MONA TENJO

POWERHOUSE GLOBAL MAGAZINE (PGMAG) INTERVIEW WITH:

MONA TENJO (MT)

Mona Tenjo is the CEO of Work On Your Business, bestselling author and host of the show “Success By The Numbers”.

PGMAG: Mona, good to have you on today's interview with Lady Anita.

MT: Thank you very much for having me!

PGMAG: How would you describe yourself as a leader?

MT: I think I’d characterize myself as a tough but fair leader. I hold my team to the same high standards that I abide by myself but also keep it fair in terms of understanding what every person is able to achieve and contribute so the tasks are challenging but not unachievable. This way, my team is performing their best and constantly grows more resourceful.

PGMAG: Please tell us a little bit about your business (Work On Your Business).

MT: At Work On Your Business we support entrepreneurs and businesses to grow to the next level. Usually, our clients reach out when they hit a limit in their business. For example, either they grew very fast and their current systems cannot handle the new workload. Or they need to re-organize their team to make sure the next level can be managed. We also support in professionalizing the businesses further e.g. by introducing systems to automate processes or by improving the reporting to make sure you spend your time on the right things instead of just being busy.

PGMAG: You have worked with some of the top companies in the world - Especially in Germany. What are some of the keys to building a sustainable future in business?

MT: I like to believe that it requires a lot more than people think when starting, however there are 3 keys that will be absolutely necessary for success.

Number 1: Strategy - I think one of the biggest mistakes many entrepreneurs make is to neglect the impact of strategy.

While large companies like Siemens have entire departments thinking about the business strategy, small businesses or solo entrepreneurs think that they don’t “need” that or that there is no budget for that.

However, what we see a lot with our clients is that many problems could have been prevented if somebody just had spent a few minutes thinking an endeavor through until the end. Everything you do in business needs to be aligned with your overall strategy. This makes it very easy when it comes to important decisions: Does it fit your strategy or not?

Number 2: Focus - Too many people work without focus and therefore disperse their energy all over. If you try to be a jack of all trades, you will end up not going anywhere. You need to focus on one thing and finish it before you start with a new thing.

And Number 3: Persistence – Too many people quit way too early. In business, you need grit. If you only try once or twice, you will not be successful in the long run. Thomas Edison tried almost 9,000 trials to get the light bulb to market readiness. His employees would have stopped after trial 1,000. Luckily, Edison was persistent.

PGMAG: In the current global challenge (covid-19), what are some of the steps business owners need to take in order to mitigate the impact of this challenge?

MT: Most importantly, business owners need to understand, that their fate is in their own hands. It is 100% your own responsibility what you make out of this situation. You cannot change the environment, but you can adapt your actions. Too many people feel as victims that have no choice. This is not true! We all have choices every day.

Then you need to measure everything in your business: How are we doing? How long can we sustain as a business? How much cash at hand is available? What needs to be earned? What do we spend our money on? Which actions that we’ve tried worked? Which didn’t? What to focus our energy on? What haven’t we tried yet? Only what gets measured, can be improved.

And finally, I would suggest every business owner to be as connected as possible to their customers. Find out what they need, what you can provide to them, how you can support them and what they worry about right now. Only when speaking to your customers, you can come up with new products that meet the market demand, pick the right language for marketing, and generate more sales. Also, your customers will never forget that you were there for them when they needed you the most! And never forget: It is significantly cheaper to upsell an existing client than to win a new one. Your existing customers already like and trust you. They already bought in the past. If you can offer them a solution for their problems, your future is much more save.

PGMAG: One of your areas of expertise include: •Helping businesses to futureproof their growth •Implement sustainable processes and systems. Please touch light on the above listed, and tell us how more businesses can access these services.

MT: “We don’t know what we don’t know”. That is a sentence, one of my mentors always says. And it is very true. Most businesses are not even aware of the systems that are available.

I recently developed a process documentation for one of my clients. They do a lot of project management in each of their projects. But they never used any of the project management methodologies. When I showed them some of the standard material that I use, they were shocked to see how little they knew about all of this.

So how can you futureproof your business? Never stop learning. Always be open to listen to advice. Get yourself help. Assume that you don’t know everything.

We offer our clients a business process assessment where we scrutinize all processes and systems and show improvement potentials in the business.

When it comes to implementation of systems, you always have 2 choices: do it yourself or get in experts to do it for you. Many smaller businesses prefer the first option. However, most of the times, the internal costs are never considered. If you add up all the time you spend with implementing a system you have never implemented before (not even adding all the consequences of not really knowing what you do and maybe even having to correct something later) and you put a price tag to your own worked hours, usually you will be 3-10x more expensive than if you had outsourced it.

PGMAG: We always like to know what leaders are reading to stay relevant in the changing world. What are the top three books that changed your life?

MT: 1) T. Harv Eker: The Secrets of a Millionaire Mind – this book really changed my view on the world when I was still an employee. I understood that there is another world out there. 2) Gary Keller: The One Thing – in my 20’s, this helped me understand that I don’t have to do everything at the same time and that focus is way more important than the effort you put into anything. 3) Robert B. Cialdini: Influence – this booked changed my view on how to build sustainable long-term relationships in business and in life.

PGMAG: What is your message for world leaders?

MT: Make sure that small companies are not left behind in this crisis. Small businesses often are the backbone of our economy.

PGMAG: If you knew what you knew now, what would you do differently?

MT: My past made me who I am today. I didn’t know what I know now, and I don’t know the things I will know tomorrow. Learning is a constant process that shapes us in many ways. I’d prefer to focus on what I can do today rather than wondering what would have been.

PGMAG: Please tell us a little bit about your show.

MT: In “Success By The Numbers”, I share how to manage your business by the numbers. I explain the different key performance indicators you should keep an eye on and interview CEOs, industry experts and celebrities to learn from their business insights and experiences.

PGMAG: Finally, what would you say to your younger self?

MT:

Trust in the process. Everything happens for a reason, even if that reason is not clear immediately.

PGMAG: Thank you very much for your time - Much appreciated.

MT: Thank you so much for this interview! Great, thoughtful questions!

PGMAG: Please share your links with us.

MT: Sure, you can reach me at: Website - https://work-onyour-business.com/ Facebook page –

https://www.facebook.com/workonyourbusiness

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/monatenjo/

Email – mona@work-on-yourbusiness.com

Please feel free to connect with me!