Archive for the ‘Survival’ 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 »
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 3:
R ~ REVIEW
Review your Business Plan! Yes, I said Business Plan. You remember that document that you threw together in a rush to get something together for the Bank, Enterprise Baord, SYOB Course???
Well, that document should be the soul of your business. What can it do for you, if populated correctly? Here are a few suggestions: Read the rest of this entry »
Hi there – Welcome to Seefin Coaching’s TOP 10 Christmas Tips for the survival of your business (and you!)
This time we are going to count down (up) to Christmas with our great series of TOP 10 tips for getting your business ready for the 2010 wind-down.
We are running with the theme of C.H.R.I.S.T.M.A.S for this year.
So here we go – going to kick off first with:
TIP NO 1:
C ~ CHARITY begins at home, and with your business. It’s so important at this time of year to look after yourself, your health, and your business. Ensure to plan “gaps” into your weekly/daily diary instead of the opposite “cramming as much as you can into year-end”.
It’s also a good time to think about transferring certain tasks to earlier in the year when planning for 2011, to ensure you do not end up with a jam-packed December with no chance to “wrap-up” successfully. Especially if you are traditionally busy in the winter months leading up to year-end. Often, summer can be very quiet for certain types of businesses, and this is a great time to get the business “chores” out of the way.
Be kind to yourself, and come back in a couple of days to read our next set of CHRISTMAS tips for your Business.
Meanwhile, check us out on Twitter
Nutrition is often top of the list for a healthy mind and body. Don’t forget that if you run a business, it is also organic, growing, and in need of nutrition. Check to see if your business is getting its “5-a-Day”:
Authenticity – Be yourself
If you are anybody else as you are pitching for contracts, selling your wares, communicating a message, or asking to be paid, then you are not yourself! The only person that has control over how you portray yourself and your business is you. Originality, authenticity, individuality is the one thing that can separate you from your competitors, so why try and BE like someone else, or another business? The business world doesn’t need a clone of companies to choose from, they need that something special that only the business owner can provide.
It’s difficult to decide who you are and what you Read the rest of this entry »
I am sitting in Amsterdam Airport at 6am, or was it 5am? Well it was 10am where I was coming from, so needless to say, I was a little disorientated. Armed with a strong coffee and a muffin, I began to do some work. Something caught my attention. It sounded like a bird, could there be a bird in Schiphol airport? Did it get trapped?
Sure enough, as I squinted up, there was a Sparrow sitting high above me (I was a little concerned about my exposed coffee, keyboard, open mouth and muffin, so closed my mouth). The sparrow swooped down just as a family left a table in the restaurant, much to the delight of others sitting nearby, a welcome distraction after their overnight flights and disturbed sleep.
The LBB (Little Brown Bird) began to Read the rest of this entry »
“No, it has to be three weeks” I compromised with my husband as he expressed his wishes to drive across Europe to Germany, then down to southern France and back to Ireland, covering 4500km in 2 weeks. To my horror, he was actually calling this a holiday!
So we settled on 3 weeks and one day, including the ferry trips. The Germany part was attending a birthday party, but the Southern France part was for more obvious reasons – sun, sights and food (ok, maybe the wine too).
I was so looking forward to warming up my bones after a disastrous winter here in Ireland. Our garden was still reeling from the adverse weather conditions earlier in the year. We packed our bathing suits, sunscreen, blankets for sunbathing, and summer clothes. Getting off the Oscar Wilde in Roscoff and feeling the warm sunshine on our faces, we were just about ready for a good break, a good rest, great food, and plenty of sight-seeing.
Our first week involved a lot of driving. In fact, the majority of the overall journey was done in the first 2 days. Arriving into the Alsace area of France from Germany, we were ready for the famous “Massif Central”, an area well known for Read the rest of this entry »
I was watching a Song Thrush recently collecting twigs and grass for its nest. I was thinking it was quite late for her to start, but I am sure she will catch up lost time, and speed up the process of having and raising a family before the summer is over. In fact, she could have 2-4 clutches of eggs.
Why was this song bird so picky about her pickings? It’s all to do with foundations. If we do not built a strong foundation, then the structure on which it stands, will not stand the test of time.
We have seen this in Ireland over the past two years. The structure that was our economy and public services was all built on a promise, not exactly a sound foundation on which to survive.
We know now that it would never last. We seemed to think that it would. So as I manage my business, I think of the initial work I put into the foundations laid down. It takes time to set up a business, that time varying depending on the type, size, shape and location – just like a nest!
So what needs to be in place, for the business to stand the test of time? Read the rest of this entry »
The average small business owner can be found renting an office or office space in a town (urban) or on the town’s periphery (rurban). Another type of business owner is the entrepreneur working from home in a rural [an undeveloped or lightly developed and sparsely populated area] setting, perhaps using a virtual office. They may have their incoming phonecalls and mail “processed” by a service provider whilst dealing with the outbound selling and administration themselves.
Working in Rural Ireland can feel isolating
Despite a thriving business, the small business owner can often work in isolation. Read the rest of this entry »
How does it work again? Oh yes, you begin with a subconscious dream, it then moves into the consciousness (light bulb! time) and we suddenly realise a great idea. What happens then? We imagine the idea, then imagine no one else will think it’s a good idea. Or worse: they will laugh at, begrudge or reject the idea. So we keep it to ourselves and it never sees the light of day.
Now imagine how many excellent ideas are locked up inside people’s heads, never to see the light of day, never to be shared and realised. It begins to sound very sad. It makes me sad just writing those words.
So what is the answer? Read the rest of this entry »
“So how did you get on?” I asked tentatively. My [new] husband had just arrived back after a motorbike spin around County Cork last Sunday.
“Well, do you remember what it was like when I left?” He said. Of course I remembered. At the time, I asked him would it not be a good idea to wait until later and see if the weather improved. I could see he was itching to try out his new bike. He was also aware that the roads were going to be very wet, slippery with leaves and dark, even though it was only midday.
He continued, “I was wondering if I should turn around every mile I drove, but something led me onward. I had decided on my route beforehand, and I was heading into worse weather. I then decided to change direction and head towards blue skies. Within 10 minutes, I was Read the rest of this entry »
