Small Business Revitalization Blog

As the economy grinds to a halt, more small business owners are starting to feel stretched - for cashflow, for goodwill, for sanity.  The first step away from stress and feeling over-stretched is to consolidate with your support team.  

What's that I hear?  You don't have one? Business owners often have a sense that they have to shoulder their burdens alone. Often our needs come last - after clients, staff, suppliers, the bank manager and our friends and families.

Many of us have grown up in times when it has been seen to be a good thing to be independent (and it is!), but often we have misidentified this independence with never, ever asking for help, no matter how bad things are.  Just like the economy, that approach just doesn’t work anymore!

Just before Christmas I had lunch with my dearest girlfriends – we’re moving towards 25 years of friendship – but still, we often forget to ask each other for help.  

We hadn’t seen each other for months and there were lots of big discussions on the table.  At the end of that lunch we made a promise to each other to pick up the phone and ask for support when we need it – not to wait until our busy lives allow a small window of opportunity for a catchup!

Sometimes it is these small but incredibly life-affirming commitments that give a greater sense of empowerment.  What could you do if you knew your support net was available any time?  So, create and maintain a support network of likeminded people.  There is strength in numbers!  You are no longer the weakest link!

For many people, the next twelve months will be a time of consolidation. As a business coach, I see many businesses still doing well, but there are plenty that aren’t. It is time for us to consider where our real power comes from. Do our economic circumstances (and our status symbols) really dictate who we are? Or is the source of our power (and empowerment!) within us?

It is easy to get caught up talking about the doom and gloom, or to feel depressed about what we have lost. It takes a lot more courage to make the decision that our outer circumstances are not going to control the quality of our lives. It takes conscious effort to decide that we are not going to waste our life or lose sleep worrying about the million and one ‘what if’s’ that could happen. It takes a strong sense of our own empowerment to reach out to others and help them through this difficult time.

Each one of us has a caring heart. Each one of us knows others who are doing it tougher than we are. Empowerment comes from within.What choices will you make today?

What is your biggest challenge as a small business owner? Share it in the comments section below. If you need to share more than just a comment, call the Revitalization Experts!

1. Buy or build your own?
2. Staff or no staff?
3. Do or delegate?
4. Indoor or outdoor?
5. Work hard or work smart?
6. Online or bricks & mortar?
7. Lots of people contact or not?
8. Creative or logical?
9. Capital intensive or at-home start-up?
10. Ideas: innovative or copycat?
11. Secure income or new venture?
12. High workload or systems oriented?
13. You: self-employed or chief resource coordinator?
14. Product/Service: fun, meaningful or serious?
15. Work time: flexible or structured?
16. Individuals or teams?
17. Existing customer base or build-up from scratch?
18. Your talents and passions or any business?
19. Automated business or tied to the business?
20. Growth potential or cash-flow now?

For extra insights, you can also clarify ‘why’ you chose the answer you did. Again, patterns will emerge and you will identify a clear direction for your business search. Once you have a clear picture of the business structure and design which will work for you and your ideal lifestyle, start to investigate business opportunities which meet your criteria.

What is your biggest challenge in starting a small business of your own? Share it in the comments section below. If you need to share more than just a comment, call the Start-Up Experts!

This week I spent 6 hours and completed my business plan for the year.  Unlike many small business owners, I find this document invaluable (and not as a doorstopper either!!) and here's why:

• My business plan is less than 5 pages, but provides a comprehensive roadmap of where my business is headed for the year.
• The key strategy page is posted on my wall and used daily to measure productivity against goals.
• All new marketing and joint venture opportunities can now be pushed through this 'strategic sieve' to see if they'll bring me closer to or further away from my strategic objectives.
• It encompasses my business model and highlights key product development opportunities.
• The monthly results data keeps me firmly focused on profitability and other key measures which will create profitability!

Do you have a business plan that can achieve all this and more for your business?  If not, you may want to consider participating in the Revive Business Coaching hands-on 'Business Planning Workshop'.  Just register your interest on our contact form, including 'Business Plan Workshop' as the topic and I'll be in touch with a date as soon as I can.  It will be a half day Business Planning Workshop in Brisbane towards the end of January or in early February.

I promise you'll leave the workshop with your business plan well underway and you won't need to use it as a doorstopper or dust collector!!

What would it take for your business to be phenomenal in 2009?