SEPTEMBER 4, 2012 ROTARY IN REVIEW:
Jon O'Malley presents "Three Steps to a Better Business"

Club 10 Business Report

President Dan McKeown brought the meeting to order at 12:32 p.m. on a warm late summer Tuesday in downtown Saint Paul.  Chuck Field led the assembled Rotarians in singing America the Beautiful (Oh, Beautiful), accompanied by Dennis Boom on the piano.  Steve Nyhus provided the invocation with a theme centered on today's first day of school.  Jacob LaCroix facilitated the introduction of visiting Rotarians and guests.  Today's Greeters were Mick White and Bill Collins.

President Dan informed those in attendance that next week's meeting will be the first "Club Assembly," a concept that has been used successfully by other Rotary Clubs.  All of the Committee Chairs will be present to discuss the work of the committees and two to three priorities for the coming year. The Treasurer will present the Club 10 budget.  Doug Hartford will speak about the Rotary Foundation.  There will be a general question-and-answer period, but also a chance to ask specific questions of each committee and an opportunity to volunteer for a committee of interest.

Roger Nielsen then spoke about the upcoming Friendship Exchange weekend (September 21 -23) for the visiting Rotarians from Taiwan.  He described the two Friday evening events, the Wine and Cheese Reception at Master Framers and the river excursion on the Jonathan Padleford.  On Sunday, there will be a dinner at Roger Nielsen's and Vicki Gee-Treft's cabin in Wisconsin including a rendezvous and hand-off to the Rice Lake Rotary Club for the Taiwan Rotarians.  All members and guests are invited to these events.  Please sign up through the Club 10 web site.  Carla Hauge presented information about the Rose Sale which will take place at the end of September.  Sarah Kolar collected Happy Dollars.

Mindee Kastelic introduced today's speaker, business coach Jon O'Malley.  Mr. O'Malley is a Stillwater Rotarian who has been involved with five past and present small businesses before launching his work as a business coach.  He stated that he was motivated to become a coach because he wanted to help entrepreneurs that he felt were not accomplishing all that they could because they were not applying successful small business practices.  Mr. O'Malley stated that this is a prevalent problem for small business owners who tend to be over-stressed and underpaid with too little freedom.

Mr. O'Malley laid out a three step process to better business.  Step one is to understand the "philosophy of growth."  This is the relationship between the business owner, the team of workers, the customers and the overall business.  The owner needs the business to become a commercially profitable enterprise that can work without the owner being present.  This can provide the owner with the freedom of time that should be the goal of all small business owners.  Step two is to check the entire organization's attitude (and purge accordingly).  Remove those individuals who blame, have a "can't do" attitude, or a "not me" lack of responsibility.  Retain those who take ownership, have the "can do" spirit, and have the attitude "it's on me."  Step three is to decide on your uniqueness and biggest strength.  Identify one of the three ways to set yourself apart: price, quality or convenience.  You cannot be a leader in all three.  Find the strengths, pursue them relentlessly, and if necessary, get help since there is too much to focus on to master by yourself.  Also, "fire" your "D" level clients and focus on your "A" and "B" level clients.

In conclusion, Mr. O'Malley laid out the ten critical areas of business success:  good market assessment; great leadership; controlled growth; accurate accounting; cash flow planning; avoidance of "operational mediocrity;" operational efficiency; vision/focus/planning/standards; succession planning; and, market awareness (seeing market changes and adapting to them).  If you feel you need the help of a business coach in any of these areas, it is best to get it early in the game.