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Changing Jobs – Words of Wisdom

I recently had a good friend share with me that she was looking to make a career change, as morale and job satisfaction were floundering at her current employer/company. Although I felt compassion for her situation, I immediately asked, “So what’s next?” (I’m a firm believer that action, not words, delivers results, especially when things aren’t going well.).

My friend, who never misses the opportunity to draw out the business consultant in me, immediately shot back with, “What advice Mr. Consultant would you give me for changing jobs, and is now the right time to make a move, or am I just being petty?”

Here’s the advice I shared:

Look before you leap… It’s critically important to have a great job (not just a job) before you leave a job. When anyone is ready to leave their existing company there’s a tendency for everything that’s available to look as those it’s greener pastures (and we all know how so untrue that can be). When leaving a company we tend to find a job/company that offers something better in those troubling areas, not realizing that there were some perks to your current position that are now alarmingly gone with you new employer. So although you gained in some ways with your new job, you end up losing in others, which usually leads to making another career move in the near term, or worse is being even more unsatisfied or downright miserable in your new job .

So my advice is to find an opportunity and really vet it out to see if it’s not just ‘better’ but really what you want long-term and a good fit for you, your personality, your finances (compensation & holidays/vacation) and your career goals. Sounds easy enough, right? Unfortunately, all too often people are so ready to leave their existing job/situation that they fail to really evaluate what’s next, and is it the right move for you (before leaping) then end up frustrated again or in a worse job environment than where they just left. It’s simple enough but we encourage you to make a list of what’s most important to you in a position, job and company because those are likely things that aren’t negotiable and would be show-stoppers at a new company. Then make a list of what you Like & Dislike at your current position/company, so that you compare apples to apples when you look for a new career/company.

Do not let others help make your decision. Other’s inputs are great to hear and consider, but at the end of the day it’s YOUR decision and you need to make the right decision for YOU. I’ve seen too many times friends influence a person’s decision to leave one job and they are beyond miserable in the move, when they knew deep down that they had concerns.

Don’t be surprised if you come to the conclusion that although your current job/firm isn’t the greatest, it may still be better than what’s currently out there in the market. Doesn’t mean you have to stay there forever but now might not be the right time to make a move.

Hope you found this insight to be helpful.

All the best,

Dennis Hough, Founder – Affirm Consulting

Affirm Consulting launches My Business Coach

Affirm Consulting is pleased to announce the official launch of My Business Coach, an online set of tutorials & business tools to support entrepreneurs wishing to start a business, small business owners challenged by business ownership and startups who have their eyes set on growing their new business.

My Business Coach was specifically developed for the do-it-yourself entrepreneur and small business owner. Say goodbye to high-dollar consultants, searching online for hours trying to answer your questions, and the endless worrying about all the ‘unknowns’ of business ownership. My Business Coach has the checklist, step-by-step guide, proven business tools, key insight & expertise entrepreneurs and new business owners need to successfully create, launch and grow a business.

My Business Coach provides online tutorials aimed at all three phases of business ownership:

With 24/7 access, the entrepreneur can learn at their own pace, utilize the tools, insight and resources they need every step of the way, and with exclusive access to the My Business Coach – “Ask the Experts” online forum, members can ask questions specific to their business or challenges they might be facing. The ‘Ask the Experts’ forum is moderated by a team of business experts, business consultants and fellow business owners, providing priceless insight, expertise and lesson learned.

Start A Business with My Business Coach

Make your dream business a reality. – www.mybusinesscoach1.com

Free Business Consulting

Free Consultation – What’s the Catch?

The answer is, there is no catch. Affirm Consulting offers an initial no-cost / no-obligation 45-minute consultation to any business who is seeking a business consulting firm to partner with. What better way for us to get to know you and your business, and for you to get to know us and the value we could bring to your business.

At Affirm Consulting, we view our clients as business partners and feel the best way to ensure a successful partnership is to invest a little time upfront to make sure both parties see the path forward as a win-win.

Give us a call today to schedule your FREE consultation: 407.287.4219 (toll free: 1-844-AFFIRM1)

Business Mentor Note of the Day: R2A2

At Affirm Consulting, we’re continually asked by small and mid-sized business owners as to which organizational gaps do we most often see impacting businesses and their ability to grow. Certainly among the top is ‘unclear and misunderstood R2A2’ (Roles, Responsibilities, Accountability and Authorities), which we currently rank as #3 on the Affirm Consulting – Top 3 Biggest Hurdles for Growing a Business.

Most companies have clearly established roles and responsibilities (R2) for their employees, however it’s typically the accountability and authorities where the understanding between management and employees becomes a little vague, murky or even non-existent. If you’re asking ‘How’ or ‘Why’ is accountability & authorities (A2) important to your organization, the answer is it’s accountability and authorities that drive decision-making and the expectations within your company. In a nutshell, employees who have the role or responsibility to make specific decisions but hasn’t been held accountable for making effective decisions in the past or doesn’t have the authority to actually make those decisions, then these employees inevitably become ineffective for your business and/or will bottleneck your company’s processes.

It’s important to understand that lack of clearly defined and understood R2A2 within your organization can be very difficult to resolve, as it’s inherently intertwined in every person, position and process within your business. So we highly encourage clients to take a surgeon’s approach to untangling and resolving R2A2 within their company. [CAUTION: For all those strong-personality business owners, this is no time to approach the matter with the skills of a blacksmith, as there will most definitely be lots of fire and sparks but the outcome will likely not be favorable to you or your business.] We highly encourage business owners to bring in a professional to help facilitate this process, as most business leaders unfortunately don’t have the time or expertise to successfully set in-place this process. Affirm Consulting would welcome the opportunity to help your organization in this area, however regardless of who you choose, make sure they are not only addressing your current business organizational needs but establishing R2A2 that will take your company to that next-level in anticipated growth.

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R2A2’s: Defining the Roles of Your Team Members

Click Here to read the entire article

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NOTE: The article is tiled as ‘7 tips’ although it provides a total of 8 tips in the article. So either consider the article a bargain, with providing an extra tip, or perhaps the author secretly meant for it to be a la carte, and the reader picks their Top 7 from the eight provided, either way it’s FREE and you, the reader, Win.

“When we fail to set boundaries and hold people accountable, we feel used and mistreated. This is why we sometimes attack who they are, which is far more hurtful than addressing a behavior or choice.” – Brené Brown

#AffirmtheWay Business Leader Note of the Day: Time Management

Here’s a great quick read article for helping improve your time management skills. Although, Affirm Consulting is a big fan of tips #1, 2, 5 and 6 in this article, we encourage business leaders to find what’s most effective for you and your company. We stress to our clients that what works for one business leader may be completely ineffective for another; we subscribe to the fact there is no set Golden Rules for Time Management that works for everyone.

Time management advice – 7 tips that your boss would never give you

Click Here to read the entire article

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NOTE: The article is tiled as ‘7 tips’ although it provides a total of 8 tips in the article. So either consider the article a bargain, with extra tip, or perhaps the author meant for it to be a la carte, and the reader picks their Top 7 from the eight provided, either way it’s FREE and you, the reader, Win.

“Time is the most valuable coin in your life. You and you alone will determine how that coin will be spent. Be careful that you do not let other people spend it for you.” – Carl Sandburg

Hiring Employees utilizing Science not Chance

One of the biggest challenges for companies today is finding and retaining high performing employees. Part of the challenge is the temptation to choose who we hire solely on “gut instinct” or on some arbitrary skills text. Imagine the difference if you put science to work in the process, objectively matching the needs of the actual job to the traits and soft skills of candidates. Read more about how science can improve your recruitment activities in Susanne Dalton Dupes’ Imagine an eHarmony® for finding employees.

Organizational Communication – Rumors vs. Truth

In Five Dysfunctions of a Team and most of his other works, Patrick Lencioni comes back again and again to the importance of cascading communication throughout the organization in order to gain buy-in, create clarity, and build trust. Leaders need to be intentionally transparent with employees and with each other. Read what happens when communication is happenstance in “When Leaders Play the Grapevine Game“

Help with Small Business Strategic Growth Plan – QUESTION?

I’m a small business owner and although my company is growing rapidly, I am working on developing a comprehensive strategic growth plan as our goal is to expand our business into the entire Southeast region within 3 years.

I have recently completed (updated) my company’s ‘business model’ and am now working on the cost-profit model as it relates to my developed business model. I’m also working on documenting my company’s core processes in an effort to standardize our work and to serve as a training tool for future employees. My question is, are there any pitfalls or drawbacks to developing my cost-profit model at the same time I’m documenting our core processes? If so, which should I do first or which one is more important?

– Andrew R. (March 13, 2016)

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Andrew, thanks for your question. First, let me say that the cost model (or cost-profit model as you referred to it) and documenting your company’s core processes are both critical components to developing and achieving a successful strategic growth plan like what you described.

Kudos to you as a business owner, as our small business consultants routinely see business owners or leadership teams with grand visions of what they want their company to become, however they’re lacking the key components to building and implementing a successful plan for business growth. The analogy we use with our clients is that you can’t build a large building (prosperous business) without first establishing a strong foundation from which to build it.

Otherwise, the structure will continue to collapse around you, every time you start building it higher and putting more stress and strain on it. The same analogy is true for trying to grow or expand a business without having the core pieces in-place with which to build from. So with all that said, our firm would recommend that you complete your cost-profit model BEFORE you begin tackling the documentation of your core processes. Our recommendation is based on the fact that you may need to tweak or refine a few of your core business processes based on the output or knowledge gained from your completed cost model (cost-profit model). Our analogy is: You don’t tighten down all the lugs on a wheel until you’re sure the wheel is on straight. We hope you find this information to be helpful to you and your company and appreciate you reaching out to us. If you reach a stumbling block or need additional assistance, please feel free to contact us to schedule a FREE initial consultation with an Affirm Consulting small business expert.

Dennis Hough – Affirm Consulting (March 14, 2016)

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