One of the most popular activities in a leadership workshop is “Team Building” and invariably one of the instructors will come and throw this one liner “There is no I in a team”. This is where we all get it wrong. If “I” am not there in the team why should I even care for it? Now believe me I do understand what they mean by that but truthfully they are putting across a very theoretic point. Earth calling to idealists, come down, wake up, it’s no more a dream time. People were, are and will always be motivated by their personal needs. Especially when you are talking about the people you send to these trainings. We are not living in Utopia where Mormons and idealist saints move around. We have basic necessities to worry about. Don’t assume that everybody has reached their self actualization phase of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. We still belong to the bottom three layers where the only motivation is personal needs.

Nobody ever defined leadership as selflessness if that be the case get some saints to run your company and within no time am sure your CSR value will go up, instead of the shareholder value. As an employee you are asked to align your personal goals with organizational goals, that’s fair enough if I was an employee my goal would have been to earn money, grow up the ladder, learn stuffs yada yada yada. But as an organization your goal should also be aligned with your employee’s goal. Only way to create that is a win-win condition. Don’t expect your employees to be selfless when organizations are certainly not. You can’t really expect everybody to forget about themselves and practice the learning’s of Geeta. Let’s be real or as Jack Welch’s mom used to say “Don’t kid yourselves”.

So enough of cribbing of what’s not being done and what’s wrong. Point is what’s the solution? How do great organizations groom amazing leaders? How do they continue doing it? Point is very simple they practice it. No not a 3 day course. A lifelong practice to cultivate a culture inside the organization. Empowering people, pilot testing their skills. Taking risks. Now there was this chicken that crossed the road amidst a speeding traffic. And there was this eagle story. An eagle laid an egg on the top of a mountain and egg rolled off and somehow didn’t break and landed up in a chicken farm. Now the eagle grew up thinking it’s a chicken. Grew strong had wide wings but never attempted to fly cause he was told to believe by fellow chickens that they can’t fly. Now this poor eagle used to stare and admire the high flying eagles from the ground. Now the bright employees are like that eagle, waiting to be unleashed. Now don’t send the eagle to the 3 day “Believe you are an Eagle” course, it won’t help  him. All he needs is confidence from the top, nurturing. Practicing and the eagle will fly. Let your employees fly. Have trust in them. If you let them they would not fly away from you rather take you on their shoulders while cruising down the blue sky.

Process of incubating the leadership and establishing a culture in the organization is not something a corporate would do for employee welfare. It’s for them. Having an energetic, motivated workforce would ensure your exponential growth. Today most of us reading this belong to the category according as Peter Drucker terms as “knowledge workers”. These people needs challenges every day to keep them motivated. A 3 day training and back to the same work is not a leadership grooming. It’s not magic. There is no shortcut. Structured approached of constantly taking risks and empowering employees is what grooms leaders.

By the way all the above views are of mine (Arnab Ray) and mine alone. If I have offended somebody then am sorry but I think I am making sense. In today’s dynamic world yesterday’s tactics are useless. Feel free to attack my views, support them, or comment on whatever you feel like. Would love to hear all of your reactions. You can also ask any questions if you have @ Ask-Arnie

This is my first article here and decided to go with this title “inspired” from one of the greatest books by Dr. Stephen Covey’s.  I am not trying to draw an analogy from the book but rather laying out my personal thinking on what makes a consultant effective and successful. So here goes:

Habit # 1: Hunger for knowledge

Consultant’s only weapon is their brain and ideally it should be always hungry. Greed is one of the deadly sins they say, but it is not when it comes to knowledge. Greed for knowledge is good it keeps you going. In today’s scenario when everything changes in a blink of an eye keeping oneself updated is the only survival strategy.

Sir Isaac Newton wrote on one of this last memoirs “I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me”.  There is no room for complacency. We must know more any day, everyday day by day. I am often asked by aspiring consultants, “How do I go about preparing myself?” and my answer always starts with “Read”. Reading newspapers, magazines, blogs, fiction, non-fiction, Bollywood gossips, cricket news whatever you can lay your hands and eyes on. Do all of these help? Well let me put it this way x% of your reading will go to waste (I doubt that) but no one knows which x%. So better be safe than sorry.

Another aspect of reading that helps consultants is the ability draw analogy on different situations. A Dan Brown novel can help you start a discussion with your client. A fiction on human relationship can help you understand your clients as well as your team better. Bottom line: It’s imperative to be knowledgeable, no other way out, no other shortcut.

Building up knowledge is not the only thing. Keeping ourselves updated with changing times, scenario, happening and events are also must. But what differentiates an effective consultant from the rest is the ability to analyze the learning, draw analogies cross scenario and draw wise conclusions.

Effective consultants are also known to be visionaries. Ability to see the future. No am not talking about being a psychic or an astrologer, it is simple Math. Gathering information is a must and it needs hard work and dedication. Let’s call this skill set as diligence. Now it cannot stop here. This Information is not to be stored like a computer keeps on a hard disk. We must learn from the information. Learn from our experiences and others’. Learning needs rational thought process. Let’s call this skill set as intelligence. Now we learnt from various sources. Do we stop here? No. Analyzing the learning across each other, drawing analogies and getting conclusions and answers will lead to another skill set, let’s call it wisdom. Now we have all the skills needed to actually predict the scenario. Predict the business environment. Understand the business situation and weigh the risks each solution would have. You actually get the power to simulate future.

Diligence + Intelligence + Wisdom = Visionary

Habit # 2: Experience

Ok I agree this apparently doesn’t seem like a habit but by experience I am not referring to the number of years indicated in that A4 sized paper popularly known as CV. Number of years in experience or the quantity of the experience is a function of time which is not under anyone’s control. Having more quantity in terms of years definitely helps but it is not enough. What really matters is the quality. Quality of the profile and the job you are doing. Gaining specialized knowledge is crucial but at the same time diversification is needed. Og Mandino’s in his book  The Greatest Salesman of the World says “Experience is often overrated, what might work today might not work tomorrow”. That brings me to the same point about keeping ourselves updated.

It’s our choice whether to spent 20 years doing the same work and not learning anything new or spend each day exploring and learning something new. There is an amazing song written by Baz Luhrman called sunscreen which has a beautiful quote “Do one thing every day that scares you”. Experiences help a consultant to sharpen all the other skills. It helps in knowledge, gaining credibility, growing their network etc. But truly an experience is not about counting the years, it is about making the years count.

This is another key trait of an effective consultant, taking each day as a challenge, pushing to the limit making each day, each hour and every minute count. This I would like to call “Proactive Experience”.

Habit # 3: Networking

Every successful consultant is great at networking. They are extrovert, confident and have the ability to strike a conversation and get people interested in a jiffy.  How do they do that? Well, they know a lot and talking about any topics which are interesting other people is not a difficult task. One key thing about sophisticated networking which differentiate consultants from salesman is that an effective consultant is more interested understanding the clients problems or situation rather than just to make a deal or a sale. Consultants are not salesman, they are not groomed o be one. They are groomed to solve problem, help clients. The difference in approach is critical. Does that mean consultants cannot sell their services? Yes they definitely can but the focus for a consultant is not on the sale but on the clients. I strictly follow this policy at my firm. A long term relationship with a satisfied client is worth much more than looting hundreds of clients with poor service.

A salesman approach to networking or consulting will not help any one of us to sustain our growth, reputation and trust. A success of a consultant is purely dependant on the success of the project or clients business.

Habit # 4: Adaptability

Believe it or not world is changing so is the business environment. Every day you wake up to see a whole new world. Adaptability is the key. Adaptability in terms of knowledge, information, location, travel, culture, lifestyle everything. There are no room for mental blocks for an effective consultant.  They are ready to travel to any location, understand any culture, learn their etiquettes and language. Today we are living in the era of globalization; the World has indeed become flat. An assignment today is not confined to any boundaries.  The advent of internet and advancement of technology has created new tools in research and consulting practice. If we don’t adapt & if we don’t evolve we would be extinct.

I would like to draw an analogy from theory of evolution by Charles Darwin. Darwin’s first postulate states “prodigality of races” which is analogous to the ever increasing competition in any field especially consulting. Competition is bounded by the demand side or the number of assignments in related field which is analogous to the second postulate “constancy of food”. These two leads to “struggle for existence”. Struggle to excel and existence to survive. Obviously here comes the “survival of the fittest”. But who is the fit ones? Is it random selection or rather the natural selection of these effective consultants who show these unique habits?

Habit # 5: Extremely high learning curve

A consultant’s life is challenging. Each day they face a new facet of business a new sector a new regulation.  Often consultants are assigned to handle certain projects which they do not have the complete knowhow or previous experience. It is necessary for a consultant to bring themselves at par with the clients in no time. Not just the basics but understanding intricate details, tricks of trade. A consultant must have a steep learning curve and a strong retention. Some people are born with it and some people develop it, in either case this is one of the critical factors which differentiate consultants.

Habit # 6: Mental Strength & Winning Attitude

Constant work pressure, erratic schedule and other damping force can get anybody bogged down. But this is a part of everyday life for a consultant. A consultant cannot get these things affect their work. They remain calm, composed and focused. Another trait shared by successful consultants in the confidence. They are great motivator. Their aura reflects positivity. It is very important to make the client comfortable when they are communicating. Effective consultants do not see consulting as a job, it is their way of life and are very passionate towards it. Without the passion it is not possible to excel as a consultant.

Habit # 7: Communication

Assertive communication. Excellent communication, professional presentation of self are something which is seen in all successful consultants. What makes them really great is their ability to gel with people. Gauging the audience and modify their style. They are amazing listeners. It is very important for a consultant to listen and understand client’s situation before starting to talk. Our key to success is our clients. Our communication style is not to flaunt our skills rather it is to get our client’s trust.

All these skills complete the traits of an effective consultant. There are much more to this but since this is my first article, I think I should stop for now. Please feel free to comment and ask questions. Would be happy to interact and connect with you all.

Business plans are decision-making tools. There is no fixed content for a business plan. Rather the content and format of the business plan is determined by the goals and audience. A business plan should contain whatever information is needed to decide whether or not to pursue a goal.

For example, a business plan for a non-profit might discuss the fit between the business plan and the organization’s mission. Banks are quite concerned about defaults, so a business plan for a bank loan will build a convincing case for the organization’s ability to repay the loan. Venture capitalists are primarily concerned about initial investment, feasibility, and exit valuation. A business plan for a project requiring equity financing will need to explain why current resources, upcoming growth opportunities, and sustainable competitive advantage will lead to a high exit valuation.

Preparing a business plan draws on a wide range of knowledge from many different business disciplines: finance, human resource management, intellectual property management, supply chain management, operations management, and marketing, among others. It can be helpful to view the business plan as a collection of sub-plans, one for each of the main business disciplines.

“… a good business plan can help to make a good business credible, understandable, and attractive to someone who is unfamiliar with the business. Writing a good business plan can’t guarantee success, but it can go a long way toward reducing the odds of failure.”

1. Analyze the feasibility of your Idea: Helps You Decide to Proceed or Stop

This is the most important aspect. All ideas seem nice and great when thought of and discussed. But the real scenario is only revealed once the business plan is drafted. This is definitely the most important insight that business plans gives to entrepreneurs. It’s as simple as it is important. You, as the prospective business owner, are the most important person you must convince of the soundness of your proposal. You might not need a business plan for the belief but a well drafted business plan enhances your confidence towards your idea. With a business plan it is no more just an idea it is now backed up evidences and proofs. Therefore, much of the work you are asked to do here serves a dual purpose. It is designed to provide answers to all the questions that prospective partners, lenders and investors will ask. But it will also teach you how money flows through your business, what the strengths and weaknesses in your business concept are, and what your realistic chances of success are. Many experienced consultants including us, does a feasibility analysis of your idea. This is a very important step. A business plan gives you the tools to understand, uncover and correct flaws in your business concept. If this analysis demonstrates that your idea won’t work, you’ll be able to avoid starting or expanding your business or modify your strategy. It helps you being proactive and prevents you from certain uncalculated risks. This is extremely important. It should go without saying that a great many businesspeople owe their ultimate success to an earlier decision not to start a business with built-in problems.

If you have an idea, come to us. We would love to analyze your idea and help you plan it. We can transform your idea to a well planned thorough business concept. Click here

2. Planning Improves Your Odds of Success

Many people take a business venture as a gamble, a play of luck. I would not say luck has nothing to do with it but venture without a business plan is definitely a gamble. Business plans calculates your risks and rewards, makes you well informed of some of the obstacles you may face. Makes you well prepared. At every point of decision making you have the data, plan, figures to substantiate your decision.

Case: You open or expand a business and gamble your and the bank’s or investor’s money. If you’re right, you make a profit and pay back the loans and everyone’s happy. But if your estimate is wrong, you and the bank or investors can lose money and experience the discomfort that comes from failure.

Writing a business plan helps beat the odds. Most new, small businesses don’t last very long. And, most small businesses don’t have a business plan. Is that only a coincidence, or is there a connection between these two seemingly unconnected facts? According to my experience it helps to have a business plan.

If you have an idea, come to us. We would love to analyze your idea and help you plan it. We can transform your idea to a well planned thorough business concept. Click here

3. Valuable Insights: Helps you improve Your Business Concept

Writing a plan allows you to see how changing parts of the plan increases profits or accomplishes other goals. You can tinker with individual parts of your business with no cash outlay. If you’re using a computer spreadsheet to make financial projections, you can try out different alternatives even more quickly. This ability to fine-tune your plans and business design increases your chances of success.

Case: For example, let’s say that your idea is to start a business importing Korean leather jackets. Everything looks great on the first pass through your plan. Then you read an article about the declining exchange ratio of U.S. dollars to Korean currency. After doing some homework about exchange rate fluctuations, you decide to increase your profit margin on the jackets to cover anticipated declines in dollar purchasing power. This change shows you that your prices are still competitive with other jackets and that your average profits will increase. And you are now covered for any likely decline in exchange rates.

You might have an awesome idea but you do not know the potential yet. Hire a professional to help you realize the potential and add value to your concept. Click Here

4. Helps You Keep on Track

Many business owners spend countless hours handling emergencies, simply because they haven’t learned how to plan ahead. A written business plan gives you a clear course toward the future and makes your decision making easier. Some problems and opportunities may represent a change of direction worth following, while others may be distractions that referring to your business plan will enable you to avoid. The black and white of your written business plan will help you face facts if things don’t work out as expected. For example, if you planned to be making a living three months after start-up, and six months later you’re going into the hole at the rate of $100 per day, your business plan should help you see that changes are necessary. It’s all too easy to delude yourself into keeping a business going that will never meet its goals if you approach things with a “just another month or two and I’ll be there” attitude, rather than comparing your results to your goals. A properly written business plan with realistic projections gives you a benchmarking tool for your performance.

Plan your business right. Spend on quality work while planning rather than costly mistakes in the future. Hire the experts. Click Here

5. Communicate your idea

Business plans are formal document with a definitely structure. You may have difficulties in explaining your idea to an investor or a prospective partner. Business plan formalizes the communications. It has everything a person needs to know about your idea. The scope of misunderstanding or attenuation of understanding is minimal. The structure of a business plan is made simple yet comprehensive. It is never a piece of literature but a informative document practical enough to convey the idea.

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Each section would be discussed in details in the subsequent posts. If you need any help in crafting any of these sections contact us. Click here

* Getting an integrated view of your business

By preparing your business plan, you get an integrated view of all issues regarding your business. For example, it helps you to identify better your target clients, outline your market segment, shape your pricing strategy and define the competitive conditions under which you must operate in order to succeed. Business planning ensures that all these considerations are consistent and properly harmonized. Also, the business plan process often leads to the discovery of a competitive advantage or new opportunities as well as deficiencies in the plan. Committing your plans to paper, ensures that your overall ability to manage the business will improve. You will be able to concentrate your efforts on any deviations from the plan before conditions become critical. You will also have time to look ahead and avoid problems before they arise.

* Mutual understanding within the management team

Reaching mutual understanding among the members of the management of the firm is particularly important in cases in which the recommended policy of engaging as many managers as practically possible is applied in the preparation of the business plan.

* Determining financial needs and applying for funds

Determining financial needs and applying for funds. Determining the amount, type and sources of financing and when it is required. Using the business plan in the process of application for funds.

* Approval from board of directors/shareholders

Using it as a basis for getting approvals from the company board and shareholders.

* Recruiting

Using it in recruiting and introducing new members of the management and staff.

* Deriving objectives for employees

Deriving from the business plan measures and objectives for units and individuals in the organization (management by objective).

* Informing employees

Using it as a means of informing/motivating employees about the objectives of the company.

* Informing lenders

Giving it to banks/investment funds that have financed your business in the past and require periodical information for monitoring purposes.

* Informing partners

Using the business plan in informing business partners and other relevant organizations. In preparing this manual, it has been assumed that the primary objective of preparing a business plan is to determine the financing requirements of your business and to apply for external funding.

Source: UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT

That was the formal definition, to me in a nutshell Analytics is giving the context to the data, pulling out hidden information or pattern in order to enhance business decisions. Technically speaking in involves clean and accurate data provided by technology (in crude form: spread sheets, files or in organized form: data warehouse or anything in between). This data can be of anything apparently might seem irrelevant but may be crucial to find a pattern. The technique of finding the pattern can be either through structured reports of Business Intelligence Systems or manual data crunching using statistical tools or softwares namely SAS, SPSS or Excel.

Analytics can be used in any scenario, any organization or any event in order to make a knowledgeable decision instead of going ahead with a hit and trial method. Analytics provide data driven decision making and also provide simulations (what if scenarios). But honestly I believe there is no replacement to a gut feeling (warning !!!! most of the times gut feeling may be wrong )

There are many field analytics have come forward to help the business today in form of econometrics, financial modeling, risk analytics, marketing analytics etc. Each of them are huge subjects of its own.

Like we used to solve physics problem using statistics and mathematics, analytics is similar. We assume few rules like gravitation and have a approximate equation likewise we can assume a economic situation of supply and demand and take a approximate equation. Now changing the variables we might simulate different models. Its definitely not that simple cause in analytics the analogous gravitational equation is not given.

You can check out my friends blog who is an expert of this: http://ofdudeanddata.blogspot.com/

Managing Retailing is a comprehensive text book designed to meet the needs of post graduate management students. Based on original research, it provides an in-depth coverage of retailing theory and explains the key concept of retailing through numerous illustrations, examples, exhibits, tables, figures and case studies.

Key Features:

• explores the issues faced by retailers in India and other Asian countries
• includes chapter on category management, store loyalty and retail technology
• looks at a store as a social unit with its own code of conduct, language and norms
• provides detailed case studies and chapter end exercises with concept review and critical thinking questions