business growth

Why I said goodbye to BALANCE

Human moment: I haven’t felt consistent balance for weeks, and that isn’t going to change for at least a month.  (Could be two.)  Does that make me a hypocrite?  Does that make me a bad mom?  Does that make me a bad wife? Does that mean I am off track in life?  The negative voices in my head are telling me every one of those things.  And guess what I say back to them?  SHUT UP!

I am in a season of massive growth.  I am hustling to launch a new book, 2 new programs, a new website, and a new division of my company.  All of this has taken place between January and September of this year, with the majority of it happening right now!  At this point balance is an unrealistic expectation that will just make me feel like I am failing. So I’ve said goodbye to balance.  For now…

Would I work my business this way all the time?  Heck NO!  But I am doing it now and I would like to share with you WHY I made this decision, HOW I am managing, WHEN you might want to consider this as an option, and WHAT you need to do to make it successful.

WHY?

I realized towards the end of 2014, that my company had grown to it’s max capacity as we were currently structured.  We were doing as much as we could do.  I was working a little harder than I wanted to work.  At that point, I had a choice.  I could either shrink the company so that it would be comfortable for me, or I could restructure and move up to our next level.  I chose growth.  I also chose to do a lot in a short period of time.  Massive growth is actually easier to do in a short period of time than it is over a long period of time.  That is because of the nature of atrophy.  Not everything you work to create will stick.  There will always be clients or team members leaving your business.  There will always be an idea, program or product that is no longer relevant and is on it’s way out.  If you want growth, you have to generate more into the business than is going out of the business.  If you want rapid growth, you need to generate a lot more into the business than is going out.  I opted for rapid growth.

HOW?

How am I managing this?  I have days where I great, and days where I feel like I am hanging on by my fingernails!  Just to be even more real and raw, today is a fingernails kind of a day!  And that is okay.  The bottom line is I am being very patient with myself and very forgiving of the imperfect nature of my execution.  I am however holding myself and my team to being highly committed to our daily activities.  We are working with focus. I am working when I don’t feel like it.  I am working when I do feel like it.  I’m working with discipline.

On the personal front, I am taking 20-60 minutes depending on the day, to get myself spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically grounded each morning.  I am creating quality time with my children and husband each day.  This morning we spent an hour outside before I started working.  I was fully present in the moment.  We weeded our garden, picked some berries, and I caught a frog for the boys.  (Side note, never catch a frog for my boys unless you are prepared for it to end up on your back when you aren’t looking.)  The biggest danger to my family right now is not how busy I am in reality, it’s how busy my mind can get if I am not careful.  Make sure you unplug from work to fully plug into family.

WHEN?

I would not suggest that I or you should work our businesses this way all the time.  Before you consider saying goodbye to balance for a season of massive growth, make sure you enroll your family.  Get your team on board.  Make sure that you have the income producing activities lined up and the people in place so that you are not just spinning your wheels.  Make sure it is really a short term commitment.  Make sure that the benefit outweighs the cost.  And make sure that your emotional and mental bank account are full enough that you can pay the price right now.

What?

If you feel you are ready for massive growth and that the time is right to say goodbye to balance, the first thing to ask yourself is, “What do I need to learn?”  The growth and education will go hand in hand.  Remember that education is an investment that pays you for the rest of your life.  Be a good student and be thorough in learning any new skills required for your next level.  Do not fight to do things the way you have always done them.  This is a time to innovate.  Innovation requires a willingness to change.

Then get ready to run!  Have fun!  Don’t expect to love every minute, but don’t allow yourself to hate every minute either.  Celebrate the little wins and enjoy the journey!  For More Details:  http://amywalkerconsulting.com/

Business leaders

How to Fire an Employee: 3 Dos and Don’ts

Firing people has got to be one of the worst parts of being a manager or business owner.  But believe me, not firing someone who needs to go is worse!  It always amazes me when I see business owners who are dreading firing someone so much that they suffer through months of underperformance, negative attitudes, and conflict resolution conversations.

I am committed to making sure that everyone on my team is a good fit. It’s better for them, and it’s better for me! We have all heard, “Hire slow, fire fast!”  And while that is 100% true, we still don’t enjoy it.

I’ve surprisingly had some very positive firing experiences. I’ve even had some people call me a couple of months later to thank me for letting them go. And the vast majority of the people I have had to let go, have left on good terms. The only ones that didn’t are ones that I should have let go sooner and didn’t.

I don’t want to use any of my do’s for this, but it has to be said. Follow due process and make sure everything is documented!  You’ve got to protect yourself!

DO: Say it quickly. In fact, try making it the first or second sentence so you don’t leave room for confusion or arguments. “Team member, I want to thank you for the time and effort that you have put in here, but I want you to know that today is going to be your last day.”

DO: Clearly explain the process. Is there a severance?  Do you have their last check?  What will happen next?  Lay it out so there is no confusion.

DO: Tell them the positive you see in them and wish them luck in finding a position that utilizes their talents.  Truthfully those words won’t sink in right away. For some people they’ll never sink in. But others will appreciate them when the initial wave of emotion passes.

Don’t: Leave their accounts active in email, data base, or social media. Some people will use that for revenge. Others will post a heart felt goodbye that causes distraction and distress in other team members. It’s better just to make a clean break.

Don’t: Use this as a platform to talk about their mistakes or shortcomings. Most firings will have been preceded by performance reviews and requests for improvement. They already know where they are falling short. Bringing it up now feels more like rubbing salt into an open wound.

Don’t: Say anything to make them feel better if it isn’t true. Don’t say you will give them a great reference if you won’t. Don’t say they are welcome to reapply at a later date if you really don’t want them too. Don’t say that you fought for them, but that the powers that be just didn’t feel they were going to work out unless you really went to battle for them.  There really isn’t much other than time and finding a position that is a better fit that will make them feel better. So flattering attempts aren’t going to help.

Bottom line, no one likes to fire other people. But it does not have to be a long, drawn out, emotional ordeal!  There is a way to fire well. And while I hope you’ll never need this information. Experience tells me you will!  For more Details:  http://amywalkerconsulting.com/

business development strategies

Surprise! Business is Hard!

Surprise! Business is Hard!

I still remember the first time I heard about “The Secret.”  I was out to dinner with a group of successful women.  They were all older than me and all made more money than me.  They kept talking about this “Secret” and how they were creating all of these amazing things in their businesses.  I had no idea what they were talking about and was almost too embarrassed to ask!  Finally I asked, and they told me about the movie.  I went home and bought it, watched it and immediately started shifting my mindset.  I started focusing on creation and visualization.  I stopped focusing on negatives and started waiting for my big paychecks to start showing up on my door.  When things would go wrong in my business I thought something had gone wrong.  And when those big paychecks didn’t start showing up, I really thought there was something wrong!

I love the law of attraction and the power behind learning to co create with God in your business and life.  It is an amazing process to be a part of!  AND it looks a lot like WORK! Here are 5 lessons I wish I had learned quicker in my journey!

1. You will want to quit, and that is NORMAL!  We all have days where we are spent emotionally, physically and financially.  We think the thought, “Is this worth it?  Am I on the right path?”  When the path gets rocky it is normal to think we might have taken the wrong way.  When I was getting started, these types of thoughts would open the door for serious doubt in my business!  Now I accept that I am human and I just let myself quit (for the night) and re-hire myself again the next morning.  And Just in case you are wondering, I do it about twice a month!

2. No money does not mean failure.  We correlate money to success.  If we have money, we are on top, if there is no money, something is wrong.  Not true.  Most businesses start out with business loans to cover cash flow.  They start out in “Debt.”  Most start ups also have times where cash is very scarce and the owners have to get creative.  It isn’t a sign of failure, it is just a challenge to overcome.  It doesn’t necessarily mean you are stuck in scarcity, although you could be.  It is not time to panic or quit.  It is however time to increase your sales!

3. Problems will come… frequently The longer I am in business the more I realize that business is really about problem solving.  Low on clients?  Let’s come up with some marketing solutions.  Unhappy clients?  Let’s review our customer service protocols.  Conversion ratios are not where we want them?  Sounds like we’ve got a scripting issue to resolve.  Don’t hide from the problems in your business, address them!

4. You will love what you do, but not all of it!  We usually get into business because we are passionate about our product, our service, or our message.  That does not mean we will love every aspect of our business.  I HATE filing, charging cards, data entry, paying bills, and doing pretty much anything that involves paperwork.  You may hate being on the phone, or networking.  It doesn’t matter, in the beginning you do all of it because you are committed to the outcome.  And then ask you grow, you hire out the parts that you don’t like to do!

5. It takes work! That should be a no-brainer, but it isn’t.  You don’t make money by thinking about working, worrying about working, or avoiding working.  But you do make money when you get out there and sell your product or service.  As a business owner, you will market, sell and fulfill over and over again.  It’s not glamorous!  I had a client ask me once if I could teach her how to make six figures working 10 hours a week.  I told her no!  I don’t know how to do that!  I believe in working hard to launch your business.  Being a business owner is not about working less.  It is about working more so you can have more.  If you are wanting to leave behind your full time job, you can!  Just understand that you will still be working full time until the business is strong and healthy!

Business is AMAZING and I love it!  I love that it is hard.  I love that it causes me to stretch and grow.  I love that I never see stop signs in life.  Every challenge is just a problem waiting to be solved.  It is worth it!  And As soon as I gained peace with these 5 principles, it became so much more fun!  Go out there, work hard and LOVE it!  business growth

business strategy

Business Leaders Make More Money and Have More Fun

Business ownership and business leadership are not synonyms. And let me tell you, you want to be a business leader!

Business owner: Someone that starts and runs a business.

Business leader: A business owner that steps into the role of leadership and is committed to building a fully functional company.

I meet a lot of business owners. It’s rare to meet someone that has achieved the business leader status. Here’s why.

1. Business owners get trapped in their day to day work. They fill their time with providing their primary service, or producing their primary product and basic sales.
2. Business owners take on all of the responsibility in the beginning of their business, and then hold on to too much of their responsibility as they grow. Everyone wears all hats when we get started. But how long have you been wearing all those hats?  I started hiring and training from the very beginning because I knew that my growth would stop as soon as I got maxed out with my time. My goal is to never be the bottle neck in my business.
3. Business owners shy away from doing things they don’t know how to do. Great companies innovate. Business leaders are always looking for better ways to do things. They are always learning more in and surrounding themselves with people who know how to do things they don’t know how to do.
4. Business owners chase trends and hope that it will produce better results. The newest app, the newest social media platform, the newest webinar platform. They are attempting to find something external that will propel change. Business leaders on the other hand put their energy into systems, building sales teams, getting the right people on the team who can move internal processes to the next level. And the trendy new technology is more like icing on the cake.
5. Business owners tend to carry a lot of pressure for the business success. Because their systems are not as strong, and often times they are trying to do too much on their own, they feel the weight of the business bearing down on their shoulders. Business leaders still feel the pressure to perform, but it is not so reliant on personal performance. It is more of a team effort.

As I have worked with thousands of business owners over the last few years, I’ve found that the transition from business owner to business leader happens in two phases. The first phase involves building the systems and structure. The second phase involves expanding and managing the team.

I also find that it takes time to make the transition. It will take a year of solid consistent effort to build all of the systems. And then it will take another 1-3 years of consistent effort as a team to produce the long term results.

And at the end of all that consistent work, you get the rewards of business leadership. You no longer worry if you are going to make money that month. You no longer stress about how you will pay your bills. You no longer have to work ridiculous hours to make sure everything comes together. And you don’t spend time doing jobs you wish you could pay someone else to do.

You get to spend your time in the areas of your business where you produce the most. You get to work at a more manageable pace that allows you to experience peace of mind and work/life balance.

Business leaders truly make the most money, and have the most fun!  For  more details:  http://amywalkerconsulting.com/

sales skills

4 Time Management Tips Guaranteed to Give You Peace of Mind

Ahhhh TIME, the greatest and sometimes most elusive commodity in our lives. We all want more of it.  When was the last time you caught yourself saying, “I just wish I had another 5 hours in the day?”  Or, “I need a clone of myself in order to get this all done?

Be honest with me-  Do you blame time for your lack of success in life? Are you struggling with weight and blaming time because you just can’t seem to get to the gym?  Do you feel like you are not a good enough parent because you are too busy at work and don’t have enough time to connect?  That list could go on and on, but let’s just leave it there. The point is, you probably do blame time for your life not being as amazing as it could be.

And that has got to stop! Time is on your side (Que the Rolling Stones.) We are all given 24 hours in a day. On our last family vacation, I watched a young man sit in front of a garbage can hoping someone would give him their left over lunch for an hour while I ate lunch with my family. I gave him some food and when we came back 3 hours later to get on the metro, he was still there and thanked me again for the food we’d given him earlier.

I have a client that has 3 little kids, runs a farm, and two businesses.  Before most of the world has gotten out of bed, she’s nursed her baby, milked her cow, fed the chickens, fixed breakfast, spent quality time with her kids, and probably blogged about it. She gets more done in a day than anyone I know.

I’m not trying to judge the young man by the garbage can or cause you all to compare yourselves with my client. Neither of those activities will bring you more productivity. I do want to paint the picture that every single day is a gift. Time is available for you. How will you rock your time management?

Time management is not about time controlling you. Time management is simply how you choose to engage with the time given to you.  Will you spend it doing things that bring you joy, health and wealth?  Or will you spend it on things of little value that you won’t even remember next week?

Here are 4 time management tips guaranteed to give you peace of mind.

1. Find a schedule that works for you. Most people create a schedule that is impossible to live by. A robot might be able to keep it up, but no human could. And after a few weeks of constant effort to manage the schedule, you give up and go back to your old ways of mismanaging your time.  Let’s build a different kind of schedule. One that you actually enjoy following. Check out my post“It’s time to rekindle your love affair with schedules”  to learn how to create a schedule you love to follow!
2. Give your agenda a higher priority than other people’s agendas. It sounds simple enough, but it is actually requires high levels of discipline. Think about how often you check your email, and then spend the rest of the day responding to what everyone else needs.  It happens all the time! Instead, choose what is most important to you to accomplish today and do those things first. What you will find is that your high priority items will get done, and you will still have time to do the high priority items of others. (And as a bonus, you will also get better at saying “no”. It feels amazing.)
3. Shift from busy into productive. Busy people fill their time with lots of low value activities. Productive people fill their time with a few high value activities. Today, I am writing blog posts, writing content for a new website I’m launching, and writing a book proposal, and I have one client appointment. That is pretty much it. I will spend about 6 hours today working on 4 things. And I’ll spend 1 hour answering the needs and questions of my clients, team, and other people. Want more examples of how to be productive not just busy? Check out my post “Are You Busy or Productive?”
4. Shift how you think about time management. Instead of looking at the clock and thinking, I don’t have time to clean the bathroom. Ask yourself, what can I get done in the 10 minutes I have?  Maybe you do have time to take out the trash.  Or if you find yourself thinking, “I need an hour of phone time”, but you only have 15 minutes. Consider asking yourself, “Who can I call in the next 15 minutes?”  You will find that you have MANY pockets of mismanaged time.

I truly love managing my time. In the last few years I’ve been able to move from feeling like time management was some horrible force of control and into loving taking care of my time.  Has this changed the way you think about your time?  For more Details:  business development strategies

time management

4 Myths About Living Life On Your Own Terms

In the entrepreneur world we talk a lot about creating the life we desire.  We talk about financial freedom and time freedom.  We have a rosy picture of living life on your own terms.  And we talk about it as though it is something we will achieve.  It’s a moment of arrival.  The moment when we can look around and say, “This is the life I always dreamed of.”

Many dream the dream, few achieve the dream.  I’ve coached many people as they transition into the life they want.  Some were already highly successful in terms of paycheck, but were not living the life they wanted.  Some were dirt poor and created financial success.  Some started poor and ended poor.  Some started with more money and ended with less.  How can that be possible?  It’s pretty simple, money is not the ultimate indicator of success.

As a coach I see a few BIG misconceptions that keep people from the life they want.  When you subscribe to these philosophies, you are likely to find yourself feeling like you are on a rat race, constantly chasing a life that is always out of reach.

Fiction: Having enough money will allow me to live the life I want.

Fact: Money is a magnifier. If you are already living life on your own terms, money will enhance that.  If you are not, it will also enhance that.  For example, if family time is a high priority for you, but you are working too much, more money to you will look like more responsibility and still not enough family time.  You can find yourself feeling like you can’t take time off because your business or job requires so much of you.  And you can’t walk away from the paycheck because the family needs you to provide for them.  You’ve created the golden handcuffs. The trouble is, you made your money living out of your values so you created a system that requires you to stay out of your values.

Fiction: I have to earn living life on my own terms.

Fact: We choose to live life on our own terms.  At some point every person who is truly living a life according to their own rules wakes up and chooses to live life that way.  It always involves risk.  It always involves change.  It always involves breaking the status quo.  Most of the truly wealthy people I know made that change long before their fortunes showed up.  In fact, they created their fortunes through an intense determination to create the life they wanted.  It’s not about how many years you work in corporate America before you branch out on your own.  Last week I spoke to a college Senior who is finishing up her last semester of college and is NOT looking for a job because she is launching her business.  And you know what, she is already making more money than MANY experienced entrepreneurs.  She didn’t earn that, she chose it, and created it.

Fiction: Living life on my own terms is easier than following someone else’s plan.

Fact: (Lets just laugh for a moment at how silly that myth is hahahahahahahaha!  Okay now back to the reality.)  If it was easier, everyone would be doing it.  It’s hard to say, these are my priorities, these are my boundaries, and no, I will not chase dollars to get by.  All successful people are willing to fail.  We don’t like to fail, we don’t do it often.  But we are all willing.  We said goodbye to oursafety nets a long time ago. (check out my popular blog post on getting rid of safety nets.) 

Fiction: My life will look like so and so’s when I am living life on my own terms.

Fact: That is the fastest way to be dissatisfied with your life. When I look at my industry, people are on planes every week posting where they are going to speak.  Their hair always looks awesome.  They have designer clothes and go on fancy vacations.  If I chase that life, I end up feeling very empty.  I’m not a minimalist.  I like my big house and my Bosch mixer a little too much for that.  But simplicity fills my soul.  Comparison is an easy game to start, and an impossible game to win.  If I compare, I feel like I need to get hair extensions, lose 20 lbs, be dressed up at all moments just in case an Instagram worthy moment arises, and that I need to be on TV and speaking in front of large audiences every week in order to be successful.  That life does not bring me joy.  But you know what does?  My life. The one where I spent a few hours on Saturday cutting down underbrush with my boys and husband. The one where I get to spend the day working in the same room as my husband and where I can walk out and see my little guys any time I want. The one where I can wear a plad purple shirt I bought at Walmart 3 years ago on sale for $4.99.  And one where I can influence people around the world while sticking close to my beautiful small town simple life.  I LOVE being home with my family.  That is what life on my terms looks like.

Stop waiting for what you think living life on your own terms looks like and JUST START CHOOSING it EVERY day!  business strategy

business growth

Business Advice Only an Idiot Would Give You

If you’ve been in business for a while you know that you get a lot of advice, from a lot of people.  And not a lot of them are actually qualified to give you advice!

You know what I’m talking about, you’re at the family reunion and Aunt Sally asks, “So how’s that business of yours going?”  With that sympathetic/pained look on her face.  “Well you know, most businesses go under in the first few years so you better make sure you …”

Or you are at a networking meeting and “That Guy” that goes to every meeting and tries to make himself seem like the most important person in the meeting, but is oozing, “I’m flat broke” energy says to you, “I’m doing this great new thing.  It’s taking off like gangbusters.  You should absolutely stop doing (XYZ business strategy that takes work but is producing for you) and start doing (quick and easy get rich overnight scheme.)

Then there are your friends who have never run a business in their lives.  “I read in an article last week at the doctor’s office about how you can start a crowd funding campaign and earn like $500,000 to get your business going.  You should do that.  You would be so much less stressed!”

We don’t get too off track with that type of advice because it is so apparently naïve and ridiculous.  But then there is other advice that seems smarter at first glance.  It seems smart, and safe and can be some of the most dangerous advice to listen to. Here’s is some of the WORST advice I have gotten while being in business!

1. “You don’t have to do so much, just slow down and scale back so you won’t feel so stressed.” Slow down and be less stressed?  It sounds amazing right?  WRONG!  You are not stressed because you are in business, you are stressed because you are a member of the human race.  You felt stress before you started your business.  You will feel it while you are in business, and you will feel it long after you retire from your business. Often times stress comes when I am at that final push to finish a project, or reach a goal.  If I stop every time I get overwhelmed and stressed, I will never finish my race!  The good advice you need to give yourself during these moments is, “You can do this.  It is hard now, but it won’t be forever. You are so close.  All I’m asking for you to do is take it one day at a time.  And you’ve got this!  Let’s go baby!”
2. “You don’t need to hire someone to do that! I have a friend who can do that for free.”  I am all about controlling costs and being a good steward of my financial resources.  I love spending my money on things that will make me more money.  I hate wasting money.  However, free or cheap labor often times ends up generating cheap, low quality results.  I someone is willing to do your website for free, they are not building you a high quality site.  If they will do your headshots for free, they are not likely to be professional quality.  The one exception to this rule is interns who want to work in your industry and are dying for an opportunity.  Even that labor is not free.  You pay for it with your time you spend training them.
3. “You don’t need help with that. You can do that on your own.”  Hint: This one often comes from yourself.  The unwillingness to hire is one of the biggest hindrances to businesses.  If you are the perpetual solo-prenuer who must learn everything on your own, you will have a very hard time getting much past 6 figures.  Your business will max out because you can’t possibly work any harder.  You will get burnt out because you get tired of never being able to take a break.  I would never design my own website.  I am sure that I could.  It would be hard, it would take me a lot of time.  It probably wouldn’t look great when it was all said and done.  But none of those are the reason I wouldn’t do it.  I would NEVER design my own website, because in the months it would take me to build that website, I would lose out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales.  You must know where you are valuable to your company, and be willing to spend the majority of your time in those areas.

Trust me on these ones!  Save yourself the struggle and avoid my top 3 mistakes waiting to happen!  Be willing to get help!  Be willing to spend.  Choose to spend wisely.  Don’t try to do everything on your own!  My motto is, I am not Superwoman!  I don’t look good in spandex and I don’t want to do it all on my own.  I need help to make my business run.  That is not a sign of weakness, it is a strength that I recognize it.  You have tremendous potential in your business!  Avoid these common mistakes and you will thank me for it! http://amywalkerconsulting.com