Or something like that. But maybe in reverse. I am a great proponent of mastermind groups and of business people helping each other out with the "been there, done that" issues that come up on a regular basis. Instead of living in the fear/scarcity mentality, let's think of our lives as being full and abundant. There's enough out there for all of us and as we water, and nurture, our friends and colleagues, we will grow our own businesses as well.
In that vein, I have a poll I am hoping people will take. It has to do with likes, dislikes, and absolute musts when networking. Please go to http://polls.linkedin.com/p/77730/ywapy and check it out. Thanks, guy.
Nancy
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Meeting Etiquette
As business owners we all have our days full of many things. We work, we have family obligations, and we try to grow our businesses. The last is done through going to meetings, networking, sending out emails, and much more. When we finally fall into bed at night, we’re tired and weary. There is just too much to do in a day’s time.
One of the things I’ve noticed lately, however, is that people will plan on going to meetings – they will rsvp or at least tell the organizers of the meetings that they plan on being there, and then at the last minute, they are a no-show. To them, it may not make a big difference, except that in their very busy day they either overbooked, or were just too tired to make it to the event. However, it’s an entirely different story for the organizers of the event.
Put yourself in their shoes. There is generally a price to pay for the room to hold the meeting, as well as food and drink purchased for a certain number of people based on the prior information given. The others there count on the presence of each and every person to make the meeting a true success for without people there can be no networking.
It is simply a matter of fairness that if you acknowledge acceptance of an invitation you follow through. There may be a situation arise where you cannot go forward with your plans but a simple phone call saying you’re sorry should not be that difficult. It is a sign of the times that we simply don’t think of the other side of an equation, when in fact that is the most important side.
Please, think about the overall picture when you plan on going to events or meetings. It will only serve you better in the long run.
One of the things I’ve noticed lately, however, is that people will plan on going to meetings – they will rsvp or at least tell the organizers of the meetings that they plan on being there, and then at the last minute, they are a no-show. To them, it may not make a big difference, except that in their very busy day they either overbooked, or were just too tired to make it to the event. However, it’s an entirely different story for the organizers of the event.
Put yourself in their shoes. There is generally a price to pay for the room to hold the meeting, as well as food and drink purchased for a certain number of people based on the prior information given. The others there count on the presence of each and every person to make the meeting a true success for without people there can be no networking.
It is simply a matter of fairness that if you acknowledge acceptance of an invitation you follow through. There may be a situation arise where you cannot go forward with your plans but a simple phone call saying you’re sorry should not be that difficult. It is a sign of the times that we simply don’t think of the other side of an equation, when in fact that is the most important side.
Please, think about the overall picture when you plan on going to events or meetings. It will only serve you better in the long run.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
No Pain, No Gain
I love reading the magazine Success. There is always something that I learn from it. The newest edition is all about people who have persevered and succeeded despite many obstacles. The publisher, Darren Hardy, talks about how he learned early in life that in order to truly succeed you must always be pushing yourself forward. I love what his dad told him one day when he came home excited that he’d been on the ski slopes all day but hadn’t fallen once: “If you are going to get better, you have to push yourself. If you push yourself, you are going to fall.”
I think, especially in today’s economic environment, it’s very easy for business owners to take the path of least resistance. “I’m going to just sit tight and clap when I get through the day without falling.” When we see obstacles in our path, we automatically seem to generate a fear of failure, and that stops us before we ever get started.
There are two ways to look at this fear of failure: one, is to see it as a way to better yourself. Just because something happened this time, if you learn from your mistakes, you won’t make the same one again – thus a movement ahead. The other way to look at it is as though this failure was personal and permanent. No way to get around it. This second way of looking at things is the death of a business.
There are several people in this issue of Success that could have easily taken the second option: Ben Hogan, for one, was in a head-on collision with a bus. Being told he’d never walk again, he has gone on to become a great golfer. And what about Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame? His story is used in business schools to teach the art of perseverance. He started selling his chicken to people in his living room behind the gas station he ran. Then, moving to a motel and small restaurant, he made even more sales, until the Interstate came in and his customer market dried up.
He then went on the road trying to franchise his operations, but after 99 refusals was just about to give up, when – lo and behold – there was his first yes!!! Then, in 1964, he sold the company to a Kentucky conglomerate for $2 million dollars – not a bad sale in those days! How many times, however, during the course of that business development, could he have said, “I’m never going to make a success of this. I’m just going to give up.” He didn’t, and his falls made him a better person and a better business.
I know how scary it can be. After almost losing my eyesight from glaucoma, and being out of my business for over two years, while my operations manager poorly managed the company (to the tune of losing my best three customers), I was scared to death to try and go it again. I thought I’m never going to recover from this. I’m sick, and I’m tired, and I just want to go to bed. I’ll never have the energy to get this going again. Yet, five years later, here I am – and doing well, thank you.
There are several others in the magazine that talk about their life situations and how it has affected them in the business world. They all have very interesting stories and I highly recommend that you read them.
To go along with these “falls” comes this thought. I was listening to my radio station on the way to work this morning, and a question was asked … “If you could choose to sit at a table with anyone alive today, who would that be?” Now, since I was listening to country radio, the first answer to come in was from a woman who said she wanted to sit with the guy in the new Billy Currington song, “People are Crazy.” In that song, two strangers (one an older gentleman) get together in a bar and are talking about life in general. That’s the one and only time they meet, yet at a later time, it is found that the older man is a millionaire and has left his entire fortune to the young man who had talked with him that night. Sure, I’d love to have talked with him as well, but – that ain’t happening anytime soon, right?
However, it got me thinking. There are so many people out there that I would love to talk with; people who have all kinds of life experiences to share – many of them business success stories. Everyone has something to share with others – things from the little and mundane to the major breakthroughs. That’s why I think it is so important for us to take the time to talk with each other; to share and to ask for advice. We’re not all in the same place in our businesses, but I can guarantee that we’ve never had a situation that no one else has ever had. There is someone out there that can tell you how they managed when faced with a similar problem or issue. Why reinvent the wheel? Let others guide us through the dark passages that we sometimes find ourselves in. And, we, too can help those that are where we were in the past. Life is so much better when we talk with each other and help each other without a price tag attached.
My advice today, then, is something that I’m doing for myself. I’m going to take my falls and pick myself back up and move ahead – I’m going to talk to others and get an idea of where they’ve been and how they’ve made it – and I’m going to become that success I’m looking for. What are you going to do with your business?
I think, especially in today’s economic environment, it’s very easy for business owners to take the path of least resistance. “I’m going to just sit tight and clap when I get through the day without falling.” When we see obstacles in our path, we automatically seem to generate a fear of failure, and that stops us before we ever get started.
There are two ways to look at this fear of failure: one, is to see it as a way to better yourself. Just because something happened this time, if you learn from your mistakes, you won’t make the same one again – thus a movement ahead. The other way to look at it is as though this failure was personal and permanent. No way to get around it. This second way of looking at things is the death of a business.
There are several people in this issue of Success that could have easily taken the second option: Ben Hogan, for one, was in a head-on collision with a bus. Being told he’d never walk again, he has gone on to become a great golfer. And what about Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame? His story is used in business schools to teach the art of perseverance. He started selling his chicken to people in his living room behind the gas station he ran. Then, moving to a motel and small restaurant, he made even more sales, until the Interstate came in and his customer market dried up.
He then went on the road trying to franchise his operations, but after 99 refusals was just about to give up, when – lo and behold – there was his first yes!!! Then, in 1964, he sold the company to a Kentucky conglomerate for $2 million dollars – not a bad sale in those days! How many times, however, during the course of that business development, could he have said, “I’m never going to make a success of this. I’m just going to give up.” He didn’t, and his falls made him a better person and a better business.
I know how scary it can be. After almost losing my eyesight from glaucoma, and being out of my business for over two years, while my operations manager poorly managed the company (to the tune of losing my best three customers), I was scared to death to try and go it again. I thought I’m never going to recover from this. I’m sick, and I’m tired, and I just want to go to bed. I’ll never have the energy to get this going again. Yet, five years later, here I am – and doing well, thank you.
There are several others in the magazine that talk about their life situations and how it has affected them in the business world. They all have very interesting stories and I highly recommend that you read them.
To go along with these “falls” comes this thought. I was listening to my radio station on the way to work this morning, and a question was asked … “If you could choose to sit at a table with anyone alive today, who would that be?” Now, since I was listening to country radio, the first answer to come in was from a woman who said she wanted to sit with the guy in the new Billy Currington song, “People are Crazy.” In that song, two strangers (one an older gentleman) get together in a bar and are talking about life in general. That’s the one and only time they meet, yet at a later time, it is found that the older man is a millionaire and has left his entire fortune to the young man who had talked with him that night. Sure, I’d love to have talked with him as well, but – that ain’t happening anytime soon, right?
However, it got me thinking. There are so many people out there that I would love to talk with; people who have all kinds of life experiences to share – many of them business success stories. Everyone has something to share with others – things from the little and mundane to the major breakthroughs. That’s why I think it is so important for us to take the time to talk with each other; to share and to ask for advice. We’re not all in the same place in our businesses, but I can guarantee that we’ve never had a situation that no one else has ever had. There is someone out there that can tell you how they managed when faced with a similar problem or issue. Why reinvent the wheel? Let others guide us through the dark passages that we sometimes find ourselves in. And, we, too can help those that are where we were in the past. Life is so much better when we talk with each other and help each other without a price tag attached.
My advice today, then, is something that I’m doing for myself. I’m going to take my falls and pick myself back up and move ahead – I’m going to talk to others and get an idea of where they’ve been and how they’ve made it – and I’m going to become that success I’m looking for. What are you going to do with your business?
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The Times They Are A'Changing
The lyrics of a song by Chris Rea go something like this:
Changing times cold hard rain/Everything's a changing/Nothing's gonna be the same
You'd better look out/'Cos you can't stop these changing times/Nothing going ever to be the same
You'd better look out/Look out for these changing times
Change is probably the scariest thing that can happen to people – and even the thought of change makes many stop, dig in their heels and state “I’ll think about that tomorrow.” We like living in our worlds – all neat and tidy, where we know what to expect and have our routines down pat. But, unfortunately, part of the world that we all live in is the inevitability of change. We can’t stop it, no matter how hard we try.
Recently, as many of you know, I moved back to small town USA after being away for many years. To me, home for the past 30 years has been Washington, DC – where everyone is bustling and the business world is ever changing. It’s hard to keep up and in order to succeed, you need to be ready for change at any given moment. It’s a rough existence at times, but people learn to adapt and to move forward – or sideways – when the need arises. But even there, we find ourselves in ruts and old routines that are hard to give up.
Risk and change are often synonymous in many people’s thoughts. “Things are going ok now. What’s going to happen if I do something different? Will I hurt my business?” They are afraid of what the future might hold if they change the least little thing – yet, without that change, business stagnates.
Perhaps your business seems to be running fine. You’re making money: you have satisfied customers, and you feel like you’re ahead of the game with your marketing. But are there things that you’d like to do that you never seem to have time for? Do you have goals but never seem to move forward with any of them? Is there a type of other business that you’d like to network with, but maybe you’re afraid that they might make it harder for you to succeed in your company? What’s stopping you from completing any of these items? Is it that you’re afraid of change? Maybe it’s time for you to say, “Oh what the heck. Let’s give it a shot. Change is happening anyway.”
Changing times cold hard rain/Everything's a changing/Nothing's gonna be the same
You'd better look out/'Cos you can't stop these changing times/Nothing going ever to be the same
You'd better look out/Look out for these changing times
Change is probably the scariest thing that can happen to people – and even the thought of change makes many stop, dig in their heels and state “I’ll think about that tomorrow.” We like living in our worlds – all neat and tidy, where we know what to expect and have our routines down pat. But, unfortunately, part of the world that we all live in is the inevitability of change. We can’t stop it, no matter how hard we try.
Recently, as many of you know, I moved back to small town USA after being away for many years. To me, home for the past 30 years has been Washington, DC – where everyone is bustling and the business world is ever changing. It’s hard to keep up and in order to succeed, you need to be ready for change at any given moment. It’s a rough existence at times, but people learn to adapt and to move forward – or sideways – when the need arises. But even there, we find ourselves in ruts and old routines that are hard to give up.
Risk and change are often synonymous in many people’s thoughts. “Things are going ok now. What’s going to happen if I do something different? Will I hurt my business?” They are afraid of what the future might hold if they change the least little thing – yet, without that change, business stagnates.
Perhaps your business seems to be running fine. You’re making money: you have satisfied customers, and you feel like you’re ahead of the game with your marketing. But are there things that you’d like to do that you never seem to have time for? Do you have goals but never seem to move forward with any of them? Is there a type of other business that you’d like to network with, but maybe you’re afraid that they might make it harder for you to succeed in your company? What’s stopping you from completing any of these items? Is it that you’re afraid of change? Maybe it’s time for you to say, “Oh what the heck. Let’s give it a shot. Change is happening anyway.”
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Want some tips for starting a small business?
I am really excited -- my new booklet is hot off the presses. I've put to paper some of the basics on how to (and how NOT to) start a small business. There are links to great small biz websites and some info that every new business person needs to know. If you're interested in learning more, send me an email and I'll be happy to talk to you about the book.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
King Arthur’s Roundtable
The story of the Roundtable is that Arthur’s most trusted knights sat with him around this table making decisions, having fun and sharing their lives with one another. It’s a good way to think about business even today. A book, written by David Perkins, entitled King Arthur's Round Table: How Collaborative Conversations Create Smart Organizations talks about how this method of business management creates a better decision-making process and therefore a more effective business. How do you do this if you’re a one person organization? Well, there’s help on the horizon.
The Work Place Initiative is just such a Roundtable: the members become your “Board of Advisors”, sharing goals and ideas, different perspectives, and learning and networking with those who will become your trusted friends and colleagues.
The purpose and mission of the Initiative is to provide effective business growth strategies to small and medium sized businesses through networking, educational forums and peer support. The focus is on owners and managers of businesses that have been in business for more than one year and have reached a level of growth where they need help getting to the next level.
One aspect of the Initiative, Insight, is an Advisory Board -- a group of professionals specifically targeted for their knowledge, skills and/or influence in the industry, who are convened by an organization to offer input and advice pertaining to a specific goal or objective. The Board offers “guidance” and functions as an operational Board of Directors, minus legal liability and statutory responsibility.
Through the sharing of thoughts and goals with a small group of respected advisors, businesses involved in Insight learn how to put first things first, optimize their capability and widen their circle of influence. They find win/win situations while developing an abundance mentality.
The other part of the Initiative is monthly networking and educational forums where experts in their field present information on topics of interest to small business owners and managers. Areas such as health insurance, marketing, management and more are all envisioned to be on the agenda in the coming months.
Roundtable Discussions (Insight):
Groups of no more than 6 members gather on a weekly basis to discuss issues of concern to themselves and other members of the group.
Shared Office Space:
Use of The Work Place conference room and computer/printer/Internet access (no rental on room; reduced charges on equipment)
Monthly Networking Meetings:
Provide a business networking environment where members and non-members can meet and greet each other (non-members pay entrance fees).
Access to Member Forums, Blogs and Articles
The Work Place Initiative is just such a Roundtable: the members become your “Board of Advisors”, sharing goals and ideas, different perspectives, and learning and networking with those who will become your trusted friends and colleagues.
The purpose and mission of the Initiative is to provide effective business growth strategies to small and medium sized businesses through networking, educational forums and peer support. The focus is on owners and managers of businesses that have been in business for more than one year and have reached a level of growth where they need help getting to the next level.
One aspect of the Initiative, Insight, is an Advisory Board -- a group of professionals specifically targeted for their knowledge, skills and/or influence in the industry, who are convened by an organization to offer input and advice pertaining to a specific goal or objective. The Board offers “guidance” and functions as an operational Board of Directors, minus legal liability and statutory responsibility.
Through the sharing of thoughts and goals with a small group of respected advisors, businesses involved in Insight learn how to put first things first, optimize their capability and widen their circle of influence. They find win/win situations while developing an abundance mentality.
The other part of the Initiative is monthly networking and educational forums where experts in their field present information on topics of interest to small business owners and managers. Areas such as health insurance, marketing, management and more are all envisioned to be on the agenda in the coming months.
Roundtable Discussions (Insight):
Groups of no more than 6 members gather on a weekly basis to discuss issues of concern to themselves and other members of the group.
Shared Office Space:
Use of The Work Place conference room and computer/printer/Internet access (no rental on room; reduced charges on equipment)
Monthly Networking Meetings:
Provide a business networking environment where members and non-members can meet and greet each other (non-members pay entrance fees).
Access to Member Forums, Blogs and Articles
The Little Engine That Could
One of my favorite stories as a child was about a little train that couldn’t make it up the hill like the big trains around him; but then he gave himself confidence by saying “I think I can, I think I can” and eventually up that hill he went. That’s what I think is needed in the business world today – at the very least for the small business owner out there, me included. We all have to have a sense of accomplishment and know that we’ve got to put in our best efforts to get something back out. A quote I read the other day went like this: “Half of success in life is showing up, and the other half is not quitting too soon.” That’s exactly on the head – we need to just keep telling ourselves, “I think I can, I think I can.”
What are some things that we need to have in order to be successful in our businesses? First and foremost, we MUST NOT give up. There are days when we just don’t want to get out of bed. We can’t face another frustration or piece of bad news. We just want to say “The heck with it – I’m outta here.” But that doesn’t solve anything does it? We have to have faith and patience. We need to tell ourselves that things will get better; the economy will come around, or people will eventually learn about our business and flock to our front doors.
However, we need to have more than just that faith and patience. We can’t just sit at our desks and wait for the phone to ring. If we encounter an obstacle, we have to figure out how to get around it. We need to use our imagination and see what other means we have to get the job done. We must continue with our marketing and networking – don’t be afraid of the unknown. Take a leap of faith and get out there and let people know who you are and what your business can do to help them.
It is also important to understand that you can never stop learning and trying new technology. Don’t let yourself become stagnant; again, sitting there and praying is not going to get the job done. Try new things, learn new techniques for growing your market. It will all help in the long run
What are some things that we need to have in order to be successful in our businesses? First and foremost, we MUST NOT give up. There are days when we just don’t want to get out of bed. We can’t face another frustration or piece of bad news. We just want to say “The heck with it – I’m outta here.” But that doesn’t solve anything does it? We have to have faith and patience. We need to tell ourselves that things will get better; the economy will come around, or people will eventually learn about our business and flock to our front doors.
However, we need to have more than just that faith and patience. We can’t just sit at our desks and wait for the phone to ring. If we encounter an obstacle, we have to figure out how to get around it. We need to use our imagination and see what other means we have to get the job done. We must continue with our marketing and networking – don’t be afraid of the unknown. Take a leap of faith and get out there and let people know who you are and what your business can do to help them.
It is also important to understand that you can never stop learning and trying new technology. Don’t let yourself become stagnant; again, sitting there and praying is not going to get the job done. Try new things, learn new techniques for growing your market. It will all help in the long run
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