Although the 2019 Nevada Legislative Session only has 3 weeks remaining, it is far from winding down. In fact, this might be the most intense portion of the 120 day session. Due to the timing process, 285 bills died in committee and, as of this writing, 12 bills have been signed by the Governor. For a complete rundown of where things stand, visit https://legiscan.com/NV
Arguably the most significant legislation impacting business owners involves raising the Nevada minimum wage. With the understanding that the sausage is still being crafted, with input from all parties, it would be wise to begin forecasting an increase in the minimum wage with it increasing again annually for the next several years.
With this being one of the largest expenses for most businesses, it will be critical to prepare for this change. This will not only affect those on the low end of the pay scale; it will have bearing on all employees since each will expect a similar flat increase or percentage increase bump.
The best advice is to start planning and projecting now, beginning with ways to increase revenue and lower overhead.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the great women in this world.
Fundamentals:Marketing-Part II
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.
The second best time is now.”
– Chinese Proverb
What is Marketing:
Marketing is a principle value driver that helps your business thrive. Marketing and sales are two sides of the same coin:
• Marketing is everything you do to reach and persuade prospects
• Sales is everything you do to close the business
To perform at a higher level, the branding and marketing presence of your company needs to be implemented just as effectively as it is envisioned in a thorough marketing plan, with accurate and timely information. Designed right and executed properly, marketing not only adds significant value to a company but helps make the sales process seamless and less challenging. A company generally can’t be successful—and create value—without both, or when they don’t work well together.
Even in today’s digital age, content is king and queen; it’s the message that prepares the prospect for the sale. And that message should focus on the needs of the prospect and solving his/her problems, not the features of the product or service.
Modern marketers have more tactical options at their disposal than ever before, including advertising, public relations, social media, relationship marketing, brand marketing, email and direct mail, and many more. These need to be monitored to measure the effectiveness of each channel.
A marketing plan is a road map of how you will share information on your business, its products, or services. It must be reflective of the overall strategic business plan, including sales, financial, operational, human resources, legal and other business value drivers. The marketing plan should include everything from the target market to the step-by-step processes for coordinating and building marketing strategies and tactics.
Developing the marketing plan requires a clear vision of how your company will attract customers that can create and build value and match what your company does best with the customers’ needs.
A 2019 study performed by Hinge Research Institute concluded that high-growth firms invested 43% more effort toward marketing than no-growth firms and saw 74% more impact in key metrics such as number of new clients acquired, revenue, profitability, brand awareness and number of leads generated. It’s useful to know that the numbers bear out what we’ve instinctively known all along: developed properly and implemented consistently, marketing works!
Step 5: Achieve
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”
— Henry David Thoreau
At Eagle Corporate Advisors, we help you chart a course, cross bridges, avoid obstacles and stay on track to keep you and your business on the best path to your success. We call this roadmap “The Six A’s.”
In this month’s newsletter, we will focus on the fifth step, “Achievement,” in which you move ever closer to your goals. These goals are different for each business owner, can be short term or long term, and are as personal as you are. They can include scaling your business, increasing revenues and profits, paying off debt, selling your business outright, transitioning to a business partner, creating a legacy enterprise for your children or grandchildren, stepping away and working less—entrusting long-term employees to run the operations—while still maintaining an acceptable level of income, or a dozen other alternatives.
Each goal comes with its own set of questions, options and actions. For example, if you’re considering an expansion of your business, the assumption is you’re already doing one or more things very well. So, the next thing to consider is how you’d like to expand. Bring the same model to other jurisdictions? Stay in the same area but expand your product or service offerings? Develop new demographic or psychographic markets? You’ll also want to consider how much of your own wealth is tied up in the business. If you expand what you’ve currently got, that’s more eggs in just one basket, which means you may want to consider divesting a division or portion of your business to minimize risk. This opens up opportunities so you can invest in other things, but it also means you may have a whole new learning curve to overcome. Using this example, you can see how exploring the implications of achieving just one goal can lead you down a rabbit hole of intended and unintended consequences.
No matter what business and personal goals you seek to achieve, Eagle Corporate Advisors is here to accompany you on your journey to personal, financial and emotional freedom, just as we have for many other business owners.
As business owners, we’ve all heard or read words of wisdom from thought leaders running the gamut from well-known to unknown. These kernels of truth often help keep us on track, pump us up when we’re feeling down and serve as timely reminders of why we do what we do. Here are a couple favorites from business associates and colleagues, along with brief explanations of why they strike a chord.
“Nourish your hopes, but do not overlook realities.” – Winston Churchill
Melissa Raugust, Director of EDS Electronics, Commentary: “Successful business owners/entrepreneurs spend a lot of time in the future, and that’s good. It’s needed. But we can’t be so forward thinking that we leave everyone behind. We have to remember to build up the team and processes that are going to get us there. Sometimes, that involves slowing down to improve efficiency. Taking a step back is not the same as going backwards. We have to be good at taking care of what is so we can have what will be.”
“Who you are is defined by the next decision you make, not the last one.” – Rachel Hollis
Megan Neri, Director of Communications of Lee Business School Commentary: “It can be easy to dwell in the past, whether you succeed or fail. But how you choose to move forward is much more defining. I find this personally freeing; knowing that every day I have a choice to move forward and grow from my experiences.”
If you’d like your favorite saying featured in a future newsletter, please email it, along with a brief commentary, to ChuckM@EagleCorporateAdvisors.com.
There often comes a time when even the most entrepreneurial of business owners begins to butt up against his or her own limits, whether those limits are time or knowledge. Or both.
It’s for these business owners — those who are willing to admit they can’t do it all and are seeking a qualified, trusted advisor, coach, and mentor — that Chuck Mohler established Eagle Corporate Advisors in the first place. To provide just the right kind of custom support for any issue, milestone or decision, to help you and your business perform at a higher level — smoothly and with the best information at your fingertips. And to give you back that feeling of controlling your own destiny.
Our individualized approach to helping clients make big changes and sound business decisions is methodical and incremental, and keeps your long-term goal in mind at all times.