Recycler Newsletter – January 2016

Written and published by Ron Sturgeon.  autosalvageconsultant.com, email to rons@autosalvageconsultant.com. To register for future free issues, visit http://www.autosalvageconsultant.com.  Don’t forget to watch for our management articles monthly in Recyclers Power Source Magazine, or posted at our web site.

Tools for Success – Think Strategically

The first article in this series listed more than 25 tactics to increase your business success, all of them based on my experience. I started with nothing and didn’t get to college, so I know you can achieve maximum success, regardless of your education.

This article is about thinking strategically. I know it sounds easy, and we presume that we always do this, but that’s not the case. There are books on the subject, and training courses. Many folks just don’t think like this.

Test Upside and Downside

I call one of my tools the upside downside test. It sounds easy, but it takes discipline to pause for a moment to consider the upsides and downsides of a position or plan. Sometimes you can do the tests in your brain in seconds, but sometimes you are forced to pause as you don’t have all the information to make an informed decision. When you see boards in action, or serve on one, you see a lot of this.

Pause to Define Success

Another tool I use is to pause and think what the ultimate goal of my action or plan is. Again, this can take a lot of discipline and may require information from others. It can be as simple as defining in advance how you will define success, versus just doing something and then trying to justify why it was successful. Once you understand the ultimate goal is, you can think about the steps and likely bumps along the way. Understanding the “bumps” can help you plan.

For instance if your ultimate goal is to get rid of Johnny Smith, your delivery driver, think about how to get there. How will he respond to a written warning? Will he quit (likely a good thing)? Or will he find a way to worm out of the issue? If you think he will try to evade responsibility, then it can affect how you word the first warning so that you have laid the groundwork for any other actions.

Key Calculations for Marketing Initiatives

Defining success in advance is necessary. For instance if you are going to exhibit at a trade show, what will you get out of that effort that will make it a success, and justify the cost and effort. How many prospects do you want to gather contact info from? How many actual sales (if any) do you want? What will your prospect acquisition cost be? And your customer acquisition cost? Or are you just going to do it and hope for the best, and then justify why it was a good deal? Involving employees in this planning gets them focused on how to make sure the event is a success, and helps to ensure that, if it’s a failure, no one will be asking you to do it again next year.

You simply must build a discipline to stop and think before virtually every decision or action, how will this decision affect the next thing? And then what will happen? Then what will happen? …then what will the result be? Is that your desired outcome? If not, how can you influence it now with strategic planning instead of having to deal with it later?

URG Annual Pinnacle Training Conference at Hyatt in San Antonio TX April 28-30, 2016

A must attend networking and training event for URG members. Don’t miss your chance to meet other owners and improve your business. Details about the conference http://www.u-r-g.com/annual-training-conference/.

Google Update Affects Sales for Recyclers with Non-Mobile Responsive Sites

Google is now factoring in how mobile-friendly a site is when it ranks search results. If you have seen a big drop in your web traffic because your business site is not mobile friendly, I can offer you a free website audit to find the trouble spots so that your site will show up in high in the search results. Most shoppers never leave the first page of Google results, so having a site that ranks well can mean that the cash register rings a lot more. Email me at rons@autosalvageconsutalnt.com and put free website analysis in the subject line.

Remember only you can make business great!

Ron Sturgeon, Mr. Mission Possible, has been a successful business owner for more than 35 years. As a small business consultant, he can wisdom and advice gleaned from an enviable business career that started when he opened a VW repair business as a homeless 17-year-old and culminated in the sale of several businesses he built to Fortune 500 companies.

Ron has helped bankers, lawyers, insurance agents, restaurant owners, and body shop owners, as well as countless salvage yard owners to become more successful business people. He is an expert in helping small business owners set the right business strategies, implement pay-for- performance, and find new customers on the web.

As a consultant, Ron shares his expertise in strategic planning, capitalization, compensation, growing market share, and more in his signature plainspoken style, providing field-proven, and high-profit best practices well ahead of the business news curve. Ron is the author of nine books, including How to Salvage More Millions from Your Small Business.

 

“People with goals succeed because they know where they are going. It’s as simple as that.”

~ Earl Nightingale

AutoSalvageconsultant.com was formed in 2001 to help recyclers improve their businesses. With over 50 years of experience in 3 staff members, the group is THE definitive source for recyclers’ management and training needs. Mike Gibson and Tammy Sturgeon joined the team in 2003, and bring a wealth of experience to the team, plus more resources, as there have been more requests for help than Ron could meet. The founder, Ron Sturgeon is past owner of AAA Small Car World.  In 1999, he sold his six Texas locations, with 140 employees, to Greenleaf.  In 2001, he founded North Texas Insurance Auction, which he sold to Copart in 2002.  In 2002, his book “Salvaging Millions” was published to help small business owners achieve significant success, and was recently reprinted and published in Chinese.  He also manages his real estate holdings and investments. You can learn more about how to help your business at www.autosalvageconsultant.com.