Subject: Important Message from Dave Williams
From: "Club 52" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:33:17 -0500

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 <http://www.myclub52.com> Club 52	 

The three biggest causes 
of great companies and businesses fizzling out:

Important Message
from Dave Williams

Dear Club 52 Member,

This will help you! 

I believe there is at least ONE IDEA in this letter 
that could mean the difference between your flourishing … or … your fizzling
out!

Thursday night at our 120 prayer meeting, we focused our attention on
praying for our Mount Hope business people.

Then, last night Mary Jo and I prayed for one of our Club 52 business owners
in particular. God is up to something big in the lives of our faithful
members. I know it!
But let me back up and share with you how I got this message from the Lord.

I face what you face.

Let me share with you something I was facing … until this morning. The
church income was off by over a million dollars this past year, and that was
painful. I found myself focusing on the money instead of the ministry. 

So, this morning I asked the Lord to help me understand what to do during
difficult seasons in ministry or business. For nearly two hours, the Lord
reminded me of a few things that will help you right now if you are facing a
dry season in your business.

Years ago, I studied several business “fizzle-outs.” I wondered why some
businesses keep growing, and others level off and die. I knew the principle,
“Unless we keep growing, expanding, and developing, we will level off and
die.” 

This morning the Lord took me back to my studies and here’s what He reminded
me of this morning:

The three biggest causes 
of great companies and businesses fizzling out:

No. 1 – Loss of Identity. 

We must go back and ask ourselves some questions: 

1.	Who are we as a company? 
2.	What are our core values? Identity is inseparable from your company
vision. So ask more questions: 
3.	Can I articulate my company’s vision succinctly? 
4.	Do I promote the vision radically and persistently among the staff,
employees, sales people, etc.? 
5.	Can each of my employees or reps articulate my vision in just a
sentence or two? If the answer is “no” to any of these questions, you may
want to start there. 

If you answered, “yes” to these questions, then, let’s move on to the
secondary cause of stalling in business.

When you stop and think about big names you once knew: Grant Stores,
Montgomery Ward, Yankee, Woolworth Stores, what happened to them? 

Some research suggests that in nearly every case of these giants’ fizzling
out – at the very core – was the fact that they lost their identity. 

Dime Stores started carrying furniture and grocery items. If that was their
original vision and purpose, okay. But what I’ve read suggests that nobody
in these companies remembered what their mission or vision really was. 

Loss of Identity through loss of vision and mission 
is perhaps the number cause of great companies “fizzling out.”

When you ask some folks what their vision is, they respond, “Just to make it
through this year!”

What’s your vision?

No. 2 - Loss of Focus, or a shift in focus. 

As a believer, in covenant with God, my focus is not on “making money.” In
business, my focus must be on serving customers and clients better than the
competition, and constantly thinking about how to help my customers (they
are facing tough times too). 

We must ask, “What can I do to make my customers or clients say, “Wow … they
really care about me?” 

The devil is a master at planting problems 
to get our focus off the things that bring success.

He is relentless in his pursuit to steal our focus. He tries to get our
focus on our company and its challenges and off the customers and their
challenges.

The Old Spaghetti Restaurant

A case in point is the old spaghetti restaurant I would visit in Sand Deigo
in the 1970’s. When the recession was affecting everything, Mr. Ramoni would
start giving extra portions to his customers. One time he visited my table
and asked if I liked his spaghetti. I told him I loved his spaghetti, and he
brought me a free refill with a big smile on his face. The restaurant was
packed nightly and Mr. Ramoni did well. 

He focus was on his customers, and they were loyal to him for it.

In the late 1980’s, Pastor Mark and I were on a business trip to San Diego,
and discovered that everything had changed except one thing: That Italian
spaghetti house was still in business and the streets were crowded with
people trying to get in.

On the other hand, I knew a chief that retired from the Navy and bought a
franchise on the same street as the spaghetti house. During the Nixon years’
recession, I stopped in and ordered a shake and noticed the glass wasn’t
full. When I asked him about it, he responded something like this, “This
recession is killing me. If I don’t cut portions, I’ll go out of business.” 

I never returned to his restaurant, but I returned many times to Mr.
Ramoni’s Spaghetti House on Fifth Avenue. 

Oh, it wasn’t long before the chief was bankrupt and out of business. Today,
I’m quite sure Mr. Ramoni has gone on to the next life, but his family is
still in business with restaurants now throughout the western states.

The point is this: Focus on your customers.

If you are a pastor, focus on your members.

No. 3 – Loss of Prominence

Prominence is related to visibility. 

You’ve heard the saying, “Out of sight, out of mind?”

It’s true. People easily forget … if you don’t keep your business before
them through newsletters, e-mails, notes, advertising, marketing, public
relations, special promotions, etc. Consider budgeting 10% – 12% of your net
profits for marketing and advertising.

Fizzling companies cut back on their advertising during difficult times, but
not the flourishing companies. You don’t light a light, then, hide it under
a bushel so nobody can see it, Jesus said.

Ask yourself:

“Does this community really know what my company offers?” 

“Do people know the great benefits they’ll receive for doing business with
me?” 

“Do people know what makes my company different than all the rest … or am I
just one name among many from which they may choose?”

Something sets you apart from all the rest. What is that something?

These are important questions to ask. Take a “time-out,” and go over this
letter again and again.

Ask the tough questions. Ask God to show you something from His heart –
something from His Kingdom – that you can bring over to the earthly kingdom
to bless people with.

Remember, beloved Club 52 Member – you are called to be the head and not the
tail, and you are going over, not under! God has given YOU the power to get
wealth and that power is IN YOU! (Deut. 8:18; Eph. 3:20)

I love you,

  <http://www.myclub52.com/images/DW-signature-transparent.gif> 

Questions You Must Answer

1.	Who are we as a company (business, ministry, or church)? 
2.	What are our core values? 
3.	Can I articulate my company’s vision succinctly?
4.	Do I promote the vision radically and persistently among my staff,
employees, sales people, etc.? 
5.	Can each of my employees and reps articulate my vision in just a
sentence or two?
6.	What can I do to make my customers or clients say, “Wow … they
really care about me? 
7.	Has there been a shift in my focus? 
8.	Have I been focusing on my problems or my customer’s challenges?
9.	Am I hiding my business under a bushel?
10.	What is my marketing and advertising budget?
11.	Does this community really know what my company offers?
12.	Do people know the great benefits they’ll receive for doing business
with me?
13.	Do people know what makes my company different than all the rest …
or am I just one name among many from which they may choose?
14.	Something sets me apart from all the rest. What is that something?

Answering these questions honestly will help move you avoid the ranks of the
fizzling and will keep you in the ranks of the FLOURISHING! 

  <http://www.myclub52.com/images/C52Logo-transparent.gif> 
202 South Creyts Rd.
Lansing, MI 48917
(517) 319-5752
www.myclub52.com
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