Liber8 your Business with the best small business blog around
What makes a great CEO? Here’s what ChatGPT thinks…
August 7, 2023Posted by Laura Humphreys
How to have a win/win financial relationship with your business
July 19, 2023Posted by Laura Humphreys
A while ago I wrote a blog called ‘your business is not your baby’ where I talked about the importance of treating your business as a separate entity, not as an extension of your family or personal life.Today in one of the rich and frank ...
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Founder Syndrome – what is it and do you have it??
July 7, 2023Posted by Laura Humphreys
Founder syndrome is a thing.And if you own a business, it’s most likely that you are suffering from at least a few of it’s symptoms.
The following blog is based on my ...
Continue readingWhy bother with a company vision?
June 20, 2023Posted by Laura Humphreys
The following is an excerpt from my book, Liber8 your Business…‘Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.’ Jack Welch.
I’m sure I’m not the first business mentor or advisor to tell you that every ...
Continue readingHow to have confidence in business when doubts are creeping in
May 5, 2020Posted by Laura Humphreys
One of my favourite all time quotes is this one by Henry Ford:“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
And I always say to the business owners I work with on their ...
Continue readingSurviving Covid19 – My 10 Step Business Survival Mantras
March 27, 2020Posted by Laura Humphreys
Apologies for adding another blog to the hundreds out there about Covid19, we’re all both sick of it and addicted to it at the same time right?This is an unprecedented time and feels like we’ve all gone to war, which I suppose we have really.
And ...
Continue readingRoaring out of a recession – Learn what the 9% of Post Recession Winners did right
March 16, 2020Posted by Laura Humphreys
How to be a post-recession winner …
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who woke up on Monday morning with no small amount of fear in my belly about what’s coming ...
Continue readingAdvisory Board Tip Series 2 – Why have an advisory board?
March 12, 2020Posted by Laura Humphreys
Why should you have an Advisory Board?
Good question. And an important one to know the answer to before you to go to the trouble and expense of forming one!
Bring back the joy!
An Advisory Board is there to help you grow more efficiently and with more confidence. They’re there to encourage you, to challenge you, to ...
Continue readingAdvisory Board Video Tip Series – Tip 1. Understand what a Advisory Board is
February 19, 2020Posted by Laura Humphreys
Have you been wondering if it’s time to look at an Advisory Board for your business? Or has someone else suggested you should have one, but you don’t really know where to start? I work with business owners every day and often get asked about the need for an Advisory Board. I think its a ...
Continue readingHow to create the killer business plan you’ll actually follow this year
April 5, 2017Posted by Laura Humphreys
Too often annual business plans are so wordy they get stuck in a drawer, or there are too many things that need attending to that the business owner gets overwhelmed and struggles to execute the plan. Or the ideas are so hidden in ...
Continue readingThe Pillars to Successful Business Growth Strategy Series. Pillar 3 – Delivery
February 13, 2017Posted by Laura Humphreys
If you’ve been following my 6 Pillars to Business Success Series, you’ll know that the first two pillars require you to have a product that matches a need in the market and is ...
Continue readingThe Pillars to Successful Business Growth Series. Pillar 2 – Your Business Model.
December 19, 2016Posted by Laura Humphreys
So you have a great product or service. You know there’s a need for it out there, you’ve defined your customers and your market (if not refer to Article 1 in the Pillars ...
Continue readingThe Pillars to Successful Business Growth Strategy Series. Pillar 1 – Your Product
November 28, 2016Posted by Laura Humphreys
A successful business is made up of 6 pillars to success, with each needing equal amounts of attention, talent, passion and skill for a business to succeed. Most business owners put their energy into ...
Continue readingHow to grow your business… the Pillars to Business Growth Strategy Series
November 13, 2016Posted by Laura Humphreys
Nearly 5 years ago now, after selling my last business, I accidentally fell into being a business mentor. I found myself speaking at business networks, telling my story about how I went from being an advertising ...
Continue reading8 keys to a bigger, better business. Key 8 …
June 21, 2016Posted by Laura Humphreys
When it comes to business success, there is an underlying trait that every smart entrepreneur has – not just the ability to have a good idea, create a business, to set a vision ...
Continue reading8 keys to a bigger, better business. Key number 7 …
June 14, 2016Posted by Laura Humphreys
You cannot build a great business without a team. And you can’t build a high performance team without a great team culture. Like branding, company culture is another misunderstood and undervalued success factor in business.As soon ...
Continue reading8 keys to a bigger, better business. Key number 6 …
June 7, 2016Posted by Laura Humphreys
In my view, branding is one is the most misunderstood and least valued weapons an entrepreneur has on the road to success.To be blunt, I think one if the biggest differences between really successful entrepreneurs and ...
Continue reading8 keys to a bigger, better business. Key number 5 …
June 1, 2016Posted by Laura Humphreys
One of the biggest obstacles to increasing business value is the dependency of that business on its owner. And an even bigger danger is the unwillingness of a business owner to let go.Something I often hear people ...
Continue reading8 keys to a bigger, better business. Key number 4 …
May 24, 2016Posted by Laura Humphreys
Many business owners put all of their energy into the product they make or the service they deliver. Of course it’s important to have a fantastic offer and build customers who love what you do. But ...
Continue reading8 keys to a bigger, better business. Key number 3 …
May 17, 2016Posted by Laura Humphreys
When I did a plan to start my own advertising agency I knew right from the start that I was building it to sell it within 10 years. And I knew that the likely ...
Continue reading8 keys to a bigger, better business. Key number 2 …
May 10, 2016Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here it is … key 2 of my 8 keys to a bigger, better business. These keys are aimed at ambitious business owners, those looking to create something of significant value both in terms of ...
Continue reading8 keys to a bigger, better business. Key number 1…
May 3, 2016Posted by Laura Humphreys
Over the next 8 blogs I’m going to share my 8 keys (from my own experience and from observations gleaned by interviewing a myriad of successful entrepreneurs) to a bigger, better business and I’m going to ...
Continue readingThe business case for the business case – how to make a good decision
March 4, 2016Posted by Laura Humphreys
As a business mentor I often get asked my opinion on the validity of a particular decision. Should I open a new regional office? Should I hire a sales person? Should I bring on ...
Continue reading8 principles of brand building every business owner must know
August 28, 2015Posted by Laura Humphreys
Ok here comes another rant. Something else I feel PASSIONATE enough to SHOUT ABOUT IT. Today’s outpouring is about your brand… and why if you seriously want to grow, you must take this subject very seriously indeed.I do believe the power of ...
Continue readingThe darker side of business ownership …
July 23, 2015Posted by Laura Humphreys
I don’t have time to write this blog. But I can’t sit at my desk in integrity and not write it. Because I’ve owned a number of businesses and I have been to the ...
Continue readingWhat makes a saleable business?
June 29, 2015Posted by Laura Humphreys
In this video, I’m talking to a large group of business owners about creating success in business. And as those who know me will tell you, my definition of success when it comes to business is … to build an asset that ultimately feeds you financial freedom for the rest of your life.
If ...
Continue readingDoes your business ever feel like a life sentence?
June 5, 2015Posted by Laura Humphreys
My early mentor in business was Robert Kiyosaki. I studied with him all around the world, long before he wrote the Rich Dad Poor Dad books. One day, at his business school in Hawaii I was sitting next to him at dinner. We were talking about finding your life purpose and building a business around ...
Continue reading3 steps to turning your business into a valuable asset
May 4, 2015Posted by Laura Humphreys
The Liber8 team held a powerful workshop a few weeks ago. Twelve people in a room had the courage to look at their mindset around money, wealth and business. On their feedback sheet after ...
Continue readingThe 2 critical factors to business growth that no one else talks about…
March 27, 2015Posted by Laura Humphreys
In recent months my business partner, Mike Brunel*, and I have been helping a number of small business owners overcome their blocks to business growth. And as we dig deeper ...
Continue reading“Starting a business is easy. Creating something of value is harder”
June 20, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
If you have a few minutes, take a look at this interview with me on TVNZ Good Morning show earlier this week. To be honest I was quite thrown by the questions asked. I had expected it to be a jolly chat about my book, with a view to inspiring some talented ...
Continue readingDo you have what it takes to grow? The 2 qualities every serious entrepreneur needs
June 4, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
There are only two things I look for when it comes to choosing a business owner I want to work with, or who I invite to join my mentoring programmes. If I see these two things ...
Continue reading3 reasons why your business is not ‘your baby’
May 14, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
Before you read this blog please take a moment to watch this quick video about Kathleen Turner of Tate’s Bake Shop – the story of a woman who lost it all then rebuilt it – with major success.I love how towards the ...
Continue readingHave you created a business or a life-long job?
April 23, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
‘
Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.’ John Maxwell One of the first questions I ask when I present to business groups is: ‘Why are you here? Why are ...
Continue readingIf you can’t be a billionaire why bother? Does every small business owner have to be the next Richard Branson?
April 1, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
I had an interesting debate on Linked In recently after I posted my blog “Some frightening statistics about small business” onto a discussion group. I thought my point was that if more small business owner operators were inspired and equipped to grow ...
Continue reading6 reasons why business is like golf
March 27, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
Talking to a client today about how tiring her month had been with a roller coaster of ups and downs and good and bad, I found myself talking to her about my golf recently and how I was enjoying the ups and downs ...
Continue readingSome frightening statistics about small business…
March 18, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
- Out of 469,118 businesses, 439,920 had less than 10 employees
- That’s 94%!
- 74% of these are deemed uninterested in or unsuitable for expansion
- 55% self employed people are age 40 – ...
Continue readingHave you created a business or a job? 5 tips for turning your small business into a big asset
March 17, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
My mantra for small business owners is simple: Don’t create a job, build yourself an asset. When you own a business you have the opportunity right there in your hands to build something that can create financial security for you ...
Continue readingWhat’s the best weapon for world domination in business? A brilliantly simple tip…
March 10, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
Guest story with Mike BrunelHow did we take a small Wellington based radio sales consultancy business and turn it into a global success story servicing 400 worldwide markets and selling to 320,000 people? ...
Continue readingAre you brave enough to have a powerful brand? Find out here…
March 4, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
As anyone who has worked with me will tell you, I’m an avid fan of branding. I look at a client’s brand and ask myself, does it tell me something exciting, original and impactful about their business? Does it set the foundation for ...
Continue readingWhat causes customers to leave you?
February 27, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
Why do customers leave?Guest blog by Mike Brunel.
I am continually asked why my advertisers leave me after a few campaigns. I do not think for one moment that has not happened to you. It ...
Continue readingWant to create a business success story? Learn to see the future
February 27, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
I’ve interviewed many wealthy entrepreneurs as part of my mentoring programmes, always seeking to find out what makes them so successful. How do they build businesses that achieve such growth and generate such great financial returns? The number one trait that comes ...
Continue readingWhat’s the number one thing to consider if you ever want to sell your business?
February 25, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
If you are serious about selling your business one day, it’s important to have a good idea who might want to buy it. Imagine spending 10 years building a business you intend to sell only to realise you have ...
Continue readingThere are only two reasons to be in business. Do you know what they are?
February 21, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
According to Dun & Bradstreet* reports, “Businesses with fewer than 20 employees have a 37% chance of surviving four years and only a 9% chance of surviving 10 years.” I believe that the primary cause of these staggering ...
Continue readingTo achieve a successful exit, it helps to view your business as a product…
February 20, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
A successful angel investor friend explained to me the concept of exit strategy like this: To achieve a successful exit, it helps to view your ...
Continue readingIf you want to succeed as a small business, start thinking like a big dog
February 17, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
It’s that time of year when you should be working on your business plan for the next financial year. Please, please, please tell me you do a plan each year? You simply cannot succeed in business unless you take ...
Continue readingThe 9 big DON’TS if you want to successfully grow your business
February 7, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
Everyone is always telling you what you should do to be successful in business. I thought for a change, I’d tell you (based on my own bitter/sweet experiences) some of the things you really shouldn’t do. Here are my top nine DON’TS ...
Continue readingHow to motivate your team… take the check list challenge
February 3, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
In my latest book, The Liber8 Disciplines, I’m working with HR consultant Antonia Haythornthwaite on the key strategies to build a high performance team. Antonia advises that you find out what key factors motivate a particular individual and then use these to encourage the best ...
Continue readingWhat 10 questions should every great sales person ask?
January 23, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
In sales you should be listening for 80% of the time and talking for 20%. If you ask the right questions, you will find out your prospect’s real needs and find a way to sell your product/service as the solution. When selling, follow the steps ...
Continue readingYour business is like a shed! A lesson in successful business planning …
January 15, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s something I tell business owners all the time… “your business is like a shed”.Whaaaat??!!
Read on for the explanation…
If I asked you to build a shed, what would you do? You would do what you do with any project, right? You’d get ...
Continue reading5 critical success factors for a future business sale… what every small business owner should be thinking about right now
January 11, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
Businesses do not typically sell by accident. The owners that end up selling their business for a significant amount of money have usually been preparing for that day for some time. You don’t have to be thinking about selling your business any time ...
Continue readingDo you have the right mindset to be successful, rich and free? Rate your freedom mindset here…
January 9, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
As part of my Liber8me business mentoring programmes, I spend time interviewing successful business people. My key criteria for selecting an interview subject is that the person must have built and sold at least one successful business, which has created ...
Continue readingHow do you build a saleable business? Here’s a tip you can start thinking about right now…
January 7, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s an excerpt from my book Liber8 your Business… a very useful tip when it comes to planning a business that will attract a buyer in the future:A successful angel investor friend explained to me the concept of ...
Continue readingWhat one thing will make your business more valuable to a future buyer? Build this ‘attractor factor’ for the future into your business plan today
January 3, 2014Posted by Laura Humphreys
This is an excerpt from my book Liber8 your Business: The revolutionary business planning technique that will set every small business owner free. It’s such an important point when it comes to building a valuable, saleable business, I thought I’d share it ...
Continue readingWinners have a strong brand. Do you? A lesson on branding from The X Factor USA
December 29, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
I’ve been trying to explain the importance of branding to people all year and then recently I watched the final of The X Factor USA and I saw the power of brand building in action… ...
Continue readingWhy are customer surveys so important? And how do you do them properly?
December 17, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
I’ve recommended to three different clients in the past week that they undertake a client and prospect survey to find out what’s really going on with their business. Each of these clients has different challenges but each will be able to make ...
Continue readingWhich is more important… delivery or sales? Should you be in doing or out selling? Learn the 5 steps to the ‘The In-Out Dance” here…
November 7, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
As a small business owner you’ll be familiar with ‘The In-out Dance’ I’m sure. It goes like this. You are busy in the business, delivering your service or product, working hard, working hard. There’s too much to do and you need help. So ...
Continue readingCan describe your business in one word? Take the challenge here…
October 25, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s an interesting question: What’s the one word that sums up what you and your business are all about?A client asked me this question why we were working together yesterday. I had to pause for a moment. But only for a moment mind you. ...
Continue readingHow to impress the world in 5 minutes… getting clear on your business ‘platform’
October 15, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
“What is your platform?”This is the question I’ve been asking my small business clients recently. But what do I mean?
Here’s an imaginary scenario to help explain:
Imagine you are on a plane with 20 other business owners in the same industry as you, selling products ...
Continue readingTired of being tired? Here are 3 steps to overcome business fatigue.
October 7, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
I talk with small business owners every day and there are two words I hear all the time: “busy” and “exhausted”. It’s a common ailment of the business owner operator. I’m sure you know how it feels.So how can you look after yourself and ...
Continue readingAre you thinking like an Apple or a BlackBerry? The most important lesson of the day…
September 23, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
Almost exactly a year ago today (11 September 2012) I wrote a blog tip entitled ‘Watch for changing paradigms’ (click to read it). At the time I was crafting that blog, the Board and management team at BlackBerry would have already been sweating ...
Continue readingWhat is the single most important question every business owner should ask? Find out here…
September 3, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
Bula from Fiji! I’m enjoying a quick solo break, just to re-charge my batteries (which by the way is something every business owner should do on a regular basis… even if you don’t have time – no wait, especially if you don’t ...
Continue readingWhy the best business people fail… and how you can be a successful failure too
July 30, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
You might think failure doesn’t enter the vocabulary of successful people. But willingness to fail is a key criterion for success. Here’s an unavoidable truth about business – you’re going to fail in your business at some stage. You will ...
Continue readingMy 5 biggest business blunders and what you can learn from them
July 23, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
I’ve noticed when I’m working with clients that my greatest wisdom and biggest ‘aha’ moments come when I’m sharing a story about something really dumb that I did. I think it was Winston Churchill who said ‘life is too short ...
Continue readingBusiness mentor tip #89 – What to think about NOW if your business is ever to be saleable…
July 9, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s another extract from my very soon to be released book, Liber8 Your Business… talking about the critical factors of the ‘build-to-sell’ model (note, in this chapter in the book I talk about 3 models). I cannot stress enough how important it is to ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip #88 – Business is a roller coaster – strap in for the ride of your life!
June 26, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
There are some fundamental truths about owning a business that apply regardless of what you are selling. One of these is something I’m not sure every business owner realizes when they set out – business is not an easy ride. And like the ...
Continue readingWhy do small businesses fail?
June 16, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
According to a Dun & Bradstreet* study, ‘businesses with fewer than 20 employees have only a 37% chance of surviving four years (of business) and only a 9% chance of surviving 10 years.’ Restaurants have only a 20% chance of surviving two ...
Continue readingFreedom is knowing you’d keep doing what you are doing if you knew you were about to die
June 10, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
I just watched this amazing speech from Steve Jobs when he knew he was going to die. It moved me as I expect it will you. Watch it by clicking link below then come back and tell me what you think.
Understanding freedom and ...
Continue readingThe ten traits of wealthy entrepreneurs. What are they and do you have them? Score yourself here
June 5, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
Over the past two years I have interviewed over forty successful entrepreneurs. My criteria for an interview subject is that they must have built and sold at least one successful business. Many of them have been serial entrepreneurs – having created more ...
Continue readingBusiness mentor tip # 87 – Why company culture is critical to the success of your business
May 29, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
I’m working with a number of small businesses at the moment. All are committed to growth and as such are bringing on new staff members to ensure this growth can happen. All have accepted that as owners they must let go of certain ...
Continue readingWhy I invested $24,000 per annum in external advice in my second year of business… and how it paid off.
May 20, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
Business owners listen up. I’m going to make a point I believe PASSIONATELY in. I’m going to share with you the one decision I made early on in business that ensured my success.The business was my advertising agency, Red Rocks. The decision was to ...
Continue readingWhat’s the one question every business owner should ask to decrease owner dependency and increase value?
May 13, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
When I interviewed 2012 Young Entrepreneur of the Year Sam Hazledene, I asked him about his strategy for growth. This is the guy who built the largest medical recruitment company in Australasia from scratch in a few short years. He told me that ...
Continue readingIf life is a game of soccer, which half are you in and how well are you playing?
May 7, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here is another extract from Liber8 Your Business, the soon to be released must have hand book for every small business owner. In this chapter I talk about the importance of being a visionary, starting with a concept called ‘The soccer game of life”…“Earlier ...
Continue readingListen to the brand guys… and change the name of your book!
April 28, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
So the book is written… yes, it’s finished and off to proof reading next week. Yipee! One year and two months in the making. That’s approximately three hundred 5 am starts, 70,000 words and a heck of a lot of late nights. It ain’t ...
Continue readingBusiness tip # 86 – Go boldly into the unknown… and make mistakes, they’re good for you!
April 25, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
Recently I interviewed Shane Bradley – former owner of GrabOne and founder of new online retailer pet.co.nz. Shane’s top tip for small business owners was this: “if you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough”. He told me about ...
Continue readingA business or a life-long job? Which is it for you?
April 17, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s another extract from my book… to be launched late July…A business or a life-long job?
‘Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.’
– John Maxwell
One of the first questions I ask when I present ...
Continue readingWhy bother with a company vision? If you’ve ever wondered why you need one or how to go about making one… read on!
April 9, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s an excerpt from The Liber8 Factor manuscript (book launching in 4 months time) about the importance of having a company vision. Let me know what you think…
A vision is a common purpose, a reason for being.
For the most practical minded amongst us, a company vision may seem a woolly, ‘pie in sky’ kind of ...
Continue readingWake up peeps! It’s March… you’ll be needing these 7 steps to the most practical budget…
March 12, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
One of the first questions I ask a business person who wants to work with me is… ‘do you use an annual budget?’ Would it suprise you if I say the answer is nearly always ‘no’?Most small business owner operators do not manage their ...
Continue readingSuccess is a decision – but are you prepared to make it?
March 8, 2013Posted by Laura Humphreys
Last week I interviewed Ernst & Young’s 2012 Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Dr Sam Hazledine. His business Medrecruit was started from nothing six years ago and has featured for the past four consecutive years in the Deloitte Fast 50, as ...
Continue readingBusiness tip #85 – For the best sales person for your business, look in the mirror
December 13, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s a question many business owners grapple with as they contemplate their growth goals… “Should I hire a business development/sales person?”My answer is usually ‘no’. And here’s why…
Typically you know your business better than anyone else. You are more passionate about your product or service than ...
Continue readingSo what’s the big deal about having an exit strategy anyway?
November 14, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Why do I keep blathering on about the importance of planning an exit strategy? Good question.
Here’s an excerpt from my VERY SOON to be published book…
Chapter 6. Why an exit strategy?
‘Affairs are easier of entrance than of exit; and it is but ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor tip #84 – Be wealth positive not money negative
November 6, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
By now you’ll be familiar with my belief that the purpose of a business is to create financially freedom for it’s owner. Of course, you can’t be financially free without money. For most of us, we can’t live the life of ...
Continue readingBusiness mentor tip #83 – Subscribe to the concept of leverage
October 28, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
At the end of each year you should be working less in your business than you were at the end of the year before. This objective is something that’s missing in typical business plans and yet your goal towards freedom should always focus ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor tip #82 – How to save money attracting new clients without cold calling
October 16, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Another great sales tip from guest entrepreneur Mike BrunelWith the cost of acquiring new customers mounting, many companies’ customer bases are shrinking, due to loss of confidence of advertisers and consumers alike.
What you will learn in this month’s Sales tip is the secret ...
Continue readingWhere are you at in the soccer game of life?
October 11, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Someone once told me that life is like a game of soccer. It’s a game of two halves. In the first half you are becoming an adult and you’re full of energy. You’re also a bit stupid and you have all your learning ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip #81 – Rate your scalability
October 1, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
I had a very enjoyable interview with John Holt (co-founder of HR Software provider Sonar6 which was sold to NASDAQ listed company Cornerstone On Demand) for my regular NZ Business Magazine column. He said many wise things.One was about a key factor a ...
Continue readingThe best testimonial ever!
September 30, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
One of my last online members raced through the programme in record time and sent me an email to tell me how he’d found it. If you haven’t done it and ever wondered what its about… read on. Brynn says it much ...
Continue readingAnd here’s the tip that made my day!
September 19, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
I’ve been feeling a bit down on myself in last day or so. Self doubt can creep in when you least expect it. So it absolutely made my day to return to my emails to find this waiting for me… from my Liber8 ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor tip # 80 – The incredible power of partner marketing… and how to sell glasses to people who don’t need them!
September 17, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
No problem with the marketing vision for the folk at Specsavers. Not only do they have a very funny ad campaign – the ‘Should’ve gone to Specsavers’ series (my favourite is the father on the finishing line of school kids running race where he ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor tip #79 – If Apollo 11 can be 97.5% off course, so can you…
September 13, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
You will know by now (if you’ve been reading my blogs or regular column in NZ Business Magazine; attending my talks or just following my random comments on Facebook or Twitter) that I am a dedicated believer in the power of forward ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip #78 – Watch for changing paradigms
September 11, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Although I teach business owners to set an end goal for their business and plot milestones back today, I always add the rule that you must stop and review your plan every year. Yes do the macro work and aim for the big picture. ...
Continue readingBusiness mentoring tip #77 – The leader versus manager debate…
September 7, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
In my last tip I was pretty tough on us entrepreneurial types, stating boldly that if our employees were under performing it was our fault not theirs. I do believe this is true in very many cases, although of course not all. Some ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #76 – Your team don’t suck. You do.
August 27, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Having frustrations with staff seems to be a theme for the small business owners I’ve been working with this month. Employees under performing, not taking responsibility for their outcomes, having little initiative and being too content to let the owner do the lion ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #75 – Trust your gut
August 21, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
This morning it dawned on me that I haven’t been employed by someone now since 1990, when I left my job as an advertising copy writer. That’s 22 years of fending for myself! I realised that not only am I totally ...
Continue reading10 beliefs that will change your life…
August 14, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Do you believe your beliefs can change the way your life works? I certainly do. The following 10 beliefs come from an article I just read at inc.com written by Geoffrey James and I was encouraged to see that I subscribe to these pretty ...
Continue readingAn important lesson on truth from the Bollywood Dentist…
August 12, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
I had a big shock last week on my way back from Tonga. Upon the recommendation of a client I called into see a dentist for a second opinion on my troublesome tooth. The dentist was Dr Loy at the Caring4smiles practice in Epsom. ...
Continue readingSometimes the only thing to do is go to the beach…
July 30, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
I’m off to Tonga and shutting down for 7 days. Boy do I need it! My book is off being given the serious eye by someone who promises to be cynical. I think this is a good thing! I’ve been getting up ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip #74 – Kick sand in the gorilla’s face
July 24, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Kicking sand in the gorilla’s face. I love this expression. Told to me by clever guy called Dion Mortensen, investor, company director and all round smart guy to have coffee with. We agreed over said coffee that building an exit strategy into your business ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip #73 – If you build it will they come? @drrobadams
July 17, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
“If you build it will they come?” is the title of a new book by Rob Adams. I attended a workshop taken by Rob last week and was impressed enough to make it my next business mentor tip. Forgive me Rob if my interpretation ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #72 – How to create an effective system in six simple steps
July 3, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Systems are critical to building a business that will one day set you free. If someone holds information critical to your business and they don’t show up for work tomorrow, you have a problem…especially if that person is you. So you need to ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #71 – Think like an alien
July 2, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Imagine if you had to exit your life for 12 months (to go save the world because you are in fact a secret super hero… we are imagining here) and an alien version of you will be arriving to take over your household. How ...
Continue readingOMG! How long can you own a niche?
June 25, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Remember my blog a few months ago about the wonders of MGP scooters as a brand story? http://www.liber8yourbusiness.com/07/mgp-scooters-rock-the-world-what-a-fantabadooly-madd-business-mgp_scooters/Well now there’s Slamm scooters… you tell me the difference between the two. And what lessons can we learn from this folks?
Continue reading
Business Mentoring Tip #70 – Blow your own trumpet
June 25, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
You cannot be shy and be in business. If you are going to build a business that someone will ultimately pay a large sum of money for, you cannot afford for your business to blend with the wallpaper. You have to put ...
Continue reading10 things you need to know about sales this week
June 18, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Welcome to guest entrepreneur and salesman extraordinaire Mike Brunel for some more of his always useful tips on sales. Enjoy…1. Create a sales culture– In Laura’s upcoming book she talks about creating a great sales culture- it has to however ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor tip #69 – Understand the TWO key reasons for being in business
June 11, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
For me, there are only two reasons why you would be in business for yourself: to make money and to make a difference.1. Making money
“Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip #68 – Develop a freedom mindset
June 7, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
To build wealth and freedom from your business, you need a certain mindset. You must have the willingness and ability to see yourself totally free from the need to work for a living. And you have to believe that your business is ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip #67 – Practice persistently persisting with your persistence
June 6, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Ok Ok, enough already! But I have a point to make (of course) and that is this… you cannot succeed in business without the persistence chip well and truly embedded in your body. I will use one oldie but very goodlyy example of how persistence ...
Continue readingWhat does financial freedom mean to you?
June 5, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s another excerpt from my very nearly finished book:I’ll quickly tell you this story about my father. He died at age 73. Which seems far too young these days, when most of us hope to live well into our eighties. The good news was that ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip #66 – No is spelt with a K
May 28, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
This tip comes directly from my book in progress, from the chapter on sales written together with Mike Brunel (www.talkingmediasales.com).When someone says ‘no’ you can tell yourself that what they are really saying is that they want to ‘know’ more. What they are ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip #65 – The high performance formula
May 27, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
This tip comes to you from Antonia Haythornthwaite of Blue Dot Human Resources http://bluedot.co.nz/Once you’ve made the decision to employ people you need to ensure you can get the best possible performance out of them. Antonia outlines four key elements that need to ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #63 – Gather your insights
May 22, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Good marketing is about being very clear who it is you are trying to sell to. It’s about knowing your target audience well. If possible get inside their minds and learn the triggers that will motivate them. The more insights you have about ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #62 – What’s your unique point of difference?
May 17, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
In the advertising industry when we developed a strategy or advertising plan for our clients, we would start by understanding the client’s ‘Unique Selling Proposition’ or their USP. This is jargon speak for working out what the clear point of difference the product or ...
Continue readingIf you don’t ask the answer is always no!
May 15, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
This was one of the slides at my talk to the Bubbles & Inspiration audience last night. My point being that sometimes to get ahead in life you have to ask for things, even if it seems far too bold an ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #61 – How to win a competitive pitch
May 14, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Just finished the chapter in my book with the same heading, so thought an abbreviated version of this would make a great tip.As you know, my advertising agency went from zero to billings over $15 million within nine years. To achieve this we ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #60 – “Move fast and break things”
May 8, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Ok Ok I admit it… this is not my quote. It’s a “Facebookism”. When smooching around Google looking for inspirational business stories (as I do) I stumbled across this blog entitled “Sh*t Facebook employees say” by Josh Levin.The blog outlines some things learned about Facebook from ...
Continue readingMGP Scooters rock the world! What a fantabadooly MADD business! @mgp_scooters
May 7, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
You know I love to find inspiring business models to share with you. And this has to be one of them…. MADD, best known (if you have any children age 7 – 12 right now) as the makers of the MGP Scooters. You ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #59 – Hire people you never want to fire
May 2, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Just finished Chapter 16 of The Liber8 Factor – how to hire people you never want to fire. Some awesome tips thanks to my good friend Lindsay Jackson who has already built and sold two very successful recruitment companies and is now onto ...
Continue readingHiding under your duvet vs making a difference. What to do when you’ve had a crap week…
May 1, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Have you ever had a day when you wake up wondering what on earth you are doing? Being positive, visionary and inspired all the time can be exhausting. Sometimes you just feel small, insignificant and just plain tired. I had ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #57 – How to make a tough decision without losing sleep
April 27, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
There is no doubt. As a business owner you will have tough decisions to make. Sometimes it might feel this is almost on a daily basis. Should you invest in that overseas training right now? Should you bring on that next staff member? ...
Continue readingGuest Blog – How to get 2000 Facebook likes in less than 12 months
April 25, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
By Jody Worsfold, Chief Cupid, Romantic GesturesI once heard the saying, you can’t sell a secret. With that in mind I set out with a mission to tell Kiwi couples about my business; Romantic Gestures.
Romantic Gestures has a big heart and a small ...
Continue readingBusiness mentoring tip #56 – Make your favourite customer go “WOW!”
April 23, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Rarely does a great business person sit for long inside their comfort zone. Doing what you are comfortable with every day will inevitably lead to complacency. When you are complacent things start to go wrong. Someone else will come along with a better offer. ...
Continue readingTry this, it’s fun… colorology tells me I’m born to be a writer!
April 18, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
I got up at 3.30am because my mind was going crazy. I couldn’t sleep so I got up to work on my book. Couldn’t resist a quick peek at Facebook and came across this www.colorology.com It’s a site from Pantone* which tells you your personal birth colour and how this reflects your personality. I know, I know… ...
Continue readingWho are your business super heros?
April 18, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Thankfully successful business people don’t wear tights and cape, get dressed in a phone box or fly through the air. But I think all of us in business have business super heroes out there who we truly admire. Those who have shown us greatness, not just in ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip#55 – Imagine your are Apple for a day
April 16, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
I was up at the crack of dawn to work on my book again this morning. The chapter I’m working on is called “Driving value through your brand” and I find myself studying the great brands of our time to demonstrate some of ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #53 – What does your logo say about you?
April 9, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
What values do you think of when you see this symbol – the logo for Mercedes Benz? Quality and luxury right? You know what this brand stands for just from its logo. Just like you know that a swoosh tick logo stands for a ...
Continue reading50 qualities of the best business blogs in the world
April 4, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
I stumbled across this blog by Marcus Sheridan whilst exploring tips for blogging… thought I’d share it with you. Here’s the link:
http://www.thesaleslion.com/qualities-best-business-blogs-world/From the desk of liber8yourbusiness. Business mentors and experts in small business exit strategies. Based in Wellington, New Zealand.
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #52 – Discipline damn it!
April 3, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Over coffee sometime last year a senior partner in a big accountancy firm told me what he believed made the difference between business owners who succeed and business owners who do not.You guessed it. Discipline.
He said he sees every sort of business, ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip # 51 – Goals and cocktails, a powerful combo
March 30, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
There’s nothing as satisfying in life as the achievement of a goal (Except perhaps a nice cold glass of rose on a summer’s day!). Seriously… making progress in life, regardless of what you are trying to achieve, is made all the more meaningful if ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #49 – Rock the royalty of your Universe
March 28, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
I thoroughly enjoyed having coffee with Glenn Baker, editor of NZBusiness Magazine yesterday. We shared lots of business ideas and thoughts about how we can work together to help small businesses succeed. Glenn gave me a tip to share and as obvious as it ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #48 – Is your market big enough?
March 26, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Just some numbers to think about. What is your margin? And how many/how much do you need to sell for your business to truly make great profit for you after normalised expenses? What’s the population of New Zealand? And what % of the population ...
Continue readingBecome an official ‘drinker’… Now here’s a great job for Kiwis in China!
March 23, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Just spent two days at a course on doing business in China run by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise. It was a fantastic two days, run by a very good presenter called Amy Adams, an American living in China, teaching Kiwis how to ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #47 – What’s your Mission Possible?
March 20, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
I’ll keep the tips even more simple today. Facebook’s mission is ‘to make the world more open and connected’… what’s yours?If you are following my blogs with any regularity you will know I am mad keen on all businesses having a purpose and ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #46 – Have a plan and execute it
March 20, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
A simple tip today. Just some advice I have a very good friend as he left for the airport today. How do you take your business to the next level? Work out a plan… for new business, for growing existing clients, for building ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip #45 – Budget from the bottom up
March 15, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
It’s budget time! If you haven’t already set your budget for 2013/14 year… now’s the time. There is an entire seminar in the liber8yourbusiness programme to walk you though the best way to do this. Here are the key steps:Decide what profit you want/need ...
Continue readingGuest business mentor tips – 10 things you need to know about sales this week
March 12, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Look out for regular guest mentor tips from now on as I call upon experts from all specialist fields of business to share their top tips with you. Today I welcome these tips on sales from one of the best sales people I know, ...
Continue readingWatch #Sir Richard Branson talk about #Screw Business as Usual
March 10, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
http://youtu.be/cwmRIIQk6Qc
“Do good, have fun and the money will come”. So says Sir Richard Branson. We are in the new era of business, where the lines between work and purpose are merging into one. Where all businesses need to be thinking about how they can become a force for good. I love this. Take a look ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip #43 – Get real…
March 7, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s a quote from Abraham Lincoln:“How many legs does a dog have if you call a tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.”
In other words, don’t kid yourself you are something you are not. In business ...
Continue readingWhen a $10 million mistake gets you promoted…
March 6, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
I love the famous story about IBM story from the 1960s. An executive at the company made a decision that ended up losing the company $10 million. He was summoned to the office of formidable CEO, Tom Watson. As he cowered, Watson asked, ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip #41 – Don’t be afraid to say no
March 6, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Being in business can make you a real ‘yes’ man/woman. Yes to any new business that comes your way. Yes to whatever your demanding clients demand of you. Yes to the staff member who needs a day off on your busiest day of ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip #40 – Talk it up baby
March 5, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Whatever is going on in your business, when it comes to your public face, you need to talk it up at all times. Never let the outside world know you are having a bad patch. All businesses have rough times, when sales are ...
Continue readingBusiness mentor tip #39 – Grasp the trends
March 2, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
I think Bob Dylan said it best, “The times they are a changing”… and ironically this fundamental truth hasn’t changed. Change is inevitable, I’m sure you are aware of it yourself… how fast things are changing these days. Just look at social media, just ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip # 38 – Screw business as usual
March 1, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Sir Richard’s lastest book is right on the money as usual. Love his and VirginUnite’s ‘business can be a force for good philosophy’. Check out http://virginunite.screwbusinessasusual.com/ to get on board with the new wave of business… led by the rebel with a ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip #37 – Never give up!
February 29, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
http://youtu.be/kZlXWp6vFdE
What more can I say? This video is an oldie but goody… makes me cry! The message is clear folks… it will get tough, but finish what you started and make it to the finish line.
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip # 35 – Recognise effort, reward results…
February 28, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s a tip passed onto me by a client I was working with today, apparently originating with Chester Elton www.chesterelton.com – best selling author and renowned expert on leadership. I guess it speaks for itself, but here’s my interpretation of it:As a leader ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip # 34 – Don’t pray and spray your PR!
February 27, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s a top tip from one of New Zealand’s most savvy PR consultants, Bridgette Paton-Tapsell of Village PR and Marketing http://villagepr.co.nz/ :When you send your news releases to media, don’t be afraid to follow up the journalists with a phone call. Media get ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip # 33 – Become a deal maker
February 23, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s your mantra for 2012… “I am a deal maker, I will close the sale”. View yourself as a deal maker when you embark on any new business campaign. When you go to a meeting with a prospect, or client you know could spend ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip # 32 – Know your margin
February 21, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
It’s easy for small business owners to think sales/income is the key number you need to be focusing on. But actually the key figure is your Gross Profit figure (sales minus cost of sales) and your margin… the % difference between your income and ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring Tip # 31 – Education is the key to success…
February 20, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
I’ve decided to start numbering my business mentoring tips to make sure I get to 100 before I stop. So here’s number tip number 31…If you know any very successful business people you may have observed something they all have in common… they all ...
Continue readingFriday Business Mentoring Tip – Create rituals
February 16, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
FINALLY back from my holidays… 6 weeks in total… where on earth did February go??? So back to posting business tips for all of you who appreciate a daily morsel of practical business advice. This one is a goodie and absolutely crucial if you ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentor Tip – Try this formula for effective goal setting
February 9, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Now is the time of year for goal setting. I’m a bit late this year… spent too much time on holiday (is there such a thing??). But every year I make sure I’ve got my goals clearly defined and most importantly, written down. There ...
Continue readingBusiness mentor tip for 2012… Be clear on your purpose
January 16, 2012Posted by Laura Humphreys
Happy New Year to you! I’m still officially on holiday and will be until the end of January (since I promised myself a few years ago that I would set up my businesses and life to allow me to take a month off every ...
Continue readingDaily Business Tip – Eat too much, laugh a lot and ENJOY Christmas!
December 23, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
That’s it for today and for this year! Enjoy your Christmas everyone. Be back with new daily tips later in January… be sure to have a great holiday, relax and re-charge batteries.All the best, Laura
Continue readingDaily Business Mentor Tip – Your business owes you a break
December 20, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Your business owes you big time. For all your hard work. For the years it hasn’t paid you enough. For the stress it brings you. For the times it’s kept you away from your loved ones. For the extra wrinkles and the few kilos ...
Continue readingDaily Business Mentor Tip – It is not financial science
December 19, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Anita Roddick has long since been one of my all time business heros (heroine in her case). I love this quote I found from her:“Nobody talks about entrepreneurship as survival, but that’s exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking. Running that ...
Continue readingDaily Business Mentor Tip – Tomorrow is another day
December 19, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Being a business owner can suck sometimes. The stress of being all things to all people, wanting everything to be perfect and feeling like you are the only one who can fix it all… this will make you feel like throwing it all in ...
Continue readingDaily Business Mentor Tip – Be a winner
December 15, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
If you think you might want to sell your business one day (and you should be thinking this way unless you plan to run it from your mobility scooter!), then you need to make sure your potential buyers notice you. The best way to ...
Continue readingDaily Business Mentor tip – Zig while the others zag
December 13, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
What did Richard Branson do that worked for him? The key thing is that he did the opposite to whatever the big guys were doing. If they were over charging and under delivering, he found ways to reduce prices and improve experience. If they all seemed ...
Continue readingSocial media article 1.The benefits of using Facebook and Twitter
December 12, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
The following the first in a series of articles written by talented young friend of mine, Eva-Maria, who has a company making great waves in the social media world:
Benefits of Using Facebook & Twitter
Time and time again, business courses, workshops, general media and people are going on about using Social Media for business.
People are ...
Continue readingDaily Business Mentor Tip – Above everything else – maintain your values!
December 12, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/business/6118873/Little-School-a-big-idea I borrowed this tip from Maria Johnson of Little Schools, winner of the Supreme Regional Business Woman of the Year award recently. See the interview with Maria in today’s Dom Post. Her final tip for budding entrepreneurs… above everything else – maintain your values.
Your values are what ultimately defines your brand, which in turn ...
Continue readingDaily Business Mentor Tip – Create a wall of fame
December 7, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
I’d like to credit Mike Brunel for this tip. Mike lead the seminar on sales in the liber8yourbusiness online seminar programme. Director of NRS Media (www.nrsmedia.com) and founder of Talking Media Sales, the blog and website for media salespeople www.talkingmediasales.com Mike is a sales ...
Continue readingDaily Business Mentor Tip – Be willing to be wealthy
December 5, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
One thing that very successful business people have in common is that they’re wealth positive not money negative. By this I mean that they see wealth as a good thing and do not believe to have money is to be greedy. They are not ...
Continue readingDaily Business Mentor tip – Have a laugh!
December 4, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
I took an former colleague and long time friend with me to the Awards night last Friday. I met Julie Powell in the advertising world and like me she went on to build her own agency and just like me she sold it to the ...
Continue readingWinner Best Use of Technology Award!
December 4, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Bit of bragging here. My other business, Pet Angels Heavenly Pet Care, just won the Best Use of Technology Award at Her Regional Business Woman of the Year in Wellington. An exciting award for us. As you know I am 100% committed to the belief ...
Continue readingDaily Business Mentor Tip – Be like a bee!
December 1, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
You may have noticed from my daily rants that I am a big fan of leverage. The concept of doing more with less in your business. Which fundamentally means that ultimately you do not do the work. I love this picture. It’s a picture of a ...
Continue readingThe ultimate business mentor – Buckminster Fuller
November 30, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
In another lifetime I studied at length with Robert Kiyosaki at his Global Leadership Forums. One person we studied at length was Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller. American philosopher, systems theorist, architect, and inventor, Bucky created and popularized terms such ...
Continue readingDaily Business Mentor Tip – Plan like you are a big business
November 29, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Every business starts as a small business. But those that grow to be big start out with a big business mentality. Big businesses have departments. And so should you. Even if the head of each department right now is you! When you do your planning for the next ...
Continue readingDaily Business Mentor Tip – The 80/20 rule of Leverage
November 29, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Everyone should be familiar with the old 80/20 rule as it seems to apply across most things in life. In business it generally means that 80% of your income comes from 20% of your clients. Or that 80% of your trouble comes from 20% of your ...
Continue readingDaily small business mentoring tip – The fish rots from the head down!
November 26, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Apparently it’s an old Sicilian saying, tied into Mafia Godfather culture – “The fish rots from the head down”. It’s application to business should be obvious. As the owner of your business you are responsible for the culture of your company. When you employ ...
Continue readingDaily business mentoring tip – You must have a back end
November 25, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s one of the best thing my dear old dad taught me about business. “You gotta have a back end!” My dad made his millions and retired age 50 when he sold his photocopier business. He told me how he managed to sell it ...
Continue readingDaily small business mentoring tip – sell your butt off!
November 24, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s a generalised principle of life… if you are in business you have to be able to sell. You cannot avoid it.Simple business definition:
Business is about making money by selling something you have to someone else who you can convince to buy it.
It doesn’t matter ...
Continue readingDaily small mentoring business tip – You will fail!
November 23, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s a business truth. In the lifetime of your business you will fail at something important. This could be hiring the wrong person. Choosing the wrong direction. Trusting a client who rips you off. Or just trusting your own judgement. And your failure will ...
Continue readingDaily small business mentoring tip – If you don’t have a plan how will you know where you are going?
November 22, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Once you have painted a clear end picture for you business, have a clear exit strategy in mind and have put in some key milestones to get there, its time to plan your action steps to the first milestone. This should be 12 – ...
Continue readingThis could be very funny… if it wasn’t so sadly close to reality…
November 21, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s an email that’s circulating at the moment. Just had to share it…The ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER FABLE
This one is a little different – in fact two different versions …..as there seems to be different morals in New Zealand these days!
OLD VERSION:
The ant works ...
Continue readingDaily small business mentoring tip – Get your ego out of the way
November 20, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
To build a business that is not dependent on you, you are most likely to have to build a team. Never believe that no-one can do your job as well as you. This is not the truth, only your ego talking.
Continue readingDaily small business mentoring tip – plan backwards
November 19, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Once you’ve put a clear vision in place for where your business is going and how it is going to feed you wealth in the future… plan backards from there using key milestones. What are the goals you need to hit along the way? ...
Continue readingDaily small business mentoring tip – The power of brand
November 17, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Your brand is one of the most critical factors when it comes to increasing the value of your business. Brand is a much misunderstood concept for many small business owner operators. It’s not a logo or a pretty business card. It is the essence of what your business stands for. And it is what someone ...
Continue readingDaily small business mentoring tip – Your business needs a higher purpose
November 16, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
A business should have a higher purpose … to make a difference in the world as well as to make money. You only have to look at what Richard Branson does through Virgin Unite www.virginunite.com to see that social responsibility is critical in today’s business world.
How is your business making a difference?
From ...
Continue readingDaily small business mentoring tip – Have a clearly defined wealth goal
November 14, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Decide now what your wealth goal is from your business. Are you going to sell it? If so for how much and when? Are you going to derive passive income from it? If so how much per annum and when? Write it down. Then ...
Continue readingDaily small business mentoring tip – Harness the power of your budget
November 13, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Your budget is your single most powerful monthly planning tool. Map your projections out for the year based on the profit you need to make, the turnover, cost of sales and expenses required to meet that profit goal. Have actuals and budget columns to measure yourself against each month.
There is a whole seminar in the ...
Continue readingDaily small business mentoring tip – The three ways to derive wealth from your business
November 12, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
There are only three ways to drive wealth from your business:1. Make it so valuable you can sell it
2. Build it so that it will deliver profits without YOU
3. Develop it so that it generates great profits you can withdraw as you go… and ...
Continue readingDaily small business mentoring tip – Act like a big dog
November 12, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Act like a big dog no matter what your size. Think like a Jack Russell… you can take on any dog, any time. You just need to be smarter and faster!
Continue readingDaily small business mentoring tip – Your business is your primary wealth building tool
November 10, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Your business is a primary wealth building tool. Make no mistake, you MUST build wealth from your business… and have a plan for this… how will it pay you back for all your hard work?
Continue readingJust who pays tax?
November 9, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Thanks to Gold Survival Guide @goldsurvival www.goldsurvivalguide.co.nz for sharing the article below… good to know who’s really funding NZ!
A while back we received the following very interesting email (from someone who wishes to re main anonymous) detailing exactly what proportion of NZ households pay no tax and what proportion pay the vast majority of tax…
Daily small business mentoring tip – Start with the end in mind
November 8, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Do you know where your business is going? Have you thought about how it will eventually pay you back for all your hard work? Or like so many small business owners are you working long hours, paying yourself too little, sacrificing holidays and time with your family with no long term goal in sight?
Start with ...
Continue readingWhere there’s a need, there’s a great idea…
November 7, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
I met a very cool lady at a Venus Network meeting last week, and then saw her win an award at the Bright Ideas Gala evening in Wellington, then again in today’s Dominion Post: http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/business/5918966/Bright-Idea-winner-helps-heal-tattoosGillian Parkinson is an aromatologist, using essential oils to treat ...
Continue readingBusiness should be a force for good. Thoughts from Sir Richard Branson
October 24, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Sir Richard Branson has long been a hero of mine and so it was a great pleasure to see him live in Melbourne at the 21st Century Financial Education Summit last night. What a lovely man and how humble and approachable. He spoke about ...
Continue readingWhen is the best time to plan your exit?
October 18, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
This will be a short blog post. The answer is NOW!If you haven’t already, make it the first thing you do tomorrow…. answer this question, how and when is your business going to pay you back for all your hard work?
The foundation of The Liber8 Factor, and ...
Continue readingSexy machine, sexy business, sexy model… it’s a winner!
October 13, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
I love great business models. Here’s a simple one, yet technically so right on many different levels.It’s Nespresso, maker of coffee machines. My mum in UK has one and I fell in love with the taste of the coffee and the simplicity of the making ...
Continue readingOctober 11, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
I’ve been away from my computer for 5 days so haven’t had the chance to share the sadness I’ve been feeling at the death of Steve Jobs. Only a few weeks ago I listed Apple as one of my top 5 favourite businesses of ...
Continue readingWomentrepreneurs… the double edged sword we wield
October 3, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Having been interested in an article recently posted on Facebook about the lack of women seeking and gaining investment capital, I feel inspired to make a commentary on some characteristics that can both make and break women in business. I’ve coined the phrase ‘womentrepreneurs’ as merging words to make new ...
Continue readingHow healthy is your Worry Factor?
September 26, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
I remember a conversation I had with my friend Melissa Clark Reynolds many years ago. She probably won’t even remember it. We were standing in the changing room of the local swimming pool centre at the time. Melissa had just sold her first business ...
Continue readingAnd my favourite businesses are…
September 16, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
I see many different businesses through my line of work, mostly are owner operators building businesses they hope one day to exit, either by selling it or creating leverage to enable the business to continue without them being there. Moving past the owner operator stage ...
Continue readingFlying high today…
September 13, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Don’t you love it when you love what you do? I’m on day 5 of a coffee detox so I had to get my high today from other sources today. It came in the form of a 4 hour business mentoring session with a group of people with a brilliant start ...
Continue readingIs the world in economic crisis? You bet…
September 6, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
When I’m not busy waxing lyrical about the importance of planning your business from the end goal backwards, I’m also busy trying to work out how to protect the wealth I created from the sale of my own business in this time of great economic melt down (yes I do see it as a melt down and and am ...
Continue readingGame, set and match. Lessons in business from a game of tennis.
September 2, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
My lovely client Bridgette (from Village PR in Tauranga) told me the funniest story about a tennis game she played in Fiji recently. The parallels to and lessons about business were clearly apparent to us both so I just have to share it…Bridgette it turns out is ...
Continue readingWarning. This is a serious rant.
August 30, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Sometimes you just gotta rant. On the front page of our regional newspaper The Dominion Post today was an article that just astounded me (no not the one about Terry Serepisos, who is after all a man creating his own destiny and whatever you think of him, good or bad, he is owning it and ...
Continue reading7 things a business buyer will pay a premium for – #7 People
August 25, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
A business buyer will pay a premium for a business they feel sure will run without its owner. Unless you are planning to sell a concept or a leveraged business model (business models for exit are covered in the liber8yourbusiness programme), you are going to need people ...
Continue readingExcerpt from latest NZ Business Mag…
August 22, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
“For years now, the ANZ Privately-owned Business Barometer has been tracking baby boomer’s exit plans. As recently as 2010, it showed that 41 percent of business owners planned to retire in the following five years. Yet only 13 percent of them had formal exit plans.”
This is why I created the liber8yourbusiness programme. My most passionate ...
Continue readingThou shalt not interrupt!
August 20, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Reading Tim Ferriss The 4-Hour Work Week at the moment. Am about to adopt one piece of advice as of Monday. As Tim points out email is the greatest single interruption in the modern world. How many times have you sat down with your to ...
Continue reading7 things a business buyer will pay a premium for #6 – Systems
August 11, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Let’s recap. You have attracted a potential buyer with your unique offering, your powerful brand and your fantastic reputation in your industry. They have looked at your books and can see the locked in future earning potential of your business. (By the way, I’m not ...
Continue readingPlan your exit strategy from the start
August 4, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Plan your exit strategy from Day 1
I believe a business should be planned with the end in mind … click on the above link to see a video clip from a live talk given to a Wellington business group.
Continue reading7 things a business buyer will pay a premium for #5 – Clients
July 27, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
In the business world, clients mean money. Have no doubt, a buyer will pay a premium for what they perceive is more money. A buyer will look at your clients and ascertain the value of your business to them on the basis of the average ...
Continue reading7 things a business buyer will pay a premium for #4. Guaranteed income
July 10, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
If you are serious about selling your business, one of the goals you should have clearly marked in your business plan is ‘locked in’ forward revenues. This is money that is committed to the business for a reasonable period into the future. Of course a buyer will look ...
Continue reading7 things a business buyer will pay a premium for #3. Reputation
July 6, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
A buyer with money in their pocket will come to you when you have attracted their attention. You will need to be big enough and credible enough and they will have seen your business making waves in all the right pools for your industry.You are ...
Continue readingWhere do business mentors get inspiration? Her Business Conference Wellington
June 30, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
I’m shattered after two days at the Her Business Conference in Wellington over the past 2 days. Partly due to the extra wine or two consumed at the Awards night last night (well done to Cilla Heggarty who took out the big title of Business ...
Continue reading7 things a business buyer will pay a premium for # 2. A great product
June 15, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
A buyer wants a great business and they will look at many different aspects of your business as part of their due diligence. The product you sell is only one of these things, but it is important. Here are four ways to develop your product to give it more ...
Continue reading7 things a business buyer will pay a premium for #1. A Powerful Brand
June 9, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
You can get the full version of my report on this subject at www.liber8yourbusiness.com. But here’s the first of my 7 tips for building a business a buyer will pay a premium for.# 1. Build a powerful brand. I am a mad believer in ...
Continue readingBusiness Success.. How do you achieve it? Coffee with Jim Donovan.
May 30, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Had a very enjoyable coffee with Jim Donovan last week. Luckily for liber8yourbusiness members, Jim has agreed for me to interview him for the liber8yourbusiness online seminar room. Here’s a sneak preview of what makes a successful business according to Jim.Firstly though, a quick bio ...
Continue readingPutting your man on the moon – a business mentoring tip from Space
May 24, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
One of my favourite business mentoring tips is to plan your business as if you were NASA planning to put a man on the moon. This is what I learned to do at the 1991 Accelerated Business School for Entrepreneurs with Robert Kiyosaki in Hawaii. The teacher was ...
Continue readingBusiness mentoring question for the day… what is your technology light bulb?
May 14, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
I thoroughly enjoyed my day and night in Christchurch this week. As well as being very thankful that I had a lovely night sleep with no after shocks (I had been warned and briefed on what to do by nearly everyone I met), it was rewarding ...
Continue readingliber8yourbusiness business mentoring talks coming up…
May 10, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Have been crazy busy giving talks and workshops since February this year and realised I haven’t shared the details… so here are a few coming up:
Weds 11 May 1 – 4.30pm Workshop – 3 ways to create a business that works without YOU – Christchurch
Weds 11 May 5.30 – 8pm Talk – Using Technology to decrease your ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring workshop – Leaders get above the line!
April 29, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
I love it when I go to teach and discover something I can use in my own life or business. This happens to me all the time when I’m mentoring, speaking, or holding a workshop as I did in Palmerston North last Wednesday. It was a half day workshop on ...
Continue readingBusiness Mentoring in the Cloud? A discussion on protecting your business in face of disaster…
April 21, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Had another great Q&A session on Skype with some members from my online liber8yourbusiness programme yesterday. I love these sessions. Participants all email me a question beforehand and then the group provides thoughts to the business owner on their issue/question. I am really the facilitator of ...
Continue readingMay the force of your budget be with you – news from my online mentoring programme
April 13, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Just finished loading Session 11 in my 12 month online mentoring programme and given we are at the start of the financial year, I just have to share the key tips. I did the seminar with Angela Meads, who used to be my General Manager ...
Continue reading“It’s rare to bat one out of the park first time”
April 6, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
I’m quoting an interview I did with Rod Drury when I write this headline… he was referring to the most famous and fabulous stories of mind blowing business success we know so well. Sam Morgan – from student looking for heater to warm his drafty ...
Continue readingHow disciplined are you?
March 29, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Had coffee today with a partner at PWC and we got to talking about what makes a successful business. I gave him the benefit of all of my own well aired opinions on business… vision, planned exit, build to sell, leverage etc etc. “It’s not rocket science,” I ...
Continue readingPlanning your exit
March 21, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
More from my night at the Institute of Directors, this time my notes from Matt Kenealy. Matt was a co-founder of Axon Computer Systems in 1986. He was the majority shareholder when it sold to Integral Technology Group in May 2010. Here are my out takes ...
Continue readingExternal Directors and Exits
March 18, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Further to my last blog, I presented my five minute spiel at the Institute of Directors First Boards meeting a few nights ago. I was lucky enough to be on a panel with two very impressive men, both having worked with external Directors to see their ...
Continue readingThe purpose of an entrepreneur
March 14, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Just been working on a talk I am giving this Wednesday on an entrepreneur’s perspective of the role of a Board of Directors. I only have 5 minutes to speak so has been a very good exercise in making it short but real. So here it is… you can have a sneak preview of my ...
Continue readingHave you done your business plan yet?
March 6, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Crikey! Where has time gone? It’s March already and the end of the business financial year for most of us. I’ll be nagging my liber8yourbusiness clients about their business plan for 2011 – 12 year. As Winston Churchill famously said, “fail to plan and you ...
Continue readingMarch 1, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
So as I watch the news for the hundredth time in a state of amazement and shock at the Christchurch earthquake I get to thinking today about the business owners. I watched as real estate agents work a whiteboard of requests from businesses looking for office space and dealing with sudden increase in lease costs. ...
Continue readingWhy would someone invest in your business? Or why wouldn’t they?
February 24, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
I’m currently looking at my investment portfolio and deciding how much of my wealth I want tied up in businesses… my own and others. Investing in business is a high risk strategy as so much depends on the people running the business and their understanding of what business really is. I’m always on my soap ...
Continue readingHow do I decrease my clients’ dependence on me?
February 23, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Your clients believe that you are the only one they want because you have created that perception. Read that sentence again. Your clients believe that you are the only one they want because you have created that perception. Why have you created that perception? Because YOU believe no-one can do what you do as well ...
Continue readingWhen is the right time to hire an admin person?
February 10, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s a question I get asked a lot when I’m working with small business/owner-operators. When is the right time to get help with the admin side of my business? My answer is always ‘NOW!’ Even if you can’t afford it. If you paid someone $20 ...
Continue reading3 reasons to start your own business
February 1, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Why do people get into business for themselves? When I present to business groups I often ask people why they decided to start a business. The answers are always the same. To be my own boss/to be free to choose how I work/I’m good at what I do… so why should I line someone else’s ...
Continue readingTraits of the Rich & Free #10 – Desire to give back
January 8, 2011Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s the final of my 10 Traits of the Rich & Free (have a look under categories Traits of the Rich & Free if you want to see the other 9 again). This is my favourite trait and the one which I believe makes the ...
Continue readingEntrepreneurs for Ethiopia
December 21, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
In the madness before Christmas I squeezed in a few hours at the hairdressers yesterday and amongst the usual array of UK “Hello” and “OK” magazines (do people really live in mansions that big?) I found an article in Next magazine about the plight of ...
Continue readingWhy is an exit strategy so important?
December 19, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Ask any business owner what their plan is to exit their business and chances are that they will look at you blankly. Ask the same business owners why they started their own business and they will tell you that they wanted to work for themselves, they want to be their own boss, have a flexible ...
Continue readingWhat is passive income?
December 16, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
When I’m mentoring – either in my online programme or one on one, I talk a lot about ‘passive income’. This to me is the ultimate goal in life from a financial perspective. No matter what you do, there will come a time in your life when you no longer want to do it. Work ...
Continue readingTraits of the Rich and Free #9 – Wealth Positive not Money Negative
December 13, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Having a good relationship with money and believing in your right to be wealthy are critical factors for very successful entrepreneurs. Business is about wealth creation. It is about building an asset that will ultimately feed you passive income, either when you sell and are able to wisely invest the capital gained… or by building a ...
Continue readingTurn yourself into a product
December 9, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
If your business is depending on your talent and skills to create income on a daily basis, it could be time for you to start thinking about how you can generate income in other ways. What can you sell your clients that doesn’t require YOU ...
Continue readingNew Zealand’s next gazillionaire
December 7, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Just came across this competition from ASB Bank,looking for New Zealand’s youngest, cleverest business brain. It’s for kids aged between 7 and 14 who have a great moneymaking idea or invention – like a BMX lawnmower, or solar-powered cat clippers . To enter kids have to enter a 60 second video and could win a share of ...
Continue readingOwner operator or wealthy entrepreneur?
December 6, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
What is the key difference between an owner operator and a wealthy entrepreneur? Simply put it’s this:
When planning out their business, the wealthy entrepreneur builds an asset. The owner operator builds a job.
An entrepreneur in my view is someone who creates a business to build long term wealth and therefore start ...
Continue readingDefinition of a successful business
November 24, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
How successful is your business really? Here’s my definition:
A successful business is defined by the number of days forward it could survive without YOU working.
Think about it. How can you increase this number? I’ll be blogging some tips soon.
Continue readingYour business is like a shed!
November 23, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Consider this… if you were going to build a shed in the garden, how would you approach it? You would have a clear picture of what the shed is supposed to look like right? And you would get a plan together of how to build it so that ...
Continue readingA successful exit… the ultimate business goal
September 12, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Exciting news… Trilogy sells for approximately $20 million after just 8 years in business. Two sisters started the skin care company from very humble beginnings in Upper Hutt, Wellington. The company launched with 5 products in New Zealand and Australia and at time of sale had 40 products in 3500 stores in 15 countries. I ...
Continue readingLife’s too short to have bad clients…
September 6, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Had another great Q&A Skype session with a small group of clients on Friday. It is very pleasurable to be able to facilitate business people in good healthy discussion about some of their business issues. This week the group talked at length with the owner of an accounting franchise who found herself with an unhelpful ...
Continue readingTraits of the Rich & Free #8 – Willingness to fail
September 2, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
The world’s most successful people are failures! It’s true. You can bet your bottom dollar that any successful, wealthy business person you can think of has failed at something in a spectacular way. You cannot go through life without failing, unless of course you never try anything. In business you will fail in some way. ...
Continue readingWhat is the purpose of an entrepreneur?
August 31, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Lovely interview with Hans Schuitman of Shape Technology in DomPost today. The introduction of robotics to his technology company has increased productivity by 80% in 12 months. But rather than replacing human beings, robots have created a 15% increase in his 90 strong workforce.
This is a 14 year old company that has embraced technology to ...
Continue readingUndercover Boss Addiction
August 24, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
OK I admit it, I get addicted to certain TV series. And now with MySky, I can set them on repeat record and before I know it I have a whole afternoon’s worth of viewing. I admit, Desperate Housewives and Gray’s Anatomy are not related to my commitment to helping business owners achieve wealth through ...
Continue readingPartnerships… not always easy!
August 19, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Had a great time speaking at the Her Business Network meeting in Tauranga last night. I’m always amazed at the commitment of business women around the Country. There was a strangely high percentage of solo mum entrepreneurs there (naturally I felt a sense ...
Continue readingAnd the rich shall inherit the government spending problems…
August 16, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
I read in today’s DominonPost about UK Billionaire Sir Philip Green being enlisted to lead a ‘no holds barred examination of departmental budgets’ in England. Green is a billionaire retailer who’s empire includes names such as BHS, Topshop, Miss Selfridge to name but a few. He’s known for his ‘brutally effective commercial reforms’ and he’s ...
Continue readingTraits of the Rich & Free #7 – Determination
August 13, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
There is no doubt that you have to be determined to succeed in business, or indeed in any field of endeavour. You have to believe in your ability to succeed and just keep on going. In previous traits we discussed the need to ...
Continue readingSlippers…What the plumber taught the mayor about business
August 10, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
With my Liber8tv hat on I recently interviewed Mark Blumsky, former Mayor of Wellington. Mark has written a book called Slippers, sub-titled “what the plumber taught the Mayor about business”. Slippers tells the story about how a chance meeting with a plumber gave Mark the ideas ...
Continue readingTurn yourself into a product
August 10, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
I ran a Q & A Skype session with a few of my liber8yourbusiness clients the other day. I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought I’d share a couple of the key questions and the answers discussed. One was around the right time to enlist help with admin when cashflow is tight. The answer actually came ...
Continue readingLiber8tv is on its way!
August 5, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Exciting times…the birth of Liber8tv is not that far away it seems. Thanks to the lovely people at 90secondstv I now have a film crew following me around on my quest to interview successful business people. My plan is to create an online tv channel hosting chat show interviews aimed at small business owners/owner operators ...
Continue readingAnd the lights go on…
July 25, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Had a great session with a liber8yourbusiness client on Skype recently. She had just completed Session 2 in the liber8yourbusiness Online Seminar Room – Choosing your Exit Model. In the session I outline 5 typical business models a business owner can choose from when planning their ...
Continue readingTraits of the Rich & Free#6 – Action
July 20, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
This trait speaks for itself. The world’s most successful people do not just have a vision, clear goals and a plan… they take action. Very successful people do not tend to have a problem getting up in the morning. They do not sit ...
Continue readingHow can I stop by business being dependent on me?
July 18, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Just back from holiday in Taupo where I managed to squeeze in a quick lunchtime session with some women from the Her Business Network. I asked them to send me a question for discussion prior to the lunch. Here was one question we debated at length:
“I am a one person band – and built a ...
Continue reading2 tips from a man who knows
July 4, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Just read interview with Wellington entrepreneur Phil Wheelans in today’s DominionPost. Phil set up The Hire Company which has 10 branches nationwide and turns over $18 million a year. The two business mistakes he has learnt from resonated with me and I have been teaching these principles at my seminars for years:
1. Employ key people ...
Continue readingBusiness growth stages – a napkin perspective
July 1, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
I’m having the most exciting conversations with inspiring and accomplished business people these days. Since launching liber8yourbusiness and beginning my quest to find business role models who are happy to share their knowledge with my clients, I feel like I’m on ...
Continue readingTraits of the Rich & Free #5 – Plan your success
June 27, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Point 5 in my Traits of the Rich & Free is “Have a plan”. Very successful people follow a plan, its as simple as that. You have a vision for your ultimate ideal outcome, you articulate the vision for yourself, the people you ...
Continue readingThe missing link
June 22, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
I picked up a booklet published by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise the other day. It was called ‘Planning for Success, Helping you develop your own business plan’. There is loads of great information in there and definitely a useful resource for small ...
Continue readingTraits of the Rich & Free #4. Clear Goals
June 16, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Goals are incredibly powerful things. The minute you write a goal down you steer your thinking towards the achievement of that goal. In life goals are empowering. In business goals are essential. The achievement of your goals is how you measure your progress. ...
Continue readingPractitioner or entrepreneur?
June 14, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
My osteopath is a miracle worker. This morning I could hardly sit up straight over my long black and newspaper. By 2pm I was pain free. As I lay on the table feeling Martin’s healing hands do their work, we talked about business. He is the first to admit that if the definition of a ...
Continue readingTraits of the Rich & Free #3… Belief
June 11, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Here’s a principle of life…You will not succeed unless you believe you will. It’s true of any person who achieves the highest success in their chosen field – be it business, sports, the arts, music, whatever – the people reach the top are ...
Continue readingBill Gates demonstrates the meaning of financial freedom
June 8, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
It gave me great joy to read about Bill Gates today, giving an exclusive interview to James Quinn of The Telegraph about his committment to giving to the developing world. Mr Gates is the second richest man in the world with a fortune of US$53 billion. Having spent 30 years of his life building Microsoft, ...
Continue readingTraits of the Rich & Free #2. Passion
June 5, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
As I talk to very successful business people, their traits continue to share a common thread. I listed the 10 traits they seem to share in a previous blog and promised to cover each one in turn. I’ve talked about ‘vision’ already. Now ...
Continue readingHusbands in business – a new syndrome?
June 2, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Just presented to Her Business Network Meeting in Napier, Hawkes Bay. What an impressive group of business women. The very fact that these business owners give up their Wednesday evening to spend time learning and sharing ideas with other business owners tells me that they have the attitude it takes to create financial freedom from ...
Continue readingTalk to Her Business Network Hawkes Bay
May 31, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
If you’re in the Hawkes Bay this Wednesday (2nd June) you are welcome to come and hear me speak to The Her Business Network. Contact trish@pureinspiration.co.nz for details. It would be great to see you there.
Continue readingShameless Promotion!
May 29, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
I went to see Debbie Allen speak a the National Speakers Association event last night in Wellington. A very impressive lady with some great tips to share. Not only is Debbie in the top 5% of motivational speakers, she has also bought and sold 7 businesses. This got my attention, a true entrepreneur living a ...
Continue readingTraits of the Rich & Free #1. Vision
May 27, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
Without fail, every single successful business person I’ve talked to states having a vision for how the business will turn out as a critical factor in its success. I started reading Michael Hill’s book “Toughen Up” the other day and right there in ...
Continue readingTraits of the Rich and Free
February 25, 2010Posted by Laura Humphreys
In my quest to find great role models for my liber8yourbusiness programme, I’ve found myself talking to all sorts of very successful business people lately. A number of things strike me. One is that successful people seem to be very generous with their time. People with more zeros in their bank balance than I’d care ...
Continue reading
I’m always pushing the business owners in my world to think ...
