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Author: Androulla

Reflect to Move Forward

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It’s important to know what’s happened in the past to be able to make informed decisions moving forward. Whether you are moving into a new year, starting with a new team, creating a new product, having a performance review with an employee, looking back and seeing the growth, the learning and the mistakes made helps prepare for the future. 

With the new year here. if you haven’t already done so, take the time to reflect. Grab a blank piece of paper and write these headings down – rate your business performance based on what happened last year and state why you gave your business that rating.

Rating from 1-10 (1- not good and 10 excellent)

  • Management and Leadership
  • Goal setting, action plan and time management
  • Finances
  • Team/Employees
  • Customer Service
  • Marketing/Branding
  • Product/Service Development
  • Administration/Systems and Procedures

Grab another blank piece of paper and answer these questions relating to your business. When writing your answers, go a step further and write down WHY? This will give you greater clarity in making your decisions this year.

  • What are 3 good things that happened last year?
  • What are 3 low points that happened last year?
  • What was the biggest lesson you learnt from last year?
  • What’s the one major event that happened that makes you feel proud?

Start moving forward, taking what you have written you can now make some decisions for this year. REFLECTION is done so it’s time for PLANNING. Time to set some goals. You can use the SMART process for this.

Once you have completed your plan, you will realise that changes will need to be made moving forward. There will be things you will need to STOP doing, things you will need to START doing and things you will need to CONTINUE doing. Give yourself the time to do this exercise as it will have you time and money in the long run and have you going into the new year excited, maybe a little nervous but ready to give it your all. 

EmpowerBeyond – Business Performance Solutions, focusing on people, process, products and services and improving productivity and cash flow www.empowerbeyond.com.au

Know Your Customers’ Needs

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People buy products and services based on many factors. Each factor will have a different weight than others depending on the buyer’s needs.

What are your customers’ needs?

Think about your business and what factors your buyers consider when purchasing your products or services.

Factors buyers will consider are:

  • Price point – value for money
  • Simplicity – easy to use
  • Reliable – deliver on time
  • Quality
  • Limited conditions
  • Connection – know, like and trust you

It could be a combination of any of those. One way to find out is to ask you current and past clients or customers. After speaking to them you will have the following question answered, “What is it that your and your business are known for? You will know why people buy from you over your competitors. You can look at this as your Unique Selling Point [USP]. 

This phrase USP gets mentioned a lot in business and is sometimes difficult to identity in your own business.

What is a Unique Selling Point? It’s a factor of factors that differentiate you from your competitors. It provides a specific benefit that solves a problem in the marketplace that your competitors don’t offer.

An example of this can be two companies selling the same product.

Company A: Selling online products with the option to get postage and handling for a flat yearly fee of $50. This applies only to the customer who has purchased $200 products within the last three months.

Company B: Does the same as company A, offering the postage and handling for a flat yearly fee of $50 but without the condition of purchases required to take up the offer.

Which do you think most people will go for?

In this case, both companies are offering a similar deal but one has conditions.

In this scenario, the value for money is a determining factor. Nowhere here have we mentioned factors like reliable or convenience when it comes to using any of these companies.

Company B even though their offer is excellent value, they may not be able to deliver on time or in a time expected by their customer.

This then comes back to knowing your customer needs.

In your business what do you want to be known for? Focus on delivering your product or service 100% of the time in that manner.

 

EmpowerBeyond – Business Performance Solutons, focusing on people, process, products and services and improving productivity and cash flow www.empowerbeyond.com.au

Turning a Gloomy Day into a Brighter One

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Melbourne weather is so unpredictable, it a can be foggy, cold and not a pleasant day and a few hours later you would have thought that you were in another state (like sunny Queensland).

How quickly things can change, from being gloomy to a brighter day. 

The same goes for a day in the life of a business owner. You walk into work and already things are not going as planned. You need to address issues that have come to your attention. They have called in saying they are not well and will not be in today. The supplier you expected to make a delivery today have postponed the delivery. The systems are not working like your internet. The list goes on.

So, does the start of the day determine how you finish your day?

I know you’re probably saying, Androulla but how can I turn things around?

There are things in business we cannot CONTROL or INFLUENCE, just like the weather. Here you need to put less focus on those things and more emphasis on the changes you can make.

Let me give you a few examples. Your staff rings to tell you that they are not coming in today. Your first reaction might be, “Oh No!” Panic might set in and all these questions come to mind.

A way to work through this is to ask the staff member that rang in sick what are the things that MUST be addressed today. Those are the things to focus on. Just a tip, to avoid having to learn things on the fly and go into reactive mode, I would suggest having procedures on tasks your staff do. This way when someone is away another person can complete the work.

If your internet is down, call people who are expecting things from you today and let them know the situation. Communication with those involved is vital in cases like this. Use this time to do things in your business that you have been meaning to do but just haven’t put time aside to do. Things that don’t involve the internet. For example, having team meetings, filling documents, cleaning the work space.

By taking a not so ideal situation and making the most of it, can change the outcome of your day and those involved.

Each day set the intention to have a brighter day for you and your staff. 

EmpowerBeyond – Business Performance Solutions, focusing on people, process, products and services and improving productivity and cash flow www.empowerbeyond.com.au

Executives, Directors & Managers, What’s Your Commitment this Year?

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As a Director, Executive or Manager of a company you have an obligation to manage the day to day operations of the organisation, its people and resources.

Each year you many go through how you would like things to be. Making sure to meet your obligations to the company and still ensuring you have quality time for yourself and your family.

You find that for the first few weeks you are able to implement these changes, but somewhere along the line you find yourself back to the way things were.

  • Staying back at work when you have promised the kids that you would be home on time. 
  • Doing more of the workload than you anticipated because you can’t seem to get your team to do it, or it’s not to your standards
  • Finding that you feel withdrawn from work and just not feeling that drive anymore

What if you could change this. You working fewer hours and still increase the profits and performance of the company consistently every month.

For some they would say this is impossible, but what if it was possible, what if it was a win-win for all, the company, your staff, you and your family.

Here are 5 strategies to get you started:

1. Set the intention
How do you see your day play out, what does it include? Plan your day out where the most urgent things are completed in the first half of the day. Many times your day gets a little chaotic when the unexpected things turn up, that’s when you start to feel some pressure that could have been minimised with some planning and factoring in some time for the unexpected.

2. Block out time
Don’t let things drag on longer than they need to. For example, when setting meetings make sure to have an agenda that is communicated to all attendees and make sure to stick to it and the time scheduled for that meeting.

Have you been in a situation where a meeting goes over time and find yourself all day trying to make up that time? In some cases, that’s when it results in you staying back that night at work.

3. Attitude/Mindset
Think about the current mindset you have around challenges. If the first thought that pops up in your mind does not support your intention for the day, then you need to change it.

4. Set some rules
Have some general rules you instil in your day to day activity at work. For example, don’t set meetings at 4:30 pm when work hours are until 5 pm. People will not be as attentive to the discussion that time of the day as they are more focused on leaving work on time. 

Another example is setting up a meeting with yourself (yes, yourself) for the first half an hour of your day to work on getting a few thing done without any disruptions. Something that would normally take you an hour you can achieve in half an hour when you can stay focused.

5. Challenge the status quo
How many times have you heard people say, “but that’s how we have always done things around here.” What if you did things differently, maybe not do them at all. For example, sending  out a monthly report that takes one day to complete. What if you were to stop sending that out? See if anyone notices or asks for it. If they do ask for it, question them as to what they do with the report. Do they only take one thing from it which can easily be sent to them in a simple email that takes five minutes saving you one day?

Tomorrow make sure to have your intention already mapped out. Take fifteen minutes at the end of today and write these down. Start with the top three activities, allocate time to each activity and make sure to schedule them in your calendar. Remember, challenge the status quo and be aware of your daily thoughts and whether they support the needs of the company, its stakeholders, your staff, your family and you!

EmpowerBeyond – Business Performance Solutons, focusing on people, process, products and services and improving productivity and cash flow www.empowerbeyond.com.au

Are your Guidelines for your Business Communicated?

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Think about how many times you gave a client a discount on their first visit and the expectation then became that they receive a discount every time? This discount only applies to the first purchase for first-time customers.

Have you ever seen a client on the weekend (which isn’t what you would typically do) and then they expect you to be available on all other weekends?

When it comes to your staff, do they know what is expected of them, what’s seen as working at a level that is at your expectations or below or above them?

Guidelines can be set in a business to ensure that values and the direction of the business are instilled in the day to day activities that go on. No guidelines are right or wrong however those choosing to partake in your business whether that be from a staff or client/customer perspective it’s best to communicate the business guidelines where applicable to ensure the working relationship is one that flows with a common understanding.

Communication of guidelines can be either verbal or written or both. Written can be formal in a form of a contract or it can be informal through your marketing material (like your website where the terms and conditions are visible) or displayed in your workplace. They can also be written in the form of policies. 

Verbal communication can be give to someone before they engage your services or purchasing your product. For example, the other day I had someone reach out and ask for an initial consultation with me (which I do complimentary) where I said yes. Then he asked if I can do this on the weekend, where I said no. There was no hesitation in me answering him because I have set guidelines in how I run my business. He respected that and we arranged the consultation on a weekday.

Thinks about what you do in your business and when it comes to answering questions do you do it immediately or do you hesitate? If you find yourself hesitating this could be a sign that guidelines have not been set yet.

Here are more scenarios that can present themselves in business;

  • From a client / customer

Can I have a discount?

Can I call you on the weekend?

Can I come and pick up my products at 7 pm? What are your standard operating hours?

Can I only receive your service for 1 month instead of 12 months?

Can you also do this for me? Is what service they requested within the scope they signed up for? A client of mine who is a consultant was working with an agency to help them on a project which she scoped out and the agency agreed to. While working with them their system went down and they know my client could help them out. Before she said yes to helping them, she made it clear that the new work they requested was outside the scope of the current agreement and that there would be an additional fee to the original agreement they had in place. Once this was made clear the agency agreed to get her on board for the new work.

  • From staff

Can I work back today so I can leave early tomorrow?

Can I submit the finance report a week past the normal due date?

Can I get a new supplier for a material we use in our product?

Can I take the company vehicle?

Am I doing a great job? Having guidelines such as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or targets set up will allow them to answer this question themselves.

Will I get that promotion to that role I applied for? Having regular communication through the year through the quarterly performance review with your staff will have your staff well aware beforehand what they need to do to be successful for that role, therefore no surprises when it comes to the job being filled with the best candidate.

In your business right now do you have clear guidelines or policies?

EmpowerBeyond – Business Performance Solutions, focusing on people, process, products and services and improving productivity and cash flow www.empowerbeyond.com.au

How Can I Make Today Better Than Yesterday?

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For your business to grow you need to build relationships, speak to people, find out their needs as you may be the person they need either now or in the future.

Every day at work we have good moments and some not so good. However, we learn from each experience. Focusing on the positives can uplift you and increase your momentum and drive. So if we aim to have an even better day today than yesterday each day will be filled with even more positives and great results. There are many ways to have an even better day than yesterday like;

Set your intention the night before, know exactly what you want to achieve so first thing in the morning you can work on this, no time is wasted and you feel a sense of achievement.

Put a smile on your face – you’re probably thinking, of course I have a smile on my face, but maybe you don’t most of the times. Smiling is contagious, wouldn’t it be a better environment to be in an office of people who are happy rather than miserable. A smile will change the whole demeanour and how you respond to people and how they respond to you. Give it a go!

Be with people you like being around – people who are encouraging, supporting and you can learn from. This takes me to the next point.

Learn something new – what’s something you have been meaning to learn more about but haven’t put the time aside to do this. Even if it’s reading a book on a topic you want to know more about or watch a video or listening to a podcast. Set aside an hour a day.

Challenge yourself – sometimes we like to stay safe and not challenge ourselves and get outside our comfort zone. But in order to improve on what we currently experience and the outcomes we get we have to challenge ourselves. Let me give you an example, you know by making a call to book in a meeting with a certain person could lead to doors opening for your but you haven’t built the courage to pick up the phone and set up the meeting. So you have been left with wondering what could have been.

What you need to remember at the end of each day is to REFLECT. By reflecting you start to notice what you enjoyed about the day and want even more of that tomorrow.

So tell me “how can you make today even better than yesterday?”

EmpowerBeyond – Business Performance Solutions, focusing on people, process, products and services and improving productivity and cash flow www.empowerbeyond.com.au