Tag: Entrepreneurs

Categories
Business Ideas Entrepreneurs

CSR Done Right: 6 Tips for Entrepreneurs

csr

A business’s public image has always been important, hence the value of corporate social responsibility. Before the Internet, corporate social responsibility was more of a procedural runaround for businesses, which could accomplish their responsibilities with some donations to charity and employee volunteer time. Over the past two decades, though, that has changed considerably. Not only is accountability more important, but the rise of a digital age and rising importance of social media have impacted CSR across the board.

The biggest challenge, though? Even when entrepreneurs and small-business owners have a great idea and team in place, a CSR strategy can often go overlooked. There are so many aspects to forming a business – from finance and client relations to recruitment – that CSR can fade in the distance occasionally, despite its importance.

To maintain a firm and consistent focus on corporate social responsibility, entrepreneurs and small-businesses owners should consider using these tips on how to do CSR right:

Involve Customers in Your Cause

When selecting a charity or cause for your business to support, realize that the effect doesn’t have to be limited to your employees. Spreading the word about your business’s charitable efforts on social media, while simultaneously encouraging followers to help as they can, exudes a compassionate and hardworking public image. Posting links and words of support to whatever cause you’re involved with across social media, email newsletters and blogs will go a long way in making charitable efforts count, both for the cause itself and your business’s PR image.

Crowdsource Ideas for Social Responsibility

There is a vast array of worthwhile options regarding donations of time and/or money. From disease research to aiding Third-World countries, there is a long list of causes that need help. One business can’t tackle them all, so it’s prudent to focus on several that your employees feel most compassionate about. Conducting a survey or open meeting to crowdsource ideas is a great way to engage employees in the final cause by providing them influence in the decision.

It’s a go-to strategy for many businesses. Research from Weber Shandwick and KRC found that 44 percent of Fortune 200 companies used crowdsourcing to aid in the decision-making process for a business’s social responsibility strategy. It’s generally a great way to simultaneously find ideas and elevate office culture.

Partner With Other Businesses and Organizations

Partnering with other organizations, whether it’s a niche-related competitor or charity organization, makes the entire corporate social responsibility process more seamless. One’s business can work directly with an organization to make a meaningful difference. Plus, the attention provided from the partnered organization’s own social media following should result in new leads. Partnering is an especially worthwhile idea to consider for new businesses that may not have the immediate resources to launch a substantial CSR campaign. A solid partnership could certainly generate more positive results than a poorly planned campaign that’s independent.

Make Philanthropy Part of the Business’s Core

Some businesses make a great effort toward CSR for some time, later neglecting it when their business grows larger and social media cannot be as heavily scrutinized. Even for large businesses, CSR is massively important in regard to bringing in new leads and maintaining a positive image. When a business embeds a philanthropic culture from the get-go, it’s likely those habits will sustain throughout its growth. Philanthropy involved consistently within a growing company can only be a good thing.

A strong and consistent emphasis on philanthropy will convince customers that your business is involved for more than just the check and positive attention, potentially providing an edge when would-be customers are deliberating whether to use your business or a competitor.

Resort to Stakeholders if Necessary

It’s common for a small business, after crunching its budget, to find very little to use on CSR – even when they recognize its great importance. In this strapped-for-cash scenario, it’s not wrong for a business to go to any stakeholders or investors with an elaborate plan regarding a CSR strategy. Information to discuss includes who you intend to partner with, how much it may cost, how it will be integrated into social media and what the potential reward is in terms of leads and public image. If the plan is good, prudent stakeholders will recognize it as a worthwhile investment and fund it.

Create a Section for CSR on Your Website

Any business with a meaningful CSR strategy should have a section on its website that lists any involvement in the past, present and future with charities or other socially responsible organizations. ABWE International’s Give page is a great example of CSR website integration. The page lists featured giving projects, in addition to a Planned Giving section where visitors can donate in a variety of ways. A sidebar provides options for visitors to give online, view the company’s giving projects, view non-cash donation options and what to anticipate as a new donor. Providing visitors everything they need to know about CSR is a great way to reinforce its importance and value to the business.

Fantastic corporate social responsibility has a number of benefits, including potential for increased leads, a more positive public image and improved customer service. Businesses of all sizes can utilize an effective CSR strategy to improve their long-term prospects and overall likability, which is an important factor for any new business. The six tips above will help any business get started on an effective corporate social responsibility campaign.

Categories
Entrepreneurs

3 Tips to Bringing Feminine Energy into Masculine Business Models

female-energy

Your biggest strength is also your biggest weakness. And that’s not only true of people, but also of things created by people.

Like the traditional business model, which is very masculine. And while that’s most definitely a strength — it’s also a weakness. (Especially for women living too much in their masculine energy, but even for men who may run the risk of losing touch altogether with their feminine side.) With more women joining the ranks of entrepreneurship than ever before in the history of humankind, we now have an opportunity to infuse traditional business models with feminine energy.

Now while that may sound good in theory, in practice this becomes “How the heck do you do that?” So if you’d like a few tips on how to get started infusing your biz with some feminine energy so you can more effortlessly build your biz, then read on.

1. STOP and breathe. Masculine energy is about moving forward toward a goal, preferably as quickly as possible. While there’s no question that’s what you want to be doing when you’re growing a business, if you spend all your time in that energy, you’ll burn out. (Hence the biggest strength/biggest weakness.) This is where the feminine energy of stopping, breathing and taking time for YOU comes in.

Not only will you give yourself a much-needed break, but you’ll also allow yourself some time to catch your breath to see if the direction you’re going in is really the direction you WANT to be going in. Which leads me to the next tip.

2. Listen to your intuition. Many successful entrepreneurs, men and women both, know that trusting their gut is one of their most important strengths. And you can thank your feminine side for your intuition!

The problem is most of the time, we either don’t hear it or don’t trust it. Taking time to stop, breathe and listen allows our intuition to talk to us. And over time, as we listen and follow (or not follow) what our intuition tells us (and see how right it was) we can learn to trust it.

3. Learn to receive. Feminine energy is about receiving. And for many of us, receiving is not at all comfortable. (We’re much more comfortable in the giving energy.) But if we can’t receive, how can we receive money into our business, or clients or sales or opportunities?

That’s why we need to learn how to receive.

For me, this was also a struggle, and how I started the process of learning to receive was by accepting compliments. I was someone who would always brush a compliment aside — oh it wasn’t a big deal, oh anyone could have done that. (Part of my Midwestern Wisconsin roots as well, I suspect.) But instead I started saying simply “Thank you,” really meaning it, and just staying quiet. I stopped turning it around and/or brushing it aside, and allowed myself to just receive the compliment, instead.

It wasn’t easy — in fact, to this day it’s still not easy, but it’s easier. And it’s made a huge difference in my biz and my life.

In fact, all these tips have helped me slow down and welcome the feminine into my biz, which has in turn helped make me feel less stress and less overwhelm. My hope is they will do the same for you.

Categories
Entrepreneurs

Stuck In The “Entrepreneurial Lows?” 3 Truths to Help You Navigate Through It

We all talk about the entrepreneurial journey — how when you embark, the highs will be some of the best highs of your life … but there will be some lows too.

 

The reality is that just as the highs you can reach running your own biz are some of the highest you’ll experience, very few things may beat how low the lows can go.

 

And when you hit rock bottom, you can REALLY hit rock bottom. Because the truth of the matter is you can’t have the highs without the lows. They’re a part of the journey and they also make the highs soooo much more sweeter.

 

So I’m not writing this because I want to scare you away from the lows — on the contrary. The lows have made me who I am today (and I wouldn’t trade that). Why I’m writing this is to give you some support and love if you are going through a low right now.

 

I think the worst part of the lows in the entrepreneurial journey (which is why I think the lows are that much lower) is how alone you feel. You own your own business — who are you going to lean on in your life who “gets” it? And who do you have who can help you through it who has “been there, done that and got the tee shirt to prove it?”

 

So that’s why I want to share these truths you can hang on to as you navigate the sometimes choppy waters of entrepreneurship.

 

1. You’re not alone. I know I just said this but it’s worth repeating. When you’re in the middle of muddling through a low, you may feel like you’re all alone — but you’re not. Everyone who has run a business has been there. It’s just part of the path of being an entrepreneur.

 

2. It won’t last. No matter how bad things look and feel right now, know this is only a part of the journey. Things WILL turn around. And the reality is, the more you feel like you’ve hit rock bottom, the faster you’ll experience the turnaround.

 

Now this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be taking action to change it. Not at all — instead I just want you to really feel this isn’t your “new” reality (no matter how much it may feel like it is) and instead know deep down that
it’s just a part of the journey.

 

3. Only what challenges you changes you. I actually saw this at my local YMCA. They of course were referring to actually doing a tough workout (versus showing up and going through the motions and calling it a workout) but this actually is applicable to all sorts of things in life. If it’s NOT challenging you, then it’s probably not changing you. So if you are in a challenging spot, know that if you’re open and you let it, it could actually be the catalyst that transforms you.

 

Now if you are stuck in the lows, you may be thinking to yourself “Well Michele, this is all well and good, but I don’t want to be here anymore. How do I get myself out?”

 

I’m so glad you asked! If this IS you, then here’s something you can do to get yourself back on track – out of the lows and heading into the highs:

 

Don’t do what you’ve always done.

 

I’m serious. We’ve all been in lows before and you probably have something you do to cope (maybe it’s a bad habit — like drinking an extra glass of wine or collapsing in front of the television — or maybe it’s something you don’t think is bad, like overworking). I’d like to suggest maybe you DON’T do what you always do, and instead do something different. (And if you’re not sure what that would look like, you could try doing the exact opposite from what you normally would do.)

 

Regardless of what you choose, just keep breathing. You’re not alone and it WILL pass.

Categories
Entrepreneurs

Are You Working Yourself Out of Your Business?

I admit it.

 

I’m a recovering workaholic/perfectionist, not to mention having delusions of superhero syndrome.

 

I know I’ll never be cured. But I can at least work on controlling it.

 

I also know I’m not alone. Plenty of entrepreneurs and small business owners suffer from this same condition. (In fact, it’s so prevalent I’m thinking about starting a recovery group for this.)

 

Do you suffer from workaholic/perfectionism/superhero syndrome? Take this short quiz to find out.

 

1. You think working all the time, including nights and weekends, is a sign of:

A. Success

B. Insanity

C. Just one of the sacrifices you have to make when you own your own business

 

 

2. Your to-do list resembles:

A. War and Peace (actually, War and Peace might be shorter)

B. No more then 5 tasks per day

C. It’s pretty long, but that’s okay. You know if you buckle down and REALLY focus, you can get everything done. (Of course, you never have, but that’s besides the point.)

 

 

3. The last time you took a vacation was:

A. Vacation? Who needs a vacation? Vacations are for wussies.

B. A couple of months ago and it was fabulous.

C. You’re too afraid to be gone for more then a couple of days, especially if you don’t have your laptop and can check in every day. What if something happens? A new client calls? You could lose the business. Or some crisis might come up and there wouldn’t be anyone to take care of it. It’s just too risky to leave, better to stick around.

 

 

4. You believe:

A. People who don’t work very hard yet still are making mon^ey are pretty lucky (and also pretty lazy).

B. Being successful also means having a life (and having time to enjoy it).

C. The only way to be successful is to work longer and harder then anyone else. (After all, when you’re not working you’re not making money. So how can you be successful if you’re not working?)

 

 

5. Taking time for yourself is:

A. A luxury for only rich (or lazy) people.

B. Something you make a priority each and every day.

C. Nice in theory but unrealistic in practice. After all, your clients have to come first. They’re the ones paying the bills.

 

 

Scoring: Well, let’s just say you know who you are.

 

As entrepreneurs and small business owners, I think one of our biggest challenges is balance. How much time to spend on our business? On our families? Ourselves? And how do we fit it all into the only 24 hours we have?

 

For me, this has been one of the most challenging lessons. I grew up in Wisconsin, the heart of workaholic-ism. That Midwest work ethic can put people into the ground faster than anything else out there, I think.

 

I grew up equating hard work with success – if you wanted to be successful, you better be prepared to work your tail off. So when I started my business, I immediately put that ethic into play. If I could get all my work done during the week, there must be something wrong. I must not have enough clients. And I must not be successful enough.

 

But when you combined my workaholic nature with my perfectionism, that’s when things started to get out of control. There was ALWAYS something I should be doing for my business. Therefore, it was difficult to justify taking ANY time off for myself. Worse yet, I had a little voice in the back of my mind that would say things like if I wasn’t working, then I’m being lazy or procrastinating or something.

 

And, since my husband grew up in the same state with the same work ethic, he supported my need to be working all the time. Plus, he worked equally as hard himself.

 

So what was the outcome of all this? I burned out.

 

My burnout took place in 2003. After I recovered, I realized I had to start doing things differently or I would end up right back where I was again (burned out and unable to help anyone, much less myself). And since I still wanted to help people and I was still passionate about marketing and copywriting, I realized I would have to learn how to run my business differently if I was going to stay in business.

 

That was really the catalyst for me to change both myself and my business. I had to change a lot of things, including my mindset. It also has made me realize I have to value taking time off for me. If I don’t value it, it won’t happen.

 

Basically it comes down to this — as entrepreneurs and small business owners, we are our business. Even if we have a team to support us (which I sincerely hope all of you do) how far we can grow and take our business ultimately rests on our shoulders. And if those shoulders are slumped over, exhausted from overwork and poor health and lack of sleep and loss of passion for what we do, then that’s going to ultimately affect how far our businesses will grow.

 

It’s that simple.

 

 

Categories
Entrepreneurs

Changing Your Type: How Entrepreneurs Can Become Exactly Who They Want to Be

Most business owners can define their “type,” based on the characteristics, mindsets and habits they have developed during their entrepreneurial lives. While some business owners undoubtedly are pleased with their situation and feel personally satisfied, others may crave an entirely different type of business ownership. They can attain any type of business ownership imaginable – with the right information.

Jane Out of the Box, an authority on female entrepreneurs, reveals there are five distinct types of women in business – five “Janes”. Based on professional market research of more than 2,500 women in business, this study shows that each type of business owner has a unique approach to running a business and therefore each one has a unique combination of needs. This article outlines those five types, and provides tips for becoming a whole new Jane.

Jane Dough represents 18 percent of women in business. She is a “natural-born” entrepreneur who is financially successful and enjoys a satisfactory balance between her work and personal lives. Go Jane Go represents 14 percent of women in business. She, too, is financially successful and she is so great at taking care of her customers that she often struggles to keep up with their demands as well as the demands she places on herself. Merry Jane, who represents 19 percent of women in business, runs a part-time or “flexible time” business. She has myriad other commitments and responsibilities and enjoys the balance she strikes between her company and her other constraints. Accidental Jane represents 18 percent of women in business and has set out to create her own ideal job. She may struggle with prioritizing what she needs to do next in business, but overall enjoys what she does and makes decent money. Tenacity Jane represents 31 percent of women in business. She is extremely passionate about what she does, and struggles with cash flow despite the long hours she works. She is bound and determined to make her business work.

Some entrepreneurs may relate to more than one Jane, and some may believe they fit strongly into one specific group. Entrepreneurial type can change over time, and for a variety of reasons. Industry transformations, personal growth, increased demand, and  new life circumstances may prompt the entrepreneur to evolve a different approach to business ownership.

Entrepreneurs hold the power and the opportunity to change types intentionally. Some of the changes will seem small and easy, and others will seem big and difficult, depending on the differences between an entrepreneur’s current situation and the one she strives toward achieving. However, the good news is that during this process, the business owner has control over whether, when, and how much to change. This freedom of choice is one of the greatest advantages of business ownership.

Here are the five main steps for making the change:

Step One: Choose a Jane. Remember that each type comes with tradeoffs; no one type is better than another. Business owners should choose their desired type based on their values and their needs. For example, an Accidental Jane or Merry Jane has the flexibility to spend more time with family, whereas a Go Jane Go makes more money and often has less personal time, and a Jane Dough makes more money, and works long hours managing a team of people. Business owners should determine which type they’d most like to become, and they can base that determination on the tradeoffs associated with the type’s lifestyle.

Step Two: Assess the gaps between current type and desired type. Consider the key attitudes and behaviors the desired type exhibits. A business owner should compare her own traits with those of her desired type, as well as the size of the disparity between where she is and where she wants to be. That way she can effect the greatest change. As an exercise, she can write down all of the habits, practices and viewpoints she needs to change to become her ideal Jane type.

Questions to consider:

* “What do I need to start doing that I’ve never done before?”
* “What am I already doing sporadically that needs to become consistent?”
* “What do I need to stop doing?” (Example: “I need to stop saying yes to opportunities that don’t move me in my desired direction.”)
* “What attitudes or beliefs do I need to change?” (Example: “I can never turn clients down no matter how difficult they are – I need the business!”)

Step Three: Determine strategies for closing the gaps. Some of the necessary changes can begin immediately, if a business owner focuses on them and chooses to act or think differently than she has in the past. Other changes may require more work or a decision to manage the business differently. For example, some changes will require a business owner to ask for help, or to invest in training or other resources. Writing down specific steps to take to get from her current Jane type to her desired Jane type is an excellent way for a business owner to decide which area to focus on first – remember, the idea is not to create an overnight change, but to evolve from one type to another. If the changes seem overwhelming (in size or in number), focus on one step at a time. Choose first the action that is easiest to complete, or the one that will have the single greatest impact.

Step Four: Be true to self in the moment of choice. During the evolution from current Jane to desired Jane, tough times will arise. A business owner may feel helpless, not strong enough, or pulled back toward her old habits. During those times, it is crucial to stay true to self. That means choosing between the way the current Jane would react, and the way the desired Jane would react. Every time the “old ways” win, progress is arrested, and backslide is possible. Every day, a business owner will have dozens of opportunities to be true to her goal of becoming her desired Jane. Whether she stays true to her goal during each of these opportunities will determine the speed and efficiency with which she is able to complete her transformation. This holds true for the process of making any change in life.

Step Five: Monitor progress until goal achievement is complete. A business owner should periodically step back and monitor her progress toward becoming her desired Jane. Keeping a journal or a to-do list is a good way of monitoring what has transpired during each monitoring period. Small setbacks or changes of direction are par for the course during a Jane type transformation, so business owners shouldn’t get discouraged if they run into roadblocks along the way. Each step provides valuable lessons, so business owners must be sure to think about not only what they are achieving but what they are learning every time they encounter a roadblock.

Many people say their business results are determined by factors outside their control. They blame the economy or their competition. They say it’s just luck or fate that determines how life ends up. However, at Jane Out of the Box we believe that results are determined by goals, determination and willingness to take action.

About the Author:

Michele DeKinder-Smith is the founder of Jane out of the Box, an online resource dedicated to the women entrepreneur community. Discover more incredibly useful information for running a small business by taking the FREE Jane Types Assessment at Jane out of the Box. Offering networking and marketing opportunities, key resources and mentorship from successful women in business, Jane Out of the Box is online at www.janeoutofthebox.com.