and I’m an entrepreneur. I start out that way because I feel it’s important to acknowledge that in ourselves. And also because I sense many of us are here for various reasons, yet if you find yourself here – claim it, make a science of it, discover the art in it and… Enjoy it!

At times throughout my entrepreneurial experiences, I have not always attained the above statement. In fact at many times, I probably was not fully aware it was even possible.

I started in business at the age of 13, because I was 6’2″ and hung out with my Dad at auctions on Sundays. I liked the atmosphere and quickly learned the lay of the land – when you would and could make money and when not. It was basically EBay live and the spirit still exists alive and strong with Auction Hunters and Storage Wars. I was chosen by the Auctioneer to hold up the items – I was the gopher and became pretty intuitive with what to grab next in sync with the auctioneer. So that was my job, but I also made extra money by buying items and re-selling via the auction. Sure I’d love to say I made my first million this way, but I didn’t. I learned a lot about human nature, buying and selling and got my first taste of being an entrepreneur.

Fast-forward a few years of following in my father’s footsteps and cooking for a living. I started out in small restaurants, eventually becoming a partner with my Father and Aunt in a small Mom and Pop restaurant at the age of 18. I learned a lot fast as due to many circumstances I became the main operator with a little help now and then from my partners. Great experience, although I don’t recommend working for three months straight (seven days a week) without a day off and going to the local barn dance on your first night off.

I decided to advance my skills in the kitchen and become an apprentice chef (Yes, Gordon Ramsey’s did and probably still do exist in the industry). Fast-forward some awesome experience with top chefs and venues to starting and operating my first real business enterprise as a Catering and Event management company. This was a high acceleration into my true creative abilities. I slept on average about 4 hours a night because I was so wired I couldn’t sleep and didn’t require it for about the first three months. I knew I was tapping into a higher state of creative consciousness and I loved it. I had so many alliances in the industry, everything I thought, I was able to put into action real-time and it flourished.

Like most entrepreneurs, I was always eager to learn everything I could about business and soon felt a calling to move from hospitality management to the corporate world to round out my skill set. The change to corporate training and development, HR outsourcing and quality management was educational to say the least.

I also became aware of certain skills I was not good at. Rugged individualism was my modus operandi (a phrase coined and used by Dan Sullivan ~ Strategic Coach), that I would become aware of 15 years later.

In retrospect it’s easy to see now what I was missing then and the core list is: Systems, clear strategic thinking and plans, and the leverage of a strategic, tactical team. And this has been the case in every other business I have had and enterprise I’ve been involved in strategically growing. In total I have personally had five solo businesses. (DemGen is the fifth, adding a partner early on with complimentary skill sets is a big part of why we are still here 7 years later.) Out of the previous four companies, 3 were profitable, yet were too reliant on me. Regardless, I had created a job for myself and it was a great learning experience. I have also been involved at a strategic level with some shoestring start-ups to significantly financed ones.

So this brings us up to today. What have I learned and how can my team and I add value to you and your business? Back to the basics I learned at age 22 and over and over again throughout my professional life… If you are missing some essential strategic thought processes in your business, don’t have it systematized and/or are lacking in “A Team” performance. I suggest you have a conversation followed closely with action with someone like us. Be brutally honest with yourself! If you have a viable business and you KNOW you are missing a few essential pieces ~ make the commitment. Go from Good to Great as my friends from results.com say, “The difference is in the execution.” Or as we say – implementation.

Tweet

© 2012 DemGen All Rights Reserved.