How to write a Great Bio for your profile

If you’ve joined a network and they have a directory and you don’t bother updating the profile for you and your company, then you’re missing an opportunity. People like to try to do business with other people in their networks, not faceless brands. This article will give you some simple tips on how to write […]

If you’ve joined a network and they have a directory and you don’t bother updating the profile for you and your company, then you’re missing an opportunity. People like to try to do business with other people in their networks, not faceless brands.

This article will give you some simple tips on how to write a great bio profile as a business owner.

1.  Your profile is not your employment CV.

You’re not applying for a job as an employee, so your profile content needs to sell your company and position you as owner of the company. You can always add your previous wealth of experience, volunteer work, awards etc after the current position and company content, to add further support to your capabilities. Just make sure that the business you run is promoted and who you are in that business, is front and centre.

2. You are the ambassador of your companies’ brand.

That means the summary content and details you insert into the body of the profile, needs to be written in the third person as if someone was writing it about you e.g. “Kerrie is the Managing Director of ABC Corporation and leads the ABC Corporation in serving our clients….”

3.  In the description section, make sure the content is written all about your business and what it does. This is an opportunity to add calls to action as well as information about your services eg. “Contact us to find out how we can help you”

4.  Consistency is important, what people read about you on one platform they should see echoed across all other mediums. That includes the images you use.

5.  A professional headshot is essential – You should always have a profile image on any business page/platform that you have a presence on. Whilst it’s good for people to see you’re human, if it’s a selfie of you on holidays or in your car, it doesn’t really convey ‘professional business owner’ to your potential clients and referral partners. Professional headshots are not as expensive as you think, but not having one, costs you business.

6.  Don’t make grammar and spelling mistakes – This is your opportunity to set a first impression. If you need someone else to review what you’ve written before it goes to print, do so. Get help from a good content writer if you’re having trouble articulating what you do. Especially if English is your second language – people can be very harsh judges of your expertise based on whether you attend to the details of language.

7.  Be concise – As a business owner you possibly wear lots of hats, especially if you help local charities and clubs, or serve on boards. For each situation that you’re writing your profile bio for, consider what matters to the reader. Just stick to the parts of your bio that matter to that audience and what will make them buy from you and your business.

8.  Structure your content so its easy to read quickly – Keeping things short, clear and simple, avoids confusion and increases engagement. Here’s an example format guide:  Position Title: (Focus on the primary position and company name P.S. those cute, fun sounding company titles are annoying and confusing, keep it simple) – Managing Director at Foundational Business Pty Ltd

Summary Intro Paragraph (Max: 5 lines, apx 50 words):  

Kerrie is the Managing Director of the small business solutions company Foundational Business Pty Ltd. She has worked with micro and small business owners, helping them grow their businesses for over 10 years as a business consultant through our service divisions the Foundational Business Centre, Foundational Business Consulting, Foundational Non Profit Consulting and Foundational Retail Consulting.

Background Content Summary (Max: 2 lines, 25 words)

Prior to starting her own business, her career in large corporates included senior management roles for PwC Australia, MCI Worldcom, AAPT and Optus.

Personal Touch or Professional Credentials (Max 50 words) Kerrie is passionate about business and community connection, she is actively involved in the Sydney Hills Business Chamber and local BNI groups, and serves on the board of charity organisation Men In Action Inc, and as chairperson of the Hills Mental Health Interagency.

Your Why (Max 40 -50 words) Kerrie’s key business driver is to increase the effectiveness of small businesses, reducing the rate of failure by providing practical and achievable help to small business owners, to empower and equip them to succeed.

Bullet Style Summary of Experience/Skills (100 words, in easy to read short sentences or Hashtags)
Experienced Specialist with a demonstrated history of working with micro and small business owners | Skilled in Negotiation | Business Planning |Operations Management | Software & Process Documentation | Practical Sales & Marketing Strategy | and Risk Management| Strong professional with a Post Graduate Certificate in Business from The University of Notre Dame Australia | Works actively on several charity boards and Preventative Mental Health Service projects in the community.

Make the most of your marketing opportunities for your business.  Set aside a couple of hours, to get your profiles and bio’s written and online, so people can find you 2020.

The 7 secrets of turning great ideas into great business models

The 7 secrets of turning great ideas into great business models Profit and success come from being Consistent. The problem of being consistent in the work and the approach you have to running your business lies not in better routines, but in having clearer Purpose. Then implemented routines and processes help you deliver on that […]

The 7 secrets of turning great ideas into great business models

Profit and success come from being Consistent. The problem of being consistent in the work and the approach you have to running your business lies not in better routines, but in having clearer Purpose. Then implemented routines and processes help you deliver on that intention and help you to turn great ideas into great business models.

If you run your own business, or you’re thinking of starting up new business, a common problem you will face is having too many ideas and a lack of focus on developing those ideas into detailed business models that create profits.

You’re not alone – being a entrepreneur is great, because you see opportunities everywhere. But it’s also a burden, because getting those ideas to work and having the confidence and time to figure out how to make them real is a challenge. Especially when you’re already in business delivering what you already sell to your customers or doing your ‘day job’.

No matter what your ideas are, a simple way to make sense of these and get them underway is to follow these 7 secrets to success:

1. Every idea is a good idea – to be a success you need to back yourself – there are no stupid ideas even if it sounds ridiculous (remember someone invented the pool noodle).
2. You don’t need to be an expert in everything to bring your idea to life – but you do need to engage and be willing to pay for experts to help you – or the chances of failing will be very real (remember: if it’s valuable it’s never free).
3. Plot the idea into a bigger picture – If you ran a business that did all those ideas and variation of ideas, how would each business model connect and support the others? Whatever you’re thinking, think bigger – don’t limit yourself to your immediate location or country, the world market is accessible to you.
4. Set aside time to work on each idea in detail progressively – The chance of you getting a week of solid time uninterrupted to flesh out each business model is unlikely for most people, so make a plan to chip away at each aspect of each business idea over a period of time. Building a sustainable business is a marathon not a sprint.
5. Get help fleshing out your ideas – The role of a business coach or consultant is to help a business owner get all the confused information out of their head and onto paper. The process should give you a map (plan) for each area of the business (financial, operational, sales and marketing and people/resources). You should also have worked out all the potential income streams for the business, both active and passive, and milestones to work toward achieving goals for each business model.
6. Double your budget – When you’ve created a detailed cost budget for your business idea, times it by 2 – Why? Because getting new ideas and businesses off the ground is always far more costly than an optimistic business owner expects, and its better to expect the worst and hope for the best. It will also help you to be sober in your judgement about whether the rewards will well and truly outweigh the risks.
7. Eat the elephant piece by piece – Decide to focus on the best ideas first and then develop these as your priority. You can slowly chip away at the others but you can’t do too many things well at once and it’ll take you just as long but be a far less productive and enjoyable process if you try to do everything at the same time.

Before you embark on the development of your a new idea clear the barriers and tighten up your existing business model and personal plans so that you have the time and head space to explore new ideas.

That brings us back to being Consistent – Consistency comes from having good Processes – Processes come from having a clear Plan – having a Plan comes from being Purposeful and Intentional about your business, and being purposeful turns great ideas into great business models.

10 Things That Kill Trust In Your Business

10 things you’re doing wrong, that kill trust in your business. Getting started in business is easy, but being trusted as a business so that we will buy from you is harder. You need to build trust in you and your businesses brand. There’s lots of ways you can enhance the trustworthiness of your brand […]

10 things you’re doing wrong, that kill trust in your business.

Getting started in business is easy, but being trusted as a business so that we will buy from you is harder. You need to build trust in you and your businesses brand.

There’s lots of ways you can enhance the trustworthiness of your brand through your marketing processes, but there some simple fundamentals you can do to make sure that your potential customers and referral partners consider you a business with integrity.

Failing to cover these basics can very quickly undermine your chance of winning business, and can’t be overcome by any slick sales and marketing messages you put out to the universe.

1. Unprofessional Email Addresses

The very first red flag, which damages trust in your business, for any potential customer or someone who you want to do business with, is seeing that a supposedly established business is still using an unprofessional email address. Using emails like john@hotmail.com or Jill.smith@gmail.com, fred@optusnet.com.au etc., instead of a proper ‘companyname.com’ email undermines your credibility.

Buying a domain name for your business isn’t expensive and setting up a proper business email address for that domain is very easy to do and or you can get help from an IT support service. Using a ‘dodgy’ email address that is not a business name tells potential customers and business partners that your either lazy or may not be stable as a business.

2. No Registered Business Name and or ABN

Even if you are a sole trader you should still register your business properly by getting an ABN. This tells potential customers that you are a proper legal business entity.

You can still use your own name as the register business name, if that’s the type of service you provide (Eg Joe Bloggs Consulting). But without an ABN it’s clear that you have not done the basics of setting up a professional business for the purposes of trading, paying for services, paying tax, and governments put out warnings regularly about untrustworthy operators and scams from people who are not registered properly.

3. Licenses and certifications

If you are in an industry where you are required to be licensed to deliver specific type of work, then you need to make sure that you have and display those licenses prominently.

If I have to search for it on a government site, on your website, the invoice or your quote then I’m going to question whether you actually have the license and can be trusted to do the work properly.

Further if you’re not licensed to do certain work and you suggest to your customer that: a “way to get around this is to break contracts into smaller chunks to get away with not having a license or certain work done that you’re not qualified for”, you immediately tell your customer that you’re willing to work outside of the rules, not just for them but for everything you do. Throwing out your integrity to win a deal creates distrust in you and your business.

4. Insurances

Every business needs some form of insurance it might be public liability, or may be professional indemnity. If you’re making a product, it could require product liability. It’s important to know what insurances your type of business needs to carry to give assurance to its customers that you are able to cover yourself if things go wrong.

5. Every business needs a website.

Your website doesn’t have to be 10 pages and cost thousands of dollars. A one page good looking site with straightforward information that describes what your business is, what it does, who is behind it, and how a customer can contact you is enough.

We are operating in the 21st-century if you don’t have a website, even a one page website/ landing page, then I can’t find you and that means you don’t really exist. Most most consumers/clients won’t trust a business that they can’t find quickly on the Internet. The very first thing anyone will do after first meeting you is Google you and your business.

A Social Media account doesn’t replace a website. Even if most of your trading and information is shared through your social media accounts.

6. Active social media accounts

We would encourage you to definitely have at least a Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn account, so that people can see what your business is, and that it’s actively trading.

Recent photos and posts tell people that you are an active business. Buyers are always going to choose a business that’s active and has recent testimonials, reviews, and posts as a more trustworthy business over a service that hasn’t updated any of its social accounts for two years.

7. Detailed Quotes

A one line vague quotation with no company information, terms and conditions or details about what is included in the service, is a big warning sign for anyone who’s intending to spend money with you.

If you’ve taken the time to sell to a client, and explain all the things which they’re going get included as a part of your sales pitch, don’t then present them with a quote that’s just a single line without a list any of those inclusions. It’s going to make them nervous and undermine the trust they have that all of the scope of what you discussed is actually going to be included in the price you are offering them.

8. Contracts

A trusted and professional business has a contract for its services. This doesn’t have to be a 40 page document. It could be literally one page that explains the terms and conditions, what happens if there’s a dispute, and any other really important information about how you work with the client. Your contract should also provide information on any expectations you have of each other (like confidentiality).

It doesn’t cost a lot to get a basic set of terms and additions or contract drafted by a commercial lawyer, but it does cost a lot if you lose a client because you don’t have a contract ready to go, or end up in a dispute because you didn’t have one.

9. Invoicing

Customers need to know what they’re going to be charged for. They need enough information on that invoice so that it’s able to be used for tax purposes by them. And they also need to know when they need to pay it by and how to go about paying you.

Providing a simple and professional invoice to your customers at the time of purchase is essential. If they have to chase you to be invoiced, to find out how to pay, the due date, or to get a tax receipt for payment then your customer experience will be very low.

And that means trust in your ability to manage your own business processes will be damaged, and getting new business from existing customers will be unlikely.

10. Bad Networking Practices

Nobody enjoys being sold to when they we meet someone in a networking environment. Raining business cards on everyone you meet is a turn off. As is emailing and pestering them immediately after your first meeting, when you know nothing about them and they know nothing about you. It’s a big no no and destroys trust immediately.

Networking is about relationship building. Earning the right to offer your services over time. Networking is most effective when the focus is on the genuine development of trust and a real relationship, which allows you to understand the other persons interests and their needs.

Make it priority to get these simple things right, and build the foundations of a trusted business.

Business Basics 101

Business Basics 101 Most businesses start with someone who has an idea and a specific skill and some previous ‘business’ experience that enables them to take the leap of faith to create a new enterprise. And then after we’ve begun, we quickly realise there’s a thousand things we’re expected to know and understand that are […]

Business Basics 101

Most businesses start with someone who has an idea and a specific skill and some previous ‘business’ experience that enables them to take the leap of faith to create a new enterprise.

And then after we’ve begun, we quickly realise there’s a thousand things we’re expected to know and understand that are well outside of our experience and knowledge base and have very little to do with those skills we have, that we thought were going to lead us to success.

Small business owners are often overwhelmed by the “basics” because those basics are many and varied and time consuming to master, in between trying to build, sell and deliver our “products”. So we focus on the things we find easy, and avoid the things we are uncomfortable with. But to be a successful business and be a successful business owner we need to develop our skills, and confidence in all areas of the business: Financial, Sales, Branding & Marketing, Risk, Operations, System & IT, People Management and Customer Service.

We can’t abdicate our ownership of our business, but we can delegate the execution of our strategy to experts, when we have confidence in our understanding of these fundamentals.

Businesses also evolve and change quickly over the first 5+ years, which adds extra pressure to the business leaders to quickly adapt and learn new ways of operating, new technologies and ways of delivering.

What’s your strategy to master your Businesses Basic’s?

There’s plenty of step by step guides on the web – “Starting your own business can be thrilling and exciting, but also daunting. If you are considering launching a startup, Forbes Magazines 35 invaluable tips covering all areas of business” is a good read to get you thinking.

These step by step guides give you a shopping list of activities to check off, but the trick isn’t just knowing what you need to do, it’s knowing how to do it effectively, efficiently and appropriate to you business and budget.

There are 4 key areas of your business that you need to understand the Business Basics of to have balanced and well rounded handle on your businesses operations.

Business Financials.

Personally I hate math’s, and it hates me too. So I can assure you that you don’t have to love math’s to be a good business owner, but you do need to take the time to understand and master the basics of Business financials. If you don’t there’s a good chance you won’t make it past the first few years of operating. Before you outsource (our abdicate) your bookkeeping you need to understand it and be able to direct your bookkeeper on what you need from them to support your business effectively. The Australian Tax Office has some good videos for small business owners to help you navigate the process.

These short videos discuss claiming deductions, GST, contractors, employing workers and more. You can follow small business operators as they get answers on registration, business structures, running a business from home, super, record keeping and other tax questions about their small business.

Business Model (Operations)

There’s no one way to run the operations of a business. Therefore seek guides and tips for running your  type of business model for your type of product/service offering otherwise you’ll become confused and wrapped up in doing things in your business that are won’t get you results or are unnecessary for your structure and model.

“A business model is a business’s core profit-making plan which defines the products or services it will sell, its target market, and any expected costs.

A business model is a company’s core strategy for profitably doing business.

Models generally include information like products or services the business plans to sell, target markets, and any anticipated expenses.

The two levers of a business model are pricing and costs.

As a business owner you should think like an Investor: When evaluating a business model as an investor, ask whether the idea makes sense and whether the numbers add up.” – Understanding Business Models

Your business operations also include mastering:

• the technology that runs and protects your business model,
• your customer service processes,
• your service delivery processes,
• and any regulatory and compliance requirements you need to adhere to and report on.

Business Branding, Marketing & Sales

As a business owner you need to master the basics of your businesses Marketing strategy. You’ve probably heard that before. But it’s not quite accurate, you actually need to begin by understanding 3 important elements of your businesses customer acquisition & retention strategy and the differences between them.

Branding

“Branding is important because not only is it what makes a memorable impression on consumers but it allows your customers and clients to know what to expect from your company. It is a way of distinguishing yourself from the competitors and clarifying what it is you offer that makes you the better choice. Your brand is built to be a true representation of who you are as a business, and how you wish to be perceived….Branding is absolutely critical to a business because of the overall impact it makes on your company. Branding can change how people perceive your brand, it can drive new business, and increase brand value – but it can also do the opposite if done wrongly or not at all.” BrandingMag 2015

Marketing

Marketing can best be described as a program of tactics and campaigns driven through tools, templates and assets (such as content and advertising), to achieve measurable outcomes of awareness, and conversion or lead generation. It’s your hunting strategy, where you plan and set the bait in the traps and lure your customer to nibble on the breadcrumbs you’ve dropped for them. Eventually leading them to trust you enough to be ready for you to sell to them and close the deal. The bigger the fish (or price tag) the longer the lead time (or greater the number of touch points) to purchase.

Sales

Most small business owner are uncomfortable selling. That’s generally because they’ve never been trained to sell, and or they’ve experienced pushy sales people that they don’t want to emulate. Mastering sales as a business owner is essential, but it should also be natural and complement you and your business. Selling stories and solutions instead of products is a starting point. People buy from people and businesses they like, know and trust.

Business Resources and Skills (People)

Whether you’re a sole trader or an employer you’ll need to work with a range of people who have talents, time and skills you don’t have to help you grow and succeed. As a business grows people become it’s biggest asset and it’s biggest problem.

There are plenty of resources and tools available to guide you on rules and tips for employing both staff and contractors. We recommend using technology such as profiling tools before recruiting someone to a role to identify how your personnel need to be managed by you to get the best results.

As a leader you need to manage people through change, including how to plan change, communicate change and retain key staff and contractors. Accountability and communication is key to your success in this area of your business.

Remember, it’s your business not theirs; so they can’t have the same passion, and care about it as you will, no matter how loyal and committed they are. There is a mindset difference between a business owner and an employee that needs to be understood and accepted.

Are you avoiding areas of your business you haven’t mastered yet?

If you can sense that there’s key area of your business that you don’t feel confident in, it’s time to overcome that fear and ask yourself these questions.

• What is one area of your business, or skills as a business owner/manager, that you feel you haven’t mastered yet?
• Is there an area of your businesses operations that you feel you’re avoiding/allowing yourself to procrastinate on learning how to master, and why do you think you’re avoiding it?
• What would make it easier for you to feel confident and capable in all the basic areas of your business operations? Time, Systems, Resources, Training, Money? Other…
• What’s your approach to learning and mastering all the basics of running a successful business when there is no deadline?

You can help from Foundational Business in becoming a confident business owner, or find resources to help learn some of the skills you want to develop.

Pre-marriage plannning for people going into Business Partnership

Pre-marriage planning for people going into Business Partnership Going into a business partnership (or a joint venture), even if you’re an experienced business owner, is just like getting married. It shouldn’t be rushed into or taken lightly. Before you go into partnership you need to know what you’re really signing on for. Most business ventures, […]

Pre-marriage planning for people going into Business Partnership

Going into a business partnership (or a joint venture), even if you’re an experienced business owner, is just like getting married. It shouldn’t be rushed into or taken lightly.

Before you go into partnership you need to know what you’re really signing on for.

Most business ventures, with more than one director or partnerships, begin with a couple of optimistic people who can see a great business opportunity. An opportunity that can only, or better, be fully seized through collaboration or partnership with another party.

Partnerships can be great, and they can be really, really bad. When partners fall out, the ownership, control, and even survival of their company are threatened. Unfortunately most partnerships end in painful, expensive and messy divorces.

That’s why taking a breath and doing some Pre-Marriage planning for your Business Partnership is essential.

What does Pre-Marriage Planning for Business Partnerships involve?

At Foundational Business we run Pre-Marriage Planning for Business Partnership sessions which includes both (all) parties sitting at the table and talking. We work through;

• How the business will operate,
• What the expectations of each person are
• Their role in the business model
• The financial return and input expectations of each person.

That includes discussing scenarios, potential risks, ownership of assets, intellectual property, and what role each person will play now and in the future as the business grows.

Pre-Marriage sessions help build alignment of potential partners, and new partners, by facilitating practical and tactical discussions before crisis hits.

These discussions can help identify:

• inaccurate assumptions,
• gaps in capability,
• unidentified expectations and
• personal goals that are incompatible or need to be factored into the operating model of the business, before trouble starts.

When should you do a Pre-Marriage Planning session for a Business Partnership?

Ideally before you begin a business partnership. Before you sign that shareholder agreement or register the company. Why? Because your company ownership structure depends on mitigating risks for the directors. And there’s lots of risk in partnering that needs to be covered off.

If you can spend a little time identifying these elements before your Accountant and Solicitor activate your company, start purchasing business names & web domains, and draft your shareholder/partnership agreement, it’ll save a lot of time and money. If you have the wrong contracts and structures you’ll be exposed to danger. Then you’ll have to bear the expense of redoing those processes to ensure that each partner in the business and the business itself is protected and functional.

If you’re already further down the track and the business has started, it’s ok it’s never too late.

If you and your business partners can address the key issues that need to be clarified before a problem occurs and relationships start to really breakdown, you can proactively implement changes.  That will ensure the current and future stability and success of the business and the happiness of its owners.

If you’ve noticed a few little things that you and your business partner don’t seem to be aligned on. Or there’s some situations that are starting to bother you in your working relationship, don’t let it fester. Get a together and do a Post-Marriage version of the Business Partnership Planning session with us.

If you’d like to find out more about our Pre-Marriage Planning session for a Business Partnerships, call us today on 1300 765 249.

Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash

Funding Your Business – Where do you start?

Funding Your Business – Where do you start? If you’re getting started or already growing a small business one of the biggest challenges you’ll face is working out what options you have when it comes to funding your business operations. Do you get a loan, ask friends and family to invest, seek a partner, or […]

Funding Your Business – Where do you start?

If you’re getting started or already growing a small business one of the biggest challenges you’ll face is working out what options you have when it comes to funding your business operations.

Do you get a loan, ask friends and family to invest, seek a partner, or investor?

There’s no one size fits all when it comes to choosing the right and available funding options for your business model.

The best approach is to avoid jumping to quick fixes, and remember that there’s always a price for receiving funding from anyone. That price could mean interest on the money you borrow, giving away control, or shares and equity, or time (eg working another job to pay for the seed funding to start your business).

The exchange is one of risk and reward. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

More funding means quicker growth, but it does mean higher debt to be paid, so you want to be very comfortable with your assumptions and business models and pricing if you are going to take on debt.

When it comes to funding your business – Where should you start?

Education – to know what options you have available and which you don’t, you should get good advice. A starting point can be your business consultant who can suggest the various models that could attract investors and partners.

The next step is to talk to a business finance broker, one that will give you a range of options across a wide spectrum of funding options. You also need them to take you through the pro’s and con’s of each option.

This should happen well before you even need to ask for funding. That way you’ll equipped with that information and when it’s time to actually apply you’ll also know and have prepared all the various documentation you’ll need (like business plans and financial reports from your Bookkeeper or Accountant) to be acceptable as a business that banks, investors and other funding facilities want to fund.

If you’re in business or thinking about being in business – irrespective of whether you’re a property developer, doctor, transport operator, manufacturer, or self employed tradesman – and you need to borrow money now or at some stage in the future.

To help small business owners we’ve partnered with the well regarded Marillion Financial Services to provide small businesses with a detailed and an obligation free Business Funding Strategies Session:

Business Funding Strategies Session

Foundational Business Funding Strategies Session – $250.00 (plus GST)

Unless you’re a financial whiz kid slash playboy billionaire, cashflow and navigating funding for your
business can be a nightmare.

As a business grows there are times when managing cash flow becomes a barrier to growing further.
The time between ordering and customer payments, or increased people, locations, equipment and
vehicles all stretch the funds in the business and then businesses stop growing as they try to get
creative in closing the gap.

Foundational Business Funding Strategies Session is a specialist consulting service to help our clients
plan and strategize their potential finance options for growth in line with their business plans for the
next 1 -2 years.

Foundational Business works with our clients to develop their business plans and often that means
that they need to discuss, explore and consider strategies on financing for assets or managing
cashflow options, before they’re ready to engage a broker or the bank.

Your Strategy Session includes

2 hours of time with the consultant, plus Summary Report, which covers:
A summary of potential finance options as the output of your discussions in the meeting (not
recommendations) including for example:

Enquire Today 1300 SMLBIZ (1300 765 249)

Getting Personal – Balancing your Personal Brand vs Professional Brand

Let’s get personal about Personal Branding Something you don’t know about me is that I’m really very anti social. That might seem a contradiction between my personal brand and professional brand given most of my daily life is spent at networking events, meeting with clients and business colleagues. I wear a million hats, and have […]

Let’s get personal about Personal Branding

Something you don’t know about me is that I’m really very anti social. That might seem a contradiction between my personal brand and professional brand given most of my daily life is spent at networking events, meeting with clients and business colleagues. I wear a million hats, and have a massive network.

But the truth is that I crave nothing more than curling up in my pajamas with a trashy crime novel in bed, with the door closed to the rest of the world.
COVID close-downs were like a get-out-jail-free card for me. Legally mandated not to socialize! How good was that. (Besides the stress of trying to keep the doors of my small business open of course.)

Personal vs Professional is there a difference?

No, you are one person not two, no matter how hard you try to separate your worlds, people notice there is an act. Do not be fooled into thinking you’re fooling anyone.

“Whether you know it or not, you have a personal brand. When you Google yourself, what pops up? These results are the first impression people will have of you. Is it a good one? Is the information you are sharing across LinkedIn, Facebook, and other social media sites consistent?” – Caroline Castrillon

How do I balance my Personal Brand vs Professional Brand?

Now that I’ve told you I’d rather be tucked up in a bed than meeting with you, you might ask do I secretly hate business networking.

No, I love it. I enjoy meeting with and learning about other business owners – they are my people, my tribe. I get energized by it in the same way you might feel energized going for a jog or cycle. (By the way I do hate exercise I find it boring).

Will I enjoy coming to your birthday party with a bunch of random strangers from all walks of life? I feel honoured to be invited, but No, I feel awkward and don’t know how to talk about anything light and fun.
I’m really a big nerd. I spend my free time read articles about astronomy, ai, archaeology and nanotech, there is a lot of useless trivia in my brain which is great for Trivia Nights, but social events not so much.

Balancing my Personal Brand vs Professional Brand means sharing

Do I hate sharing personal information with other people? Yes and No.

Like most people I’m a not sure I want people knowing me more deeply than I am comfortable with. Knowledge is power. It’s not because I am afraid of what other people think of me, but rather I don’t think I’m that interesting.
I’d rather learn about you. So that makes the trend and concept of sharing personal stories as part of my marketing my brand a little tricky. I’d rather talk about facts and business concepts with people, than share stories from my personal experiences.

Being a good storyteller, includes using your own stories, and sharing personal experiences to connect the audience with your service or product. This is an artform that helps you to engage with people deeply and for them to engage with your brand.

The thought of getting in front of a camera and talking to people about what I did this week and the problems I solved for clients is uncomfortable to me. I’m happy to talk about a topic I know well or MC an event, but that’s not talking about me, I can hide behind the information.
Besides considering the cyber risk issues with sharing personal information, how do you choose what you share, and who to share personal experience with?

Personal and Professional Boundaries

A good Psychologist once told me that everyone serves a specific purpose or type of relationship for you, no one can be everything to you, and you can’t be everything for them.
Deciding what the limits of your relationships are with each person and letting them be what they are means expecting nothing more from that relationship. That will mean you can enjoy the relationships you have online and offline, personally and professionally.

How does this relate to balancing your personal brand and professional brand in the world?

Well, as I am a very private person, I make it a rule that I don’t share my private beliefs, thoughts, and frustrations on social media. I do share my personal experiences with people in one to one context once the relationship boundaries are established.

Do I struggle with stress, anxiety, exhaustion, disappointment? You bet!

I’m not superhuman, even if I have to wear my undies on the outside every now and then. But you will rarely see me posting about it on social media.

Have I experienced the very worst of pain, sorrow, hurts and loss? More than you can possibly imagine – I have faced defeat and I have lost everything many times. Everyday is a pandemic in my world. But you wont hear about that when I get up and talk at an event, even though some of my life experiences could encourage or inspire others who have struggled.

Why? Because my various professional roles mean I represent the interests of every kind of business owner. I don’t want to be seen as promoting or championing one group of people over another in my professional capacity, or being labelled or misjudged by my personal experiences as a result.

My public (personal and professional) brand is Small Business Owner, Connector and Supporter of other Small Business Owners.

You won’t see me commenting on news of the day. Why because as a professional business owner I am the ambassador of my companies’ brand and sharing my personal opinions in a public forum is unnecessary.
Do I talk about these things with a close group of trusted friends, sure, but it doesn’t polish my professional brand to be seen sharing thoughts that could be taken the wrong way by other people reading them online.

As I tell my teenage kids, social media is a weapon not a toy, and it will be used against you.

Protect and polish your brand. Anything that doesn’t do that doesn’t below in a public forum.

Can you be Real without being too personal?

Yes, the person you see at events, in person and online is the same authentic me, there’s no façade. There’s just somethings that I consider not suitable for polite company eg my naughty sense of humor, or my political view points.

It’s too tiring to be someone you’re not.

So how do you balance that personal brand and professional brand. It’s about actively deciding to be authentic, relaxed and truthful, not worried about what other people think about you, but also choosing what’s appropriate to each situation, and how it will polish or tarnish your brand.

As a business owner, being real, admitting when you’re struggling and being consistent in your delivery and business and customer relationships is essential.

Should I have separate social media accounts?

If you feel more comfortable having a private account or using the private groups functions instead of maintaining one profile, go for it. But just consider that people can still find you and will feel rejected when you decline their friend request. I try to only accept friend requests from people I’ve actually met or interacted in someway with.

I don’t keep separate personal and professional social media accounts, it’s too hard and time consuming.

People in business want to connect with you as the person behind the business, they want to know you, like you and trust you. Would you buy from someone you don’t know or trust?

I just have a simple rule that I don’t share too much on Facebook and Instagram. And I don’t share anything that is really personal, like my kids school information, or images with their uniforms, when I go away on holidays, what I had for lunch (no judgement), and my personal opinion on controversial topics. Nobody really cares if I like Trump or not, do they?

Being authentically you everywhere is the simplest thing to do. I focus on managing public situations and forums wisely to ensure that I only share myself in ways that are right for the way I want my personal brand and professional brand to be received.

As a small business owner you are the Ambassador of your brand

Everywhere, Every day to and to Everyone.

Business is personal for you. You need to be aware of and embrace your personal and professional brand as one and same, or the public will be confused by the inconsistency.

Now go away and let me get back to my bed and my Agatha Christie novel…

Are your pesky customers getting in the way of you doing business planning?

Are your pesky customers getting in the way of your strategic business planning? It is a common problem; small business owners are just too busy doing business, to do any business planning. We prioritize customer billable work and selling our widgets over working on the business – even if that customer work is possibly not […]

Are your pesky customers getting in the way of your strategic business planning?

It is a common problem; small business owners are just too busy doing business, to do any business planning.

We prioritize customer billable work and selling our widgets over working on the business – even if that customer work is possibly not profitable or enjoyable.

We avoid business planning – because it is not our natural skill and doing the work seems easier.

Why do we avoid business planning? One of the reasons why we avoid strategic planning is that in general we have an inaccurate understanding of what we think we will need to do, and how much time it will take away from the business to work on the business.

“Most people overestimate what they can do in one year, and underestimate what they can do in ten years” – Bill Gates

We also don’t really know where to start and get overwhelmed just thinking about what we need to be thinking about!

Here’s some quick tips to help you begin your planning.

We avoid business planning – because we think we don’t have time to do it.

The truth is you’re probably not going to get big slabs of time each week to think and plan in one go. Sometimes we can take a few days to retreat or attend a planning day. However, my experience of working with hundreds of small business owners over the years has confirmed that taking a few days off to plan is a rare event. And that it’s not enough to keep you on track everyday.

Given how quickly the world and business environments change doing one planning day every year or so probably won’t do much to help you in the day to day to stay focused and heading in the right direction.

If you can take a day out of your business once a quarter to do a dedicated goal planning day, you should definitely make that happen. It can really help you to breakdown the big hairy goals for the year into realistic and achievable mini goals for each quarter, which makes the task less overwhelming.

“If one does not know to which port he’s sailing, no wind is favorable” – Seneca

We avoid business planning – because we are afraid we’ll discover that we’re on the wrong track.

What happens if I do sit down and review and plan out my business, and it means I need to make major changes to be profitable and happy?

It could mean some hard choices have to made, we might have to rebrand, change our offerings, fire some customers, stretch ourselves in ways we have never done before.

Change is scary. And a great way to avoid change is to just keep doing what you are doing even if it’s getting you nowhere or working unnecessarily harder than you need to.

“We don’t have to be smarter than the rest; we just have to be more disciplined than the rest” – Warren Buffett

Should you take time out of your business to do deep thinking, research, and planning?

Yes, but that time might look like micro-planning sessions, of an hour here and an hour there, all leading into a bigger planning process over a quarter for example, rather than full days out of your business.

Think about your planning time in bit size chunks, chip away at it. Get some help to structure that strategy and planning and then eat the elephant piece by piece.

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey

Your direction is more important than your speed

Planning takes a lot of energy – every time you begin working on an aspect of your business plan, you will discover a hundred things you did not know and don’t know how to do.

To be able to make strategic decisions you need to know enough about everything.

But that doesn’t mean you have to be the expert that does those things. This process allows you to identify the things you need to know how to do, and the things you’ll need to outsource to get done.

“Master your strengths – outsource your weaknesses” – Ryan Kahn

It’s time to stop using those pesky customers and their needs as the excuse for why you haven’t allocated enough time to move your business forward 2020.

Start by being clear about your goals for 2020, and what you want your business to be in the marketplace.

Then get organized, start taking ownership your time, and do work on your business plan each day and each week as micro tasks you fit in between customer work.

“You will never find time for anything. If you want the time you must make it.” – Charles Buxton

Need help to get the process started – book a planning session with our Strategic Business Consultants today

Diversified Income Strategies – How they can help your business grow in tough times

Diversified Income Strategies – How they can help your business grow in tough times. Using clever diversified income strategies when your business is struggling is the key to success. One of best opportunities to grow your business comes when times are tough, really tough. If you’ve been running a small business for any length of […]

Diversified Income Strategies – How they can help your business grow in tough times.

Using clever diversified income strategies when your business is struggling is the key to success. One of best opportunities to grow your business comes when times are tough, really tough.

If you’ve been running a small business for any length of time then you know that every season there’s a new storm to face. Whether it’s a market downturn, a government policy change or a worldwide pandemic. That’s kind of business as usual for a small business owner.

In fact if you’re going to be truly successful as a business owner learning to expect and weather the storms is a necessity. Only those who have the appetite for facing these challenges ultimately succeed and win, despite and in spite of whatever gets thrown at you.

There are 3 keys to being a success in a challenging situation:

Perpetually Trim Your Sails

What does that mean? It means actively, and proactively reading the conditions of your business, and your marketplace. It means being willing to change the way you offer your services, and how you’re pricing your products. And the way you’re marketing yourself.

It means cutting waste, and letting go of ideas you’re holding too tightly on to and things that are anchoring you down and stopping you from moving forward. It would be wonderful if our business sailed along smoothly on the course we’d mapped out at the start, a nice straight line to our plotted destination. That’s not how life or business works.

That’s a good thing, because if it was like that we’d miss out on all great things we’d learn, the opportunities we’d never have found along the way, and the person we become from having to force ourselves to be better at the things we aren’t confident in.

Prepare to make tough choices and decisions – business is business you might have change the way you operate, the staff you have and the clients you serve. They can’t all come with you to the next stage of your business journey. So you can be friendly but you can’t be friends. If you don’t make tough choices, the business won’t be there to serve and employ anyone soon enough.

“When you can’t change the direction of the wind, adjust your sails” – H. Jackson Brown Jr

Learn to enjoy the roller coaster ride

Running and growing a small business is not for the fainthearted. The day you went into business for yourself you made a decision to take a really big risk. Everyday you take the same risks.

Every time you hit a bump you need to ask yourself, do I want to go back? Or do I choose to go forward and work out how to make this work. If you’ve made the decision to cut your safety lines then the only satisfying way is forward. But don’t do it alone.

Connect with your business community, they’re all on the same ride you are. Activate your group of trusted advisers to help you think outside of the box, and plan to move forward responsibly and steadily. You haven’t got a crystal ball, do one day at time – one week at a time and remind yourself when things get a little scary: “It is what it is, now what are we going to do about it”

“Life is like a roller coaster, twists, turns, ups and downs. But what a ride! “- Lisa Layden

Develop Diversified Income Strategies for your small business.

There are 7 Income sources that Financial Planners and Millionaires talk about:

Earned Income which is the money that you earn by doing something or by spending your time e.g. the money that you make in your job, the salary or fees per hour you get by working for someone else.

Profit Income  or the money that you earn by selling something for more than it costs you to make. e.g. Businesses selling their goods at a profit, whether at the retail or wholesale level, as distributors or manufacturers.

Interest Income the money you get as a result of lending your money to someone else to use, e.g. investing in another business, putting it in the bank etc.

Dividend Income  the money that you get as a return on shares of a company you own.

Rental Income or the money that you get as a result of renting out an asset that you have, like a house, or a building.

Capital Gains the money that you get as a result of increase in value of an asset that you own.

Royalty Income the money you get as a result of letting someone use your products, ideas, or processes. They make all the revenues, they do all the hard work and you get a small percentage of what ever they earn.

The problem here is that you, as a small business owner, are under a lot of stress and need to come up with quick, realistic and practical ways to use what little you have to create different services, products and potentially different customer segments to buy from you. This is where good Business Consultants can help.

Diversification does not mean being unfocused or scattered in your approach, it’s a deliberate planned process of increasing your businesses profitability.

Here’s some questions to get you started:

1.  What segments of my customers, are going dry up as a result of this problem?
2.  How long will the problem last for?
3.  Are there other customers who we haven’t focused on that aren’t impacted by the problem?
4.  Are there other services who are overloaded by the problem that we could act as a subcontractor to?
5.  Do we have under-marketed products and services that we’ve forgotten about that we can make customers aware of now?
6.  Can we deliver our service/product differently to our customers?
7.  Can we change our packages to allow customers to buy in bit sized pieces to help spread the cost?

Get help with your Diversified Income Strategy now.

Currently we’re booking 1 hour  (ZOOM call) Diversified Income Strategy Sessions with all business owners, to help them come up with realistic and achievable plans to not only weather the COVID19 impact, but to seize this as an opportunity for innovation in their business model, where they can grow their business and find new markets and income streams.

If you want help with this process – BOOK IN NOW for your session.

Are You Building A Business Or Building A Sandcastle?

When it comes to your business; Are You Building A Business Or Building A Sandcastle? Many of us enjoyed going to the beach as children and sitting by the shore building sandcastles. At some point though, no matter how tall or well garrisoned the sandcastle was, the tide would come in and swallow up all […]

When it comes to your business; Are You Building A Business Or Building A Sandcastle?

Many of us enjoyed going to the beach as children and sitting by the shore building sandcastles. At some point though, no matter how tall or well garrisoned the sandcastle was, the tide would come in and swallow up all our days efforts.

Most business owners start out in their business with an idea or design and then start trading on the back of that idea.

We shovel together the basics, like our cool trading name. We give ourselves a title “CEO”. Get an ABN and put together a Do It Yourself website and the all important business card.

Then we start marketing ourselves to friends and family, the local neighbourhood, and maybe if we’re really adventurous we go along to a networking group.

We might use a few stones of wisdom from friends and pieces of driftwood advice from Google. We might even feel confident enough to add a turret or two of licensed software or programs. The shiny ones that promise to increase our business through providing leads and value that differentiates us from those who haven’t bought into the franchise program.

Then we sit back, proud of our work and nervously hope that other people will walk by and admire our creation and want to buy from us.

A calm sea does not make a skilled sailor – African Proverb

But the conditions change, competing sandcastles are erected beside us and as the tide turns and begins to creep in, we feel the pressure. What can we do to stop the challenges and storms from breaching our walls. We haven’t built anything that is truly stable and concrete, to stop erosion of our cash and prevent the walls collapsing.

Maybe you should get job and hope that you can do both effectively and prop up the business with extra cash. Then hopefully that when we come back to the business full time the tide has not swept it all completely away.

There’s a better way. Build your business on a solid foundation of good planning.

A failure to plan, is a plan to fail – Benjamin Franklin

Ideally before you rush off and register that business name, you’ll take some time and advice to ensure you’re Building A Business and planning it out properly.

10 Tips for getting started Building Your Business the right way.

• Firstly you need to research and understand your market – Too many business owners start businesses because they blindly believe that there is a gap and no one else has discovered it, except them. But they’ve done only cursory searches at best before coming to this conclusion. You can’t rush this process, thorough research is required. In particular when it comes to developing new software and App’s. There’s a lot money and time involved in starting a new business, and succeeding. Making the mistake of investing in reinventing and competing with something that already exists is a certain road to failure.

• Decide on your Niche – Don’t be afraid to be narrow in your focus instead of casting a wide net. Your customers need to be able to connect with you and your service/product – if you’re too broad you connect with no one.

• Plan out your service offerings, packages and customers for each segment of your business. Do your home work on what similar types of services/ products charge.

• Get a good virtual team of advisers around you – As a Business Owner, having a good Business Consultant on your side will challenge you and your business plans to ensure that you’re thinking like a business owner who needs to create a business they love, and is profitable.

• Learn to be great with Money – Finding a good Bookkeeper, Accountant and Financial Adviser is essential. Their advice will help you remain compliant with the law and well informed about how to invest the money you earn, optimise your tax position, as well as challenge you on your business plans.

‘change’ is not a destination, just as ‘hope’ is not a strategy – Rudy Guiliani

• Harness and manage your distractions – If you run your own business, or you’re thinking of starting up new business, a common problem you will face is having too many ideas and a lack of focus on developing those ideas into detailed business models that create profits.

• Plan to avoid the common mistakes – Plan your cash flow. Keep a tight rein on your invoicing process and debtors. Set 7 day payment terms or COD if you can. If you’re consultation business that is subject to frequent customer no-shows get them to pay when they book in.

• Identify the business roles needed to run the business now and when you’ll need extra help.

• Work out what your time is worth to you, and define your hourly rate, then guard your time carefully if you don’t value it no one else will.

• Trim your Sails – expect problems and market downturns, and be ready to make changes and review your plans quickly. Learn Become comfortable being uncomfortable.

Remember you’re Building A Business not Building A Sandcastle – You’re building something that you hope will last longer than a day at the beach. That means taking business planning seriously right from the start.

Need help bringing your business to life or growing your small business? – Contact Us to talk about how we can help your.

Photo by Jeremy McKnight on Unsplash