How to run a business and survive - 5 thoughts of the day

A couple of months ago I heard about Business Mum Week and decided it was too good an opportunity not to get involved with.

As a result I’m hosting the Oxford Business Mum Week networking event, for mums who run their own business and juggle work commitments with family life. It will serve as a fantastic opportunity for people to meet face to face and share ideas, support and resources.



A week later, venue confirmed, invites out, and busily distributing leaflets around the local area, I started planning a radio interview, attendance sheets, feedback forms and so on – and realised that I’d inadvertently taken on another ‘little project’ which was rapidly becoming a big deal.

As someone who has set up their own business, you’re probably the type of person that does this. A lot. There are always new and exciting opportunities, ways to branch out, new areas to explore.

Sometimes though, it’s just not possible to do everything. The moment you give your acceptance to this fact is the moment you regain control.

There are two things that have to balance in my mind – my favourite quote from Edison – ‘there’s a better way to do it, find it’, and Jack of all trades, master of none.

There has to be a balance between investing the time to research, understand and execute a job well, but also refine that list of goals to focus on the most important, results orientated objectives.

Having experienced many of these challenges and struggling to keep this balance front of mind in the early stages of setting up my business, I thought it would be good to reflect…

1. If you want to rebrand, launch a new website, start blogging, attend a few more networking meetings and find better office space all before the year is out, forget it. Just because objectives go hand in hand, such as a string of marketing goals, doesn’t mean you need to tackle them all at once. You’ll get so overwhelmed by the ‘bigger picture’ that achieving just one action will become impossible. This can be really demotivating and lead to in some cases, the worst case scenario ‘I need a day off to rethink’ which ends of with lots of movement in circular motions.

2. Be really, really, really strict about your working hours and environment. This I would say is absolutely critical. For a number of reasons working late into the night is never good. If you fire off a proposal at 9pm, Jamie’s American Road Trip in the background and a glass of Merlot by your side, when you re-read it back the next day, it’s very possible that you’ll be wishing you’d waited and looked at it with fresh eyes. It’s also possible that the words ‘pukka’ could have sneaked their way in subconsciously.

3. Manage people’s expectations. It’s not good to always be a yes man. If you have a number of client commitments, orders to fulfil or places to be, then don’t say yes before the other person has even finished speaking just because you feel you should. Offering an explanation, a suitable alternative and managing expectations will do you far greater justice in the long run. Also, if you’re not the man for the job, say so, and recommend an alternative supplier. Again, it will do you favours when it comes to word of mouth in the future.

4. Delegate. There are some jobs that are just better left to the professionals such as accountancy or graphic design. It’s really tempting to try and muddle through certain tasks yourself to save a bit of cash. When you weigh up what your time is worth against how much you could have earned during the hours you spent trying to figure out how to fit the name of your business into a circle, make it look like a sun and add a border around it, then you’ll wish you’d just invested in an expert in the first place. I speak from experience.

5. Figure out what time of day suits you. This goes back to the days of exam revision for me. If you’re bright and breezy in the morning, then get the jobs you want to put off done then. If you’re better on a full stomach after a jacket with beans and cheese at lunchtime then get the challenging stuff done straight afterwards. On that note I’ll leave you with my favourite clip of the moment from BBC Walk on the Wild Side….

I'm a niiiiiinnnneeeee!

I recently attended a presentation at a really good local networking group called The Late Breakfast by Patrick Bird of Interactive Performance Management.

It was good because I have never laughed so much in a business situation in my life, literally the tears were streaming, and had my fellow networkers not been in stitches also it could have been a little embarrassing.

At the same time I gained some very valuable tips on matching your body language in business meetings, whether you’re pitching for new business, reviewing a campaign with an existing client or taking part in a presentation, here are some very useful pointers I took away from Patrick, as well as the reason for the hilarity.

1. People often make their minds up about a person in the first 20 to 30 seconds of meeting them so initial impact is vital. Make sure you own the space, good posture with a firm handshake and clear greeting.
2. Pitches to clients are about the message you leave them with, make sure your content (words) are well prepared but also “HOW” you are going to deliver the presentation is thought through and rehearsed to maximise your communication. Congruence of words, body language and tone of voice is critical, if you say you are pleased to be there make sure the 3 things actually match the message.
3. Think about your breathing and avoid the squeaky voice coming out in the presentation. Breathe from the diaphragm into your belly and not from your chest, the quality and resonance of your voice will improve.

So why so much laughter? Patrick opened his talk with an activity to get us warmed up. Based on the last digit of our mobile phone numbers (bear with me on this), we had to walk around the room greeting people at that level.

So, if you’re a zero, you’re pretty much dead, not good. If you’re a nine however, you’re bursting at the seems with get up and go.

We had the opportunity to start with our number, mine being a four, so I was a little bland and moped around, but then I got to do eight – well I went for nine just to make the most of the opportunity.

I more than got into role shall we say and shrieked my way around the room, embracing my fellow networkers and greeting them as long lost friends. It was a very energising experience to say the least. The shock on the faces of my '2' and '3' networkers was brilliant. I think their ears may still be ringing.

I only wish that there was video footage, as short of being able to act this out each and every morning to get the day started, it would provide a valuable reminder of how important it is to match your colleagues or clients body language and ‘number’.

If you’re meeting a client today, you walk in to their office and they are clearly having a ‘2’ day, it would be worth saving your ‘9’ for another moment – don’t waste it though, use it somewhere, it’s good for the soul!

How are you using Twitter for business? 10 things to know

Twitter has exploded in popularity over recent months, especially its use by small businesses as more and more people join the way of thinking that they have more to say than what they are having for dinner. After doing a talk on social media at a networking group (@TLB) at the beginning of July I’ve noticed just how many small businesses are really getting their tweet on.

There are still lots of ‘it’s not for me’ and ‘I don’t get it’ types, and it isn’t for everyone, and no one gets it straight away (although we like to pretend we do).

As a small business myself I’ve found it invaluable. New suppliers, advice, opinion, useful articles, something to make me smile when I log in first thing in the morning.

There are huge possibilities for small businesses, so Twitter is worth investigating. It's not simply a case of tweeting about you're products or services, there's much more to it.

Here are our 10 things you should know about Twitter for business:

1. Twitter is just like any face to face networking event. When you first join you should take a step back, get to know people, let them do the talking and get comfortable in your new environment. Once you’re ready, make the break from shy to sociable.

2. Make some boundaries. One you’ve got a feel for what people are talking about and how you could contribute, establish whether this is a purely work tool. If you are connecting with friends as well as potential clients on Twitter, be mindful that a blow by blow account of the 5-a-side football match you’re watching may not be of interest to everyone!

3. Be yourself. Don’t try and be the corporate face of your business. Be you, tweeting on behalf of your company. Just because you’re using this for business reasons, doesn’t mean you need to start speaking in the same tone that your corporate brochure; it is a social application.

4. Who are you? People want to know who the person behind the tweets is so add a good photo and write a concise biography that not only tells people who you are but also helps people to find you when searching for certain businesses.

5. It’s not a sales tool. Don’t start posting 10 times a day about your 50% off sale. People will get bored very quickly. It’s almost like spam.

6. Start following interesting people. Don’t feel that you need to follow everyone who follows you. It’s doubtful that following Sexy Sandra who wants to talk naughty with you, is going to add any real value to your business! There are lots of good applications that help you to find relevant people, check out this fab post from Twitter pro Mashable.
7. Go with the flow. After you’ve been using Twitter for a few weeks you will soon find your feet. Find out who you know is already on Twitter and use them as guinea pigs to get into the swing of things. Don’t get sidetracked into reading each and every post and replying to everything that has a vague connection to your business.
8. On that note, keep your objectives front of mind. It’s not a sales tool, but what are you trying to achieve? Are you looking to explain what services you actually offer? Search for people looking for those services and reply to their questions. Are you looking for new staff? Diversifying and trying to establish if there’s a need? Use Twitter to build conversation, but also to build your business.
9. Do it regularly – Twitter requires some maintenance. The great thing is, updating the short 140 character tweet is quick. But if you’re starting to chat with people, and you don’t reply for a month, they’ll soon lose confidence in you.
10. Finally, enjoy it. If Twitter is going to add value to your business you need to enjoy, not dread using this tool. There are many, many great articles available on how to use Twitter; get on to Google and have a read.

Another great post comes from Sponge NB on Twitter for business, have a read.

The Late Breakfast, the networking group I mentioned, started using Twitter a few months back and have already welcomed new attendees through tweeting about themselves, and have found that Twitter allows them to communicate with a much wider audience than they have done previously.

The ‘Twitterverse’ is a vast online chat room to explore and use in the way that suits you; a place where people hang out, talk, share advice. To talk more about Twitter do get in touch with me – catherine@warrilowpr.co.uk or call 01235 202284 (it’s still good to talk and hear a voice!).