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Archive for July, 2009

Company Politics And Six Sigma

No grouping of human beings is without some amount of politics. Managing deployment of Six Sigma in your organization will unavoidably run into some personal issues and conflict. However with deft handling of the personal and political issues that come up along with patience and perseverance your Six Sigma deployment will not get derailed.

Political factors that can affect a Six Sigma project include personal resistance to change inflexible company policies and incompatibility with existing organizational methods and goals. Not surprisingly all of these factors also affect business processes of any kind. They are not unique to Six Sigma. This is one of Six Sigma’s strengths: realistically acknowledging the way politics work in an organization. Six Sigma is not just number crunching. It understands the importance of and encourages the involvement of people throughout and at all levels of the organization working together toward a common goal. Six Sigma encourages planning communication and openness about processes procedures and information.

Many people see change any change as lossa loss of their power or a loss of the security of the old way of doing things. Thus people are prone to defend the old way out of habit and out of unease. They wonder how change will affect them and what exactly happens behind the scenes and if they don’t know become apprehensive. This is a problem that can be overcome through communication. Six Sigma successes require clear and open communication at all levels. Any change in an organization will meet some resistance either intentional or just from inertia. When management can effectively communicate that it is behind that change and can communicate the positive aspects of the change resistance and turf politics can be countered and overcome.

Another problem is people who disregard the value and power of Six Sigma and consequently they are reluctant to support Six Sigma projects. To the uninitiated Six Sigma may appear similar to or simply an evolution of other quality programs. There have been so many quality improvement fads over the years. It is not surprising that people are now a little jaded. Others may see Six Sigma as solely another costcutting or productivity enhancement fad. This is a shortsighted view. Six Sigma is neither a fad nor just another quality initiative. It is a way of life. It is a multilevel cyclical movement toward continual process improvement. The quality improvement fads sell themselves as cheap and easy quick fixes. The reality is that there are no quick fixes to significant process improvement. Six Sigma understands that; it is not a simple quick process. However the right Six Sigma training and information will help people to understand that Six Sigma is significantly different; it is a robust continuous improvement strategy and process.

Once projects are begun Six Sigma projects can become a battle of wills for control over which strategy approach or tool is used. Team meetings can devolve into arguments over which measurement to use how it will be calculated which charts will be generated whether to use DMAIC or DMADV etc. Six Sigma is not about making things more difficult. It is about using common sense to make things easier. It is certainly about recognizing that there is more than one road to improvement and more than one right answer to a problem.

In overcoming political problems the leadership of senior management is critical. Successful Six Sigma programs are built on a solid organizational foundation. The organizational structure and system needs to be clearly identified and communicated to the entire organization to successfully implement Six Sigma Quality. Becoming a Six Sigma organization doesn’t just happen. Planning and training goes into setting up a successful Six Sigma organization. Employee roles and responsibilities must be established and clearly communicated to all. For many companies successful in Six Sigma the key factor has been the direct involvement of their top leaders.

Six Sigma is about getting everyone involved. A Six Sigma project forms a team of people who work together to identify problems and develop solutions. Such teams are not isolated teams rearranging the world for everyone else to live in. These teams are serving the organization by employing the skills and tools they have learned to increase quality and reduce defects. Instilling the team concept along with expert training will go a long way toward solving potential political troubles in your organization.

About the writer:

Peter Peterka is a Master Six Sigma Black Belt for Six Sigma us and has implemented Six Sigma in a variety of organizations. For additional information for Six Sigma Training and Six Sigma Consulting please contact Peter Peterka at http://www.6sigma.us/.

Communicating Effectively With Your Leads

When you are ready to talk to your network marketing leads you need to be prepared in advance and have a clear understanding of the prospect. The individuals you talk with will have their own needs problems and viewpoints and will be looking to you to address their interests questions and concerns effectively.

Key to generating interest in your product and motivating a prospect to take action to invest in what you have to offer is to make your own high levels of enthusiasm and motivation for your product apparent. This energy coupled with a sincere interest in understanding their needs and desires will help to build trust and rapport.

Think back to the days when you were first evaluating your product and business opportunity. How were you communicated to? What was the most important issue for you? What drove you to actually invest in the product or move forward with the business opportunity? Perhaps financial freedom is what motivated you; perhaps it was the freedom to live the lifestyle that you choose. Taking a moment now to get back in touch with the thoughts feelings of excitement concerns and anxieties that you first experienced. This should give you some insight into what they may be feeling now. If you can help your prospect to understand that these feelings are perfectly natural you will be on your way to gaining their valued trust.

It may also be beneficial to talk to your peers and mentors within your network community. Doing so will help to give you different pointsofview opinions and feedback. From this research you can enlarge on your picture of what drives and motivate individual prospects.

Before you call a lead or prospect directly be prepared in advance. Gather their name and any other pertinent information then before you dial the phone be sure you have plenty of time in your schedule and be prepared to talk about your offering and listen to their needs and fears. Have a few testimonials handy as these can be helpful examples that lend themselves to the lead visualizing themselves in the similar situations. As much as you may like however do not focus only on those examples that sound too good to be true as many people may take them to be just that. Rather be prepared to interject your own experiences and stories as they will help to build on the sense of trust especially as they relate to your concerns and how they were addressed or overcome.

Be prepared to leave any sales pitch or actual selling until the end of the call or meeting. Seek to educate interest and motivate your lead first and look for ways to offer solutions to their needs and problems. Show the benefits that your offering can give them and the value of it. Once you have built the desire for your offering you will be in a better position to make your pitch and close the sale.

About the writer:

Brent Payne and Shane Krider are the cofounders of Liberty League International. Their mission is to assist customers and associates to enjoy a more fulfilling life experienced through a well balanced environment of supportive community education and opportunity. Their website is http://www.libertyleague.com. Find out more about their community at Beyond Freedom Community http://www.beyondfreedom.com and their conferences at Liberty League Conference http://www.libertyleagueconference.com.

Common Sources Of Financing For Small Business

The choice of financing is an important determinant of whether a product reaches the market or whether an existing business can survive. The choice of financing is an important part of being an entrepreneur and business owner and the ability to raise cash when you have no or limited history takes skill and creativity. There are a number of sources of financing. The suitability of the alternatives depends on what stage you are at and will change as the company matures from stage to stage. The following outlines the most typical forms available.

Yourself Family and Friends

The most obvious and common start is for people to self finance. That means they either draw down on their savings or they use personal debt such as credit cards credit lines or equity mortgages to finance their business. Family and friends are often used as a source of financing. Although they are not always in a position to properly evaluate the business venture family and friends have longtime relationships and experience with the entrepreneur and are knowledgeable about his/her reliability and ability.

Strategic Partner

Strategic partners can not only provide a source of financing but often they can provide an area of expertise that the entrepreneur does not bring to the table such as operational or marketing skills. Naturally the pitfall of a partner is that you do not maintain full control over the company and that sometimes there is a falling out between the partners. So it is important that you do your homework and choose your partner carefully.

Angel Financing

Angles tend to be freelance financers interested in loaning smaller amounts of money say between 50000 500000. They can often provide the seed capital required to develop an idea to get to the point where a firm can obtain formal financing. Angel investors will also invest in growing companies that may have a strong revenue base but are not yet established enough to get bank or other financing. Another benefit of Angels is that they can bring a lot of experience and industry contacts to the table.

Venture Capital

When firms approach venture capitalists they are generally developed to the point where a venture capitalist can add value. The venture capitalists will generally sit on the board of directors provide expertise and provide funding based on the attainment of milestones. They are generally interested in firms that can generate rapid growth and returns over a few short years; your time horizon is generally 38 years.

Trade Credit

One of the largest sources of shorttem financing trade credit occurs whenever you purchase from a supplier but do not need to pay for the merchandise for 30 days (or whatever the terms are). Trade credit can be expensive if you are foregoing discounts but a new firm may not have much of a choice.

Factoring

Factoring is also a popular source of financing for growing firms. When you generate a receivable you may sell it to a factor who will then collect the receivable for you. Typically you will get between 7590 upfront for the receivable and the remainder when the factor collects less a fee.

Asset Based Lending

Asset based lenders will lend to businesses that lack sufficient cash flow to support unsecured financing but have sufficient assets that can serve as collateral. Typically the assets are accounts receivable and inventory but can be equipment or other similar assets. The lender relies on the assets to repay the loan not the cash flow of the firm. Fast growing firms who cannot get sufficient financing from a financial institution will be a typical client of an asset based lender.

Mezzanine Financing

Mezzanine financing is subordinated debt a type of hybrid between senior debt and equity. As Mezzanine financing is typically high risk it can be expensive. A typical target company generally has been in business for a number of years and has an established revenue base and positive cash flow stream. Often a company may have reached its maximum level of financing from a lending institution and will obtain mezzanine financing to bridge the gap and finance their growth. The Mezzanine financer will subordinate its debt to the main lender.

Banks

By the time a firm can approach a bank they usually have been in business for a couple of years have developed solid revenue are earning profits and have a reasonable balance sheet. The bank will provide daily operational financing as well as longterm financing. Generally the cheapest form of financing it can also be the hardest to get.

About the writer:

Jeff Schein is a CGA and offers advisory services in the areas of business planning business modeling strategic planning business analysis and financial management for new ventures and growing small businesses. Visit www.companyworkshop.com or mailto:jeffcompanyworkshop.com.