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Almost every new business coaching client I work with struggles with the balance between their work and the rest of their lives. Most small business owners don’t have enough time or energy for everything they have on their plates. They seek advice about how to achieve a balance between personal and business time.
I will admit that I made a mistake in the early years of my business coaching practice. (Apologies to those of you I coached then.) I thought that balance meant the same thing for all people. That it meant to them what it meant to me. Wrong! Here’s what I have found from working with hundreds of business owners: Everyone needs to find their own balance. What feels balanced to me, might not feel balanced to you.
Here are some business coaching tips to help you achieve the balance that works for you in your life and your business:
Business Coaching Tip #1: Consider which type of balance works best for you. This varies radically between individuals. Some people need a daily balance. They get up and meditate. Then they work in the mornings, take a long lunch, work until 5:00 and go home and play with the kids all evening. Others need a weekly balance. Work hard one week. Take personal time the next. I have a business coaching client who gets his balance from this lifestyle: work hard, play hard, rest hard. I have a friend who takes off one day a week, one week a month, one month a year and one year each decade. That’s her balance. Get creative. Find what works best for you.
Business Coaching Tip #2: Build your business to suit the balance you need. Take my friend for example. She has had to build a business that she can ramp down for long periods of time, if we was to have her desired balance. If she had not done a lot of long-range planning, she would never have ended up with a business that would allow her to be gone for a year every decade. Given the balance you want, what kind of business do you need to build? My business coaching practice suits my balance needs well. I like a monthly balance. I coach two weeks a month. Consult for a third. And, I usually take a week off. Works for me!
Business Coaching Tip #3: Balance can change over time. What felt balanced to me when I was 20, no longer feels balanced now that I am 55. Our energy changes. Our interests change. What is important to us changes. Consider where you are in your life. Sometimes, in the early years, we are happy working all our waking hours on the business. We figure we can relax after the business is up and running. Later in life, we may find that all work has created a less than fulfilling life. Time to re-balance. I have seen this shift many times with my business coaching clients. There is nothing wrong with needing to re-balance. It’s only a shame when you need to re-balance, but you haven’t built a business that will let you.
Business Coaching Tip #4: Balance isn’t achieved overnight. Once you can envision the kind of balance that you would like to achieve, create a plan to get there. Start with where you are. It may take months or even a year. Be patient, but persistent.
Business Coaching Tip #5: Take actions to achieve to reach your ideal balance. Consider the following actions and whether they might be helpful to you as you work to achieve balance:
- Say “no” more.
- Ask for help from others.
- Be willing to not pursue everything that interests you.
- Require more from your employees.
- Set boundaries.
I have found that living a balanced life is one of the most fulfilling things I can do. I enjoy each part of my life more. I feel better about myself. I am a better coach, wife, family member and friend because of my commitment to balance. Are you ready to balance your life and reap the rewards?
noconnor@mindspring.com
www.nanoconnor.com
As a business coach , I see this all the time. A client comes to a session and says “Hey, I just met this great guy. He’s looking for a job and he’s really good at so-and-s0. What do you think about hiring him?”
In some cases, it might be a great move. In others, it would mean taking the business off course. How can you tell? There is a great rule of thumb that I always come back to: Strategy. Structure. Staffing. Here are some coaching tips to help you understand what I mean.
Business Coaching Tip #1: First look at your business strategy. Strategy always comes first in hiring decisions. Where are you taking the business long-term? What will it take to get there? As you envision your business in five years, what do you want it to look like? If you haven’t done a strategic business plan, don’t hire another person until you do one.
Business Coaching Tip #2: What structure will you need to achieve your business strategy? Map it out. If you are going to be at X place by X time, what infrastructure will you need to get there? Spell out all the roles that will need to get filled in order to achieve the strategy you have set. Do an org chart of the future with each role defined and how that role will report in to the company.
Business Coaching Tip #3: Set milestones. Trigger points at which you will fill certain positions. For example, when we reach $325,000 in sales, we will hire a new sales person. When we reach $1,o00,000, we will bring on another engineer. When we reach $1.5 million, we will bring on a controller.
Business Coaching Tip #4: Staff accordingly. When you reach a trigger point, then go out and find the perfect person to fill that empty box on the org chart. This keeps you from being distracted by all the opportunities you see. Just because someone is great and has talent, doesn’t mean that it’s the right move or the right time to hire them. Only staff when the infrastructure demands it in order to meet the strategy.
Business Coaching Tip #5: Avoid these mistakes:
- An employee says he/she will leave unless they get a promotion. So, you feel forced to promote them before the business really needs that position filled.
- The business has outgrown the skill set of a longtime, loyal employee. So, you create a new position for them so that you don’t have to fire them, but the business doesn’t really need this new position.
- Your brother-in-law has been laid off. He’s a great guy. Really smart. Doesn’t know a thing about your business, but you are sure he can learn. You bring him on and try him out in sales, although you really don’t need an extra salesperson at this time.
In my business coaching, I see countless examples of business owners hiring without considering their long-term strategy and the structure they really need to get there. Hiring the wrong person at the wrong time can take a small business completely off strategy and cripple it for years.
All my business coaching clients struggle with who to hire and when to hire. It’s only natural. After all, it’s a serious issue for a small businesses, because the wrong decision can be quite costly. Having a long-term plan in place will really help with these hiring decisions.
When you are temped to hire a new employee, ask yourself if it is part of the long-term plan. If it’s not, then ask yourself whether you are willing to completely change your strategy? There are rare instances when such a talent comes along that it is worth changing the course of a business. Rare, but it happens. The key is to be aware that you are changing your strategy. Don’t do it unknowingly. As a business coach , I know that it is always important to be flexible. But, only change your strategy with the keen awareness that that is what you are doing.
noconnor@mindspring.com
www.nanoconnor.com
Most of my business coaching clients own small businesses . The typical evolution for a small business is that the owner does most of the sales at first. Then the day comes when she/he needs to focus on running the business. The decision is made to hire a salesperson. In my business coaching experience, this is one of the riskiest decisions a small business owner has to make.
Here’s why: In most industries, it takes a long time to know whether a salesperson is going to work out. You usually have to pay them a base salary, at least at first, until they have sales high enough to work on a commission. If they don’t work out, all that base salary — not to mention time and lost sales — is out the window.
Small businesses cannot afford too many missteps. Hiring a salesperson who doesn’t work out can be devastating. Here are some things I have learned in my business coaching, as well as my personal experience, that will help you lower your risk when you hire your first salesperson.
Business Coaching Tip #1: Buyer (or hirer) Beware. I have often joked that the best sale some of the salespeople I have hired ever made was convincing me to hire them. It was all downhill from there. Many salespeople are good enough at sales to get you to hire them. They are highly motivated to make that particular sale. After that, if they are not highly motivated in general, they don’t really deliver. Make sure they aren’t selling you damaged goods. Check references. Make sure they have a proven record of success.
Business Coaching Tip #2: Be reluctant to hire them if they are not currently working in a sales role somewhere. When my business coaching clients want to hire a salesperson who is currently unemployed, I am very skeptical. It’s rare that a successful salesperson is let go. If you are considering hiring one who is unemployed, dig deeply to understand why. Think about it: Would you ever let go of someone who is bringing lots of revenue into your company?
Business Coaching Tip #3: Train them well. This may seem obvious, but so often the business owner thinks selling their product or service is easy. They have been doing it themselves for years! That’s where the potential problem lies. There is so much that they do intuitively. So much knowledge and instinct is in their head. They assume everyone can do it. But, others can’t until you take what is in your head and turn it into a formal selling system.
Business Coaching Tip #4: Give them the tools they need. Because you are the owner of the business, you have been able to sell based on your word as who you are. Your salespeople won’t be able to do that. They will likely need more tools than you did to sell.
Business Coaching Tip #5: Spend lots of time with them. I have noticed that many business owners bring in their first salesperson, do a download and then send them out. They don’t pay much attention to them. They don’t give them a lot of support. “They are supposed to be the professional salesperson. Go sell!” is their thinking. Just know that you will need to spend more time supporting them than you may want to.
Business Coaching Tip #6: Set sales goals. It’s hard to know what a realistic goal is when you first hire a salesperson. And, since you have no means of comparison (other than your own track record, which will be different from theirs) you won’t really know whether what they achieve is average for a good salesperson or not. You won’t know that until you hire several salespeople for comparison. Nevertheless, take your best guess at what is realistic. In my business coaching practice, I have observed that my clients usually expect their first salespeople to sell more, and much sooner, than they actually do. Don’t underestimate the learning curve.
Business Coaching Tip #7: Establish a system for tracking their results and meet with them regularly to review. Again, this sounds obvious, but I see so many business owners fail to take this step. You need to know what they are doing, not just how many sales, but what their sales efforts are (calls, proposals, etc.). And, you need to sit down with them at least once a week and go over their results.
It’s a big decision to hire your first salesperson. I hope I have given you some good food for thought as you make this crucial decision.
noconnor@mindspring.com
www.nanoconnor.com
I’m not an economist, I’m a business coach , but through my coaching I get a pretty good feel for what’s going on out there in the business world. Today’s business owners have to deal with two kinds of change: 1) the things that have changed that will eventually return to the way they used to be before and 2) the change that is irreversible.
Business Coaching Tip #1: A lot of hings have changed forever. Or at least for a long time. When people call to discuss business coaching, they are often calling because they are concerned about how their business is doing. Those who have been hit hard by the economy seem to have a common strategy: Duck down until it’s safe to raise our heads again. In other words, wait for this to blow over. From a business coaching standpoint, this is not a strategy. In fact, it’s denial. There has been a fundamental shift and we all better understand what it is and how we are going to deal with it.
Business Coaching Tip #2: There is a “new normal.” This means that we will not return to the old normal — the old way. Too much has changed. There are things that are specific to certain industries, like real estate. But, there are some “new normal” changes that I think apply across the board. Consider what has changed forever in your industry and the implications of that change. For example, have your prices declined to a point that you believe you will never be able to charge what you did before? How will you adjust to remain profitable?
Business Coaching Tip #3: Undifferentiated businesses will not survive. In a growing market, businesses that did not sufficiently differentiate from the competition often could survive. They just rode the growth of their industry. Not any more. If you are not different in meaningful ways from your competition, you won’t be around long. If your customers are making their buying decisions on price alone, you are not differentiated. What strategy will you use to differentiate your business from the competition?
Business Coaching Tip #4: Make employee retention a priority. That may sound strange at a time that unemployment is so high. But, the truth is, shown by countless surveys of employees, people are just laying low until things get better. I saw a stat the other day that said 80% of employees plan to look for another job as soon as things turn around. WOW! So, don’t wait until your best employees start looking. Begin today to do the things that make your company attractive. Make your company a place employees will want to stay even when they have more choices.
Business Coaching Tip #5: Take advantage of the downturn. Are there competitors you might be able to buy at a discount? Are there good people on the street you would benefit from hiring? Are customers looking for new suppliers because their old ones are out of business or shaky? Consider how to take advantage of this tough economic time.
What I have noticed in my business coaching is that the clients who are able to appreciate these times for what they are seem to handle them the best. Those who are in denial, or are resistant to the new reality of their industry, have a much harder time. There are some things that will never be like they were before. We need to understand what those things are and adjust to the “new normal.” There are some things we do simply have to ride out. And, there are things we can take advantage of. What is true for your industry?
noconnor@mindspring.com
www.nanoconnor.com
Most of my business coaching clients, at some point or another, want to hire either a family member or a friend. I usually advise against it. They usually do it anyway. I understand. It’s very tempting. It is one of those ideas that seems so good at the time. And, sometimes it is. But, here is the question: How many would do it again? A few would. Most would not. The truth is that when it works out, there’s nothing better. And, of course, when it doesn’t there is nothing worse.
If you are considering hiring a friend or family member, here are ten things to think about:
- Business Coaching Tip #1: Don’t let your need for loyalty overshadow your objectivity. Business owners are lonely. They want someone in their business they know they can really trust. Someone who will tell them the truth. Sometimes, this need outweighs their objectivity about whether this person is the right person for the job. Be careful here. It’s a bit tricky.
- Business Coaching Tip #2: It is always easier to get into these things than to get out. Seriously. On the front end, it’s easy to say “Hey, let’s give it a try. If it doesn’t work, that’s fine. We won’t let anything come between us.” Sounds reasonable. Usually doesn’t work that way. Here’s why: If it doesn’t work, often only one of you is aware that it’s not working. Usually, one wants out and the other doesn’t. Hurt feelings. Resentment. Ugly.
- Business Coaching Tip #3: This person will have an inordinate amount of power in your company due to their personal relationship with you. No one ever believes this. They think that if they treat the person the same as everyone else, all will be well. This is simply not the case. Believe me, I see this every day in my business coaching. Everyone in the company will be aware of your relationship. They know that this person will know things no one else knows. They know this person will have your ear in a way no one else will. They have power. Even if they don’t know it, they have power.
- Business Coaching Tip #4: It will be hard to treat them the same as you treat everyone else. You think it won’t be, but it will. You will either expect more from them and be harder on them, or, you will not want to confront them with poor performance, so you will go easy on them. One of the most embarrassing (for the business owner) situations I have witnessed in all my business coaching is when the business owner starts defending their friend or family member in front of other staff.
- Business Coaching Tip #5: Friends and family are more valuable than having another good employee. You can hire someone else, but you can’t go out and hire another family member or friend. Those are hard to come by. Give serious consideration to the risk you take when you hire one of them. What will happen to the personal relationship if the work relationship doesn’t work out?
- Business Coaching Tip #6: Before you hire them, imagine firing them. Because it might happen. Think about what it would be like to call them into your office and tell them they have to go.
- Business Coaching Tip #7: Seriously consider hiring them on a trial basis. Agree to a 90-day trial. That way it will be less painful to get out if it doesn’t work.
- Business Coaching Tip #8: If you decide to hire them, put your expectations in writing. Think of it like a prenuptial agreement, only for business. What will their job be? Who will they report to? How will they be compensated? What will the conditions for termination be? What will the “out package” be?
- Business Coaching Tip #9: Set boundaries. If you do hire them, keep personal personal. Keep work at work. Don’t mix the two. If you are socializing, don’t cross over and talk about work. If you are at work, don’t bring the personal into it.
- Business Coaching Tip #10: Others will not be honest with you about this person’s behavior or performance. You think they will. They won’t. I have seen it in my business coaching over and over again. Your other employees will be afraid to tell you the truth when it comes to someone who is a family member or friend. Even if you ask, you probably won’t get a straight answer. Trust me on this.
This gives you some food for thought. It’s a very serious decision. Take sufficient time to make it.
noconnor@mindspring.com
www.nanoconnor.com
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