BRG Manly

G’Day Athletes

Garry here from Step into Life Manly. This time of year (Autumn) is perfect for outdoor fitness training. It is starting to cool down in the evenings and early mornings which makes it more comfortable to train. However, we should not forget how important it is to stay well hydrated. Being dehydrated has a seriously negative impact on your body and your performance will suffer significantly if you are even just a little bit dehydrated. One thing that is not often considered is how critical electroltyes are to muscle function. Staying hydrated is not just a matter of chugging water. Our bodies lose essential minerals through sweat too.

Sports drinks are legitimate way of replacing the electrolytes that we lose through sweat. These essential minerals such as magnesium, potassium, calcium and sodium and are essential for cellular function. When they are depleted, you know about it because your performance suffers. Here are my top tips for choosing a sports drink:

1.      Make sure it has at least 2 different forms of sugar carbohydrate in it (such as glucose, fructose or sucrose). Our bodies absorb carbohydrates at different rates so a combination of immediate energy-release and quick energy-release is optimal to get you to the end of your workout.

2.      It should have at least 6-8g of carbohydrate per 100ml as this is the concentration that is most easily absorbed. It will probably say “isotonic” on it if this is the case

3.      Check that it contains those electrolytes – some drinks are super-charged with magnesium which helps to avoid muscle cramps

Hope this helps. Until next time….

Garry Robinson
Personal Trainer
Step into Life Manly – Group Outdoor Personal Training for adults and teenagers

As we advance rapidly through the first quarter of yet another New Year, it’s been a good opportunity to reflect back on close to 2 years membership of the Manly chapter of the Business Referral Group and the journey that I have commenced since joining the group. As someone who works from home and who spends most of his time on the phone or online, our fortnightly meetings have given me the ability to get out there and mix with other entrepreneurial and like-minded, small business people with similar aims.

Amongst other things, we have had the opportunity to learn from each other, exchange ideas, strategise and troubleshoot (not forgetting a little socialising too!). As a result, I believe that we have become better at what we do and our businesses have grown stronger. Having been a guest at a number of other business networking groups, I also like the fact that we meet at a location where we can hear each other speak and are not constantly interrupted by the sounds of milk frothing or coffee grinders! Let’s not forget though, it’s horses for courses – if you’re looking for some guidance as to what to expect from this group or others that you might be thinking of becoming part of, feel free to reply to this post or contact me via the links on this site.

Giles Solomon – Send Out Cards.

You probably love your business and have worked so hard to build it, but you can’t do it forever.

• Have you planned how you will exit?
• If so, what considerations must be made?
• Have you researched the financial, legal, tax, HR etc implications of your strategy?
• How far out do you need to implement the exit strategies?
• Will it be a gradual process?
• Do you have a contingency plan should your “Plan A” fall over?

Whether you are just starting out in your own business or looking towards retirement in a few years, succession planning is of
paramount importance in any business.

Stephen Covey’s Habit #2: Begin with the end in mind

It seems we have become quite accustomed to paying 10% extra in cafes and restaurants for Sunday’s and Public Holidays. Everyone expects to pay it these days. So to, are surcharges for using your credit card.

Isn’t it just a cost of doing business and therefore should be built into your prices?

These processing fees, which range from 1% to well over 3%, seem to be the norm. We just have to build the fees into our budgets. Do you charge a processing fee in your business?

So, let’s take this concept a step further…..

Most businesses encourage direct deposits as a preferred payment method, however will accept cheques also. Given the cost of processing the cheque …..

• Taking it to the bank
• Waiting 3 days for funds to appear in your account
• Absorbing dishonour fees

Would charging a $10 cheque handling/processing fee be acceptable to you and your clients?

This is bound to surface very soon, so why not experiment with your clients and recover the costs of processing transactions!

Good quality referrals are what BRG is all about. We aim to learn as much about each other as possible so as we can consistently deliver this quality.

So, once we’ve done this and passed on the referral, what is next?

What are your expectations for the referral?

How do you expect your referrals to be treated? Ie; phone call within 24 hours, quotes delivered within x time etc;

Do you frame up the referral for what they can expect?

Do you follow up or ask for feedback?

How can you communicate your expectations?

How do you resolve any miscommunication or lower than expected levels of service?

When building referral relationships, why not put together a charter of your expectations so as your referral partners are fully aware of your expectations? This makes qualifying the referral more powerful also, as they will be aware of the level of service they can expect, which leads to no less than a WIN, WIN, WIN relationship.

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

[First published in Flying Solo]

Last week I was cleaning my bathroom and skanking to the sounds of Madness. My height necessitates a bit of jumping when doing housework and yes I am an 80s ska child.

For some reason they’ve covered “Lola” (L-O-L-A Lola) on one of their more recent albums. Everyone seems to have covered this song.

It got me wondering. Sure, it is a cute song. But probably a bit like The Crying Game –  best appreciated when you’re not aware of the ending.

I asked myself  why does everybody cover this song? Are they out of ideas? Is it still a better idea than any they’ve had recently (despite everybody already knowing the key twist), does it just sound good, what?

It struck a chord with me and business. While there isn’t much new under the sun, why do so many people in business worry about what everyone else is doing?

It got me thinking about what I’ve heard and learnt over recent years.

There seem to be several main ideas around keeping an eye on what your competition does.

There’s the “you have to know what your competition are up to” theory which, quite frankly, to me sounds like too much hard work on someone else’s business. There’s a lot of competition out there. Just how close an eye am I to keep on them? You know what is wrong with your business. A little more inward focus and time spent fixing those things may be a better idea.

There’s the “identify what your competition do well/bad and then copy/avoid that” theory. That one sounds quite boring but it can certainly give your new business a kick-start. I remember watching Dick Smith on television many years ago. He was asked how he’d set up a new business. The reporter was surprised to hear him say “I’d find one I like and set up next door”. When asked why he said “because all my customers are already there and I just have to be better than the other guy” or words to that effect. It was a long time ago for my memory to be word perfect but the theory stuck with me.

And then there’s my favourite theory “don’t give a damn about what your competition are up to”. Be it good or bad why would you want to do the same thing as your competition? How does that differentiate you from them? It doesn’t that’s how! Right now “niche” is supposedly where “it” is at. When it comes to being unique this makes sense. Besides, having the competitions’ mode of operation floating around in your head means that, like it or not, you’ll unknowingly start heading down the same path as them. Besides, I don’t believe in competition. There’s plenty out there for everyone so why fight over scraps?

I’ve found being unique easiest when I’ve not been thinking to hard about it. When I am just being me and running my business my way, going with my gut and being playful. Often that isn’t as easy as it sounds. Sure I have to obey some rules and if I am smart avoid some traps with judicious research, but on the whole I’ve found NOT “doing what everyone else does” much more satisfying.

I think I’ll start a band! No, everybody does that.

[as published on Australian Anthill Online]

Dear oh dear the noise about internet privacy over the last few weeks has been annoying.

Know-nothing politicians trying to tell pioneers of internet domination how to go about business, people crying about how a free service is treating them, employment choices being won and lost on the results of search engine queries and on it goes.

I’m sure we’ve all heard horror stories. Someone we know has taken a photo of their own bottom, uploaded it to a web site to show their friends only to be surprised when they become the darling of the Friday afternoon email set. A friend of a friend tweets having slept with a friend’s partner and wonders just how the hell they found out. Chucking a sicky just got a whole lot harder for those addicted to social media.

In my line of work I have to put myself in the shoes of those among us who don’t know much about computers. The easy part is telling them that anything they put on the web can be found by someone else. The hard part is explaining why.

It is not about the privacy settings or what various entities say they will or won’t do with your information. It is about what happens when things go wrong. No matter what box you tick, when someone deliberately hacks into a database, accidentally releases passwords to a public web site or the program controlling the effect of that tick box just doesn’t work then your private information will get out.

Sooner or later through these, or any number of other potential SNAFUs, your privacy will be compromised.

Let me ask you this. Are you aware of how hard you are battling to keep the data on your computer private? The computer in front of you right now?

You probably know you are running a firewall, you probably know you are running some sort of anti-malware product, you probably know you are running some sort of anti-phishing product…or maybe not. My point is that you are battling to be master of your own domain, what chance do you have once your data is in the wild?

Despite all the rhetoric, the owners of the space where your data lives don’t actually care about you. They care about the majority of their customers. The customers they like and the customers who don’t complain about what they are getting free of charge. Often they don’t even care when you are paying for their services.

While there are benefits to be had by being “out there” for both your business and your social life, and I mean your actual get-off-your-arse-and-do-something social life, the value of this versus the risk of your privacy being compromised can only be judged by you.

Sometimes the path of least resistance is not only the best path but the only path.

Recently it was claimed that 300,000 people closed their FaceBook accounts in protest at changes to privacy options. Last time I checked FaceBook was not owned by those 300,000 people and it was free for them to use.

There’s been a lot of whinging but those folks did the right thing. If you don’t like it, get off.

If I owned Facebook and people where whinging to me about what I did with my company I’d tell them to rack-off. You can’t make everybody happy and you go mad if you try.

The first time I checked, and every time up until the present, there’s no such thing as privacy on the internet. I am not talking about security, I am talking about privacy. If you don’t want it seen, then don’t put it out there. This is not a new concept, the technology has changed, that’s all.

As winter approaches it is often difficult to wake up each day feeling motivated,

invigorated and excited about your day. How do we overcome this?

What keeps you motivated?

Do you set work/life balance goals?

Do you maintain a regular fitness plan?

How do you increase energy levels when it is cold and rainy?

Do you start new projects in business and personally to keep some excitement in your life?

What are your tips for staying motivated?

“Well begun is half done” ~ Aristotle

It seems like the use of social media is taking over the world…. and many people’s lives.

How can this communication tool be used to promote your business?

It seems like the use of social media is taking over the world…. and many people’s lives.

How can this communication tool be used to promote your business?

Do you use Linked In, Facebook or Twitter as a marketing tool?

How can social media be used for business? How effective has this been?

How much time do you spend, daily or weekly updating and checking the sites?

What are the pro’s and con’s of using social media for your business?

What are the best sites to get started on?

What tips do you have to ensure social media becomes an effective marketing tool for businesses?

If you haven’t had any experience with social media, take a look at www.linkedin.com – social business networking site for a huge database of professionals.

www.facebook.com – social media website that allows users to stay-up-to date, message, share websites, promote your business, plan events etc.

www.twitter.com – social media and micro-blogging website where users can broadcast short, status-like updates that are a maximum of 140 characters in length, called “Tweets”, to other Twitter users, particularly those who follow you.you use Linked In, Facebook or Twitter as a marketing tool?

We all use IT in various forms and we all complain about IT problems from time to time. How do you know if your IT is working efficiently for you? Unless you get the advice from an expert, this saying has never been more true………..”you don’t know what you don’t know”.
A discussion topic for your IT Consultant to lead…..
What are the obvious signs that our systems are not efficient?
What tips do you have to make our systems more efficient?
How often should we upgrade our systems?
Is there a checklist of potential problems we should be keeping an eye on before we make the distress call to you?
How do we become an ideal IT Client? Ie focussing on prevention rather than cure.