Five Ways to … Leverage Your Company

ARE YOU WORKING “IN” YOUR BUSINESS, or are you working “on” your business? Sharon Lechter, co-author of Rich Dad Poor Dad and the Rich Dad series, says you need to focus on the future. “As an entrepreneur, you are the driving force for your company, so if you spend your time on current or past issues, then you’re not putting your efforts on driving your business forward.” Lechter offers these tips to leverage your company. 1. Create and Leverage Your Intellectual Property Have you found a new way to solve a problem? Have you created a new product? You may have created valuable intellectual property. Protect it, and you can license it to others and generate royalty income. This is maximum leverage. By creating your identity of your brand, you create a competitive advantage – whether that’s consistency in a look (such as what your employees wear) or a message (such as advertising or even how your staff answers the phone). 2. Use Other People’s Money, Time or Resources Instead or building from the ground up, find other businesses that can aid your business process. Use their money, time and resources (their facility, equipment, people, etc.) to leverage and therefore maximize your own resources. For example, the Rich Dad Company wanted to provide coaching to its customers. Instead of hiring and training a staff, it interviewed other coaching companies and worked out a licensing deal. Rich Dad benefits from the coaching company’s systems and expertise, and the coaching group gets to us the Rich Dad brand. Stop thinking so much about competition, and try to achieve collaboration. 3. Maximize Utilization of Your Own Resources Offer other companies your resources to maximize your downtime. For example, a local breakfast and lunch restaurant leases out its space for private dinner meetings. This provides more revenue, with little additional overhead. Another example: Harkins Theatres rents out empty theaters for group meetings. 4. Focus on Public Relations and Marketing Promote, promote and then promote some more, Lechter says. You need to define and focus your marketing efforts. “I personally believe PR is the absolute best way to promote and expand your business,” she says. “The risk is you can’t always control the message.” However, a positive message can do wonders. Although Lechter places more emphasis on public relations, she says, “There’s certainly a place for advertising because it helps you build your brand and your identity, and it keeps consistency of message.” She also suggests that businesses align with a cause-marketing initiative, such as pairing up with a non-profit or promoting “green” practices. 5. Get Out There and Network Join business associations. Get involved in a charitable organization in which you can meet like-minded individuals and companies and discover leveraging opportunities. Through networking, you’ll be able to discover and act upon opportunities, often before others recognize them. Once you’re established in a network, opportunities will start coming to you. This article appeared in the May/June 2008 edition of bizAZ. Illustrations by Kee Rash