Bruce Outridge

It’s Not Because You’re Doing it Wrong, You’re Not Doing It Long Enough!

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Bruce

What Have You Learned from Business?

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Bruce

Things have changed so my wife tells me. Every time I hear politicians promising the world, or a new great idea by industry gurus I start to shutter. She says I never used to do that in the old days and she’s right, and much of it has to do with business. I never really cared before being in business. As employees your get your paycheck, you clock into work and life goes on. When they say they are going to raise a tax many times it is so buried in our pay program that many of us never even notice. Even when the HST came in most folks buying from a retail location looked at the final price and if it seemed reasonable would pay it without a thought. This is because the business whether it be the store or manufacturer have buried part of the tax in the price. So as the public many time you don’t see the full picture.

In business however you see the larger picture because it affects your bottom line right off the bat. It doesn’t matter if you are purchasing manufacturing parts or a bolt to go in the part every decision for taxes and pricing affects your operation. There is much more to it however than just money. Business is great for teaching you how the world works, how commerce works, why companies succeed, and why they don’t. Business teaches you money management, working with contracts, dealing with suppliers, and selling your wares to the public. It teaches you to defend yourself and protect against things that may compromise the business. Business teaches you about saving, borrowing, and taxes. Probably the most important part it teaches you about you. How you handle yourself in meetings and negotiations, and how good you are at time management. There is no better learning area than the world of business, and even the text books can’t teach you many of the things you will learn just by jumping in.

You may be asking yourself why I am talking about learning from business? The fact is that many people judge the success of their business by the dollar, now I do believe that is important, but if you focus only on the dollar you will miss the many areas of success that are outside that area. I have worked at many businesses before and many of them weren’t successful from a dollar standpoint. Even if you learned what not to do you have learned something that can be applied to the next venture. Every product or service that I develop helps me learn something new that can be used for future business endeavors. So if you’re an Owner Operator are you learning from your business how to run smarter, if you’re an entrepreneur are you learning about your target market, if you’re an employee are you looking to work smarter. If you have learned anything from your business whether it is highly successful or on the verge of closing the doors, think back to what it taught you from the day you opened to today and you may just find you are a success in one form or another.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is a business and leadership consultant. More information can be found on his website at www.outridge.ca

Do You Have an Escape Button?

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Bruce

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When the program you are using freezes for the fifth time you can press the “esc” button and restart the program. When things get too tough with a project the local office supply store tells you to press the “Easy” button. So when things are going wrong in business or a product isn’t working as well as it should be, what is the button you can press? You may not have a button as it is a figure of speech, but the point is that you can restart at any time. I know some entrepreneurs that have the “Easy” button from Staples and keep it on their desk. It really is a mind thing as to how you handle different situations regarding your products and services.

Many times I see entrepreneurs that keep going when things aren’t going well instead of trying to redirect or take a different approach. Products and services are like that, many will take their time to flourish and build momentum and others never seem to get off the ground. How long you allow them to stay in the forefront is up to you. If they’re aren’t costing you more money then leave them alone and work on the promotion of them. If they cost you on a monthly basis then you are best to try to stop production and change course or cancel the product all together. Only you know if a product is making it or not based on cost, time, and a host of other factors. The point is don’t keep that product going because you’re in love with it. That is the wrong reason. I am sure all of you have heard of market research and how you can do focus groups and plan other techniques for finding out if a product should go to market. I believe those are very important if there is a huge cost factor involved with manufacturing and capital. For most of us, however we are developing smaller products and I tend to just create them and give them a try. Find a way to create them in small quantities so you aren’t holding onto inventory, manufacture at the lowest price possible and introduce it to the real world. This way you can change direction quicker and won’t have the anxiety of trying to hold onto a product. An idea is to give them a timeline for success or failure so you have a way of measuring their success.

Remember you can reset your business at any time and that goes for products, services, or any other process that you have for your business. After all you are the captain and have the ability to change.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is a business and leadership consultant. He is an entrepreneur, author and speaker to many entrepreneur groups. For more information on his business please visit his website at www.outridge.ca

Are You Stretching Yourself to the Best of Your Abilities?

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Bruce

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Some were shaking, some were seasoned veterans, and some didn’t know why they were there, but they all had the same goal, to be comfortable talking in front of others. Many were business owners trying to get better at doing presentations, some were veterans that got their start at the same club and wanted to give back by helping others. They’re called “Toastmasters” and last night I had the honour of being their guest speaker. Many it was their first time making a presentation, and others had been part of the group for a while, either way it was fun evening and very helpful to those involved. I had never been to a Toastmaster’s event before and wasn’t sure what to expect. The evening was very structured, and very positive. Even though many were new they seemed to be fairly comfortable on stage in front of the group. The usual items need to be addressed such as talking too fast but much of that is due to the time factor and nervousness of being front and centre on the floor. The people that seemed to come across the best were those that used their personal experiences to support their presentation therefore adding even more exposure to their lives. I applaud each one of them for their courage in standing up against one of the largest fears in the world, public speaking.

The point is whether they feel they need the support of a group, or are already comfortable and trying to improve their presentation skills they were doing something to stretch themselves to the next level. They may have been nervous, they may have been scared, but they were putting themselves out there. I know over my years of public speaking to many different groups there is almost a calming effect when you share yourself with the world. Think about it, people may laugh, but they can’t gossip because you put the topic out there first. You don’t feel as though you have anything to hide because you brought up the information in a way that was comfortable for you. Look at any great scandal and you will see the same thing. If the person accused brings it out it isn’t half as bad as if someone else found out about the secret and blew the whistle. By sharing your life, even the bad times, you may be helping someone else going through the same problem. Life is about giving and giving of yourself is the best way to help both you and the other person. If you are looking for a group to improve your presentation skills may I suggest the Toastmasters group in your area. If you live in Southern Ontario then I not only suggest Toastmasters, but suggest the Executive Yacht Club for Toastmasters in Jordan Station Ontario. You won’t regret your decision. Thanks to Heather Talons and her group for having me out last night and I would highly recommend the group to anyone ready to stretch themselves to the next level.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is a motivational speaker, business and leadership consultant from Burlington, Ontario. To learn more about Bruce and his work please visit his websites at www.outridge.ca or www.bruceoutridge.com . To learn more about the Toastmasters Group please visit their website at Executive Yacht Club for Toastmasters

Leadership Starts When the Pressure’s On.

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Bruce

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It was one of the most important games in history in a sport that is known for it’s passion and turmoil. The stakes were high, as this was the Olympics. Unless you had your head buried in the sand as of late you would know about the controversial soccer game between Canada and the United States where the referee of the game made a rare call that is perceived to have taken the game away from the Canadian team. Now I am not here to make any judgements on the call itself or the players or referee in focus of the now FIFA investigation. I am here to bring to light how easy a passionate situation can get out of hand for all of us if we don’t do our best to keep conditions calm. In this case the comments caught on camera seem to be weighing in at the same amount to the call made by the referee in the game. Even in junior play there have been battles in the heat of the moment between fathers, coaches, and so on. That’s where the trouble begins. I am sure this has happened to all of us, in 25 years of trucking I have seen all kinds of things happen at scales, when given a ticket for something wrong with the truck that doesn’t make sense. What about the height of frustration when people don’t stand behind their products or services?

We have all experienced this at one time or another in as many situations as you can make up. Whether family, friends, or external sources this is time when leadership needs to be forefront and centre. Should you say something to an officer inspecting your truck if you find an incorrect inspection? Yes! Should the Captain or Coach of team in question state their case? Absolutely! It’s how you do it that makes the difference, getting into a screaming match with the person of authority will rarely get you out of the hot seat. As each person gets their back up the situation will deteriorate more and more until a charge is laid that can’t be reversed. Just look at any domestic case to get proof of these types of situations. How many drivers have tried to argue it out at the scales with an officer and found a few more tickets added on to the first one. We have all been there. Heck, I have even lost it one time when I bought a new phone, needed help after the purchase and found the dealer unwilling to help me. I went through their corporate stores, called the software company among others to get nowhere. Now stuck with piece of metal for two years it took two months before I was able to get it working and had nothing but problems for the rest of my contract. Don’t think I didn’t let go on the person I bought it from, that’s pure frustration. Did I exude leadership no way. Had that scenario been on the street I may be in jail. I’ve learned that nothing beneficial comes out of that.

If you find yourself in those types of situations, then realize that keeping calm is the first part of leadership. Once you have done that clearly state your case and make sure notes are taken that you don’t agree with the judgement. Then either fight it in a professional environment through the proper channels, leave it alone, or find some other professional way of dealing with the situation. I have found this to work the best, it may take longer, but it will be more beneficial than letting loose on the scene. In the heat of the battle leadership starts when the pressure’s on.

About the Author

Bruce Outridge is a business and leadership consultant in the transportation industry and entrepreneurial markets. For more information on his company and programs please visit his website www.outridge.ca