IT'S OK TO TALK TO YOURSELF - ESPECIALLY ON THIS - WILLIAM EASTMAN

PROFIT RADIO..."Let's Grow Together"

Introduction
This might seem like a deviation from our planned show on your Stage VI Implementation Plan, it’s not. Rather this is a conversation with yourself that must happen sometime and as you prepare to reinvent the business, why not now?

Every once in a while you need to stop and ask yourself what is the endgame and where are we on the journey. I do that today by using the radio station as an example.

Objectives - The WHY
I would not call the following questions part of any strategic or tactical plan. We have several templates that will provide guidance on that function. This is more existential.

Key Issues - Owner Perspective:

1. Strategic Direction Outside the Company
2. The Relevance of Your Offer
3. Core Assets - Core Competencies
4. Leverage through Partnerships
5. Unique Perspective on What & How

What You Need to Know - The WHAT
If you are in the later stages of growth - Stages V and VI, you reached this achievement by realizing you don’t have all the answers nor is it expected. Guidance from outside the company is essential from people that have done it and can be objective about the choices. The last thing you need is more group think, more people telling you what you want to hear. The question is not if it is who and how to create a Board of Directors?

The next question is how relevant is your organization and offer to customers? Your business has passed the stage of quick sales for survival, and the emphasis is on long-term customers. That requires the customer finding the product or service purchased and the relationship with your organization making a significant difference. As you consider what shape the reinvention project takes ensure that relevance to the customer is the core objective and final test.

Since the reinvention question will center on the what - your offer, your mix of products & services, and on the how - the nature of the relationship, it cannot be divorced from your core competence. What combination of hard and soft assets provides you with an advantage over the competition? You cannot stray far from this reality and succeed.

The fourth question is about leverage. I usually focus on the use of credit to gain a multiplication effect from borrowed money producing revenue. But this leaves a bigger asset unleveraged in the form of partnerships and alliances. Whether this are a few key relationships with larger companies or a network of similar sized companies, it is a significant source of increasing profitability while decreasing costs. Who is in your partnership network?

Finally, what permeates throughout the first four questions is mindset. I don’t know how to address this because it is an element of how you as the owner. What I know is uniqueness is the answer whether you are reinventing within a stable industry or creating something new- what is special sauce? 

What You Need to DO - The HOW
I will share with you our thinking on these five questions. Some have an answer and others are works in progress.

1. Board of Directors. We haven’t attempted to identify and reach out to begin discussions. The reason is we are currently an early Stage II company and do not have the compelling story required to attract the talent we want. Checkout #5 on the list for more details on this roster of talent.
   1. Radio Professional, someone who understands syndication and has built a radio network.
   2. Consultant, someone who has built and grown an asset based consulting operation with experience with the growth challenges of smaller companies.
   3. Networking, someone understands the network effect and has built a business based network.
   4. Angel/Venture Capitalist, someone who understands and has operated a funding operation helping businesses start and grow that have difficulties with access to capital.
   5. Economist, someone who understands the unique characteristics of entrepreneurial capitalism.
2. Relevance of the Offer and Method of doing business. We started with this issue 10 months ago and we constantly refine it Season by Season except for a breakthrough over the last week. Part of this show is to share the blinding flash of the obvious.
   1. We are not a B2B operation in the traditional sense. IBGR is broadcasting to other businesses and typically that would be defined as B2B, but it's not. We are addressing the fears, providing a blueprint for success, and providing moral support for business owners globally - sounds like a lifestyle sale to me.
3. Core Assets & Competencies is very much a work in progress. We are clear on the what, it is a matter of making that real. 
   1. Brand - we are clear on the image we want to create, and everything we do has that in mind. This won’t be achieved until later in our growth.
   2. Offer - nothing much has changed since we started except refinement. We provide entrepreneurs and business owners with a blueprint or road map to grow the company as big as they want by understanding the obstacles and methods for removing the barriers to growth.
   3. Support - we knew from the beginning this was a major component of the offer, the question was how and when. During Season 2, about 2 months ago, we licensed a platform to provide our audience to interact with the OnAir Talent - the Hosts and access material not available over the air. All of this is secondary to the moral support - we get it because we live it.
4. Leverage through Partnerships - we have been studying the network effect for the last few years and incorporated it within our business model. As with the decision to license an audience platform, using it has built a very close relationship with OnAir Hosts.
   1. OnAir Hosts - help them and help ourselves to sheppard resources to build a ‘keiretsu’ that assembles smaller businesses into larger operations to increase profit and reduce costs. The goal is to represent the audience's entire value chain.
   2. Industry Thought Leaders - build their base of followers, connections, etc. through our audience, bring their audience to us. The goal is to represent the audience's entire value chain.
5. Unique Perspective - this was the easiest of the 5. Our start was based on the unlikely combination of a radio station that uses the internet as a tower, an asset based small business consulting (and coaching) firm, and a Chamber of Commerce.
   1. Radio Station - contrary to the terrestrial radio trend because it no longer has a profit model. Our approach is to micro-segment the audience, narrowcast with live and local programming.
   2. Asset Based Consulting (and Coaching) - we apply our IP (Intellectual Property) to provide a blueprint for growth.
   3. Community of Commerce - our version of the chamber except all resources are focused on one thing - business success.

The purpose of this show was to stop the doing and spend quality time on things beyond the reinvention project. However, this internal conversation is appropriate at any time. I have it whenever there is tie to working ON the business.

Make sure you leave some thoughts in the comment section below. I am interested in continuing the conversation.

William Eastman
"Living The Life...On Your Terms"

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