Archive for the ‘Planning’ Category
As a small business owner, you ARE your business. If you have ever seen any of the worldwide “Dragon’s Den” type programmes on the TV, you will observe that the dragons invest in the person behind the business as much as the concept itself.
It is important for that business owner, to constantly watch trends, be familiar with their market, and adapt to the changes that invariably happen. We also need to keep an eagle eye on what the competition is up to, and notice what they are changing, and are those changes in line with consumer changes, or are they trying to influence the consumer / client.
This is where business owners can get “bogged down”. Constantly watching out for the enemy, copying their strategies, playing cat and mouse to try and gain ground.
Let’s say our business has been successful in the past, and now, inevitably things are tough. We batten down the hatches, cut costs, cut prices, downsize, and cut budgets. You are probably familiar with any one of these strategies.
But why do we do this? Because the strategists recommend it? Because your competition is doing it? Because of the proven facts from the past? Because historically, it works?
Think about this: where do we get the notion that repetition is the best tactic? What influences us to think that what worked before will work today, for our business?
Now think about this… is this the same type of recession as before? Will the next boom (there WILL be a next boom) be the same as the previous one? I would imagine NO, and NO!
So, why then, are we doing the same things now that we did before? Read the rest of this entry »
I am no stranger to health and fitness, having been a part of various therapies, classes and courses over the years, mostly as a preventative rather than a cure. Those of you who know me personally will attest to the fact I have NEVER dieted, but do not indulge in fast and overly processed foods, but like anyone else, have my “weak” areas.
Cork Mini Marathon bib 2010
I fought these weak areas for a long time, and there is something about turning 40 that helps us realise that health is so important, because without it, you do not have quality of life.
Now I allow myself my indulgences whenever I want them, and compensate by eating healthily otherwise, drinking lots of water and exercising on a regular basis. To be truthful, mostly my exercising consists of brisk long walks, and generally going to a class of some kind.
Last year, in beginning of 2010, I discovered running was a faster way to improve fitness and endurance, and of course kick me back into a state of racing heartbeat and pushing myself beyond my comfort zone. I wrote a post about it at the time about motivation, and decided to achieve my goals by training for both the Cork Women’s Mini Marathon AND the Limerick Women’s Mini Marathon. I followed a programme to the minute, and achieved my training goals for the first race. The second race was exactly a week later and unfortunately I did enough damage to my lower back that Read the rest of this entry »
W
hen I was in a 9-5 job in 1993, I distinctly remember arriving into work on Monday mornings and being subjected to complaints, grumbles, disdain, and other such negative gossip.
This was the only negative about my Monday mornings. In fact I never had Monday morning blues because I practiced a very simple alternative. Back then, in my early 20’s living and working in recession Ireland (yes, we had one then too) the general gist of good fun was to go out with colleagues and friends.
Traditionally this was done Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Three late nights of overindulgence was bound to take it’s toll, and it did. Coming from a college background, I had become accustomed to going out on “College nights” (aka Thursday nights). I maintained this routine and did not go out late on Sunday nights.
Of course this meant that Friday mornings were tough, but one cannot have Friday blues if they are off for the weekend, and have an early finish to look forward to. So I was therefore able to camouflage my blues into a Friday, rather than a Monday.
However, I feel the negative sentiment has remained with many people, whether they are employed, self-employed, or between jobs.
Why should we dread Monday Mornings? Because we have done so traditionally. For some of us, it’s simply always been that way (similar to finding it difficult to get up in the mornings).
Here are a couple of measures you can take to beat the Monday Morning Blues: Read the rest of this entry »
There is a certain quietness out there, beyond the madness of the noise in our heads as we endeavour to jump-start our new business. That quietness is also full of noise and busy-ness. What only the experienced business owner will realise is that even though starting a business is daunting, there are people out there who are watching, minding, and wishing us well. They are throwing us tit-bits of information and help, enough for us to catch on to, but not obvious hand-outs.
“To background voices, calling from a distance,
Silent partners, listen to the hush Silent partners, you know they don’t say nothing at all”
~ Pat Benatar (The Silent Partners)
These silent partners read our blog-posts, read our tweets, provide clicks and unique visits to our websites, or in the case of back-links. They talk about our businesses to their friends and families, or indeed at networking events. Read the rest of this entry »
Planning an event can be tremendously stressful for some. I have had clients stress over Christamas to the point where complete sabotage and failure are guaranteed. So how can we plan for an event and ensure that we don’t miss anything important?
We can write a list – what to do, what to buy, when to do it. This list can be in the form of chronological importance or priority importance. So let’s back track a bit and assume you are already struggling with ideas and the basic plan, not to mind the where, when, why and how-to?
Very often, someone wants to plan a surprise or event for a friend or loved-one. This can prove an almost debilitating exercise for many; so what I want to to is look at ONE possibility that can help your life to be easier, less stressful and ultimately organised. This will ensure that you enjoy the event as much as the person or people you are organising it for.
Because we are now over the indulgence of Christmas, and have embarked on a journey of resolutions and lying low for January, we do need some indulgence to get some spark back. Read the rest of this entry »
Happy New Year all,
Seefin Coaching is not yet officially back to work, but we have the pleasure of being published in De-Stress magazine again.
Catherine Connors of Stress Solutions 4 Life publishes this great resource for stress-busting and other great topics. It’s a pleasure to be included. Check Page 4 for my article:
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Enjoy the read, and Best Wishes from Seefin Coaching for 2011!!
This month we are running with a great series of TOP 10 tips for your business survival for the traditional break, and on into the New Year.
TIP NO 8:
A ~ ACTION
Or lack thereof!
There are 4 sleeps to Christmas. How much have you left to do? Enough to take 10 working days? Are things feeling a little pressured right now? OK, then it’s time for the Seefin Stripper!
Take out a piece of paper.
Either as a Mind-Map or a Matrix, we are going to reduce and prioritise our tasks (TO-DO List).
Mind Map: Put your business name in the middle of the page: Read the rest of this entry »
This month we are running with a great series of TOP 10 tips for your business survival for the traditional break, and on into the New Year.
TIP NO 6:
T ~ TEDICATION
Ok, so it’s not really a word, but it comes from dedication, with a TED spin-off. We get our inspiration from many sources: books, DVDs, TED Videos, colleagues, celebrities, our customers. However, most importantly is that we inspire ourselves. Without self-inspiration, everything else is just influence. And if you strip away everyone and everything, would you feel comfortable enough in your own skin, running your business?
In light of this amazing discovery Read the rest of this entry »
This month we are running with a great series of TOP 10 tips for your business survival for the traditional break, and on into the New Year.
TIP NO 5:
S ~ SOCIAL MEDIA
Get talking, get into the conversation. Why is Social Media so important for your business? Simply because:
- It is another way to communicate your message
- It is another medium to use to connect with your customers
- It is another medium to use to connect with future customers
- It is evolving into a sophisticated online communications protocol
If you do not get involved now, you will struggle to understand the next phase of the Web – the Semantic Web.
That’s not to say that every business type will benefit from Social Media, but not only is it an excellent tool for B2C (Business to Customer) but also growing in popularity for B2B (Business to Business).
What is Social Media? Read the rest of this entry »
This month we are running with a great series of TOP 10 tips for your business survival for the traditional break, and on into the New Year.
TIP NO 4:
I ~ INSIGHT
IN PEACE, PREPARE FOR WAR
IN WAR, PREPARE FOR PEACE
SUN TZU
This very simple message was missed by many during the boom decade of 1996–2006. Those in business must realise the importance of vision, enthusiasm and planning.
Yet many of us fail to visualise where our business will be in 5 years, and allow external factors to guide us. The problem right there is if we allow economic, political or other external factors to guide our business, then we fall when those factors fall. Read the rest of this entry »
