SHIFT Business Conference Cancelled

After ten months of intensive work, my committee and I made the heartbreaking decision to halt work on our SHIFT Business Conference.

What was remarkable was how three professionals with completely different backgrounds, skill sets and personalities managed to find a way to work together in a constructive manner.  We had to learn about each other's communication styles and thought processes and find a way to move forward together.  Which we did...successfully.

The powerful dynamics within the group led to some mind stretching conversations and sharing of information.  Over countless cups of tea, coffee and of course snacks, we learned about each other and our various connections, communities and businesses.  We found out what was important to each other in how we helped others achieve their goals and contribute towards community sustainability.  It was in helping others build that we found our common ground and were able to move forward to build the structure of our offering.

Although we decided not to proceed, much of what was needed was in place with countless reports and written structured plans with detailed steps, albeit with a few gaps which we proceeded to fill.  What was interesting were the reactions when we 'went public' outside the inner circle to fill those gaps.  It's amazing how many people had an opinion based on little information or understanding outside their areas of expertise.  If it scared them they were negative.

I wish I could sit down with those people and show them exactly what had been built thus far.  I wish I could show people who have a specific skill set that other skill sets come into play in solving problems and an appreciation and willingness to collaborate can move mountains.

Increase Your Success

As an Entrepreneur, what can you do to increase your chances of success?

The first and most important thing you can do is stay in touch, be connected, know what you have to find out and what is coming down the pipe in the future, so you can have the tools to be ready for opportunity.

If you try to stay up with what is happening now, you are already losing ground....look ahead and be ready.

Stay connected...in person...get out and network.  Social media and internet connections are easier for an introvert, but if you are in business, you actually have to talk to people, and that takes practise. 

A good way to practise is to attend networking events.  Scary though it may be for an introvert to walk into a room full of people, you become immune to it....and it becomes fun...rather like the lunchroom or the water fountain at your old job.  In any community, the same people show up at all the events!

Here's a good one to try:
Guelph B2B Network Meeting
www.guelphb2bnetwork.wordpress.com

Info onthe meeting:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/103631093179177/

To register - email consulting@marketingstrategiesnetwork.com

More About Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are in business to solve a problem within a window of opportunity.  But what happens when that window of opportunity SHIFTS, which is what is happening right now?  This is a question that should be asked by 95% of businesses in Wellington and 66% in Waterloo Regions.
 
Both Regions brag about a relatively low unemployment rate, but if you examine those small businesses more closely, you will find some interesting facts.
 
Entrepreneurs start a business because they have been downsized, they get fed up with a corporate environment and figure they can do it better them selves (and they can), or they are serial entrepreneurs and love starting businesses.
 
Entrepreneurs are great technicians and technologists, but they are not very good at actually operating the business nor they are not good at selling.  Of course not: it's a different skill set.  Introvert technician v.s. extrovert communicator and problem solver.
 
Being in business for yourself is hard work with long days, risk and struggle, and the income is not always that great.  Marginalized, EI starts to look good, but you have dropped off the radar.
 
So think long and hard about starting your own business.  Make sure you love what you do enough that it is its own reward.  Chances are, it's the only reward.

June Garden Observations

My garden is a mass of green with a bit of purple here and there. I think it's amazing- as the snow edged further away each day, leaving a mass of brown - mud and dead stuff, it didn't seem as if anything was there at all and the inactivity seemed to say there was nothing underneath. Last fall I marked the location of perennials like the purple coneflower, bee balm, rudbekia, hostas, soloman's seal, and the purple geraniums with craft sticks, but over the winter they must have been food for the critters; except for a few chewed half pieces, I couldn't find them this spring .

Bee Balm is growing well

This spring, a few weeds popped up (and were pulled) and a bit of green began to emerge. Now it's a mass of green, and some purple. The tall and short siberian irises are budding and blooming, the purple geranium has taken over (digging some up later) and the rudbekia and purple coneflower have come up enmass. I think. Their leaves are so close I can't tell the difference; I really hope I get some purple coneflower this year.  I did find a spot for the new dahlia tubers, and the glads that didn't do anything last year are doing something this year!

 My project over the past couple of years has been to stabilize the slope and populate the woods with plants. Hostas, solomon's seal, and a patch of lamb's ears are all doing well. The wild cranesbill I dug/separated and replanted are flowering, and the wild pink geranium is too...into the garden as well.



Solomon Seal in the woods



Wild Geranium invasion!



One advantage of a garden crammed with plants is that the weeds have no room to grow, so perhaps my work will be minimal later on with no weeding.

 

Next job - pots for the front, the back, the patio, the deck.  Annuals anyone?

Actionable Steps: Entrepreneurs Are A Peculiar Lot.

Actionable Steps: Entrepreneurs Are A Peculiar Lot.: They come from 3 sources: 1.     People who think they can do a better job on their own than working in a company – they’re right, but ...

Entrepreneurs Are A Peculiar Lot.

They come from 3 sources:

1.    People who think they can do a better job on their own than working in a company – they’re right, but they don’t know anything about running a business or telling the world about it.  They are great technicians or technologists, and need to be careful of the ‘Field of Dreams Syndrome’ (If I build it, they will come). By the way, they are also likely to be introverts.

2.    People who have been right-sized or down-sized, and are not likely to get another job, or have decided not to look for another job because they have found themselves in the same situation before.  “If I work for myself I can’t be downsized”. The ‘Reluctant Entrepreneur’.  May lack one or both of the above.

3.    People who always wanted their own business and strive to build or buy one. 

Entrepreneurs have a few traits in common:

·         Single minded about their business, they want to do it their way.

·         They often miss opportunities to find more business for various reasons, often because they are ‘too busy’ doing something they should delegate.

·         They want to do it all themselves, because delegating means paying someone and that will cost money (don’t understand it will free up their time for higher value activity).

·         They focus on the problem at hand (and there is one crisis right after another)

·         They think that if they Market, they don’t have to Sell.

·         An entrepreneurial business solves a problem that usually exists within a window of opportunity. Times change or the window moves or closes. Entrepreneurs often forget this. They often don’t change with the times and seek new opportunities.

The solution?  Entrepreneurs should take time to work on their business, take a long term view and a short term view.  They need a business plan and a marketing plan, and they should get professional help to do it so there is an objective and realistic look at the situation.

 Margaret C. Pennyfather has worked with hundreds of small businesses to create business plans and marketing plans with immediate dramatic positive effect.  She identifies the strengths and the gaps, formulates  and actions the solutions.  There are many small businesses enjoying success and entrepreneurs looking forward to a prosperous retirement.  consulting@marketingstrategiesnetwork.com.

 

Who is running your life? Is it you, or…..the events in it?

Are you missing major events because you are ‘busy”?  Real events in your community that you really want to attend, or ‘should’ attend because of the significance to your life or business.  Too many times I hear people say they wanted to go to something but were too busy, or by the time they got around to it, it was too late to make arrangements.

Do you find yourself working on customer emergencies at a cost to your own business or plans?  Do you have a soft heart for others’ problems - or a need to please – people pleasing, so are known as a nice guy and you are getting lots of enquiries, but there are no real customers and your business is not moving forward?

Are you a coward?  You think you can’t or won’t state your needs to your customers and negotiate something realistic for both schedules because you don’t want to anger them, or for them to think badly of you.

Here are some comments that might help you get control of your business so you can participate in the events that are necessary for the development of your skills and business.

Policies

Too many small businesses don’t have policies, not even small ones to decide how to make some decisions.  These could be about when and how to pay for your services, or a 5 day turn around (keeps you on top of work, and customers know they don’t have to pressure for completion because their work will be done in turn, and there are others before them).  Your emergencies are not necessarily our priority!  Another policy could be that you take time to ‘sharpen your saw’ per Stephen Covey and attend seminars and trade shows relevant to your business.

Priorities

You are entitled to set your own priorities based on your needs, whether they are business needs, health and safety (not driving in a blizzard), family, rest, or a badly needed vacation.   Others have a vacation, you should too!

Whilst all customers are important, some are more so than others.  I once had to let a customer find his own solution.  I was responsible for a multi-million dollar account, and another prospect had called in out of the blue and needed someone out there right away.  So I wiggled a bit of time and went on site.  It was a small job and would be time consuming and expensive to do.  He proceeded to tell me how to do it, and I had to sharpen my pencil because he had other prices.  I discussed my current priorities and said I couldn’t drop what I was doing, I needed some time to clear my desk so I could concentrate on getting him a proper proposal and a good price, so give me a few days and I could make some calls to suppliers and get a proper quote for him.  He had already called before I got back to the office wanting the price, and called 3 times 15 minutes apart that afternoon.  Each time I explained we had discussed the timing, and I would get him a price as soon as I had this one job off my desk and he had to stop interrupting me. In the end, he said he could do it faster himself, so I said to go ahead.  The priority was the big account which was our bread and butter, and not someone with a high PITA factor who was trying to bully me and would cause a problem with my main account.

Policies and Priorities make it easy to deal with Squirrels and Shiny things (unexpected distractions and opportunities).  You can decide if you should use them now, put them in your parking lot, or toss them.

Planning 

Build in the time to attend events, and deal with unexpected problems.  Evaluate the past few weeks – in 40 hours (more or less), were a few hours – like 12 or 20 dealing with emergency walk-ins?  Do you run an emergency clinic or a business?  Is this the way it is?  Then plan what you can plan, and leave room in the schedule for walk-ins.  This worked quite well for one of my clients.  She found she had 2 days worth of emergencies a week, so she put her ‘shoulds’ into the calendar, then planned about 3 days, so had room and time for the other 2.  She also stated her time constraints and negotiated for a more realistic customer deadline, taking her needs into account.

Knowing what she had on her plate and the time available gave her a more solid footing and was key to her success.

Mind you, a snow storm can wreak all sorts of havoc on plans, but most people understand if you communicate about it.

The opposite example would be a knee jerk reaction without thought of priority or planning.  This is what happens when your decisions cause you to cancel something: a customer calls you with a problem that has to be fixed ‘right away’!  You had an appointment with a colleague or another customer.  You cancel it, and have to reschedule.  Your schedule is messed up and you screw up the schedule for that colleague or customer and perhaps others around them and put them behind by however long it takes to get it back into your schedule.

Planning is key in any business.  If you take some time on a regular basis and evaluate priorities and opportunities, you won’t miss important events.  You won’t scramble because you know ‘what you have to do next’ and can make decisions based on your Policies and Priorities.

So do look at your year, put those trade shows and seminars back on the schedule.  Connecting and ‘sharpening your saw’ per Stephen Covey are a very important priority.  Figure out your lead time for longer projects and schedule it.  Plan around it.  If something comes up, maybe you can do it if you get up a bit earlier and still make that event you wanted to attend.

Remember: Policy-Priority-Plan!