Bruce Outridge

Happy Holidays

Posted on December 25, 2012 by Bruce

Happy Holidays

How Are You Building Your Business?

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Bruce

I have been building our business in a certain way since we started back in 2006, whether it has been due to past life experiences or due to goals for the future I have stuck to a certain track for success. Some may not even call it success if you are basing success on the amount of millions in my bank account or how much new business has been brought on each year. When I left a stressful situation with a previous employer I started making a list in my mind as to the type of business I wanted as an owner. A few things came to mind directly, I didn’t want a company with many employees to watch over, I didn’t want a brick and mortar structure that kept me tied to a certain location, and I wanted technology to work for me so we could operate the business from anywhere. Over the years those things may or may not have gotten in the way of our success. I have had to turn down invitations that may have made good financial decisions but sacrificed the other goals I had for our business. I have had to work a little harder to build the company in line with our goals and beliefs as it meant choosing between financial and time opportunities. It has meant becoming my own university and learning from the people who’s career I admire. I am proud of the business we have built and continue to build.

I just began to read the book by Brett Wilson of television’s famed Dragons’ Den. His book “Redefining Success” talks in the first chapter about knowing what success is for yourself and your own business and not following opportunities that you don’t believe in. He has learned the hard way through the loss of health and family to learn what is really important. So how are you building your business? Are you building it blindly with no track for success whether it is monetary or otherwise? How will you know when you arrive at that point, will it take years or can you track it as you go? Being able to track your success as you go in both time and money is the best way to build the business. This way you see the rewards as you go and it will keep you motivated to move forward. It can also help you tell if the business is running you instead of you running the business. Are you working twenty-four seven with no family time or time for yourself, or are spending the days doing as you wish? These are questions you should be asking yourself as you move into the next year of business. Where are you now and where are you going? I can successfully say we have achieved our goals this year, the company is up in revenue, and I am currently writing you this blog from a month long stay in the Caribbean. So my question to you is did you hit your goals this year, if not maybe you’re on the wrong track?

Happy Holidays

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is a business and leadership consultant in the transportation industry and the arts. He is the author of the books “Running By The Mile” and “How to Start an Artistic Business in 12 Easy Steps.” For more information on Bruce and his work please visit his website at www.outridge.ca

There is Nothing like the Beginning of the Year for a Fresh Start

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Bruce

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It doesn’t matter whether you had a good year or a bad year in business things can always be improved for the better. If things have gone well this year you may want to look at how you can increase profits for next year. If you have had a bad year and seemed to be struggling along then you need to look at what you can improve for next year that will make it better for you and give you the upper hand you are looking for. Business is hard and I don’t think any of us get into it to fail or struggle. In fact I bet that every one of us have the dream of creating something exciting and making big money while we live a great life. Once you have been in business however you will realize that dream may be just that, a dream. Without the hard work, without the dedication, and without managing and researching the industry you’re in you will have a hard time realizing that dream. As a business consultant I have seen some business owners that just don’t get it, they say they’re investigating getting into business so they spend time going to events, they look for free information, and spend time asking questions, but in the end turn around and do the exact opposite of what they learned. I believe this is because they are taking in the information, but then don’t have the knowledge base of the business to make sensible decisions. When you go opposite of the information given to you from people who know the industry you are not listening very well.

So if you have been in this situation or you need to improve as we all do then the beginning of the year is a great time to start. Just wipe the slate clean, collect all your data from this year and lock yourself in a room for a couple of days and evaluate your numbers. People laugh when I tell them that our business has an Annual General meeting each December when they know it is just the two of us in the company. The meeting is in depth, lasts about five hours and covers every aspect of our business from marketing to finance. We schedule it every year around the end of December because that is a quiet time for us and since our year end is in October it gives me time to gather numbers and finalize reports. It may sound foolish to some but our business has been growing every year out of the gate and continues to do so. We know where we need to improve and each year we focus on improving one part of our business. This is where many business owners go wrong, they try to fix everything at once like a television show. Focus on one area like improving sales this year, improving cash flow next year, maybe the third year you try to reduce interest charges and so on. One year our whole focus was streamlining our bookkeeping to make sure we were up to date at all times. It vastly improved our business just improving that one item. So if you have been struggling or are looking to improve your business as a whole, use the beginning of the year wisely, use it as a fresh start.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is a business and leadership consultant with over 30 years experience in the transportation industry. He is the author of the book “Running By The Mile” and “How to Start an Artistic Business in 12 Easy Steps.” For more information on Bruce’s work please visit his website at www.outridge.ca

Are You Pushing your Business Pricing, or is it Pushing You?

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Bruce

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We are at a strategic time in our business with it being year end, almost the end of the calendar year, and a growing business heading in multiple directions. For me it is an exciting time of year because I am a goal setting monster, I love trying to figure out where the company will go next year, where we have been, and how we got there. It does however create a challenge as to where you should increase pricing and what services or products we may have to drop. If a year is going good no one wants to lose clients and the challenge of raising prices is that once raised you may lose some of your clients that can’t afford or choose not to spend the extra money, so what do you do?

Raising pricing on a regular basis is critical to keep any company afloat, expenses rise cost of doing business goes up, and inflation changes how much our money is worth. If you don’t change pricing your business will not remain for the future. How you raise your prices is as important as when you raise your pricing. Just raising prices because you feel like it or you got ripped off on your last job is not a good reason and will make you look like you’re trying to take advantage of people. I find the best time to raise prices if you have to is at the end of a calendar year. This way you give the impression and hopefully you did investigate the market and found a need to raise prices. We don’t raise prices every year, more so when required by business expenses or the market but certainly every three years. Keep your price increases to small amounts say $10 depending on your product or service. That way they aren’t as noticeable.

Now when you raise your prices you may get a resistance and you should be prepared to lose a few clients that feel the prices are out of range. That’s okay you will gain new clients down the road to replace those. This is where many of us are afraid to make the move we don’t want to lose clients. If you don’t make that move to raise pricing then the business is pushing you and will keep that fear in you and you will never raise your prices. You are the leader of your business and you need to cover your costs and make a profit. If you don’t you are either a non-profit business or your business is really a hobby. You need to push your business, don’t let it push you.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is a business and leadership consultant with over 30 years experience in the transportation market. He is the author of the book Running by the Mile, and How to Start an Artistic Business in 12 Easy Steps. For more information on Bruce and his work please visit his website at www.outridge.ca

The Goal Challenge

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Bruce

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I don’t often talk about death, but I do talk about goal setting very often. The difference this time is that I had a good friend of mine pass away over the last few weeks at a very young age. I have known him for almost 20 years, we have worked together, and seen each other with family socially so his passing hit us hard. He was 61 years old and found out through a sore shoulder that he had cancer. I saw him just in August and his treatment was going great and he looked amazing. Last week I got the cal that he had passed. I don’t think I have to tell you how devastated I was, but it made me think.

I have already been talking about leadership and business, I review my business plan on a regular basis, and refocus the whole business every December if required. I understand the importance of goals. My friend had goals and some he will never attain. When I mention goals to other people many understand and many don’t. I have heard too many times about people creating that bucket list and then trying to do it in their retirement, I have also heard of people making that bucket list and never making it to retirement. So the question is, what’s on your bucket list, what dreams and goals have you put down on paper and then stopped working towards because they were too hard or too far away? I am throwing out a challenge to everyone.

The challenge is this, I want you to create your bucket list, I like to use 6 month, 1 year, and 5 year goals, but you can use whatever you feel comfortable with and I suggest with timeframes attached. Now your challenge is to actively attain your goals and mark at least one goal off your list every year. You may not be able to hit everything but you will be moving forward in life. In my life I never want to go out wondering what if…? I also hate the thought of going with a life that was full of hard work and no fun. My friend worked very hard and was a great provider, I know I worked beside him for 12 years of the time I knew him. We may not have control of when life ends, we only have one life so we may as well use it the best we can.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is a business and leadership consultant from Ontario Canada. He is the author of several business books titled “Running by the Mile”, and “How to Start an Artistic Business in 12 Easy Steps.” For more information visit his website at www.outridge.ca