New To Business?
New to business? Don’t lose your nerve!
I have been helping out one of my best friends with her new business venture in the UK. It is exciting, a bit out of the box and loaded with potential. We had a long chat via Skype about a job offer she had received. It was essentially what her business offered but she would be committed full time for at least six months. The question – what should she do?
Give up the chance to earn a full time wage for six months or hold her nerve and continue with the business?
She held her nerve…bravely…. Instead of being a full time employee she convinced them they should hire her company instead! No need to put all marketing efforts on hold, no need to turn away potential new clients, no need to stop doing all of the things she has been doing in the past six months to get her to where she is.
Small business is a big old adventure loaded with potential wrong turns and bad decisions everywhere. You will make some (maybe even lots) and you will want to give up. I know this because I have been there. Possibly the worst decision you can make is losing your nerve too quickly. You know what it is like, the bank account is empty, you no longer buy the fancy toilet paper, and your social life has all but disappeared. You find yourself taking a quick peek at Seek, just to see what kind of jobs are going… it’s a slippery slope from here my friends.
If you are in your first year or two of business I want you to print this blog out and stick it above your desk as a reminder to not lose your nerve until you have answered the questions below;
Question 1
Do you honestly do everything possible every single day to make your business?
Question 2
Do people know you exist? This does not mean googling your business name!
Question 3
Have you asked a professional (oh I happen to know some business coaches…) for advice?
Question 4
Do you ask someone every single day to buy your product or service?
Question 5
Do you honestly want this to work?
If you answered no to the above then you just need a good old fashion kick up the arse with the exception of question 5.
If you answered no to question 5 then it is best you nick off and get a job fast!
Melanie Miller
Small Fish Business Coaching Gold Coast
www.smallfish.com.au
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Are You Going Backwards or Forwards - The Importance Of Business Planning
I was sitting in a train today facing the wrong way I was travelling and was thinking to myself I can see where I have been, but not where I am going. This got me thinking about life and also about how this may be relevant to business.
How many times do you look at where you have been, but not where you are going?
We always look back and say things like ‘that promotion didn’t work’, ‘I hired the wrong person’, ‘sales were bad last week’ etc. But how often do we look forward?
Looking forward to determine where it is you are going (or want to go) is a critical part in your planning for your business success. Take the time to work out where it is you want to go and look beyond the immediate horizon.
If you are ‘looking backwards,’ take the time to now start ‘looking forward’ at where you want to head. Make a plan, write it down and work out what needs to be done to get there.
It may be as simple as defining what your ideal team member looks like, does, and needs to do, or to plan sales forecasts, marketing plans etc.
The most important thing is to DO IT, and now is a great time.
Good luck!
Tony Ozanne
Small Fish Business Coaching Canberra
www.smallfish.com.au
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Another Year Done
Another year done! What will you change next year?
As we approach the end to yet another calendar year, it is useful for us to use the upcoming months to reflect on our successes or opportunities. What will your reflections reveal this year of you and your business?
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Did you hit your goals for the year? – goals can be financial, growth based, development based or to focus on any aspect you wanted to achieve. The main point being that you actually had a goal for the year? Don’t panic though if you didn’t as all is not lost, set one now for next year.
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Does your business look like you wanted it to look? – Physical size as far as turnover, number and quality of staff, the types of clients who buy from you etc.? If yes, then review what it was you did well and continue or enhance it. If no, then establish some plan of action to fix the gaps to make next year better.
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Is your work-life balance where you want it to be? - have you had a holiday and was it stress free, or did you call the office every hour while away? Have you missed those important family events or kids sports days? Unfortunately it will happen, but how can you reduce this lost time opportunity in the coming months? Do you need to ‘let go’ a bit and have someone do some of your tasks?
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Are you making more, or building an entity worth more than you would have if you had one of those 4 letter words, A JOB (well not technically one word, but it works for my point!). Should you go back to the corporate world, or have you got what it takes to turnaround your business if it was a bad year?
Now would be the perfect time to go on about the needs or benefits of getting a business coach, or utilising one of our awesome products like the Business Audit Consultancy, but I won’t do that (unless you decide to click on the links of course! What I will say is DO spend the time reflecting on your year in the coming weeks. Write down what worked and what didn’t, and spend the time to plan for an awesome year next year.
It is never too late to start planning.
Tony Ozanne
Small Fish Business Coaching Canberra
www.smallfish.com.au
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We're Learning About Google Plus - Are You In On It Yet?
We all know that social media in business is something that most have started to use to promote their services and to get a wide presence on the Internet. And of course, just as we are getting used to all the tweets and posts, deciding what is even going to make people read what you've written, Google throws another social flare into the mix - Google +.
You've probably heard all the fuss about Google + for business pages. If you happen to be one of the early adopters who have jumped on board with this, great!
We’ve been working on Google + for business pages for Small Fish and quite frankly, we are enjoying it. Maybe it's because it is a fresh clean slate. Maybe it's because not that many people are using it yet and we like being one of the early ones in. Or maybe it’s because we know that Google rules the web and that frankly, if you want your business to move up in the ranks, you should probably bow down to the Google gods and do whatever they tell you. It’s not like it is going to hurt... it's only giving your business more exposure!
We're not pretending we are experts yet, but we're going to figure it out, learning as we go. If you think this is interesting and useful, go to Google + and we will include you in our circles so we can share some interesting tips and information with you as we learn. We think you should definitely jump on board.
Stay tuned for more posts to come as you come on the journey with us into exploring how to make Google + work for your business. We will be working hard on our page, so why not learn with us?
Next week I'll share our first Google+ training workshop. (I have to finish writing it first).
Lindsey Weissert
Marketing for Small Fish Business Coaching
www.smallfish.com.au
Tim (Levi's Dad) 29-Nov-2011 09:03 AM
Thanks, Lindsay. I'm keen to learn a bit more so I will be looking into Google + too. Keep me in the circle and keep me updated.
How Much Profit Is Your Business Leaking?
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Regards,
The Small Fish Team
Anonymous 20-Jan-2012 03:55 AM
Un bon blog, bien écrit, merci.
assurance 22-Mar-2012 02:53 AM
merci pour Ton site internet qui est vraiment pas mal souhaitons que ça durera, en attendant de te lire. Yaeko Mclean
Profit $60,000 to $300,000 In 3 Years!
I'd like to share another article with you that I wrote for our local newspaper, The Echo, a few weeks ago.
"I thought I'd tell a true story about how business coaching can help a real business owner change his business. The subject of the story is Jeff Banks, of Banks Consultancy, in Sydney. I've been coaching him for three and a half years now.
We met in 2007, thinking we'd talk about referring business to each other - Jeff is an accountant and has small business customers; my coaching customers are small business owners. As we sat and ordered coffee, Jeff said "I don't want to talk about that, my wife says I need a business coach." It went from there.
Jeff was frustrated in his business. He had a busy accountancy practice with $350,000 of turnover and more than 300 clients. But, profit was only $60,000 (Jeff's personal income), the business had $300,000 in aged debt and almost $80,000 of the revenue was trade - that is money you can't spend on important stuff like mortgages and petrol. Jeff was feeling the pressure, working very hard and wanted out.
The vision Jeff and Robyn (his wife) came up with for the business was "Sell for $750,000 in Dec '09 - and escape up the coast.
We worked hard on the discipline of chasing debtors (and still do); we increased Jeff's prices (to squeals and protest from Jeff but none from his customers); we started Jeff actively marketing (not something he felt comforahle with, I can tell you); we worked on Jeff - on stopping him from being such a pushover for some people, on his confidence in his (very strong) abilities in accounting (and gutter technology, as he he puts it), on his time management and prioritisation.
Within a year, profit was up to $100,000, Jeff was less stressed. We recieved and they rejected an offer to buy the practice (because they were enjoying it again). As of June 2011, revenue was $860,000, profit $300,000, Jeff is confident, engaged and a business leader in his local community.
Sometimes he likes to credit me with this but I think we know that 90% of it was down to him. The coach is just the catalyst.
Have fun in your business. And call Jon for a free coaching session on 02 6680 8036."
Jon Dale
Small Fish Business Coaching Byron Bay
www.smallfish.com.au
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Do You Have A Business List For The New Year?
It’s that time of the year again; the Christmas and the New Year period. This is the time we all sit back and reflect on the year that was, and dream of the year that will be!!
Whether you do it physically or subconsciously, most people will establish some ‘list’ for the coming year of what they wish to achieve. This may be the stereotypical ones such as losing weight and exercising more or include others such as eat properly, go on that grand world trip, renovate the house etc. We all do it; we all plan for the year ahead in some formal or informal way. The BIG question is, “do you have the same discipline for your business?”
The New Year is a great time to not only reflect on the year that was and look at what worked, what didn’t and what you may do differently if you had the chance. It is also the perfect time to spend the holiday period planning for your business year as well by making a business list.
List items to consider could include (but not limited to):
- Reviewing your business plan (if you don’t have one- start one!)
- Place your goals on a page for the coming year
- Review the KPIs or results of the business and look for 3 things that worked and 3 that didn’t and think how to make them work
- Develop a Marketing plan.
- Develop an exit strategy.
- Complete a review of your teams (and your) performance- was it awesome, or was there room to improve? If there is how you can YOU lead the team more effectively to get awesome outcomes?
- Set some measurable goals and numbers for the coming year- reach for the stars and if you only hit the moon, it’s still great!
There are many more that I am sure you can tell me about so feel free to post your thoughts...The key to this message is to do it! Make a list for your business and have a Prosperous Business year in 2011. If you need help, we can do that with you too!
Happy New Year from Small Fish Business Coaching Canberra and plan big for 2011.
Tony Ozanne
Small Fish Business Coaching Canberra
www.smallfish.com.au
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