This week I was speaking on the topic of Thriving in the Extreme World of Business at an event and used the theme of Peter Drucker's 5 Most Important Questions to link the points together about how to make a business successful during tough times. The questions are very simple but they are not always easy to answer, and its really about taking a step back to reflect and get clarity on the business uniqueness and focused on what will make the difference.
I also listened to a presentation by prominent business woman Laurel Herman, who is founder of Positive Presence. She succinctly explained what achieving positive presence is all about and the definition was also simple to communicate, but often difficult to achieve. She said its about being "noticed, noted, listened to, taken seriously, respected and remembered."
So if you are able to take actions to address all both of these issues above, you and your business is likely to thrive.
My friend recently sent me a tape of of Shakti Gawain's great book Creative Visualisation. It took me a few listens to really get into it and every so often the chapters pop up on the random shuffle play on my iPhone. One of the exercises is about creating your future and imagining what it will be like. I used a similar exercise with groups over the last two days and it reminded me just how powerful it is for people to step into the future and imagine it as if it is happening now.
Because our imagination does not distinguish between real or imagined situations, once you have imagined the future, the subconscious then begins to work on making it a reality. So think about what you want in your future - what you are seeing, hearing and feeling when it is happening. Then when it becomes a reality you are not surprised because you have been there before....in your mind.
Today I received my copy of Supermummy- The Ultimate Mumpreneur's Guide to Online Business Success which is available on Amazon from 5th March. Mel McGee, the author, kindly sent it to me after I reviewed the book for her. It's full of useful information for any mum that wants to run an online business and is all explained in straight forward language and simple steps. If you are short on time and need to know how to get started, its a great pick up and put down book because no matter what page you open it on, you can learn something useful and take action immediately.
The topic of books has been close to my heart today as I was doing some work on my next project. So seeing Mel's one completed has spurred me on to get going with this. We all need some inspiration at times!
This week I went to an event at Said Business School to hear Julie Meyer, founder of Ariadne Capital speak about business. She was one of the women whom I interviewed for my book Secrets of Successful Women Entrepreneurs and therefore I was interested to know if the messages that she would be communicating had changed over time.
It was heartening to hear a consistency in what she said.......about creating a growth story for Europe....and investing at the moment of greatest pessimism.....which were two things she was telling me five years ago too.
Julie also explained her six points that entrepreneurs should consider:
Be unreasonable about success as an entrepreneur - which means acting with imperfect information, never assuming that you control time, never giving up and expecting success
You know more than you think you do (this was one of her top tips in my book too)
Invest in the success of others
Be radically open to the world
Exact accountability - Julie talked about the role of management being the search for accountability
Create the conditions of trust so that great things can happen.
It just reminded me that the message does not necessarily change over time, but sometimes its our ability to hear it that might be different!
One of the things I really like about my work is that it is varied. No two weeks are ever the same and I get the opportunity to work in a wide variety of sectors. This could be a sole trader setting up a business one day, to public sector organisations, academic professors, corporates and sport governing bodies.
What I find important is paying attention to the detail that communicates subtle clues about the culture of the company or organisation that you are working with, and people like nothing better than to feel that you "get it" - you understand how they work and what is important to them.
This means noticing factors like what type of clothes do people wear, are they suited and booted? casual and trendy, or functionally dressed? I always think carefully about what message my clothes will communicate to them and will they think that I understand where they are coming from.
Also, arriving at the reception of an organisation or small business, can also tell a story. How do people address one another? Are procedures important to them? What is displayed on the walls of the reception?
Then what sort of language do they use? This ranges from noticing the buzzwords that are spoken (certain types of organisations LOVE acronyms and expect you to know what they are) to the subtlety of the phrasing of the person who is your contact. Do they use visual, auditory or kinaesthetic language?
Do they talk about best value, return on investment, bottom line profits or maximising shareholder value?
Often as a consultant, coach or speaker, I don't get all that much time to assimilate the environment and create a powerful impact, so you need to be noticing plenty of detail and be prepared to adapt your style to suit the environment. So remember to hone your skill in noticing....
Last week I was chairing a conference of businesswomen in Somerset. It was hard work, making sure that all the slides were sorted for speakers, making sure the programme ran to time, and introducing everyone appropriately.
Luckily I got to hear a fantastic speaker, Craig Goldblatt. He teaches people all over Europe his sales techniques and what he talked about made great sense to me- no matter what you are selling you need to make an emotional connection with your buyer to satisfy one of the core emotional needs that human beings have:
Certainty
Risk
Significance
Connection
Growth
Giving
He used the example of the Cadburys Milk Tray adverts where the man flew in from wherever to bring you the box of chocolates, and asked us to consider which emotional needs it met?
So why not review the way you sell your product or service today to see if it "hits the spot"!
There
are now over 1 million self-employed women in the UK and whilst over 70% own their
own businesses, less than 20% of those have employees.Some might argue that women don’t want to
grow big businesses, but it’s not true for many female entrepreneurs
today.So what will encourage women to
grow their businesses to a size that contributes to the economy by providing
jobs for others?
Three
things: aspirations, capabilities and
resources, and underpinning them all a
good idea that is scalable.
Business Model
Many
women start out delivering a product or service that is based around their own
skills e.g. complementary therapy. Whilst
you might be the best therapist in your local area, the business can only be
scalable if you create a business model which helps you (and others who may
become involved in your business) understand how it makes money.
A
business model should describe how your business positions itself within its
industry and how it intends to generate revenue.It should answer the following questions:
1.Who pays? (consumer,
producer, or third parties?)
2.What for? (goods, services,
expertise, assurances of quality or security.)
3.To whom?
4.Why? (perceived value, competitive
price etc.)
You
need a clear and convincing answers to the above questions, especially “why”.
If your business model cannot be replicated
then it will difficult to turn your service into a growth business. But assuming that it is, then consider the
other areas too.
Many
women start up in business for different reasons to the traditional
entrepreneurial values of financial success, power and status.Some tend to be motivated by personal comfort
or self-actualization goals that allow them to work at something interesting
and maintain flexibility. Running a high growth business tends to demand high
levels of energy, commitment and leadership skills and might not seem so appealing.
How to get inspired
Read about women who are
running growth businesses and find out what it’s really like
hink about your future and
what you would like to achieve.Think
about the benefits of investing time and effort for a few years in order to
build a business that has the potential to be sold. This could provide the finance
for you to achieve your longer term vision.
Believe it is
possible.Sometime the greatest fear we
have is fear of success, not fear of failure so create your own model for
success based on your ideal work environment.
Capabilities
This
is the combination of knowledge and skills that you bring to the table.Sometimes I think many of us like to imagine
we can do it all, and it’s foolish to believe that this is the case.This encourages you not to delegate and get
others involved, which is what is needed to grow a business.
Critically assess the skills
and capabilities that you have.Be
honest with yourself and recognise that if you are focusing on your strengths
then you can start to value strengths in others and it’s easier to delegate.
Resources
are the combination of financial and social capital that you have available
which can help you make the transition from lifestyle business to growing
business.
Finances
Over
the years, maybe you have not had as much interest or taken the responsibility
for understanding and managing finances, and research shows that women spend
less time engaged in activity related to acquiring finance at the start-up
stage.
This
could be because we can be more risk averse regarding business funding.I wish I had a pound for every woman I have
spoken to that will only start their business on a shoe string because they
don’t believe it’s really going to be a success!Yet it’s this under-capitalisation of a
business that can cause problems if you intend to grow.
Challenge your thinking
– ask yourself - what is attitude to financial risk?Would you put up your house as security?If not, why not?Is it that you would not put your family in
jeopardy, you don’t believe in the potential of the product/service?By asking yourself these questions, you can
begin to think like an investor – if you don’t believe in your business, then
why should the bank or an investor?
Contrary to popular
belief, successful entrepreneurs are not risk takers, but what they do is
carefully evaluate all the risks before making a decision.
Social Capital
As
you begin to grow, you will need to find good people to help you. They might be
business specialists, investors, potential members of staff, mentors etc. and
the more diverse networks that you have, the greater the chance that you will
be able to find the right people.
evaluate all the
networks that you are part of already. E.g. family, school friends, other
parents, business networks, evening class contacts, people at the gym, and you
will amaze yourself at the number of people you know.
Even if you don’t have a
large network, you can “borrow” social capital from others who do and that is
where a mentor comes in.If you are
looking to build contacts in a particular industry sector then you might consider
seeking a mentor in that industry.Whilst this might seem a “one-sided approach” if you have ever mentored
someone else you will know that the mentor gets a lot of satisfaction too from
being able to help their mentee and to make introductions.
We all enjoy stories and you can use them in business very effectively. Think of the last time you heard or read a story about a customer who had gone to a business with a specific need, got the product they wanted and left delighted that they had received great service? What is that customer going to do next? Tell a story of course about her experience to her friends, so that next time they have a similar need for that product, who will they remember about?
Marilynn Mobley, Senior Vice President of Edelman talked about what makes a good story during her workshop at the Women President's Organisation conference. She gave some examples of companies that have moved from being product based to being brand based and therefore telling a story.
Company Product-based Brand-based Nike Athletics Shoes Ultimate Physical Achievement Disney Animated Movies Magical Experiences HSBC Collection of banks World's local bank
She explained the five points that all good stories have:
1. It captivates you from the beginning 2. It is descriptive, and conveys vivid images 3. It has a hero and a mission 4. It has or makes a point 5. It encourages you to think about it or to take action and pass it on.
Think about that for your business, does your business tell a story? Have a read of the introduction on our Mission Possible website and see what you think about our story.
Today he was in fine form tackling the topic of innovation by providing a comparison between the approaches of Picasso and Cezanne. What he was really referring to was the issue of big bold ideas that make short term impact versus constant experimentation and small improvements over time. It was fascinating and gave credence to all those in the audience who perhaps were thinking "should I give up or keep going?" with any innovation that they are working on that is not yet yielding results.
He referred to several other examples where the same principles apply.....It took Fleetwood Mac over 10 years and 15 albums until they created their 16th hit album Rumours which was one of the top five biggest selling albums of all time. Compare this to the drive by the music industry these days for artistes to deliver instant results.
Orson Wells directed Citizen Kane when he was aged 24 compared to Alfred Hitchcock who was in his late fifties by the time he directed Vertigo and had been experimenting and honing his craft for years. Both films were hugely successful and yet were created using very different innovative approaches.
What Gladwell was really saying was that there are two approaches to innovation - one the short term bold concept that can be easily described in advance and will make a major impact, and the other is those in it for the long term, and who cannot easily describe what the end outcome will be, as its only through constantly experimenting and making small improvements that they realise the innovation in the end. Both can yield great financial results, but one requires patience which seems to be in short supply these days in the business world.
I came away thinking that since Mission Possible has been going for 10 years and we are constantly experimenting and improving what we do that we are probably in the Cezanne camp - which means that Mission Achieved will be at some future time .....
Last week I was working with some clients who are all former high achievers in the world of sport. I found it fascinating that they took it for granted that everyone must be the same as they are. I quickly pointed out that the essence of what makes them different to most of the population is that they have ACTUALLY DONE IT - and that is what is worth a lot.
I come across many high achievers in the worlds of business, sport and academia and as a coach, my job very often is to help these people recognise, accept and then leverage the essence that makes then unique.
There is a great story I heard about the factory owner that had a machine that broke down, meaning that his staff of 500 were hanging about waiting for it to be fixed - the factory owner was going mad with all the delays. He called the repair man, who came from a long way away, and charged £15,000 to fix the machine.
Everyone waited with bated breath as he arrived, scratched his head, looked for a few moments and then made two loud taps on the machine in particular areas. He then said "right that's it fixed". The factory owner was delighted but also aghast that this guy could charge such a large fee for the work. He exclaimed "what gives you the right to charge all that money and you were only here for a few minutes?" The man replied "It took me 20 years to get all the knowledge to know which two areas to tap, and that is what you are paying for".
It was the same with these sports people - they had not realised that all the knowledge and experience they had gained and could now use to help others was valuable. They left with a new outlook on what that magical essence was worth.....
