Tag: Businessstrategy

Having a frog session

Posted on August 28, 2023 by - Business opinions, Business strategy, Networking, Networkingstrategy

Recently I’ve had a lot of paperwork and research to do. Now, of course, almost any job has some element of admin and small business owners can sometimes feel a bit overwhelmed by the admin side of their company. Admin relating to

  • keeping the business going, accounts, keeping up to date with things like policies, legal requirements,
  • staff, pay, training, development, welfare
  • personal development and personal welfare
  • getting work
  • work being carried out
  • payments, customer interaction
  • the other 101 jobs that are there.

No wonder we can get to the exhausted and overwhelmed stage!

After nearly 30 years of running my own business, and with the help of a business coach who worked with me for nearly two years and helped me get organised. To be completely honest I don’t like admin, it seems so boring, except issuing invoices, I love issuing invoices, when I spend some time wondering how I’m going to spend the profit!

One of the things I was taught was to spend quality time on admin. The great Mark Twain said “If you have to eat a live frog, do it first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you for the rest of the day.” !  Since admin is my “live frog”, every morning I set my timer for 30 minutes  and do admin. If I need to set the timer again and again then that’s Ok but admin get’s done first before I really start the day. My live frog gets eaten. Then I focus on what I am doing, knowing that the admin for the day has been done. And, of course, occasionally something “urgent” pops up but often even these urgent things can wait till the frog eating session the next morning.

So, I wonder, what’s your “live frog”?

While you are thinking about that here’s a gift to you: my Top 20 networking tips. Just follow this link: ebn.uk.com and complete the form to receive your copy.

Have fun,

Glenys

Sometimes advice is free, services are not.

Posted on August 12, 2023 by - Business opinions, Business relationships, Business strategy, Networking

Recently I was talking to a contact about people “picking his brain”. He, let’s call him Fred, worked in social media and said he was often asked for advice. Another contact was saying he was always wary about sharing his knowledge because he thought it would enable people to do things themselves rather than paying for his services. I told the story about the advice I got from a very successful business owner when I was first starting out. He said, “Some people will spend money and some people won’t and you can’t tell from looking at them which one they are”.

From that I realised that some people would keep trying to pick your brain, but they would never pay for your services. This can be for several reasons. They may think:

  1. they can do it themselves, or
  2. they can’t spend the money, or
  3. why pay for something you can get for free.

I would say:

  1. no-one can do and know everything.
  2. This is a false economy because, while they are struggling with this, they could be getting and doing work.
  3. This is disrespectful.

Anyway, back to Fred.

Fred and I agreed that we were happy to give advice and information, but there came a time when people crossed a line and they had to be charged. The challenge was twofold:

  • where was that line, and
  • was everyone clear what each side of that line look like?

It is important to get those issues sorted at the beginning, before it becomes a problem. We also agreed that with some contacts the line may be more flexible, because we know them and know they won’t take advantage, or there might be an element of barter.

Coincidentally, later that week I was talking to a contact who is a very talented hairdresser. Let’s call her Freda. She was venting, because she had recently been contacted by someone through social media and asked for advice. The person had had her hair coloured by someone else and didn’t like the result, but didn’t want to tell the hairdresser who had done it (!). She had decided to do it herself, so contacted someone she used for advice.

Freda needed to vent because:

  • The woman told her she had no intension of booking her.
  • She had told her at the beginning, and several times during the conversation, that she would not give advice on products she had not used and for hair she had not tested.
  • It was late Sunday night!

My suggestion was not to reply till she was in work, but she is young and seemed to be horrified by the idea of ignoring something she got via social media.

I realised that where the line was drawn was possibly different for different trades or professions. So, my question is where is your line? Mine is now quite fluid so here’s a start.

Here’s a free gift to you: my Top 20 networking tips. Just follow this link: ebn.uk.com and complete the form to receive your copy.

Have fun,

Glenys

Judgements are often subconscious.

Posted on June 26, 2023 by - Business opinions, Business relationships, Networking

Recently I have had some contact with a couple of new members. We have never met, but they liked the Group and the local businesses they met when they each visited a Group and asked to join. The necessary formalities with websites and paperwork were done and then they became the latest members of their Group. Very little of this process involved me, because my wonderful Group Directors organise and run the meetings. I stay out of their way and try not to clutter their lives up. However, the very last stage is done by me and I need a couple of questions answered and a Zoom 1-2-1 to arrange.

Obviously, I had warm feelings towards these two people because:

  • they saw the value of being part of one of my Groups (and one is already talking about joining a second Group),
  • they understood the ethos of the Groups (trust is built through strong relationships and referrals follow organically,
  • they have paid me some money which I will now spend unwisely!

However, I realised that I liked these people and I had never met them. I also realised I had begun to trust them and their business. Why? Because they replied to my emails in a timely manner. Why did that follow? Because when I email someone and they don’t reply I think that:

  • they are too busy to be able to talk to me and certainly wouldn’t be able to do any work I needed or, more importantly, the work of anyone I referred to them. (So, my reputation is being undermined).
  • They are disorganised and might be disorganised if I needed work done or if someone I referred to them needed work. (So my reputation…etc.).
  • They can’t be bothered.

Now, I don’t expect people to be sat waiting on the off chance I may decide to contact them, but as a business I do expect them to reply during normal working hours (theirs not mine). As one of my new members I obviously play it slightly differently, but I am still beginning to get a feel and make a judgement: of their service, their business and them as the owners. I am judging and I’m not sat around giving this thought, the judgements are happening subconsciously.

It might be that other people don’t care what people (potential customers) think of them, but I can’t imagine this to be the case. For me, I know I am beginning to trust my new members, which is lovely, and I’ve never even met them.

I  would like to help you with your networking, so here’s a gift to you: my Top 20 networking tips. Just follow this link: ebn.uk.com and complete the form to receive your copy. I am waiting for you to make contact and I’ll definitely reply.

Have fun,

Glenys

Definitely not a vanity move!

Posted on March 6, 2023 by - Business strategy, Future dreams, Networking

Recently I was talking to a business contact about his move into a business unit. I have known this particular contact for over 20 years after meeting him at a networking event (where else!). At the time he was working from his front room, with his lovely mum as his only member of staff. Over the years his business has grown and yet he has remained in his home office, now an actual office rather than his front room, staff have changed and he and his business have survived even the devastating loss of his mother at an early age. He has worked hard, been amazing at marketing and seen the resultant success.

While talking, I said that no-one could say he was making a vanity decision and we began to talk about how tempting these vanity decisions are. What are ‘vanity’ decisions, often involving vanity purchases? They are using money either from your business (or investing it from your own money) to buy ‘things’ and these ‘things’ are often not needed but give the business owner’s vanity a stroke. The nice new desk to replace a perfectly good desk. (Of course, always get a great chair to sit in, or stand at, because you may spend a lot of time at your desk and you don’t want to undermine your spine etc.) You see people with large shiny offices, staff, every piece of equipment you can imagine…and no customers!

Now the conversation I was having with my contact was definitely, from my part at least, not based on a history of “Well I’ve never done that” because I have stroked my vanity many times by buying stuff that was lovely and shiny and I didn’t need! When I set up my first business, I bought lots of stuff that I had occasionally used when I had worked in the corporate world but didn’t actually need for my small office at home, or, if I did, I didn’t need the super deluxe version. The same was true when I started my catering business. I had a storage unit which was full of stuff, and, unsurprisingly, because I am sometimes a slow learner, the unit got larger as I bought more stuff, and then reduced in size as I learnt that I didn’t need to own all the stuff I had. In the process I wasted a lot of money. But I did learn.

Obviously, my contact, being wiser than I, didn’t need to be taught this. He has seemed to know instinctively to only spend money you must spend. Save the money, don’t buy, buy the less shiny one, buy second hand, you get the picture. This last part is what I have learnt. I also realised that by saving money in this way I had more money, at the end of the year, to have more money to spend on shiny things for my home, for holidays and as soon as I realised this the vanity decisions became less and easier.

So I wish my contact all the success he deserves as he moves into his lovely shiny, and absolutely necessary, new business unit.

If you are not sure about spending money on networking let me help with a gift to you: my Top 20 networking tips. Just follow this link: ebn.uk.com and complete the form to receive your copy.

Have fun,

Glenys

When I grow up, I’m going to be…

Posted on August 29, 2022 by - Future dreams, Networking

Recently I met a contact at a networking event, and he introduced me to his son. Still at school, he said he was planning on studying business at university and his dad thought it would be good for him to come along to a networking event and meet some businesspeople. This got me thinking: when is a good time to start to learn about, and have, a business?

I think there are aspects of business that I didn’t formally learn until I became self-employed: how to read a P and L sheet, how to set prices, and so many other things that this list would be too long and slightly embarrassing. The reality was that I have earnt money since I was 13. My first job was a paper round, Monday to Friday evening and Sunday morning only and that was great. I also had a babysitting job, got money from my mum and dad for washing the pots after tea, and at the same time I made money by crocheting shawls, baby clothes etc and selling them to family and friends. This continued to be the pattern of my making money, some ‘regular’ work and some side ‘business’ but I didn’t know many aspects of how to run a business and, believe me, it was a steep learning curve when I left the corporate world.

Because of this slightly random plan of action, I am always impressed when I meet some young person who knows what they want to do and has started to put the pieces in place to make this happen. As I spoke to my contact’s son it was impressive as he talked to me about his plans, how he was going to get where he wanted to be and he was really focussed. I have never had this type of plan, my progress has always been a bit random, happy to have people around me who know stuff, so I don’t need to, happy to take on new adventures which is why I have had different businesses. Perhaps it is because I’m waiting to decide what I want to be when I grow up.

How about you?

Thank you for reading, here is my gift to you: my Top 20 networking tips just follow this link: ebn.uk.com and complete the form to receive your copy.

Have fun,

Glenys

What are your work rules?

Posted on April 18, 2022 by - Networking

Recently I was talking to a new contact who said his diary was available “24/7” to his customers, and I asked him when he had time for himself. He said he didn’t have much time to himself, but he wanted new customers and he wanted to provide a great service to his existing customers.  This got me thinking, why didn’t I work 24/7?

I think at one level any business owner works on their business 24/7 because they have ideas about their business whether they are working or not.  I find that ideas, solutions, plans often drop into my brain when I am exercising. Now that could be because I’m focussing on something other than work, usually that focus is of the “I must be doing it right ‘cos that hurts” type. Suddenly I’ll see how something could be done or have an idea for something new or a new way of doing something. That is normal apparently.

My work thinking can happen at any time, but I do not work 24/7. Why is this? I think there are three reasons:

My age. I am now thinking about retiring and having some other new adventures. When I was younger, I had more energy, that is a reality. I can still get excited by a new project and use lots of energy implementing it. When I compare my now self with my younger self I can see the difference. I can see the difference between my now self and younger contacts, as I say they are “young and thrusting” and it is fantastic to watch but I just don’t have that level of energy anymore.

My business history. I have been self-employed for over 25 years. I’ve had different businesses throughout that time, sometimes they overlapped but mainly they were the only business I had. The business I had for the longest was a catering business, which I had for 18 years. We had snack bars, units that were on building sites, we did outside catering, and I did some consultancy. I was busy. I had a good team, but I seemed to spend lots of my time firefighting: staff not turning up, regular customers booking at the last moment, and we had lots of customers, so the firefighting was against a backdrop of 24/7 work. Our shops opened at 7 am so staff started at 6.30, and we often had events in the afternoon and others that went on till the early hours. I had lots of teams to manage and lots of projects on the go at any one time. It was fantastic, but eventually, as I got older, I began to realise it was time to sell, which I did.

My type of businesses. As I developed my current business, I vowed that, whatever happened and however I developed it, I would not work 24/7 again. I would work Monday to Friday, no evenings, and no weekends. It is true that I have a business now that rarely requires firefighting. This is partly because of the nature of my business: it is almost unknown that anyone contacts me and says, “I need to network now!” in the same way customers would ring me and say “I forgot to order lunch for today! Can you help please?”  In addition, I have an amazing team of Group Directors who run their meetings and arrange all the admin relating to their meetings. I’m not involved. My job is to build the business, implement strategy, support Group Directors and members.  

I am very protective of my personal time. I worry about people who say they work 24/7 because we all need down time, time to spend time with our beloveds, time to relax and rejuvenate. So, if you do work 24/7 my questions are: “How long can you keep going and what will happen when you reach your breaking point?”

Thank you for reading, here is my gift to you: my Top 20 networking tips just follow this link: ebn.uk.com and complete the form to receive your copy.

Have fun,

Glenys

Thanks for your opinion

Posted on March 21, 2022 by - Business opinions, Business strategy, Networking

Recently I was on a Zoom meeting with people I’d never met before. We had a lovely conversation about business and life and we laughed a lot. I said that I was spending some time that day reviewing my business strategy and immediately one of the people told me what my strategy should be. Not might include or, in their opinion, might be, but this is what my strategy should be.

I was surprised because:

  • they were very certain how I should grow my business, and  
  • they seemed to think I would just do what I had been told

This got me thinking.

I think it is true to say that any strategy needs to include certain things: a goal, a plan of implementation (this can be fluid), a timescale and a review process. This is my opinion. My business strategy follows that scheme and in my case, the fluid part needs to be very fluid as opportunities come my way. The issue is that whilst business strategies may be similar, we as business owners are all different. What works for you may not work for me for various reasons, our business may be at different stages of development, we may have been in business for different times, our background, and our experiences will almost certainly be different. We may have difference in the amount of risk we find acceptable and our personal business needs, and our work/life balance may be different. Which brings me to my next point.

Doing what other people tell us to do.

When I became self-employed, I didn’t know what I was going to do, so I set myself three rules. The second was “I never do anything I don’t want to do, with anyone I don’t want to do it with” or to put it another way and to quote my beloved “You don’t do bosses well” I like that all my business decisions are mine, be they good, bad or indifferent I own them. So I listen to opinions and then I decide what I take from them, and, when I give my opinion, I expect others to do the same. If they want my further input they’ll ask, and sometimes they do.

So thank you for your opinion, I may consider it further. As a thank you, here is my gift to you: my Top 20 networking tips just follow this link: ebn.uk.com and complete the form to receive your copy.

Have fun,

Glenys