Does it ever bug you when you ask someone, “How are you doing?” and all the person can say is:
I’m so busy. I’m just too busy.
How many times a day do you say it? A week? Start counting. You’ll be surprised.
What does it mean anyway? It doesn’t convey any material facts. It doesn’t convey any feeling. Stating, “I’m busy,” doesn’t tell anything about how or what you’re doing.
What it does convey is that perhaps you’re not in charge of your life. Or, maybe you’re ego has gotten the better of you because you feel important when you say I’m so busy.
Some people will say I’m busy just to avoid talking or dealing with an issue. It’s a way to put others off. And, it works. Sometimes. But, when used as a stalling tactic, that’s all it is. A tactic. A cheap strategy. In the end, it consumes more time and energy.
When you are so busy that you lose control of your day and your week — it’s a sign of trouble. Big trouble. Now. And ahead of you.
It tells me you don’t have a plan for your business (or your life). Or, if you do have a plan, it’s stuck deep in a drawer and you haven’t looked at it since January 2.
It’s really not fun to be too busy.
It is fun, however, to have a full life: All the clients you want. Time to think and strategize. Time for exercise, family and friends. Time to read a book. Time for a vacation.
You can have a full life without being so busy and feeling like all you do is run endlessly around a track.
All it takes is some careful planning — and the help of a coach if you really want to get it right!
What message are you sending?
Today I searched the internet for a business. When I found it, I completed a long form and included my phone number and email address. Clearly, I expressed great interest in their product.
About 2 hours later I received a call from one of their salespeople. Wonderful!
She – Is this a good time for you to talk about our service?
Me – Well, actually I have a client call in a few minutes.
She – Oh, that’s OK, I’ll just give you a call back tomorrow. Sorry to bother you. Bye!
Whoa! I’m busy all day tomorrow. I won’t be able to take your call. But, she hung up so fast, I wasn’t able to tell her. She didn’t even try to set up an appointment. She didn’t ask me, “what time tomorrow would be good for you?” She just hung up. Do they really have that many customers? I don’t think so. What I think is that they have a crummy sales process.
What a missed opportunity!
I was incredulous that a company of its stature would have such a poor sales process. If there is a process, obviously this salesperson — and probably others — isn’t following it. She had the sale — but she blew it!
What was my impression of this firm? As you can imagine, it’s now bad! Do I really want to give my money to a company that can’t even capture an easy sale? I now question whether they would follow through properly on my order. I think I’ll try one of their competitors.
What’s going on at your firm? Do you have a clearly defined sales process? How do you know your people are following it?
Photo Credit: garynet
The #1 problem in family business today:
Handling your business like a family.
The solution to the #1 problem in family business:
Handle your business like a business; and your family like a family.
While the two might seem inseparable, it’s critical for your company’s survival to compartmentalize and treat your business like a business.
But,”‘we are a family!” you say. That’s true, but during the workday you are a business owner, manager, salesperson, accountant, human resource manager, etc. You must leave your family roles at home and put on your business clothes. Living family dynamics at work is the top contributor to the demise of family business. It’s a cycle that can be broken.
7 Things You Can Do Immediately To Break The Cycle:
- Have clearly defined roles of family and non-family members.
- Establish specific goals and objectives of the business.
- Create your company mission and values statement. Refer to it regularly and live it!
- Enact benchmarks for the business as a whole and employees individually.
- Generate standards of behavior, policies and procedures — followed equally by family and non-family members.
- Construct clear compensation and benefit plans.
- Ensure the responsibilities match the title, including family and non-family members.
Photo Credit: David Clow – Maryland
Making the goal!
Today when you say goal, most people think of the World Cup happening in South Africa. Even if you’re not into soccer football, it’s hard not to get caught up in the excitement!
Since it’s June, there’s another reason to think about Goals: mid-year review. I know it sounds boring. If you haven’t been working on your action steps to get you to your goals, then it also might sound scary. If you wrote your goals at the beginning of the year, shoved them in a file somewhere and haven’t looked at them since then, goals may sound downright frightening!
Put your fear and trepidation aside and pull out your Goals. The mid-year review is a time to recommit, revise and plan for the remainder of the year. If you’ve been remiss in your action items, let yourself off the hook. Focus on what you can do now.
3 Most Important Things You Can Do To Reach Your Goals
- Recommit. Make a pact with yourself that you’ll follow through on your plan. Tell someone else. Enlist a coach! Write down your commitment. Without a commitment to your goals, it’s almost impossible to follow through with your plan. You’ve got to believe in your goals. Recommit to them.
- Revise. Things change — the marketplace, your clients, your marketing plan, your focus. Your world has changed since you initially wrote your goals. So, too, do your goals. Maybe they were too lofty or not ambitious enough. Some people think ‘revision’ means failure. Not so. If you want to succeed in life, you’ve got to be flexible and adapt to the change around you. You’ll also need to adapt to the change within you. Maybe you don’t believe in these goals. Revise might mean a complete revision.
- Plan. Create your plan, including your major action steps. I like to break my plan into quarters, then into months and weeks. It keeps everything from feeling like an insurmountable chore. It also makes the plan more friendly to use and refer to weekly. Make sure action steps contain action words: create, build, activate, etc.
You’ve still got time to reach your goals by the end of the year — whatever they may be. Remember what Katherine Graham, former publisher of The Washington Post, said:
Love what you do, and feel that it matters — how could anything be more fun?
In fact, mindset matters so much it could make the difference between flourishing or failing. Your mindset consists of 4 integral parts — each depending on the other:
- Dream
- Vision
- Goals
- Plan
First, you need a dream: dream big! What does your business look and feel like to you? This is where your passion emanates — it feels limitless!
Next, take your dream and passion to craft a vision statement. How will the business work? What’s its purpose? Putting together a vision statement is like fitting a harness on a horse.
Now come goals: where is your business going? What do you expect? Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Realistic. Timely. SMART Goals — they really are a smart thing to do!
Finally, your plan — you can’t just dream, will or hope your business will succeed. In order to put your dream and vision into action, you’ve got to work your plan. Every day. Even just a little bit. Your action steps are when everything comes together.
Once you have the 4 parts together, you can say:
I have a clear, concise vision for my business.
I’ve written my vision statement and shared it with my team or advisers.
I read or listen to something daily and motivates, challenges and nourishes me.
I fuel my passion daily.
There is no ‘right mindset.’ Your dreams and your vision are your own.
Have you written your plan? Do you look at it weekly? Revise as needed?
First in a series about starting or buying a business.
One clear way to reinvent yourself — after downsizing, layoff or voluntary retirement — is to start or buy your own business. If you did a poll, almost as many people say they’d like to have their own business as say they want to write a book.
While these can be trying times — just take a look at your 401(k) statement, or the unemployment rate — it’s also a period of great innovation and business creation. More small businesses will be created during this period than any other time. Many thousands of those laid off will not be rehired. People are living longer and healthier lives. It’s a great time to start a business!
This was true at the Second Annual Florida boomer Lifestyle Conference in Clearwater, Florida last month. Michael Winerip the Generation B author for the New York Times noticed a trend among conference goers in starting their own business. Several had spent much of their retirement savings purchasing franchises.
While writing a book can take several tortuous years, if you let it, buying a business is relatively easy. The hard part is making your business work.
Before you run out and buy a franchise or put your shingle up, know:
Top 5 Reasons Businesses Fail:
- No active business plan.
- Under-capitalized or over-optimistic about revenue
- Lack of goals or purpose other than: I want to make money.
- Failure to pay attention to cash flow.
- Inability to understand the industry or connect with customers.
However, if you start out differently, then you could be one of the 30% that’s still around in 4 years. Yes, according to Dun & Bradstreet, 60% of registered businesses fail within 3 years.
Top 5 Things Your Business Needs to Succeed:
- Mindset
- Organization
- Community (and that includes your customers!)
- Revision
- Focus
Stay tuned for next in my series: Mindset and Your Business Success.
Have you started a business in the last two years? Got a success story or learned a good lesson? Share it here!
With Gracie
2010 New Year’s Resolution No. 5: Run a marathon.
It wasn’t the first time running a marathon was on my list. I’ve been an avid runner for years. I used to coach a running group every year. I’ve run one full marathon and 10 half-marathons.
My first and only marathon was a miserable experience. Well, the last half of it anyway. Plagued with an excruciatingly painful IT band, it took me all day to run it. I like to say:
If you think running a marathon in 2 hours and 45 minutes is hard, try 6 hours and 20 minutes! Now that’s hard!
Finally recovered, I commit to train and run a Spring marathon in 2010. I follow the prescribed training regimen – long runs, tempo run & speed workouts. I even cross train.
Then the now-familiar pain returns. I am limping. Guess the 15 mile training run on concrete wasn’t such a good idea. The pain stops me cold.
I see a chiropractor and masseuse. I think time and a respite from running will heal me.
I’m wrong. It’s Gracie, my dog, who shows me how to run again. On our morning walk, she starts into a run. Without thinking I follow along with her, then realize, “it’s not hurting!” What’s different? I notice that my stride is significantly shorter. Short and quick — just like Gracie.
I drop Gracie at home and go for a 6 mile run – Gracie style. Short and quick. It’s counter intuitive — my legs are quite long. It’s not my style. But it works!
While I don’t run a Spring marathon, I complete The Gusher Half Marathon on a very hot and humid May morning in Beaumont, Texas.
The Gusher Half Marathon Medal
What did Gracie teach me?
- Sometimes things happen, and you need to amend your goals. That’s just life.
- Changing goals isn’t ‘cheating.’ You’re just adjusting with the flow.
- If you don’t make adjustments from time to time, you could easily give up on the goal completely.
- Look for and accept inspiration from all sorts of places. Your dog just might teach you something.
What goals have you set that might need some adjusting?
by Lisa on April 27, 2010
Doing More of the Same
I have a high threshold of pain. It takes a huge amount of pain for me to take an aspirin. Except when it comes to my teeth. Then I’m a baby. The dentist can look at me, and I feel pain all the way down to my toes. I get in the dentist chair and tightly grip the armrests. My body goes taut and comes close to levitating! I can feel the anxiety come on as I write this. I know some of you feel the same way too.
Lucky for me I found a dentist who dared to be different. I no longer have my usual anxiety and fear when I see him.
Dr. Smith’s motto is:
The art of dentistry in the gentle style.
How different is that? First he refers to dentistry as ‘art’ and his style as ‘gentle.’ It’s sounding good to me already. I make an appointment.
His office is located in a cute blue & white, bungalow style house. His ‘waiting room’ feels like a beautifully decorated, cozy living room. There’s classical music playing, a fireplace, along with sherry or coffee if you want it. There are pillows scattered around and real art on the walls.
The staff is professional, friendly and approachable. No stupid sliding glass window contraption!
I’m feeling relaxed already. Relax is not a word I’ve used at the dentist — even while inhaling as much nitrous oxide as I could.
Dr. Smith exudes professionalism and caring. He’s interested in my past dentist experiences. He compliments me on how I’ve been caring for my teeth! His style is indeed gentle. His dental hygienist mimics his chair side manner. I feel as if I’m in good hands. My grip loosens on the armrests.
After the exam, the office manager provides me with a written treatment plan, including what my insurance will pay and what I’ll pay.
5 Things Dr. Smith did differently:
- He focused on the primary emotion people have about the dentist: fear.
- His surroundings were created to alleviate the fear.
- He backed up his words with actions: a gentle style.
- He hired and trained a staff to follow his style.
- He and his staff were professional from beginning to the end.
What can you do to make your business different? Because being different is what’s going to drive your success. It’s not about being better than your competition. In fact, it’s not about your competition at all.
Too often business owners focus on what their competitors are doing. Then they end up being just like the competitor. To your prospective client, however, it all looks the same. Why choose you over someone else?
The way to reinvent your business is to look to your customers and prospective clients for answers. What is it they want? What are their fears? How can you alleviate their fears and give them the service they desire?
Photo by: snowriderguy
