Doug Wagner, Author at Sunwapta Solutions

15 Jan 2014

The Key to Putting the “Action” Into Accountability

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-13T12:49:55-06:00January 15th, 2014|Categories: Doug's Blog, Leadership, Manifast, Mindset and Motivation|

Business person overwhelm help keeping up

You’ve set some goals. You’ve taken a little action. Maybe you’ve delegated some of the action steps.

If you are in the top 20% you’ve also put a little bit of accountability in place.

For yourself.

For your team.

The problem with most people is they easily lose focus and chase other things, leaving their goals unfulfilled while keeping themselves very busy.

The illusion of unfocused activity leading to success.

I am fortunate enough to have a great accountability partner. We […]

9 Jan 2014

The Dynamic Duo: Unrestrained Budgets and Accurate Forecasting

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-04T15:54:02-06:00January 9th, 2014|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Manifast|

Most people hate following budgets and think forecasting is for psychics. I used to think this and did both of these exercises because I had to, not because I was enthusiastic.

For a visionary entrepreneur this feels like it is like putting a box around you. How can you Manifast your vision if you are constrained from spending when you want to?

Unrestrained budgeting and accurate forecasting in business

Unrestrained Budgeting

How many of you use a budget to plan your […]

16 Dec 2013

The “First Time” Secret to Business Profit

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-04T16:00:12-06:00December 16th, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales|

So many companies spend so much time and money fixing problems.

Often it is self-inflicted. Sometimes things just happen.

They spend a fortune on marketing and sales to convince customers they are better than their competition.

Yet the simple truth is, the profit is in doing things right the first time.

Excellence quality service reliability efficiency

Rework Costs

Having to redo a job costs money. Looking at the profitability of 90% of businesses, they don’t have a lot of room to be wasting money.

In my recent post on […]

10 Dec 2013

Consistent Excellence Doesn’t Just Happen

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-04T16:07:59-06:00December 10th, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership|

Consistent excellence doesn’t just happen. Someone planned for it, it is measured and there is accountability.

In my last post, I talked about processes that were not working.

This is about the opposite.

Roman bath with partying dwarves

The Cleanest Washrooms Ever

I was at the Minute Lube on McLeod Trail here in Calgary. The lineups were a little long and after I got into the service bay I had to use the facilities. This is a typical assembly line oil change place […]

9 Dec 2013

Shipping Zed to Zees: Customer Service Run Amok

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:24:29-06:00December 9th, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Current Events, Doug's Blog|

I was placing an order for some furniture from Staples Canada for our office. As I do occasionally, I add things to my shopping cart that I might be interested in (so I can find them faster) and then clean it up before placing the order.

In this case I got distracted and then it was almost time to head out the door. So I pressed checkout without stopping to think. I accidentally ordered two different items instead of two of the same; one I didn’t even want.

No worries, I will just cancel the order or change it.

[…]

2 Dec 2013

Definiteness of Team Purpose: Communicating the Vision

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-04T16:10:26-06:00December 2nd, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog|

Once you are absolutely clear on your business vision, you need to make sure that everyone who can help you get there knows what it is.

The classic mistake is most business owners only review the strategy with their team on a periodic basis; maybe even only quarterly or annually.

In my last post on “Definiteness of Purpose: Holding the Vision” I talked about why having a vision is important to an entrepreneur in keeping focus and avoiding distractions.

Now you need to get the power of the team behind the vision.

Napoleon Hill in “Think and Grow Rich” defines […]

29 Nov 2013

Scaling Your Business Impact

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-04T16:18:30-06:00November 29th, 2013|Categories: Doug's Blog|

Collapsing Building Banner - Scaling Business Impact
I recently wrote a guest post for The Go-Giver Way about how to scale your business in addition to creating value.

“In this post, Certified Go-Giver Coach and very successful business owner, Doug Wagner, brings up a terrific point when it comes to any successful and profitable business: it’s not only about creating value, it’s also about expanding that value in order to touch more lives. But, how do you do that? He suggests there are five key areas.

Enjoy Doug’s […]

25 Nov 2013

Definiteness of Purpose: Holding the Vision

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-04T15:53:26-06:00November 25th, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Manifast|

In today’s fast paced, ever changing and distraction filled world the misguided perception is that the spoils in business go to the companies and management teams who can change direction the fastest; and most often.

As entrepreneurs, many of us are by our very nature attracted to new things and solving new problems.

Once an idea has been with us for a little while and we need to get down to the nitty gritty work part, the excitement wears off a little bit.

Then there are some setbacks or issues and things get a little less fun (mild understatement).

Boom, off to the next […]

18 Nov 2013

Entrepreneurs Must Push Through To “Yes”

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:25:05-06:00November 18th, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Manifast, Marketing, Sales|

As an entrepreneur you are often creating something new in addition to wearing the sales hat.

I recently read a great blog post by Bob Burg, "The Biggest Problem With No Isn’t The No". I was typing an epic comment when I realized, this is pretty much a blog post.

As an entrepreneur creating something brand new, "No" has two meanings.

The Sales No

"No, I don't want what you are selling".

The no in sales is hard enough. And no, I mean yes, I need to read Go for No (on the list).

If it has been sold by someone in […]

15 Nov 2013

Comparing Value in 2 Very Different Business Models

By Doug Wagner|2017-06-12T14:17:00-06:00November 15th, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Go-Giver Coach, Marketing, Sales|Tags: adding value, business, Go-Giver, Law of Value, Marketing Strategy|

I recently spent $900 each on two totally different purchases and it got me thinking about the value relative to payment. Essentially both complied with Law of Value (The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann) but for seemingly different reasons.
Dump truck and gravel business - small

The Gravel Drive

The first purchase was three big dump truck loads of gravel; roughly 30 cubic yards for our 200 yard long driveway. It was ¾ inch crush which means it had to be what is […]

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About Doug Wagner

Unrestrained Budgeting

Rework Costs

The Cleanest Washrooms Ever

The Sales No

The Gravel Drive