Business by Janice

Many of us have often dreamed of starting a business. In a previous post I advocated “following your heart”. If we are passionate and persistent and we combine this with a good dollop of common and business sense, the chances are that we’ll succeed.

But what can go wrong? What are the main mistakes that inexperienced business owners make when embarking on their entrepreneurial dream?

A close friend of mine, consultant Roberto Menéndez, has kindly given me permission to use some of the material from an article he wrote on this topic. Below you will see details of 5 of the most common errors that are generally made:

1. Not having a business plan. A business plan is a fundamental tool to set you on your path. Financial and stategic objectives are set within a time frame to help you monitor your progess and to indicate when you are deviating from the plan in time to take corrective action.
2. Not  having enough money to survive the initial period. A very important question to ask yourself is “For how long can I cover my fixed costs with my current economic resources?” The initial period of a business before sales start to take off can be longer than expected. We need to be realistic about this and plan accordingly, being especially prudent with our day to day expenses.
3. Not wanting or knowing how to sell. Even though you have professional experience, it may not be in  a sales role. Sales are the life blood of a company. If you feel you don’t possess the skills to sell or are reticent about “doing sales”, get some training or coaching to overcome this obstacle, or employ someone to perform this task as soon as the budget permits.
4. Not consulting the professionals. You can’t know everything, especially when it comes to the norms and laws around taxes, employment, licenses and accountancy to name just a few of the areas where we have to be up to date as business owners. It’s fessential to contract the services of professionals in these areas, (unless that is your actual business). Stick to being the expert at what YOU know best, keep focused.
5. Confusing the till with your pocket. There is no doubt about it, the money in the till is exactly that, money in the till which belongs to the company and is there to meet its financial needs. Don’t ever be tempted into thinking it’s just money and as you are the sole owner, it is therefore your money. It isn’t. Make sure you account for every penny that comes in and goes out of the business via an accounting system however primitive in the first few months. This will avoid unpleasant surprises later.

Next week I’m going to write about 5 more common errors that many business owners make when starting out and share some personal experiences with you.  As I look back over the last 10 years of being with Windsor Idiomas, I can clearly identify where our weak areas were (and are), and where we made our mistakes.

As I’ve mentioned before on more than one occasion, running is a business is one of the greatest learning experiences you could ever have. We never stop growing and developing if we are to ensure the growth and develpopment of our baby, our business.

THE ART OF PROGRESS IS TO PRESERVE ORDER AMID CHANGE AND TO PRESERVE CHANGE AMID ORDER - Alfred North Whitehead

I have to admit I’m a bit of a time mangagement/efficiency freak and in fact part of my personal growth journey is learning to be ok with situations and results that don’t turn out as expected or happen within my imagined time frame.

Now the first challenge in this area has been living in a country where punctuality is not a strength. But surprisingly, I got a handle on that challenge quite soon, and in fact waiting 20 minutes for someone to show up for either a date or a meeting doesn’t upset me at all. I can either go into a meditative state of visualising my goals, feeling good about them, raising my energy vibrations to attract more powerfully etc, etc, so in fact I know I’ve made good use of the spare twenty minutes. (Yep, still the efficiency trait coming out there). Or I can turn to one of my many to do lists appropriately organised to take advantage of different types of free windows of time.

Which me leads me nicely to what I really wanted to talk about this week - If you haven’t read it already, you MUST  read “Getting Things Done” by David Allan. (the place I got my special, super effective To Do lists from). It is the most practical time management book I’ve ever read, going far beyond the normal sphere of conventional time management to help people achieve focus, control and perspective in their life. The basic tenet is that to be truly effective, we must have a system that gets every thought of things we must do out of our head and into a system that reminds us of when we have to take an action at just the appropriate time.

But what I’ve recently discovered, due to the comments of a friend who actually conducts David Allen courses, is that the whole book is essentially spiritual.  On reading “Getting Things Done” the first time round several years ago, I didn’t notice this at all, but now I can see it on every page. When we go beyond the obvious purpose of improving productivity, what we find between these pages is a 21st century way of “being”. Implementing Allen’s system allows us to be totally focused and “in the flow”, doing things which match our highest values and vision.  And what happens then?  We invoke the power of the universe to bring us what “we’re asking for” and to create the reality that becomes our lives.

In the follow up book to “Getting Things Done”, “Making It All Work”, Allen writes:

“Ultimately what we desire is more freedom, not more work. At the same time we want to be capable of dealing with surprise, which is occurring more frequently than ever before. What we have, in short, is a desperate need to learn how to manage - not information but rather what things mean and how they all relate to each other. I’ve often been asked, “What’s new David , in the world of technology , communication and information that’s causing so much stress?” My answer is pretty simple - “Nothing’s new except how frequently everything IS new”.

Trying to manage everything that fights for our attention is one of today’s greatest challenges. I recommend you check out both Allen’s books, they really are life changing.

http://www.davidco.com/what_is_gtd

Talking about time mangement, as any working mother will know, we have to juggle a lot more than most men to keep our lives on track.  To focus in on this issue and the special challenges that women have, I’ve created a new blog at http://www.janicehaywood.net/  (madre emprendedora) - when I work out how to insert a link properly I’ll come back to edit.

I plan to write each blog once a fortnight to keep both readers happy  - and to keep my life appropriately balanced!!

I’ve been struck over the past few weeks how many people I know are contemplating embarking on different professional activities, or have, through  circumstance,  been  obliged to reflect on where they are right now, in both the professional and personal arena. It seems that there is a reshuffling of attitude  ocurring. Is it a coincidence that this is happening when we’re right in the middle of the most severe recession since the 30’s.

And then I received one of the books I had recently ordered from Amazon. It’s called  “Conscious Evolution - Awakening the Power of our Social Potential” by Barbara Marx Hubbard. It’s amazing.

For the very first time in the 15 billion history of our universe, due to the amazing technological developments of the last 50 years we are understanding how nature works and so can become involved in its future.  We are effectively involved in a conscious, as opposed to an unconscious evolution. As the book says “Only in the last fifty years have we gained the scientific and technological powers to destroy or enhance the planet’s life support system. Our generation has the ability to abuse or conserve these powers, to act, in a way, as cocreator”.

Hubbard postulates that there are five lessons in evolution. One of them is that “crises precede transformation”. And although she is talking on a grander scale in the book, I believe we can see some parallels with the effects that the current economic crisis is having on many people’s lives.

She writes, “When nature reaches a limitation, it does not necessarily adapt and stabilise, it innovates and transforms, as we saw with the single cell crisis. Problems are often evolutinary drivers vital to our transformation. We learn to look for transformations that the problems are stimulating. We view our problems positively and notice the transformations occurring around us. For example, the threat of nuclear weapons is forcing the human race to go beyond war. The environmental crisis is awakening us to the fact that we are all connected and must learn how to manage a planetary ecology. We learn to expect the unexpected and to anticupate the new.”

Food for thought as always…

Are blogs supposed to be personal or educational or both?

I suppose it depends on the blogger’s objective. I ask that question to set the scene for my next few posts. Being an open person, there will always be a large element of the personal in what I write, yet I like to be organised and focused so it’s important that I’m also clear about what the objectives are here.

The original intention of this blog was to raise awareness of issues in the language training sector in Madrid and to create a voice for language school owners. Many blogs are being written by teachers, none by “the other side”. In this way, I hoped to forment better understanding. However, I deliberately chose the title “Business by Janice” as business and personal development issues related to running your own business have always been my passion. I didn’t want to be restricted to the TEFL stuff.  I intended then to move onto coaching and the Law of Attraction.

As my regular readers have observed, there have been many personal development and spiritual posts. That, in fact has been where I’ve been at for the last one and a half years. And it has all led up to something really big, which I had no idea about 2 years ago. I’m completing what I now recognise to be one of my essential 8-10 year life cycles - I’m moving on from Windsor Idiomas to join a Business coaching company launching in Spain called Shirlaws.

www.shirlawscoaching.com

It’s interesting to hear people’s reactions. The majority are supportive (as due to the LOA I don’t have negative people in my life now) and are excited for me regarding this new challenge. However, there are others who think I’m crazy, that being on my own with 2 children to support, it’s too risky. The Shirlaws model is not as an employee, all Shirlaws coaches have to bring in their own clients, so yes, there is risk involved.

All I know is that fear is an illusion (false evidence appearing real), so i choose not to feel it, that when you feel excited and passionate about a project you invoke the power of the universe to inspire you to act to bring success.

Regarding this blog, I have to admit I’m struggling to find a focus right now as I’m in a phase of transition. Perhaps my readers could give me some feedback as to what subjects are the most interesting for them. I suppose, being in transition prompts many topics from the personal side,  and from a business point of view, I’m about to enter a new experience, that of selling my shares and managing the negotiations and integration of a new shareholder, so food for posts there.

What would I like you to get out of this post? I would like to emphasise that life is really one long journey and adventure. All the decisions we make lead us to where we are now and where we want to be. Are you making the right decisions?

My blog resembles Twitter this week - it’s short and sweet.

As I’m really tight for time, I thought I’d leave you with a quote from my favourite Law of Attraction authors, Esther and Jerry Hicks/The Teachings of Abraham.

“There’s not enough action in the world that can compensate for misaligned energy”

And something for reflection - Who are you spending your life with? Are you happy in your job? If you are taking action to make up for something that doesn’t feel right, could it be that you’re tackling things the wrong way round?

I came across an old note book the other day where I used to write all my ideas and inspirations. There was a quote in there, related to the topic of leadership:

“If other people can do the same thing as well as you do, let them do it.  If you do the same as them you add no value”.

Over the course of the last 10 years (the time I’ve spent with Windsor Idiomas), I’ve constantly come back to the subject of leadership as I really believe a company cannot be great without it. And the quotation above gives rise to a fundamental question about running a business; are you working ON the business or IN the business?

If an owner wants to grow a business that is ultimately saleable, they should be constantly seeking freedom from the day to day activities. They should then use that freedom to show how they can add value to the organisation. In essence, leaders should be working ON the business. They should be working to make themselves redundant. They should not be doing a job that someone else can easily do because that is a waste of the leader’s time and energy.

Now I know that in the beginning, this may be very hard.  But you CAN find the time and space to have vision, to decide strategy and to gradually move towards completion of that strategy, (to then design another one!)  OK, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and of ocourse small companies who are strapped for cash do take time to consolidate and grow.

But what contributes to that growth? What do employees truly value in a leader?

They want to see the following:

• the ability to motivate others
• vision
• honesty and integrity
• decisiveness
• the ability to handle crises.

If you are running your own business, how would you rate yourself in these areas? How would others rate you?  Why don’t you ask them?

There are hundreds of books written about leadership as it relates to running a company. Two or my favourites are listed below:

Leading at a Higher Level by Ken Blanchard. Prentice Hall

The Leadership Mystique by Manfres Dets De Vries. Prentice Hall

Up to now we’ve concentrated on face to face language training but have recognised that to keep up with the times it was essential to have an on-line or “blended” product in our portfolio. And of couse the advantage to the client on this product is price.

As we’ve been hearing so many comments about budgets contratints from our existing clients, you would think that the offering of a product which allows language training to continue and at the same time meets new (much lower) expectations on price would be welcomed or at least considered.

I don’t know what other schools’ experience has been so far this year in this area, but we just can’t seem to raise any interest for this type of product.  Every time, the reaction has been that there is nothing like having a real flesh and blood teacher to motivate the student and on line classes are a very poor substitute.

Quite frankly, I totally agree. And so I wonder if I’m  projecting my beliefs on this subject subconsciously onto the client which then accounts for the results I’m getting? At the end of the day we are really only successful in selling what we feel passionately about.

I’d be interested to know if other schools have seen an increase in their on-line products this year and whether they feel this can be attributed to prices sensitivity in this recession.

The TEFL sector is dynamic to say the least. A busy school dealing with company and private classes sees their class vacancy list change almost daily as classes are covered and new ones come up. For this reason it’s very difficult to make committments to teachers very far in advance especially mid academic year.  Perhaps it’s related to the recession, but in our case we are receiving applications several months in advance of the teacher actually coming to Madrid. I’m all for planning ahead but teachers often run the risk of their application getting swamped and eventually going unnoticed if they try to secure a post too early.

Even though our applications are filed appropriately it’s human nature to fix our attention on those CVS which just arrive at the time we are ready to recruit.

Even planning for the new academic year, when we know we will need a large number of new teachers can be problematical if we interview too far ahead. People’s circumstances change and on several occasions we have made a committment to a teacher for a full time contract and they have then not followed through.

So what is the ideal time to send in CV for the new academic year?

While we are still in the previous academic year, our attention is on wrapping things up and organising summer intensive courses. Any CV sent before June will just go into the “file” often buried “forever”. My recommendation would be to contact schools in early July with a follow up mail or phone call approximately 10 days later. September is also a good month. Some may think that this is leaving it a bit late but there’s still a lot of shuffling around going on at the beginning of September and many company clients don’t even start classes until October.

One last point, face to face interviews are always the most effective. When teacher supply was scarce last year we promoted telephone interviews because we were desperate to get teachers into Madrid. With the recession the situation has changed dramatically. To be successful in securing a teaching post it is necessary to be here, to send your CV just at the right time and to be available immediately.

So what are the attitudes that guarantee you success with your business?

In my last post I made reference to the book “How to be an Entrepreneur” by Steve Parks and one of the secrets of success he outlines is that of attitude.

From a simplistic point of view (and I love simplicity), if you start off thinking, “I’m not talented enough” or “there’s so much competition out there”…  that’s an attitude that will lead directly to failure.  So yes, a POSITIVE attitude is a must to begin with.

However, Parks claims there are six main attitudes that successful entrepreneurs share. They are:

• being principled
• openess
• passion
• versatility
• resilience

I’m going to  talk about the characteristics which I believe to be particularly important.

A business owner is responsible for everything that happens in their company. Even if you are empowering your team by encouraging them to use their initiative and creativity, if something goes very wrong, you accept responsibility and immediately look for the action to take to solve the problem and move on from it. Time is not wasted apportioning blame.  Employees respect and feel secure with this attitude and it creates an atmosphere of trust and cooperation.

You need to be passionate about what you are doing. It might be passion for your product, it might be passion for growing your business, it might be passion for the learning experience that running a business gives you, but passion has got to be in there somewhere. Perhaps the area where passsion is essential and will really make a difference to the bottom line is in sales. If you can’t get passionate about what you’re selling how can you expect the client to?  I’ve often heard it said that selling is a transfer of enthusiasm, and that’s so right. Passion is what gets you up in the morning,  what makes you pull out all the stops when the company hits a crisis. By the way, a crisis is a great learning experience, I believe every business owner should have several along their journey.

Which brings me to the third characteristic which I feel is important in an entrepreneur - resilience. How a business owner deals with a crisis is very revealing. It’s natural to want to panic at first, that’s a natural human reaction when we feel out of control. Entrepreneurs may feel pressured to act quickly by their staff, but giving yourself space to think and reflect, and assess the situation is essential. You need this space to collect your energy and determination to then move forward.  If you have demonstrated the other characteristics of being principled, open and responsible and now demonstrate the resilience to pull through a crisis, your staff, clients and suppliers  will be with you all the way.

I remember when we opened the extra classrooms to our academy 6 years ago. We did it quickly so as not to miss out on the start of the new academic year never thinking that we wouldn’t get the support of our bank. Unfortunately this move coincided with the scandal of the “Opening” chain of schools and for that reason(!) our actual bank wouldn’t give us any money to finance the project. It was only by negotiating wih our suppliers and employees, borrowing from our families and going without a salary until we signed agreements with additional banks that we avoided the business from grinding to a halt. If you have been conducting your business up until then with integrity, any action you decide to take is easier as people are prepared to collaborate to help solve the problem.

Entrepreneurs come in  all shapes, sizes and profiles, but there is no doubt that when it comes to having the attitude that brings business success, the attitudes mentioned above have got to be in the mix somewhere.

http://www.steveparks.co.uk

There’s thousands of books been written about how to start your own business -  what sort of person you should be, the sort of plans you should make, how you should select your business partners, how you should finance it etc. etc.  And of course, most of these books talk about the risk factor.

If we are offered an opportunity to go into business, should we take it or not?  At the risk of being over simplistic (which I love to do),  I would say, if you have to think about it too much, no , if it gives you a  rush of positive feeling, go for it.  Nowadays, with all the information there is on the internet, all the people we can connect with who can help us, we can get all the information we need to launch our business. In my opinion, it’s all about mindset and passion.

Let’s take the case of an internet business, perhaps the least risky of all.

There’s never been a better time than now to start an internet business because people are hungry for information and as I mentioned above, all the info you need is at your fingertips. You can set up a simple web site on a subject that you’re passionate about, write lots of articles, give away free downloads, promote it using internet networking sites, start selling ebooks once you’ve established credibility and there you have your business. All it requires is to  write about what you’re passionate about, take the time to learn about internet marketing and a  smidgen of technology and there you have it.

Everything comes back to being aware of where circumstances, events and people are taking you, and if  a business propositon gives you the rush of feeling, that’s the push from the universe trying to bring you what you want (even though you may not be fully conscious of what you want yet).

For those of you who like to be more practical and are still reluctant to leave everything in the hands of our favourite universal law (the Law of Attraction in case you hadn’t already guessed), I would like to recommend an excellent book I’ve just read. It’s called “How to be an Entrepreneur” by Steve Parks.  The book suggests there are 6 factors which are necessary to become a successful entrepreneur.

• Attitude
• Opportunity
• Focus
• Talent
• Buliding
• Communication

Over the next couple of posts I’ll be spending some time outling the main points that Parks in each of these categories and adding my own insights from the experiences I’ve had running my own business.

If you’re the type of person who embraces change and growth, running your own business is an exciting ride. A successful business takes on its own personality and hungers for (personal) growth. Balancing your own growth with that of your business is the real challenge.