Transformational Thinking…

In the world of personal development, transformational thinking is about looking at your life in terms of the person you are becoming each and every day; a person who is creating the circumstances of your life, not falling victim to them.

I asked a new client if I could share part of a conversation we had in a recent personal development coaching session and he agreed.  He related to me that he had arrived at a point in his life where he felt stuck in a dead-end job and trapped in a loveless marriage.  He shared further that he has felt this way for almost ten months now and doesn’t know if he should hang in there, or throw in the towel.  I told him that most people feel that way at one time or another and that I too have felt that way.

“You?” he asked, “But you seem so together… with a great business, a beautiful family and so much freedom to pursue hobbies and volunteer.  I doubt you could’ve had as rough a time as I’m having right now.”

“Don’t be too sure.” I said.  “I went in the Army right out of High School, got married at age 20, had my first child at 22, got out of the Army at 25 and spent the next 2 years working as a laborer in construction and then as an iron-worker.  I had another child in there somewhere and at age 28 my wife and I opened our first Subway.  Three years later my business was on the brink of bankruptcy and my marriage was on the brink of divorce.  Trapped and loveless???  How about that plus desperation and hopelessness weighing so heavily upon me that I could hardly breathe?”

He looked at me with a confused look then after a moment said, “I would have never guessed by looking at you today.  How did you turn things around?”

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Personal Development Coach…

“If personal development is supposed to be personal, then why would I need a coach?”, is a question I hear often.

Well, it’s a fair question, and I tend to admire the self-reliant nature of those who pose it.  My answer is, “You are absolutely right; Personal Development is personal and you don’t NEED a coach.  You are sure to get along just fine, learning and growing on your own.”

But the real questions isn’t whether or not you need a Personal Development Coach, because frankly those who desperately need coaching don’t possess the right mental attitude or basic skills to be successful in the first place.  The real question you should be asking yourself is, “Why would I want a PD Coach?”

The benifits of having your own personal coach are identical to the benefits world class athletes receive from the individual attention of personalized coaching:  Well defined goals, Develop best strategy, Maximize training results, Accelerate improvement, Continuous evaluation of progress, Accountability for achieving agreed upon goals. and ultimately becoming the Best at what you do.  Now these athletes are good on their own, but with the right coaching become “world class”.

The next question you should ask yourself is, “Is where I am right now good enough, or do I want to become world-class?”

When you’re ready to take your game to the next level just let me know by signing up for Gold Membership.

Strive to be more!

Coach Morse

Business Leadership Coaching…

Much progress was made in 2009 with regard to profit coaching for subway franchisees, and in 2010, in addition to franchisees, I’ll be expanding my focus to include Organizational Leadership and Business Coaching.  In these difficult times many organizations and bussinesses are seeking leadership for a new direction, and with the right coaching they can set new goals and develop successful strategies to achieve them.

It’s a new year and time to set new goals, but before you do here are some tips that will help you set and achieve goals that bring you closer to the realization of your vision:

  1. Create a compelling vision for your business.  What kind of organization do you want to become?  Who benefits?  How will you create it?  Why does it matter?
  2. Identify the different areas of business necessary for the realization of your vision.  On who will reaching the ultimate goal depend?  For example:  Marketing, Bookkeeping, Training, Sales, Product Development, Leadership, Public Relations, Financing, and so on…
  3. Create a timetable for the completion of all your goals.  A goal without a completion date is just an idea.  Turn what you could do into what you will do by making a commitment to have it done by the due date.
  4. Review your goals monthly to check for progress and make adjustments.
  5. Hire a Coach to help guide you through the process of creating your business game plan, making strategic adjustments as the game unfolds, and holding you accountable for the outcome.

Finally, as you contemplate all that lies before you this year, remember it’s leadership that sets the course and provides direction for all achievement great or small.

Strive to be more!

Coach Morse

Higher Prices…

The question of whether it’s a good idea to raise prices or not comes up often, especially during times when sales decline, costs rise, and profits fall.  For most markets across the country this is one of those times.

Yesterday I received the following comment from a member and decided I would share my response with all of you:

Dear Coach Morse,

My market recently sent out new pricing recommended by the local FAF board.  They want everyone to raise prices on sandwiches in tier 2 and 3.  Should I go along with them or keep my prices where they are now (at company recommended price)?

Thanks for your help,

Jimbo

Thanks for your question Jimbo.  There are times when raising prices make good business sense, for instance when supply is low and demand is high, or when higher commodity prices drive up unit cost, or when minimum wage hikes occur.  However, in most markets I don’t believe these situations apply at present.

Instead I think what we are seeing is the effects, the recession is having on the consumer, hitting us head on.  As our customers have less money to spend they are visiting less, and when they do come in, customers are  looking for the value proposition, gravitating toward specials, lower cost items, or buying fewer items.  What this means for us as owners is a difficult time holding onto last year’s sales volume and the possibility of elevated costs.  As sales decline and costs rise, the desire to raise prices is a normal response that many business owners experience, but acting on that desire could be a costly mistake for those of us in the QSR industry.

In my view, Jimbo, you should Read More »

Paperwork for Profit…

Too many owners give up their profit to avoid paperworkNot knowingly of course, but are you one to delegate the preparation and transmission of your WISR to your store manager?  If you’re not involved with this weekly process it could be costing you more profit than you can imagine…  Single store owners could be losing close to $10k per year.  A multi-unit store owner with five stores like me could be losing $50k per year.  Some larger multi-unit operations are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars, simply by allowing things like waste, over-scheduling, and employee theft to go on undetected.

The remedy is simple, easy to use and easy to learn. Read More »