Business Success Strategies: 1 – 3
This week as my first company, Five Star Events, turns 15 years old. I will share fifteen success strategies I have learned as an entrepreneur since starting my business on August 8, 1995. For the next week, I’ll share three strategies a day to help inspire other women entrepreneurs in their own ventures.
Innovate
Keep your eyes open to new innovations within your field so you can incorporate some of them into your business. Whether the innovations come from new technology to better your product, better ways to be more efficient in your operations, or newly created services generated from customer’s requests. Innovation is a key to long term success. You can’t stay idol you must be constantly moving forward.
Outsource Business Duties
Knowing your strengths and weaknesses as an entrepreneur is one way to stay in business a long time. By knowing what you are good at and what you are not, will allow you to outsource responsibilities to staff, vendors or other entrepreneurs. As a business grows, so does its responsibilities. As an entrepreneur, we must know when we need to grow our support systems to accomplish more duties. When the time comes and you simply can’t get anything accomplished anymore, create a plan and outsource work to others.
Network Big
As your company grows, so will your need for a more experienced or larger network of potential clients, advisors, or organizations. You can’t grow as an individual or company without growing the circle around you. It doesn’t mean you walk away from things that have worked in the past, but it means looking bigger, wider and higher for connections to help you at this new level.
Entrepreneurial Speed Limits
As I was driving down the road to meet a couple women to discuss a mid-winter collaboration, I noticed the speed limit signs to my right. I had run into some construction and was running late for the meeting. I wish I could be going the speed they suggested – 30 mph – instead of 15. Most of the time 30 mph feels painfully slow. On average, I tend to drive above the speed limit not under it. As a woman entrepreneur I’m the same way. I work at a high speed to get where I have to go and to get work accomplished. I realized in business, just like on the road, we follow certain speed limits.
We also hit speed limits when we work for clients. Customer service requires working at a client’s pace – sometimes it’s a demanding pace and other times it’s not. Sometimes the amount of work we do is heavy due to our business cycle; other times it’s light because of the time of year. In the end, our clients and the business economy control half of the pace and we control the other half.
Today remind yourself to take control of the wheel today and move at your own speed. Recognize when you are going too fast for your own good, when a client is pushing you past your comfort zone, or when you know you must slow down to be safe. Also remind yourself that there are times when you need to gear up, push harder and work faster to accomplish some bigger goals, finish major client projects, or move on tasks you’ve been avoiding. I hope you set your own speed limit and work at the pace that feels right for you – whether that’s zipping along or Sunday afternoon driving.
Stir Up Fresh Ideas
In this month’s Ladies Home Journal, writer Marisa Fox interviews actresses Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, and director Nora Ephron about their careers and their new movie, “Julia and Julie.” The movie tells the stories behind two women who discover the “joy and redemptive power of cooking.” It also details the entrepreneurial spirit of two totally different women – a famous chef and author whose bestselling book wasn’t published until she was 50; and a young fictional character whose popularity soars when she blogs every day about the 524 recipes in Child’s world famous book. It’s amazing how entrepreneurship is woven into all fabrics of our world.
What struck me most about the article was the comments by the famous actresses that even though they are acclaimed performers, they worry about where their next job is coming. As Streep says, “Unemployment opens its mouth at the end of each job, and you think, no one will ever hire me again, and then they do.” I know many women entrepreneurs have felt the same way after they’ve finished a major project and ended work on a crucial account. We doubt our abilities even though we were just extremely successful.
The director of the movie also comments on the evolution of one’s career. Every ten years she questions whether what she is doing is enough. “You’ve got to find ways to keep it fresh for yourself. To do the things, as they say, that is a stretch.” Just like this woman, as business owners we have to continue to stretch ourselves, to create new opportunities, to innovate, and to keep things fresh to remain vibrant in mind, spirit and business.
Today remind yourself to keep your thoughts clear, your ideas fresh, and your outlook positive. There will always be business for our companies if we are doing the right things. Today make sure you are stirring up thoughts to create fresh ideas, churning nervous energy into finding new clients and enjoying the fruits of your labor. I’m sure Julia Child would even tell you at the end of the day to grab a glass of wine and some Roasted Tarragon Chicken and relish your accomplishments. Bon Appetite!
Giving Back To Clients
As the economy effects businesses around our nation and requests for sponsorship support and funding get higher, I encourage women entrepreneurs to consider creating a charitable donation policy that gives back to their clients first. Instituting a philanthropic mission statement for your company is one way to aid you and your staff in establishing guidelines for charitable giving. Years ago I realized that it was important to create a statement and stick by it. Now when asked for a donation by a worthy organization, I tell them I support and give back to my clients first. It is a small way to thank my clients for their trust in my services and financial support as one of their vendors.
If it has been awhile since you’ve reviewed or created new policies for your business, take time this summer to think about your corporate giving policy. Now might be the best time to create one when the season is slow and before the flurry of the end-of-the year “asking” season begins. If you find your company has turned a better profit than you imagined by November, consider donating to your best non-for-profit clients or donating to a cause your best corporate client supports. Consider making your business and your entrepreneurial spirit benefit others. Reap the rewards, spread the wealth and watch what happens in return. I guarantee you it will be good.
Regional Networking Works
The buzz around Central New York (and perhaps everywhere) is how unusually slow the summer has been for many businesses. What solutions are there for women entrepreneurs to take this time to focus on having a better Fall season.
The answer lies in regional networking. In order for all size businesses to survive, not just the big ones, green ones or women owned ones, we must all focus on buying from, selling to, and strategically marketing to businesses not only locally but regionally. I personally encourage women entrepreneurs to get on the “road” and expand their marketplace by attending events in other regional cities. At our last strategic networking luncheon, we had women who traveled to Syracuse from Ithaca, Penn Yan, Albany, and Rochester. They believe in Women TIES mission of regional networking, and it works. I encourage all companies to embrace the same philosophy. Expand your mind, expand your marketplace and then watch your sales expand.
I also suggest businesses operating in a slower time period to revisit sales and marketing plans set in January. By re-examining your goals, re-evaluating the economy, tracking your sales and setting new strategies, you’ll be focused on a more successful fourth quarter sales period. When you feel you aren’t moving forward, start doing something positive today to start some new momentum.
Improving Summertime Business
As you begin work today, I encourage you to think for a moment about how you are running your business this Summer. Do you attend as many events as you do during the rest of the year? Are you making and keeping strong business ties? Are you reading up on important subjects to propel your business forward? In Central New York, there is a different business feeling in the air when this glorious time of year is embraced by everyone.
Women TIES (http://www.womenties.com) is dedicated to providing these opportunities to women in the Greater Central New York region. We hope you’ll join us at one of our upcoming programs. We promise to have the lemonade and the entrepreneurial lessons ready for you.
Success Strategies from the Seashore
While vacationing at the most famous amusement park in the USA, an ultra modern hotel in Miami and a quaint family resort in Sanibel Island, I was inspired by the business strategies of some of the places I visited. Today’s blog entry is to share some of the lessons I learned while traveling.
The one common element that makes a business “excellent” is their high level of quality. Quality is seen in the physical atmosphere of the company, in the dress and conduct of its employees, and in the attention to detail. Quality runs through every blood line and desk top in a company dedicated to excellence.
A “five star resort” has five star staff willing to do anything for its customer. No problem is too hard to handle, information to assist the guest in enjoying their stay is paramount, and being extremely friendly and welcoming sets the tone for the stay and the return. Aren’t return clients what we are always looking for?
Be vibrant. Vibrant in spirit, vibrant in language, vibrant in enthusiasm. Make every experience with your company enjoyable and unforgetable. Stand out above the crowd by being vibrant in all you do and offer.
Go beyond what is expected by your clients. Try to exceed your customers expectations on quality, customer service, appearance, and follow-through without promising it to them. By managing a 100% quality company, your clients will notice, return and tell their friends while helping you increase your sales. All it takes is a commitment to excellence.
Remember the small details count the most. Sometimes the small details are what customers remember most about doing business with you. It could be the beautiful flowers adorning the welcome desk, extra discounts given that aren’t expected, or small tokens of gratitude for the business. Think big when it comes to making the small details count.
Protecting Our Companies
For the past week, the headlines have focused on the extraordinary life and death of pop singer Michael Jackson. The extensive media coverage has examined every part of his life, career and contributions to the world. Ever since he was discovered as a gifted young singer, he not only shared his talents with the world but he created a global business empire. This week as I listened to the coverage from the entrepreneurial side of the story, two important topics resonated with me as a woman entrepreneur.
While we are doing this we are creating a unique brand – distinctive and protectable corporate intellectual property belonging only to us. For the next months, protecting and controlling Michael Jackson’s brand, image, intellectual property will be a major issue for executors of his estate and family. Although many of us will never create such an iconic brand, we have in fact created and possess our own corporate intellectual property.
Today’s blog is to remind you that you are creating a unique and valuable corporate brand that needs protection. Make sure you know what you need to do to protect it. I hope you will be inspired this week to also continue to do the crucial work you are doing – in Michael’s words – “to change the world.”
We are all born to share our talents with the world. Every day people everywhere share their talents in diverse ways – some through community service, some as corporate employees, some in political positions. For women who choose to become entrepreneurs, we share our talents by creating unique and purposeful companies that provide beneficial services and products for consumers. Not unlike Michael, we recognize our gifts and abilities and passionately “perform” our duties to move the masses and ultimately encourage corporate sales to make us more financially successful.
Customer Service Excellence
As I stood in a long line at a popular ice cream stand waiting for a well deserved chocolate ice cream cone after a hard day’s work, I flashed back to my teenage years when I worked for Friendly’s. It wasn’t my first job – I was entrepreneurial as a young girl picking unwanted weeds from the neighbor’s patio, cleaning silver for my aunt, and being a server at my favorite neighbor’s house parties. This new “real job” came with set hours, a perfectionist boss, rules and a life long lesson. One year Friendly’s corporate office decided to challenge all its stores to a customer service contest. They wanted excellence running through their company. By hosting this expansive contest, they hoped to motivate each store to higher levels of customer service superiority. Our manager wanted our store in the small city of Rome, New York to win this award. We were told every customer we served could be a corporate representative rating us.
Our manager demanded perfection. He trained us in the exact practices, policies, and behavior he expected so we could win the award. We learned to approach every customer like they were the most important customer, to deliver exceptional service and products, and to be “friendly” in the face of any problems. We won the contest and I walked away with $200 in Friendly money and an approach to customer service I never forgot. It’s probably one of the reasons I give all I can to each and every Women TIES member, event attendee, and inquiry that comes through this company. I was trained to believe the customer is the most important asset of all. I still believe this.
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