Building Value: The 5 Keys for Achieving Success

By Richard J. Greene

Yes, you run a successful business but are you building lasting and sustainable value? Do you have a clear idea as to why you are in business? Do you get buried in the challenges of the day, leaving no time to think or create? Are you the lone go-to guy in your company? Building Value takes you through the five keys that you need to execute to ensure that you are building a wealth platform rather than being in the position of just owning your "job."
Building Value is written with small and medium-sized business owners in mind. It takes The Five Keys ...
• Know Where You are Going
• Be Flexible and Aware
• Build Simple and Repeatable Systems
• Create Space and Time
• It's About the Business, It's Not About You
... and turns them into an easy-to-understand guide to help you stay focused on your goals while navigating the constant change the defines not only business but everyday life. Filled with stories that describe both successes and failures, Building Value is a quick read that will get you thinking differently about "Why" you are in business and "How" you are going to build you wealth platform. Whether you are looking to build a family legacy, build the next Fortune 100 Wall Street wonder, sell your business to outside investors, or just improve your paycheck, Building Value gives you The 5 Keys you need to succeed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard J. Greene
• Release date: Oct 9, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301007790

Richard J. Greene

Richard Greene is a Director and the founder of Clarus Advisors, LLC. He has helped numerous executives and business owners meet and exceed their objectives. He is a decisive strategist and powerful motivational speaker. He has consulted with and coached leaders in a wide array of industries including manufacturing, distribution, logistics, publishing, green technologies, health care, and retail for clients ranging in size from $1 million in sales to more than $1 billion. Utilizing the elements in Building Value, he challenges teams to succeed, helping them design and implement solutions that have consistently led to building the sustainable value of their operations in a variety of economic conditions. He is completely focused on the personal and organizational success of his clients. He employs a holistic, open coaching approach to help empower his clients to achieve both their personal and organizational goals, whether through one-on-one coaching, seminars, or private business-planning retreats. In addition to his corporate achievements, Richard is committed to giving back to the community. He has successfully served on a variety of not-for-profit boards, assisting the organizations in their fundraising and strategic initiatives.

Book preview

BUILDING VALUE:

THE 5 KEYS FOR ACHIEVING SUCCESS

Richard J. Greene

Foreword by: Dr. Benjamin Ola Akande

.

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Richard J. Greene

Edited by: Beth Kujawski

Cover design by: Phil Watkins, Watkins Advertising Design

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever except in the case of brief quotations without the written permission of the author. For more information, please contact the author at: mailto:[e-mail].

ISBN 9781301007790

To my Mother and Father

One dream accomplished and so many more to go!

Dad, I wish you were here to see it.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Foreword by Dr. Benjamin Ola Akande

Introduction

The First Key: Know Where You Are Going: Create Your Roadmap

Why Are You Doing This?

What Does Winning Look Like?

How Are You Going to Win?

Where Do You Win?

Who Else Plays in Your Space?

When Are You Going to Do This?

How Are You Keeping Score?

The First Key: Clarifying Questions

The Second Key: Be Flexible and Aware

Change Is Constant. Embrace It Willingly

What Are Your Competitors Doing?

Global Trends, Technology, Social Trends, World/National Conditions

Willows Versus Oaks

The Second Key: Clarifying Questions

The Third Key: Build Simple and Repeatable Systems

Consistently Exceed Client Expectations

Aligning Expectations: Getting Everyone on Board

Frequently Review and Revise

Lions and Tigers and Bears!

The Third Key: Clarifying Questions

The Fourth Key: Create Space and Time

Creating Time to Think: Build Your Thinking Platform

The More the Merrier

Establish Rules of Engagement

The Fourth Key: Clarifying Questions

The Fifth Key: It’s About the Business - It’s Not About You.

What Is Your Value Proposition?

Do You Own the Business or Does the Business Own You?

Delegate, Don’t Abdicate

Sleeping Better at Night

The Fifth Key: Clarifying Questions

Closing Thoughts

Do You Have A Question?

About Clarus Advisors, LLC

About the Author

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There is an old Chinese proverb that says, Every journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step. This truism leaves out one very important point: That while every journey begins with your ideas and goals—that single step—that journey also requires the help of many people along the way. Without my village of support, without their kindness and collective genius, this book would have remained locked inside me.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the small but elite cast of business people who provided input and encouragement: Steve, Clint, John, Liz, Bruce, Mike, Elise and Steve. All of you helped tremendously. Thank you!

To Dr. Benjamin Ola Akande, Dean of the George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology at Webster University, your keen mind and enthusiasm helped bring this project to a successful close.

To Beth and Phil, my editor and graphic artist respectively, your calm and artistic genius filled the creative gaps, giving me peace of mind and allowing me to sleep at night.

To the thousand or so business owners I have had the pleasure to learn from and work with: Your experiences—both successes and failures—were the seeds of this book. May the roads you’ve traveled serve as a map to help others succeed and reach their goals.

Thank you to my family. My Mom, a brilliant educator, who helped make sure the text was readable. My sister, Caroline who provided the final proof reading. Joanne, my wife, who had to endure my continuous ramblings as I arranged my thoughts, and to my children, Sarah and Jacob; in them I see the hope and optimism that makes me confident about the future. They are all an inspiration.

Finally, thank you to you for taking the time to read this book. It was borne out of an effort to help people avoid the mistakes that cripple so many businesses. May these lessons be useful as you pursue your dreams.

FOREWORD

If you are like me, your key ring is heavy with metal designed to help you throughout your day. I look at mine and see a key to open the front door of my home, a key to let me into my car, a key that unlocks my desk drawer, and even a key that secures the luggage I take to the airport. All are helpful and all will make my life easier. But none are the keys to my success in business.

The keys designed to create and grow value in business can be found in this book: Building Value: The 5 Keys for Achieving Success. This quick read is designed to help any owner or entrepreneur improve their business and its chances for survival in today’s tough economy.

Richard has authored an important book that contains remarkably simple ideas, ideas that create a tried-and-true roadmap for forming a sustainable, profitable business. A business coach, consultant, and former banking executive, he shares real-life examples of good and bad business decisions. He provides the reader with anecdotes that illustrate his points and offer lessons. He affirms the most overlooked aspect of paralysis when attempting to move an idea to reality: the importance of asking the questions that expand the thought process and provide direction.

The key to building value is to marry tactical planning to strategic planning. When business owners inadvertently stop linking their strategic goals to their immediate actions, they ultimately get in their own way. By working to quickly resolve a problem and move on to the next issue, they lose sight of their long-term objectives. Rather than doing things the right way, they follow the path of least resistance, what Richard calls My Way.

Building Value presents the simple strategy to avert this rashness that is often fatal to a business: a combination of tried-and-true advice and stories real-life business successes as witnessed in his extensive career as a successful banker to businesses large and small.

The 5 Keys for Achieving Success help us see beyond the here and now to the future and its opportunities. In the pages that follow, he challenges you to face—and then shows you how to navigate—the biggest obstacle to increasing the worth of your business: You! He takes you inside many companies, those that are well known and those that are his personal clients, to illustrate how his principles enable companies to move from success to significance in their industries. His keys open the doors to the patterns you have in place now and what can be done to improve them.

Every day in corner offices around the world, great ideas are produced, discussed, and dissected. Some involve big investments. Some rely on good old-fashioned instinct. And still others, because of their boldness, require leaps of faith. Growing up, I referred to these moments of inspiration as times when the light bulb went off in my head. It was a time when I could see exactly what needed to be done to solve the challenge at hand. Today, we identify these as a-ha moments, moments that give us answers or spark ideas. Maybe it was an a-ha moment that put you into business in the first place. Maybe your a-ha moment happens each day as you work on your business and find new ways to build its value. Maybe your a-ha moment has yet to arrive, but you want to be ready to make your idea flourish when it strikes. Use Richard’s keys to open the doors that will lead to your success.

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Benjamin Ola Akande is Professor of Economics and Dean of the George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology at Webster University in Saint Louis, Missouri.

INTRODUCTION

"At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want." — Lao Tzu

You have value in your business. You know it is there but how do you unlock it? How do you build it in a