An ADACI Presentation:A Winning Business

StructurePresented by Al Darnell Jr.,

MBA (BiG Al)Principal, ADACI

Discretionary Points“Repetition is the father of Learning!” “Learning is nothing more than spaced

repetition…”

Four Touch Points of Learning1. Hearing2. Believing3. Application4. Understanding

Characteristics For Systematic Winning

1. Order – methodical or harmonious arrangement

2. Diligence – constant and earnest effort to accomplish what has been undertaken

3. Resilience – ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity or the like

Two Types of LearnersSpeculative – they use theory, quote best

practices and obtain all their experiences from books, seminars and coaches of how a business should start, operate and grow.

Operative – they may or may not have received formal training or education such as the speculative learners, but through their fearless risk-taking, they have compiled a repertoire of experiences that are priceless and irrefutable resulting from their successful practice of it.

Two Types of Learners (cont’d)

There should be a fusion of Both, because of each perspective vantage point.

Speculative learners’ view point is from the back looking forward, so they are able to map out the course and direction one “should” take, yet they are naïve of the obstacles to surmount.

Operative learners’ view point is from the front looking backward, reliving mis-steps and mistakes wondering why you’re so far away after you’ve been already doing this for so long or you may have arrived, but with your due share of conflict and avoidable obstacles.

My Experience and Education

• Fully self-employed since 19• Started and successfully operated all five primary

forms of business: Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, LLC, S-Corporation and C-Corporation

• Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Auburn University

• Master’s in Business Administration with a Concentration in Finance from Keller Graduate School of Management

• I currently teach undergraduate and graduate courses at the San Diego local campus of the University of Phoenix

A Winning Business Structure

Every business should be erected with 3 main pillars:

1.Marketing2.Operations &3.Finance

Marketing“Cash flowing into your business is in direct proportion

to communication flowing out.” – Robert Kiyosaki

Now your first thought might be we’ll let me just spray bullets of marketing with my oozy then I’ll make all the money I need. I just need to put my articles in different newspapers, all over the net and in every special event program. Right? Wrong!

If you decide to shoot any gun what do you point it at? A Target!

MarketingSo now you must identify your target

market:ADACI’s is:

– Young Professionals (b/n 20 & 50 with more than 1 individual in their household)

– Small Business Owners (with less than 20 employees and in their first 5 years of business)

– Non-Profits (mainly churches and new start-ups)

MarketingIf you plan to shoot to kill what are the

two areas you target?– Their Heart– Their Head

So I submit to you, that is how you win in Marketing!1. Aim at their hearts and minds.2. Market from the top down.

Marketing:Targeting their Head

People are motivated to buy by three main emotions:1. Fear2. Greed3. Vanity

Now you must identify which of these three motivate the bulk of your prospective clientele.

Marketing:Targeting their Heart

• Find out where they already spend their money.• Provide complimentary products and/or services

or market your products and/or services in such a way that they are the natural progression, supplement or compliment to those areas.

• Encourage them to feel that they deserve what you have to offer because of their hard life, job, week or day that they’ve had.

• Make them feel like they’re a better person or helping the world as a whole by obtaining your product and/or service.

Marketing:From the Top Down

– Example: So either I can try to get on every church’s bulletin board, their program or try to put a pamphlet in each of their lobbies or I can work on landing a Pastor as a client.

– To take it a step further, I can target church associations that house several churches in the region and beyond or go to a group that many Pastor’s meet and present to them, of course with the personal endorsement of the leader!

MarketingYou’ve just identified your target

market as well as the target area on your target market!

Now start with the most cost efficient means of marketing: word of mouth , social media then stationary public advertisement and beyond!

Build a powerful brand!Now exploit that brand to the n’th

degree!Lastly, your Book of Business…

Marketing:Book of Business

Your book of business is one of the most valuable assets of any business, period!

Many times the greatest motivating factor for purchasing a business from another is for their book of business.

A book of business is a database of all of your past, present and prospective clientele; their names, numbers, addresses, e-mails and other pertinent information.

Marketing:Book of Business (cont’d)

• There are five main ways to build your book of business:1. Networking Events2. Joining Groups3. Servicing Clients/Lead Capture4. Referrals5. Purchasing Leads

OperationsDiscretionary Points:

“The secret to your future is hidden in your daily routine.”

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure”“Inspect what you expect”

“Review reveals all clues of what better to do”

How to Accomplish All of This:Systems, Systems, Systems!!!

OperationsThe 3 Primary Systems You Should Implement:1. Communication Systems2. Clientele Systems3. Cash Flow Management and Reporting

Systems

You should have a systematic way of recording attempts, progress and results from every action that you take.

Operations:Communication Systems

• Create a system where you contact your leads and current clients periodically with a consistency that they can come to expect from you.

• Separate your leads into groups and contact them according to how each of those groups best respond, in terms of the medium of contact.

• Your #1 source of leads are from past clients, then referrals then from repeat clients, then with the top down marketing system we spoke of earlier.

• Quantitatively trace your efforts and see which yield the best results and focus there.

Operations:Client Systems

• You should have a system for getting, servicing and following up with your clients and all prospects.

• Measure your results and focus accordingly.

• There are several online CRM’s (Customer Resource Managemetn) tools available.– E.g. MailChimp, Salesforce, Constant

Contact, etc.

Operations: Cash Flow Management and Reporting Systems

• Know the account of thy flock!• Identify all sources of income, keep receipts

or some form of electronic documentation of all expenses and develop a method of how you will invest retained earnings.

• Learn about the 4 main financial statements and how to read them.

• Review your financials daily, weekly and monthly as well.

“Cash Flow is King, not Cash”

Operations:Rules, Roles, Responsibilities & Ramifications

• If it’s just you, you, of course, wear all the hats, are responsible for everything and have no lunch money if you don’t follow the rules.

• If it’s more than just you, you must have established rules, roles, responsibilities and ramifications of each individual in written form. I.e. Operating Guidelines, Partnership Agreements, Business Protocol, etc.

• If any misstep occurs refer to the written documentation, not the infraction of the individual.

• Establish meetings to review and update it as well.

Operations:Education, Action & Review

• You need to consistently educate yourself in changes in your field and not only stay relavent, but excel. You must be considered an expert!

• You need to have your vocation become darn near your obsession!

• Take action ASAP when you learn of a refined process that can reduce waste and increase efficiency and profits.

• Review all of your efforts and their results and adjust based on trends you’ve identified.

Finances• Identify all start up costs• Construct a cash budget• Plan all capital purchases• Systemize savings and investments• Do your bookkeeping weekly• Accelerate Income, Retard Expenses

Finances:Identify All Start-Up Costs

• Do exhaustive research on all of the items that you’ll need to purchase, the fees you’ll need to pay in order to get started and make your first sale.

• Now cut that cost in half.• Now come up with a way to make your first sale

with this reduced start-up amount.• More often than not, start-ups spend more money

than is necessary to begin operations.• It doesn’t take that much money to make money, it

mainly takes your Mind, Mouth and a little bit of Muscle.

Finances:Construct a Cash Budget

Step 1: Forecast Sales – be as realistic and pragmatic as possible, because this is the foundation for identifying all cash flow needs

Step 2: Anticipate Receivables – this is necessary unless you receive all your money up front

Step 3: List All Variable ExpensesStep 4: List All Fixed ExpensesStep 5: Add the Change to Previous Cash BalanceStep 6: Identify Any Cash Flow NeedsStep 7: Maintain a Cash Buffer at all Times

Finances:Plan All Capital Purchases

• Capital Purchases are items that will be used by your company for longer than a year.

• The timing of these purchases is a critical aspect of tax planning.

• You want these capital purchases to be able to pay for themselves within a year depending on the size of the asset.

Finance:Systemize Savings and Investments• Use a savings ratio to identify the amount of

money to put away every month.• Savings ratio = Savings/After Tax Income• C-Corporations have very tax favored

positions when it comes to investments in securities and you want to take advantage of it.

• You should also identify a percentage of your retained earnings that you will use to reinvest in yourself.

Finance:Weekly Bookkeeping

• Your finances should be your second guide to directing your businesses daily operations.

• Most people think bookkeeping is only needed to identify monthly or quarterly tax liabilities, but they’re wrong.

• A consistent view of your finances should swiftly identify unprofitable practices, a slump in sales efforts, an increase in costs, etc.

Finances:Accelerate Income, Retard Expenses• Cash Flow is King!• You want to incentivize all of your clients to

pay you up front and as soon as possible.• Do whatever it takes to make your sales as

frequent as possible, don’t wait to make personal quotas you’ve set for yourself and don’t slow down once you’ve reached them.

• Don’t pay anything off early, build a strong cash reserve and possibly use a percentage of that to make additional payments.

Q&AQUESTIONS?

And thank you so much for your time!

ADACIwww.myadaci.com(858) 859 - 2322

bigal@myadaci.com