What is our most precious resource? I’m guessing you would say time. When I talk to most people, the biggest complaint I hear is there is not enough time. Today everyone appears to be in a rush whether working for a company, running your own business, taking care of your family or even trying to stay connected with your social network.
Stress, Technology and a little History
I remember watching a Rat Pack movie from the 60’s or 70’s. (Note: Can’t remember the episode and I’m not telling anyone if I actually was old enough to have seen the original) They would show a man in his office (usually smoking away at his desk) totally stressed out. At night he would go home and have a brandy alexander… or maybe two… or six.
The 70’s were the early days when psychologists and society began to realize that our jobs were stressful.
Then the 80’s and 90’s technology and computers were introduced. The stress got crazier. Instead of inputing 10 orders a day, my boss gave me a computer and now I could process 100.
And I thought technology was supposed to make my life easier?
Email Spam, Information Overload & Social Media
In the early part of this decade (2000 – 2004) email spam hit big time and people were introduced to what was called information overload. Inboxes became overflowing… people had difficulty keeping up. And over the past 5 years it’s been social media. There was a recent study that said, in 2008 more information was produced in that one year than in the entire history of civilization!
I’ll let that one sit with you for a minute.
Too Many Choices, Not Enough Time
There is so much information. We have so many choices and our computers, smart phones keep us connected all the time. Distractions are now a way of life. During a typical working day, we are bombarded with emails, text messages, phone calls, tweets, invitations, groups to join, sales pitches, offers or someone wanting to be my friend… it’s crazy!!
Technology has a way of either taking over your life by making you busier than ever or it can help your life (or business) by allowing you to reach more people, automate complex tasks and provide more efficient ways to earn money. Although we are embracing technology and reaping the benefits there is still an overwhelm we feel. We work hard to stay connected… and we try to do all the things that my workaholic boss or that social media guru tells me.
Unfortunately peace never comes and the to do list never ends. In our technology driven society the choices (and our distractions) keep getting bigger. Yesterday it was iPhones and Blackberry’s… today it’s iPads, Kindles, and Playbooks… tomorrow? Who knows? But I guarantee that you will want to stay in the game and keep up… it’s like keeping up with the Joneses… we feel bad if we think we’re missing out somehow.
How to Make the Right Choices
Technology and time break down at some point because there are only so many hours in the day and we are limited in the number of interactions we can have.
What technologies to choose and where to focus time are major obstacles affecting many small business owners.
Business owners don’t have the time or the bandwidth to be on every social media platform… to have every gadget. Twitter and Facebook pages start with good intentions and then they fizzle out. People get fatigued. They get real busy, or confused with all the choices. And they burn out!
So what’s the solution?
Time
Learn to focus and prioritize. Find time for the important work for your business rather than getting distracted by the noise and chatter. Plan smartly… learn to stay focused… on project critical tasks or customer initiatives. But at the same time give yourself time to connect socially. If you are engaged in social media it should feel good… it should be fun. If it’s not fun or it feels stressful then you’re doing it wrong… step back and re-think your approach.
Ask yourself am I trying to be in too many places?
Technology
Technology is another topic where I help people understand that if you are wanting to stay connected to your business 24/7 (and it’s wearing you out) then it’s time to find a different approach.
Technology should be used as a way to reach your audience and build fans or followers, stay connected and build better relationships. At the same time you can use technology to automate and improve how your business runs. There are many excellent tools. A newsletter is so simple and yet it’s something we often overlook. Running a Facebook page might take some time to plan and set up, but the actual running of the site is not that difficult. For some tasks there are benefits to Outsourcing, especially those that feel difficult. There are call centers that can help take your calls outside of business hours, or Virtual Assistants who can help with a variety of projects and make a big difference to your business.
So I will end this today… how do you feel about the time you spend on your business? How stressed to you feel? Is your time balanced? How do you decide which technologies to use? Do you feel technology helps, or hinders you?
Alright! I will admit I am not the first person to say that passion (or loving what you do) is what is necessary to run a successful business. But it is critical. Why? Because what we say and how we express it come across via the web and through our communication and conversations. If we are not passionate about what we offer then people feel it.
An Example of Passion – Scott Stratten
If on the other hand you are passionate about your business, then people are drawn to you. Take a guy like Scott Stratten from UnMarketing. Here’s a guy who started building his speaking and consulting business back in 2008 and today has his first book published and is on a speaking and mingling tour of North America. Scott has fun, he loves connecting with people and enjoys what he does. If you haven’t heard Scott speak or read his book, check out his blog. Scott’s passion rings through.
Why are some people more passionate than others?
There can be a variety of reasons. Based on our history, I believe that passion gets sucked out of a great number of people at an early age. We are taught that in order to be successful, we have to conform to someone elses standard or opinion of life. We go to school or find a job where we feel no satisfaction. Why? To pay the bills.
Then at some stage we decide to change careers or start our own business.
Started a Business – Now What!
We come up with an idea and may put together a plan, setup a storefront or website… but something is still missing… something gets stuck… our business doesn’t take off the way we had hoped… we feel passion but somehow we can’t communicate it.
How do you find your passion?
For some people finding their passion is easy. They connect to it from an early age. They know exactly what kind of education they need and seem to land that perfect job or career. For the rest of us finding our true passion is an quest that takes time, sometimes years. It comes down to asking questions like… what do I love to do… where am I most happy… what is my purpose in life… what are my core values?
How important do you feel passion is for running your business?
On Monday I started my first Facebook Fan page (see the link) and I have been busy putting together content for my upcoming seminar at 10Carden Street in Guelph, Ontario on October 25th. Thank you to the 25 of you, who so far have given me a “Like” and supported me as I get this Facebook page going.
Businesses, Non-Profits, Politicians, Authors, Musicians and Students are all Welcome!
I want to make this page valuable for all of you and I thought it would be a great discussion form to talk about how to take your business to the next level. Now to clarify… when I say business this could mean your existing company… your non-profit organization or charity… your political campaign… or maybe you are a student or employee and want to start your own business down the road and want some education now to get the creative juices flowing. Maybe you are an author or musician looking for ways to get noticed and market yourself. The ideas here will be helpful for a wide range of people.
Over the next few weeks I plan to write a few short articles to give you a sense of my thought process as I create seminar and workshop content. I’m hoping at some stage we will be able to connect personally and where I can learn more about you, your business, what works for you and where some of these ideas may help. Also send me any feedback or suggestions on topics you would like covered.
Core Concepts
Before we start talking about the components of a successful business I wanted to first introduce some core concepts. These are ideas to get you thinking…and get creative. In the framework of our changing business climate I thought an introduction to these concepts would put into context some ways to approach your business.
Here is a listing of the core concepts. I’ll be covering each one of these areas over the next couple of weeks. There are 6 that I can think of right now. There may be more as the discussion evolves.
Here is the list of some of the core concepts I want to start with.
Passion
Time & Technology
Relationships
Tribes & Communities
Social Media
Support Systems
Components of a Successful Business
And here is what I have listed as some of the key components for running a business. Please note that my focus will not be so much on Business Operations (#9) because I feel operations is usually very specific to the business you have created and it’s not my specialty anyway. And I won’t say a word about Accounting or Bookkeeping (#10) because trust me — you don’t want me saying anything about money or how you manage your business finances. Maybe we will find some people who can talk to these topics.
I will talk however about creating your Personal Vision (#1), aligning that vision with your Business Vision & Plan (#2), elements for good Website(#3), Developing Products, Services and Revenue Streams (#4)… and the big one, Finding Customers (#5)… this one will take a while but I think you will enjoy some of the ideas. Another big area will be developing a Content Creation & Communications Strategy (#6)… and then finally I will focus on Technology, Tools and Automation (#7) and Outsourcing (#8).
Whew!! That’s a lot. But this is a discussion that I hope will unfold over the next few months or maybe years.
Here are the components listed for you.
Components of Creating the Business You Want
Your Personal Vision
Your Vision for your Business
Website
Products, Services & Revenue Streams
Finding Customers
Content Creation & Communications Strategy
Technology, Tools & Automation
Outsourcing
Business Operations
Bookkeeping & Accounting
So enjoy the next few days and I will keep you posted as we get started with the discussion.
Comments and your thoughts and ideas are always welcome.
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Stress, Technology and a little History
