Small Business Revitalization Blog

(Kirsiri - a Passion Fest highliight!)

Are you better off having a strong vision and not so strong implementation, or a weaker vision and phenomenal implementation?  For business owners this question can mean the difference between success and failure.  Here’s a small case study that demonstrates exactly what the risks are…

I went to a local Passion Tasting Festival on the weekend.  The idea of the festival was engaging.  The publicity on the festival was great.  The website was fabulous. The vision sounded intriguing.  But…it was a complete fizzer…

The first warning sign was it cost me $100 a head to get in the door!  Quite a daunting price, but I was primarily going as research for a new venture.  When we arrived, we could see about 10 tents on a sports field – I could feel that $100 disappearing before my eyes.  Once inside, we discovered that there truly was little to see besides a few market stalls, the occasional performance (an excellent tribal dance by Kitsiri!) and almost nothing new to discover when it comes to living your passion.  What’s more, there were only about 10 other paying customers there…

So, what went wrong?  Strong vision… but in a nutshell the pricing strategy was a failure!   When you set pricing for anything, there are a few things to consider if you want to be successful…

* What is your end goal?  Often there will be a trade-off between volume of transactions and gross profit – work out which one is most important to your business.

* What creates value for your customers?  In this case, their stallholders required a high volume of traffic and festival visitors required a high volume of interesting things to see and do… both missed out!!

* If what you are doing isn’t working – change something!!  It must have been clear some weeks ago that ticket sales were virtually nil.  Instead of slugging it out and failing, what could have happened if the organizers were willing to sell tickets for $10 each?  At least a few hundred people would have turned up… and stall holders and presenters would have been happy – a starting point for future events… I heard they were actually turning people away at the gate who didn’t want to pay the premium gate price of $125 a ticket!!

The lessons?  Less rhetoric, more understanding of your customers.  Less greed, more flexibility in your business model.  Business really is that simple!!

Want to know more about pricing and how it can make your vision rock?  Check out this month’s Playshop – it’s all about money!!

Want more of Kerri Rodley's great tips on creating your dream office?  Don't miss her 'Creating Your Dream Life' workshop this Saturday afternoon!

Secret 4 - Scheduling
Time management and scheduling is a big component of how well your home office fits into your home and lifestyle. You can’t be stopping projects to put a load of washing on the line no matter how much the laundry is piling up. If you we back in the corporate world in a high rise, the washing would still be waiting for you after hours and that is the attitude you must have.

The same applies for those drop in visitors – just because you work from home does not mean you are available for coffee and a chat at any time of day. On the other hand, make sure you schedule time for breaks every hour or so; set a timer if you have to. When you don’t have office co-workers to meet with or to discuss issues, you can find yourself sitting in the same position sitting at your desk staring at the screen with the hours flying by.

Keep the fluids up, do eye exercises or sit outside in the sun for a few minutes (but don’t put that washing out!) And most important of all – make a prioritised task list every day and do those urgent and important jobs first; the ones that will be bringing in the $ (not the quick and easy jobs that can wait until later).

Secret 5 – Storage
From filing cabinets of paperwork & bills to garages filled with product & packaging supplies, storage of business paraphernalia is a huge factor to deal with in your home. You don’t want your work taking over your families personal space and you don’t want items such as toys or washing in your work space if you  have clients in for a meeting (plus the visual clutter is distracting).

Unless you have an office with a door that can be shut at the end of the day keeping work and home lives separate, you need to have defined  spaces where “never the twain shall meet”. Set ground rules for yourself and family members so things are either put away (if you are using the dining room table for example) or can be covered up (a filing cabinet in a family space).

And stick to them, otherwise you become complacent and before you know it your time and space for work and home become intertwined and you won’t be comfortable or focused in either space.

Secret 6 – Simplicity
You don’t know how long you are going to be working from a home office, your business may grow rapidly and you need to hire extra employees, your storage area for supplies may double overnight, or  God forbid you may need to go back to working for someone else until things pick up.

The point is don’t be spending the big bucks on setting up the home office when the money can be better spent in building your business – on your website, your marketing, distribution channels etc.

A large table is as good a desk as a purpose built one as long as it suits your style (see secret 2). Make sure the chair is comfortable and supportive but that doesn’t mean spending $500.

Always shop at discount stores first for supplies rather than the big name brands – be a spend thrift and your business dollars will go further.

Secret 7 – Serenity now!
To make your work space inviting and serene, you need to add touches such as a family photo, flowers, music or other items you enjoy. I actually have a water fountain next to my desk on the floor that provides not only a lovely sound, but I add lavender oil to the water to create a calming aroma too. Great for Feng Shui.

Hint: don’t overdo it! You don’t want to add unnecessary clutter through personal items, just a few things that give you pleasure and keep you grounded and balanced.

For more ideas and tips on decluttering, organising and setting up your small business, visit Kerri's Domestic Downsizing decluttering blog or follow her on Twitter.

We welcome Kerri Rodley from Domestic Downsizing as our guest blogger today... Kerri is sharing the secrets of a productive home office (I know these tips work because Kerri helped me fix up my office earlier this year!)

Making the decision to set up a business working from home is daunting enough without complicating matters with the stresses of making the perfecting work space. Here are my 7 secrets on setting up your home office to create a space that ensures you are encouraged to start work each morning!

Secret 1 - The Space
The first and most important step before you even think about setting up a home office is: location, location, location! I have spent many an hour setting up the perfect space with the PC just so, shelves and supplies close to hand only to find the room too cold and dark. I ended up working on my laptop in the sunroom.

You have to be drawn to your space and encouraged to spend many an hour working there otherwise you may find other tasks to do rather than concentrating on your work. Make sure the natural light is good or you have good task lighting (lamps) and that you aren’t distracted by outside noise.

Hint: Make sure if you are working on the dining room table that you have a super quick pack up system so the table can be used for it’s original purpose – family meals! Have a storage box or cupboard near by to stow the office materials – easy to set up, easy to pack up is the key. For other areas you could invest in an attractive room dividing screen, this way when the work day is over, pull the screen around your table and voila – the office is shut for the day!

Secret 2 – Your Style
The second most important step - find out what sort of organising style you have. Do you like your current projects on show so you can easily put your hand on them, or do you prefer to have everything out of site so it looks neat and tidy?

If you are a visual person and like piles of papers or files on your desk that you can see, but instead have filed them away out of sight to make the office look tidy, you will find this system won’t work as “out of sight” can become “out of mind” and you may overlook tasks.

Remember, your work space doesn’t have to look perfectly tidy to be organised. Many people have home offices that look more like a disaster zone, but if you ask them for a particular piece of paper, they can put their hand straight on it.

On the other hand, if you have the style “a place for everything and everything in its place” and you find your workspace covered with papers, this will also cause you unnecessary stress. Set up systems where you can easily locate files or papers but that are just as easy to put back (and make sure you do!). “Toaster” file racks are the perfect example, they sit on your desk so your files are readily accessible but they keep clutter to a minimum (and you can easily pick up the rack at the end of the day and put away if you need to).

Secret 3 – The Systems
Don’t rush out and buy up all sorts of expensive organising in-trays, storage boxes and the like until you have used your office for a week or two. Chances are what looks great in the store may not work for your particular system (as per your style) and you don’t want to waste your money.

As you work, keep a shopping list handy and write things down that you find will make your office organised and easy to
use. You may already have suitable things in the house that will work just as well. Shop at stores such as Big W or discount chains so if your purchases aren’t suitable you haven’t spent a fortune.

(see the blog tomorrow for the next 4 secrets!!)

Kerri Rodley is sharing her secrets to creating a dream life this Saturday afternoon in Brisbane - 4 hours of expertise & ideas on style, organisation, design & life with fabulous food & new friends!  Bookings close Friday!

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gi/

Two years ago I effectively had a network of about 50 people including my friends – I was shy, introverted and mostly preferred my own company! Not only that, I really didn’t want anyone to see me – I rather liked being invisible!!  Or so I told myself…

Now, my network extends to thousands of people, I’ve become a coach, mentor, author and speaker, and I enjoy personal connections with more phenomenal people than I thought existed!!

What changed?  Firstly I became aware that I could offer so much more to the world if I would follow my bliss.  This bliss is evolving into an enormous vision that will create more joy and ease with people all over the world.

The phenomenal size and intent of my  vision and my commitment to living it daily has allowed me to be as generative, joyful, inspirational, expansive, captivating, and spectacular as I truly be… (and no, it wasn’t a 10 second transformation – it did take a little bit of focus on getting rid of the blocks that had put me in that unblissful disconnected place originally!)

Being that energy of bliss and inspiration and expansiveness has attracted amazing connections for me – neither I nor my business would be what we are today without the contribution of so many people…  When I stopped playing small and insignificant, the universe started delivering big!!

What would it take for you to start living beyond your imagination?  Who could you meet that could transform your life into living and working blissfully?  Who do you need to know that you aren’t connected with yet?

There’s only one way to find out and that’s to start getting connected!  

Online:  LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are fabulous starting points - or particpate in a forum with topics that interest you.
Offline:  Local networking groups, Local MeetUp groups and being the invitation with people you already know will get you started…

Want to connect your business to the people who make a difference online?  The Content Marketing Made Simple Playshop on March 22 will help you design a connection strategy based on your knowledge and expertise!

How do you connect?  What do you find difficult in connecting?  Share your experiences via the comments link below...

Image: FlickrCCYtseJamPhotography

Many businesses build their brand by educating potential customers. Informative, high quality content promotes what they do and demonstrates their expertise.  However, it pays to think of your content as the vehicle – i.e. content is plentiful and everyone has some!

What makes the difference and accelerates your results (besides an effective content marketing strategy!) is how you express your bliss.

Would you prefer to do business with a person who loves what they do and expresses it in all the ways they interact with you, or with someone who has one foot in the grave and simply can’t be bothered in making your experience with their business blissful?

The same applies to anything you write or produce as video or audio – how do you express your bliss?  When you have clarity and enthusiasm in expressing what you know, it’s contagious… and that is the point of content marketing… when you do it well it will accelerate how fast you can share your bliss with the world!!  

Here’s two examples of sharing business bliss through content marketing that really kick butt!!  Is it time to up the ante on how you share content with prospects?

Video: Doing Great Work (rather than bad or good work...)

Seth Godin: “People don't become leaders because they have charisma; people get charisma because they're leaders.”  (Image credit: flickr_jurvetson)

Last week we discussed ways 'indispensable' employees can hold you hostage - here's some solutions!

Most employees are willing to share information, knowledge and expertise.  However there are the small minority who stick very closely to the ‘information is power’ adage and subtly or obviously refuse to share information throughout the organization.  Often these people have come from corporate environments where this type of behavior was accepted and even encouraged.  

The recent global financial crisis has seen an increase in advice to employees to ‘make yourself indispensable’.  A useful strategy for the employee maybe, but not ideal for a smart small business!

The ‘indispensables’ can engage in behaviour as simple as putting passwords on particular information unnecessarily and never writing down critical information, or as extreme as being downright uncooperative and stealing your client and supplier data.  

Of course, these risks also become concerning if a team member is head hunted, run over by the proverbial bus or becomes ill.  If you outsource activities such as IT or administration, remember to apply these ideas to your external team as well.

The best plan is to set up your systems and procedures so that the expectations are clear and then reinforcing cooperation through active leadership.  Here’s 7 ways you can protect your business:

1. Cross-train team members (great for having holiday backup as well).
2. Have multiple points of contact with clients (so salespeople or service providers are not the only relationship builders).
3. Know which data is critical to your business and how to access it – have detailed operational manuals and confidential log-in/password lists done for core activities carried out by each team member.
4. If you are not sure where you are ‘held hostage’ watch what happens when staff go on holiday – what tasks and relationships fall through the cracks?  Debrief your team after each person goes on holidays and create written procedures and processes for anything that didn’t work.
5. Put ‘difficult’ or core employees in a position of leadership where it is their responsibility to teach others the required information – ensure this role is on their position description and regular conversations are held about it.
6. Use CRM systems and other databases to ensure that all appropriate information is captured and used appropriately within the organization.  Monitor exporting of data from these systems and ensure that sales results are measured through these systems so that all data must be entered rather than kept private.
7. Gain a clear understanding of what makes your top performers outstanding at what they do – capture the expertise, skills and knowledge so that a) you know what you are looking for if that person leaves and b) you can train others to replicate that success.

Ever had this challenge?  What did you do?  Please comment below…

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Related Posts:
Are your employees holding you hostage?
Managing the 'indispensable' high performing employee.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudlavibizon

One of the most common challenges I see with practitioners and technicians who own a business is that they actually love being the practitioner!  All of the beautiful advice from the e-Myth stands completely at odds with their greatest strengths and desires.  So what to do?

The secret is to design your business in such a way that you can continue to do what you love, but the other aspects of the business are taken care of in an appropriate way.  Here’s three quick tips to get you started:

1. Make a list of your strengths and check you are doing the roles in the business that require those skills.
2. Make a list of your weaknesses and look at how much time you are spending doing  less productive work (because it ‘must’ be done).
3. Take three things from the ‘unproductive’ list and brainstorm whether there is a better way or whether these things need to be done at all!

Then take action – make changes that will give you some immediate joy and ease in your business.  You own it – it’s your choice!!  What would it take for your business to be phenomenal and joyful?

How do you solve this dilemma?  Share your ideas below (click the comment link)  Or share this blog post with your networks |
Related Posts:
Do you have the balls to be productive?
To do lists that work!
How to complete your goals with ease.

Image Credit: Flickr_PhotoVandal

My dear friend and coaching client Wendy Mulder launched her new book ‘Learning From Grief’ today with great pizzazz and insight. I was truly honoured that Wendy chose me to MC this momentous occasion.   

Not only did I have a great time… not only was it a heartfelt privilege to promote Wendy’s phenomenal skills in this area… not only did I meet some amazing people who are following their bliss in life… I learned something today that will change my life, and quite possibly yours as well!  Here it is…


The flip side of this is that we all have far more influence over those around us than we are willing to recognize – me included!!  I discovered this when I realized that whilst I knew hardly anyone in the room, there were plenty of people who felt they ‘knew’ me – initially through Wendy sharing what we have contributed and generated together in bringing her book to life, and also through my Revive Business Coaching ezine.

One lady told me how much she enjoys the ezine and that she had shared the latest issue with friends.  This small piece of feedback took me by surprise because, until that moment, I had never actually acknowledged just how much influence such a simple tool could have.

Every time we offer something of ourselves to others, we can influence their life for better, for bliss or for worse… which one will you choose today?  And will you choose to stand up and be the real you – the one that other people see as phenomenal… the one that others look up to…. the one that inspires others and creates more possibilities for them?  Will you?

Because that’s what being a business owner really offers you… the possibility of making a contribution and a difference that matters... there are people out there who are looking for what you offer  - what would it take to gift to them the specialness you offer but never actually recognise?  Whether you see it or not… you have influence in places you never imagined.  You may not think you are ready for world domination… but the world is ready for you!  What are you waiting for???  Start a ripple effect...

Where will you start?  Share your thoughts in the comments section below...

Image: Flickr - SinDesign

Ever had an employee who made outrageous demands (for salary, promotions, time-off etc) and you gave it to them because you felt you ‘had no choice’?  As a leader, it’s important to manage your business strategically.  Here’s ten tips on managing those who try to make themselves indispensible…

1. Sometimes you ‘don’t know what you don’t know’ – if you have a sense of information being hidden but you can’t pinpoint what is happen, bring in an external expert to review your information flows and make recommendations.
2. Use a function chart (like an organizational chart but for the specific functions within the business) and allocate a primary service provider and a backup person.  Ensure the backup person is well trained and when people leave, ensure you train another for whichever role has become vacant. (This strategy can also work effectively for internal fraud control).
3. Be aware of how your ‘reward’ systems encourage or discourage withholding of information and power plays.  Rewards need to be both team and individually based if you want cooperation and high performance across your entire team.
4. Be aware of ulterior motives… if an employee is constantly criticized by others as ‘not a team player’ investigate early:  What’s really going on here?  What is required to change this situation?
5. Be willing to move people out of the company quickly if they are engaging in game-playing around information or customer relationships – it will be a lot cheaper now than when they really have you over a barrel!  
6. What is the culture of your business?  If it is openness and support for each other the ‘indispensables’ will have a hard time thriving due to peer pressure!  
7. Create a culture of belonging – if people do not feel alienated or unimportant, they will be much less likely to behave inappropriately!  Avoid having people see as the  ‘manager’s pet’!
8. Hire carefully: for key positions, always ask about the person’s approach to information sharing / hoarding when you check their references.
9. Have weekly meetings with key staff – ensure there is a current action list, with deliverables, resources, deadlines and a progress statement on the list that they give you (spreadsheets are great for this)
10. Use all of your human resource systems to create a comprehensive approach that works for your business – job descriptions, induction processes, setting targets and performance management, reward and recognition programs…

Look for common characteristics which signal potential issues with people becoming ‘indispensable’:  e.g. the drama queen (or king!), the office gossip, the person who doesn’t want anything to change, the ‘go-to’ for everything person, the bottleneck, the overconfident non-performer, the subtle sabotager the cowboys and the superstars… implement changes that allow you to recognize risks, share the load and minimize your reliance on any one person.

A business held hostage is a business at risk.  It’s your business and risk management is essential, especially with the new Fair Work laws in Australia.   What are you going to change?  Tell us below!

Are you struggling with a target you have set, or finding you just aren’t making any progress on a project that’s important to your business success?  The bigger the dream, the harder it can be to get moving…  Here’s a few simple tips that will make today productive for you!

1. Keep a list of current projects and scan them daily… which ones require your attention?
2. For each project, break it down into doable bites (yes, this is where you eat the elephant one bite at a time).  Seriously, that little bit of planning at the start will make you and your business so much more productive!!
3. Set aside ‘project time’ when you work on the important parts of your business.
4. Commit to completing one ‘next step’ before you go onto another bright shiny new object… we all get tempted but the most successful business owners are those that actually complete their growth projects!
5. You can often do 5 – 10 simple ‘next steps’ within 30 minutes if you focus – what would it take to make progress on a number of projects today?

Your ‘next step’ can be as simple as a phone call, a web page for your project or responding to a client request.  You can make it more complex if you like, but mostly I find simple is best – it’s often easiest to do too!  (e.g. ‘learn about business finances’ is way too broad, but ‘choose three metrics to measure weekly in my business’ is a lot more manageable!)

For best results, mix a clear vision, some focused time and some very specific actions.  ‘What’s next?’ will soon become your favourite daily question!

Most importantly, if you really are stuck and don't even know what to do next, find someone to talk to!  Another brain in the equation often clears the path in moments... how many hours have you wasted so far?  (BTW, that's another good reason to have a business coach - you have advice and ideas on tap from an experienced business person!) How does it get better than that?

What are you going to commit to doing today that will move your most important project forward?  Share it below and let us know how you go at the end of the day!