Archive for Motivation
It Takes A Village to Raise a Business
Posted by: | CommentsWe’ve all heard the saying that it takes a village to raise a child. However, if there’s one thing I’ve learned after surviving five years in business is that it also takes a village to raise a business.
When I was in my mid-20s I actually tried to start my own business doing very much what I’m doing now (minus the social media since Facebook etc. didn’t exist back then).
I survived about a year before I packed it in and got a “real job”. The problem was that I thought in order to be a business person you had to be independent, and independent meant doing it all myself.
This time around, being a little older, and a little wiser (I hope), I recognized that trying to go it alone was part of the problem. Read More→
5 Reasons Why Imperfect Execution Is Better Than Perfect Planning
Posted by: | CommentsW
hy is it that some people seem to move ahead by leaps and bounds while other people who are perhaps more talented seem to be left behind in the dust? Seth Godin said it best in Linchpin: Are You Indispensable. He wrote: “Real artists ship.”
What did he mean? You don’t have to be the best to be successful. The people who get ahead don’t worry about being perfect. They get off their butts, take action and get their products to market.
So here are my thoughts on why imperfect execution is better than perfect planning
Work your plan
While I’m the first one to tell you that planning is important, I know that too often planning can be a form of procrastination. Rather than getting down to the work, you keep tweaking the plan. Get a plan in place and start working it. Over time you can tweak the plan as you see what works and what doesn’t.
Beating the competition
How many times have you seen a competitor release a new product that is just like the brilliant idea you had a year ago but is still in the planning stages? Don’t you kick yourself when that happens? I know I have. Let’s learn from our mistakes; when you have a brilliant idea quickly create a plan then work on execution so that someone else doesn’t beat you to the punch. Read More→
What’s your relationship with money?
Posted by: | CommentsIf you are in business you must focus on making a profit. Without profit, without earning descent money, you don’t have a business, you have a hobby.
Putting your focus on profit doesn’t make you a Ferengi. It is a necessary part of the business world. When you have a j-o-b, someone else is responsible for marketing, office space, administration and designing a business plan. You show up, do your job and get paid for your time.
But when you own your own business, even if you have employees, you are ultimately responsible for every part of your business. That’s why you charge a higher hourly rate than you would if you worked for someone else. Very few entrepreneurs bill 40 hours per week.
But in spite of this, many entrepreneurs have an uneasy relationship with money. And it is a relationship, as I was reminded by Iyabo Asani in a teleseminar I attended last night. In this teleseminar she said that money represents an exchange of energy. You provide a services (expend energy) and the customer gives you money in exchange.
However, if you have a problem relationship with money, it spills over into other parts of your business life. If you always feel there is never enough money, then it is often because you lack value in yourself. This can manifest itself in a lack of clients or in attracting clients who can’t or won’t pay what you’re worth.
What Iyabo said made a lot of sense to me. I know in my own life, my relationship with money hasn’t always run smooth. I don’t come from an entrepreneurial background so making money isn’t always seen as a good thing. This makes for some interesting thought processes when you’re in business, let me tell you.
However, when I focus on money, when I focus on cleaning up my relationship with money, things improve.
How? Read More→
Seth Godin says Real Artists Ship. Do you?
Posted by: | CommentsThe other day I was listening to the Marketing Over Coffee podcast featuring an interview with Seth Godin, talking about his new book Linchpin.
While the entire podcast was interesting – as always – there was one section in particular that stood out. Godin said, “real artists ship.”
By artists, he didn’t necessarily mean people who put paint on canvas. He broadened the term to mean anyone who is creative and bringing something new to the market, in particular entrepreneurs. What he really meant is successful entrepreneurs finish what they start and bring new products (or services) to market. They don’t spend forever making it perfect. They get it close enough, then release it.
During the interview they discussed a few well-known cases of companies taking forever to get a new product to market. In some cases, they never quite manage to release.
This got me to thinking about Read More→
Can An Entrepreneur Ever Really Take a Vacation?
Posted by: | CommentsI was chatting with my accountability partner on Monday. We were both coming off a week where we got little done. And neither of us felt particularly guilty or frustrated.
As Helene said, “We Canadians have such a short time with good weather we need to take advantage of it.”
It’s not just Canadians. All small business owners need to give themselves permission to have some down time. I know I tend to be a bit of a work-a-holic. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you’ve seen me write about going two or three days without even leaving the house!
Even when I leave my home office I don’t always stop working. I have a habit of taking my laptop with me when I want to watch the Jays game or a movie and checking email, reading other people’s blogs or catching up with social media.
Now I’m all for multitasking. I do it all the time. But there comes a time when Read More→
