Simply Business Coaching

Who really knows what lies ahead?

 It’s interesting that so many experts are telling us what we need to be doing in our businesses to weather the current economic storm.  Interesting because ‘they’ don’t know what lies ahead, any more than we do!  No-one knows how long this situation will last or what will happen when we come out the other side.

As I write this article, Woolworth and MFI are dominating the gloomy UK business news as they slide, whimpering quietly, into administration.

And then I saw this on Richard Branson’s Blog:

“The best, most solid way out of a crisis in a changing market is through experiment and adaptation. Businesses surf the waves of changing circumstances, and I can’t offhand think of any industries whose best players are not constantly engaged in reinvention of one sort or another.

Making changes and improvements is a natural part of business, and for sole traders and very small companies, the distinction between innovation and day-to-day delivery is barely noticeable and unimportant. It’s all just business, and creative, responsive, flexible business comes easier to you the smaller your operation.”

(I know he’s got a new book to promote, but he’s also managed to start and sell some very successful businesses, as well as surviving previous economic downturns.  All this makes him a credible source of advice in my opinion!)

While this advice may not be brand new, it does at least make sense and is encouraging for small business owners.  What changes and improvements are you going to make?

Technology culture shock!

Some of my coaching clients have been using PDAs, BlackBerrys and iPhones for a long time, and if you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that I became the proud owner of a brand new BlackBerry Storm last Monday, when it was launched in the UK. 

After years of resisting mobile technology, it’s proving to be quite a culture shock, as you might imagine!  In fact, I liken my ‘upgrade’ as going from learning to drive in a pedal car and then getting into a Ferrari straight after passing the test!

I can now check & answer emails, browse the internet, keep a contact database and organise my time – all on one little handheld gadget.  Oh, and it’s a phone as well!  (I know there are even more applications, but these are enough for me to be getting on with just now!)

As I was working out how to use this new smart phone, it occurred to me that we expect our technology tools to do quite a lot for us.  We want them to store & organise records as well as remind us about meetings and deadlines.  Could we be in danger of relying on them too much?

Obviously I’m hoping that my BlackBerry, together with the new Laptop being delivered next week, are going to increase my efficiency & productivity.  But I’m not expecting them to replace the creativity and thinking processes that every  business owner needs to tap into.  For example, I can’t imagine the initial stages of planning a new project without good old fashioned ‘messy’ pen & paper!

This is a topic I’ll revisit as I get used to using my upgraded technology, either on this blog or on Savvy Marketers.  Please feel free to comment on your experiences with technology – have they helped your business or slowed you down?

Is fear holding you back from planning?

I don’t know about you, but I’m busy planning for next year already!  And more people than ever are asking me for coaching to do the same for their businesses. 

But when I advertised a workshop on planning for 2009, I hardly got any takers.  Apart from feeling very disappointed, I was puzzled because I know there’s a need!

Then I had an ‘Aha!’ moment - of course business owners want help planning – swiftly followed by a ‘Duh!’ moment - but they’re afraid of sharing or letting others know about those plans!

Fear of what’s going to happen in the coming months is very natural and I’m kicking myself for not realising that this ‘fear of the unknown’  would rear its ugly head in these challenging times.

So, not only are some small business owners reluctant to share their plans, others are afraid to even make plans because of what might be lurking around the corner – and they certainly don’t want to come on a workshop with me in case someone pinches their ideas!

I’m not belittling that fear – because I know it’s a very real fear and I’ve felt it too.  What I’ve learnt is that fear can paralyse – and cause no end of problems.  The antidote is to take action – even though that can feel very scary.

Now I need to re-think what to do instead of the workshop – but I’m determined to help as many business owners as possible make positive plans for next year, and show them that by planning they will be able to weather the economic storm.

Tell me please, do you believe business planning for next year should be a ‘private’ experience?

Do you make the most of your business card?

One of the first things I do when someone hands me their business card is to turn it over and look at what’s on the reverse side, and I don’t think I’m alone in doing this. 

Let’s face it, what’s printed on the front of most business cards is pretty predictable – name, position, business or company name, and contact details (with a few variations).  Often I see some very attractive cards – printed on nice quality stock, perhaps with a satin or gloss finish.  The proud owner may even have gone to the extra expense of full colour.

But they miss out on a really important marketing opportunity – they leave the reverse of their card blank.

When you get back from a networking meeting, what do you do with the business cards you collect?  You look at them more closely.  If there is something printed on the reverse you read that too.  While you may discard flyers and brochures (who has enough space to keep them all?), you are more likely to keep a business card so this is probably the most important piece of marketing material you’ve got.

The more information people have about you, the better chance you’ll have of being remembered when your card is unearthed after a few months.

Make use of both sides of your business card – it doesn’t usually cost any more to produce.  Put a list of your services, invite people to subscribe to your newsletter, give an introductory offer.Get the maximum marketing value from your business card, and make sure that people really get your message!

(c) Louise Barnes-Johnston, 2007

(this post comes from an article I originally wrote for my newsletter 'Competitive Advantage'. It was very popular so I thought you might like to read it here!)

The Entrepreneur's Lament

This is a bit of a double-edged sword.  While it’s great to have the sort of mind that keeps coming up with new ideas, that same entrepreneurial trait can also mean leaving a trail of unfinished projects.

The excitement of a new idea can carry you off track and away from what you need to be doing to actually make money!  And you probably find that by the time you’re ready to make that new idea a reality – you’re bored with it, because in your mind you’ve already finished it – and you want to move on to the next exciting thought!

If this scenario is ringing bells for you, then it’s time to unpack all the focus tools in your toolbox and do whatever it takes to complete your brilliant ideas.

Prioritising should be easy – whatever is going to make you money fastest needs to be number 1 on your list!

Planning out each idea from inception to completion will help keep you on track and stop you from feeling overwhelmed.

Taking the first step is vital.  If you wait until you’ve worked out all the fine details, it will be too late!  Too late because someone else may beat you to it if you wait too long, and too late because your enthusiasm will have gone off the boil.

Today’s tip – allocate 1 hour each day just to work on just one of your brilliant ideas.  You’ll soon get through that list of unfinished projects!

When do you do your best work?

 One of the ongoing joys for me of working from home is being able to do what I want more or less when I want to!  The challenge is making sure I don’t fritter away the day doing the ‘easy’ stuff, such as research and networking online!

Now that I’m blogging more regularly, both here and on Savvy Marketers, I’ve had to reassess the best time to write my posts.  I used to write when I felt like it, which was great but did result in rather long gaps between posts when I didn’t feel like it or got busy with other stuff!

You know how sometimes you’re just not in the mood to do anything too taxing?  If you’re like me, that’s when you catch up on simple admin. tasks that don’t require too much brain power.  Forcing yourself to engage in more complex work is a wasted effort because the output is generally below par and has to be redone.

On the other hand, there are those blissful hours when you just steam through and get so much accomplished that you literally amaze yourself!  And wonder why you can’t always be that productive.

Since joining Twitter, I’ve noticed a lot of the people I follow working late into the night, at weekends and rising extremely early to tweet about the day ahead.  Their working patterns are probably quite representative of entrepreneurs everywhere.

What these people have found is, not only that they need to work hard to get projects off the ground, but also the times of the day when they’re at their most productive.

Finding the ‘sweet spots’ in your day, those times when work just flows, seemingly without effort, will increase your personal productivity.

Thank goodness for Lewis Hamilton!

I’ve been dithering whether to write this post for a few days and Lewis Hamilton’s F1 Championship win has made up my mind to go ahead!

On Saturday I heard about the embarrassingly poor result by the England Cricket team in the controversial Stanford Series.  Hearing that the team had been ‘distracted’ by the press comments was, frankly, hard to comprehend.  I’d like to think that if there was £1M waiting for me, I’d play my heart out and ignore everything but the game.

Then we come to Lewis Hamilton’s fabulous season and well-deserved win.  I don’t know what was motivating him, especially on the last nail-biting corners, but it was strong enough to enable him to find that ‘extra’ something he needed.  He certainly didn’t get distracted after Glock passed him on the penultimate lap.

What has this to do with business?  Passion and hunger.  The difference between being a success and being just average.  Strong words eh?

Winners have passion and hunger, they’re not interested in coming second.  Winners like Lewis Hamilton show they are determined, focused and not afraid to proclaim that they want to be No. 1.

Most of the small business owners I talk to set their goals far too low.  It’s almost as if they say ‘If I set my goals low enough, I might just reach them.’  Whilst I would never expect anyone to set themselves up to fail to achieve, surely a little stretch wouldn’t hurt?

Just think what a difference it could make to your business if you set goals and pursued them like Lewis Hamilton?