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The 5 Stages of Small Business Growth

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The question that everyone who’s ever launched a business has wanted an answer to is, what is the formula, the recipe, that when followed will result in a sustainably profitable enterprise? Furthermore, how does a business owner avoid the landmines that can tank the enterprise?

In 1983 Neil Churchill (1927-2010), former Professor Emeritus of of entrepreneurship at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France and visiting professor at the Anderson School at UCLA and Virginia Lewis, a senior research associate at the Caruth Institute of Southern Methodist University, conducted an intriguing study that examined and (indirectly) answered the question. Specifically, Churchill and Lewis examined small businesses and, despite the obvious differences that distinguish every business and every entrepreneur or solopreneur who goes into business—B2B, B2C, products, services, business model, target markets, level of owner’s expertise, experience and funding— identified patterns of success and problems that typically occur in small businesses. Unfortunately, the two were not able to write the recipe for a secret sauce, but they did identify and categorize growth stages and difficulties that can arise in those growth stages, information that is actionable and highly valuable.

You might say that Churchill and Lewis created a map that can help you find the path to success for your business idea and also help you side-step common pitfalls. I’m happy to share a few take-aways from the study and provide the link to the original research. https://site-453261.mozfiles.com/files/453261/Harvard_Business_Review_-_The_5_Stages_Of_Small_Business_Growth.pdf

While every business venture is an unique entity, with some having potential for enormous profitability and (most) others that only sputter along, hobbled by obstacles that frequently include some combination of insufficient funding, an unrealistic business model, or a limited number of customers who are inclined to purchase its products and services, there are foundational similarities throughout the spectrum of possible outcomes. In a study of a range of business types ,one that documents which actions or circumstances encourage positive results and which lead to unfortunate outcomes, patterns become visible.

First, the research showed that all businesses evolve through identifiable stages in their life cycle. Second, it was discovered that certain successes, challenges and decisions that must be made are typically associated with the different life cycle growth stages. When business owners know what to expect throughout the business life cycle, they can prepare themselves and the company to maximize what is likely to go well, if only by skillfully navigating through what is likely to cause problems.

In other words, a company’s development stage determines the leadership and managerial skill and pivotal decisions that promote success and avoid problems. The type of business that you’re operating will influence which factors will eventually appear. An awareness of the development stage of the business, as well as the most logical future plans for that stage, enables business owners and managers to make informed choices and prepare themselves and the company for the inevitable challenges. Below are typical circumstances that pertain to business owners and the entity as the business life cycle adapts over time.

The four factors that relate to the business owner:

  1. Owner’s goals for himself /herself and for the business.
  2. Owner’s operational abilities in doing important jobs such as marketing, inventing, selling, producing and managing distribution.
  3. Owner’s managerial ability and willingness to delegate responsibility and to manage the activities of others.
  4. Owner’s strategic abilities for looking beyond the present and assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the company with his or her goals.

The four factors that relate to the business:

  1. Financial resources, including cash on hand and borrowing power.
  2. Personnel resources, financial prowess, quality of strategic relationships and other human capital, particularly at the management and staff levels.
  3. Systems resources, in terms of the degree of sophistication of both information and planning and control systems.
  4. Business resources, including customer relations, market share, supplier relations, manufacturing and distribution processes, technology and reputation, all of which give the company a position in its industry and market.

Stage I: Existence

Basic survival is the objective in the earliest stage of the company. The primary goals of the owner(s) are acquiring customers, delivering the product or service in a way that satisfies customers and providing pleasant and efficient customer service.

Other key objectives of the owner(s) are:

  • Doing what is necessary to make the entity become a viable business.
  • Successfully expanding beyond one or two important customers to a much broader customer base.
  • Having sufficient capital available to finance the considerable cash demands of the start-up phase.

At this fledgling stage, the owner does everything and if there are employees, the owner directly supervises them. Systems and formal planning are minimal to nonexistent. The company strategy is to survive. The owner is the business, s/he performs all important functions. Many early stage entities never gain sufficient customer base nor product/service demand to become viable. If that is the case, the owner is forced to close the business when the money runs out. Companies that are lucky enough to survive Stage I will graduate to Stage II entities.

Stage II: Survival.

Businesses that survive to enter Stage II can be considered viable. They’ve attracted enough customers to generate the necessary sales revenue and customers are satisfied with the products and/or services offered. The most likely problem that surfaces in the transition from Stage I to Stage II is the balance between revenues and expenses. The owners’ primary objectives are:

  • In the short run, generate enough cash to break even and cover the repair, renewal, or replacement of subscription software or other services and capital assets /equipment as they wear out or expire.
  • At a minimum, generate enough cash-flow to stay in business and finance growth to a size that is sufficiently large, given our industry and market niche, to earn an economic return on our assets and labor. In other words, can you make enough money to make staying in business make sense?

Additionally, the Stage II company may have a small number of employees, often supervised by a sales manager or a general foreman. Alternatively (or simultaneously), there may be outsourcing of certain functions—bookkeeping, accounting, HR. payroll, IT network management, for example. The business owner(s) remains in charge of major decisions and the foreman or sales manager may have limited decision-making authority. Survival of the business remains the overwhelming goal.

While in the Survival Stage, the enterprise may grow in size and profitability and graduate to Stage III. Or, as many companies do, it may remain in Stage II for some time, earning modest profits on invested time and capital. Such businesses may eventually close when the owner gives up or retires. “Mom and pop” stores are in this category, as are manufacturing businesses that cannot attract a buyer for their product or process sold as they hoped. Some of these marginal businesses have developed enough economic viability to eventually be sold, usually at a slight loss. Or the entity may fail completely.

Stage III: Success.

The decision facing owners at this stage is whether to leverage the company’s achievements and strategize to grow, or maintain the stable and profitable success that has been attained. Business is good and to handle more complex functions, the first professional staff members will be hired, often a controller in the office or a production manager, perhaps administrative or sales employees may be hired as well. Basic financial, marketing and production systems are in place. Planning in the form of operational budgets supports vital business strategies and action plans. The owner and, to a lesser extent, the company managers, are advised to monitor the performance of business strategies to maintain desired profit margin.

The question becomes, will the owner(s) decide to promote growth and pursue the attainment of a substage III-G company, or will the owner(s) completely or partially step away from intensive involvement in the company and transition to substage III-D company?

Substage III: Disengagement

In the Success-Disengagement substage, the company has attained economic viability, has a sufficient customer base and product-market penetration to reasonably ensure financial success and earning average to above-average profits. The company can remain at this stage almost indefinitely, as long as a catastrophic external event (like a pandemic shutdown of business?) doesn’t erode its customer base, or ineffective management and poor decision-making doesn’t diminish its competitive abilities.

When disengagement is the choice, it is often driven by a wish to start a new enterprise, or simply to (finally) participate in hobbies and other outside interests while maintaining the business as is. If the company can continue to navigate the inevitable business environment changes, the owner can either continue in substage III-D, sell the entity at a profit, or at some point elect to once again pursue a growth trajectory. For franchise holders, this last option would require the purchase of additional franchises locations.

Substage III: Growth

In the Success-Growth substage, the owner consolidates the company and utilizes its resources to stimulate accelerated growth, typically using accumulated business cash and borrowing the amount needed to finance growth. Maintaining optimal business profitability is key, so that it will not deplete cash (the lender will be looking). Having on board talented and dedicated company managers to meet the needs of the growing business is another must-do. This second task requires hiring managers with an eye to the company’s future rather than its current condition.

The right business systems should be in place to provide the operational needs that a larger entity will require as growth proceeds. Proper budgeting and the development and execution of strategic planning is critical. The owner(s) are intensely involved in all aspects of the company’s affairs, in contrast to the disengagement stage.

If the growth plan is successful, the III-G company proceeds to Stage IV Take-off. If the III-G company is unsuccessful, the missteps might be detected in time to make a smooth landing in substage III-D. If not, a return to Stage II Survival may be possible, in lieu of bankruptcy or a distress sale.

Stage IV: Take-off

In this stage the key problems are how to grow rapidly and how to finance that growth. The most important questions, then, are in the following areas:

Delegation. Can the owner(s) delegate responsibility to the appropriate staff or Freelance outside experts to improve the managerial effectiveness of a fast-growing and increasingly complex enterprise? Further, will the action be true delegation with controls on performance and a willingness to see mistakes made, or will it be abdication, as is so often the case?

Cash. Will there be enough to satisfy the great demands growth brings (often requiring a willingness on the owner’s part to tolerate a high debt-equity ratio) and a cash-flow that is not eroded by inadequate expense controls or ill-advised investments brought about by owner impatience?.

This is a pivotal period in a company’s life. If the owner rises to the challenges of a growing company, both financially and managerially, it can become a big business. If not, it can usually be sold—at a profit—provided the owner recognizes his or her limitations soon enough. Too often, those who bring the business to the Success Stage are unsuccessful in Stage IV, either because they try to grow too fast and run out of cash (the owner falls victim to the omnipotence syndrome), or are unable to delegate effectively enough to make the company work (the omniscience syndrome).

Stage V: Maturity The most important responsibilities the owner has at Stage V is to first, preserve and encourage the continuation of the substage III-G growth and second, to retain the advantages of small size, meaning a nimble response to the economic landscape and maintaining the owners’ entrepreneurial spirit.

The organization must install a management team and operational processes that will eliminate the inefficiencies that growth can produce and simultaneously professionalize the company operations by use of tools such as budgeting, strategic planning, staff training and standard cost management systems—and do this without inhibiting its entrepreneurial qualities.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Abdul and Aisha Tedros, owners of Oasis Coffee & Tea Shop in Phoenix, AZ, ranked #11 on the Yelp Top 100 coffee shops list in the U.S.and Canada.

Administrative , , 2 Comments

Survey: Freelancing in America 2023

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Freelance Forward, the annual survey conducted by Upwork, the largest Freelancing marketplace in the world, was released in December 2022. The survey of 3,000 American workers age 18 and above was conducted online September 21, 2022 – October 7, 2022. The survey demographics consisted of 1,164 Freelancers and 1,836 of the traditionally employed. Results of the landmark annual survey of Freelance workers continues to demonstrate the pronounced impact the cohort has on the American and global economies.

Year-over-year the number of Freelancers grows nationally (and internationally). According to the Upwork survey, there are 60 million part-time and full-time Freelancers in the country, comprising 39% of the U.S. labor force and in 2022, we contributed $1.35+ trillion to the U.S. economy. It is predicted that by 2027, Freelancers will comprise at least 51% of the American workforce.

In 2022, 51% of Freelancers, nearly 31 million, provided knowledge economy services, including., computer programming, software development, social media marketing, graphic arts, website development, IT, finance and business consulting. 23% of Freelancers hold a bachelor’s degree and 26% have earned a postgraduate degree.

The high tech and fintech sectors employ the largest number of Freelancers and they are also the highest earners. On average, men in those sectors earn up to four times more than their female counterparts.

68% of Freelancers have more than one employer or contract project (think more than one client). The diversified income streams make you are less vulnerable to the whims and fortunes of a single employer, unlike those who hold a traditional job. Freelancing, at least for some, is less risky than W2 employment. As was documented in the Upwork survey, most Freelancers see more opportunities available in the post-pandemic economy, with 76% concluding that they have more contracts available today than were available before the coronavirus shutdown.

The perceived increase in opportunities to work probably explains why Freelancers have a positive outlook regarding their income potential and contract opportunities. 77% of Freelancers feel optimistic about their anticipated 2023 earnings and 80% are optimistic about this year’s contract assignment opportunities. Moreover, 61% said that they make as much as or more money than they would if working for a traditional employer. 43% of Freelancers have increased their hourly rates or project fees over the last year, in response to increased demand or economic conditions.

Freelancers pivotal for small business

You may be happy to know that Freelancers are a great resource for small businesses. We provide on demand, only when needed, cost-effective expertise and assistance that helps small business owners to operate more efficiently and maximize revenue and profitability.

Survey results verify that small business owners and leaders are pleased with their experiences working with Freelance professionals and many plan to continue or increase their hiring of Freelancers in the future. In fact, 48% of U.S. businesses of every size hired at least one Freelancer in 2018.

  • 70% of SMBs in the U.S. have worked with freelancers at least once
  • 81% of these companies plan to hire freelancers again
  • 83% agree that freelancers have greatly helped their business

Major Global Freelancing Platforms

Below see a list of popular Freelancing platforms that are a conduit for your hard work, expertise and resourcefulness, wherever a good internet signal exists. Check out the full report https://www.upwork.com/research/freelance-forward-2022 .

  • Flexiple
  • Upwork
  • Turing.com
  • Freelancer.com
  • PeoplePerHour
  • SimplyHired
  • Toptal
  • TaskRabbit
  • 99Designs
  • Fiverr
  • LinkedIn
  • Designhill

Thanks for reading and Happy Easter,

Kim

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10 Tips to Energize Email Marketing

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Email marketing remains an effective and valuable practice that deserves a place in the marketing strategy of Freelancers and other small business owners. If you haven’t explored email marketing as a way to promote your venture, read on and learn why you will reap benefits from developing email marketing campaigns and how to maximize their success.

Data supplied by Statista, the Germany-based marketing info giant, reports that an estimated 4.3+ billion citizens of planet Earth use email. Maybe that’s why email marketing continues to be central to our business and personal lives? Email marketing campaigns will help you to promote your products and services, acquire new customers or retain current customers, increase your venture’s annual revenue and position yourself as a thought leader and expert in your field.

Email marketing remains one of the most effective forms of outbound marketing, whether you send email appeals and announcements to prospects and current customers or publish a company blog or newsletter. According to data from the e-commerce company Oberlo, 81% of small business owners use email marketing as their primary method of customer acquisition and 80% use email marketing outreach to support customer retention. Marketing researchers have calculated that email marketing campaigns generate an average ROI of $43 for every $1.00 spent. In 2022, B2B and B2C email marketing campaigns combined generated $9.62B in sales revenues.

  1. Update your list. Review your address list each month and follow-up on all emails that “bounce,” that is, are returned. Verify and update the address or delete the name.
  2. Personalize greeting. Your readers likely have little use for a emails that are addressed to no one in particular and reek of spam. Impersonal mailings are not endearing and are usually deleted. Your email marketing distribution service has the capability to personally address the communications you send.
  3. Opt-in, opt-out, sign-up. To grow your database, make it easy for those who’d like to follow you and/or subscribe to your emails by making your sign-up/ opt-in link visible. On the other hand, those who’d rather not receive your mailings should be able to easily decline them. The unsubscribe/ opt-out link is usually placed at the end of the email.
  4. Customize templates. Represent and promote the value of your brand by having a custom template designed for your marketing communications. The cost is modest and will give your campaigns a professional look that is immediately recognizable to your audience. Choose a template design that is uncluttered and visually cohesive. Also, since more than half of the audience will view your emails on a mobile device, confirm that your marketing service uses responsive design.
  5. Relevant content. Know the topics that will interest your readers. Stay current in your knowledge of national and local developments by regularly reading nationally focused business publications and the business section of your local newspaper. Furthermore, it’s helpful to create a marketing calendar, because some topics are seasonal and your information should be timely so that it will be useful. In other words, if your email will discuss taxes, keep in mind the filing dates for quarterly and annual taxes. As well, keep in mind the Pareto principle, best known as the 80/20 rule, to keep audience engagement high. Make about 80% of your content educational and no more than 20% self-promotional. In time, your audience will come to trust you as a source of helpful information, which will keep them opening your emails. Your emails are about the reading audience and not about you.
  6. Tempting subject line. Give readers an incentive to open your emails by creating subject lines that command attention. The subject line is the most important element of a marketing email. If it’s not compelling, your email will be swiftly deleted. A good subject line often arouses curiosity or surprise. It may even shock recipients, or make them laugh. A well-crafted subject line makes recipients want to go further and find out what you have to say.
  7. Interactive extras. Every so often, give readers something unexpected and interesting to see or do as they skim through your content. Devise a one or two question survey to let them tell you how they feel about an issue. Not only will you get to know them better, they’ll appreciate that you value their opinions. A 60-90 second audio and/ or video clip that showcases something they’ll find useful is another good tactic. Including an image that ties into the message and purpose of the email is yet another good idea. Limiting extras to a maximum of two is suggested, to avoid clutter or sensory overload.
  8. Social media teasers. Before emails are sent, post a line or two of content on social media as a way to cross promote and expand the audience for your mailings. Let social media visitors know that the content is exclusive to your email list and use this incentive to increase sign-ups.
  9. One irresistible call-to-action. The purpose of your emails is to convince readers to do something—-hire you, watch your webinar, read your case study, come out to meet you and hear you speak. If email recipients don’t know what you want them to do within 20 seconds of opening your email, whether that’s visiting a page, calling a phone number, or completing a form, they will most likely click and delete.
  10. Consistent schedule. Whether you send a newsletter, blog post, or marketing letters once a quarter, once a month, or once a week—-every Tuesday at 11:00 AM Eastern or the 15th of every month—-be consistent. Predictability breeds trust.

FYI, as of March 5, 2023, data supplied by the email marketing company Constant Contact reported on email open rates in various industries and a sampling is below. As of January 2023, the combined B2B and B2C sales conversion rate of email marketing campaigns was 8.17%.

  • Administrative support—billing, phone answering—29.1%
  • Business consulting—marketing, advertising, management–28.3%
  • Financial services—accounting, bookkeeping, insurance–27.1%
  • Technology services–19.3%
  • Health & wellness–home care, nutrition, dental, medical–35.3%
  • Cleaning, contractors, landscaping–38.6%

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: Invented by Edward E. Kleinschmidt in 1914, the high speed teletype machine allowed users to both send and receive typed messages and was a major breakthrough in telecommunications technology. The picture shows teletype machines being used in England during WWII.

Sales , , Leave a comment

Unspoken Desires: What B2B Clients Really Want

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The punchline of today’s story is that your clients say one thing and mean another. Surprise! Those of you who sell or provide B2B products or services know that prospects present themselves to Freelancers and sales reps as dispassionate decision-makers who demand value and aim to minimize costs as they operate in the harsh realities of tech company lay-offs, bank failures, inflation, war and the lingering aftershocks of the coronavirus shutdown. Oh, and they’d also like the products or services they buy to save them time, because time is money.

However Ron Friedman, PhD, a psychologist who studies human motivation, surveyed 2,128 office workers in the U.S, U.K, France, Germany, Spain and Italy discovered some additional, unspoken, motivations of office workers who purchase B2B products or services.

Friedman and his team found that B2B customers favor interactions that cater to certain psychological needs, even when satisfying those needs costs the company more money and time. The findings suggest that what humans really want are choice (control, power), meaningful connections with others (relatedness) and opportunities to grow skills that are important to them (mastery).

Let’s dive in to get more insights and understand how you can leverage these unspoken motivations as you and your prospective clients discuss your products and services.

Choice trumps problem-solving

When Friedman’s study subjects were asked if they prefer to discuss and potentially buy from a B2B services provider a single solution that can solve their problem or help achieve their goal, or be offered two or more potential solutions that they must evaluate and then select their preferred remedy, the ability to choose won out.

When a prospect is presented with a single, presumably effective, solution that’s expected to resolve the goal or problem at issue, time is automatically saved. Still, 58% of Friedman’s study subjects preferred the opportunity to choose and, it seems, the power that came with it. The ability to choose was considered desirable, even when going through the selection process did not provide additional benefits, e.g., better results or money and time saved.

Connection overrules time

Most prospects didn’t mind that extra time was spent to review and evaluate the available options that guide their choice of a solution. Although waiting for a human being to reply to an email or pick up the phone might require twice the time and provided no other benefits (in either case, participants were assured their problem would be solved), waiting twice as long to speak with a human being was preferred by nearly three-quarters of participants (74%).

Furthermore, respondents much prefer to know who they’re doing business with. When asked to rate what they consider to be satisfactory or unsatisfactory customer service delivered by the sales reps and other service providers they interact with, study subjects rated just 33% of vendors they didn’t really know as providing “satisfactory” service, but 70% of vendors who received “satisfactory” ratings were known personally by the respondents. In other words, the experience of close connection and impressions of good service are linked.

Experiences that expand horizons

Human beings enjoy learning new skills and being exposed to new experiences. It makes life interesting and expands our horizons. It’s good for self-esteem. Keep that affinity for learning in mind as you discuss your product or service with prospects as you simultaneously show respect for their expertise.

The process of acknowledging the prospect’s skill set, I.e., mastery, and providing a learning opportunity starts when you offer the choice of potential solutions to the problem or pathways to achieving the goal, as noted above.

When you are hired to work on a project (another empowering choice that the prospect, now a client, gets to make) and carrying out the client’s preferred solution, you can as well satisfy the (unspoken) desire to learn by giving him/her an inside look at how you apply the solution and make it work. For your client, this can appeal to the desire to keep his/her skills up to date in a rapidly changing economy and workplace.

What might these findings tell us about the rising popularity of marketing automation? Freelancers and other business owners have used the software to facilitate engagement and bring in point-of- service online sales. New and returning clients have gravitated to contactless interactions where, other than choice, psychological motives are not addressed.

Since 70% of Friedman’s survey respondents feel positively about customer service interactions when they are handled by someone they know, that does leave 30% who are OK working with someone they don’t know (contactless engagement). Also, the power of choice remains, which is an important factor for most.

Finally, prospects who explore your products and services on your website or social media platforms always have the option to contact you (or your team) and initiate direct conversations when choice, connection that may lead to relatedness and learning opportunities that expand mastery can take place.

Thanks for reading and welcome spring!

Kim

Image: © Netflix/ Mark Bourdillon. L-R Matt Lucas, Prue Leith, Paul Hollywood and Noel Fielding of The Great British Baking Show illustrate our unspoken desires.

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Speed Date: How to Connect With Clients Faster

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Time is money and relationships matter. Those sometimes conflicting realities must be confronted when, for example, you meet someone who may become a prospective client by chance, maybe at a business association meeting or even at a backyard barbecue. Somehow you two start talking and along with names and what brought each of you to the event, what each of you does for a living is revealed and it’s an aha! moment. As luck would have it, your new acquaintance is looking for a talented Freelancer with your kind of expertise to get an upcoming project done. Excellent!—now how do you connect quickly and start the process of establishing trust and rapport with someone you’ve only just met?

Building a relationship that you’d like to expand to include business requires finesse. It may be off-putting to appear to rush things but if you don’t move it along, your opportunity to do business may stall out.

Because you’ve only just met, each of you is an unknown quantity to the other. You’ve shared only cursory information but a spark has been ignited. The next step a successful Freelancer takes is to swiftly move to build a connection with this intriguing person. Happily, there are a few effective and easily executed hacks that in short order can help you steer the relationship in the right direction and avoid a cringeworthy scene as you do.

1. Repeat after me

Your prospect wants to know that you understand what s/he needs your product or service to deliver. There are simple and intuitive ways to convey that you “get it” as you and your prospect discuss the possibility of doing business.

One good way is to confirm that you’re on the same wavelength is to incorporate, that is, repeat, a few key words or short phrases that your prospect uses to describe what s/he wants to achieve. Do that and you’ll communicate to the prospect that you two literally speak the same language.

2. Feel their pain

Empathy is an essential component of every healthy relationship. When your goal is to fast- track a serendipitous meeting and build it into a mutually beneficial experience, acknowledge the urgency, excitement, importance, concern and/ or stress that motivates your prospect to seek a solution and demonstrate that you not only understand what s/he wants to achieve, and why, but you also validate his/her reasoning and judgment.

What motivates your prospect to obtain a solution and address the matter may be a problem to solve or a success to celebrate. While in conversation, your job is to affirm good news or encourage a prospect who faces a challenge. Either way, describe how your product or service can expertly and efficiently either save the day or maximize a happy occasion.

3. Sum it up

Confirm your understanding of what your prospect would like to achieve with the assistance of your products or services and you’ll boost the prospect’s confidence as you do. The budding relationship will strengthen as your prospect’s confidence, trust and comfort level grows. Sum up the points made by yourself and the prospect, distilling and paraphrasing what each of you has said, and confirm that you see the big picture of what your prospect has in mind and your capability to fulfill the objectives.

If for some reason either of you has misinterpreted or omitted some relevant information, a correction and reconfirmation can be quickly made. Showing the prospect that you’ve listened and understand his/ her priorities, concerns and goals is, BTW, a compliment and a sign of respect. Your prospect will know that s/he has been heard and that his/her feelings, judgment, priorities and goals are valued.

4. Next steps

While your prospect is basking in the glow of having found a capable, trustworthy, good-natured problem-solver who appears to be someone with whom s/ he can connect and work successfully, suggest that the two of you schedule a face2face or video meeting. It is in your interest to move the process steadily forward and into substantive talks. You have business to discuss!

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: In 1977, actress Marlo Thomas was invited to be interviewed on The Phil Donahue (talk) Show. I watched the episode and it was something to see! No doubt about it, Phil and Marlo connected in a live broadcast from Chicago. The couple married in 1980. They live in Manhattan.

Professional Development , Leave a comment

Board Service Is A Win-Win

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Creating and recognizing networking opportunities is a subject often addressed in this column, as regular readers know. One networking method that’s been less frequently discussed is serving on a not-for-profit organization board of directors or committee. I’ve served on half dozen boards over the years and have found the experiences to be rewarding, especially in terms of professional development and filling my network with smart, fun and interesting people. If time allows, I recommend that you consider serving on a board. To confirm that your role will be a good fit, you might first volunteer to provide day-of help at a special event sponsored by an organization whose mission is meaningful to you. If the volunteer experiment goes well, then inquire about joining a committee before making a commitment to join the board.

Serving on a not-for-profit board of directors or committee can potentially bring long-lasting personal and professional benefits. It’s a decision that you’re unlikely to regret. The ability to help an organization realize its vision and mission is tremendously rewarding. Service as a not-for-profit board or committee member inevitably involve responsibilities that teach you how other organizations operate. Board and committee service or other pro bono work can also enable you to develop or reclaim competencies either within or outside of your primary skill set. Board members are sure to learn more about marketing, governance, finance, branding, recruiting and managing volunteers. In some instances, your board or committee may embark on a project on behalf of the organization that calls for members to meet or collaborate with local politicians or community leaders.

Prospective clients, especially those who adhere to the growing corporate social responsibility movement, will be pleased to see your record of board service and other pro bono activities when they review your curriculum vitae, bio, or social media profiles. You may discover that you can “do well by doing good.”

When seriously considering board or committee service, remember to ask questions that clarify what will be expected of you. For example, ask how often, when and where board meetings are held and whether there will be business to conduct between meetings. You’ll also want to confirm the length of your term.

Since fundraising is a standard part of not-for-profit organizations, board members are almost always expected to participate in fundraising in some fashion. That often starts with a financial contribution that may have a suggested minimum amount.

Be aware that not-for-profit boards sometimes look for additional members because there are problems in the organization. Other motivating factors may be a pending major fundraising campaign or big project that’s on the horizon. Make it a point to have a frank discussion with a board member whom you trust about any current or past problems within the organization or with other board members. You’ll also want to know if the organization is financially healthy and whether there are any pending lawsuits.

There are caveats—-walk in with your eyes open. The benefits of board service typically include:

1. Exercise team working skills: Offer to chair a committee and you’ll quickly position yourself as a leader. Not only will fellow board and committee members appreciate your initiative, but you’ll also be able to fine-tune your group dynamics competencies as you work to motivate people who are not being paid to fulfill their roles so that your committee goals will be achieved. It’s called volunteer management and it is a subtle art!

2. Improve decision-making skills: It seems as though the appearance of the coronavirus and the subsequent year-long (or thereabouts) shutdown has caused nearly every organization to reassess and regroup because customers, donors and patrons have reevaluated their priorities. Inflation and the threat of recession have in some cases eroded the donor base and/or the patron or customer bases. Organizations must be nimble and resourceful. Leadership teams, staff and board, must understand risk management—risks to take and risks to avoid. Smart decision-making has never been more important.

3. Sharpen financial management skills: As a board member, you are responsible for the organization’s fiscal health. The ability to analyze the monthly financial documents and interpret the story that they reveal is a critical skill. Parsing the financials in board meetings, even if you are “only” listening to the board’s finance committee chair or treasurer giving reports, will improve your ability to understand and interpret your own businesses’ financial documents and improve the financial management and oversight at your own venture.

4. Gain the confidence to fund raise: In not-for-profit organizations, donor cultivation is a must. Many people, however, are uncomfortable with asking for money. Remember that recruiting donations is no different than asking for a customer’s business. It’s all about believing in your organization’s mission and relying on that trust and confidence to coax yourself into asking a donor to make a financial commitment to the cause.

5. Revitalize seldom used skills and develop new ones: Doing what you know is the most natural way to demonstrate your value to the board or committee, but it’s an exciting growth opportunity when you dare to try new things. Board or committee service is a safe place to take chances, something we cannot often do in our paid professions. Stepping into a role that requires you to reactivate a seldom-used skill or learn a new competency that you find interesting will enhance your commitment to and enjoyment of your board or committee service. Just do it!

6. Building relationships and networking

In your tenure as a board of directors or committee member you are almost guaranteed to meet successful and interesting professionals, some active and some retired. Your fellow board and committee members may hold, or have held, mid-level or senior positions in the for-profit or not-for-profit sectors. Others may be Freelance solopreneurs or entrepreneurs who launched and operate their own enterprise.

With your fellow board and committee members, you will discuss routine business, puzzle through decisions that solve problems, strategize to take advantage of opportunities and in general, work collaboratively to keep the organization relevant and preparing for the future. As this happens, you business acumen, judgment, resourcefulness, creativity, work ethic and EQ will be on display.

A fellow board or committee member may grow to trust you enough to introduce you to a colleague who is in need of your skill set, whether as a Freelance consultant or a full- time employee. You may do the same for another board or committee member. Boards are all about building relationships and that is the primary gateway to success.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Professional Development Leave a comment

How to Dazzle at Your Next Speaking Gig

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Getting out in front of an audience is one of the best and most efficient ways to network. Approach the podium and the spotlight will shine on you! Everyone in the room will want to meet you and exchange a few words. Inevitably, some will ask to exchange cards and request follow-up conversation.

Taking on a keynote speaking role instantly lends credibility, showcasing you as a an expert in your field and a trusted source of information. Freelancers, owners of business ventures of every size and corporate and not-for-profit organizaton leaders understand that speaking engagements introduce them and their organization to colleagues, potential clients or donors, influencers, referral sources, potential investors, or strategic partners.

Some are intimidated by the thought of speaking before a group of people, no matter how well-versed they are in the subject matter. Public speaking is not a natural activity for everyone. Nevertheless, for those who hold or aspire to a leadership role of some sort, public speaking comes with the territory.

The good news is that public speaking is skill that can be learned. Those who make the effort to develop the skill will be happy to realize that the more you do it, the more proficient and comfortable you’ll become. Consider it professional development. Also encouraging to know is that like learning any skill, breaking the components down into manageable “chunks” and tackling them one by one prevents you from feeling overwhelmed and helps you to learn.

Keep it simple

Be considerate to your audience by making your talk both informative and relatable. Let the audience govern the content of your talk. In particular, unless you’ll address an industry group, avoid technical jargon—it’s not the best way to show off what you know. Not only does high-falutin’ tech speak bore most listeners, it doesn’t convince anyone of your expertise or insights into the topic.

To make your subject engaging for an audience, using easily understood language is the most effective way to demonstrate your grasp of the subject . The most important thing about your talk is that the audience “gets it.” Keeping your things simple allows you to control the flow, no matter which way it goes,” says Maria Thimothy of Forbes Magazine Young Entrepreneur Council.

Shape the story

Rather than composing your entire speech ahead of time, write out key concepts you want to emphasize and then rehearse, using those key points as a focus. You’ll find that by allowing room for flexibility, it will be easier to adjust your talk to the mood of the room and your talk will be better received. For example, if you sense that you’ve lost the attention of some in the audience, you might pose a question or slip in a joke or reference to some happening in the news as a way to re-engage them.

Own the stage

A presentation is more than words. Audience members expect the speaker to be an expert in his/her field who possesses knowledge and experience that will inform and enlighten those who’ve come to listen. Additionally, the speaker’s intention may be to rally audience members with a compelling Call-to-Action that inspires them to demonstrate their support of a cause. To achieve these objectives, public speakers must be both highly competent and also confident.

The successful speaker makes it known that s/he is worthy of the audiences’ trust and respect not only by way of the content of the talk but also in body language and demeanor. It is important for a public speaker to develop stage presence.

  • Power stance

How one stands is a strong indicator of that person’s confidence and mindset. When facing an audience, the speaker should hold a strong and steady position. The feet will be shoulder width apart, with knees relaxed and not locked. The spine will be comfortably erect and the neck and shoulders will also be relaxed.

With this posture the speaker signals that s/he has important information to share and that s/he feels confident. In a 2012 TEDGlobal talk Your Body Language Shapes Who Your Are, social psychologist Amy Cuddy sparked a sensation when she modeled this and other so-called “power poses.”

In a 2013 Harvard Business Review article, TED Curator Chris Anderson seconded Cuddy when he noted that the most common mistake made by inexperienced or nervous speakers is the inability to maintain a solid, stationary posture. Swaying or fidgeting works against the ability to communicate confidence. Anderson noted that “Simply getting a person to keep his or her lower body motionless can dramatically improve stage presence.”

  • Eye contact

Making eye contact is important for maintaining dynamic interaction with the audience. It’s another reason to avoid memorizing your speech and instead focusing on the key points you want to emphasize

To incorporate good eye contact, Chris Anderson recommends finding five or six friendly-looking faces in different parts of an audience, then making eye contact with them as you speak. “Even if you don’t have time to prepare fully and have to read from a script, looking up and making eye contact will make a huge difference,” he advised.

  • Vocal power

When you think about it, the human voice is like a musical intrument. What is singing? You can learn to use your voice as if you are playing a musical instrument, to increase your vocal power and persuasiveness, whether you’re giving a speech or having a conversation.  You can learn to adjust your vocal pitch, volume and speed in a way that allows audience members to follow your talk and want to hear more.

The primary lessons are to keep your tone of voice conversational, enunciate your words clearly and speak somewhat more slowly. When you slow down your speech somewhat, your voice will take on more power and you’ll sound more authoritative. Another benefit of slowing down your speech is that it gives your listeners the opportunity to absorb and reflect on what you’re saying.

Another useful public speaking vocal technique is to include strategically placed pauses when you’ve made an especially salient point to let the information sink in and resonate. Tape your rehearsals and play back to assess your vocal delivery and make adjustments where necessary.

  • Dynamic opening

Attention spans and patience seem to get shorter every month. In the Twitter, TikTok, jump-cut to the chase media hyped world we inhabit, engaging an audience has become more challenging than it was even a few years ago. Those is search of an audience have had to become more inventive.

So try this tactic—rather than opening your talk with the usual trite and predictable ritual of thanking the person who introduced you and then greeting the audience and asking everyone how they’re doing, dare to do the unexpected. Why not simply take the stage and look at audience, as you pause for a beat to create a frisson of tension. Then, launch your talk with a fact or a story that is surprising, if not shocking. You might begin with a tale in which you or someone else is in a moment of crisis. Make a confession. Say something in that very first line that both demands attention and is entirely relevant to the rest of your speech.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©  PA Archive/Press Association Images. Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) speaking at Blythe Road, Hammersmith, London February1949. Churchill served twice as UK Prime Minister, 1940-1945 and 1951-1955.

Survival Strategies Leave a comment

Manage Your Time, Manage Your Mood

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According to Philip G. Levendusky, Ph.D., Director of the Psychology Department at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA, “Those who struggle with time management are more likely to experience stress, sleep issues, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. They may also start to exhibit symptoms of workplace burnout.” Time management is now recognized as a vital soft skill that impacts not just your professional (and personal) life, but also your health.

Moreover, if establishing success in just about any part of life is a goal, you’ll be greatly assisted by well-developed time management skills. The inability to effectively manage time means, frankly, that life will be more difficult because you won’t be able to get things done. Your plans may never get beyond the drawing board.

When you can’t get things done colleagues and friends, to say nothing of clients, may enjoy your company, but may simultaneously label you as undependable and perhaps also frustrating. Those who can’t appropriately manage their time often don’t have the best reputation. That managing time is a way to avoid hassles, frustration, embarrasment, disappointment and other aggravations that feed both stress and low self-esteem is, I’m afraid, not obvious to everyone.

Freelancers know that when there is a deadline to meet good time management, which involves prioritizing and planning, is essential. Time management is part of your brand and when it’s lacking, you can’t call yourself trustworthy or dependable.

As part of your strategy to make Freelance consulting projects efficient and pleasant for yourself, your team and your clients, it’s important to be mindful of where and how to devote time. Not only will you achieve optimal productivity, you’ll enhance your (everyone’s!) health. Here’s how time management can help you minimize or avoid professional difficulties, personal disappointments and affective mood disorders.

Decrease stress

Recent research found that nearly 57% of U.S. and Canadian workers reported that they feel stressed on a daily basis, an 8-point increase from the year prior, compared to 43% of working people worldwide. Stress, worry, sadness and anger rates have been trending upward in the U.S. since 2009.

Numerous horrific and all-too-often deadly acts of workplace violence demonstrate that undeniable finding. During the coronavirus shutdown and its aftershocks, stress was further increased by concerns over the virus and risk of illness, conflict associated with families grappling with WFH and at-home schooling and financial insecurities. Prolonged stress can cause a wide range of negative health outcomes. Related physical effects include sleep difficulties, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression and habits such as procrastination, over- eating, a depressed appetite, or excessive drinking.

Effectively manage your time and give yourself as much control over your schedule as possible. Smart time management helps you find, or create, blocks of free time that can be spent relaxing and enjoying yourself by participating in whatever physical fitness or relaxation activities make the stress you’ve been feeling melt away.

Reduce anxiety

The most common mental health issues today are anxiety disorders and (reactive) depression. The pandemic has increased their occurrence. Globally, depression affects 3.8% of the population, according to the World Health Organization. Approximately 30% of U.S. adults will experience an anxiety disorder during their lifetime, according to another study.

Time management and anxiety are intertwined—-poor time management can result in missed deadlines and missed deadlines are known to result in anxiety (and stress). Prolonged feelings of anxiety may bring about symptoms that signal depression, such as low energy, mood swings, irritability and an overall negative attitude. To address noticeable feelings of anxiety or depression, speak with your primary care physician or a mental health care provider.

Your time management skills can help reduce anxiety and distress (depression requires professional care). So if improving work- life balance is something you’d like to do, especially in light of the prevalence of WFH work schedules, time management skills can help you to establish useful boundaries. Meaning, when it’s time to prepare and enjoy dinner, whether alone or with family, flexing your time management muscle makes it easier to turn off your phone and avoid responding to work-related messages when it’s more important to let yourself have some battery recharging downtime.

Avoid burnout

Ongoing workplace stress can leave you feeling not just anxious, but also overwhelmed, inadequate, irritable and resentful—burned out. The World Health Organization classifies burnout as an extreme form of stress that is associated with mental and physical exhaustion, cynical attitudes, emotional withdrawal, difficulty with concentration and focus and diminished productivity and professionalism at work.

Yet another benefit of time management is that it makes you acknowledge how much work you can take on in a given day or week. As noted earlier, time management supports your establishment of healthy boundaries, making it easier to turn down potential demands on your time when you already have a full plate (work or leisure).

Improve your mood and attitude

Maintaining a positive frame of mind will be difficult if you suffer from high stress, anxiety, resentment, depression, or burnout. Time management is not a cure-all for the challenges you face. Still, as a readily available first line of defense, time management can be your go-to strategy when organizing your life is necessary.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Courtesy of Harold Lloyd Entertainment. Actor Harold Lloyd (1893-1971, pictured) in the 1923 silent film classic Safety Last.

Survival Strategies , , , , , Leave a comment

Pulling Out of A Slump

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It can be argued that periodic downturns are endemic to the business cycle. Companies large and small will eventually suffer through a downturn, a slump, in sales revenues and profit. A slump is always worrisome but some are seasonable and therefore predictable. That means you can prepare.

Landscaping services expect the demand for lawn and garden maintenance to drop during the winter months. To supplement cash-flow and position the company for year-round customer value, owners of landscaping concerns are known to retool for snow removal when gardens are dormant.

But for most businesses, unfortunately, a slump will occur unexpectedly and for no immediately obvious reason, such as the appearance of a competitor or a difficult economy. If the struggling business is to survive, corrective action must be taken soon. Reversing a sales trend that’s negative or flat is a formidable challenge, a high-stakes test of the resoucefulness and strategic vision of the company leadership. A turnaound, rather a bigger deal than a pivot, may be needed to turn the tide. Or not.

Freelancers typically do not have the financial wherewithal to bring in a management consultant to diagnose the problem and recommend solutions. Freelance consultants need a Do It Yourself remedy and that’s what we’ll talk about today. As usual, the solution you seek will probably be found in data and knowledge you already own and have access to. Your company’s Key Performance Indicators (determine which ones tell the story) and revelations shared by your customers will most likely steer you to both the correct diagnosis plus cost-effective strategies to halt the slump and stimulate revenue.

When to respond

A slump may be a sudden or gradual phenomenon and caused by any number of factors, including a national or regional economic downturn, the introduction of a compelling new technology, a large-scale health crisis, even a vote in your state legislature. If your top line gross revenues show a decline of 10 % or more (or flatline) for three consecutive months and you are unable to understand why revenue is dropping, recognize that your business is in a slump and you cannot ignore the problem.

The cause

If you’re in a slump, it’s important to identify the cause (single or plural). Did something happen in the industry, or in the local or national economy (like a widespread or a war)? Has business been adversely impacted by the shift to Work From Home, because your customers are no longer in the office five days a week and connecting with them has become difficult? Whatever the cause may be, it’s important to know what went wrong and decide if a work-around would make sense, or if a fundamental change should be made. In some cases, it will be necessary to assess your entire operation. It will be wise to consider the following possibilities:

  • Evolving customer tastes or priorities
  • Business model weakness
  • Powerful competitor
  • Economic factors

The cure

You will likely find that customer feedback is essential to the discovery process. Seeking out the wisdom that your customers can provide will guarantee that you’ll develop a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of the marketplace and that understanding will lead to an effective solution. A more nuanced understanding of the marketplace can also help you to develop products and services that customers actually want and need.

When preparing to reach out to your customers, make contact through various channels—emails, call-outs in your blog or newsletter, calls-to-action posted to your website and social media platforms. Customer surveys and invitations to join (30-60 minute) conference or video calls can yield a wealth of boots-on-the-ground insights and you’ll be almost certain to obtain actionable information. Reddit, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are ideal venues for this type of research. For example, Twitter Spaces is a feature that allows users to create a chatroom-like environment with a group of people.

Keep in mind, however, that while customer feedback can be very helpful as you search for the cause of your business slump and can as well be very useful as you engineer a pivot or a turnaround for the business, blindly following customer suggestions is not recommended. The customers’ money is not on the line and neither do they see the big picture of the business and its challenges-—you do. Have the confidence to use your own judgment and expertise to make what you interpret as the best decisions for your entity.

In sum, good KPI data and customer feedback should be essential components of any business’s intention to understand and resolve a significant business challenge. An assessment of business conditions, industry trends and customer feedback re: their priorities, goals and preferences can inform any tweaking of products or services you might undertake, the pivot or turnaround you may follow to pull the business back from the brink and position your venture for the greatest success its ever experienced.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © AF Archive/Alamy. John Dimech (as Daud) struggles to escape quicksand in Lawrence of Arabia (1962).