Hiring and firing are clearly areas that could use improvement.  Here’s why:

Women entrepreneurs are more [...]]]> As a business coach who works primarily with women business owners in Silicon Valley, I’ve long been aware of how women run their businesses slightly differently from men. And, it’s also clear that we could learn something from the “boy’s club.”

Hiring and firing are clearly areas that could use improvement.  Here’s why:

Women entrepreneurs are more reluctant to hire employees. I’m not sure whether it’s an issue of control, although that’s an area I often find myself coaching. There’s a fear of taking a risk, that income will go down. Many women entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley run their businesses without a lot of cushion. Because they tend to finance their businesses with 2nd mortgages and credit cards, a financial mistake in business can make a big impact on their personal lives. They also hate to hire because they hate to fire.

They hire too fast and for the wrong reasons. In a recent article called “A Better Approach to Hiring,” Sara LaForest and Tony Kubica talk about the process of hiring and make good recommendations about due diligence on employment decisions. Basically, knowing how you want the person to fit into your organization, the skills he or she needs and something about their character will stand you in good stead. Feeling sorry for someone, a casual friendship or a need to hire someone quickly will not.

They fire too slowly. Women entrepreneurs know long before they get around to firing someone that it’s got to happen. Why don’t they fire quickly? They keep hoping something will change and they don’t have to confront the other person. Or, they’ll become passive-aggressive, thinking that if the person becomes miserable enough, they’ll leave. Don’t hesitate. When you know the person needs to be gone, contact your HR representative or consultant, and start the due diligence process.

These common actions by women entrepreneurs can cost company’s money. If your current employees can’t handle the business you’ve got, you have to hire if you want your company to grow. Hiring too fast means you’ve wasted money on someone you can’t keep. Firing too slowly means you’re spending money on an unproductive employee.

As we approach the [...]]]> I see it over and over again. Business owners who don’t pay attention to their finances eventually run into cash flow problems.  If they’re lucky, they’ll find a source of cash, keep going and eventually turn the business around. If they aren’t lucky, they can wind up bankrupt, with their dreams dashed.

As we approach the half-year point, it’s time to evaluate your business plan and goals for 2010 against what is actually happening. This is true across all areas of your business–financial, sales, organizational, etc. Can you answer the following questions to your own satisfaction?

• What do you have in liquid assets (bank accounts, money market, etc.)? Do your bank statements match your cash flow reports?  If not, do you know why?
• Is there enough money in the bank to cover your business expenses for the next three months? If not, do you have plans to improve that situation?
• What do you owe?  Do you have a plan to reduce your debt if the debt/equity ratio is greater than 20%?
• How does your profit and loss statement look? Are there sales numbers that are lower than you want? Are their expenses that can be reduced? (The economy seems to be recovering, but we’re not out of the woods yet.)
• If sales are lagging in some area, what do you plan to do to change that situation? If you don’t make any changes, you can’t expect the sales figures to change either.
• If you have inventory, do you have too much? Too little? Will you need to get more inventory for the holiday sales season?  If so, do you have the cash flow to be able to do so?

This is simply the start of the analysis you must do as a small business owner to insure that your company stays afloat and grows, no matter what the economy. Our guide, Increase Business Results, available for only $7, can help you review your business so you can achieve your business goals for 2010. Click here to order the e-workbook and improve your business results starting today.

One of the duties of [...]]]> I’ve watched a few of my clients struggle trying to create the business that they think they should have…not the one they want. They may be thinking too small because they’ve been convinced their dreams aren’t realistic. Or they may think too big, and would be happier with a smaller business.

One of the duties of a business owner is to take time to think strategically. Often, however, they don’t find time to do it.  There’s many reasons why, most of them centered on the perceived need to stay on top of everything all the time. Sheesh!  Just thinking that way makes me tired.   To be successful in business, you have to make time to think, plan and figure out what you really want.

The economic ups and downs over the last few years have made it clear that humans have control over some things in their lives, but not everything.  I believe that part of my purpose here on earth is to figure out exactly what’s important to me–the size of my business, the people I want to help, the hours I want to spend. And yes, I get to own the consequences of my choices as well.

If you feel that you are running all the time and not very happy, it could be that you’re trying to fit your feet into someone else’s running shoes.  Try these steps and see what happens.

1. Grab some time — a weekend is nice, a full day will do– and get away from everyone and everything that tugs at your life.  Get out in nature if you can.  Re-imagine your life, or simply vegetate.
2. At the end of the day, take a piece of paper and write down whatever falls out of your head in terms of your business or your life.
3. Compare your dream world to reality.  What do you have to do to make them more in line? Pick one action to begin with.
4. Begin implementing your action the very next day.

I’d love to hear what happens!

Unfortunately, the majority of business owners begin their company because they love what they do, whether they [...]]]> At some point as a business grows, the business owner needs to hire an employee…or two…or three…or more. At some point if the right steps aren’t taken, the inmates will be running the asylum and the business will implode.

Unfortunately, the majority of business owners begin their company because they love what they do, whether they be artists or bookkeepers. Add employees to the mix and they’re stuck as managers, a job many of them abhor. So they use passive/aggressive tactics to deal with people issues, confuse their employees and sometimes run afoul of the law because they don’t want to address the issue.

This becomes a huge stumbling block for business growth.

Solving the Employee Problem

If you are ready to solve this problem, here are the steps I suggest:

1. Develop a clear organization chart. Who reports to whom?  Who has management responsibility and who has input to the employees job?
2. Write clear job descriptions with 10 to 15 key responsibilities.  For each job, create a 2-3 sentence purpose that relates this job to the company’s business objectives.
3. Sit down with each employee and develop goals for a period of time–whether it be the quarter, half-year or year. Be clear about what the job will look like to you when it’s complete. It’s important to be specific because if you leave it to chance, you won’t know what you’ll get.
4. At the end of the period, review the goal and the completeness of the work.  If it didn’t meet your standards, figure out why.  Was it the way the employee approached the job or the way you explained it?

These steps, while not simple, will help you manage your employees in a way that will save you time and aggravation as you create the business of your dreams.

Need help?  Please contact the Phoenix Support Services division for help in preparing these documents.

In a period of great unemployment, [...]]]> Many of my entrepreneur women clients are hiring right now and finding it an extremely frustrating process. From applicants who claim that they are “expert” at everything they put on their resume, to new hires that don’t follow company policy, many women entrepreneurs and questioning the benefits of having employees.

In a period of great unemployment, this is not good. Whether you are hiring or looking for a new job, it would be beneficial to polish up your hiring and application skills.  Here are three hiring tips I give to small business owners when they are in the hiring process.

1. See if the applicant can follow instructions. Test them during the application process.  If you’re looking to hire an administrator with basic email skills, ask them to send their resume as an attachment. If you’re looking for a technical wizard, ask them to describe the most interesting technical problem they have ever encountered and what they did to solve it. If they can’t follow instructions, don’t go any further.

2.   Check basic communication skills. Make sure that part of the application process includes some written requirements. If the person can’t be bothered to use the spell check device, he or she probably can’t be bothered to get the details right on the job.  Make them leave a voice mail message for you.  Are they courteous? Pleasant? Is the message complete? Granted, some people have an easier time with communication than others (for example, salespeople are more glib than engineers), but you’ll get an idea if the person can meet the communication requirements for the job. If they can’t, don’t go any further.

3. Check references. Checking references has gone out of favor because of legal hassles faced by employers. Even if the company can’t tell you much more than when the employee worked at the company, you’ll find out how flexible the candidate has decided to be with the truth. If you have any question in your mind, don’t go any further with the hiring process.

Adding these three steps will actually save you time because you will eliminate mis-matches much earlier in the process and not have to wait, as one of my clients did, to find out after hours of interviews that the applicant couldn’t spell and couldn’t use the spell-check feature.

Outsourcing [...]]]> In the 1990s there was a great rush to outsource to “anywhere but the US.” The rational was to save money because the outsourced tasks were repetitive and non-essential. Innovation and management could be done in America, it was reasoned, because that was the part of the business that required experience and specialized industry knowledge.

Outsourcing has also hit the small business world, with many sending their virtual assistance, web development and even bookkeeping to the far shores. (Full disclosure–I have used a Malaysian web developer. He was quite good.) As our country suffers from the highest unemployment rates in decades, it’s easy to see one consequence of this strategy. However, there’s not a lot of discussion about another result, that I’d like you to think about.

For years, companies had suggestion boxes on the floors of their factories and in their offices. Innovations came from everywhere, especially from people who did repetitive labor. They could see where cost and time savings could be made. Because they weren’t always in danger of losing their jobs, or looking for another one, they had a vested interest in improving their work environment.

We don’t make this investment in people anymore and they don’t make it in our companies. We’ve lost a lot because of it.  What can you, as a woman entrepreneur do to encourage innovation and improvement from your employees and contractors?

Add your comment below…

If you want to use this snowed-in/ rained-in tax time [...]]]> 5 Steps to Organizing Your Business

It must be tax time.  Papers are taking over my living room and the shredder is working full blast. After I turn everything over to my accountant in March, I know I will feel lighter.  But getting there is half the battle!

If you want to use this snowed-in/ rained-in tax time to make the rest of your year more easy, here’s five suggestions that work for many women entrepreneurs.

1. Conquer the Paper Dragon. Set aside time to file every week. Once or twice a year (spring and fall are nice), go through your papers and get rid of things. Are you keeping past client files that are over five years old? Even if the client came back, would those files be relevant? Check with your accountant to purge those financial papers. We don’t have to keep everything. Make sure that you have enough storage, but not too much. Have storage that is attractive, colorful and easy to find things in. Musty papers in musty paper boxes are so 20^th century! Keep your active storage away from your old storage. Only surround yourself with things that you actively need. Of course, you will need to conquer the fear of throwing things away. Some of us are just more comfortable in clutter. Others like the minimalist lines of the Zen tradition. If clean space terrifies you, then you need to find a coach or therapist that can help you actively define how much clutter is enough and how much is a sign of a serious problem. (I once had a client that had three storage units, one of which she hadn’t been in for 15 years!)
2. Tame Your Time. Check your activities against your goals.  Ask yourself the question, “What are you doing to keep yourself from doing more important things?” Make sure that you give yourself time to handle the “big rocks.” These are the things in your business that will bring you money in the quickest amount of time. It’s easy to get sucked into the online world of email, Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites. How much time are you spending fighting other people’s fires? Make sure that there is enough time in your day for self-care. A five minute walk can save you an hour-long visit to the doctor later. Time with loved ones is good for you AND for your relationships.
3. Develop Repeat Processes. Try to do the same things the same way. Stick to the way you are doing it and tweak it. This is a lot more effective than re-inventing the process over and over again. Write it down so you remember what you did. Have someone else try to follow your process from your notes. (We all make assumptions!) What can you delegate to someone else? It’s a lot easier if you have a developed, repeatable process. Print out your processes and put them in an Organizational Manual. Copy and distribute the manual to the people who need it!
4. Delegate. Keep a notepad going. Every time you do a task, particularly those you don’t like to do, consider if it could be delegated. If it can, write it down on your list. After you develop the process you want used, delegate it!  Think of tasks outside your business, too.  Cleaning, laundry, even food-shopping and prep can be delegated!
5. Handle the Worries. Do you realize how much time worrying about things takes? Have financial worries? (Who doesn’t, these days?) Develop a plan. Find a financial partner who can help you brainstorm ways to get your finances handled.  Even the president has advisors help him with finance. Is there something nagging you in your primary relationship or with your children? Get help and handle it. It won’t go away by itself. It will just get worse and take up even more of your time. The same is true with annoying and aggravating customers. Do some analysis. You may find that the customer who eats most of your time is the customer giving you the least amount of money.  When you factor in the cost of your time, you may find you are actually losing money! Finally, handle your tolerations. What are you putting up with that is a mind drain? Do you need a new computer? Get one. Is the light out in the hallway? Replace the bulb. Hate your weight? Handle it.  Until we handle the tolerations, we never know how big a problem they are.

So there you go – 5 Steps to a More Organized Business! Add your own smart ideas for organizing your business below!

This problem not only occurs when women business [...]]]> I recently completed a social media plan for one of my clients.  She went from reluctant participant to over-excited user in no time flat!  However, like many of us when we first find a new toy, she ignored the part of the plan that had to do with listening.

This problem not only occurs when women business owners launch a social media plan, but also occurs with everyday marketing.  We want to make it “all about us” because we’re comfortable in that zone.  We’re experts in our own discipline. Often, we are extremely good at what we want to do and have the solution to the problems our clients have. Unfortunately, we may not be expressing it in the language that our clients use.

It can be as simple as choosing the right keyword combination when you talk.  I frequently talk about the woman entrepreneur. I was surprised when an SEO mavin told me that “entrepreneur woman” was equally as useful for search engine ranking. It’s not a comfortable turn of phrase for me, but apparently its how people search for information. I didn’t know that until the research (listening) was done.

In the 1990s Steve Haeckel conceived and developed “Sense and Respond” as a strategy while he was Director of Strategic Studies at IBM’s Advanced Business Institute. Since I was working in a sales organization in IBM at the time, I was exposed to the concept.  (Somewhere I still have the book, I’m sure!) The concepts of Sense and Respond help organizations build a more adaptive structure.

As the economy begins to come back, the first organizations that will begin to rebuild are small businesses. It’s because they are more agile and don’t have a lot of the encumberances that corporations have. In order to truly thrive women entrepreneurs (or entrepreneur women!) will need to pay attention. Things have changed. Social media has become a big component of our lives and so has massive unemployment. The illusion of stability has further eroded.  Who can succeed in this environment?

The people who succeed will be those who take time to listen (sense) before they comment, take action or even create new products.

I invite you to spend some time today focusing on what your customers want and need.  Let me know your results in a comment below!