I had never really thought about all the details that go into business at the same time. Even though I'm an accountant and business practices and procedures was part of my studies there. I didn't really realise just how much of it, I already use.
My tasks for the past 2 weeks, have been to come up with a business plan and set it out. This involves setting up your business structure, marketing plan and your financial plan. I worked on all 3 yesterday and came up with some interesting figures and facts. I'll be assemblying them altogether today and I think I may just have a pretty good business plan, but in my case. Bits4Babies.com has already been going for 3 years. So it was pretty easy to get the structure right, but the marketing and financial side of things amazed me. I'm glad I did that exercise. It just re-iterated where we were going and what we wanted to achieve.
That was just one of my tasks. The rest of the tasks will probably only get pulled into place properly over time, but I want to say this. The coaching that I'm receiving has already been invaluable. They keep up your confidence, keep your drive going and most importantly, they won't let you give up. Giving up is not a word I use often in my vocabulary, because I don't know what giving up is.
I have always been persistant and kept on going no matter what. That's who I am and the people that work with me, have kind of found that out. Sometimes, I steam ahead and they fall behind a little, this is when I try my very best to help them catch up with me, but I also know that I have to keep going ahead, so I try to slow it down a little. That is hard for me.
This business coaching is good and I can see many good things coming from it, but I really do need to keep my feet firmly on the ground and consider that there are other people that want to go as fast as me, but have to learn what I've learned to keep up. That is probably the biggest lesson I've learned this week. "Try and take a steady pace, so that others can keep up with you."
Well, I'll be beginning my week with more tasks to do, but with a fresh view on things. I'll keep you posted of what is happening.
Showing posts with label Business Coaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Business Coaching. Show all posts
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
The journey continues...
As I write this, I am sat here in my pj's and my dressing gown with fluffy pink slippers on. So you can imagine, I'm still not fully awake yet, but I couldn't wait any longer to tell you the news.
http://www.bits4babies.com has had a make-over. We have spent hours and hours trying to get the site up to scratch again.... yes, we did get complacent, but now we are focused again and things are running nicely again. Bits 4 Babies was established on 6 January 2006 and has gone through many transformations, then we hit a stumbling block. We were teetering, we knew that now was the time when we would either slide back or go full steam ahead. We did the latter.
Over the past 2 weeks we have been consulting with other professionals and we have done the work necessary to give it that one last push. We got rid of all the old product pages, search pages etc and it is slowly correcting itself on the search engines. Kev and I are exhausted, but we keep going on, because we know we have to.
I have learnt a great deal more about web-design and put that into action, I put in what I already knew and added a little more. With advertising and marketing, it was just getting the right mix. We are now on our way up again and it feels great.
Bits 4 Babies US & CA now has a new look. We are planning on putting a community in place for those of you that like to share your experiences with parenting, pregnancy and child care. We hope to have a place where you can blog about your little angels and their antics. Show pictures and just share general information on pregnancy and toddler issues. This will most probably be our next move, but ummmmm, I need to figure out how to use the program. hehehe.
We have a newsletter in place now, so if you would like to know what is happening before anyone else does... Sign up. We would love to have you on board. We were invited onto a e-commerce course via Joel Comm's business associates. He is an expert in his field to say the least. You've seen him on tv, twitter and generally all over the net. He has an interesting out look on business and how it works for him. I can honestly say he has inspired us.
Although we cannot brag figures just yet, I'm sure that in the near future we will be able to give you a little background on how much our business is growing. We're on a plateau at the moment, so as soon as we've hit that next hurdle we'll let you know. The next update will be in a few weeks. So see you all then.
http://www.bits4babies.com has had a make-over. We have spent hours and hours trying to get the site up to scratch again.... yes, we did get complacent, but now we are focused again and things are running nicely again. Bits 4 Babies was established on 6 January 2006 and has gone through many transformations, then we hit a stumbling block. We were teetering, we knew that now was the time when we would either slide back or go full steam ahead. We did the latter.
Over the past 2 weeks we have been consulting with other professionals and we have done the work necessary to give it that one last push. We got rid of all the old product pages, search pages etc and it is slowly correcting itself on the search engines. Kev and I are exhausted, but we keep going on, because we know we have to.
I have learnt a great deal more about web-design and put that into action, I put in what I already knew and added a little more. With advertising and marketing, it was just getting the right mix. We are now on our way up again and it feels great.
Bits 4 Babies US & CA now has a new look. We are planning on putting a community in place for those of you that like to share your experiences with parenting, pregnancy and child care. We hope to have a place where you can blog about your little angels and their antics. Show pictures and just share general information on pregnancy and toddler issues. This will most probably be our next move, but ummmmm, I need to figure out how to use the program. hehehe.
We have a newsletter in place now, so if you would like to know what is happening before anyone else does... Sign up. We would love to have you on board. We were invited onto a e-commerce course via Joel Comm's business associates. He is an expert in his field to say the least. You've seen him on tv, twitter and generally all over the net. He has an interesting out look on business and how it works for him. I can honestly say he has inspired us.
Although we cannot brag figures just yet, I'm sure that in the near future we will be able to give you a little background on how much our business is growing. We're on a plateau at the moment, so as soon as we've hit that next hurdle we'll let you know. The next update will be in a few weeks. So see you all then.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
What Leads to Business Bondage?
Author: fishface50
Many owners/managers feel like a prisoner to their business, employees and customers. What are the common causes of such business owner bondage? How do the chains get tighter and tighter?
After working with hundreds of business owners, we believe the following five to be the most common causes of business imprisonment: (1) technical tendencies, (2) busyness, (3) ineffective leadership and delegation, (4) inadequate or missing business systems, and (5) growing business complexities.
Habits determine destiny. Too many entrepreneurs are former technicians now masquerading as owners. They think they are entrepreneurs, but they don't act that way. As once accomplished technicians, they have a hard time letting go of such expertise and familiarity. They remain trapped in a technical comfort zone, mindset and work approach. Sadly, such technical expertise is insufficient for managing a business. Moreover, they fail to develop the visionary, strategic, and leadership skills necessary to run a successful business.
Many owners confuse activity with accomplishment. They confuse busyness with results. Hard work with smart work. Perspiration with purpose. Efficiency (doing things right) with effectiveness (doing the right things). Instead of working smarter, many owners hold tight to the delusion that working harder and harder is the solution. They keep trying to shift into higher and higher gears. The more the business grows, the harder they work, the more imprisoned they become. No matter how much energy you expend, however, wrong strategies inevitably lead to poor results - less freedom and more headaches. It is like trying to catch fish in a pond with your bare hands. No matter how many hours you work or how deep you wade, a poor strategy leads to poor results - no fish dinner!
Far too many small business owners are by default small leaders. Instead of leadership, they excel at doer-ship. They are micromanagers that like to touch and control everything. They trust no one but themselves. They believe "no one does it as well as me". They seldom delegate, if at all. They mistake such busyness for business leadership. Instead of thinking and leading like owners, most think and behave like employees. Instead of reflecting and planning, they excel at sweating and doing. They act like they have a job instead of owning a business. To lead effectively, one must trust others. Not developing their leadership potential costs them dearly.
A vast majority of owners don't know how to design a new business or re-engineer an existing one to be more systems-oriented and professionally equipped with plans, procedures and policies. As a result, entrepreneurs don't create and document the processes (specific and repeatable ways to do something), procedures and policies that allow for well organized, smoothly running, easier-to-manage companies. Without defining and documenting the specific work that needs to be done, owners can't delegate effectively and eventually remove themselves from their technical roles. As a result, owners are forever feeling "out of control". Tragically, most entrepreneurs have unknowingly, reactively and accidentally created an owner-centered and owner-dependent company. They are trapped!
A growing business with its increasing number of customers, transactions and problems will eventually crush a business not properly designed and prepared to handle such growth. Without effective leadership and adequate business systems (an integrated web of processes), a growing company does not stand a chance. Growing pains are unavoidable. Producing predictable and consistent results will be nearly impossible. By failing to plan for growth, you are by default planning to fail.
Busyness, technical bias, poor delegation, inadequate leadership and business systems, and the growing complexities of a business lead to a life sentence of working on the chain gang - your company. Fortunately, our coaching processes, along with your willingness to change, can serve as your "get out of jail free card". We can help you to escape the blues and the tyranny of technical busyness. You will no longer have to be the jack-of-all-trades for your company. Growing pains will subside. You will learn to be master, not servant. You will learn to lead more and work less. You will learn to shape your company by design, not by default.
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Daniel M. Murphy is the Co-Founder and President of The Growth Coach, who is committed to re-educating and re-focusing business owners to lead more, work less, and enjoy greater freedom, financial success and happiness.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - What Leads to Business Bondage?
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