Tips To Boost 3 Key Business Skills

Tips to boost
3 key business skills

Motivation, judgement and planning
Table of Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 3
Chapter 1: How to motivate yourself in business .................................................... 4
1) Understand your reason for being in business ................................................................................. 5
2) Identify your strengths and weaknesses ............................................................................................. 5
3) Work out what you're really passionate about – and good at – and do it ........................... 6
4) Accept your limits ......................................................................................................................................... 7
5) Build a support team that can help achieve your business objectives ................................... 8
6) Reward yourself for achievements big and small ........................................................................... 9
Chapter 2: How to sniff a deal – developing commercial gut judgement ............... 11
1) Time and experience the cure for poor decisions .......................................................................... 12
2) Be open to constant learning ................................................................................................................. 12
3) Don’t make the same mistake twice .................................................................................................... 12
4) Decisive decision making based on patience, analysis, context, sharing and pressure
testing .................................................................................................................................................................... 13
5) Think strategically but act locally ....................................................................................................... 16
6) Know and trust your capability ............................................................................................................ 16
Chapter 3: How to be planned when you’re not really oriented that way .............. 17
1) Identify your business objectives and take time for self-‐discussion ...................................... 19
2) Prioritise your shopping list ................................................................................................................... 19
3) Communicate your plans ......................................................................................................................... 20
Successful business people: born or made? ......................................................................................... 22
Disclaimer: The information contained in this eBook is general in nature and should not
be taken as personal, professional advice. Readers should make their own inquiries and
obtain independent advice before making any decisions or taking any action.
jpabusiness.com.au +61 2 6360 0360 2

Introduction
Comments by James Price

JPAbusiness Pty Ltd
At JPAbusiness we have the pleasure of dealing

with long-held family businesses that have
survived and thrived in challenging
environments to deliver real value to the owners of the businesses, their
employees and the communities they serve.
In our last blog we profiled one such business and its former owner, Ross
Higgins, as part of our Client Success Stories series. We have another one
coming up soon.
While reflecting on these blogs, and the clients that have inspired them, I
found myself musing about these business owners’ personal attributes:
• What makes them different to the ordinary run of business owners?

• Just how do they do what they do?
• What can we learn from them?
This eBook is going to examine three fundamental attributes of successful

business owners: motivation, gut judgement and planning ability.
My goal is not just to tell you that you must have these attributes if you want to
be successful in business, but instead to help you develop and hone them.

Chapter 1: How to motivate yourself in
business
JPAbusiness Pty Ltd
Motivation in business is about having a certain drive, determination, focus

and consistency in the way you go about your business.
We are all wired differently so we’re all going to have strengths and
weaknesses in different areas.
In my opinion, there are a number of things you can do to ensure you

maximise your motivation. In this chapter I’ll present my Top 6:
1. Understand your
reason for being in
business
2. Identify your
strengths and
weakness
3. Work out what
you're really
passionate about –
and good at – and
do it
4. Accept your limits
5. Build a support team
that can help achieve your business objectives
6. Reward yourself for achievements big and small

1) Understand your reason for being in business
I tell people who want to motivate themselves in business to figure out what is
the single most important thing they want to achieve.
Focus on that and allow it to motivate your involvement in the business.
2) Identify your strengths and weaknesses

Key to motivation, in my view, is to know what you are really good at and
what you are not really good at.
We’ve spent a lot of time in the past talking about these things in the context
of a business’ strengths and weaknesses, but I’m talking here from a
personal perspective as a business owner or leader.
Critical to understanding yourself as a person, and therefore what motivates

you in business, is to understand your areas of strong capability versus your
areas of weakness and challenge.
For example:
I’m really good at selling, at developing business, at developing

relationships with people. I’m a really good verbal communicator.
I’m not very good at process, paperwork and managing people’s

performance.
You need to have a mental discussion with yourself to figure out those things
and then acknowledge them – jot them down.
Be honest with yourself. If you have been in business a few years and you’ve
been pressure tested by life experience, you will know what you’re good at
and what you’re not so good at.
You could also pressure test whether your assessment is correct – ask
someone who knows you well for their opinion.

3) Work out what you're really passionate about – and good at –
and do it
We all know as individuals we are much better at doing things we’re
passionate about and good at than things we simply can do.
So, if you want to turn up the motivation dial to 100 per cent as a business
owner, do the following:
• figure out what you’re passionate about;

• figure out what you’re really good at;
• focus on those tasks;
• ensure you have a team and processes around you to cover off on
other key responsibilities.
Micro-managing dilutes motivation
Now some business owners with healthy egos may think: “I’m good at
everything in this business – I need to do everything or it won’t survive.” I
know business owners of very large, multi-million dollar businesses who hold
that opinion, and good luck to them.
In my opinion, however, this sort of attitude results in business owners

spreading themselves too thinly and,
ultimately, doing their business a disservice.
By spreading themselves too thinly, they are

also spreading too thinly the motivation,
drive and passion that they bring to the
business and which should be having the
maximum impact on clients, employees and
suppliers.
Trying to do everything and be everything

dilutes your motivation and your impact.
Understand where you add the most

value and focus on that.

This leads us to the next point…
4) Accept your limits

Understanding your strengths and weaknesses gives you a feel for what your
limits are.
You will know what stresses you out big time, versus what is a breeze for you.
As a result you will need to think about the support team you have around
you that covers off on those weaknesses and complements your
strengths.
Again, I’m talking about your personal attributes here, but in the context of
running the business.
For example, if you’re not a good salesperson, you’re not good at business
development and or developing relationships, you need someone in your
team who is. If you don’t have that person, your business will not be
successful and you’re not going to be motivated to get up every day and go to
work.
I don’t know anyone who finds repeated failure motivating.

5) Build a support team that can help achieve your business
objectives
Building a supportive team is key to maintaining your motivation. This team
doesn’t have to consist solely of individuals who work in your business.
It may include:
• external team members, such as your accountant, business advisor or

solicitor, and other business people;
• mentors, both formal and informal.
These are all people in your network who are good at things you’re not so
good at.
Relying on a support team adds to your motivation because, ultimately,

motivation is about feeling complete and content with your challenges,
as a person or in business.
If you feel you have the building blocks to cover off on all the different
aspirations, risks and issues you will face in your business, you will feel more
confident and confidence leads to motivation.
If you feel overwhelmed, you will take a dive in the motivation sense.
If you don’t have a good network of support mechanisms, as we’ve discussed

in the context of a team, then the risk is your motivation is a bit like a tidal
wave and that can have very negative impacts on the business and the
people around you.
Here’s an example:
You and your team are very good at business development, sales
and relationships.
However you have significant gaps and weaknesses in attention to

detail and processes.
You have been driving sales and orders are coming in, but the team
has not been following up debtors and creditors, or closely following
how the cash flow is tracking.

Suddenly you realise the business is cash poor and cannot fund its
ongoing operations.
So, you have a tidal wave of sales (and motivation) but once it
crests and starts dragging back out, the sea – your cash reserve
(and motivation) – is virtually empty.
Being cash strapped is bad for your business, which is also very bad for
motivation!
6) Reward yourself for achievements big and small

Whether you’re in a big business or small, being a business owner can be
lonely.
Part of operating as an individual in a consistent, content and motivated way,

is to recognise yourself and your achievements.
You need to be able to pat yourself on the back, because that will motivate
you.

Self-thought and self-discussion the key
This concept may not be familiar to all business owners, but I am sure many
of the good ones do it without even knowing it.
Practising self-thought and self-discussion simply means taking a few

minutes at the end of each day to reflect on three things:
• What you’ve done well today

• How you’ve added value to the business
• What you want to achieve in the business
This process of self-discussion should not be laborious; it can happen within

the space of five minutes in a car or on the train.
It is not about dwelling on matters, but putting them in their place in terms of
giving yourself personal self-praise, or recognising areas for
improvement or change.
You may reflect on the fact that you approached something the wrong way to
achieve an aim and next time you will do it differently. It is not about
castigating yourself, but about really taking time to focus on your actions
and your business.
It is also not the same as lying in bed at night worrying about your business.
Self-discussion comes from a positive place and will in fact help stop that
worrying.
It is a bit like tidying your desk before you head off for the day. It is tidying
and ordering your thoughts about your business and – if you get
comfortable doing it day by day – it will help maintain consistency of
motivation.

Chapter 2: How to sniff a deal –
developing commercial gut judgement
JPAbusiness Pty Ltd
I often find our most successful clients are the ones who seem to have ‘gut
judgement’ around commercial opportunities.
In many cases this commercial gut judgement makes the difference

between an also-ran business and a supremely successful business.
In this chapter I will outline the factors I believe go to developing

commercial gut judgement as a business owner or leader in a business.
These are:
1. Time and experience

2. Being open to learning
3. Never making the
same mistake twice
4. Decisive decision
making based on
patience, analysis,
sharing and pressure
testing
5. Thinking strategically,
acting locally
6. Knowing and trusting
your capability

1) Time and experience the cure for poor decisions
There is probably no better cure for poor decisions than time and experience
in business and in life.
In our teens, 20s and 30s we’re focused on getting experience, both positive
and negative. We are all about reacting, being ambitious and spontaneous.
In our late 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s all these collected experiences start to
impact the way we approach things, our attitude to risk and return, and to
business dynamics. They create prejudices regarding what we think is easy,
or hard, or what we think of the market.
Those prejudices are positive, because they’re based on genuine experience,

but they can also be negative, because they’re often limiting in nature.
In my view, the key to gut judgement is a mix between impulsiveness,

decisiveness and willingness to learn from experience before making a
decision.
2) Be open to constant learning

Another concept critical to developing your own gut judgement is constant
learning, and I mean constant!
Too often I meet business owners who come seeking advice, but they
have closed ‘receptors’ even before they arrive.
Your receptors need to be open at all times to constant learning.
3) Don’t make the same mistake twice

We all make mistakes but there is really no excuse for making the same one
twice.
As I say to people, resist the irresistible or otherwise you will feel the
same pain, unless of course the circumstances have changed.

Of course, don’t let fear of mistakes stop you from trying things, but take a
risk manager’s approach.
Employ some analytical thought and say to yourself: ‘This looks similar to an
experience I had previously. I know that if I bang my head against the wall this
time, I will get the same bruise as last time.’
Wisdom does come with age, but only if you allow your experiences to
shape your decision-making process.
4) Decisive decision making based on patience, analysis, context,

sharing and pressure testing
Once you’ve chosen a path you need to be decisive. However that
decisiveness should be based on the following actions:
• be patient;
• be analytical;
• focus on your ultimate
business aims so your
decision is made in
context;
• share and pressure test
your ideas and opinions
about business
opportunities with your
support team, both internal
and external.
Here’s an example of a decision-making process based on the above

actions:
You run a food processing equipment and ingredients business.
You are evaluating the opportunity to negotiate a distribution

agreement on products you will supply through your distribution
network.

Product Manufacturer A is a large, multi-national corporation. They
have numerous well-known brands which are very good products, but
essentially you would be dealing with them remotely. The margin
associated with their product is fixed at 35%.
Product Manufacturer B is a regionally based manufacturer. It is a

relatively small, family owned business, but it has grown rapidly over
recent years. The margin associated with their product is flexible but
upwards of 40%. They only have three product lines but the quality is
highly renowned.
You now have to make a judgement: ‘Which supplier is the right fit
for my business?’
Patience
Remember not to be impulsive; have some patience.
Just because you liked meeting the business owner from the regional
business (Product Manufacturer B) because you thought he or she was
aligned to your culture, don’t sign up on day one – do your homework!
Analysis
We’ve talked about due diligence

processes when buying or selling a
business. This is similar.
The hard numbers – the analytical

work – will enable you to easily do an
objective comparison of the two on
paper.
Do yourself and your team justice in

terms of objectively assessing both.

Context
Make sure you consider the big picture.
What is the ultimate aim for your business and which supplier would
best help you achieve that aim?
Share and pressure test
Your analysis will give you some ideas about who you think is the
preferred supplier. Share those ideas with the key people in your
business, as well as your support network outside the business.
You may know someone in the sector with experience in signing up

distribution rights. Share the nub of the two agreements with that
person to get some advice about whether they stack up commercially –
do the figures look right to them, should you agree to lock in for X
period of time, and under what commercial terms, and so on.
Be decisive
Once you have exercised patience, engaged in analysis, considered

your wider business goals, shared and pressure tested your decision,
you need to make a decision.
In making the call, be honest with yourself and your team about why
you have made the decision you have. This makes you accountable to
the business and the team. It also makes the team accountable
because you shared the decision and pressure tested your reasoning
with them.
Clearly communicating your reasons – based on expected outcomes –

also means you can later evaluate the success of the decision. If it
turns out to be unsuccessful, having all team members with a clear
understanding of the situation should also mean there is little chance of
making a similar decision next time i.e. making the same mistake twice.

5) Think strategically but act locally
Commercial gut judgement is also about thinking strategically, but acting
locally.
It’s being able to take your mind out of the day-to-day operations of the
business and look at the broader environment in which your business is
operating.
You need to consider the trends, issues and challenges in your market, and
the threats shaping business generally.
Once you’ve taken that strategic view, it’s then about acting ‘locally’.
Focus on your own business and consider: ‘What can I do in my business

to mitigate the impacts of those broader issues?’
6) Know and trust your capability

We talked earlier about knowing your limits when it comes to your personal
strengths and weaknesses as a business manager.
The same applies when making commercial decisions.
If you are good at numbers and the problem you’re looking at involves the
financial assessment of a
potential deal, then trust your
judgement.
But if it’s the same scenario

and you’re not good at
numbers, make sure you
pressure test your decision
with someone who is.
Knowing when to ask for

help also shows good
judgement.

Chapter 3: How to be planned when
you’re not really oriented that way
JPAbusiness Pty Ltd
Maybe our clients are a little different to others, but I would suggest the
majority of successful business owners are not strong in the area of
business and operational planning.
Having said that, the good ones know what they want to achieve and how to
go about it. Their objectives are quite specific and they know how to measure
the outcome against those objectives.
Whether those objectives are written down in a formal plan or not is another
matter.

Whenever possible, write it down
If you have read any of my previous eBooks or blogs you will know I am an
advocate for written business plans.
I encourage people to write things down,

even in a summary sense, because it’s a
good way of pressure testing your
objectives and communicating them to
your team.
And, once they are in front of you in black

and white, you can’t hide from them.
Management techniques for non-writers
Despite my penchant for written plans, I know successful business owners

who don’t write things down and still manage to be supreme at operational
and business planning.
They do, however, employ a number of other important techniques, which

include:
1. Identify your business objectives – ensure the desired outcomes

are clear, measurable and quite specific;
2. Prioritise a shopping list – cover what needs to happen, when
and by whom;
3. Clearly communicate the list to your team – develop your
communication skills or seek help if necessary. Let your team
(internal and external) do the rest!
Using these techniques should help you create a planned and organised
business, even if you’re not naturally a planner and organiser.

1) Identify your business objectives and take time for self-
discussion
Clearly identify your business objectives and ensure the outcomes you
seek have clarity, are measurable and quite specific.
In Chapter 1 we talked about taking some time each day to reflect on the
business and engage in a little self-thought and self-discussion about the
day’s highs and lows. The purpose, in that context, was to reward us for a job
well done and so maintain motivation.
In the context of business planning, self-discussion is used by non-writers

to fix their business objectives and plans in their minds. Self-discussion
is very powerful and if you do it enough your plans become ‘hard-wired’ in
your head.
2) Prioritise your shopping list

Once you know your business
objectives, you will likely have a list of
10, 20 or even 30 actions and
outcomes you need to achieve those
goals.
What I say to clients is: ‘Do you

really need that full shopping
basket of actions, or can you
prioritise a shopping list?’
No matter whether you are a big or

small business, the reality is you and
your team will be strapped for
resources, because that is the nature
of a competitive environment.
So how do you prioritise your

shopping list?

Start by focusing on the single most important thing you want to achieve as
a business owner, and work down from there.
Chances are, if you really dissect what is a priority objective versus what is a
‘nice to have’, you may find you only need to do three or four of those
actions to achieve 80% of your objectives.
3) Communicate your plans

For items that make it to the shopping list, clearly communicate to your
team what needs to happen, when and by whom.
If you are not oriented as a formal planner, it’s important to develop good
communication skills. This will ensure your team has a clear understanding of
both your ultimate business objectives and the priority shopping list.
If you have done your job and

put in place a team that
complements your skills and
covers your gaps, they
should be able to do the rest
of the planning.
In terms of communication, you

need to develop:
• A clear, concise,
transparent and
consistent communication
style;
• An inspiring and trusting, yet questioning and inquisitive
management style;
• A sense of monitoring and mentoring in terms of how you
communicate with your team, both internally and externally.

Seek help if you need it
If you don’t feel you are a good communicator, you either need to seek help
through mentoring or advisory assistance, or you need to engage with
someone in your team to provide that capability on your behalf.
This team member or advisor needs to be able to decipher your wants and
needs and then translate them to the team in an effective way.
(This is where it would be very helpful if you could write down your business
objectives. You don’t need to provide reams of information – just a page or
two to ensure clarity between you and the team.)
The following is a practical example of the informal planning techniques

discussed in this chapter:
I own a building services, property maintenance and security

business.
My business objective is to achieve sales of $1.2 million per month

for the next six months and achieve our gross profit benchmark
of 35%.
I see that goal as core to the success of the business for that period of
time.
I write down that

goal and show it
to my support
team. As soon as
someone sees it
they ask: ‘Gee,
how are we going
to do that?’
This starts the

prioritisation
discussion:
‘What do we need
to do in order to achieve this objective?’

There may be 10 possible actions we could take, but we decide the
priority is to get our sales reps in a room and make sure they
understand and share the vision and the objectives.
Once together, the sales manager will workshop ideas with the
reps. For instance, he or she may say: ‘Okay guys, this is the
challenge. Strategically, what’s the best way of going about it? Do we
leverage our existing networks and pipeline? Do we have an
advertising campaign? Are there some tenders on the close horizon we
should be focusing on?’
Successful business people: born or made?

It’s often argued that successful business owners have traits – motivation,
commercial judgement, good communication and leadership, business
prioritisation and planning skills – which are inherent, rather than learned
and developed.
The reality is that many of these business skills can in fact be learned,
developed and honed with time, the right advice, support and experience;
and success in developing these traits is often a precursor to success in
business and in one’s personal life.
If you would like to learn more about the business advisory and broking
services offered by JPAbusiness, you can contact the team by visiting
www.jpabusiness.com.au/contact-jpabusiness

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3 key business skills

jpabusiness.com.au +61 2 6360 0360 2

Comments by James Price

At JPAbusiness we have the pleasure of dealing

• What makes them different to the ordinary run of business owners?

This eBook is going to examine three fundamental attributes of successful

jpabusiness.com.au +61 2 6360 0360 3

Motivation in business is about having a certain drive, determination, focus

In my opinion, there are a number of things you can do to ensure you

jpabusiness.com.au +61 2 6360 0360 4

Focus on that and allow it to motivate your involvement in the business.

2) Identify your strengths and weaknesses

Critical to understanding yourself as a person, and therefore what motivates

I’m really good at selling, at developing business, at developing

I’m not very good at process, paperwork and managing people’s

jpabusiness.com.au +61 2 6360 0360 5

• figure out what you’re passionate about;

Micro-managing dilutes motivation

In my opinion, however, this sort of attitude results in business owners

By spreading themselves too thinly, they are

Trying to do everything and be everything

Understand where you add the most

jpabusiness.com.au +61 2 6360 0360 6

4) Accept your limits

I don’t know anyone who finds repeated failure motivating.

jpabusiness.com.au +61 2 6360 0360 7

• external team members, such as your accountant, business advisor or

Relying on a support team adds to your motivation because, ultimately,

If you don’t have a good network of support mechanisms, as we’ve discussed

However you have significant gaps and weaknesses in attention to

jpabusiness.com.au +61 2 6360 0360 8

6) Reward yourself for achievements big and small

Part of operating as an individual in a consistent, content and motivated way,

jpabusiness.com.au +61 2 6360 0360 9

Practising self-thought and self-discussion simply means taking a few

• What you’ve done well today

This process of self-discussion should not be laborious; it can happen within

jpabusiness.com.au +61 2 6360 0360 10

In many cases this commercial gut judgement makes the difference

In this chapter I will outline the factors I believe go to developing

1. Time and experience

jpabusiness.com.au +61 2 6360 0360 11

Those prejudices are positive, because they’re based on genuine experience,

In my view, the key to gut judgement is a mix between impulsiveness,

2) Be open to constant learning

Your receptors need to be open at all times to constant learning.

3) Don’t make the same mistake twice

jpabusiness.com.au +61 2 6360 0360 12

4) Decisive decision making based on patience, analysis, context,

Here’s an example of a decision-making process based on the above

You run a food processing equipment and ingredients business.

You are evaluating the opportunity to negotiate a distribution

jpabusiness.com.au +61 2 6360 0360 13

Product Manufacturer B is a regionally based manufacturer. It is a

Remember not to be impulsive; have some patience.

We’ve talked about due diligence

The hard numbers – the analytical

Do yourself and your team justice in

jpabusiness.com.au +61 2 6360 0360 14

Make sure you consider the big picture.

Share and pressure test

You may know someone in the sector with experience in signing up