By now l am sure all the Easter Eggs have been eaten in your house and all temptation of pinching the children’s chocolate bunnies has disappeared. I find it all too easy to take a small piece of bunny ear which can quickly become half an egg. I used to blame it on our naughty dog but since he is no longer with us I’ll have to own up to being a secret chocolate egg eater. I think this is one of the few downsides of working from home; the constant temptation put in your way, from food, other more pressing tasks and just avoidance of work. Now I must blow the dust off the wii fit before it tells me off for my lack of commitment to exercise and tells me I have the fitness age of my granny.
Avoiding distractions and being committed is the key to the success of any manager or business owner. Many of my coaching clients agree that they could achieve so much more if they could avoid time wasting distractions and be more committed to achieving their goals.
Also on the subject of commitment I have spoken to many of you recently about your plans to start your own business. Many of you have the ideas and enjoy my newsletter and as always don’t forget to forward it on to other women who would like to run a successful business.
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Best wishes all Rebecca
Top tip of the month from Rebecca
We have spoken before of time management and the benefit of To Do Lists and other such activities which can help. My top tip for this month is to learn more about mind mapping. It’s something I do almost daily, it formed the base of my book and every other project I am involved with.
There has been much written about mind maps and it’s best you look it up yourself (see my Recommends section below for suitable books). Simply put, a mind map can be either a word, picture or combination of the two maps which shows your thought processes on an idea. For example if you are considering a project to develop a marketing leaflet you would place in the centre of your page an image or word relating to the marketing leaflet, then branches-off would cover various areas such as information required in the leaflet. Who is your audience? What is the purpose of the leaflet? What needs to be done to make this happen? Each branch would have sub branches covering other areas. Maybe off the branch audience we would have current customers, new customers, and then under new customers we could have branches off to consider who these customers would be.
The mapping exercise can be short or take some time and, as with my book, can cover many flipcharts. The process will help you consider ideas, link things together and put things into some form or order. Used often in coaching and training now, this technique helps the brain to process large amounts of information.
‘Understand that you need to sell you and your ideas in order to advance your career, gain more respect, and increase your success, influence and income'. Jay Abraham
Main Article from Rebecca
Many of us dream of being someone else; a rock star maybe, or a newsreader, or a multimillionaire business owner. Just think of the power of Alan Sugar, the fame of Madonna or the lifestyle of Victoria Beckham. Whatever your dream is, just how can you actually achieve it? Well the chance of being the next Madonna will be reliant on your singing skills; chances are you don’t have what she had to become the star she is. However could you be the next Richard Branson or Alan Sugar, well why not?
The reality of the business world is anyone can give it a go, you don’t need any particular skills or talents, and you don’t have to pass an exam or impress an interview panel. In fact it is so easy I don’t know why more people aren’t giving it a go.
It could be that you have been put off business ownership by the state of the economy and that’s not un-reasonable. For many of us this seems like an exceptional time for businesses and you would be right, it is. But even before this economic climate took hold in the UK those of us in business knew that smaller companies close on a regular basis during their first few years of trading. Long term business success is not as easy as the actual business start up.
Don’t get me wrong, many people start a small business, make a reasonable living and stay in that category until they retire. There is nothing wrong with that and for many this makes them truly happy. But some people start a business and make it into an almost instant success. Taking a company from nothing to multimillion pounds in what seems like no time at all. How then can you move from kitchen table start up to stock market listing?
In business there are a few key components to major success. As well as the initial idea, its necessary to be willing to do some hard work, have focus, persistence and passion. Those who start up a business without all of these attributes will often struggle. Those who start up in business with all of these will likely have business success.
Hard work is something that you have to accept if you are in business, as it’s not all coffee and long lunches. Most business owners work extremely hard, it’s not about the number of hours you work, but the level at which you work during those hours.
Focus is vital to ensure you and your business is kept on track. Many failing businesses have lost focus either on their products, customers or competitors. Knowing your market and focusing on that will lead to greater things.
Persistence usually pays off. Speak to successful business owners, and they will always tell you that they have needed to be persistent in obtaining their dream for business success. Often in the face of doom-mongers, business owners need to keep going and keep trying to ensure they reach those business aims.
Finally, passion. Business owners without passion have little chance of success. If you don’t have passion for your work, your business or your products then how will anyone else? You need your staff, your customers and those around you to be infected with your passion for this business to ensure it becomes the success it and you deserve.
So, to be a successful business person you need to work hard and be persistent; but to be a highly successful business person you also need focus and passion. If you believe you have all these then business success could be yours, if not maybe you need to get that karaoke machine out and get practising, “like a virgin, yeah …”
Rebecca Recommends
This month I recommend that you read a good book on Mind Mapping such as The Mind Map Book or How to mind map both by Tony & Barry Buzan or Mapping inner space by Nancy Marqulies
Rebecca's last thoughts
I promised you updates of my pigs. For those of you who don’t know me I keep a small holding and my latest business acquisition was 3 pigs. Well here they are, growing nicely and now enjoying the sun and often rain on their backs. They are incredibly funny, intelligent and strong willed, they would make perfect business owners I just need them to be more committed to business than food.
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Taken from 'The Have it all Business Woman' Newsletter by Rebecca Jones. Published monthly, the newsletter for women in, or starting in, business.
For more information visit www.rebecca-jones.co.uk
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Want to know how I can help you start your own business
Rebecca opened her first business at 19 and has since been a successful entrepreneur, wife and mum. Her years of experience as a woman in business and also working as a business consultant, has enabled Rebecca to develop her own coaching and business consultancy. Aimed at women starting or already running a business, who need a bit of help and support to see them flourish.
Rebecca personally coaches clients at various stages of business: start up, growth and development. She also runs workshops for women in business and women in leadership roles.
