Passion Alone Is Not Enough

"Follow your passion"  "Make your passion your business"

Is common to see this suggested as a good thing to do.
But is it really good advice?

Some people like baking muffins so they think opening a restaurant might be a good move.
In reality, it could just be a good way to start to not like making muffins.

A better indicator for opening a restaurant might be if you can say –

• I love serving people and
• I’m good at finding ways to produce good quality food customers love
• and that makes me good profit.
• And - I am passionate about following budgets and know how to plan meals without waste.
• And - I like working long hours, 7 days a week and
• I don’t mind not making a lot of money.

If  you want your passion for muffins to be your business then you might test that out by working out...

• How many muffins you need to make to cover the rent and the expenses and your wages and start making profit. And you know  
• How  you can sell that number of muffins to make enough money to pay those expenses and make you lots of profit.  
• And that you are content to make muffins, market muffins, sell muffins and live and breathe muffins and little else.

Even the things we like to do, can get old when we have to do them every day all day.

Sometimes if you like making muffins, it is a good idea to just make muffins when you feel like it.

Jim Collins, in his business book Good to Great suggests what he called his:

Hedgehog Principle

The question that we need to ask when we are considering turning our passion into a business, are our Hedgehog questions. There are three.

What are you passionate about?
What can you be the best at?
What can actually make you a living?

And the answer must meet all three criteria.

This exercise can also be used by young people trying to sort their way in life, their personal hedgehog, as much as a business trying to figure out what purpose they serve.

So if the answer to all  3 questions is Yes – following your Passion might be  a good idea.

If:

1. ·        You’re passionate about it
2. ·        You can be the best in the world at it
3. ·        You can make money doing it.  – And you know how.

Remember - And the answer must meet all three criteria. When you refine your thinking in this way – that clarity helps you to focus.

But be clear that this is the beginning  and in business your time will be spent on many things that  need to be done that don’t involve that element about which you are passionate. 

It’s said that:

“Successful people do those things that unsuccessful people are unwilling to do.”

Some people are unwilling to be uncomfortable. Learn to be uncomfortable and see it as a sign of potential personal growth.  That's a marker as a Good Thing.

A lot of things that the business needs doing, is stuff that we really won’t want to do. But must.


But what if I have a business that is not my passion?

Here’s what nobody tells you.

You can become passionate about anything.  

Your attitude will dictate how well that passion lasts.

Passion is the start point. Alone it won’t do anything.
Passion needs to be supported with good habits that get you the results that you need.

If you have a business that is not your passion you may still have good habits that let you make it successful.

Now … time to get passionate about it.

And it is not just the thing the business does – get passionate about how well you do what you do and how well you serve your customers and how valuable your business is – or will be – to the clients you serve.  Notice that you can do the same thing to enhance passion in all your relationships. 

If you are not already valuable to them – then that’s a sign that there are improvements to be made to bring your value up higher for them – and make your business one that you can truly be proud to own and to represent and to promote.

More important perhaps is to consider how well your habits are helping you to achieve the outcomes you want.

It's not discipline you need. 

We sometimes think we have a discipline problem. When in truth we have no problem with discipline. We can do habits that are not supporting our interests, easily and on cue every time! We just have the wrong habits for the results we want.  When you swap those for habits that go with the results you want – then you really have something.


Check your passion levels.

Are you feeling passionate about what you do?

If not –

• What element of what you do can you ramp up feeling good about? 
• Where can you push yourself to be the best at what you do now?
• How much more of yourself can you bring to whatever it is that you do?

When we bring more attention to what we do – we change the way that we feel about it. We can focus on feeling proud of getting even better at what we do, and we can learn to love the strangest things, just because we can do it well and it has value for someone.  That’s a good start on passion.

If you are not passionate about what you are doing – you have two choices. You can do something you are passionate about – but that might not work.

Or you can get passionate about what it is that you are doing successfully now. 


And you can make those muffins in your time off... any time it pleases you.


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Networking. Who Loves Ya, Baby?

Driving to an appointment the other day I pondered - not for the first time - the huge number of business hours each week, each month, each year, going into what is called networking and wondering "Why isn't this working?"

And it dawned on me the similarity between these networking sessions and what happens behind closed doors with what we sometimes call lovemaking.

Here's the shocker.

Lots of people are clueless in bed too.

When it comes to networking, we can be like the erstwhile lover, screaming in silence "no - not that... do this..." but yet never say a word out loud to the one we are with... while the partner fumbles around, achieving little, save for creating frustration, irritation and perhaps regret.

Just like in sex, we can expect people to know what we want most, what we need for it to work out well and an interest in the interaction culminating in satisfaction for both parties.

People are terrible mindreaders.

Or like just a casual hook-up with someone  whose name you'll never even remember or maybe cross the street to avoid if you see them later.


Networking, if it is to be successful needs both to be concerned about the outcomes for the other.

Not standing aloof waiting to be serviced.

Are you a considerate networker?

Successful networking should be about building relationship and sharing a mutual interest in getting good results for each other and those they refer for assistance.

Time to end the Wham-bam casual bumping into strangers.


What's your best strategy to encourage mutual gratification in networking?

Come on now. Networking. It's Business Time.





 Social Media For Business Survey 2011

Related
Networking Imposters
Networking: Don't Bite The Hand That Feeds You


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How To Start Making Good Decisions In Your Business

In the planning stages right now for release of a new product that will be available soon to help businesses to easily manage their information around compliance for employees and actually manage the information simply and with the least amount of misery as possible. I was really drawn to this idea when I first heard about it because it is part of the cluster of issues that comes up again and again, when working with business owners and which gets them stuck and unable to work effectively in the business.

In recent days, we've had articles on the fiasco at Commonwealth Bank and their Big Brother approach of their social media policy and the Heat Company winning their costs for a harassment case that they have been stuck defending for four years. Can you imagine the time and disruption this would create, even apart from any costs directly related to the case?

How Would You Cope?

If you were called to defend your workers against some accusation of wrongdoing in the workplace where would you start? How do you prove something didn't happen?

How many have good reporting in the business even for logging the things that DO happen?

Not many.

There are so many things that should happen in business that don't that it isn't funny.

These stories in the media go with other stories I've run into lately of business owners telling me they don't have issues in their business covered that need to be and at some level they want to be covered. Where they are exposed to risk by not having them covered and yet they go on and continue to put the things that expose them to risk in the "do later" pile and never get around to them. They have not bothered to get them done in the past, so it is a pretty safe bet that they will not get to them in the future either.

So what are some of the things that don't get done in small and medium business?

Things Not Done In Business

1. No written policies and procedures which are always up-to-date, complete and accessible easily
2. No real process for recruiting the right people
3. No induction process for new hires to help them hit the ground running
4. No real system to monitor and track performance and training 
5. No business plan with an outline of priorities for this next period (and no 'in your head' doesn't count)
6. No training process to keep employees improving their skills 
7. No marketing plan to incorporate their online marketing
8. No checks and monitoring of the business on the web

 
So what are the possible results that can happen to a business as a result?

What Happens When These Things In Business Aren't Done?

Some examples would be (and I'm sure you can think of more of your own)

• Wasted time and energy by employees not following the set standards
• Frustration for customers 
• Opportunities not taken 
• Sales lost
• Crisis when a new person is needed to be hired 
• Wrong people hired who are a poor fit and don't have the right skills or attitude
• Poor performance from employees
• Lack of interest and initiative in the workplace
• Employees stagnating and not developing
• Vital issues in the business not dealt with 
• Resources (money) allocated to things that don't return value
• Resources (money) not allocated to things that will return value
• Value of the business reduced as a result of poor efficiencies 
• Value of the business reduced as a result of poor management
• Opportunities to grow customer base restricted
• Lack of sales that could be made without increasing fixed costs
• No data to analyze to improve business output
• Opportunities for business to grow are hidden and not able to be activated. 

I don't know why a business owner would want that.

To come back to the compliance issues and we know that the regulations and requirements for business to be accountable for legal obligations is not going away. We can probably feel safe in assuming that the red tape is going to get worse rather than better, into the future.

"Too busy to get to it" is not a very good excuse when something goes wrong and the business owner has to show that they have done the right thing.

No good decisions come from a place of being "too busy". If you are "too busy" to get to these issues, then you can be confident that whatever other decisions you are making in your business are likely to be ill-considered.

There are few guarantees in life but here's one. Where the things that should be done are not and only the crises that you manage day-to-day get attention... any decisions made from this position, will be bad for your business.

How To Start Making Good Decisions

Take an objective look at your business.

Work out:

1. What are the areas that have been neglected and need work?
2. What do you need to do to fix this now?
3. Do you have the knowledge and resources to fix this?
4. Do you know where to find help for the things you don't know how to do?

 If you'd like a worksheet to use to start reviewing your business send me an email with your story and I'll send you one.



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Documents To Download - Great For Business

Lots of businesses often have limited access to good quality documents when it comes to creating a new contract, or even knowing how to work through a process, particularly one that needs to be binding. I've seen clients billed thousands of dollars for a lawyer to draft them a document and then turn up with something that is obvioiusly a template they pulled off the shelf and didn't even bother to personalise to the needs of the business. Outrageous, and it happens.

So I was really impressed when I met Steve Irons and saw the depth of material available easily and quickly for download. While there may be cases where you still want a lawyer to sign-off on a contract, this is a great resource for you to access documents and tailor them to your need, and then if necessary, just get the lawyer to vet them before finalising (a lot cheaper!).

There are lots of free documents too and not all are of a legal nature, but many are on topics that you may not have considered, but really do need to have covered off in your business.

You can check out the vast array of documents for individuals, business, and even Non-Profits at www.docdownload.com.au As a special deal for my readers, I've affiliated with DocDownload and arranged a discount for you which you'll get if you use the Promo Code: dbemem5

All documents are professionally written and are extremely comprehensive in their scope. This is a great service and well worth checking out. Oh and if you represent an Association, contact me about the special rate I've brokered for large groups.


Thinking Of Getting A Business Coach?Lindy AsimusDesign Business EngineeringGet Help For Your BusinessDownload your free 24 Page Action Plan Marketing Workbook! Subscribe to Actionbites Blog

How Would You Sell Your Business?

It's a funny thing, that all the effort and marketing and promotion that goes into consulting and helping small business owners, one way or another, by consultants, and coaches and advisors and accountants... how little attention is paid to how to sell your business. And of course, how to get the best price for it!

Really, there is nothing that coaching or consulting can do to help your business as effectively as possible, without considering the potential for future sale of the business.

What are the assets to develop in the business?
What would have to happen now, in order to realise the best return on the sale of the business?
What's my business worth, and how would I calculate that?
How would I find a buyer?


The questions and more, are integral to the decisions that we make as business owners right now - even when a possible sale is years away.

Let's face it - if it isn't sale-worthy now... why would YOU want your business?

Life's too short to waste time (ie your life) toiling away in a business that isn't worth nearly what it could be.






Thinking Of Getting A Business Coach?
Lindy Asimus
Design Business Engineering

Download your free 24 Page Action Plan Marketing Workbook!

Subscribe to Actionbites Blog

An Open Letter To The Small Business Owner

It has come to my attention over the years, moreover and in such a manner in recent days, that it seems but fitting to address some issues which have been seemingly passed-over by many and in such case, as has allowed certain assumptions to go without challenge, in the world of small business and those who would run one.

This letter seeks to address but some few of these issues, but issues nonetheless, that need some light shone upon them, in the interests of the health of small business, the sake of the customers that small business serves, and the staff who are tasked to work therein.

In short, it is for the benefit of everyone, since our society is built on the back of, and needs to maintain, a healthy and vigorous and profitable small business sector.

1 Your Customers Are The Biggest Asset In Your Business


2 Serving Your Customers Is The Essence From Which Will Spring The Health And Prosperity Of Your Business

3 You Cannot Serve Your Customers Superbly When Your Business Has No Standard For Procedures And Policies

4 Your Business Will Stumble Until Your Systemize And Streamline Procedures, Responsibilities, Accountabilities And Processes.

5 Your Staff Is (Or Should Be) The Other Single Greatest Asset In Your Business.

6 Your Staff Cannot Be The Best They Can Be...If You Fail To Provide Them With The Instruction, Skills And Feedback They Need To Do So.

7 If You Are Indeed, The Best Worker In Your Business, You Are Failing Your Staff, Your Customers And Your Business.


Consider these points carefully. If they apply to your business, then you have the power to do something about correcting them.

Please do so. For the sake of us all.
















Thinking Of Getting A Business Coach?
Lindy Asimus
http://www.designbusinessengineering.com

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Overwhelm. Nature's Prompt To Get Organized.

Meeting with new clients, it is many times the same story, told in a different way, but comes back to the same elemental position...

The business is doing well, but the place is not well organized and as a result,

things aren't getting done that should be,
things are getting done that shouldn't be,
some things are getting done that we didn't know
some things we thought were getting done aren't and we didn't find out until a customer complained


The upshot of all of this of course, results in a lot of messiness that adds nothing to the smooth running of the business, but does tend to lead to things like missed deadlines, added and unnecessary stress, double handling, errors and ommisions, poor operational management, and of course, lower profit!

There is a reason that overwhelm feels so horrible. It is a sign that your body is trying to tell you to stop and get things in order.

Looking at the long list of "Things To Do" can itself seem overwhelming. Even knowing where to start, prevents many business owners from doing something to address the situation. In reality, it is not nearly so onerous as the task may appear, and that's precisely where someone who is outside the business can help to give you some clearer perspective and guide you through the process, to come out the other side, with a well defined system for all the components of your business and processes documented to ensure that when staff changes are made, your intelligence and knowlege of how things work in the business is maintained and not lost out the door with the departing person.

Do yourself a favour. When you feel those first signs of overwhelm, start thinking of where you can call to get some help. There are no medals for 'soldiering on' and trying to do what you have neither the knowhow nor time, or skills set to do alone.