Doug Wagner, Author at Sunwapta Solutions

23 Feb 2012

How Much Effort Does It Take To Move From Good to Great?

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:40:00-06:00February 23rd, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership|

I was asked a question today. It was about our Manifast product which is aimed at allowing businesses to bring strategy, working on the business and developing your people to the same level of importance as working in the business; serving customers and fighting fires.

Roughly the question went like "How much effort is required to setup the tool and maintain the information in it? Is the benefit of doing all that stuff worth it?"

Aside from the context of the tool the question is really more fundamental:

"Is the effort of documenting, planning and executing your strategy, building your business and developing your […]

9 Feb 2012

The Paradox of Referral Fees

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:40:07-06:00February 9th, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Marketing, Sales|

Offering referral fees to others to send business your way is a two edged sword at times:

On one hand you can really increase your customers,
On the other hand you might not get the customers you really want or need.

Therein lies the paradox.

On The Positive Side

On the positive side you are offering a financial incentive to others to refer business your way. Your customers and "agents" can earn some cold hard cash sending business your way.

You hope that the person doing the referring is looking out for both your and the potential client's best interest in making the connection.

But There Is […]

8 Feb 2012

Are You Too Busy To Add Big Dollars To Your Bottom Line?

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:40:22-06:00February 8th, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Leadership|

Do you have a company culture of continuous improvement?
Are you dedicating 10% or more of your time to working on your business?
Do you delegate parts of your business and have a methodology for holding people accountable for performance?

If you are not, you are impacting your profitability in a big way.

As a business owner this is coming right off your bottom line. If you are losing $10,000 in costs (i.e. profit) and you have margins of 5%, you would have to earn another $200,000 in revenue to make that back.

Business advisors like Jeff Pallister can come into many businesses […]

27 Jan 2012

Chain Reaction (to Sustainable Profits)

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:40:28-06:00January 27th, 2012|Categories: Books and Courses, Doug's Blog, Leadership|

I read Chain Reaction – A Business Novel by Jeff Pallister a few months ago. I enjoyed the book and found that a lot of Jeff's thinking paralleled our thinking about how business could be.

Jeff Pallister is a speaker, author and management consultant who specializes in applying creativity and teamwork to generate increased profitability.

The book itself is about the company president Ryan Vale who was hired by the founders to get the company back on track. Most of the founders are reaching the end of their careers and want to cash out by selling the company […]

20 Jan 2012

Are You On Auto-Pilot?

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:40:33-06:00January 20th, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

You know that feeling you get when you drive home along a familiar route and afterwards you don't remember any of the drive?

That is what running on auto-pilot is like.

Your brain is amazing. If you've done things repeatedly the same in the past before, you can do them again with little thought or effort required.

The same is true if you are doing something simple or low risk. You don't need to fully engage.

In both cases you can run on auto-pilot and safely get to your destination.

Until something changes suddenly. Or until a danger suddenly appears.

Then you will be present again.

But it […]

13 Jan 2012

I’m Not In The Mood For…

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:40:39-06:00January 13th, 2012|Categories: Doug's Blog, Leadership, Mindset and Motivation|

The other night I was in a funk and this post almost ended up being titled "Real Men Don't Talk About Depression" but while there is still too much silence and taboo around the topic; I didn't want to take away from the plight of those who are clinically depressed and this post ended up on a different path anyways. I must also credit Carrie Wilkinson of The Barefoot Executive fame for showing me the value of being real (i.e. human) and thus not deleting this post entirely.

As we started the New Year I was both excited and overwhelmed by […]

31 Dec 2011

Resolutions for 2012 – Dream Big

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:40:46-06:00December 31st, 2011|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

Assuming I set New Year's resolutions I would have the following and more:

Get more sleep on a regular basis,
Exercise more,
Eat better,
Lose 10 pounds,
Achieve more business and financial success,
Balance my time over all areas of my life,
Have a neater and more organized work space,
Waste less time on distractions,
Deal with stress better,
Travel to Mars.

But if I haven't done those things consistently in the past, what makes me think I will do them in early 2012? Why am I making a big list of things I will likely fail at?

The problem with resolutions is that we tend to focus on the things we aren't happy with… […]

29 Dec 2011

The Master Plan – How Money Works Part 4

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-04T15:00:47-06:00December 29th, 2011|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Mindset and Motivation|

In the previous post I talked about how to intercept the flow of money. This post addresses investing, borrowing, the master plan and concludes the series.

But What About Investing?

When you invest money you no longer have it in your possession. What you have is either a promise to give you your money plus interest back or you have ownership of shares in a company or other investment vehicles.

Cash investments are loaned to others so the money can be spent on something of value.

When you invest in a company you are either buying the shares (at their perceived value) […]

22 Dec 2011

The Right Way to Prospect (Intercepting the Flow – Money Part 3)

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-04T15:03:12-06:00December 22nd, 2011|Categories: Uncategorized|

I ended the previous post on how money really works with a quote. A very important quote to be sure. But it doesn’t tell the full story. It doesn’t say how to intercept the flow of money.

How money works was not in and of itself why I choose to discuss the topic at this time.

So what is the right way to prospect or sell to maximize your income? When should you give your killer elevator speech? How should you get the conversation focused on you?

Don’t.

Stop doing it from a me perspective.

It is all about the person you are […]

20 Dec 2011

How Money Really Works – Part 2 Business Income

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-04T15:05:53-06:00December 20th, 2011|Categories: Uncategorized|

In the first part of this larger topic, I talked about how some people think of money and how it works at a personal level.

In Part 2 I cover how it works at a business level and how you can get as much as you need and why there is no real shortage of money.

The Big Picture – The Big Flow

Picture the entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a nation or the world. This is a measure of the flow of value that is changing hands. It the cumulative value created by everyone in the economy measured in money. […]

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About Doug Wagner

On The Positive Side

But There Is […]

But What About Investing?

The Big Picture – The Big Flow