REPOST: Secrets to success: would you benefit from a business coach?

How can a business coach help startups thrive? This article by Alison Coleman of The Guardian discusses the benefits of having a business coach for startup business owners.

 Team spirit: engaging the services of a business coach can be beneficial for SMEs. | Image Source: theguardian.com

Business efficiency is crucial to business success, but what is often underestimated is the importance of business owner efficiency, and having a founder who can demonstrate consistency and speed in things like planning, time management and decision making from day one.

However, when you are caught up in the often chaotic early days of setting up and growing a new business, thinking and acting efficiently may be easier said than done. This is why many business owners engage the services of a business coach.

Since starting their business Fourth Day Public Relations in 2002, Xanthe Vaughan Williams and Nikki Scrivener have always had a business coach. Their first was a former lawyer, assigned to them via Business Link, but for the last year they have been working with Liz Wren of Through the Forest, who they met through the Growth Accelerator programme that they were members of.

Williams says: "I'm based in London and Nikki is based in Manchester, so one of the most valuable services that has been provided by all of our business coaches has been simply to ensure that we actually lift our heads up from our emails and have regular face-to-face conversations about the business."

In order to get maximum business efficiency from the coaching sessions, she says, it is important to have someone who listens and asks awkward questions. And in terms of improving business efficiency, time management has been a key area of focus for both founders.

She explains: "For example, when it comes to winning new business, Liz questioned us on why we considered a meeting successful simply because we came out of it with a request to write a proposal. How long were we going to invest in this proposal in relation to the likelihood of winning the business? Was a written proposal really necessary to win the business?"

Similarly, when the pair complained about business tasks that were constantly being postponed, they were given a grilling from their coach about their business planning strategy.

"However, it wasn't just a case of Liz telling us that we had to do X, Y and Z; she simply asked questions that made us think until we came up with a solution ourselves. For us the coach-business owner relationship is subtle, and there is definitely an element of psychotherapy in it as we unload our woes to Liz, but in terms of boosting our business efficiency, coaching really does work," says Vaughan Williams.

Other areas where business coaching can help to streamline operations and other processes for new business owners is in the decision-making and prioritisation processes – for example, being able to deal with key decisions such as which target market to focus on or which investor would be right for them, much faster and more efficiently.

It can also improve efficiency around communication, especially in terms of winning new business, making presentations, and making that all-important successful first impression.

For some entrepreneurs, the need for coaching comes at a later stage, as the business starts to see real growth.

Following the fundraising success of social media platform 7billionideas on the crowdfunding platform Crowdcube in 2012, CEO David Harkin quickly realised he needed a business coach on board.

He says: "The business was growing rapidly, and just as the team looked up to me for support, I realised I needed someone, too. I wasn't ashamed of admitting this, in fact I saw it as a strength in my own skills that I realised we needed additional help outside of our team."

As an entrepreneur, he says business coaching has helped him expand his previously narrow mindset to explore new avenues. But more than anything else it has helped the firm's team of nine people to become more efficient in their thinking.

"It has meant that countless hours have not been wasted, thinking about taking the business down a direction that could only ever lead to minimal success. It has enabled us to reduce mistakes and take advantage of more opportunities at speed. Without our coach, our company would have been blind to some of these opportunities, and you cannot put a price on that," he adds.

When it comes to finding a business coach, there are various coaching organisations that may be able to help, while word-of-mouth referrals can also be useful. The most important thing, however, is to choose the right business coach.

It should be someone who has a good understanding of your business, ideally with experience in your sector, and who you feel you can trust. For the process to be effective, your coach should be someone you get along with and establish a good working relationship with.

Business coach Agnes Cserhati, founder of AC PowerCoaching, works with entrepreneurs and business owners at all stages of their business growth. She says the feedback that she receives from her clients is that coaching can create a huge competitive advantage for the simple reason that owner efficiency makes a significant impact on business profitability.

She explains: "Coaching can be critical to the survival of the early days, and similarly during the growth phase, especially for high-growth businesses. It shortens the decision-making process, enabling action to be taken much sooner – a key to survival in a fast-moving entrepreneur world. By increasing the business owners' confidence and their professionalism in the way that they conduct business, it has a positive impact on customer satisfaction and, ultimately, business growth."

Through coaching, business owners also learn to develop "lean habits" that they can transfer to any future business, or continue to use when business grows. In other words, it is a key component to long term success.

Cserhati adds: "As a direct result of better and faster decision-making and more efficient business practice, many business owners are also able to make significant cost savings."

Follow this Tony Hartman Twitter account for Tony Hartman of Denver to discover more about the benefits of having a business coach.

Finding the best way to participate in real estate

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Most people buy real estate to find a place to turn into their home. Others, however, use real estate as an investment vehicle. Real estate investing has definitely become more popular over the last fifty years as good market conditions provided many opportunities for big profit.

However, buying, owning, and maintaining a property can be more complicated than investing in stocks and bonds. Therefore, deciding to participate in real estate requires careful planning to ensure that it yields significant profits.

In deciding to invest in real estate, one should first consider one’s own inclination and situation. With investments, one should aim to match the property type with one’s skills, financial capacity, risk tolerance, and schedule.

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On the lower risk end of the spectrum, there are properties like single-family to three-family apartments or flats. There are many readily available resources on this property type, so doing research on what is required should be easy.

If one has more capital and more time to devote to real estate endeavors, one can also opt to invest in larger multi-family property like apartment buildings. These can range from four- unit to 32-unit buildings or clusters. Higher returns, of course, mean higher risks and higher effort.

Investing in commercial property can also be more attractive but these types also come with various problems like higher risks, fierce competition, and seasonal constraints. Commercial property development also requires the investor to have a good background in construction and the ability to make snap decisions.

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Overall, selecting the best way to participate in real estate requires a good understanding of how each property functions, how economic factors affect the investment, and knowing the protocols for evaluation. Apart from learning the process, an investor will also need to accumulate experience and knowledge to make good decisions based on available data.

Tony Hartman of Denver is a senior managing partner at Mark Private Capital LLC, a firm that is focused on bridge financing for business and real estate opportunities. Find more resources on real estate investing through this Google+ page.

REPOST: How a Business Coach Can Help Your Business Grow

Why does a businessman need a business coach? This article from Business2Community.com enumerates five good reasons why.

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Just as you might hire a personal trainer to ramp up your fitness routine, a business coach can be a terrific choice for an entrepreneur or executive looking to ramp up their business. Whether you are just getting started or feel as though your business is at a place where it could benefit from a fresh burst of energy and ideas, a coach can help you grow and transform your business in exciting new directions.

Redefine your goals

A great business coach will work with you to develop tools for assessing existing goals and creating new ones as well as defining the steps you must take to meet those goals. Whether you are at the start of your career or an industry veteran, a business coach can spark innovative ways of looking ahead to your short and long-term future and help you make concrete plans that will take you and your business to the next level.

Maximise your resources
A business coach can bring a fresh eye to your current resources and examine how you can make better use of them. Those resources may include everything from employees to access to funds and more. You may be too close to your business to adequately assess the potential, but a business coach will work with you to fully understand the scope of that potential and how you can access it.

Develop your leadership abilities

Strong leadership is key for success in business, and if you are struggling in this area or would just like to improve on an existing strength, a business coach can work with you to develop these improvement strategies. Strong leadership means a strong, growing business.

Provide a personalised approach

You can read dozens of business books and attend any number of seminars, and those can be valuable resources, but none of them can provide the specific attention tailored to your business and your needs that a business coach can. A coach can work with you to identify the specific impediments to growth faced by your business and discuss how to overcome then.

Whether you need to change your marketing approach, increase revenue, arrange for further training for yourself or your employees or take some other action, your coach can help you develop a plan.

Keeps you accountable

Making a plan is only a small part of what must be done to transform and grow a business. A business coach helps you stay on track, assess progress and the effectiveness of your work so far, and make adjustments as needed. Regular meetings can help to ensure that you get the feedback that you need.

The role of a business coach combines aspects of a mentor, a teacher and even a therapist, but the unique partnership between you and your coach is on a more equal footing than any of those relationships.

A strong business coach means a strong business, and you can benefit from this input at any stage of your career.

Follow this Tony Hartman Facebook page to learn more about business startegies as well as techniques on how to survive the industry.

A guide to measuring ROI

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Calculating return on investment is essential in measuring the progress of a business. For most companies, it serves as a metric that could indicate the success of its business operations, whether it is for a particular event, campaign, or marketing strategy.

Moreover, in a larger scale, being aware of ROI lets entrepreneurs know whether their company is getting the intended results, and this allows them to navigate effectively the future of their ventures.

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Typically, ROI is calculated by deducting the gain from investment from the cost of investment, and then dividing the resulting figure again to the cost of investment. ROIs are frequently expressed in ratio or percentage. For example, if you launch a multimedia campaign for a product worth $10,000, and the profits gained is $5,000, your ROI for that particular campaign is 20 percent.

The metrics for measuring ROI, however, varies in different industries and business operations.

Some entrepreneurs, for instance, use the “cash flow method” to compute their respective ROIs. In a Business Insider article, business expert and author Fred Wilson explains that returns may also depend on the type of business, which mostly has a finite life like restaurants.

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Other companies, meanwhile, create their own formulas due to the complexity of its business. Technology-based firms, for example, base the computation of their ROIs in terms of cost of savings. The same practice goes for other firms like marketing and ad agencies which compute their returns based on factors such as brand awareness or recall.

When computing for ROI, it is also important to determine the different factors that affect one’s business. A positive ROI does not necessarily indicate a successful business.

Tony Hartman of Denver is a finance expert. Get more financial insights by subscribing to this Google+ page.

Personal loans: Understanding their inherent dangers

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Having cash on hand is very different from having invested funds. While this seems obvious at the get-go, many individuals and business owners still confuse the two when looking for and dealing with their finances. This becomes especially troublesome when the individual is engaged in a real estate investment that requires a huge sum of cash up front. Instead of liquidating invested funds (which would be quite a hassle and generally takes a lot of time), the businessman may feel inclined to apply for personal loans. These loans normally are faster and more convenient to file. However, it should also be emphasized that personal loans have their fair share of considerations as well.

Image Source: consumeraffairs.com

The most important concept to understand is that personal loans are short-term. While there is nothing bad or good about that, first-time applicants become flustered when they find out that their monthly payments are relatively large. Typically, these types of loans also have higher interest rates. These were imposed to ward off risky applications but also are a source of much frustration for first-time borrowers. A common complaint most financial advisors and institutions hear regarding this type of loan is that there is not enough "cash" to pay the monthly due. In a vicious cycle, the client does not end up paying and is fined with a higher fee, which makes the borrower even less willing to pay the loan.

In itself, personal loans are a good financing option. They offer quick and easy funds for a business owner with invested assets. What is encouraged and recommended each and every time is that the businessman is capable of paying the loan in only a few months. Discussing regular payments received with a trusted financial advisor can create a more thorough and comprehensive loan plan.

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Keep up to date with the latest news in business finance by following this Google+ page for finance expert Tony Hartman of Denver, Colorado.

REPOST: Why Real-Estate Agents Should Consider Insurance

This article from The Wall Street Journal shares the real-estate agents’ answer to a malpractice insurance case.

Dan Page | Image Source: online.wsj.com

When real-estate agents Fran Day and Tom O'Neill agreed to help a couple sell their home in upscale rural Pennsylvania, they didn't expect a seven-year legal battle that went all the way to the state's highest court.

But that's what happened after the buyer sued the agents for not informing her that the stately house she bought had been the scene of a grisly murder-suicide a year and a half earlier.

"[T]he cost of litigating this was substantial," said attorney Timothy J. Bloh, who represented the Re/Max agents. Fortunately for his clients, who ultimately won the case, they had an insurance policy that paid for most of the legal bills, he said.

Ms. Day and Mr. O'Neill didn't respond to requests for comments.

Professional liability insurance in the real-estate world—known as errors and omissions coverage or E&O—is akin to medical malpractice insurance for doctors. Helping a client sell a home may not require the precision of brain surgery, but even simple property deals come with pitfalls that can land the most scrupulous real-estate professional in court. An E&O policy offers agents and brokers protection against the costs of getting sued for a mistake made in the course of doing their job.

As the name suggests, E&O policies don't cover claims of outright fraud. Typically, they come in handy when a disgruntled buyer sues an agent or broker for failing to disclose a defect in a property, for misleading the purchaser about what they're buying, or for a breach of contract.

Undisclosed termite infestations, mold contamination, or hidden water damage are typical sources of litigation. Boundary disputes are another flash point. With those, the property could be in fine shape, but the buyer alleges that the square footage of the home or surrounding property is smaller than advertised. Brokers and agents also get sued for failing to disclose that a property is encumbered by a lien, entangling the property in the old owner's debts.

Real-estate industry groups strongly encourage their members to get coverage—by buying a policy individually or through their broker.

If an agent is covered, the insurer assumes the bulk of the legal costs, typically up to $1 million with a deductible. When an agent is targeted with a claim, the insurer hires an attorney and takes the lead in crafting a defense strategy or negotiating a settlement.

Agents whose annual revenues fall below $500,000 can buy policies with annual premiums starting around $600. But if they handle more business or operate in more expensive areas like California, premiums can run in the thousands.

A lack of information about E&O insurance—and differences in local laws and market conditions—makes it hard to compare policies and know what to look for in the fine print. So shopping around for a policy can be a tricky endeavor, especially for independent professionals or brokerages operating on tight margins.

About a dozen states, mostly in the Midwest and South, require agents and brokers to carry basic policies. Elsewhere, coverage is optional. Many agents and brokers go uninsured, despite the advice of trade associations. Somewhere between one-third and one-half of agents and brokers are covered by E&O policies, according to internal market data from Victor O. Schinnerer & Co., a top underwriter of E&O insurance for real-estate professionals.

Eric Myers, a vice president at Schinnerer, says 90% of their customers never see a claim filed against them. But insurance, he says, is about hedging against a small but dangerous risk. "If you're going to court, it can get expensive pretty fast," he said.

Mike W. Smith, president of Axis Insurance Services LLC, an insurance brokerage in New Jersey, said agents inquiring about a policy are often skeptical that it will pay off. Many of them, he says, assume that only sloppy professionals have to worry about getting sued.

"I find it interesting that people won't build a deck or a hire a contractor without an insurance certificate," he said, "but they'll sell a million-dollar house without thinking they need insurance."

Some agents fear that potential plaintiffs might be lured by the thought of a pile of insurance money being recovered. "There are few that feel that if they have insurance, they're more of a target," said June Barlow, vice president and general counsel of the California Association of Realtors.

Marc W. Brown, a Buffalo lawyer who defends insurers against E&O claims, advises agents to take a less complacent view of their legal exposure.

"Why risk your entire reputation? It's not worth it," he said. "There are too many people out there in a litigious society who are going to sue you."

Tony Hartman is a senior managing partner at Mark Private Capital LLC, a private equity firm that specializes in bridge financing for business and real estate projects. To know more about him, follow this Twitter page.

Building a portfolio by investing in real estate

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When building an investment portfolio, one of the better commodities to consider is real estate. While still affected by the global futures market, real estate is able to remain relatively independent from the fluctuations and remains a safer option. This is especially important for first-time investors or people who do not want to claim a risky portfolio option.

There are general recommendations for investing in real estate, and here are a couple of them:

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First is to remember that the primary residence is generally not a good investment. Unless the home owner lives in an appreciating area and is willing to move once the market value is high, the primary residence is not something that earns a lot of profit. It’s a simple case of supply and demand. Even if the demand is high, there will be less profit if supply is short. That is why most real estate advisors suggest looking at industry trends and investing in developing areas. Factors to consider are job growth in the area, GDP growth, and economic development.

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Second is to consider the real estate investment trust (REIT), which is defined as “a security that is sold like a stock on the major exchanges and invests in real estate directly, either through properties or mortgages.” In general, REITs are seen as a safe option for the average investor to test the waters. However, these, more than other types of real estate investments, are dependent on the volatility of the stock market. Given the recent recession, investors may become disheartened by the low returns and may pull out too early. Investors should consult with a real estate advisor and do heavy research before considering a REIT.

There will never be a good time to invest in real estate, as this type of commodity will always be around. Thus, many recommend entering the competitive arena of investment through real estate.

Tony Hartman, a Denver-based investor, has helped many people with their business and real estate decisions. As a senior managing partner at Mark Private Capital LLC, he is on a mission to educate the public about safe investments. For more information about him, view his LinkedIn page.