Are you so busy working in your business you have no time to work at your business? There’s a saying that if you don’t find time to work smarter, you’ll have to find time to work harder. I know that’s true in my case. And there’s no shortage of ideas. It’s a matter of taking time to look for the one idea that makes the difference.

The way I see it, if one day away from my business means the difference between profit and loss – I’m in the wrong game! But before I invest a day to work at my business by rubbing shoulders with colleagues and listening to experts, I do everything I can to get at least ONE idea I’ll want to keep.

The 2010 Innovative Industries Conference on 16 September will burst at the seams with new ideas. One of them could make all the difference to where you and your business will be next year, five years from now, and well into the future. In fact, its major aim is to help local businesses build the future they want! So instead of signing up, moseying along, listening, chatting and enjoying the whole experience, I’ll be taking this six point plan to guarantee I get the best return on my time.

Attend the sessions that will benefit you most. (They might not be those in which you’ll feel most comfortable. But in business, comfort zones are overrated.)

Set realistic expectations. A subtle change in how you see things can make all the difference in how customers and staff see you. You might not feel the Earth move straight away, but the effects down the road can be astonishing.

Talk to other delegates about more than the weather. Get their ideas about how they’re innovating in their business. What are their plans for a more sustainable future?

Write a summary of what you’re learned. Do this after each session, and review your notes later.

Share the ideas with your staff. Sometimes it’s not the idea itself that benefits you most, but the atmosphere of ‘possibility thinking,’ creativity, problem solving and innovation that it brings to your team.

Develop an action plan. Commit to implementing at least one new idea. Give it a deadline. Make it happen. If you have to procrastinate, do this first. Procrastinate later.

In his famous book; ‘The Law of Success,’ Napoleon Hill wrote that where two or more people meet in a spirit of goodwill with a common purpose for the common good, a mastermind alliance forms that is greater than the sum of its parts. You see this in positive meetings where ideas bounce off each other like fireworks, creating energy and excitement that, in the end, produce a great result no one would have thought of separately.

The 2010 Innovative Industries Conferences provides such a forum. But as they say, the journey to a better business begins with the first step. So I urge you to take that step now. Register for the conference. Send key staff, and benefit from the mastermind alliance.

The future is coming, ready or not. Don’t let it ambush you. Come to the conference to meet it. Make it yours.

The conference will be held on Thursday, 16^th September, at the Events Centre, Minchinton Street, Caloundra. Seize the day. Secure your place now and get the early-bird discount.

Register Today!