Open Space: Creating More Opportunities for A New Business Year
Two years ago, I learned a valuable lesson that is perfect for the start of a new business year.
In the middle of a medical condition, I sought advice from a therapist to make sure the condition wasn’t caused by stress. I didn’t think it was but wanted to make sure. After a couple months of soulful conversations I realized I had pulled up and forced out negative thoughts I carried with me for awhile. All of a sudden, I sensed open space inside me ready for better feelings, experiences and emotions. It was quite liberating.
What a New Year represents to me and for women entrepreneurs is the same opportunity I experienced a few years ago…the opportunity to rid oneself of negative thoughts, beliefs, and habits to open up space for better ones. The truth is you can’t shove one more pair of socks in an overstuffed drawer before it just won’t close. The only way to have the drawer work the way it was intended to work is to clean out the drawer, throw out what doesn’t belong and re-organize it, creating open space.
As women entrepreneurs we can’t embark on a brand new year – a beginning of what we hope will be our best business year yet – with overstuffed drawers, unorganized thinking or poor habits from the past. We must pull up the old, discard it and create open space for the future. If your wallet is overstuffed with receipts, your filing cabinets filled with old files, your desk full of old client folders, take the time to pull them up or clear them out and review them and then file them away to give you the valuable space you must have to start anew.
Today’s post is to inspire you to make a list of five areas – physical or mental – that need some sorting out, cleaning up or re-organizing before you start piling on work for the New Year. Give yourself the gift of clarity this week by getting organized before you jump into a disorganized pace or space. It might take the rest of this week or part of next week to do the clean up, but I promise you when you feel and visualize the open space on your desk and in your drawers, you’ll feel it in your spirit and you’ll be more energized, relaxed and powerful.
Just like the feeling of walking outside and being in wide open spaces or looking out over a calm lake, clearing your head and physical space before you embark on a new year of business adventures will give you the clarity and energy you need to truly move forward. Happy New Year!
Preparedness
2012 will go down in record books as a wild year of weather. The country saw 28 Christmas tornados, the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, drought in the Midwestern states and torrential rains in the Northwest. What the Weather Channel does so well is prepare its viewers for upcoming weather conditions. Without the Weather Channel or local weather stations predictions, more people would drive in blizzards; die in Hurricanes and crash in horrific thunderstorms. Being prepared before we travel is just plain smart.
What is also smart – is taking time to prepare for a new business year. We could just walk into January without a plan taking our chances at experiencing stormy and sunny business horizons or we could stop for a week or two to prepare ourselves for a new business year.
Just like the weatherwomen, we can’t predict what will happen without analyzing models, watching past trends, and understanding conditions that affect our companies. We must take the time to do the analysis and planning to better prepare ourselves for the future.
Business is at a relaxed pace this week as millions of people enjoy vacations the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. It is an excellent time for entrepreneurs to turn off current business duties and turn on and prepare plans and forecasts. As I prepare for another full year of regional events to bring women entrepreneurs together to market their companies, I look at surveys I collected at events in 2012 to assemble the most relevant topics and program to answer their direct needs.
Today’s post is to inspire you to take the rest of this “holiday break” – while the phones aren’t ringing as much and website hits are down – to analyze your business last year and to properly plan for 2013. You might need more time in January to revise your official business plan or conduct final analysis on monetary plans but at least you can begin now preparing for a more successful new year.
Anytime you listen to the Weather Channel this week, I hope you are reminded that being prepared and forecasting properly will ensure an easier and clearer travel plan for your corporate future.
Clearing the View
Every once in a while we need to lift our eyes from the work on our desk to look at the horizon to ensure we are heading in the right direction. Sometimes looking up and out to see where we are going is difficult, especially on a snowy Central New York morning. In order to catch a glimpse of the horizon this morning, you might just have to stand up and glance past a foot of snow that has accumulated outside your office window.
But the snow is a good reminder that sometimes our view gets blocked; either by something physical or something mental. Often the hectic pace of a woman entrepreneur’s business cycles can block the view as she focuses on immediate work and issues. Other times relationships or circumstances have clouded the crystal clear view of ourselves, our work and our future and only by terminating those relationships can we regain clarity. Many times we simply forget that although today or maybe next week’s work demands the most attention, we need to focus on the future to lead us forward.
Cold snowy days like today, when you might not be able to travel too far due to hazardous road conditions gives you the perfect opportunity to think about what blocks your view and needs to be removed. It might require ending unproductive business relationships, hiring a business consultant to help fix corporate problems, restructuring your pricing, or focusing on additional education to make you more knowledgeable.
The view may have also gotten cluttered if you haven’t paid attention to your business plan, financial situation, or the marketplace in awhile. Often times we really don’t want to see what is standing in our way, we want to just keep trudging through.
Today’s inspirational blog entry is to make you realize that a foot of snow sitting outside your front door, in your driveway or on the roadways, can be a reminder that your business view may be barricaded and you must take time to remove it. You know what’s been impeding you. It’s been there for awhile.
Remember life’s limitations are the ones we make. Grab your business snow shovel and clear the path right now. Look beyond the shroud of white and make concrete plans to get to where you want to go in 2013. If you can’t see the horizon from where you are seated, stand up, seek support, motivate yourself and do what you know you have to do. I promise a crisp, clean exhilaration and sense of direction will guide you to the horizon.
Entrepreneurs: The Importance of Remembering the Year
Anticipation is by definition the feeling of looking forward, usually excitedly or eagerly, to something that is going to happen. For many of us, the anticipation of being with family and friends this weekend and next week makes us keenly aware of the joy that awaits us based on wonderful, warm memories from past holidays.
The ability to reminisce is a gift. As entrepreneurs we should not only reminisce about personal relationships but professional bonds as well. Our entrepreneurial lives are full of a variety of affiliations – long time business friends, new acquaintances, valuable repeat customers and important new prospects. Each one has worth.
I hope you take a half hour sometime in the next few days to think about the relationships that have meant the most to you this year. There is still time to pick up the phone, drop an email message or send a card to those who have contributed to your joy, business success and bank account.
I also hope you take time to remember what you have accomplished this year. In the rush of ending another business year, we can forget to stop and savor our accomplishments. Take ten minutes to jot down the most important business moments that bubble up in your spirit. Write them down. Remember them. Be appreciative for all the hard work and energy you put into your professional life in 2012. It counts.
Today’s post is to thank you for being high spirited entrepreneurs with a vision, passion and mission to make the world a better place by your service or products. Take time to embrace your success by remembering the best moments and lessons of the year. If it means grabbing a cup of eggnog or a hot buttered rum and sitting next to the Christmas tree or a roaring fireplace, do it and soak in the moment and year of hard work.
I wish you sweet and blissful moments of remembrance and an eagerness and anticipation for a brighter and more financially successful New Year.
The Unexpected Christmas Gift – A Lesson Worth Living
I received an unexpected Christmas gift this week – one I could have never imagined or ever hoped for.
A good friend of my husband and I who battled cancer for five years was admitted to the Francis House in Syracuse. Understanding the Francis House provides a home and an extended family to people with terminal illnesses so they can die with dignity and experience the unconditional love of God, I knew our friend had a week to live. The news came as a shock although we knew she was still battling the disease.
Debbie was a woman who had a very large spirit and joyful personality. She was tenacious about beating the disease and not letting the disease beat her. So when we received a special invitation from her husband to join him for a surprise “celebration” at the Francis House one evening we accepted immediately. Knowing how much she wanted to see all the people she loved, he threw her one last party and invited 50 of her closest family and friends.
I’ll never forget the smile on her face and the joy that radiated from her as she entered a room full of loved ones. She had the grace and dignity to thank everyone with a powerful speech that couldn’t have been written better by Hollywood writers. Everyone had a chance to celebrate with her one more time and with each other, to say good-bye to her when she was alive and not at a funeral home, to say all the things that mattered, and to leave with a lighter heart than when they arrived.
I said to her husband as I left, “You have given everyone here one of the greatest gifts of all time – you gave us the gift of being together to celebrate her while she was still alive and to see her happy one last time.” I will always remember her in that happy moment.
Two days later Debbie passed away with her husband by her side and 50 friends very grateful for the amazing memory of her last celebration filled with pure love and friendship. It was an early Christmas present and a gift I will never forget.
The lesson that resonates with me is to live life with as much joy as you can. To take the time to tell the ones you love, what they mean to you. To celebrate the good and bad times together with those who mean the most to you. It’s truly a gift for the ages and one we must give ourselves every day of our lives.
Holiday Gifts for Women Entrepreneurs
I hope this past year has brought you many joys – especially the joy of running and growing your company.
As the holidays arrive, I wanted to send you a special message filled with some “business gifts” from this year’s esteemed Women TIES Retreat guest speakers. My hope is they help you end a brillant business year and aid you in ringing in a more successful 2013.
Holiday Gifts For Every Woman Entrepreneur
Before the year ends, take Chris Xaver of The Sweet Life’s advice and “Celebrate Your Success.” You have done an amazing job running your business. Don’t let the year slip away without raising a glass of champagne and toasting to all your achievements.
Seize Deb Cabral of The Declutter Coach’s advice and add a team to grow your company next year. You have achieved so much on your own; but now is the time to hire a team and let their talents merge with yours to take the business to another level. You can’t do it without staff or independent contractors.
Set 2013 financial goals to achieve brighter monetary heights. Finances have to be a priority in our business lives. Make sure you take time to prepare yourself and your company for a stronger monetary future. Seek the wisdom of financially savvy women to assist you in reaching golden goals.
Embrace new technology. Becky Bayne of Becky’s Graphic Design would suggest you give yourself the gift of a new I- phone or I-pad or learn how to use more social media marketing apps before January 1st. Technology is a vital element in doing business today. Give yourself the gift of technology this season.
Shake off any business blues when they arise today or in the future by dancing away any stress. According to Joleene DesRosiers of Joleene Speaks, by changing your energy, you change your mindset. The new year is about shifting to a more positive “I can do it no matter what” attitude! Embrace new energy.
Finally, remember the amazing power of women doing business together. Continue to create and foster stronger female business relationships in 2013. Remember to put money in the pocketbooks and bank accounts of other women as often as you can. Go to the Women TIES website often to find women to do business with all year long.
My New Year’s wish is that women entreprenuers continue to work together to create a stronger financial future for ourselves and women everywhere. Remember to “Believe in the Buying and Selling Power of Women.
Entrepreneurs Must Give Themselves the Gift of Enjoying the Holidays
Christmas is one week away, the fast approaching holiday fills entrepreneurs minds with last minute preparations. Trying to handle a plate full of work, end-of-the-year corporate duties and personal holiday shopping can be overwhelming. I hope today or sometime in the next seven days you take a few minutes to reflect on the spirit of this season as you prepare to take some well deserved time away from your business.
As entrepreneurs it is hard to slow down, to give ourselves permission to stop and enjoy any down time. It’s not in our nature or in our business plans to take time away from our enterprises worrying that our clients will need us, new contracts will go to a competitor or our momentary lapse in hyper-activity will be the end of our motivation to succeed. It is hard to cut ourselves a break from the plans, activities, goals and vision we set to just stop and relax.
I try to remind myself that from December 24th to January 2nd the entire business world slows down too. I’ve witnessed it for the past eighteen years as an entrepreneur with my company Women TIES. Business crawls during this week. Remember to not take it personally when the phone does not ring, the hits on your website are low and the emails stop coming. Everyone takes a break. Since time is so precious as we’ve been reminded the past week with the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, we all need to remember, realize and value this special week to be with the ones we all love and to simply slow down to refresh our souls. It’s okay to relax, it really is.
So today’s message is to simply remind you that you have worked really hard this year, giving your all, reaching for the stars, trying to move mountains, striving to be the best in order to achieve personal, monetary and entrepreneurial success. You’ve done enough and you’ve done it well. Enjoy the upcoming week when the world slows down to celebrate the season of peace, family and good friends.
The New Year is a few weeks away and before you know it you’ll be back in the hustle and bustle setting even larger goals for 2013. I personally wish you and those you love a blessed and joyful holiday week where you bask in the love of your family and friends and remember the wonderful job you did this year to be the successful entrepreneur you are.
Hope Matters
The black, maroon and brown wooden bead bracelet adorns my left wrist this morning. I bought it five years ago after completing my first 5K race to help support a wonderful woman entrepreneur’s foundation. Embedded in four of the beads are the letters H.O.P.E. I have worn it frequently the past five years when I needed the message to get me through the day or to inspire me in my own business. By hoping, I anticipated, trusted and expected my day to go well or a problem to get better. Although the bracelet couldn’t really affect my day, it influenced my spirit.
The woman who created the H.O.P.E. bracelet was inspired by her sister’s battle with cancer. As her sister lie in a sterile gown in a barren hospital room, she loved wearing a colorful bangle bracelet to brighten her appearance and hope for recovery. Unfortunately the recovery never came, but the idea to raise money in her sister’s name was born out of the loss. Entrepreneurial dreams come from all sources and in all sizes, shapes and colors. Susan Bertrand’s dream came in a round shaped bracelet of hope.
For eight years Susan has worked diligently and effortlessly in creating this business – a foundation called Maureen’s Hope Foundation – in her sister’s memory. Her work has touched the lives of hundreds of people battling cancer. Her husband, sons and their high school friends have embraced the cause and make bracelets and share in multiple fundraising efforts. Her family, friends and local community continue to create new and exciting events to support Susan’s sister’s memory and to raise funds to give hope to other individuals battling cancer.
Today in light of the horrible national news on the #Newton shooting remind yourself that what you do every single day matters. Whether you are raising money for cancer patients, working in your own business, volunteering for a non-for-profit organization, or helping neighbors, it counts. Every single thing we do counts. It’s the true gift to be a good, hard working person. We can make a positive difference every day.
As Susan’s example teaches us by running a company in her sister’s honor, we are all trying to changing the world for the better. Embrace the thought of hope today and focus on what is good in this world – the good your contribute and the good in most other people. If you need a bracelet to help you, go to Maureen’s Hope Foundation to buy one to wear. It will bring a physical sign of “hope” to you today and in the future.
Owning A Corner of the Market
On a street corner in a Central New York village a hairdresser celebrated her store’s fifth anniversary. During her five years in business, she had established a good reputation and customer base offering simple services. She was comfortable with her “corner” on the market.
But two months ago, a high-scale salon moved into a storefront three doors away from the hairdresser. The new salon’s glitzy signs and fancy décor was appealing. Their list of salon and spa services was extensive. Everyone in the village was excited to have a new business in town; everyone but the hairdresser who thought she owned the market.
Every entrepreneur wishes they were the only game in town. I felt that way too when I started my first company. At the time, there was only one other event company in Syracuse. A couple years after I opened my doors three other event companies opened shop. During that period, I learned what I had to do to remain confident.
First, I realized no two businesses are alike no matter how similar they appear. Every company has a unique niche within their field. It is up to the entrepreneur to understand their niche so they can market their company appropriately. For example, as an event manager I was excellent at promoting events but not decorating venues. After studying my competition, I realized this difference and added promotional services to my event management contracts; and turned down event decorating proposals.
Second, a company’s pricing can play a vital role in the clientele they attract. The hairdresser will probably retain customers who aren’t willing to pay high end prices at the new salon. She needs to research the competitor’s pricing, understand the differences and then market her company appropriately. Entrepreneurs should analyze their competitor’s pricing on a semi-annual basis.
Third, entrepreneurs must realize they can’t do business with everyone. We must identify our target market and advertise to that segment. Early in my event business, I realized I enjoyed managing golf tournaments more than planning weddings. This revelation helped me pitch services to organizations planning golf tournaments and to turn down bridal show vendor invitations. Make sure you understand the market you want to serve.
Bottom line, no business ever dominates an industry for long. Competition is a healthy and essential part of a great business environment. Most importantly it can help entrepreneurs appreciate their unique “corner” on the market.
The Gift of Reflection
When my son was in 3rd grade he came home and told me he had to describe me in 3 words to his class. Knowing young children can be quite honest in their appraisals, I asked him with some trepidation what he said. He said, “You are loving.” I said “That’s so nice of you to say.” He said, “You are kind.” I said, “Oh, that’s sweet.” Then he said, “You are a feminist.” I said with a big smile on my face, “Adam, do you know what a feminist is?” He said, “Yes Mom, you believe women rule the world!” In that moment I wondered who my sons would grow up to be seeing they believed they were being raised by a feminist!
Sometimes it takes other people to mirror our true reflection. In my case, it took a 10 year old to show me how passionate I had become promoting women owned companies so they could brand their names and make more money individually and collectively. I realized in that moment I wasn’t only being recognized for this trait among my peers but also by my young sons.
Reflection can be described as “a clear indication or result of something.” As you start to reflect on this business year coming to an end, look for the indications of your success. Don’t let a new year come before you relish small and big accomplishments that made this year a very good year. Entrepreneurs have a way of rushing past golden moments trying to achieve more of them. Stop and reflect. Reflection is an important part of providing the evidence we need to joyfully keep working hard for another year.
This blog post is to inspire you as the year winds down to conduct some personal research. Ask your family what three words describe you? If you can, ask a couple clients or associates how they would describe you? Finally, ask yourself what 3 words define you? Discovering the answers might shed some light on who you really are and who you have become at this stage in your life. They may even describe the central core of what makes you so good at running your company today and in the future.
Quiet contemplation in the middle of a bustling time of year can be the best gift you can give yourself as you look forward to another successful business year. Give yourself the gift of reflection before the year ends. I know you’ll love what you see and hear just like I did.
Women TIES 