(Time to read this Blog is about 3 minutes)

Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:

1. My Biz Quote of the week:
   “You can’t grow your business without growing your people…and without growing yourself.  What do you and your team need to learn to improve and grow the business…and who will be in charge of making that happen?”
   …Donald Cooper.
    
2. Quick Biz Tip:
   Are you clear about your compelling value?     
    
   In today’s hyper-competitive world, we need to be super-focused on delivering compelling value that ‘grabs’ our target customers, clearly differentiates us from competitors, makes us ‘famous’ and grows our bottom line.
    
   Do you have that kind of clarity in your business?  Online hotel booking site, Hotwire.com sure does. Their compelling value is summarized in their clear promise of ‘4 star hotels at 2 star prices’.  This is clear, focused and brilliant.
    
   Home renovator Finishedbasement.ca has a slogan that focuses on their clear and compelling value. ‘Your dream basement is just 2-3 weeks.’  They know who they are…and now you know who they are.  Also brilliant!
    
   There’s a shop in New Zealand called ‘Cheap Liquor’.  Two words…no confusion.
    
   It’s much easier running a business with that kind of laser focus. And customers sure know immediately if you’re what they’re looking for. So, take some time to think about what your compelling value is, or should be…and then get everyone on your team focused on delivering that.  
    
3. Huge layoffs at Twitter. When Elon Musk took over Twitter last October, there were about 8,000 employees.  Today, there are just 1,500.
4. Are you fed up with airline baggage fees?  According to a new report, the global airline industry collected $29 billion in baggage fees last year. That’s an increase of more than       $8 billion from the year before.
5. If you or your Industry Association have a Conference this Fall, perhaps we should talk. As a thought leader on management, marketing, staff engagement and profitability, I can bring real bottom-line insight to your next Conference.  Our most requested topics are:

1. 1. “Accelerate Your Business…the ‘straight goods’ on how to sell more, manage smarter, grow your bottom line…and have a life.”
   2. “Winning the Talent Wars…8 essential steps to attracting, developing, leading & engaging a top-performing team.”
   3. “Vision Critical…how to manage, innovate and thrive in a very different tomorrow!”
   4. “Succession Planning & Exit Strategies…preparing your business and yourself for the most important financial transaction of your life!

All attendees receive an Implementation Guide and free access to my complete set of copyrighted ‘Business Assessment & Management Implementation Tools’.  These tools & templates have helped 1,000s of clients focus on where their business is now, where it needs to be…and specifically how they’ll get ‘from here to there’.  This is huge take-away value!

Comment from a recent attendee, “Best, most real, insightful and entertaining management session I’ve attended in 30 years.  Bring this Cooper guy back!”  

I’m happy to chat about possibilities at 416-252-3703 in Toronto. 

Now, to this week’s important topic:

12 important ‘Vision’ questions for your business & your life:

1. What do I want my life and my family’s life to look like in 3, 5 and 10 years? Does our business model serve my ‘life model’?
2. How big a difference do I want to make…and with whom?
3. What are the things I’d regret dying without ever having done? Do I have a list? It’s amazing how many people who would not go to the grocery store without a list, go through life without a list.
4. What will our industry and our market look like in 3 to 5 years? How will our customer’s needs change?  How might technology change our industry?  For us, will our industry be a financially and emotionally healthy place to be in 3, 5 or 10 years?
5. What will a market leader in our industry look like in 3 to 5 years? How big will they be?  How will they operate?  How might their business model be different?  Will we be a disruptor…or the disrupted?
6. How big do we want to be…or must we be?
7. How good do we want to be…or must we be?
8. How much money do I need or want to make?
9. How must each part of our business change for us to be a sustainable and profitable market leader in 3 to 5 years?
10. How must I grow as a leader and as a person to guide the business, or my part of it, to where it needs to be?
11. Do I have the drive, passion and ability to take the business, or my part of it, where it needs to go?
12. How will I exit the business…and when? Am I preparing the business and myself for this major change?

That’s it for this week…

Stay safe…live brilliantly!       

Donald Cooper 

Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability.  He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.