It is time to play the game called “G & A Budgeting”. This is the game where heads are counted; budgets are sandbagged and perks are justified. It is an annual ritual that becomes a core tenet in the over all business planning cycle. Yet, whether you are the head of a large department or a sole proprietor, managing your G & A expenses is considered by most, a necessary evil.

First of all, what is this thing called “G & A” anyway? Roughly speaking, these are budgeted dollars outside of the direct expense associated with the creation of products or services. For example, unlike labor dollars to run a store – direct labor – G & A labor dollars are associated with the office personnel. While the operations group is held to a tight P & L at the store level, often the out-of-store G & A budgets are not held to the same scrutiny. In some cases, the profits that are garnered at the store, can become eroded at the overall company level with mismanagement of these G & A budgets.

So, it is time to take a close look at G & A as one way of managing to your desired bottom-line. While I am sure that in the last five years, these budgets have tightened considerably due to the economic downtown, they are still prone to having “fluff” in their line item budgets. In order to truly minimize fluff in the budget, one has to take a look at the top seven areas of a G & A budget and ask the following questions.

Out-of-Store Labor:

• When was the last time the organized “right-sized” its support staff to add value to the field operations?
• Is there an opportunity to capitalize some of the labor associated with the company investments?
• Have the bonuses and performance merits been in sync with the overall operational profitability?

Benefits and Insurance:

• How frequently are the plan costs of 401K’s, workman’s compensation and insurance reviewed in order to squeeze costs out of the system?
• Are the dollars invested for personnel welfare, tuition reimbursement and employee education getting a bang-for-the-buck?
• Is there “wiggle room” to reduce or combine offsite management meetings by 10%?  20%?

Travel and Entertainment:

• Does the company have a strict travel and entertainment policy that company personnel are held to?
• What types of savings benefits can you gain by negotiating a standard rate at the same hotel chain or rental car company?
• If each out-of-store employee had to spend their own money on their travel, do you believe that they would schedule their trips smarter?

Office Occupancy:

• If a goal is to reduce paper costs in the office, how close do you believe the company could get to “paperless” and what savings would be gained?
• How closely have you monitored utility costs and contracts including electric, gas, trash, telephone, data and the like to squeeze savings?
• Is the current office “right-sized” for the operation at hand or can the company do with less space?

Professional Fees:

• What is the cost/benefit analysis to outsourcing professional services versus bringing some of those services in house?
• What special projects can be commissioned that realize savings on a percentage fee basis?
• What internal preparation can be completed in advance of calling in a bookkeeper, accountant or attorney in order to offset their fees?

Computer/IT Related Expenses:

• What is the company philosophy on technology – functionality or chase the next shiny object?
• Are the technology advances at the company able to offset headcount increases?
• How does the technology strategy at the organization derive savings from the interface with the field operations?

Other Expenses:

• Have the bank charges been shopped around in order to negotiate the best fee structure?
• What parameters have been set with regard to memberships, subscriptions and donations?
• What other expense line items can be looked at and renegotiated to limit additional expense?

I have always been a tremendous believer of bottom-up expense budgeting – meaning that each and every year, the budget is not a carryover, but rather a complete rewrite asking these types of questions.  Over time and unlike the government which operates in the form of baseline budgeting with automatic increases, your G & A budgets will be tight. Employ this discipline in your organization and improve your P & L without a lot of angst.

Not the branding media schedule – that is just part of it – but rather, your overarching strategic decision-making game plan on all of your branding initiatives?  Most advertising managers have a page or two media plan that an agency has produced that shows how their advertising dollars will be spent. The game plan I am referring to is the overall philosophy and management tool that keeps every aspect of their branding on track.

The game plan acts as a compendium of sorts – a concise, yet comprehensive strategy of how the brand is executed in the marketplace. It covers all touch points of the brand and the “rules” for its implementation. Rather than leave this to chance, your game plan crafts a branding decision-tree that allows the manager to ensure that every branding decision is accretive to the overall brand experience, not detracting.

The game plan is a document that should be created to assist in communicating the advertising and media plan. It serves as a guide for the internal teams at the organization including the company managers and franchisees as well as providing crystal-clear direction to the agency. The compendium provides further explanation of  the overall process for how the advertising plan is created in addition to how it will be managed.  These strategic decisions should be reviewed on an annual basis to determine the entire branding program.

Below are the key elements to include in your branding game plan:

Market Research & Demographics: Based on the market research conducted at your company, the targeted audience of your brand communications should be reached based on demographics, program selection and scheduling guidelines. Demographics should cut across the following attributes and all brand activities should be vetted against these targets:

• Age Range
• Male/Female Ratio
• Total Annual Income
• Employment Ratio
• Marital Status
• Ethnicity

Program selection refers to the review of a programs content to ensure that it’s consistent with the advertiser’s desired brand image and its demographics. Scheduling guidelines assist on steering the programming placement, frequency and delivery of media.

Flights, Weights And Spots: Next, determine the game plan for when and how to communicate your brand. Flighting refers to scheduling periods of activity and inactivity on a TV and/or radio schedule. A period of activity is called a flight and a period of inactivity is called a hiatus. Flighting is typically used to cover a long period of time, such as a year, within a limited advertising budget that does not allow advertising for 52 weeks. TV weight refers to the number of target rating points (TRP’s) scheduled in a flight. TRP’s are the standard unit of TV measure.  Quantitatively, a TRP is equal to one percent of the target universe. Radio is a better medium than TV for building frequency. However, the fragmented nature of the radio market and the consumers’ listening patterns limit the cumulative reach that radio can deliver as a medium. Unit length refers to the duration of a commercial spot/radio broadcast.

Day Parts: Based on the demographics of the targeted audience, the brand manager needs to determine the optimal day parts of the messaging. Day parts deliver different audience compositions (e.g. daytime delivers a high percentage of women). There is also a correlation between a spots audience delivery and its relative cost.  Primetime delivers a large, broad audience and is, therefore, the most expensive day part.

Electronic Media: Now, you need to execute the brand communication and there are numerous options from which to choose. Television delivers the highest reach of any medium. The sight, sound and motion of television allow the advertiser to communicate a message in a highly memorable way and to shape a visual into a recognizable image for their brands. Spot television offers the flexibility to target a specific local market aimed at the desired customer base in a programming environment consistent with the advertiser’s brand image. Spot air time for cable television is often much more expensive than broadcasting on a cost-per-thousand basis and does not have as large a reach. Cable television is limited because it only reaches paid subscribers. Spot radio is competitively purchased from local stations and can be easily targeted by market and demographics. Radio commercials are relatively inexpensive to produce which enables brands to change messages more frequently.  Since radio has no visual, it is less expensive than TV.

Non-Electronic Media: There are other ways besides electronic means to deliver your brand message. Outdoor advertising is commonly referred to as billboards. Outdoor advertising reaches a large percentage of the population, but because it is seen by people “on the go” billboard advertising is appropriate only for brief messages. It’s best used as a medium to reinforce an established, well-known brand. Newspapers reach a wide cross-section of the public, which makes them hard to target a specific audience. Other options include solo direct mail and marriage mail.

Sponsorships And Promotions: Your brand can be communicated through sponsorships and promotions as well. For instance, the brand may be aptly communicated through the sponsorship of local sports teams. By sponsoring these teams, the brand is allocated spot time during broadcasts, as well as occasional “mentions” of the brand by the game announcers. In addition, the brand may receive postings of  signage in the arena and mentions in printed promotional materials.  Lastly, aligning the brand with a corporate charity communicates that the brand is a upstanding corporate citizen.  These sponsorships and philanthropic involvement help communicate the brand community responsibility.

Social Media & Web: An overall brand game plan would not be complete without addressing social media. Setting up a company Facebook page, LinkedIn profile, Twitter account and YouTube channel – each vertically integrated to your overall brand communications- enhances your brand presence. These social media enable the brand to be extremely nimble with its messaging and if integrated into an overall brand strategy, provide cost-effective touch points to key followers.

Your brand communications should work in tandem with one another regardless of the medium that is used to communicate. Each variable within these media – from program selection to day part mix – should be determined not haphazardly, but rather in a cohesive strategic branding compendium. Not only will the efficiency of your strategy be intact, but it will yield greater results.

John Matthews is the founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises, Inc., a strategic planning and marketing services firm that specializes in helping businesses grow in the restaurant, convenience and general retail industries.  With more than 20 years of senior-level experience in retail and a speaker at retail-group events throughout the U.S., Matthews has recently written two step-by-step manuals, Local Store Marketing Manual for Retailers and Grand Opening Manual for Retailers, which are available at www.graycatenterprises.com.

I am available as a keynote speaker, moderator or presenter at upcoming corporate or association events. Each presentation is approximately one-hour in length, and I personally deliver each one. The presentations share business insights and strategies that attendees can apply.

Here are quick overviews for each of the presentations:

Building A Social Media Strategy - With the introduction of social media in the last several years, networking and expanding your relevancy in your community has never been more productive.  Unlike most advertising and media, social media enables you to create a two-way communication with your network contacts and potential customers. Therefore, the more email addresses, connections, fans, etc. that you can capture in your database, the easier it will be to communicate within your community.  Proactively embracing social media is both an efficient and effective way to expand your overall brand awareness in your trade area and communities.  This presentation tells the audience how to go about approaching a social media strategy as well as tangible ways of implementing the plan.

Building Relevant Brands – In today’s world, marketers are at the crosswords.  While many continue to cling to “brand-centric” marketing casting a large net across a targeted audience, more and more consumers prefer a “customer-centric” approach – delivering the customized goods at mass merchandising pricing.  This presentation looks at the transition that is taking place and the challenges that marketers are facing when customers expect 24/7 service.   This speech explores not only the changes that are demanded by the customers, but also the internal company structural changes that are required in order to deliver on the new customer promise.

For a feel of my presentation style, click here:  Watch YouTube Video LSM Clip:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P3qzktjeMI

If you are interested in discussing how one of these presentations fits into your agenda, please drop me a line at: john.matthews@graycatenterprises.com.

Nothing makes the candidate look better at the end of an interview then asking a few insightful questions of the interviewer that delves into the company. At a minimum it shows genuine interest. Clearly you do not have time to ask all 48 questions, but selecting a half dozen questions will not only make you more comfortable with how the organization operates, but ironically will cast yourself as a extraordinarily insightful candidate.

Depending on the position that is currently open at the company, a candidate may ask questions that are the most prudent for their background and expertise. In some cases, having all 48 questions in front of you allows for the nimbleness of “going with the flow” of the interview. If culture is a key concern for the interviewer, focus your questions there. If financial acumen is a hot button, look for relevant questions to gain a better understanding.

In today’s tough employment market, creating any advantage may make all the difference between getting hired or passed over.

ADMINISTRATION

• What are some of your unique policies?
• Please describe your benefits programs?
• How is the organization structured?

AUTONOMY

• Please describe the decision making process at your company.
• How would you describe the level of autonomy here?
• Who determines the strategic plans at the company?

CAPITAL MANAGEMENT (CAPEX)

• What is your corporate philosophy on the use of capital?
• What ROI (Return On Investment) do you target for your capital investments?
• Please describe your capital budget highlights to me.

COMPETITION

• Who are the chief competitors in your industry?
• What outside influence do you feel will impact your business?
• How have you proactively fended off a competitive front?

CORE COMPETENCY

• If you had to name one, what would be your core competency?
• How are the strategic goals/capital aligned to support?
• What would be secondary competencies supported?

CULTURE

• How would you describe the culture at the organization?
• Has the culture shifted in focus in the last three years?
• What type of communication policy do you have?

FINANCIAL

• Please share the financial results of the company last year.
• What is the greatest financial hurdle this company faces?
• What are the financial goals that this company has?

GROWTH

• What are the growth plans of the organization?
• How has this organization demonstrated the ability to grow?
• What changes would have to take place for it to grow?

KEY INITIATIVES

• Please name three key initiatives that this company is supporting.
• How open is the company to the development of new initiatives?
• Please provide an example of a new initiative that worked.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPI’S)

• What are the measurements that this company for success?
• How often does the company review its KPI’s?
• How entrenched are the KPI’s throughout the organization?

OPERATIONAL EXPENSE (OPEX)

• What are some of examples of the way you manage OPEX?
• How would you describe your overall philosophy with OPEX?
• What are the key OPEX items that you control?

PEOPLE

• What type of people are attracted to your company?
• What is the tenure of the people at the company?
• What are the key reasons people want to work here?

POSITIONING

• What is the positioning statement of the company?
• How well is this positioning statement adhered to and marketed?
• If you had to improve your mission statement, how would you do it?

TECHNOLOGY

• How would you characterize your use of technology here?
• What are some of the items that you currently utilize?
• What are the technology plans for the upcoming year?

THESIS

• What fundamentals, cycles and trends influence your thesis?
• How has your business thesis held its course?
• What is the end-game of your thesis?

VENDORS

• What are the key vendors in your industry?
• How much influence do they have in determining your results?
• How would you describe your relationship with your vendors?

If you can work as many of these questions into your interview, you will be all the better in assessing your future employer.  Not to mention that the employer will have a greater insight into your preparation for the interview and how that may ultimately lead to your future performance. Competition is fierce in the marketplace, prepare in advance for the close and come across as a rockstar!

John Matthews is the founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises, Inc., a strategic planning and marketing services firm that specializes in helping businesses grow in the restaurant, convenience and general retail industries.  With more than 20 years of senior-level experience in retail and a speaker at retail-group events throughout the U.S., Matthews has recently written two step-by-step manuals, Local Store Marketing Manual for Retailers and Grand Opening Manual for Retailers, which are available at www.graycatenterprises.com.

Customers who may have patronized your new store when it first opened may now be looking past it due to familiarity of surroundings.  Savvy retailers need to shake it up a bit on occasion to continue to keep their store top-of-mind.   The pink gorilla may not have anything to do with what is in the store, but what it has done is force the customer to re-look at the store and be reminded of it.

Add Shock Value! You can change your store appearance by creating excitement with attention-getting items such as search lights or a cold-air balloon. You may want to consider themed attention-getting items that either tie in with your store’s concept or to the community.  For instance, placing a cold-air balloon on top of your roof with the mascot of the local sports team makes you look like a “team player” in the community.  Adding a four-light searchlight in front of your store, for instance, conveys to your customers that something exciting is happening in it–a significant sale, a celebrity visit, or your store’s anniversary.

Become Alive: If you use a mascot, have the mascot walk the strip center or the cross streets to help draw attention to your store.  Your mascot should be scheduled in intervals in order not to have them become wallpaper as well.  The main goal is to “shake up” the landscape to create attention and maintain top-of-mind awareness. Any type of animated signage helps bring your brand alive, in addition to drawing attention to your store.

Create A “Call-to-Action”: While some of the “showings” of your visibility tools are purely brand awareness, others such as being at the street with a “call-to-action” promotional board sign that tells the customer to “come into your store RIGHT NOW” can be measured by impulse sales.  A sample goal would be to get three customers an hour to purchase impulse products.  At a $10 ticket, that would translate into $30/day X 5 days X 52 weeks = $7,800 in sales – all for one hour of work. Mixing up the types of attention-grabbers throughout the year can allow you to continually attract impulse buyers.

Organize A Strategy: Create a thematic approach to the use of these attention-getting devices that follow all of your other Local Store Marketing activities.  For instance, if you are planning a store event on a Saturday, having a mascot at the street during high traffic times for the 5 previous days with a sign that describes the event and a countdown of days to the event (i.e. 5 days left, 4 days left, etc.) is an excellent way to raise awareness for your upcoming event. Break through the retail wallpaper by developing an ongoing calendar to utilize attention-getting items in-store, at the street, and throughout your three-mile trade area. Scheduling moving signage at the curb can entice potential customers as they drive past your store to pull in, helping eliminate the “retail wallpaper syndrome” that all retailers face.  Use a variety of attention-grabbing devices to draw renewed attention to your store.

Breaking through the retail wallpaper syndrome is synonymous with grabbing a customers attention. Your attention-getting actions should act like placing a proverbial 2X4 in the spokes of every customer that goes by in order to get them to look at your store. Do not take your customers for granted or find yourself watching them visit your competition.

John Matthews is the founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises, Inc., a strategic planning and marketing services firm that specializes in helping businesses grow in the restaurant, convenience and general retail industries.  With more than 20 years of senior-level experience in retail and a speaker at retail-group events throughout the U.S., Matthews has recently written two step-by-step manuals, Local Store Marketing Manual for Retailers and Grand Opening Manual for Retailers, which are available at www.graycatenterprises.com.

Yes, that’s 8 years and counting!

So, what the heck does Gray Cat do?  Well, we specialize in retail consulting for multi-unit operations; consumer marketing for companies launching products into the retail sector; and strategic project management. Think of Gray Cat as an “executive-for-hire” company – specializing in complex, senior-level projects for larger organizations.

Still not sure what we do?  Here is a sample project list we have led:

Company Business Planning:  Lead negotiator and principal for InfoSec Inc. — a mainframe security software company — executing the sale of its eTrust Cleanup for CA-ACF2 and eTrust Cleanup for CA-Top Secret Security to Computer Associates (CA).  Gray Cat completed a second agreement for InfoSec later that year, with CA acquiring InfoSec’s automated security cleanup for IBM’s RACF mainframe platform.

Gray Cat Client List: Starbucks, Quiznos, Sara Lee, The Body Shop, Sylvan Learning Centers, Burt’s Bees, Safeguard Business Systems, InfoSec, Potbelly Sandwich Works, Chester’s Chicken International, Kehe Foods, OxiBrands, Applied Watch and Vienna Beef.

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There are now five ways to keep track of Gray Cat (for a direct link to each, click on the title names). I invite you to connect, join, subscribe or follow Gray Cat – or all of them!  In addition, included on our website is a weekly blog located under the “Articles” tab. Lastly, if you are ever looking for an industry expert to speak at your next upcoming event, please feel free to contact us.

Gray Cat Website: The hub of “everything Gray Cat”.  The Gray Cat website contains background on the principal and company focus; portfolio of clients; select case studies; online store; weekly articles and testimonials. Each article that is posted on the website is sent to LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube (where applicable) and Twitter.

LinkedIn: Profile of John Matthews that contains over 60 testimonials from fellow peers and clients as well as over 2,000 direct connections. Each weekly article is posted on the LinkedIn home page with a link back to the Gray Cat website.

Gray Cat Facebook Page: For those on Facebook, Gray Cat maintains a Facebook page. Included in this page are weekly articles as well as other publications that feature Gray Cat. In addition, a wider range of photos and other documents are included on the page.

YouTube: Where applicable, clips from speeches are woven into articles to provide greater depth on the subject matter at hand. For companies looking for a speaker at their upcoming event, view clips at the Gray Cat channel to gain a feel for presentation style and content.

Twitter: If you have a Twitter account, follow Gray Cat (@graycatent) and each article link is tweeted as soon as it posts. This is the fastest way to be notified.

Many thanks to all that have made it possible for Gray Cat to celebrate its 8-year anniversary and I look forward to more years to come.

John Matthews is the founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises, Inc., a strategic planning and marketing services firm that specializes in helping businesses grow in the restaurant, convenience and general retail industries.  With more than 20 years of senior-level experience in retail and a speaker at retail-group events throughout the U.S., Matthews has recently written two step-by-step manuals, Local Store Marketing Manual for Retailers and Grand Opening Manual for Retailers, which are available at www.graycatenterprises.com.

I have the opportunity to speak to a number of audiences on advertising/marketing, and one of the questions I ask is whether or not the audience has created an annual advertising/marketing plan. Invariably, the operators that have an annual plan are in the minority. It is odd that most operators are fairly regimented in their routines, until it comes to investing dollars back into the business in the form of advertising.

My guess is that most operators may be intimidated to a certain extent regarding advertising and thus, avoid the process of planning their investments. While it is true that there are some buzzwords in advertising, it is nothing more than having a cohesive communication plan for your trade area. With that in mind, here are some key items to include on developing an annual plan:

Outline Goals: What do you want to accomplish? This may seem like an elementary question, but depending upon what your goals are, will determine what type of ad plan you will create and follow. If your goal is to increase customer traffic to existing and new customers, then a plan that addresses marketing activities throughout your 3-mile trade area is critical. If, on the other hand, your goal is to sell more to existing customers, implementing loyalty programs and combo deals, for instance, are both designed to raise your average ticket. Throughout the year, you may find that you weave in both of these strategies.

Determine Budget: Once your goals are determined, it is time to earmark investment dollars for your plan. The budget will help determine how “meaty” your annual ad plan will be throughout the year. Most operators determine their ad investment dollars as a percentage of their sales. That way, as sales grow, more dollars as a percentage, can be re-invested back into the business. While this may alter some of your plans over the course of the year as sales projections fluctuate, it is much easier to adjust from an annual foundation as opposed to month-to-month planning.

Set To A Timeline: Which leaves us to the whole notion of creating an annual ad plan so that it can be executed throughout the year in a cohesive way. Most operators miss this part of the planning. Operators will say “we have a plan”, but a collection of one month ads that fail to work together is not a long-term cohesive strategy. Rather, the scattered approach lends itself to “chasing the next shiny object” and at the end of the year, the goals are not achieved.

Vertically Integrate The Message: Once the key dates are determined, identifying the vehicles to be used – i.e., electronic, print, social, POP, etc. – is next. Regardless of the sequence, it is imperative that each of the vehicles communicate a theme or what is commonly known as “vertically integrating” the message. Limited ad investment funds can stretch considerably longer if each of the vehicles reinforces the message. If it is “burger of the month”, then all ads during that month should promote that burger.

Communicate To Team: Your staff is the critical link to a well-executed advertising plan. Failure to communicate when the vehicle will be in reaching customers or the content of the message will blindside your staff when a customer reacts to an ad. There is nothing more frustrating to a customer that comes into a store then an ill-informed staff member. All of the time to plan and investment to bring in that customer is for naught.

Post Analysis: Lastly, in order to make your dollars work stronger in the future, it is essential to judge and measure the success of dollars that have already been spent. If something works – repeat it! If the investment underperformed, go to plan B and modify your annual plan. While your annual plan should create a cohesive strategic foundation, it is not etched in granite – it can be modified as vehicles are analyzed. Create a plan for success and fine-tune throughout the year.

John Matthews is the founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises, Inc., a strategic planning and marketing services firm that specializes in helping businesses grow in the restaurant, convenience and general retail industries.  With more than 20 years of senior-level experience in retail and a speaker at retail-group events throughout the U.S., Matthews has recently written two step-by-step manuals, Local Store Marketing Manual for Retailers and Grand Opening Manual for Retailers, which are available at www.graycatenterprises.com.

A growing trend – either voluntary or involuntary – is the proliferation of contract, free-agent labor. This free agent market where one contracts with multiple companies in a series of work assignments, institutes a new way of presenting oneself through personal branding. While this may be new to the workforce in general, some industries such as the film industry, have operated this way for decades.

Personal branding is a concept derived from the notion of “Me, Inc.” The individual is the centerpiece of personal branding and every form of communication defines their brand. Carefully crafting a linking one’s communication helps project a positive, consistent and powerful personal brand. While in the past, most companies defined us but today, the individual needs to define their own personal brand.

Resume: Think of this as a compilation of not only what you have accomplished but how you accomplished these items. Simply listing a time line of items that you have worked on over your career does not offer insight as to how successful you were in executing those items. Your brand should convey that your actions drive successful results and by results, that means you should quantify them.

Biography: A biography should include your strategic attributes in a one-page narrative form. Included in a biography should be previous job titles, education and other skills or accolades. This is an optimal location for listing credible appearances in media – both print and electronic. Your biography should summarize your background in a format that could be used to introduce yourself.

Photos: Professional headshots, on-camera videos and applicable logos are all essential to have “at the ready” in order to quickly provide to those that require a photo of you for publicity.  Never miss an opportunity simple because you were not prepared. These graphic representations of what you look like in a variety of settings are crucial to have in the can.

Social Media: Social media provides a fantastic set of tools to enable one to broadcast their personal brand highly effectively and efficiently. Carefully linking each of these social tools together provide a common thread of both content and efficiency when it comes to communicating your personal brand. In Gray Cat’s case, the website is the key driver of content that then delivers content to an array of social media applications. Once this blog is posted on my website, links of the blog are then posted to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube (if video is included). In addition, content is delivered electronically to free article publishing sites such as Ezine Articles and Carolina Business Connection.

Portfolio: Samples of past work in electronic formats that can easily be adapted are excellent to have on hand. Modifying previous formats to customize for prospective prospects or employees shows versatility by adapting your knowledge to fit the needs of a new client or situation. Your brand should communicate that your experiences are transferrable and the reason you are being considered.

Testimonials: This is one area of branding that most miss – always have testimonials on hand. Third-party endorsements speak volumes on your background, skill set and integrity.  A testimonial is perhaps of the single-most essential item one can have associated with their personal brand. When a third-party endorser takes the time to actually write out a testimonial on your behalf, clearly you are revered in their eyes. Having testimonials on hand enable you to utilize these when appropriate, if you are marketing the attributes of your brand.

In summary, every communication defines your personal brand. Pay close attention to the consistency in all medias – the greater the consistency, the stronger the brand.

John Matthews is the founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises, Inc., a strategic planning and marketing services firm that specializes in helping businesses grow in the restaurant, convenience and general retail industries.  With more than 20 years of senior-level experience in retail and a speaker at retail-group events throughout the U.S., Matthews has recently written two step-by-step manuals, Local Store Marketing Manual for Retailers and Grand Opening Manual for Retailers, which are available at www.graycatenterprises.com.

“Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges! I don’t have to show you any stinkin’ badges!”   - – from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

As a small business owner, you may wonder why one would need to get organized from a policy and procedure standpoint.  After all, you may only have a handful of employees; it is not like you are a large company and warrant a need to issue “badges” in the form of structure. Without structure on how employees should conduct themselves at work, though, it creates the possibility of inequality as well as abuse by employees.

Policy and procedure handbooks are designed to serve as guidelines for management and to create a “set of rules” that will be applied fairly to all employees.  They are not intended to create any contracts or binding agreements between the company and any employee or contractor but rather, serve as guiding principles of how the company philosophically operates.

The policy and procedure handbook helps to set the stage for both existing and new employees. That being said, the company should still reserve the right, at any time and in its sole discretion, to change, modify, delete or deviate from any guideline in the handbook at any time without notice.  Remove the ambiguity from the team by aligning the policies and procedures of the company by articulating them through an organized handbook.

Here are some of the items to address when developing a policy and procedure handbook:

Set Team At Ease: The goal of the handbook is to set the bar for how employees should act within and on behalf of the company. Included in the handbook should be a detailed code of conduct policy that sets the standard for employees. In addition, educational training on harassment – both physical and sexual – should be addressed. In states where “employment at will” provisions are in place, outlining that “the employer is free to discharge individuals — for good cause, or bad cause, or no cause at all — and the employee is equally free to quit, strike, or otherwise cease work” should be included.

Align Expectations: The handbook should address consistency and standards for employees. Details should include guidelines regarding email and telephone use; social media and other forms of communication. The handbook should set the dress code for the company as well as establishing guidelines for the office and field. In addition, all of the travel policies of the company should be clearly outlined, or the owner will see widely variant employee use.

Communicate Non-Negiotables: As an employer, the handbook should communicate key information – many of which are required by law. These may include that the company is an Equal Employment Employer. In addition, communicating the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) as well as the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) should be included. Lastly, the handbook should include the company workplace drug policy.

Manage Time: Managing the expectations of the employees is extremely beneficial when it comes to their free time. Outlining the holiday schedule as well as the policies surrounding vacations, days off and sick days delivers answers to questions in a consistent fashion. Use the handbook to set the expectations regarding business hours in advance or you will begin to see “time creep” – employees showing up later and leaving earlier.

Help Employees: Employees want to feel wanted and appreciated. The handbook should include a section on how new opportunities within the company are communicated as well as how they can apply for new job postings. Outlines on how the employees are protected from injury and other safety issues should be addressed. In the event, that an employee requires a leave of absence, guidelines should be spelled out for them.

Articulate The Carrot: Outlining the company benefits program not only helps existing employees know their coverage, but can also be an attractive perk for new employees. If you align your team with a common goal for the overall company performance, the handbook can communicate the financial compensation for employees in the form of raises and bonuses. Use the handbook as an incentive for employees in a clear, concise manner.

Keep It Confidential: Lastly, every employee (and employer) should find comfort that their personal information remains intact. Guidelines on how reference checks are conducted as well as the management of the employee personnel file should be outlined. Maintaining and preserving the integrity of the organization as well as the employees is critical.

Creating and maintaining a policy and procedure handbook helps both the employer and employee know the “playing field” at the company. Most issues arise due to the fact that the policies of the organization are vague at best. Taking the time, in advance, to appropriately inform employees of the expectations of them, will prove to be the path to greater prosperity.

John Matthews is the founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises, Inc., a strategic planning and marketing services firm that specializes in helping businesses grow in the restaurant, convenience and general retail industries.  With more than 20 years of senior-level experience in retail and a speaker at retail-group events throughout the U.S., Matthews has recently written two step-by-step manuals, Local Store Marketing Manual for Retailers and Grand Opening Manual for Retailers, which are available at www.graycatenterprises.com.

Sometimes another set of eyes can make all the difference.

Small businesses are a phenomenal entity. Often started in a garage or at a kitchen table, the sheer energy of the small business entrepreneur “wills” their company to success. Hard work, long hours and steep odds are the norm for the small business owner. Over time, the entrepreneur goes to the well daily to keep their vision and dream alive. It is often “my way or the highway” with the owner but when does this potentially myopic approach run its course? Would it be advantageous for the owner to have “another set of eyes” look at their strategic plan?

At that moment, the small business may want to consider a Board. A Board of Directors is an elected group of people that oversee and advise a business and their operation – in a sense, another set of eyes. In most small businesses, the “Board” are the same people that run the operations – these are in place simply to address issues required by law. The value of an outside Board comes from combining the working knowledge of the entrepreneur with the advisory knowledge of key Board members. This combination can enhance both the growth of the company as well as alternative perspectives to tackling issues at hand.

I have had the privilege of serving on three, for-profit boards in my career and relished the experience.  Being a part of the Board, allows members to contribute their vast array of business knowledge to a company that may not have been exposed to different business practices.  That being said, here are some key attributes of a Board and its Directors:

Board Of Directors Duties: Boards represent the interests of the company and the shareholders, not members of the Board. The Directors are selected and retained to make certain that effective management is in place and to provide ongoing monitoring of the overall management performance. While the Board generally does not get directly involved in operational or personnel decisions in a broad sense, it does select and evaluate the effectiveness of the CEO and his or her potential successors.

Private Company Boards: Most Boards are made up principally of independent outside directors that each have expertise in one or all of the critical functions of the company. It is expected that Board members will become knowledgeable about both the company and its operation. Directors typically are knowledgeable about the markets and channels served by the company and have the time required to invest in the success of the organization. In some cases, key Board members may simply have a core competency that is lacking at the organization, i.e. project management. In addition, a small business should seek Board members that have a strong business network as well as strong analytical and financial skills.

Finding Independent Outside Directors: So, where does an entrepreneur find their Board of Directors? In my case, I would find my Board members through networking, predominantly through my LinkedIn connections. Other methods would be to seek the recommendations from bankers, lawyers, accountants, community leaders and friends. A small business owner may also look for recommendations from other company directors, professional director search firms or from the internal executive management team. No matter where the pool of potential Board members comes from, the key is to seek Directors that have similar business experience and product knowledge.

Education Of Directors: Once the Directors have been elected to the Board, it is imperative to bring them all up to speed on the company.  Included in a presentation to the Board should be a thorough history of the company including both the products that are produced as well as the overriding operating philosophies. Next, the company should communicate which markets it serves – both geographically as well as the vertical channels it targets. An overview of the company’s financials should include a look back (5 years) and its forward-projecting operating Performa (at least 3 years). Lastly, the current fiscal calendar budget and strategic plan should be discussed.

The Role Of  Board:  A Board’s job is governance, not operations. Running the company is the job of the CEO and in a private company, the Board’s role is more advisory than oversight.  However, a prudent Board does not rubber stamp the CEO’s decisions, but rather, holds the CEO responsible for the company’s performance. The focus of the Board is largely determined by the goals of the shareholders. For example, if the corporation is under-performing, the primary focus should probably be on the bottom line. If shareholders want strong growth for value generation, the primary focus should be on the top line.

Board Member Activities: Strategic planning is the most significant activity of the board. Many of the Board members will have well-established business networks that can lead to new account and market business development. Board members can help the company get introduced to new prospects or help create opportunities for potential acquisitions. The Board is the perfect entity to “war-game” strategic plans with, helping to further define tactical plans through a review process. Based on their vast experience, the Board may become a mentorship for the executive team in place, helping to align their vision with concrete strategic and tactical plans. From a financial perspective, Board members become the “dart throwers” in discussing the overall company financial performance. This post analysis review of the financial performance of the company as well as the overall capital investment initiatives, allow an independent Board to critically evaluate financial performance without bias.

Creating a Board is an crucial step for any business but it may not be for everyone. Most entrepreneurs are entrepreneurs because they like they control that they have in their lives.  Having to report to a Board is diminishing that control, but the tradeoff is that the entrepreneur may have a stronger organization in the long run.

John Matthews is the founder and president of Gray Cat Enterprises, Inc., a strategic planning and marketing services firm that specializes in helping businesses grow in the restaurant, convenience and general retail industries.  With more than 20 years of senior-level experience in retail and a speaker at retail-group events throughout the U.S., Matthews has recently written two step-by-step manuals, Local Store Marketing Manual for Retailers and Grand Opening Manual for Retailers, which are available at www.graycatenterprises.com.