Have you asked for help today? This week?

I was at an event for Entrepreneurial Moms earlier this week.  It was me, getting out of my comfort zone and trying to network.  Sigh.  Talking to strangers.  Not my strength.  But I did it.

The speaker was Paula Pyne of Uplift! Consulting (http://upliftconsulting.com/) and she was great.  My take away from her talk and the group's contributions - which won me a 30 minute consultation with Uplift! Consulting - was the need to ask for help.  A common theme for me and my life is the need, or maybe it is just a perceived need, to do it all myself.  Sometimes it is based on the perception that no one can do it as well as me, or it would take too long to show someone how to do something, or that I don't really trust others.  Lots of issues for me to address in there, that's for certain.  However, what I have noticed over the past little while, as I try to get my business up and running, is that if you ask, people generally will help.  That's right.  Ask and you will receive.  It's biblical and true.  Some examples:

Need to have a poster reviewed because it doesn't look quite right and you can't articulate everything that makes it unappealing to the eye?  Ask your good friend who is a Marketing guru.  It only took her a few minutes to point out what bugged me and would have taken a lot longer to figure out.  Thank you.  I am truly grateful for your help.

Need a mentor to help get through the first few months of start-up craziness?  Did you know that your neighbour/friend has a sister-in-law who owns two successful franchises in a different line of business and is more than willing to share her wisdom?  She had someone help her in the early days, too, and wants to give someone the same hand up that she received.  Phew!  I'm glad I caught the bus downtown that day and we got into conversation.  I am looking forward to our coffee/tea/beverage of choice and the rich conversation we will have.

Sometimes help is offered and you just have to accept it!  For example, my small business banker is responsible for scheduling the small business showcase area at two branches of TD Bank.  I am now set up to have a display and a ballot box where I will be giving away three hours of professional cleaning for clients at one branch in March and another in July.  I didn't rest on that, though.  I know someone who works for TD Bank and I have asked her if she has a showcase table and who I should talk to about booking it.

If you want to gain momentum, ask for help.  People want to help.  It makes them feel good, too.

Purveyors of Happiness

That's what it says on the box of Butlers chocolates that our house guest gave me:  


Butlers
PURVEYORS OF HAPPINESS


From freedictionary.com:  
Purveyor:  a person or thing that habitually provides or supplies a particular thing or quality
Happiness:  state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy


Can you imagine having that as your mission in life?  Can you imagine if we all had the goal of providing others with happiness on a regular basis?

Getting Focus

Here's an excerpt from an article by Kim DeYoung called "Smart Start-up Tips: How to Get Out of Entrepreneurial Overwhelm and Get More Done" that I wanted to be able to find later... you know... when things are so crazy I don't know which way is up.


So how do you figure out WHICH project will create the best results?

When I think of “getting it done,” it’s not just getting done the junky, to-do list kind of stuff. We all have piles of stuff to do. Here are some questions that will help you determine whether a particular project should be a priority for you this year.

Ask yourself…

• Will this project generate momentum in my business? (Choose a project that will open up the bottleneck and give your business a real jumpstart. For example, do you need to focus on generating income, list-building, gaining credibility as an expert, etc.?)

• Does this project mesh with the vision I have for my business? (Think about the big picture of what you want to accomplish over the next year. Where do you want your business to be and will this project help you get there faster?)

• Will this project make a meaningful difference for me and for those I serve? (Don’t be distracted by the bright shiny object – something that sounds fun or that everyone else is doing, but won’t really benefit YOUR business.)

• Is this project fun and purpose-filled? (It needs to be something you believe in and you’re excited about or you’ll lose steam before you get it done.)

• Is this project big enough? (Choose something that scares you a little bit, and gets you out of your comfort zone.)

When you’ve got a clear vision on the project that will really make a difference you’ll find that you’re more focused and more committed. As a result, you serve a lot more people, increase your income and get out there in a bigger way. That is what I experienced – all good things.

Looking Forward to 2011!

Today is the last day of 2010 and what a year it has been!

The theme of the year was completing my MBA coursework.  And, for the most part, it is done.  (There is this irritating, niggly thing we have to do for our Global Strategy prof, but he has completely disappointed me as a professor - cannot meet his self-imposed commitments nor does he provide clear direction, he's too busy making comments on Twitter and trying to be "Queen Street cool" - and I have no energy left to spend on him.)  The highlights included the Creativity and Innovation session in January, writing my last exam (was that Finance? it's all a blur), Strategic Electives in Kingston and meeting a whole new bunch of people, our global business trip to Germany, and working with the fine folks at Laurier House National Historic Site.  My family members have been exceptionally supportive of me during this time, which I have appreciated and probably not said enough over the year.

This coming year, I plan to acquire the Barrhaven-Nepean territory for Concierge Home Services.  We're just going through our due diligence right now.  I have my bank loan lined up, I have a lawyer (who has reviewed the franchise agreement) and a potential accountant, and I have a few people who want to be my employees. We just need to get a seal of approval (they have to say they like me) and I'll go spend the money to create my corporation (see? I learned something in my MBA studies).  We should be good to go about two weeks later.  I am looking forward to it!

In the meantime, I am going to spend the day relaxing while the snow melts on this unseasonably warm day.

Happy New Year!

On Being an Entrepreneur

Some snippets:

In my last day of classes, our program director came around and had a few words for each of us.  For me, he said that he thought that people would love working for me and that I would be a great entrepreneur.

My horoscope for today:  "If you haven't been feeling it already, today you should really start to sense that there's a new beginning right around the corner. New ideas, new situations and -- most importantly -- new people are going to start influencing your life in some challenging, but wonderful ways. You'll be asked to reach deep down and gather up the best of what you have to offer. It's time to grow in a new direction, so be open to suggestions and recommendations."

What's been going on:

What I have been working on over the past few weeks is the purchase of a home cleaning franchise.  Seems odd that I might do this, but the work is pretty much what I have been doing for most of my career:  human resources.  There is going to be a lot of hiring going on.  Partly for the startup of the business, partly because it can be a transitional role that people take to make ends meet.  The pay will be reasonable at about $15/hour. If you are only paying minimum wage, you don't get quality people doing quality work, so pay should reflect it.

I have been looking into grants and loans.  There are a bunch of companies out there ready to take your cash just to tell you what the grants and loans programs are.  Sheesh.  I did find one, however, that is the actual "granting" institution.  And I made sure that they would consider granting funds to support the purchase of a brand new franchise.  (The criteria for some programs deliberately excludes franchises.)  So this works for the home cleaning franchise, but would not work for a Canadian Tire Dealership.

I have lined up a lawyer to look over the franchise agreement and to do the articles of incorporation.  Yep.  I decided the company should be incorporated.  Now I need to think of a name.

I Am Thinking About Writing A Book

I feel this need to write.  Part of it comes from the little tickle I got inside when I got my grade and comments back from my IT Reflections Journal.  The comment that warmed my heart was: "A joy to read!"

The prof was a stickler for format and style.  For example, many times, my team got dinged a point for offering 5 recommendations instead of the required 4.  Or we enhanced a submission in another way.  And the commentary on our submissions was very direct, almost harsh.  (Word of advice to future classes:  just follow his plan, make it a template, do not go over in word count or elements delivered.  You MIGHT get more than 6 out of 7.5.  I make no promises though.)

Having already figured out the "stickler-ness" of this particular course by the time the reflections journal was due, I took a risk by not precisely following the format that was prescribed.  I also took a risk by not sending a sample of my work to him in advance for him to critique.  When I wrote my reflections journal, I wrote from the heart.  I held his structure in the back of my mind (e.g.: describe the theory, come up with a current example, critique it), but when the writing started, I deleted my template.  Oh yes, I had created a template with headings and everything.  This template was going to save me from getting burned like I had experienced with the team memos.

Aside:  6/7.5 is 80%...  This is not a bad grade, it just wasn't a grade that we aspired to... Despite having a team norm that said "Grades are not everything, it's the learning that is important", we strove for excellence which was measured in the form of grades.  Eventually we realized he rarely gives grades higher than 80%, reduced our level of effort, continued to get 80%, and made jokes about it every time we got an assignment back.

At the end of the day, I threw caution to the wind and just wrote about what I knew about IT in five journal entries.  Again, it was very difficult to get much higher than 80%.  (I got 25/30... That's 5/6 for each component of his scoring rubric.)  My true and only reward was the last comment:  "A joy to read!"

Pondering My Creativity

When we embarked on this EMBA experience, there were things that had to be let go for a while.  Many people gave up watching television.  Others gave up their hobbies.  As someone who rarely watched television, I fell into the latter category.


I gave up a variety of hobbies that would take on lives of their own with me at the centre.  I used to get started on a project and lose track of time.  It was only the blurring of my tired eyes that would remind me that it was 2am and I had to get up for work at 6am...  These projects included sewing quilts and bags (and dresses when my munchkins were babies), knitting afghans and sweaters, and paper arts (water colouring, rubber stamping, greeting card design).  I have several incomplete projects just waiting for me.  Patiently sitting in a corner.  Or in a box.  Or on my desk.  Or on the floor beside my desk.  Not minding the dust that has settled on them over the past 16 months.


As I ponder what I am going to do when this EMBA program is over, I know that my old hobbies are still there.  Waiting.


I started one project already.  On Hallowe'en night, I had to fix a handle on one of my girls' loot bags before they could set off to scour the neighbourhood for treats.  I decided that I might as well ensure that all four handles were secure and pulled out my trusty, dusty sewing machine.  Using the machine made light work of sewing the eight contact points of 3 layers of black canvas.  And I remembered how to do everything.  I didn't need to pull out the manual.  That small effort sparked a need to be creative again...  So, I pulled out my patterns and looked at my stash of fabric.  (Every sewer has a stash of fabric, every knitter has a stash of yarn, every paper artist has a stash of pretty papers...  And I am guilty on all three counts.)  My first project after my self-imposed hiatus is to sew robes for my sweet daughters.  I have already cut the first one out. The pattern assures me that the sewing will be simple.  Now I chose to do them in fleece, which is a knit, and has its own personality.  I think I will have this first one done by the end of the week and the second one will be completed a week or so later.  Just in time for wrapping and to be put under the tree.  I hope they like them!


The real question after finishing these two projects is:  What will I do next?