2. 15 Tips
Practical Advice To Grow Your Business
And Find Your Own Flow
By Christoff Oosthuysen, Flow Finders International BDS
www.flowfinders.com - info@flowfinders.com
Tip # 1: Focus your niche
Tip # 2: Talk value, not features
Tip # 3: Plan for the future
Tip # 4: Master yourself
Tip # 5: Perform as a team
Tip # 6: Perfect your processes
Tip # 7: Define yourself
Tip # 8: Show up & stand out
Tip # 9: Build trust relationships
Tip # 10: Spend on the future
Tip # 11: Maintain your lifestyle
Tip # 12: Create wealth
Tip # 13: Leave your legacy
Tip # 14: Give back
Tip # 15: Support causes
© Flow Finders International BDS Page 2

3. T
he word ‘flow’ does not only refer to the movement of volumes, such as water
flowing naturally down a river, traffic flowing efficiently on a highway and cash
flowing profitably through a business. ‘Flow’ also refers to the experience when you
are fully immersed in what you are doing, and when these activities result in exceptional
achievement. Performing artists and sports people often refer to this as being ‘in the zone’.
Flow becomes easier when you frequently do what you love doing and what you are great
at, while you are aware that your ‘non-flow’ activities are being handled by other people, or
made easier by the systems you use.
In order to achieve flow regularly in your business, it is recommend that:
 You work in a team where individuals are allowed the space to be themselves.
 Each person’s role in achieving the overall goals are clearly defined.
 Contributions are recognised and acknowledged.
 The processes and systems in the business are functioning effectively and efficiently.
In finding your flow, you will be able to achieve your goals by doing more of what you love
doing, while your team and system look after the rest!
For you as an individual, flow is often achieved when your skills are slightly stretched by the
challenges of the activity. When we talk about applying the match of skills and challenges to
a business, it is better to use the terms ‘capacity’ (the ability of the business to deliver) and
‘opportunity’ (the possibility of solving a problem or meeting a need). So, for a business to
be in flow so that it can grow, the balance should be between the business’ capacity to
deliver and the opportunities presented by its customers and potential customers.
High capacity and low opportunity leads to relaxation and even boredom amongst the staff
and managers in the business; while low capacity and high opportunity leads to anxiety and
worry. Flow, and achieving business growth, become more likely when the business moves
closer to a match of capacity and opportunity… or even better, where the opportunities are
stretching the businesses capacity to deliver so that it must grow!
At Flow Finders International we explain the balance between the business’ capacity and
opportunities as a straight-forward equation. This equation illustrates how you can increase
flow for yourself and the other people in the business, while the business itself grows as
well. By applying the equation, you can experience flow yourself in the activities you do,
while also seeing the flow of customers, money and innovation increasing throughout a
growing business.
© Flow Finders International BDS Page 3

4. We call this equation the ABCD of Flow in Business. It is:
B
 x A = C2
D
Where:
 ‘B’ is the comparative benefit that customers perceive from using your product or
service to address their needs or wants ahead of another product or service – or, how
you rank compared to other options.
 ‘D’ is the level of disappointment that your customers experience when using your
service or product and in dealing with you – or, what portion of your customers are
unhappy.
 ‘A’ is the level of attraction that your customers have with you and your business – in
other words, how keen and interested your prospective customers are to do business
with you, and how readily your existing customers are prepared to recommend you.
 ‘C2’ is the rate of increase in the cash you generate as a result of the money flowing
through your business and the simultaneous increase in the contribution you make to
improve the lives of your customers.
As the equation shows, the key outcomes are cash (an increase in sales income for your
business) and contribution (an improvement in quality of life of the people you are meant
to serve). Like the proverbial two sides of the coin, the results of cash and contribution are
inseparable – as you get, you also give!
The 15 tips mentioned earlier are based on the ABCD of Flow in Business. But before getting
back to the tips, let’s consider what you could do differently so that your business can
increase its cash and contribution. Let’s look at the elements of the equation more closely:
B: Benefit refers to the perceived value your customers get from your service or product, or
the advantage for them of doing business with you rather than elsewhere. Benefits are not
the same as the features of your service or product, although some features will determine
the benefits and influence the choices customers make when selecting you over an
alternative. Customers are buying the benefits from you, even though you are delivering a
product or service with distinguishable features. Benefit is an important element, as an
increase in perceived benefit will multiply the flow in your cash and your contribution.
D: Disappointment experienced by your customers is a clear indication that your business
does not have the sufficient capacity to deliver repeatedly quality output. Capacity problems
will undermine all your marketing efforts and, as the formula suggests, are a real threat to
achieving your goals – it will reduce your results with multiplied impact! Capacity is a
© Flow Finders International BDS Page 4

5. ‘production’ or ‘operational’ issue, which is best addressed through business improvement,
skills development or team building interventions. Disappointment is an important element,
as an increase in disappointed customers will consistently reduce the flow in your cash and
your contribution.
A: Attraction is the ‘pull’ you and your business have on your customers or prospects. It is
the ‘force’ or ‘energy’ that brings them closer to you, even when you are just being yourself.
Attraction is best achieved when connecting with the people you are meant to serve, by
showing up where they are and by building trust relationships. As in other spheres of life,
attraction may sometimes be absent; there is no ‘spark’ or ‘chemistry. Increased Attraction
will multiply the flow in your cash and your contribution.
Let’s look at the equation again to see what you could do to improve your business:
B
 x A = C2
D
Even small steps will help to increase your Cash and your Contribution (C2)! Can you identify
ways to increase your Attraction (A)? What about improving your Benefit (B)? And how can
you decrease any Disappointment (D) your customers experience?
The 15 tips below will help you with some answers . . .
Tip # 1
Focus your niche
This tip is key to increasing the Benefit you offer your customers. In defining your niche, you
should resist starting with looking at the demand for services or products in the market.
First ask yourself where your experience, skills & knowledge direct you to and how you can
focus on your own passions through what you do in your business. You could, for instance,
list what you have done in the past, what your skills are and what you know a lot about; and
then identify a niche close to your heart.
But this is not enough. You have to narrow it down even more by looking at the trends
within the market you would like to serve. Search the Internet, newspapers and trade
magazines for clues to where opportunities lie. You can also ask around for some free advice
– most business people are very willing to give advice as long as you are not in direct
competition to them. With this information you can now narrow your niche – or, as they
say, define your micro-niche.
© Flow Finders International BDS Page 5

6. Tip # 2
Talk value, not features
The Benefit your customers get can also be described as your ‘value proposition’. Customers
first think in terms of the value they get, not the features of your product or service. When
they compare products or services, they are likely to consider the features carefully, but
before such time you need to be talking about the value they will get.
The challenge is that after focussing your niche, you’ll soon be asking yourself questions
about the details of your offer i.e. you’ll be thinking about the features. Resist this at first:
rather be clear on what your customers will gain from your products or services.
When you are clear about the benefits your customers will experience, you’ll then be able
to promote the features of what you are offering from your customers’ perspective. In this
way, your customers will appreciate just how valuable your products or services are,
because they will see how they stand to gain from doing business with you.
Tip # 3
Plan for the future
Another tip about ensuring that your customers continue to see the Benefit in doing
business with you is: Think of the future when you develop the benefits your customers get
in doing business with you.
You cannot predict the future accurately, but what you can do is to anticipate trends when
you make improvements to your product or service, or when you plan where your business
should grow. This is where industry-specific insight comes in very handy – but this is not
something you can just read up by doing an Internet search.
Insight is something you develop over time by reading, subscribing to industry-related
publications, going to networking events, attending conferences and speaking to industry
experts. Keep your eyes and ears open, and make time to learn about new developments,
so that you are not caught off guard by new products or services.
© Flow Finders International BDS Page 6

7. Tip # 4
Master yourself
The Benefit customers get is undermined by the Disappointments they experience. People
occupying leadership positions have a great influence over the efficiency of a business, and
that is why you should strive for personal perfection.
You should constantly improve yourself in all dimensions – physical, emotional and spiritual.
You might ask, “What do fitness and beliefs have to do with business?”. If you are setting
the example as a leader in the business without striving for personal mastery, you are
setting the wrong example: this will result in many customers experiencing Disappointment.
However, for each of us the answers to striving for personal perfection are different. Start
each day by identifying one thing to improve in each of the areas of:
 Physical fitness;
 Effective work performance;
 Good personal relationships; and
 Feeling connected with the world.
Write it down and ask yourself at the end of the day: ‘How did I do better?”
Tip # 5
Perform as a team
The way to achieve goals most effectively, and in the most rewarding way for the people
involved, is to work within a team. An effective team allows the individual to focus on what
he or she is great at, while other team members can take care of the rest.
Therefore, you should build a team around you of people who love to do the tasks you are
not good at, so that you spend more quality time doing what you love!
To implement this tip with good success, you need to be aware of what helps teams to work
well. You should consider, for instance:
 Promoting co-operation and cohesion by clarifying common goals for your team;
 Defining team members’ roles so that there is a clear understanding of the individual
contributions to common goals; and
 Encouraging communication and constructive feedback between team members so that
you are working as a productive team.
© Flow Finders International BDS Page 7

8. Tip # 6
Perfect your processes
Disappointment is not only due to human failure. In many instances, if not most, customers
experience Disappointment because the business process has built-in shortcomings – it is
because of design-issues that problems keep popping up. Instead of continuously fighting
fires, you can rather work on improving the way your business works (or don’t work).
Process perfection is all about monitoring quality and continuously streamlining your
business systems.
It is not difficult to do at all. Just identify some key measures that give you feedback on the
required outputs of each of your business processes (or the results that each of your units
or divisions must achieve). Set a desired performance level for each measure and, as part of
the normal working day, collect information on how your business is doing. It could be basic
measures such as acceptable number of rejects, or the percentage of ‘up-sales’ from
existing clients.
When a measure falls below the desired level, you should investigate and resolve the issues
before these become problems that will lead to customer Disappointment.
Tip # 7
Define yourself
The value you create by offering Benefits to customers and by limiting the disappointments
they experienced are leveraged by the Attraction you have with your customers. So how do
you increase your Attraction?
The tip is this: Start off by defining yourself clearly so that your audience can find you.
Marketing has changed significantly in recent times, especially with the Internet offering
new ways of communicating and maintaining relationships. Old ways of broadcasting to
audience through advertising is fast loosing ground to sharing information through social
media and interest-based communities.
In the changing world of marketing, customers are attracted to people they ‘resonate’ with.
And to be attracted to you, they will have to know who you are. So that is why this tip is that
you should first define yourself, then look for the audience that will be attracted to you.
© Flow Finders International BDS Page 8

9. Tip # 8
Show up & stand out
Attraction is the connection which the customers you’re meant to serve experience when
thinking of you and your business.
When you have defined yourself based on your purpose and passions, the people you’re
meant to serve will find you attractive – but only if they notice you. This is why the tip is to
show up at the places they gather and to stand out when you do arrive there.
After you’ve defined yourself, define the audience that will be attracted to you. Then
identify the places they congregate physically, online and through the media they consume,
so that you know where it is that you should be noticed. That leaves it up to you to be
present where your audience is and to ensure that you show up in such a way that you do
not just blend into the background – you have to be noticed!
So, participate where your audience participates and get noticed!
Tip # 9
Build trust relationships
Lasting Attraction is built on trust relationships. So it is just not good enough to attract the
customers you’re meant to serve and transact with them. You have to build longer term
relationships.
Building lasting relationships starts with creating the desire within your audience to do
business with you. You need to give them a taste of what it is you’re about and the value
they’ll get from you – but not the Full Monty, yet! Desire will lead to transactions, so ensure
that you create enough desire without giving away your product or service before you made
a sale.
Sales transactions allow you to gather some information from your customers, which you
can then use in building lasting relationships. Get their permission to send them
information, or offer subscription to a regular advice column or newsletter. These are good
ways of maintaining a relationship that will lead to trust and ongoing business.
© Flow Finders International BDS Page 9

10. Tip # 10
Spend on the future
The result of offering Benefit, reducing Disappointment and increasing your Attraction is the
Cash flowing into the business and the Contribution you make to others.
Your business must decide how the Cash coming into the business is used – hopefully
wisely!
One of the problems many businesses face is that the people in the businesses are very
vocal about their financial needs, but the business itself does not have a strong voice to
speak, so the needs of the business are not attended to. That is why this tip is to plan so that
you can first attend to the needs of the business, and then allocated what’s left to the
people working in the business. First fund the future, then allocate the rest to now!
Tip # 11
Maintain your lifestyle
The lifestyle you choose must be maintained from the productive work you do and the
returns on what you have invested, either in your own business or elsewhere.
The trick here is to achieve the right balance between the cash generated through your
work and the cost of maintaining the lifestyle you choose – not to aim for an unaffordable
lifestyle, but also not to live such a frugal life that you do not enjoy the ‘fruit of your labour’.
To live a life based on continued debt is not a good idea. Rather adjust your cost of living to
a level where you can comfortably cover all your ‘normal’ expenditure, so that you do not
have to worry about meeting your personal budget. When you have to manage your money
with care to maintain your standard of living, your focus shifts away from creating more
Benefits for your customers, reducing their Disappointments and optimising your Attraction.
So, the tip is this: Choose a life style appropriate to the income you get from your business
or job, and the return on your investments.
© Flow Finders International BDS Page 10

11. Tip # 12
Create wealth
In accumulating assets over time, you allow yourself to grow into the space where income
from daily productive work becomes less and less important.
For some this entails working towards retirement and paying monthly instalments into a
retirement fund or other pension instrument. While this is one way of planning for financial
security, there are also others, which might suite you better. The life-stage you find yourself
in, your risk attitude and the level of future income you require from your assets are some
of the factors that will determine how you go about in creating your own wealth.
While there are many ways of creating wealth, you should not just assume you are on the
right track because some insurance agent assessed your future needs. Plan to accumulate
assets and assess your progress at least annually. And if you are an entrepreneur,
accumulate your assets inside and outside of your own business.
Tip # 13
Leave your legacy
Your Contribution is not always something mentioned as an important component of
success. However, more and more successful business people are saying that the legacy
they want to leave behind is more important than the wealth they created. This can also be
true for small business owners and professionals working in large corporations. You are
leaving an impression where-ever you go – it’s your choice how deep that impression is and
how long it will last.
When offering a product or service to your customers, you are also leaving an impression on
them – you add value to their lives. So, be conscious about the value you give your
customers and serve them in such a way that they will remember you. In this way you’ll be
leaving a legacy of adding value to people’s lives.
© Flow Finders International BDS Page 11

12. Tip # 14
Give back
Contribution is not limited to leaving your legacy with your customers through the product
or service you provide. There are also other stakeholders involved with the business, such
as company employees, the community living close to the business premises and your
suppliers. You can also contribute to the improvement of the lives of these stakeholders.
Be clear on the rewards all the involved parties get, as well as their perceptions on the level
of their benefit. When staff are under-paid (or over-paid), the business will suffer. As will be
the case when your suppliers or the communities you operate in, resent you or your
business.
So, be clear who all the stakeholders in your business are – from shareholders, to staff, to
suppliers, to the community you’re based in – and give back to them so that you are
recognised as a contributor to the improvement of their lives.
Tip # 15
Support causes
The last tip forms part of your Contribution to improving the world, namely to support
initiatives to develop the overall quality of life in the world. The challenges the world faces
today require new approaches, which some times fall outside of the reach of government
support and where business is not feasible. Such initiatives, also called ‘causes’, are
dependent on support from parties who understand that the future we create on planet
earth is dependent of directing resources to solve the most pressing social and
environmental problems.
You can extend your contribution to supporting causes through financial contribution,
donating time or resources, or getting involved in the actual operations of these
organisations. This is not just a handout you make as part of ‘social responsibility’. A much
more effective way of supporting ‘causes’ is by connecting with the people inside these
organisations and their beneficiaries, not only handing over a cheque!
You can be an effective giver! The choice is yours…
END
© Flow Finders International BDS Page 12

13. Flow Finder International BDS
PO Box 23149, Claremont 7735,
Cape Town, South Africa
3rd Floor, Vineyard Centre,
10 Dreyer Street, Claremont,
Cape Town, South Africa
www.flowfinders.com
info@flowfinders.com
+27 87 150 4710
© Flow Finders International BDS Page 13