Bottom Line Business Insights : Maryland Business Lawyer & Attorney : Wagonheim & Associates Law Firm : Mergers & Acquisitions & Contractual Negotiation

We all know the resolution drill. The new year marks the welcome of new beginnings and a commitment to resolutions focused toward adopting healthier lifestyles. Come the new year, gyms and fitness clubs across the country will be filled with people sweating off the holiday pounds.  Yet, by spring many of those same people are on the way to the office without a workout in sight. With one bite of a calorie-filled blueberry muffin, the resolution once made with dedication is no longer a priority.

Marketing your business can easily be compared to this all-too-common scenario. As soon as a new product is rolled out or new service offered, a business quickly plans a strategy to get the word out to consumers to increase sales and visibility to target audiences. Spending merely a few weeks working to get your business or product noticed, building your brand, and expanding your network will most likely not offer you the same results as making a constant, consistent effort.  

Think about the results you get from exercising. A few weeks of dedication at the gym may result in a pair of pants one size smaller, but months later they aren’t going to fit if you haven’t maintained a consistent workout regimen.   The same can be said for your business. You may feel good when business is busy and profits are up, but you must put yourself and your business at the forefront and keep marketing to consumers to stay visible.  It takes commitment.  It takes a plan.
 

An easy way to commit to marketing your business year-round is by creating a marketing plan. If this is your businesses’ first attempt, consider consulting a professional or start small by creating a short-term marketing plan with smaller, attainable goals that can be reached in shorter time.  Near the end of the short-term marketing plan, evaluate your goals and consider expanding to a long-term marketing plan with annual goals.
 

As daunting and time-consuming as a marketing plan may seem, the following are a few simple activities that can be done every week to help increase your brand awareness in the community: 

• Attend industry networking events
• Volunteer to lecture or speak at appropriate professional associations or community organization meetings
• Write editorial pieces based on recent news affecting your industry for your local newspaper
• Sponsor local events or charities

While a plethora of practices can be considered for use, the invariable ingredient to a successful marketing formula is consistency and rhythm.  Allotting the time for habitual marketing will help to steadily build a company’s brand visibility. Additionally, the regularity in practices will help to avoid making resolutions to get a business back in shape. Let’s face it…resolutions are tricky to keep, especially if they involve going to a gym, but if it’s better marketing you want, take the time and make the commitment to a solid marketing plan and adopt a proactive mentality. It could be as simple as turning on your computer once a week and researching opportunities online, blueberry muffin in hand.

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Last week, I found myself reading up on Chanukah -- the Jewish Festival of Lights -- as my family and I prepared for the holiday.  As I looked for a new way to talk about the meaning of the holiday with my children, I began to realize the business lessons to be drawn from the symbolism used in the celebration.

Each night, a new candle is lit on the menorah.  On the first night, only the shamas (literally "servant") or highest candle is lit, along with one other, symbolizing the first night.  On the second night, the shamas is used to light two candles, and so on.  

It is written that the celebration is really about overcoming darkness, whether it be physical or spiritual.  A parallel can be drawn to business condition.  Particularly in these economic times, every business -- successful or not -- must fight to overcome inertia, old/bad practices, routine, or complacency.  Every business leader has to work each day to embrace and master new challenges, sometimes radically altering the way his or her company had done business for years before.

Overcoming the weight...and yes darkness...that constitutes resistance to change is a very real and daunting challenge.   The first light on the menorah, therefore, symbolizes how one candle, representing even the smallest positive change, is enough to overcome a world of night and darkness.

The lighting of the second candle shows how the light represented by that one small prior act now spreads.  This is a reminder that a single act -- a single positive change -- while not sufficient to accomplish a significant goal, can lay the foundation for more change.  The second light shows that we must redouble our efforts, even after the success of the last initiative.  

The lesson of the third light is consistency.  As the saying goes: "We did it once because we were inspired and a second time because we were encouraged by the first. This third time, we push back at the darkness because we are committed."  It is this third effort that expresses persistence and commitment to dispel darkness with light.

Upon reaching the fourth light on the menorah, we would find that we are halfway to fulfillment of our purpose.  This is point at which many worthwhile efforts find themselves sidetracked by distractions.  It is here that a leader must help the organization maintain focus by constantly asking the question:  "Does this help me achieve my goal?"

On the fifth night, we have achieved a majority.  The balance has been shifted from the old (darkness) to the new (light).  This is the most dangerous point in any process -- when the goal is in sight and people can become complascent, knowing that the path is now downhill.  Should the team spend too much time reveling in its accomplishments, it will ultimately fall short of its goal.  So it is here that the leader must demonstrate the importance of bringing light (change) to even the most remote corners of the company.  It is not enough to achieve a majority -- the goal must be completely fulfilled.

It is the sixth and seventh nights that are the richest in symbolism.  The Judeo-Christian heritage teaches that the world was created in six days.  By reaching the symbolic sixth night of any initiative, the leader has maintained a path long enough to bring about monumental change.  This is the time to check benchmarks.

Traditionally, the seventh day is a time of reflection.  Consequently, even though we may be in view of the goal, we have not quite reached it.  Near (but not at) the endpoint is a time to take stock.   Enough has been accomplished for us to review progress and make course adjustments to continue on. 

Finally, we reach the eighth night -- the time at which we have accomplished our goal of bringing about significant change.  Over the years, I have learned that nearly every culture has a holiday or festival that revolves around lights, whether electric (Christmas), candles (Chanukah, Kwanzaa and the season of Advent) or even lanterns in certain Asian traditions.  These festivals almost always seem to take place at the darkest time of year and serve to remind us of hope and of our own ability to spread light where there is none.

In the tradition of Chanukah, the use of the menorah through the eight nights of the festival, the teaching is that miracles can happen even though the road is long and arduous. 

In the management of any business, it strikes me that the teaching is the same. 

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Not long ago, Duke University Men's Basketball Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke athletic department developed a list of nine principles that defined Duke athletics.  Coach K described these principles as "the things that are essential to who we are." 

The nine principles were revealed to a gathered crowd of 850 student-atheletes, coaches and administrators in Cameron Indoor Stadium by former Duke student-athletes who represent great success stories in their respective fields.  The words selected by Duke to define Duke were: (1) education; (2) respect; (3) integrity; (4) diversity; (5) sportsmanship; (6) commitment; (7) loyalty; (8) accountability; and (9) excellence.

As I read Coach K's description of Duke's guiding principles, I could not help but focus upon the applicability of the same methodology and mindset to my own small business and those I am fortunate enough to counsel.  I wondered whether one could gather a roomful of often cynical employees around a conference table, discuss values, and have it actually mean something tangible. 

In other words, I wondered "what were the keys to a successful company vision?"

Tony Gattari, an Australian corporate consultant wrote in Good Ezines that successful corporate visions share three attributes:

1. It's infectious.  Just like a disease, a vision is at its most contagious when it is alive and active in the host.
    
2. It  comes from within.  Rather than having management swoop in and tack a poster in the lunchroom or spend $1,000 at Successories, the vision is tied to the employees and created from the real passions and desires of the company's leadership.
    
3. It goes beyond the company's 4 walls.  A company with a successful corporate vision extends that vision to vendors, colleagues, customers, and the business community at large -- not in an evangelical way, but rather simply by the way the company interacts with the outside world. 

In the privacy of their own homes and hearts, people often find themselves doing some soul-searching in December in contemplation of resolutions for the coming year.  Perhaps, and maybe even especially, in these economic times, December may be a good time for some corporate soul searching as well. 

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