Lofty Online

Don't Chase The Buck

The purpose of a business is not to make money. 

The purpose of a business is:

“To Create and to Satisfy a Customer.”

This doesn’t mean that money isn’t important. Money is essential in a business, but it is not the purpose. Rather, money is the measure of a business and how well you are doing towards achieving its purpose: If you’re not satisfying your customer, the measure of money will be small.  If you are satisfying the customer, the measure of money will be great.

The difference is essential to understand, as the resulting FOCUS is critical. An incorrect focus will lead to the state of business that many find themselves in today.

Have the right FOCUS and money comes by default.

Sometimes the very thing you think you want is the very thing that stops you getting it.

The most important person in your business is the customer.  When you focus on the money you tend to forget the customer, which often results in you losing the customer.  You need to give the customer what they want not what you want for them.  The focus on the customer is critical as the focus on the money is the very reason you may end up losing the customer.

Don’t bite the hand that feeds.

Lars

Don't Bite the Hand that Feeds!

The purpose of a business is not to make money. 

The purpose of a business is:

“To Create and to Satisfy a Customer.”

This doesn’t mean that money isn’t important. Money is essential in a business, but it is not the purpose. Rather, money is the measure of a business and how well you are doing towards achieving its purpose: If you’re not satisfying your customer, the measure of money will be small.  If you are satisfying the customer, the measure of money will be great.

The difference is essential to understand, as the resulting FOCUS is critical. An incorrect focus will lead to the state of business that many find themselves in today.

Have the right FOCUS and money comes by default.

Sometimes the very thing you think you want is the very thing that stops you getting it.

The most important person in your business is the customer.  When you focus on the money you tend to forget the customer, which often results in you losing the customer.  You need to give the customer what they want not what you want for them.  The focus on the customer is critical as the focus on the money is the very reason you may end up losing the customer.

Don’t bite the hand that feeds.

Lars

What Do Car Guards and Insurance Companies have in Common?

What do Car Guards and Insurance Companies have in common?

Both are one of the root causes of Car-Jacking in South Africa!

Have you ever wondered why car thieves steal your car while you are in it?  Why don't they just steal it the traditional way? Like from the car parking lot? 

The reason is simple - Car Guards and Insurance companies.

Insurance companies make it so difficult to insure your vehicle. They require you to have every anti-theft device, that it is near impossible to steal your vehicle without your keys and you in it. 
The same goes for the constant watchful eye of the Car Guard. Making it near impossible to steal your vehicle. Leaving the only alternative for the thieves to steal it while you are in it.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could go back to the old days when we would walk out of a restaurant or shopping centre to find our vehicle no longer there? The alternative is having your life in constant threat of being killed, injured or maimed in a car-jacking?

So the next time you pay your Insurance premium, or the local friendly car guard, remember who is the cause of your Car-Jacking fears.

Lars

Candidates Faking It?

You always tell the truth and put your employer's interests before your own.

True or false?

If you answered True, you'll probably be shocked to learn that a new study by a group of Colorado researchers says most
applicants distort or fake answers on pre-employment personality tests.
“Job applicants usually have substantial motive to make themselves look as attractive as possible,” said Joe Rosse, a management professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder and coauthor of the study, which will appear in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
“And applicants generally have ample opportunity to get away with faking because there is no objective way to verify a
person’s answers,” he said.
The researchers compared responses from job applicants with responses from current employees on tests designed to measure both personality dimensions and the potential for distorted answers.
The current employees were less likely to fudge answers; they were more likely to admit to undesirable personality traits.
Personality testing is increasingly used to assess job candidates because fast-changing companies need workers flexible
and adaptable enough to work at a variety of jobs, Rosse said.
Despite the potential for job seekers to lie or fudge their answers, employers shouldn't give up, he said.

“It is critical that personality tests be chosen carefully on the basis of their relevance to specific job-related requirements,” he said.  - by David Algeo

Lars.

The Truth Hurts

Don’t ask people you know or who have a vested interest in the relationship, for their opinion, especially when it comes to important business advice.
Generally people you know will usually tell you what they think you want to hear. They will seldom tell you the truth. The reason for this is that they are protecting the relationship. The advice is driven by EGO.

In the first place, we usually only ask the people who we know will tell us what we already think. We are usually just asking to confirm what we already have decided and to justify our already made choices. This lets us feel better about the decisions we have made.

Should the venture fail, the person who gave you the advice to go for it in the first place, is usually the first person to let you know that they “knew you shouldn’t have gone for it.”

Lars.

The Power of the Question Mark

It is more important to know the questions than the answers.

It is said that the question mark is more powerful than the exclamation mark.

It is unfortunate that all through our lives we are taught to answer questions and to know the answers, however I believe it is sometimes more important to know what the right questions are to ask, as then you get all the answers anyway.

The person who controls the question mark wields the power.

Lars.

Going To Heaven?

"Everyone wants to go to Heaven but knowbody wants to die."

You have to die to go to Heaven.

The world has become a place of the instant fix.

We want everything now. We don’t want to pay the price. We don’t want to wait. We go through life with a lottery mentality, hoping that all we wish for will instantly fall into our laps.

If you win the lottery, are you blessed or cursed?

Studies show that you will be cursed. The majority of winners lose every cent and end up with no more than when they started.
Most of them say they wish they had never won the money.

Are you living life, paying the price, or are you gambling - playing the lottery of life?

Lars.

Accountability

One day a man is sitting in a park watching some workmen working. He watches as one worker digs a hole while another worker then fills it.  He watches for a while until his curiosity gets the better of him.  He goes up to them and asks what it is that they are doing?
The first worker says that they are planting trees.  “Planting trees?” the curious man asks a little confused.
“Yes!” says the worker. “However the man who puts the tree in the hole called in sick today.”

Just because it is not your job, doesn’t mean that you can’t or shouldn’t help out and do it.

Responsibility and Accountability go hand in hand. You cannot be responsible without being accountable and you cannot be accountable without being responsible.

Lars.

Thoughts are our Ancestors

Thoughts are the ancestors of actions.

Know that every action started with a thought. Be careful what you fill your mind with.

Whatever you fill your mind with will by default manifest in your actions.

If you want to know what a person believes in, listen to what they say.  If you want to know what a person has faith in, watch what they do.

Actions speak louder than words.

You become what you predominantly think about. If you want to get what you want, you need to change who you are.
“Men do not attract that which they want
but that which they are.” - James Allen

Lars.

Do. Did. Done.

If Success was a door, then the hinges that open the door would be Skills and Attitude.

Attitude makes up the more important part of what brings success.
You can have all the skills in the world, if you don’t have the right attitude you just will not work those skills.

We measure Success with Results. Actions come before results, Thoughts before actions and Feelings before thoughts.
If you don’t like the results, you would need to firstly change how you feel. To change how you feel you would need to change your actions. When you change your actions, you change your feelings. When you change how you feel, you will change your thinking. When you change how you think you will influence your actions and the choices you make. When you change how you think and act, your results will inevitably change.

Lars.