Simply Business Coaching

Why a Charity Worker is Happier than a Rock Star

Have you notice how, quite apart from the admirable selflessness displayed by those people who help others, they often have an inner glow of happiness and contentment?  And don't you sometimes wonder why celebrities and rock stars seem to be so tortured and unhappy in their off-stage lives when they appear to have it all?

This short video (from Stanford University's Entrepreneurship Corner) explains why the often short-lived feelings of happiness are the result of looking for it in the wrong place.  So the sooner you identify what keeps you happy and motivated the sooner you'll know where to find it - both in your life and in your business!

Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh is passionate about positive emotions and outcomes for employees, vendors, and customers. This interest led him to study the science of happiness. In this clip, Hsieh shares some of his key findings related to finding and delivering happiness.

Here's the link to watch the whole talk.

Do you have this Entrepreneurial Flaw?

Most business owners I have the pleasure to work with are brimming with ideas for all manner of new products and services they want to develop. This is a typical and positive characteristic of all entrepreneurs - but it can also prove to be a flaw that leads to failure....

Unfortunately, many brilliant ideas don’t see the light of day because their creator got bored or lost interest, and moved on to the next brilliant new idea.  Hardly anything gets finished and that’s such a shame.

At the other end of the personality spectrum are those very practical people who stay quietly focused and diligently work through all the minute details.  They get the the job done.

Successful entrepreneurs are those who have the self discipline to see a project through to completion, or they team up and work with people who do.  At the very least they outsource some of the detail work.

If you have a file stuffed with half-finished projects, it could be that you have this entrepreneurial flaw …..  hmm …. what are you going to do about it?

When Following the Plan is Wrong

If you've ever said (or thought) - "I know what the customer wants" - make sure your statement is based on good, solid research.  Watch this short video where author Eric Ries shares his personal story of monumental startup failure.

By the way, this doesn't mean you shouldn't have a Business Plan!

Where Ideas Come From And Where They Might Lead

It's a well known fact that you get some of your best business ideas when you're away from the business! 

For anyone who feels guilty about taking time out to meet up with colleagues and networking contacts for a coffee, this TED talk by Steve Johnson (at around 17 minutes in length) not only gives you permission - it positively encourages you to have that extra Latte :)

Business Lessons from Your Washing Machine

Have you noticed that you don’t use many of the programs on your washing machine dial?  If you’re like me there will be just a couple of programs you use each week for most of your laundry, and perhaps another one or two that get used very occasionally - and which you always have to look up in the instruction book first to check.   

While you will know about all the different activities it takes to run your small business, you don’t need to do every single one of them yourself.  Like fixing your computer or creating a profit & loss statement and balance sheet (no thanks!).  If you don’t have the knowledge or previous experience, the learning curve can take far too much of your precious time away from doing what you do best.  Not to mention the lost income!

It’s far more useful to know of some good resources available to help you and where to find them.  In my experience the best of these resources are not usually the cheapest, nor are they easy to spot quickly in directories.  This is where recommendations based on personal experience (preferably from people you know) are invaluable.

Rather than wait until you have an urgent need or real emergency on your hands, why not make a list of all those infrequent but important business tasks you’d struggle with, or haven’t a clue how to do?  Ask your colleagues or peers who they would recommend to be reliable and do a good job.  Write the contact details beside the relevant task and keep the list somewhere easy to find again in a hurry.  Perhaps with your washing machine instruction book?

Do you try to do everything in your business? Or have you already made a list of trusted resources? Do share in the comments below :)

Do You Find Daily To-Do Lists Good or Bad?

Most people I know keep lists of one sort or another.  I find if I go food shopping without a list I spend far more than usual and still manage to come home without the most important meal ingredients.  This usually means I have to go back to the shop!  So, in my opinion, a shopping list is a good list to make.

Another list I keep are reminders - birthday cards to buy & send; insurance renewal dates; doctor & dentist appointments to make - all the routine but vital stuff that can easily be forgotten when you’re busy.  I keep a list in the kitchen where I look at it every morning, cross out what I’ve done and add any new items on the bottom.  My reminder list is a good list to make.

The lists I really struggle with are Daily To-Do Lists.  You see, I always write down more, many more to-dos than I can possibly get through in one normal length day.  Optimism gets the better of me when I write the list.  And then, at the end of the day, I beat myself up over how little I’ve achieved.

What I find is, because all the ‘to-dos’ are hanging over me throughout the day, I don’t allow myself the luxury to just sit and daydream - there isn't enough time left free for doing that.  Which is crazy, because when I switch off from the busyness, I get some of my best ideas.

What I’m experimenting with as an alternative to the shackles of a daily to-do list is a weekly to-do list.  While some tasks are date sensitive, others just need to be completed before the end of the week.  The weekly to-do list is just as long as the previous 5 days worth of lists, but somehow it doesn’t seem as rigid.  There might even be time for a bit of daydreaming ;)

Do you find daily To-Do Lists good or bad for creativity?  Please let me know by commenting below - and if you enjoyed this post, I'd appreciate if you'd share it :)

Have You Planned Any Spontaneity Lately?

I know that question sounds a bit silly, but I’m being very serious in asking it.  With many business owners working harder than ever just to keep afloat, being spontaneous is possibly the last thing on your mind.  And yet it could provide valuable answers to growing your business.

Are you Too busy?
There never seem to be enough hours in the day when you own a business, especially if you do everything yourself.  And there are certainly a lot of different jobs to do, in addition to actually servicing clients.  But have you ever noticed that, when faced with an immovable deadline like a holiday, it’s possible to get through an amazing amount of work.  Yet at the other end of the scale, if you have all day to, say, write a newsletter article, it will take all day.  It’s almost as if your brain send a message:  No panic, take your time - so you do.

Have you made too many plans?
It’s obviously important to have a plan (I’ve blogged about it often enough!) but when every hour of each working day accounted for, often weeks in advance, it can be downright depressing to look at your diary and see all those to-do lists.  And it only takes a few appointment changes to send the whole house of cards tumbling - launching your stress levels into orbit and taking time you can ill afford, to get everything rearranged.

Why you need some spontaneity planning
Have you noticed how your best ideas usually come to you when you’re not working (like in the shower, while walking the dog, or even in the supermarket queue)?  Of course you can make a note of them but, be honest, when will you have the time to explore them?  When your day is choc-a-bloc, you probably resist the temptation to pick up the phone and ring the person whose name just popped into your head.  So you don’t have that conversation which might have resulted in a new joint venture and extra income stream. 

And what about all the other spontaneous opportunities you don’t have time to explore?  I guess you’ll never know what they could have led to.

Do you ‘plan’ for a bit of spontaneity?  Please let me know any instances of what’s worked (or what hasn’t) for you.  And if you enjoyed this post, feel free to share :)

What would you write about?

I was looking through some of the business books in my over-crowded bookcase, wondering whether to post a few reviews here.  Then I got to thinking - if I were writing a book about how I got to where I am now in my own business, what would I write?

Would I write about my early background - family, childhood, education, relationships?

Would I write about when I inhabited that grey corporate cubicle?

What about the story of starting up my first business?  The fast and furious learning curve could make for an interesting read!

Or would I be better to write about where I am now with my business, and the lessons from this trying economy?

Hmm .......

You know, I really don't think any of it is interesting enough to write a book about!  I'll just keep writing for this blog ..... for now :)

But .... if YOU were writing a business book, what would you write about?

New Ideas need New Thinking

As Einstein famously said, you can't solve a problem with the same thinking that caused it in the first place!

So why do we think we can come up with new ideas for our business when we keep doing the same things or mixing with the same people.

Even those of us with notebooks full of ideas need to revisit them to see if they really are 'new'.

Now that it's so much easier to find out what the latest trends are, what the thought-leaders are thinking it can be easy to be swept along the same path as everyone else.  To become a 'me-too'.

Original thoughts and ideas are much harder to come by, and all the more precious for that very reason.  And if it's true that there is nothing really new in this world, then coming up with a new twist to apply to an existing idea is maybe a better place to start.

Let's take a common problem facing small businesses - that of charging what their product or service is worth - and not discounting!

Rather than only listening to what fellow business owners within your networking circle might say, how about getting a different opinion from, perhaps a

Dentist
Musician
Farmer
Barrister

These people may not know anything about your business, but they will be able to tell you about charging for your product or service - from their viewpoint.

How do you come up with new ideas for your business? 

Do you have the attention span of a butterfly?

Just as butterflies in nature flit from flower to flower, landing briefly and then moving on, butterfly business owners can’t seem to stay focused on any one topic long enough to make significant changes.

Yes, it’s the sign of a true entrepreneur to have lots of new ideas and want to pursue them. But, if those new ideas are stopping you from actually making progress – and more importantly - money in your business, because you aren’t seeing projects through to completion (or moving quickly enough), then something needs to change.

Let’s take a look at some ways you can be more focused:

Use a timer and work in short bursts of 15 or 20 minutes. During that time focus on just one task and get as much done as you can. When the buzzer goes, take a short break. Repeat as often as necessary. You’ll amaze yourself at how much you get done.

Keep a little notebook handy at all times. Use it to jot down ideas as they occur to you and capture them before they escape! One reason for a butterfly attention span is carrying too many ideas around in your head. Writing them down will free you up to concentrate on the job in hand.

If your project hasn’t got a deadline, set one anyway. Without deadlines, you’ll find yourself starting lots of projects and then letting them drift as something more urgent comes along.

Break big projects down into small action steps. It can be hard to stay focused when the overall project is too big. Work out a timeline for each step that needs to be done.

Only work on 3 projects at a time. Spreading your attention too thinly between a myriad of projects will mean that none get finished quickly. Focus on just 3 at any one time and you’ll build up an unstoppable head of steam! And, as soon as one project is complete, you can take another from your list to replace it.

The beauty of staying focused is that you will get more done in your business and make progress faster. So work with full concentration on the projects that count - and leave the butterflies to nature.