Think back to the last networking event you attended. Did you walk away with a fistful of business cards? Did you hand out business cards to those you met? Even in today’s electronic age, there are many venues in which your good, tried and true business card will be your best “giveaway” when you meet someone.
How can you make your business card memorable and keep it out of the trash can or shoved, forgotten, in the back of a drawer? Here are three items I believe are crucial to have on your card:
Your company logo and/or a photo of yourself (if you have a good one). You don’t want to clutter the card with a lot of wording but if you have a memorable logo, it should be part of the card. Putting your photo on the card helps make you more memorable as well, especially when you consider that if an individual receives a dozen or more cards having a “face with the name” may make it easier to make a connection following the event.
Don’t forget to have your contact information on the card. Don’t force an acquaintance to go to your website then search for a Contact Us section. Make it easy to be contacted by having your name, phone number and email on the card.
Make use of the base of the card. If you are a service provider, list your services on the back of the card. Add your social media handles there. If you’re an author put a thumbnail of your book cover there. It is valuable real estate if you use it wisely.
Do you still use business cards? If you don’t, how do you gather contact information at networking events?
Do you simply love the font on a brochure? Do you find yourself gazing at a flaw in the carpet that surrounds your office? Do you bemoan the fact that the wallpaper is downright ugly in your rented business space? If you find yourself focusing on these items, you are not focusing on the important items in your business.
You need to focus on the important, not the “ugly wallpaper.” Why? Because your clients are focusing on the goods and services you provide them, not the ugly wallpaper. When a client makes a decision to work with you he or she is making that decision based on your reputation, your mission or vision statement, your ethical standing and the costs of the goods and services you provide. Those are the items you, as the business owner, need to focus on as well.
What are the important items in your business? They include:
The staff you hire
Your business budget
The way you market yourself and your business
The benefits your products and services provide
Forward-thinking growth aspects
As was famously penned, “don’t sweat the small stuff” ie your surroundings, instead look at the big picture and focus on the business goals you’d set for yourself and not the ugly wallpaper.
As children, we jump into new experiences with both feet and with not much thought about what’s going to happen — will the roller coaster be too frightening, the swimming pool too deep, etc. As adults and business owners we know that it’s best to have a bit of caution before we go plowing blithely forward.
As a business owner you will be planning for strategic growth and it is a plan that needs to occur at the right time and for the right reasons. If you don’t implement steps for methodical business growth you could expand too quickly or you could expand your business offerings too rapidly and not have the support staff or the resources to fully carry them to fruition.
Here are some decisions you need to make if your company is teetering on the edge of business growth:
Why is now the time for growth?
How much should we, can we, grow?
How will we grow? Online? Physical storefront?
Can we afford to grow?
Do we have the right people in the right places to support our projected growth?
Ask yourself these questions, talk them over with your team, then jump into business growth with both feet!
Are you perfect? Do you strive to be perfect? Do you find it exhausting? While you don’t want to put forth shoddy goods or services, you do need to let go of perfection if you’re looking for happiness and satisfaction in both your business and your life.
What can you do to be less perfectly toxic? Here are three habits and behaviors I encourage you to let go of:
Being competent and experienced is more crucial to success than is being perfect. If you’re a business owner you can drive your team away if you are constantly trying to be perfect rather than competent. While competency may not be the key to all your successes, perfection can certainly hold you back. To be effective as a leader, you will want to instill confidence in your team and you do that through the experience you bring to the table.
Does not having all the answers mean you are a failure in business? It doesn’t. It means you are able to admit that you don’t know everything and that you will look for the answers. No one expects you — even as the business owner — to know everything. They do, however, expect you to be able to find the answers to the questions asked.
If you’re perfect do you think you will be more successful? Chances are, you won’t because you will be in such heavy pursuit of perfection that your goals will fall by the wayside. Failures in business should be counted as learning and growth experiences — if you don’t fail that means you haven’t stretched yourself or tried anything new. Striving for success means you may stumble along the way and that’s all right!
Do you have any limiting beliefs that are holding you back from success?
If you don’t know where you’re going any road will get you there. I’ll bet you’ve heard that saying before. It may sound cliche, but in business it’s true. If you don’t set goals how will you know if you’re meeting them? How will you know when you’ve achieved success if you don’t know what “success” looks like to you?
Here are my top five tips for setting achievable goals for your business, keep in mind though that there is no one size fits all for goal setting:
What is your business’s purpose? Knowing this will help you set goals to achieve its overall purpose aka mission and vision.
Will your goal help you to grow as a person? Setting goals that keep you well within your comfort zone don’t allow you to grow or change as a person. Gaining knowledge and being a lifelong learner keeps you fresh and your skills current. Don’t let lack of current skills mean the competition is taking away your client base.
Will achieving the goals you’ve set help you with your personal satisfaction? At the end of the day, if you don’t love what you’re doing and if you don’t feel you’re making a difference, you will be working for an empty goal. Set goals that not only enhance your business but your self of self worth.
Will your goal change the world? I don’t necessarily mean the entire world, but your portion of it. Does the goal you set and the business service you provide enhance or enrich the lives of those with whom you interact? What can you do to change your corner of the world?
Is your goal tied to monetary levels of success? If so, what are they? Are you meeting them? Are you exceeding them? Are the goals you set pushing you out of your comfort zone? Do you want to go from making five figures this year to six or seven figures? What can you do today to make it happen?
How often do you set goals and how often do you check back in on them to make sure you’re on track?
In a cash-strapped economy, many business owners may be wondering how they can keep good employees and even attract new if they don’t have the cash to provide them with monetary bonuses.
There are other items that your staff will enjoy because remember, money isn’t always everything. Here are a few items I have found that employees — and even your independent contractors — may appreciate:
Offer flex time. The ability to work four 10-hour days or to come in late and leave early could be a very precious commodity.
A “thank you” goes a long way. Let your staff know you appreciate them. If someone goes above and beyond, send out a company wide email and let everyone know.
Listen to them. Make it a practice to reach out and ask their opinion. Don’t save your conversations until the annual review rolls around.
Foster cross-company communication and collaboration. Perhaps an employee in Department A could make an impact in a project that Department B is working on — be the bridge that makes it happen.
Don’t let boredom set in. If your staff is doing the same tasks day in and day out — and yes, we know there are those tasks that need to be done — but there are also likely items you could ask them to participate in to help alleviate boredom and shake up the workday.
There’s nothing that says you can’t have fun at work and with your employees, right? Plan a company wide picnic, offer an afternoon siesta where you provide some snacks and time to simply relax. What can you do to reward your employees that don’t involve cash?
