Decision Making 101 for Entrepreneurs - Taking Accountability

One of the most important things that I expect of people (any myself) is accountability.  We’ve all gone through ups and downs in our lives, both personally and professionally.  We’ve all made mistakes and said and done things that maybe weren’t the wisest choices.  But how can you expect to learn from those decisions if you don’t own up to them in the first place?

As a business owner, you make decisions all day, every day.  It’s sometimes hard to know what decisions are the “right” decisions because sometimes there is no “right” or “wrong” choice, just a subjective choice.  Here are some tips on how to make decisions that you can feel confident about and will be able to own up to no matter the outcome.

1.       Make your decisions based on your key core principles.  For me, if I am questioned about the decisions I have made, I want to know that the decision I made was based on honesty, accountability, and responsibility.  If my choices don’t fit those criteria, then I need to keep thinking until a decision can be reached that will fit those criteria.

2.       Keep other people in mind.  If you have the responsibility of being the final decision maker on an issue, think about who will ultimately be affected by this decision.  Is it a change to a process that will affect customer service?  If it is, then you’ll need to keep in mind how the customers will feel about the change and take into consideration your front line staff who will have to implement this change.

3.       Don’t worry about what other people think.  I know this sounds contradictory to what I just said, but let me explain.  Every decision you make in life will not only affect you, but everyone around you.  However, not everyone is going to agree with your decision or support it.  You will never be able to please everybody.  I know it’s hard to hear people tell you that you’re wrong or that you screwed up.  Everyone is going to have their opinions but as long as you are confident with your final decisions, not everyone’s opinions are going to matter.

4.       It’s okay to change your mind.  People make mistakes.  If you see that the choice you made was a wrong choice, don’t let your pride get in the way of making a better choice.  Too often people hold onto their decisions out of sheer stubbornness.  But this is where some of your accountability comes in.  If you made a mistake, own up to it, apologize if need be, make a different choice, learn from it, and move on.

Strong leaders are people who can make important decisions on the fly but are also confident enough in themselves and their abilities to be held accountable for their decisions.  They don’t let pride or stubbornness or greed get in the way of making decisions that have a positive impact on their organizations.  So, as you go about your day today, making decisions all day long, keep these points in mind.  Remember that you are a role model for your staff.  Be accountable to that.

Make Work-Life Balance a Priority Over The Holidays

Christmas is my favourite time of the year.  Cooking, baking and wrapping presents with my family are experiences I will remember forever.  But as an entrepreneur, a wife and a mom, I sometimes don’t feel like I have enough hours in the day.  Now that my kids are home from school for the holidays it really becomes a balancing act of priorities.

Business owners all across the country struggle with the juggling act every day.  But I’ve started to look at things from a different perspective lately.  I used to get stressed out easily trying to be too many things to too many people.  Then I suddenly had a “light bulb moment” and realized that I was trying to please everyone else, but I was miserable.  I started to take stock of the things that were absolute priorities in my life.  I did some de-cluttering of my life and really made a conscious effort to focus on only the things that were really important to me.

For me that means raising my children the best that I can, loving my husband just the way he is, growing my business through dedicated daily effort, surrounding myself with people who are loving and supportive, and being the best friend I can be to the people who genuinely mean the most to me.

So, as you can see my business is a major priority for me.  But it’s not my only priority.  As we soon head into the New Year I have a clearer focus on my future now that I have gotten rid of the clutter.  I have discovered that when I make myself happy, I am less stressed out which in turn make the other people around me happy.  As an entrepreneur you never stop thinking about your business but over the next few days, take the time to put business thoughts aside for a while and really focus on the people in your life.

Merry Christmas everyone!

In memory of Allen Wayne Latham (1947-2001)

Reaching Life's Milestones

Reaching important milestones is a big part of life.  Now that the kids are back in school and focused on their school work and activities it’s time for us to refocus, to set goals and to reach for some of our own milestones in life.  About a month ago, I celebrated a very big milestone in my career.  My company, Small Business Marketing Solutions celebrated its first birthday!! 

Over the past year in business I have learned a lot about myself and what I’m capable of achieving.  And anyone who has a dream but doesn’t think they have what it takes should read these lessons learned and know that you can absolutely achieve anything you set your mid to.

1.       Don’t let anyone stand in your way.  A year ago there was a person in our community who was hell-bent on destroying me.  Because my career hinges on my reputation, I was terrified of what other people thought of me, especially those that had never met me.  I soon learned that the vast majority of people actually wanted me to succeed.  I had given way too much power to this one person and I needed to regain that power back.  So, as scary as it was, with my head held high I mustered up the courage to make some really key phone calls and I walked into meetings and networking events with confidence.

2.       Believe in yourself and others will too.  When you believe in your abilities and what you have to offer, you will attract other like-minded, positive people.  If you honestly believe that you are capable of providing an exceptional product or service, don’t be afraid to share that with everyone.  But there is a difference between having confidence and being full of yourself.  Confident people just exude that confidence and positive people are drawn to them.  They don’t go looking for admiration from anyone who will give it to them. 

3.       Persevere when things get tough.  I knew that going into this business was not going to be easy.  Having kids to take care of and bills to pay along with juggling work responsibilities is part of the world we live in today where the vast majority of women work outside the home.  I’m not going to say it’s easy to balance it all, but keep your goals in mind in everything you do.  Just keep plugging through, giving 100% in everything you do, whether it be your business, your finances, your family, or your friendships.

4.       Stay focused on your goals.  Sometimes it’s difficult to remember why you started this venture in the first place.  I knew that going into this I was opening the only marketing communications consulting firm north of Sudbury.  My goal was to give small businesses throughout northern Ontario the opportunity to adequately plan their marketing strategies with the assistance of a local marketing firm who understood their needs.  Just because we’re a little off the beaten path doesn’t mean that businesses in this area shouldn’t have access to the same resources as businesses in other areas of the country.  Keeping that focus top of mind throughout the year has helped me stay on track as to why I chose to start this company.

 

5.       Don’t settle for less.  Don’t sell yourself short.  Setting goals and achieving them is what keeps me motivated to do more.  I may not have achieved all of my goals by the timeframe I had originally set out but that doesn’t mean I’ll never reach them.  It may just take a little longer to do that.  I know what I want to achieve in my life, my career and my business.  And there is no way I’m going to settle for anything less.  I have goals set, but more importantly I have a plan of action to achieve those goals.

6.       Build a strong support system.  This may sound harsh, but there are people in your life right now that are weighing you down.  Surround yourself with people who genuinely care about your success, people who you can bounce ideas off of, people who will share in your big moments and be there to listen when things start going south.  I’ve had to part ways with “Negative Nellies” and I’ve been fortunate to have found people in the business community who have become real champions of my business.  The friends I have are people who genuinely like me for who I am and want to be friends with me.  I don’t hide my emotions well, so I don’t have patience for phony people.  But the one person I know that is always backing me up is my husband.  Having been together for 12 years, our marriage has been through a lot of good and a lot of not so good.  I don’t do this job (or anything else for that matter) for the recognition, but it’s nice to know that at the end of the day, someone is proud of me.

I once had someone tell me that they admired me for having the guts to start my own business.  I never really looked at it as having the guts to do something that other people may be afraid to do.  But it really does take a certain personality to run a successful business.  Not everyone is cut out for it, nor do they want to.  But if you’re anything like me and you want to make a contribution to business community in any way, just go for it.