Rebuilding your culture
In business, most employees feel like they are unheard, unrepresented and under appreciated. For a business that needs support with it's growth and financial goals, your success is dependent on keeping employees who believe in your business culture and mission.
How do you get the less than engaging employees who have adverse reaction to change to turnaround?…Get them involved in the process!
Leadership can't have a pulse on every aspect of the business and you don't do the work that gets the right outcomes leading to the success you're looking to achieve. You need a transformative approach that activates more people to motivate and inspire their peers and your customers. Employees who are encouraged by the idea of the changes you want to make, understand the work it will take to get there and will translate the vision, then spread it across your organization. This is the heart of a transformative culture shift.
Reflecting on the last year
Good business owners should reflect on the past year to evaluate successes, lessons and opportunities.
This creates space for growth and innovation which helps businesses build long term. Setting new goals for growth in business as well as personally helps keep new business owners on track and understand the level of financial investment and time commitment needed to build better for the future.
This type of strategic business planning is the recipe for successful outcomes.
Change is inevitable
No matter what business you’re in, where you live or how much (or little) money you have; the one thing that is for certain is that there will be change. Good, bad or indifferent; we can’t grow if we do not endure some sort of change.
In business, in order to survive and be successful change is a must. If we don’t foster new ideas or reflect on past endeavors opportunities to improve will pass you by. Instead of bellyaching about it think of what learning opportunities there were. Was there something that could have been done differently? Would the outcome have been better, worse or the same?
Is there a new or improved idea or way of doing things that you’ve been kicking around? How can you develop it, gain insights or even monetize it? In my line of work, I see change as a benefit. I have the pleasure of helping more people learn to think differently, grow and challenge themselves every day. In going through the process, I continue to change and get better every day.
Remote work-life balance
We are all guilty of trying to be everything to everyone…especially in the workplace. Long hours, short vacations, all equate to low energy and motivation.
As we continue with the virtual or hybrid workplace in our post-COVID era, we are now dealing with employee burnout which wreaks havoc on productivity. Whether you're an office clerk or a business executive, the risk of environmental burnout is still very real. Having a lack of stimulation outside of our home office is creating more depressed feelings for many of us. What can you do?
Studies are showing that remote workers who use the benefits of working anywhere that has good WiFi are helping those who have exhausted their mental capacity for remaining in the same four walls.
Some people are taking their virtual offices to the reaching corners of the earth or just to their neighborhood coffee shop a few times a month…or week.
For myself, a change in scenery could mean working from a friend or family member’s home. Maybe an intermittent work week on a cruise ship for the busier times with hard deadlines.
Whatever works best for you and your work-life balance work week…do it somewhere new, fun or exciting to bring back your mental health spark.
Commitment, Drive and Passion
I am very blessed to have had the opportunity to do what I’m passionate about as well as continue to earn a stable income in a traditional corporate position. Reflecting on the common threads that push me to do something well and be in a place of creativity and learning without the fear of failure. I can say that drive and commitment have served me well.
Sometimes if you’ve been in your job for a while, it can feel like a monotonous space that needs to be refreshed. For some, it is a trigger for them to look for promotion or work for a new company. Others may feel they have become “stuck” or feel “trapped” in their job and are looking for new ways to gain more fulfillment in the work they are doing. I say…why not take the opportunity to explore a new opportunity while you keep your “day job”? Being comfortable in a stable work environment that you’re succeeding in affords you to have the room you need to pursue other income earning interests that don’t interfere with the “daily grind”.
Having a gift or skillset that you can make money from…AND is or could be in demand can be more enjoyable. It helps to know there could be a reward when you are going through challenges or aren’t making any money initially. By starting with a hobby that can have some monetization, you have the wiggle room needed to work on business development at a slower pace without being plagued by the need to earn income. Your attention span will be held long enough to set goals and build muscles as an entrepreneur.
Having a strong level of commitment to engage in business development activities after work, on weekends and sometimes holidays is very important to be able to withstand lulls and challenges that come with new business territory. Also having enough courage to share about the work you’re doing and making a conscious effort to engage others in goals, aspirations, and personal business interests. The act of sharing builds your confidence and is a great sales tool for you to use while you’re in the early stages of building a business.
So, start with the basics, give people understanding about your product, service or ideas and receive their questions or feedback as marketing research to help you along the way. Be Brave…ask questions of the people you know about your products and services to pinpoint your audience. Don’t be afraid to ask how much someone would pay for the product so you can gauge how to appropriately price your time, effort, and product or service.
How does one create a better changing environment?
Through years of experience, I have developed the uncanny ability to anticipate organizational change. I call it “The handwriting on the wall”.
It all sounds the same to the average person or employee. It sounds like “we need to do more with less”, but more of what...with less of what?
As a leader as well as a small business owner, I am coming from a place of teaching and coaching as well as understanding how important it is to change for growth.
It is not always the changes that are difficult for employees to handle. It is often the delivery from leaders in the “Ivory Tower” that is less than optimal for breeding creative change management spaces where employees are engaged and contributing to the process to help with easier adoption.
Speaking from the employee perspective, people want to feel heard, be asked and provide feedback that contributes to changes to a very important part of daily life….their ability to earn a living and provide for themselves and their families.
Being in a position of trusted advisor for your workforce allows an employer to maintain the most important assets to the company, the people who do all the work. Without the people, how could we the employers, leaders and coaches also exist? Can we learn to create more opportunities to improve the products we sell or the services we provide to the consumer? We should consider employee feedback to be more valuable since they are also consumers in the market place.
Setting a new path through uncharted territory
In my life, I have found that no one is ever mad when you are looking at things from a different lens or perspective. As a matter of fact, I find that many people appreciate alternative ways of thinking because new is always sought after.
New phones, tablets, televisions, trends in fashion, hairstyles…etc. All of these things are typically viewed as a positive change. So why not a new business model…why do we feel like change in our workplace and businesses are negative or intrusive? It’s the type of change that creates the emotional response.
Anytime an employee is asked to do something that differs from their current process, it can feel as though you’re telling them what they do isn’t good enough to get the job done. It takes more time to learn a new process and in some cases given the message isn’t communicated correctly it feels like “one more thing to do”. Take care in the messaging when rolling out something new, include your team in the development process or at least allow time for testing and feedback throughout the phase to promote full adoption. Be open to making adjustments…as leaders you gain the trust and confidence of your team members and they’ll appreciate feeling heard.
Side hustle opportunities
Did you know that in most states there is a threshold of earnings you can make on a business or selling products before you are required to claim it as taxable income?
Sometimes people make being a business owner out to be more complicated than it really has to be. It depends on your goals and timeline for becoming a self-made “enterprise”.
Maybe you’re thinking, “What if my goal is just to be able to do more traveling?”…Ever thought about becoming a travel agent? Want to do more saving for a rainy day…how about selling online turning your gently used commodities around the house into cash? Got a knack for graphic design, photography, other artistic or unique skills?…share your talents on small projects for a small fee, then put it to use. Talent is free trade that can be used to grow your income without much effort in the business realm.
Social media and other online platforms can help boost your earning potential. Also doing something you already like to do makes it less cumbersome to make money.
Marketing and Sales
It's hard to grow a business without some sort of marketing plan. What does that look like for businesses that are starting from home-grown hobbies, don't have much of a budget or are being managed by employees who don't have any background or education in this area? Start with networking.
Networking uses opportunities in the moment to share what you do, educate others about what's important to know about your business and sell people on the concept or product you're promoting.
How does one get started with using network resources as the primary way to increase opportunities to sell?
Begin with your core supporters
Try Social Media
Work with other businesses in the same industry on a collaborative project
Attend industry events and exchange information
Participate in or volunteer for community event for recognition
The biggest part of marketing is selling your ideas, being intentional about how you show up and being bold about sharing what's great about what you do.
So, make connections, share content, collaborate with others and show how much your business can have an impact on others.
Passion is the key to success…
Start with your passion.
It all begins with your passion. The best way to make money, start a business or develop a product is to be excited about what you do.
Think “Shark Tank”. Most people start a business in it’s earliest development through a hobby or have a unique product that not everyone can create or offer. By doing what you do best, you’ll go the extra mile, work long hours and achieve production goals because you are not solely focused on the “business end” of starting a new company.
While you may not be a mogul right away, you are on your way to being able to create an income stream out of something you enjoy doing anyway.
Not everyone has the “next big thing” or a magic crystal ball that predicts the mega-million dollar product of the future, but everyone has a talent that someone else doesn’t have. That talent is marketable enough for a certain population who is not as talented at doing it as you are.
So…don’t let good talent go to waste. Start small and get a mentor who can help you develop a short-term business plan with increasing monetary compensation goals. See how far you can get with your “side hustle hobby”.