The answers to these questions may prompt you to start thinking again about starting a business; but understand this, there’s a whole lot more to consider before quitting your job, taking your savings and registering a business. In fact, many people think registering an entity is actually starting a business but that’s just the legal formality and nothing more. The shocking statistics show that as much as 85% of new businesses fail within the 1st year. How does this happen?

You can equate starting a business with other activities such as getting a driver’s license. No one would even consider just going down to the local motor vehicles office, filling out a form, paying money, and then taking the practical and theorical tests without preparation. Usually you would go out and find an expert or a licensed instructor to teach you everything you need to know in order to operate a vehicle, including the basic mechanics of a car along with a solid understanding of the laws of the road. Along the way, you would get behind the wheel with the instructor sitting next to you and start clocking hours of practice before being allowed to drive alone. You would have the opportunity to ask questions and getting a deeper understanding of the rules and principles of driving.

But too often people start businesses without any preparation; jumping in before creating their vision and business plan, hoping that everything with work out in the end. That’s like believing in the tooth fairy. Just as with the driving lessons, it’s critical to invest the time and effort to educate oneself on the essentials of starting a business as preparation is the foundation of success.

For the past 6 months, I’ve been working with a group of female entrepreneurs that are committed to starting and growing successful businesses based on values, knowledge and insight; both their own and that of other successful female entrepreneurs and business advisors. They analyzed their individual strengths and skills while examining the areas where they’ll either learn new skills or draw on outside help by delegating, recruiting or outsourcing.

A new idea, spotting a gap in the market, or improving an existing product/service can all be the basis for starting a business. These budding female entrepreneurs examined opportunities for starting and growing businesses by looking at complementary services or products they could add in the future.

After learning the traditional way of doing market research, several of the women preferred using the fast failure method (see this article for more information: http://www.susanbagyura.com/blog/?s=fast+failure#) to uncover critical market knowledge as quickly as possible. When starting and growing a small business, one must develop a pragmatic, action-oriented mentality.

We explored the best approaches for starting the businesses, potential channels for distribution along with the advantages and disadvantages of buying an existing business, running a family business, buying or setting up a franchise or as a solopreneur.

Along with studying how to write a business plan, raising money or funding for the business, and choosing the right premises; we examined the most common mistakes new business owners make and how to avoid them. Starting a small business can be risky and success is not always guaranteed, but by preparing these female entrepreneurs for many of the challenges, they are stacking the odds in their favor.

These female entrepreneurs are poised for success as they have discovered the purpose for their leadership, chosen their preferred leadership styles and competencies, learned the soft skills of leadership while embracing the essential elements of goal setting and goal achieving. Leadership is a process; it’s a life-long journey with continual learning experiences. The best way to learn leadership is to combine basic knowledge with experiences.

Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of this program was the formation of mastermind groups where female entrepreneurs successfully worked together and supported each other throughout the various phases of the process. The creative ideas that came out of those mastermind sessions were astounding.

From my aspect, the thrill was in watching these female entrepreneurs grow in confidence. In the free preview of the program, many of these ladies said that they had been thinking about starting a business for a couple of years. Although they really wanted to do it, they were afraid; mainly because they just didn’t know how to get started. By having the chance to learn from a registered business consultant, over a period of time, with other committed and eager peers, these women have laid a solid foundation for their businesses, their personal development and their success. Move over fellas and make room for these successful female entrepreneurs!

Susan Bagyura, creator of The Powder Puff Guide To Starting A Business, teaches women the essentials of starting and growing a successful business. The audio to this article may be heard at HERE.

What would be the outcome if you, as a leader in your organization, focus and encourage your employees to try harder; to get better at their position by being open to developing new skills rather than trying to be good by not making mistakes? Encourage people to stretch and go beyond their comfort zone. Allow mistakes to happen without recrimination and together look for the learning as a way to improve for the future. People will naturally hide or cover up mistakes if the message is “don’t make any mistakes” rather than being open about an outcome when the message is “how can we improve?” or “what can we do differently next time?”

No matter at what level we are performing right now; we can all improve; and the benchmark should be our past performance. The question for each person to ask themselves is ‘how can I improve…?’ This approach takes the pressure off of the person to be perfect and allows them to open up to new and better ways of doing something.
But as leaders, how can we try to encourage our staff to see the challenges in the business as opportunities to get better, rather than be good or not make mistakes? Most people resist being told outright what their goals should be. As the leader, it’s paramount to decide the experience that you want your employees to have while they are employed with you.

Use these three proven methods which will allow you to provide the subtle signals and cues that encourage your staff to, often unconsciously, hone in on the right motivation.

How to Talk About a Challenge Beforehand
You can shift your employee’s focus to getting better by talking about whatever they’ll be working on as “an opportunity to learn a new skill or to develop personally”. Make it sound like a fun experience; something to look forward to rather than something to avoid. Tell them you’re sure they’ll “improve on over time.” Most of us are quick to snap into be good goals whenever we feel we are being judged or compared to others, so be aware that well-meaning encouragements like “I’m sure you’ll catch on quickly” can send the wrong message.

How to Give Feedback About It Afterward
As much as you can, avoid comparing your staff’s performance to other people (as that creates be good goals). Instead evaluate him relative to the task requirements (e.g. how much of the project was completed correctly) or to his own progress (e.g., how well he did compared to his last project). Create an environment where the employees know that you will be honest and open with them while allowing them to make mistakes in their personal/professional development.

Feedback should always emphasize actions that your employee has the power to change. Talk about the aspects of her performance that are under her control, like the time and effort she put into doing the task or the method she used. Help her identify what needs improvement and what she can do to improve. This will also help her to stay positive and confident, even when she’s struggling to get the hang of it.

Focusing on her actions, rather than her ability, is just as important when it comes to praise. Tell her you admire her creative approach, her thoughtful planning, her persistence and effort, her positive attitude. When we praise people for being “smart” or “talented,” without also praising the hard work that allows talent to shine, we are sending the message that it’s all about being good, and that when you are good, success comes easily.

How to Talk About Role Models (And That Includes You)
Goal setting should be a standard operating procedure. As goals are incredibly contagious, one person pursuing a particular goal can actually trigger the same goal (unconsciously) in another, so long as he sees both the role model and his goal in a positive light. When you tell your staff inspirational stories of how other people reached their goals, be sure to emphasize the crucial role that hard work, persistence, and thirst for knowledge or skill played in bringing about that person’s success.

Even more important than how you talk about others is how you talk about yourself. Let people know how you have grown and developed over the years along with the time and effort that you put in to achieve your success.

So when you tell your own story, be sure to share with your employees both the happy times when hard work and persistence paid off, and the sadder times when you feel you gave up on yourself too soon. They’ll definitely get the message.

Susan Bagyura, a leadership coach and business consultant, helps transform businesses better, faster and easier than they ever dreamed possible. Listen to this article HERE.

“Understanding why some children dig in and work hard when faced with something new and challenging to learn, while others get anxious or give up, has been a focus of research in psychology for decades. Most people assume it has a lot to do with intelligence, but that’s surprisingly wrong. No matter how high your I.Q. is, it says nothing about how you will deal with difficulty when it happens. It says nothing about whether you will be persistent and determined, or feel overwhelmed and helpless.

The goals our kids pursue in the classroom (or on the playing field, or anywhere else, for that matter), actually tell us a lot about how they will cope with difficulty. The biggest differences arise between kids whose goals are about being good versus getting better. Where being good is about proving how smart you already are, getting better is about developing skills and abilities — about getting even smarter.

Studies show that kids who see their goals in terms of getting better — who see a less-than-perfect grade on a math quiz as a signal to try harder, rather than as evidence of “not being good at math” — benefit from this outlook in many ways. They find classroom material more fun and interesting, and process it more deeply. They are less prone to anxiety and depression than their be good peers. They are more motivated, persist longer when the going gets tough, and are much more likely to improve over time.

But as parents and teachers, how can we try to encourage our kids to see challenges in the classroom as opportunities to get better, rather than be good? Most children resist being told outright what their goals should be. Tell a student that she should focus more on learning than proving that she is smart (something I have actually tried as a college professor, by the way) and she will rightly point out that she is being graded for her work, so she has to care about how well she performs.
So it’s often much more effective to take a less direct approach. Using these three proven methods, you can provide the subtle signals and cues that encourage your kids to, often unconsciously, hone in on the right motivation.

How to Talk About a Challenge Beforehand
You can shift your child’s focus to getting better by talking about whatever they’ll be working on as “an opportunity to learn a new skill” (feel free to throw in adjectives like “fun,” “cool” or “useful”) and saying that it’s something you are sure they’ll “improve on over time.” Most of us are quick to snap into be good goals whenever we feel we are being judged or compared to others, so be aware that well-meaning encouragements like “I’m sure you’ll be the best in your class” can send the wrong message.

How to Give Feedback About It Afterward
As much as you can, avoid comparing your child’s performance to other children (which creates be good goals), and instead evaluate him relative to the task requirements (e.g. how many of the test questions he answered correctly) or to his own progress (e.g., how well he did compared to his last test). Knowing that you are being evaluated in a certain way provides a sense of what the task is “about” — either competing with others, or making progress.

Feedback should always emphasize actions that your child has the power to change. Talk about the aspects of her performance that are under her control, like the time and effort she put into practicing, or the study method she used. Help her identify what needs improvement, and what she can do to improve. This will also help her to stay positive and confident, even when she’s struggling to get the hang of it.

Focusing on her actions, rather than her ability, is just as important when it comes to praise. Tell her you admire her creative approach, her thoughtful planning, her persistence and effort, her positive attitude. When we praise our kids for being “smart” or “talented,” without also praising the hard work that allows talent to shine, we are sending the message that it’s all about being good, and that when you are good, success comes easily.

How to Talk About Role Models (And That Includes You)
Like the common cold, goals are remarkably contagious. The sight of someone pursuing a particular goal can actually trigger the same goal (unconsciously) in a child, so long as he sees both the role model and his goal in a positive light. When you tell your child inspirational stories of how other people reached their goals, be sure to emphasize the crucial role that hard work, persistence, and thirst for knowledge or skill played in bringing about that person’s success. For example, Michael Jordon is a good role model — not because he was born with incredible talent, but because he was a notoriously hard-working player.

Even more important than how you talk about others is how you talk about yourself. Time and again I’ve heard parents say things like, “I don’t know where she gets it from — I was never good in math,” or, “I’m not really a science person.” When they were children themselves, these parents were unfortunately taught that mastering math and science was a matter of innate ability — as if people are just born capable of long division. It’s easy to inadvertently pass along the same mistaken beliefs to your children when you talk about yourself this way.

So when you tell your own story, be sure to share with your children both the happy times when hard work and persistence paid off, and the sadder times when you feel you gave up on yourself too soon. They’ll definitely get the message.”

Next week I will show you how we can take these findings and apply them towards leadership in your business.

Susan Bagyura, a leadership coach and business consultant, helps transform businesses better, faster and easier than they ever dreamed possible. Listen To The Audio Here

“That’s the way we’ve always done it” is the most over-used excuse to either staying stuck or achieving mediocre results. If your organization is chugging along with average results, it’s time to make some bold moves. Price Pritchett, an international specialist on change management, wrote a booklet entitled You2 which provides a high-velocity formula for multiplying your personal effectiveness in quantum leaps. He said that quantum leaps require paradoxical behavior or actions that on the surface seem bizarre and certainly contradict common sense.

We are conditioned to believe that progress comes step by step and that it’s somehow wrong to jump levels. This is a limiting belief that actually keeps people and companies stuck. A quantum leap requires breaking away from the programmed response; busting out of the trap of doing things by rote. Further our automatic response after learning something new is to keep doing it over and over again; forsaking refinement or new and better ways of achieving results. In fact, this tendency to follow our favorite approach creates an over-dependence on those techniques along with a resistance to change.

The quickest way to accelerate your rate of achievement is to seek and utilize new behaviors. However, in order to achieve quantum leaps, you must be committed to changing your conditioned responses.

Here are 5 steps to creating quantum leaps:

1. Do Something Different
Be resolute about trying something different. There should an ease and grace about the new ways instead of hard work and toil. Should your performance start leveling off instead of going back to the old way, ask yourself “what unusual move could I take right now to …?” Price Pritchett says, “Quantum leaps come when you seek the elegant solution.”

2. Challenge Limited Thinking
Change your mind by focusing on possibilities rather than on lack, limitation or obstacles. If you will examine how you’re thinking, challenge limited thinking; you can multiply your performance potential. Let your desires guide you instead of being boxed in by perceived constraints. Anytime the words “I can’t” or “It’s impossible” come up; flip it and ask “how can I …” or “Why is it possible?” Go after what you want and expect to receive it.

3. Dump the Junk
Suspend your disbelief and look for evidence proving why you can make quantum leaps. Your skepticism, mental junk and doubts are not the product of accurate thinking, but habitual thinking. We’ve all as young children accepted flawed conclusions as truth and lived life as if those warped ideas are about our potential. It’s time to return to that child-like state fully excited about experimenting; embracing those bold moves that brought us many breakthroughs as a child. Now it’s time for you to find that faith you had in yourself before. DOUBT is what does the most damage; don’t give it any mental space. Every possible outcome is in the Universe and you bring it into existence by your thoughts and feelings. Doubt your limitations instead of your possibilities!

4. Unseen Forces
Abandon any thoughts that you should be able to see, tangibly and in full view, all the resources necessary to leverage your performance so dramatically. There are resources you can access that cannot be seen right now; and they are far greater and more powerful than the resources you might readily see. Someone once said, “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” Think of an iceberg, where you only see the tip. All you have to do is open up and let allow the new in. Believe that everyone and everything in the Universe is conspiring on your behalf.

5. Choose a Different Set of Risks
Although going for a quantum leap may seem chancy, it’s imperative to measure those risks against the risks of staying with the status quo. There’s always something at stake; something to be risked, but it’s deciding what you want. When you decide to go for a quantum leap, shift your perception about the situation. Do something that you’ve been ignoring, abandon your excuses, reframe the problem and take a completely different chance. Pritchett says, “This isn’t a case of taking a big chance; it’s a matter of giving yourself a big chance.” Understand this though, if you think you’ll try to minimize your vulnerability by avoiding a new set of risks, you’ll actually kill your chances for a quantum leap.

If you sense any struggle, then you are on the wrong path. Just paint a vivid picture of what it is that you want, write it out in detail including any sights, sounds, cheers and anything else that bring clarity to your picture and then watch what the unseen forces bring to you. Create a space for the good that you desire.

If you find that everything seems to be on an even keel, you aren’t experiencing any difficulties or problems; then you have been aiming too low. Too often people are afraid to fail so they keep doing the moves and strategies that bind them. You’ve got to break eggs to make an omelet; and you’ve got to make some bold, unknown steps to move well beyond where you are now. It always looks messy in the middle, but in the end, you’ll be congratulated for your courage and wisdom.

Standing still isn’t an option! Quantum leaps do mean that you must move beyond the zone of the familiar, security and comfort – but that doesn’t mean being reckless or impulsive.

Susan Bagyura helps companies make quantum leaps in their performance. Call +968 9208 9947 or send an email to request more details. The audio to this article may be heard at HERE.

As an illustration, with a smile she said “Shareholder agreements in UK are 150 pages while they’re only 5 pages in Oman. The Omanis wouldn’t trust someone that has to have such a big agreement or the person giving it to them. Westerners will benefit from understanding how it works here if they want to be successful.” She compared the population of London where she worked to the whole of this country, stating that the laws are still developing here.

In response to differences between leading here and abroad, Sahar said “In the west you can hire any talent you desire. But here, you have to nurture and develop the people. In that process, you can’t get angry over mistakes like being late; instead you have to make the people aware of the appropriate behavior. One major difference is that in the west many people start working when they are 15, hold jobs while they are going to university and by the time they start working full time, they know the rules and how they are expected to behave. They only need to learn the culture of the particular company where they work.”

She further stated that the culture here is completely different. The people in Oman, like anywhere else, are happy to work as long as they get a good salary and respect. However, often the local employees believe that the employer owes them a favor, but in reality both need each other.

As a woman and a leader, Sahar has found that she needs to be stricter, harsher and firmer right from the start; balanced with fairness. Many people may not know the importance of being on time, but right from the start, she tells them. She will allow mistakes but will address any issues immediately and inform people what is and isn’t acceptable. She quickly said: “If you tell them they did something wrong, but don’t tell them the right way to do it; nothing is learned or gained. Give people feedback in a positive way, tell them how they should do it in the future and then move on.”

She believes in educating her team, giving them exposure and teaching them work ethics. “It’s important for them to learn how to communicate, think independently, make decisions and take responsibility. They have to grow academically and socially. There are people with PhDs that have no social skills. I was fortunate because I’ve done everything from working in a Starbucks to a university library. Some of my biggest lessons in handling people came while working as a room service waitress at the Churchill Hotel in London.”

In the interview process, Sahar is clear about the essentials to working in her firm:

1) Stay positive.
2) When problems arise, come in with a solution too.
3) Don’t slack. If you don’t know something, don’t worry. You will be taught.
4) Be willing to develop and grow.

Sahar’s diverse team represents different cultures and all have unique talents. They meet every week, with very few exceptions, to share what each department is doing. There are no hidden agendas and everyone knows where they stand. Understanding the importance of directness, she said “If someone needs to improve, I will tell them straight-out. If something happens that’s aggravating, I’ll handle it immediately and then let the anger go. The anger should only be about the current situation and shouldn’t be stored up.”

The most influential leaders in Sahar’s life are her mother and father. “My mother showed great leadership at home; handling everything that came up there which allowed my father to focus and lead in his work. My father’s advice and the example he set have had a profound effect on me even though there are generational differences.”

Sahar would love to have, at least some, of her mother’s calm demeanor as it is one of the keys to success and healthy life. She believes another important characteristic of a great leader is fairness; taking the time and listen to all sides before making a decision. Then everyone involved will respect the decision; feeling it was fair even if they wanted a different outcome.

She believes a leader must take risks. She enjoys it; believing it’s in her blood. She loves a challenge and when you like what you’re doing, you must take calculated risks to keep up. Paying for and developing her employees is a risk because they could leave. But when she sees potential in people, she believes in investing in them. She takes risks when accepting and refusing certain clients.

On the subject of her profession, she said “Generally in Oman people have the wrong impression of what lawyers do. When I was abroad, people hired lawyers to protect them in every venture; whether it was a marriage, partnership, mortgage, contract, etc. When I speak to Omanis and say I’m a lawyer, often their response is they hope they’ll never need me. Lawyers are a good thing and we can do more for clients if they come to us before they sign contracts or enter into agreements. This is particularly important when Omanis are dealing with international companies.”

Sahar’s top leadership tips:

1. Commit to what you say
2. Give it your best shot
3. Don’t be a perfectionist but give it all your energy and heart
4. Be passionate about everything you do and say
5. Laugh with your team and don’t hold grudges.

Susan Bagyura is a leadership coach and author of The Visionary Leader; available online and at local bookshores.

Below are Deming’s 14 Points which still form the basis for companies to make significant changes today to compete in the world’s increasingly competitive and fast-shifting environment. As implementation of these points poses a challenge for many firms, executive/team coaching is highly recommended to begin accomplishing what Deming referred to as “the transformation.”

1. Constancy of purpose: Create constancy of purpose for continual improvement of products and service to society, allocating resources to provide for long range needs rather than only short term profitability, with a plan to become competitive, to stay in business, and to provide jobs.

2. The new philosophy: Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. We can no longer live with commonly accepted levels of delays, mistakes, defective materials, and defective workmanship. Transformation of the management style is necessary to halt the continued decline of business and industry.

3. Cease dependence on mass inspection: Eliminate the need for mass inspection to achieve quality by building quality into the product in the first place. Require statistical evidence of built in quality in both manufacturing and purchasing functions.

4. End lowest tender contracts: End the practice of awarding business solely on the basis of price tag. Instead require meaningful measures of quality along with price. Reduce the number of suppliers for the same item by eliminating those that do not qualify with statistical and other evidence of quality. The aim is to minimize total cost, not merely initial cost, by minimizing variation. This may be achieved by moving toward a single supplier for any one item, on a long term relationship of loyalty and trust. Purchasing managers have a new job, and must learn it.

5. Improve every process: Constantly improve every process for planning, production, and service. Search continually for problems in order to improve every activity in the company, to improve quality and productivity; thereby constantly decreasing costs. Institute innovation and continual improvement of your products, services, and processes. It is management’s job to work continually on the system (design, incoming materials, maintenance, improvement of machines, supervision, training, retraining).

6. Institute training on the job: Institute modern methods of training on the job for all, including management, to make better use of every employee. New skills are required to keep up with changes in materials, methods, product and service design, machinery, techniques, and service.

7. Institute leadership: Adopt and institute leadership aimed at bringing the best out of people enabling them to do a better job. The responsibility of managers and supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality. Improvement of quality will automatically improve productivity. Management must ensure that immediate action is taken on reports of inherited defects, maintenance requirements, poor tools, fuzzy operational definitions, and all conditions detrimental to quality. Implement great systems and focus on developing the people.

8. Drive out fear: Encourage effective two way communication and other means to drive out fear throughout the organization so that everybody may work effectively and more productively for the company.

9. Break down barriers: Break down barriers between departments and staff areas. People in different areas, such as Leasing, Maintenance, Administration, must work in teams to tackle problems that may be encountered with products or service.

10. Eliminate exhortations: Eliminate the use of slogans, posters and exhortations for the work force which demand zero defects and new levels of productivity without providing methods. Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships; the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system, and thus lie beyond the power of the work force.

11. Eliminate arbitrary numerical targets: Eliminate work standards that prescribe quotas for the work force and numerical goals for people in management. Substitute aids and helpful leadership in order to achieve continual improvement of quality and productivity.

12. Permit pride of workmanship: Remove the barriers that rob hourly workers and people in management of their right to pride of workmanship. This implies, among other things, abolition of the annual merit rating (performance appraisal) and of Management by Objective. Again, the responsibility of managers, supervisors and foremen must be changed from sheer numbers to quality.

13. Encourage education: Institute a vigorous education program and encourage self-improvement for everyone. An organization not only needs good people; it needs people that are improving with education. Advances in competitive position will have their roots in knowledge.

14. Top management commitment and action: Clearly define top management’s permanent commitment to ever improving quality and productivity, and their obligation to implement all of these principles. It’s not enough that top management commit themselves for life to quality and productivity; they must know exactly what it is they are committed to do. Create a structure in top management that will push every day on the preceding 13 points and take action in order to accomplish the transformation. Massive action is required!

Susan Bagyura, a leadership coach and business consultant, helps transform businesses better, faster and easier than they ever dreamed possible. The audio to this article may be heard HERE.