Shelley Pearson: Business Woman | Social Media Specialist | Creative

My Space for Sharing About What I Do As A Business Owner and Citizen of the World

“Social” Business Etiquette

Having been pretty active on the Social Networking scene myself now for a good while, and perhaps being a little too focussed on what works and doesn’t work: I felt the need to highlight a few etiquette ‘need-to-haves’ when a business person participants on social media platforms.

As many of you will know I do provide social media strategic and educational coaching to business people who are looking to delve into the Social World as it were – but want a kid-glove approach to help reduce the overwhelm and fear. I’ve worked with so many different types of business owners (and still come across a new one every day!)…that providing this kind of help comes really easy to me. So, with my Facebook Fairy hat on, I’d like to share some KEY aspects that every social media business enthusiast needs to take on board when communicating on  a Social Media (SocMed) platform and engaging with a Social Network.

RULE 1: When its online…its ON-line

Whatever and whenever you update or post something through a social media platform: Assume what you have shared will be SHARED. In fact, you can depend on it.

I have come across some people that are alarmed and taken-a-back when they find that someone has shared a website, photo or blog post that they initially shared to their fan base on their Facebook Page. Or another example…another Facebook Page has replicated an idea that they did. Please…do not be alarmed. This is what social networking is all about: SHARING. You want people to be interested in what you have to say – because you want them to SHARE it – that is part of the VIRAL nature of social media.

RULE 2: E-Preciate a Fellow Business

Keeping with the nature of ‘sharing’ – it is very good practice to give ‘shout outs’ to other businesses on social media platforms. What I mean by this is, normally you may be having a coffee catch-up with a few business associates and perhaps mention that you had seen ‘so-and-so’ and just finished doing some great business with ‘Mr-so-and-so’…thereby giving a good hearted cheer for these people to a small group of people who you think may get something from working with the people/businesses that you mentioned.

With social networking – you still get to do this…but just online and to a bigger audience. This way you raise someone’s good work up for everyone to know about and by doing this you:

1) look good as a fellow business person providing a recommendation (therefore more ‘kudos’ in solidifying your connection with that person you are e-preciating) and

2) genuinely letting your network know that there is a service or product they should know about that could help them. The silent third aspect here is that you are showing that you are actively doing business and are out-and-about spurring on new business.

RULE 3: Bad Mouth is Bad Practice

The flipside to the ‘sharing’ nature of social media…is that it may not always be good news that gets shared! From a business owner providing the service/product perspective you want to be actively watching and monitoring your fan base on your Business Page on Facebook (and Twitter account) to catch any negativity and nip it in the bud – thereby actually turning the situation into a positive experience for the complaining party.

As a business networker – you must BITE the need to moan about a really bad experience you have had with a company or business associate. Do NOT share this anger/frustration/disappointment on a social media platform. If there is anything you take from this post today – it is this one! My alternatives when this urge comes:

(a) If you want to do a post, then say something like: “Don’t you get so disappointed when a supplier lets you down? I get so frustrated when I have to take on the responsibility for failing to deliver to my clients, when I work so hard to keep them happy.” – This way – the supplier (if he/she is a fan of your page) gets the ‘message’, but their business hasn’t been formally mentioned.

(b) I would rather personally (and privately) address the situation via a face-to-face meeting, Skype Call, email or business letter. Giving the other person the chance to knock you off your feet with an opportunity for a second chance, or to rectify the matter.

(c) I would never give them a ‘shout out’ again on any of the platforms you are on, and if you had given them a testimonial in the past ..and it appears anywhere on their website/Facebook business page, etc…I would ask that it be removed. [Extreme cases]

RULE 4:  Respect the Friend Business Specialism

This is just about ‘using your head’ ..much like you would in ‘normal’ face to face business. In the offline world you wouldn’t dream of bigging-up a web design business in front of one of your really good business contacts who is a web designer….now would you?

Well the same applies to social media….don’t post on a Facebook page that belongs to say a printing company all about your printing company’s services…or on a friend’s business page about marketing services when he/she is a marketing business.

It just doesn’t sit well…and is confusing for the fan base…who has been engaged and ‘listening’ to the Facebook page owner about his/her business and gathering a background on a business that they may well want to use on the future!

RULE 5: Spamming is Not Ok

This is one area that really ‘gets my goat’ (see picture to left) :-) . I really do feel strongly that people who ‘spam’ your business pages on Facebook or on Twitter are lazy sloths. Social netwworking is all about ‘putting the time in’ and cultivating a hungry, receptive audience for your business specialism and business personality.

For me,  a good ethical social business networker become a ‘pied piper’ for his/her field/product/service because he/she believes in it, and has the character to engage people in what their business is about.  I firmly believe that if you add value and operate in a ‘pay it forward’ manner on social media platforms – the rewards do come…in exponential forms!

When I get spam-like posts on my business pages (you will know them when you see them – because the person’s profile has little if any information on them) – I make sure I report them and mark them as spam. Make sure you do the same!

I hope that you do agree with what I have shared above and hope that you will spread the word by sharing this post with your friends.

To your social success!

16 Ways to Master Facebook Marketing

Most of you will know that I spend a good deal of my time watching online business trends and ensuring that I highlight anything that is worthwhile and valuable straight to my blog readers.

I have been watching Michael Stelzner and his crew at Social Media Examiner for a good while now, and to be honest, his business is ACE as far as I am concerned and whenever there is an opportunity to learn from an ACE (who is highly regarded by his peers) – I am on board! I thought you may like some background to him and how he grew his blogsite business from zero to hero in 4 months using Facebook. (I’m just coining a phrase there – his business everything but zero!) He is also hosting a fab event in October (2010) which I think you will get a lot out of.

When Michael Stelzner started using social media to market his business, he focused exclusively on Twitter. “My first attempt at using Facebook for business was a big flop. I was pretty convinced I could just use Twitter for business.” Stelzner is a well-known white paper writer, author of the book Writing White Papers: How to Capture Readers and Keep Them Engaged and founder of Social Media Examiner. But he literally had to be dragged kicking and screaming onto Facebook.

“I thought it was just for college kids,” Stelzner says. Then a friend he respected invited him to join, so he did. But within a short period of time, he stopped updating his Facebook page. “I spent a lot of time on Facebook and frankly accomplished little. At least on Twitter I knew I could strictly talk business.” So he just fed his Twitter updates into his Facebook profile and fan page. “All along I was treating my Facebook page like Twitter. I thought that by simply posting updates I would build a loyal following.” Things changed when Mari Smith showed him the right way to use Facebook.


Watch the above video to learn more about Stelzner’s Facebook story.

Create a Facebook Page

Armed with that knowledge, he created the Social Media Examiner Facebook page in March 2010. By July of the same year, the page broke the 12,000-fan mark. “And these folks are active,” he says. “They post questions, support each other, reply to our questions and promote our articles. A vibrant community was building right before my eyes. Almost overnight, Facebook quickly became the number-one source of traffic on Social Media Examiner.” You may have heard that Facebook is one of the most cost-effective ways of advertising on social media. “Nowhere else can you target users as surgically as you can on Facebook [and] you can do it for a fraction of the cost of the same targeting on other Internet properties and offline outlets,” write Mari Smith and Chris Treadaway in their book, Facebook Marketing an Hour a Day.

Build a Community on Facebook

But according to Stelzner, Facebook marketing isn’t just about placing ads on people’s pages. He compares Facebook to the Social Media Examiner site. People can comment on the articles, others can respond to those comments and everyone who goes to the site can see all these comments. “FaceBook is like the comment section of our blog taken to an extreme.” “Facebook has 500 million users,” he says. “That means that your customers are already on Facebook – a huge percentage of them. And they’re on there almost every day. I’ve heard that 250 million people are on Facebook every single day.” And a recent Nielsen study found that those 500 million people are spending an average of 7 hours a month on Facebook. But they only spend 2 hours a month on Google, Yahoo, AOL, and MSN. “If people are already on Facebook and they’re already spending an enormous amount of time there,” Stelzner says, “then how can you get them to notice you? That’s where the marketing comes in.” And that’s why Stelzner created Facebook Success Summit 2010.

16 Facebook Lessons From 22 Top Experts

Scheduled throughout the entire month of October 2010, the summit was designed to give you all the tips and techniques you need to master Facebook for business use. You will receive 16 hours of training from 22 Facebook experts. They’ll cover everything from setting up Facebook pages to growing an active fan base. And because this conference is online, you can attend the sessions in the privacy of your home or office. For a fraction of the cost of a traditional conference. No airports, rental cars, hotel rooms or expensive restaurants. All you need is a computer, computer speakers, and a high-speed Internet connection. When you register, you’ll receive an email with a link to a website and your login information. At the appropriate times, just go to the website and login. That’s it!

Just look at some of the speakers you will hear:

  • Mari Smith and Chris Treadaway, authors of Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day
  • Brian Solis, author of Engage!
  • Paul Dunay and Richard Krueger, authors of Facebook Marketing for Dummies
  • Jesse Stay, author of I’m on Facebook, Now What? and FBML Essentials
  • Justin Smith, founder of Inside Facebook and author of Facebook Marketing Bible

You will also hear how companies are implementing their Facebook marketing campaigns, including Microsoft Xbox, Intel, SAP, Cisco and the Washington Redskins. These social media pros—the world’s leading Facebook experts—will be your personal trainers during October 2010. They will teach you everything you need to know to successfully market your business on Facebook. You’ll learn how to:

  • Develop a Facebook marketing strategy
  • Customize your Facebook page
  • Start a Facebook advertising campaign
  • Create a community around your product or service
  • Optimize your News Feed to take advantage of viral marketing
  • Use Facebook analytics and apps

“The marketer’s job has changed from creating and pushing messages to one that requires listening, engaging, and reacting to potential and current customer needs,” says Erik Qualman in his book Socialnomics. “Consumers are looking to peers for recommendations on products, services, health issues, and more via social media. Today, 76% rely on what others say, while 15% rely on advertising.” And Facebook is the biggest social network in the world. So are you ready to dump traditional, interruptive, “in-your-face” advertising in favor of social media marketing? And can we please stop calling it an “advertising campaign” and start calling it “customer engagement”? Your customers and competitors are on Facebook – isn’t it time you joined them? Click here for summit details. If you don’t agree, read these articles on Social Media Examiner:

If you DO agree, grab your place in line for this first-ever online Facebook marketing conference. Their online venue holds 2,500 attendees (and their last event sold out)!

I would be really interested in getting your feedback on what you learnt and how you’ve implemented it after the event – wouldn’t it be great to set some actionable milestones to achieve by Christmas! I will definitely let you know how I enjoyed the event!

My Start-up Blogging Story

Blogging is an area that many people fear, however, I am here to tell you to take heart and look at it as you would any new challenge:

(a) Breakdown the WHAT

(b) Work out the WHY

(c) Draft the HOW

Let me share the story of how I started this blog:

From the minute I decided to create this blog (separate to my Franchise Blog) I got to work in researching what the structure would be behind the blog…the purpose (if you will) to match a need. I am heavily interested in the online-preneur as well as in the daily-evolving online business environment…and by doing quite a bit of internet research on the subject it became very clear to me that there are two distinct things going on in this field:

  1. Blatant money-making-or-grabbing internet marketers selling their SECRETS to SUCCESS, and
  2. Brilliant online-preneurs who are specialists in a particular field and are being clever with how they delivered their expertise and in how they monetised it

Needless to say, I was more interested in the second group of people. So, in then beginning to follow these people on Twitter, Facebook and in RSS feeds…I began to feel that there was a clear need to have a blog that would bring together the salient points that each of these speciliasts where sharing – because as an online-preneur you need to be educated in each of these areas (blogging; social media; shoppingcarts; web development; design; online sales process modelling; e-marketers, etc).

As a newbie to online business, a start-up entrepreneur may well take forever to collate the information and need-to-knows on how to go about planning an online enterprise, plus knowing who to look to as role models on how to position certain aspects to the business.

I definitely felt this in 2008 when I was trying to develop my Expert Franchise Guide business. I spent a woeful amount of time ‘learning’ from an e-marketing ‘guru’ and even attended a three day course. The content was phenomenal and it spurred me on to the enth degree. Creativity was coming out of my ears. The missing piece however was in the support to implement all of the wonderful things, as well as knowing what to focus on and when to move on to the next level. Of course I could have bought the support (however at the time, that was very much mis-priced for the target audeince who attended and it was far out of my reach to take it up…as it was for most of the people who attended.)

Bascially as the years have gone by, the ideas have remained and although my business interests are far more varied now…the model of running an online enterprise is still key for me.

With having my first child this year, it has become even more important that I get more focussed on smarter delivery of my skills, expertise and know-how and get going on actually helping those that need me most…and are willing to pay for it.

Starting www.shelleypearson.me in May 2010 has been wonderful – I finally feel like I have a creative outlet  that matches my love of writing and my passion for good, ethical business. Plus I will be helping a lot of other business people understand the world of online business and perhaps get their business shoes on quicker to hit the ground running.

So, I hope to keep my readers up-to-date, informed and most importantly motivated to continue to grow and enhance their online business models as much as they can to take full advantage of the benefits of operating a web based business.

I envision this Blog to metamorphasize as your needs as my audience evolve over time – and frankly…that’s really exciting for me. [Do watch this space over time for the many nifty things I have planned to implement over the year.]

My WHAT is: A fantastic resource for Online-preneurs

My WHY is: Because I feel a resonance with this group of people & I want to help ease their PAIN of start-up or growth

My HOW is: Through a well-planned & stuctured Blog, supported by online business experts and bespoke creation of resources to match the needs of my readers/customers.

So, that’s my Blog Start-up Story!

What is yours? I would love to hear about it.

Turning Your High Street Business into an Online Giant

I read a great article today through one of my RSS feeds about Amazon’s fulfillment offering and their Webstore. There are quite a few success stories about it, which you can read here: Article: ‘Element Jewellery Finds Success with Webstore’. Obviously there are other providers that sell this kind of thing, but what is great is that you will have the backing and brand reputation of Amazon – which so far to date (in my little experience) as not let many people down!

Now why have I brought this article to your attention? What does this mean for you? Well, if you have been running a traditional high street store and you are incredibly reliant on footfall or indeed on advertising (off and online) to drive feet to your store, maybe you are missing a trick here. In fact, I know you are.

I have an annoying habit nowadays and that’s that when I meet anyone I ask them if there was one product they COULD sell without it meaning selling their time…what would that be. Funny how so many business owners have never even stopped to think about that. Even if you are a consultant (on one side of the scale) or a store on the high street/in a shopping centre (on the other side of the scale), there is business you are missing out on if you are not considering selling something online.

Most businesses have a website, which is all well and good – however the world has moved on now. You need to be treating that website and its presence as if it was a staff member. Is it performing to the best of its ability (fresh content, attractive design & programming), has it had the right training to do the right things for you (i.e. tools, SEO, social media, etc) and is it adding value to your business (i.e. drives leads to your business). If you had a badly performing staff member who turned up late for work, was cheeky to your customers or didn’t ever really carry out their duities properly – what would you do? Sack them. Exactly.

The smallest company can become a force to be reckoned with if you learn how to position yourself correctly (for your market) and you take the plunge in believing just how magical the internet can be for small business. Just look at these chaps who started their businesses from home (you may have heard of them!):

  • Bill Gates (Microsoft)
  • Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak (small business called Apple)
  • Larry Page & Sergey Brin (teeny searchy business called Google)
  • Estee Lauder (her uncle was a chemist & started cooking cosmetics in his kitchen)

So, how is your “web-staff” performing? Or have you left your website hanging up there in cyberspace hoping that it is enough or good enough to ‘pass’.  Pass for what I ask you? Be smarter, you are missing opportunities as we speak – creating an online side to your business is not going to affect your current business, it will run alongside it and will capture a customer market that you are ignoring right now.

Do it. Do it now.

Planning Your Online Business Model

Much like traditional business planning, when you want to start marketing your business on the internet or create a new business that is solely based on the internet…you need to PLAN it. Hence what I call the ‘Web Plan’.

If you haven’t thought through what your strategy is and why you are doing what you are doing – you will find yourself in quite a muddle. Much like deciding to sell apples and then just sitting on a street corner and hoping a passerby will 1) see you and 2) want to buy an apple.

So what is the solution? THINK! Its that’s simple. Oh, and do your homework. Here is my Step-by-Step Guide to sorting out what you want to do and how to do it online.

STEP 1:  WORK OUT WHAT IT IS THAT YOU WANT TO SELL

Yes, this might be an obvious thing to say, but few people have an  answer for this. They panic and say – “I am going online”. GREAT! However that is not enough. Be clear and think about what you want to sell; if it is relevant to sell it online and how you are going to position it.

If its not relevant to sell online, it may be that your web presence will be about spreading the word about your brand and company…and perhaps not specifically product based. Believe me – you need to be online in some way, shape or form, but it does need to be focussed and relevant to your business type and personality. (See my post called ‘Advent of Technology: BELIEVE IT.)

STEP 2: DECIDE HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SELL IT

As with face-to-face business, you need to work out your Marketing Path. What does that mean? Well, how are you going to:

=> Generate interest for the product/service you want to sell

=> How are you going persuade them to buy what you are offering

=> How are you going to make it easy for them to buy it

=> How do you process that transaction

=> What does the delivery path look like

=> How do you manage the customer relationship going forward

STEP 3: FIT WITH YOUR BUSINESS PICTURE

How does this Web Plan fit in with your overall Business Plan?

Yes, many would say that having a business plan is outdated – however the term Business Plan has really metamorphasised over the last decade and really it can be in the form of a massive mindmap on your wall. The key is to have gone through a process of thinking, ‘mapped’ it out (in writing or visually) and committed to carrying out the activities you have stated are key to meeting the business objectives laid out in your plan to make the business profitable and successful.

Your Web Plan needs to be integral to your Business Plan and part and parcel of how you do business. So make sure that you build it into your marketing and operational strategy.

STEP 4: GET EXCITED ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING

I know there is probably an element to you that is petrified about ‘putting yourself out there’ on the world wide web (still makes me smile when people call it that), but please, do try and find something about it that does excite you. Whether that is about learning about a new way to do business, or even just the prospect of doing more business than you can imagine by adding this bow to your business strings.

If you don’t get ethusiastic about it, it won’t work.

Much like many things in life….it won’t work without motivation driving it. Find a motivation that works for you (and that might be a goal that can be paid for by the work you will bring in from the online business!)

STEP 5: BE GRATEFUL FOR THE BUSINESS

This is a step that we all forget sometimes. Once you are up and running with the online side to the business, each step of the way you are getting closer to your business goals…be grateful at each point of how well you are doing. As soon as you generate interest and then sell your first product/service online…be grateful for it.

The key is to keep positive and humble that someone has chosen to buy your product or service online. Remember that the online world is highly competitive, so when you get a customer, you work even harder than you would in face to face business to keep them happy and  loyal. Once someone likes you or your business then it is so easy for them to recommend you – on Social Media sites, in emails to friends etc. Their recommendation will become viral and help grow your business.

I hope this helps to at least  get you thinking in the right direction about being strategic about what you plan to do online.


Motivations for the Start-Up

I regularly try to find a video from Guy Kawasaki to watch so that I can absorb more of his simple business philosophy. Nowadays far too many Gurus, Experts or Kings of their subjects traipse so far above their audience, that I think they forget the fundamentals of business….where it started, why it started…and why we get into business.

This video is from a presentation Guy did for Stanford University based on his “The Art of The Start” book. Its a snippet, however I think it gives you a good idea of one major fundamental that we must remember about business: Work out the ‘WHY’…i.e. what is the meaning in your business? What difference are you bringing to the world by starting your business?

If you are interested in more work from Guy – have a look at his website at http://www.guykawasaki.com/

I would be very interested to hear your feedback and reflections on the video – please feel free to jot them down below:

What Do Women Bring to the Table?

There are many organisations out there…networking and otherwise that focus on this precise subject. I am not about to repeat what is already covered, but I did ask myself the question recently: “What do women bring to the table?”

Now, I deal predominantly with men, especially in the franchise arena – which I find quite disconcerting, only in that I wish that I came across more women! In the last couple of months though I have had the opportunity of meeting with a few more ladies than I would have in the past. I like this! I am mighty chuffed to have the opportunity of meeting with serious minded women who are keen to review franchising as a route to growing their businesses and want me to help put forward a structure to help them reach their business growth goals.

The meetings were quite different from when I deal with gentlemen. How so you may ask?

They are very clear about where their strengths lie

This is something every consultant wishes they could get first hand from their new clients. In a lot of cases clients are delusional about what they are capable of and in fact what they are good at. Yes, its true that they have got to where they have gotten…however that was probably with a whole host of worker bees picking up the mess behind them! Its nice to meet a new client who says from the start where their weaknesses are, as well as how and where they need my support. I am not saying I don’t get this from my male clients, because some of them are great…but I only get to the crux of what they can’t manage a bit further down the line. (After a bit of frustration…)

They are clear about what they don’t want

Sometimes this is even better than people knowing what they ‘do want’. Again, I manage to get this from my male clients as well, however I am interested to see that most lady prospective clients I meet open with ‘well…this is what I don’t want.’ Now, the NLP followers of you out there will probably be hopping up and down about negative language – but actually in reality – this is a helpful trait to get from clients – because it helps us consultants, coaches and mentors to know exactly what pre-existing terms are  lying at the back of our clients’ minds.

They are open to change

Maybe its because women are moms, home chief execs, wives and girlfriends and still running their own businesses – but they do seem to be open to acknowledge that the world is not steadfast and that inevitably things need to be revisited pretty often. This helps keep goals REALISTIC and ACHIEVABLE without laying a huge amount of pressure at the doors of the professionals who have been engaged to assist in the achievement!

What do you like about dealing with business women – and what have you learnet from connecting or working with business women?

Advent of Technology: BELIEVE IT

Scarily I am coming up against more and more stubborn business owners who still think that the internet is a FAD and that because they don’t have an ‘online shop’ they don’t need to be on the internet. Unfortunately he who thinks this….will not survive the 21st Century Business Environment. FACT.

There are a few elements that I do like to ‘bring home’ to these types of business owners I meet and those are:

1. You have to be where your target audience is

2. You have to know how to reach them

3. You have to know what they want almost before they want it

4. You must aim to reach them before your competitors

5. You must ensure you deliver perfection (or damn near close to it)

Why? Well, because ladies and gentlemen…the sophisticated consumer of the 21st Century wants:

- the old school value of the 19th Century corner store,

- with the price of the 20st Century,

- delivered in 21st Century speed.

That’s why.

I have managed to convert many a disbeliever in why they need to pay attention to the way business is being done nowadays and how fast it will be operating in the months and years to come. To be honest, all I have to show them is this video from Socionomics (2009) which gives you some insight into the pure growth of Social Networking and how it affects how people communicate and get their information (let alone how they are privy to advertising and how this affects their buying behaviour):

Many a customer service specialist will tell you: the days of brand loyality are disappearing fast. As a business you have to work harder to get the customer and keep the customer…in fact the world has returned to the mentality of getting what you pay for and wanting the best for what you pay for. Have a read of the article I wrote that highlighted how business today is not that different to how it was ‘back in the day’ and how important it is to focus on returning customers. (Click here to read the article)

So, what is my message? Please please please make sure you have a presence on the internet. If you don’t understand it or are scared of it…find someone to explain it to you on your terms and work out the best path and strategy for you to make the best out of it. Its worth warning you that everyone and his uncle will attest to being an expert, so make sure you check that person out first or they come recommended by someone you trust!

Here’s to your online entrepreneurship flying (clinging a champagne glass!)

The Chain of ‘Staffing’ Command

In Small Businesses the issue of well managed staffing can make or break your business. Having spoken to three different business owners just this morning, my heart goes out to them in how their very livelihood hinges on their staff not only pitching up for work, but also being able to rely on them returning day after day.

Unfortunately due to varying circumstances including complacent mindset (of staff member), worker’s ‘rights’ and ‘fair’ employment regulation – small business struggle everyday to keep their heads above water.

Please understand that I am not advocating unfair employment practices (goodness knows I have a host of post to give you in favour of the employee!), but what I am highlighting here is that every business owner needs to be hot on sick leave, compassionate leave, leave of absences etc etc. In most cases the staff member is genuinely in trouble or unwell – but in about 1/3 of the cases their early indicators turn into constant problems that hinder not only the business owner…but begin to have a massive impact on the business’ profit and future.

Please take heed and ensure that you are up todate on your systems for managing sickness and keep a close eye on any staff absences or reasons for them not ‘coping’ at work. Always be supportive, of course, and provide a comfortable solution for both parties – but do remember that you are not their parents…you have a responsibility to the rest of your staff and your loyal clients to be assertive about nipping any potential problems in the bud (or butt ..as it were!)

Feel free to share any good or bad experiences you have had with staff here. I would love to hear from you.

Your Business Cycle

So many of us get caught up in getting a business up and running and before we know it, years have gone by and we ares till running on the business treadmill….trying to make it through each month or year.

Granted there are times when we have to just focus on making it through the month or year (like in a recession), however every business owner should at least take time out annually to revisit the PLAN.

What plan you ask? The Business Plan….the reason you are doing what you do everyday – the reason you get up in the morning. Why? Because if you don’t the chances are you will have a depressing moment soon – where you start to want to know what the meaning of life is!

I am firm believer in timelines and business phases. You business needs to grow much like a child does…from infancy to pensioner…do you know what those phases of your business look like and at what point it has moved on to the next stage? Click here to read a really good article posted on Entrepreneur.com – it will help to give you some indication as to how to chart your business timeline.

By doing this exercise you are also being open to the fact that not only is your business moving on, but so are you – and together you may need to alter some activities and operational elements to match the changes. Change = growth = mature business ownership.

Do feedback to me and let me know how you get on! I will get my flipchart paper out and make sure I do the same.