| "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. | | | | checks, and talked to references. She took her time |
| Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came | | | | and tried to find the best people she could. She |
| tumbling after." ~Mother Goose rhyme. | | | | approached the process as if she were creating a |
| "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. | | | | basketball team. She wanted a winning team. Once |
| Jack fell down and broke his crown, but Jill kept on | | | | she had good people, she put energy into keeping |
| climbing." ~A modern parable. | | | | them with the company. She spent more time with |
| This is the story of two entrepreneurs we'll call Jack | | | | her stars than she did with her mediocre employees. |
| and Jill. Jill went up the hill and built a successful | | | | Jack, on the other hand, thought his best employees |
| business. Jack went up the hill, failed and fell down | | | | did not need his time and he spent more time and |
| the hill. Read on to discover how Jill succeeded and | | | | energy trying to improve his poor performers. He |
| Jack failed. | | | | was surprised when his best people felt neglected |
| Both Jack and Jill decided to go into business for | | | | and left. |
| themselves at the same time. Each worked for a | | | | Personal organization |
| company that sold and serviced technical products to | | | | With her company growing rapidly, Jill found herself |
| certain professionals. Both have the same degree of | | | | working long hard hours. She realized that she was |
| skill and expertise at their job and loved their work. | | | | not well organized. She carefully prioritized her |
| Both have a burning desire to succeed. | | | | activities with the help of her coach. She identified |
| Each of them went about building their business in | | | | those activities that were wasting her time. She |
| their own way. | | | | either eliminated those activities or delegated them. |
| Vision. | | | | She was made aware that she was neglecting some |
| Jack wasn't clear about his goals. He just wanted to | | | | important things simply because they were not |
| sell and design equipment to anybody who would buy | | | | demanding her attention. She was not getting the |
| it. He would sell as much as he could, do all the work | | | | recreation or exercise she deserved. She was not |
| to save overhead. He saw himself as a self-made | | | | spending enough time with her family and friends. She |
| man who did not need anybody's advice. He figured | | | | made these things a top priority and scheduled time |
| whatever he needed to know he could learn from | | | | for this. This process not only made her life more |
| books and the internet. His was a fuzzy vision; he | | | | enjoyable, it made her a more effective leader. |
| knew the general direction he wanted to go and a | | | | Jill was enjoying her job. She was doing mostly what |
| vague idea of how to get there. | | | | she loved doing and which were important to the |
| Jill thought a lot about her goals. At first she | | | | success of her business. She was spending adequate |
| daydreamed about her ideal life and her ideal business. | | | | time with her family and was having fun. |
| She decided on the amount of money she would | | | | Jack simply attended to every urgent matter that |
| need to earn to provide her lifestyle. She saw herself | | | | happened to come to his attention. He was doing |
| running her business, doing only those things she was | | | | things he hated and for which he had no talent. He |
| talented at--the things she loved doing--and | | | | was working over 60 hours a week. His family |
| delegating other people to do the rest. To make her | | | | complained and he felt they were unsupportive -- |
| dream practical, she took the advice of author | | | | even disloyal. As a result Jack suffered stress from |
| Napoleon Hill. She hired a coach to be her mentor. | | | | his job and stress from his family. |
| Together they applied to her dream a guide called | | | | Delegating |
| SMART, which meant Specific, Measurable, | | | | Jack felt like a slave to his business, but he kept |
| Achievable, Realistic and Timed. This enabled her to | | | | doggedly at a it. Sometimes his revenue was low, |
| keep track of how she was progressing. | | | | other times it was high. Overall it provided a decent |
| Jack also dreamed about his goals. But never became | | | | living. Jack was a superior technician and knew how |
| specific about them and had no way of measuring | | | | to produce products that really pleased his |
| how he was progressing. | | | | customers. With all his hard work his company began |
| Niche marketing | | | | to grow. When he had about 20 workers, he ran into |
| Jack tried to sell this product to anybody he thought | | | | serious trouble. He just couldn't keep track of |
| could possibly have a need or interest. Jill, on the | | | | everything like he did when his company was smaller. |
| other hand, at the advice of her coach, narrowed her | | | | He just couldn't bring himself to delegate |
| prospects. She chose to sell to high schools because | | | | responsibilities and just look at bottom-line results. His |
| she was familiar with how they used her products. | | | | business had outgrown his wingspan. Things got |
| She was uncomfortable at first because she feared | | | | away from him and some serious mistakes resulted. |
| she was turning away other business. She was | | | | He was facing financial ruin when, luckily, he found a |
| delighted when it turned out that other industries also | | | | buyer and sold his company. |
| bought from her. | | | | Meanwhile, Jill's company also kept growing. When |
| Jill not only sold more than Jack, she did it on a | | | | she couldn't keep track of everything that was going |
| smaller marketing budget. | | | | on like she used to, she turned to her coach. He |
| Fortunately for both Jack and Jill the market for their | | | | helped her select and develop fine managers who |
| products was booming. Orders started coming in and | | | | attended to the details. They reported the |
| each of them went to work filling them. And they | | | | bottom-line results to her. She paid very careful |
| soon needed help. | | | | attention to key variables. She knew her expenses. |
| Building a workforce | | | | She knew her income. She knew how many and |
| Jack ran ads and hired anybody he interviewed who | | | | what kind of products were sold and by whom. She |
| he thought looked good. He did not want to "waste | | | | had systems in place for customer feedback so she |
| his time" checking up on them or spending money for | | | | knew how well her customers were satisfied. |
| assessments. He figured if they did not work out he | | | | Similarly, she knew how happy her good workers |
| would simply fire them and find somebody else. He | | | | were. These systems gave her much freedom. She |
| soon found this was an extraordinarily expensive | | | | was able to take many mini vacations with her family. |
| way to hire people. It cost him tons of money | | | | They went on a month long trip to Europe. When |
| training a new person and then finding out that | | | | she came back her business was running smoothly. Jill |
| person did not work out. It also was emotionally | | | | was the master of her business. |
| difficult for him to fire someone so he kept them on | | | | Jill's company is still growing. She works 30 to 40 |
| too long. This system was causing him stress and | | | | hours a week and has plenty of free time for |
| eating into his profits. | | | | herself, her family and her friends. |
| Jill did not rely solely on her judgment when | | | | Jack is working at his old job at the corporation. Jack |
| interviewing prospective employees. She gave them | | | | and Jill went up the hill and the rest is history. |
| formal pre-employment assessments, did background | | | | � 2007 Stan Mann. |