Good bosses are concerned with their staff motivation. They will put processes in place to ensure that productivity is optimum, that workers feel supported and that staff are generally happy in their workplace.

But what about you as the business owner? Do you have processes in place to make sure you keep motivated? What is it that motivates you to keep moving forward in your business?

Often these questions are not answered by women business owners. They are too busy either dealing with staff motivation or get caught up in the daily tasks of ‘doing business’. And then burnout starts to appear on the horizon and they realise that they’ve neglected to take care of their own motivation.

Sometimes, all it takes is being cognisant of your underlying motivation for running your own business. You may be motivated by seeing positive outcomes and results. You may be motivated by the fact that you are the boss and don’t answer to anyone else. You might be motivated by the flexible lifestyle your business affords you.

However, for most of us, those reasons are not always enough to get us through the tougher times. You may need to put in place other external motivators that help to push you forward. This might be meeting regularly with a business coach. Or it might be booking regular weekends away so you have those to look forward to at the end of a stressful work period. Or it might be surrounding yourself with other female business owners who can rejoice or commiserate as required! Most importantly, make sure you take care of your own motivation first otherwise it will have a trickle down affect throughout your whole business.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Many women embark on business ventures with friends, family members or other women they have come to know through business networks. At the beginning of a partnership, it is exciting and you are both determined to make it work. But how do you know if it is time to end a partnership? Here are some signs:

1. 1. The passion is gone. One of the main reasons you started a business was (or should be) because you were passionate about the goals you set or what your business could offer. If that passion is gone, or you and your business partner can’t agree on direction, you need to consider whether going separate ways is the better option
   2. You resent the financial split. Most business partnerships begin with a 50/50 split. But often, roles change, priorities change and you realise that you get annoyed because you seem to be doing most of the work. If you can communicate well with your partner, this may be an opportunity to re-negotiate the split (they may be happy to work less and therefore be paid less). But this process can be fraught with difficulties and may be best resolved by ending the partnership.
   3. You no longer trust your partner. If you cannot trust your partner with their area of responsibility, or do not trust the manner in which they represent your business, then it is definitely time to refer to your partnership agreement (I hope you have one!) and start the process of selling your stake or buying your partners stake. The longer you leave this, the more impact there will be on all areas of your business, and the value of your business will decrease.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? … And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” (Marianne Williamson).

What a powerful statement! Do you think it is true? Do you think that your fears are not about failing but about succeeding? Do you listen to often to self doubt and let it dictate your actions?

Many business coaches would agree wholeheartedly with this statement, particularly in relation to female business owners. The vast majority of women (in business and other areas of life) struggle with giving themselves permission to succeed or be ‘the best’. Many have been conditioned to promote the interests of other people before their own.

This is not to say that we should not care for others. But Marianne Williamson’s quote can be aligned with the practical example of oxygen masks in a plane crash. Parents are instructed to place their oxygen masks on first before their children. Otherwise, if the parent passes out from lack of oxygen, they will be of no help to their children.

Likewise, if we, as female business owners ‘let our own light shine’, Marianne Williamson asserts that we will give others the same opportunities. So by fulfilling our potential, we not only help ourselves, we become role models to those around us.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Many of you reading this column have been running a business for many years. And many of you will be feeling like your business has stagnated. There are a number of reasons this can occur, including burnout, changing industry environments, economic downturn and so on. But sometimes a few simple changes can improve your outlook and begin a process of change.

Here are some tips to help you kick start your business growth:

1. Grow your current customers. It can cost up to ten times more to find new customers than it does to retain your current ones. Find ways to exceed the expectations of your customers and they’ll do a great deal of word of mouth marketing for you.
2. Market yourself with multimedia. Videos are the fastest growing mediums for promoting your business (and YouTube is the 2nd most popular search engine after Google). With the quality of camera phones, there is no reason why you can’t do it too. Offer tips for clients, show potential customers how your product works or introduce your staff in a fun way. Post the videos on your website, social media and on YouTube and start experimenting with better ways to create a popular video.
3. Protect your reputation. Be honest in all your business dealings, handle complaints in a timely manner, and post regularly on social media (watch for any comments about your business – set up a Google Alerts account). Doing these things will circumvent a great deal of potential problems. Monitoring online conversations may also provide you with valuable feedback. ”

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

When was the last time you took a break from your business - a break longer than two days? For many business owners, the answer is often at least one year ago, and for too many, the last ‘real’ holiday they had was before they started their business. In an online forum recently, one business owner said ‘but if you are passionate about what you do then it’s not really work anyway’ as a way of explaining why she doesn’t take holidays. I think this business owner is deluding herself. It doesn’t matter how passionate you are, everyone needs a break from the ‘everyday tasks’.

For those of you who do take regular breaks, I’m sure you have noticed that a number of things happen:

• Problems that seemed insurmountable often seem possible to solve
• Long term goals and priorities (both business and personal) become clearer
• Productivity is increased when you return to work
• Your general outlook and attitude towards your business improves

Women in business are particularly prone to burnout, because we are generally balancing many different roles and multi-tasking. But our brains and bodies need a break. We are not designed to work relentlessly every day of the year.

If your business is set up so that it can’t run without you, then you need to seriously look at ways that it can. A successful long term business is one that CAN continue to run without you, either via outsourcing parts of the business or employing managers. Aside from the need for a break, if your business can’t run without you, then it’s not going to survive in the event of an accident or another emergency that results in you not being able to work.

Start small. Schedule a 2 day break and put things in place so that you are not “checking up” on it. Gradually increase the number of days each time until you are taking at least 2 weeks off at a time. You owe it to yourself, your family and your business.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

I was reading an article recently about the mindsets and beliefs of ‘serious entrepreneurs’. While I agreed with most of them, there were two that were quite controversial:

• Business comes first, family second: The article sees this statement as a recognition that ‘family well-being is dependent on the success of the business, not the other way around’ and ‘should you forego closing a million dollar deal to attend a ball game with your son?’. While I understand the concept, I think it’s dangerous to give yourself ‘permission’ to do this. I guarantee that a life spent putting success and business first will result in damaged relationships with the very people you are supposed to be providing for. I am a big believer that if the ‘million dollar deal’ is meant to happen, it will happen without needing to damage relationships.
  
  
• Following your passion is bogus: Although the writer of the article is correct as far as making sure that your ‘passion’ makes good business sense, you still need to be passionate about what you are doing. Why would you spend the hours you do, put in the effort you do and make the sacrifices you do, if it’s ‘just for the money’? Every job and business has aspects that are less enjoyable or unpleasant. But it doesn’t mean that you cannot find a way to do something that makes your heart sing. If you are in business ‘just for the money’, close up shop now and get a job working for someone else. A life focused on making money for money’s sake will ultimately be an unsuccessful one, no matter how many dollars are in the bank.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

If you are a business owner who started or bought into your business in the pursuit of greater happiness, are you actually happier? Or has your happiness been dampened and you feel tense, anxious and unhappy?

The success you are seeking (in business and life) won’t come if you are not happy. Your level of happiness has a direct correlation to your confidence, energy and goal achievement. So how do you become a happier business owner? Try these tips:

1. Don’t be scared to fail: you learn infinitely more from failure than you do when everything is smooth sailing. Write down the worst case scenario and most often you will realise that the worst case is not as bad as you might expect.
2. Most business owners and entrepreneurs are perfectionists, which if left ‘untamed’ can result in missed opportunities. Change occurs quickly in business and in reality, perfection is not achievable. ‘Good enough’ is often the best goal in order to move your business forward.
3. You most likely became a business owner because you are passionate about what you do. Which means that it is hard to deal with negative feedback or set backs. But you need to train yourself not to dwell on it or focus on the negatives when more often than not, they are outweighed by positives. Find a way to learn from negative feedback and use it to your advantage.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

I am a visualiser. In order to prepare myself to undertake something new or unfamiliar, I visualise the steps and imagine the scenarios involved. However I recently discovered that sometimes visualising is not enough. Regular readers of this column may remember that I had registered for an open water swim in January (something I have never done before). A few days before the race, the waves were choppy, the swell was big and looking out at the water, I decided not to compete. Although the day of the race ended up being perfect conditions (and I felt some regret at not racing!), it ended up being a good decision. I realised that while I had visualised it fairly well, I learnt a great deal from just watching the race this year. I was able to see the course (instead of just imagining it), check out the other competitors and feel some of the energy and atmosphere of the race. Next year I will be so much more prepared. In business, while there are times when you do need to step into something new without knowing all the details, there are other times when more research and planning will provide a better outcome. You may be able to imagine some aspects and prepare yourself mentally, but some of the following strategies may also help: talk to someone who has done something similar; get some professional advice; undertake a ‘practice run’; test your product of service a couple more times. By all means motivate yourself in whatever way works for you. But make sure you do what you can to minimise your risk of failure.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

I have to be honest: this is a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ article this week! This time of year is always insanely busy for me (as it is for most of you I am sure!). As a result, I end up working late at night and consequently, I am not getting anywhere near enough sleep. Aside from the obvious negative effects of a lack of sleep (being tired and cranky!), did you know there are also some quite serious health problems that can result, such as heart disease/heart attack, high blood pressure, stroke and diabetes? There are also serious consequences for your business. Sleep plays a critical role in thinking and learning. Lack of sleep affects attention, alertness, concentration, reasoning and problem solving. So if you are attempting to make decisions, either for the short term or longer term, lack of sleep will impact on the effectiveness of those decisions. Lack of sleep affects your ability to remember what you’ve learnt and generally makes you forgetful. Memory storage occurs mostly when we sleep. Importantly, lack of sleep can affect our interpretation of events and impacts on our ability to make good judgments. You may unwittingly be making decisions that are not the best choices for your business. You are likely to waste time because you are not alert and you also increase the likelihood of mistakes and accidents. It seems that we can convince ourselves that we need to stay up late to meet a deadline and that it won’t have consequences beyond a grouchy demeanour the next day. But looking at the evidence above, it is a great deal more serious to have a regular pattern of sleep deprivation. So hit the pillow!

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Research shows that generally, women tend to worry more and have more intense worries than men. And while there are many theories as to why that is, the more important issue, particularly for women in business, is to realise that it’s pointless.

The Bible gives us a great reason as to why it’s pointless (whether you are religious or not). It says: “So never worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34). Meaning: what’s the point of worrying about what hasn’t happened? Focus on what is happening now.

We all know that in business we need to consider risks and plan for unexpected situations, and that is good business sense. But many of us worry about many things that we can’t change or have no control over. Do what you can to prepare for those things and then stop worrying about them!

Additionally, many of us spend too much time worrying about ‘what could be’, which can halt our progress and stunt our business growth. Spend less time thinking and worrying about the ‘unknown’ aspects of your business’ future, and more time taking steps to improve your future.

Do what has to be done today. Do not worry about what you cannot control. This will un-clutter your mind to focus on the things that will get you where you want to be. Worrying about something will get you nowhere fast.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Men still dominate the top of the corporate ladder because many women take time out of their careers to raise children. But in most other areas, women are beginning to lead the way – in fact a US study has shown that twelve out of the fifteen fastest-growing professions are dominated by women.

Why is that so? Some theories suggest that in order to succeed, you need a good attention span, be emotionally sensitive and be able to communicate well. This is often a difficult task for boys and our current education system is perhaps more suited to girls.

However, there is another theory being bandied about: that is, perhaps women are more adaptable to change? US author Hanna Rosin argues that women are like immigrants who have moved to a new country – they flexibly adapt to new circumstances. Conversely, she says that men are like immigrants who have physically moved, but have kept their minds in the old country. They speak the old language and follow the old way of doing things.

From the point of view of a female business owner who is also the parent of two young boys, I would add that the experience of being a primary caregiver also develops great skills in adaptability, multi-tasking and switching frequently between tasks. I’ve learnt to be less of a perfectionist (in a positive sense!) and to grab opportunities when they come my way. This is not to say men cannot possess these skills (many do!) but as research is showing, women are adapting to change and perhaps becoming more resilient than men when it comes to surviving in a changing economy.

So next time you are switching between making lunches, helping with homework, putting on a load of washing, and organising appointments, be assured that it’s assisting you to become a successful business owner!

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Last Sunday, my 7 yr old and I were cheering on my brother in the half marathon at the Sydney Running Festival. While we were waiting for him to run past us, someone nearby was yelling encouragement to all the competitors. I was unsure whether he was an event official or just an enthusiastic spectator, but I was fascinated by the effect he had on me, let alone the competitors!

What I noticed about this person is that he wasn’t just clapping and cheering, he was very specific in his encouragement and praise. We were standing about 500 metres from the finish line and I could hear him saying “You’re almost there – push through the pain”, “You’ve made it this far – finish well”, “Amazing effort – give your all right to the finish”, and so on.

He was also consistent and made sure he could be heard by all the competitors as they ran by him. I was getting inspired and I was just watching the race! So I can only imagine what it meant to the competitors.

What a great message for women in business. Despite any thoughts you may have to the contrary, you cannot succeed in business without a cheer squad.

You need people around you who know what they’re talking about, who can give you specific encouragement and advice, and who are committed to championing you. You need people at every step of the way who can tell you what you need to hear (not just what you want to hear!). Your motivation will increase immeasurably and you will be amazed at how much more productive you can be.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Ita Buttrose is a bit of a hero of mine. She’s tenacious, successful and a woman who seems to ‘know herself’ well. Watching a re-run of the ABC TV show Australian Story recently, Ita talked about being a tough boss and what that means. For Ita it means she ‘won’t suffer fools lightly’ and wants her staff to ‘give her the absolute best they can’. She stated that “being tough doesn’t make you mean” and “doesn’t make you a difficult person to work for. It just means that within your makeup there is a certain resilience”. How fantastic is that? Ita is a great example of someone who knows how to ‘be tough’ but hasn’t lost the ability to care or ‘be nice’. It seems that many women in business struggle with that tension. They think they need to be one or the other, without understanding that to be an effective manager of people, both are required. This is not to say that men don’t struggle with similar tensions related to gender expectations (for example, not wanting to be seen as too ‘soft’). But for entrepreneurial women, there does seem to be mixed messages about what it takes to be successful. What expectations do you encounter as a female boss? Do you let those expectations shape how you operate your business and relate to staff and customers? If other people have an opinion about how women should ‘be’, you need to ignore those assumptions. It’s vital to learn to deal effectively with people (and by that I mean women often do have to learn to be ‘tougher’) but it’s also important not to be swayed by how others think you should behave.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Did you know that women make up just over 50% of bloggers (depending on which list you look at!). Are you one of them? If not, why not? Many women in business view blogs as too hard and too much work. But if you haven’t investigated the positives of blogs for your business, you could be missing out on an avenue to easily and affordably interact with your customers.

 Here are some advantages:

• Blogs can create ‘evangelists’: blogs humanise your business and give customers a reason to follow you and tell others about you.
• Blogs facilitate ‘buzz’: informative and thought-provoking posts tend to be shared and spread, thereby creating communication with customers and potential customers you otherwise would never have.
• Blogs can showcase your industry knowledge: helpful tips, personal perspectives on a topic that you are passionate about, sharing new innovations, and so on, can establish you as a leader in your industry.

Blogs should not be an exercise in marketing or branding. No-one is going to visit your blog (or subscribe to it) if you simply promote yourself and try to ‘sell’ your latest product or service. You need to post a variety of content: humour, customer stories, latest research and so on.

So should you write your blog posts yourself? There are those who say emphatically YES, to ensure that it’s your ‘voice’ coming through clearly. But there are some great copywriters who, once you establish rapport, will have the ability to capture what you’re trying to achieve.

Best of all, blogs are generally free. You can set up a blog via Wordpress or Blogger in a few minutes and be posting your first article today!

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Did you know there’s more than one type of “business woman”? Oh you did? Unfortunately, many business women encounter attitudes and reactions based on some fairly tired stereotypes and generalisations.

Here are some of them:

• All business women have children and juggle their business around their children
• Business women operate on intuition and ‘gut feelings’ to make decisions
• Business women are ‘soft’ when it comes to dealing with difficult clients
• Business women are no good at sales because they are too sympathetic with the potential buyer
• Business women are no good with financials or information technology

So what’s wrong with these assumptions? We all know that stereotypes come from ‘somewhere’– that is, they are generally based on a proportion of business women fitting these characteristics.

 The problem is not whether there’s any truth to these generalisations for each business woman. The problem is when the people they encounter make judgements or decisions based on those assumptions, particularly when there is a negative impact.

Most business women that I know do two important things:

1. They embrace the stereotype if it’s relevant to them and positive for their business (eg my gut feelings are often a much better indication of a good decision than a seemingly ‘logical’ argument!) 
2. They ignore and rise above any stereotypes that would otherwise be harmful for them and the perception of their business.

If you are NOT a female business owner and you are reading this, consider that the stereotypes you may have about business women may not only be unfair on them, but you are most likely missing out on their expertise and skills if you make incorrect assumptions. And to my fellow women in business: you know who you are and what your strengths are – use them!

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Women are leading the way when it comes to finding new ways of working. The traditional workplace that is designed by men, usually with stay-at-home spouses, isn’t working for many women – or men for that matter.

Women are finding that many workplaces are inflexible (and unrealistic) when it comes to catering for family needs and living a life outside the office.   In the US, women are starting companies at more than twice the rate of men. And in doing so, they are rewriting the workplace rules and changing culture. This is particularly evident in relation to when, where and how work gets done – gone are the expectations that work can only be done 9-5 Monday to Friday. Flexible workplaces are beginning to emerge that focus on the best way to achieve results while allowing staff to maintain a more balanced life.

Many female business owners (myself included!) list flexibility as one of their main reasons for starting a business. Being able to work around family commitments is highly valued by most women and a great motivator for finding a way to create a workplace that has flexible work hours and ways of getting work done.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Why on earth would I be telling you to encourage complaints? Shouldn’t women in business be doing everything they can to discourage complaints? Short answer: no! I’m not suggesting that you should purposely create scenarios where customers are justified to complain. But I am encouraging you to create a culture in your business where customers feel comfortable to complain in the event that something does go wrong.

There are a number of key ways to do this:

• Have a written and highly visible complaints process

• Use encouraging, friendly language (“we want to hear about your experience with our business!”) • Contact the complainant within 24 hrs.

• Wherever possible, contact the complainant initially by phone and ask them to explain the situation to you, providing assurances that your aim is improve the outcome for them. You can then follow this up with written correspondence (although you may need to obtain legal advice before putting anything in writing to avoid legal implications in cases of possible negligence)

• You don’t necessarily need to admit any wrongdoing (especially if there wasn’t any!) and you may need to obtain legal advice in some situations. But the initial contact should be to simply acknowledge the complainant’s concerns and really listen to (and record) what they have to say.

• Don’t promise something you can’t deliver (i.e. you won’t always be able to give the complainant exactly what they want)

• Wherever possible (and appropriate), offer them something (a gift, a free or discounted consultation, etc) to say thank you for taking the time to provide feedback.

And most importantly, you then need to use your customers’ feedback to improve your services and ensure that the same scenario doesn’t occur again. This might involve training your staff to approach the situation differently or changing procedures so that particular situations don’t arise.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Are entrepreneurs born with innate qualities? Or can anyone become an entrepreneur if they work at it hard enough? Many psychologists and researchers believe that you need to be a certain type of person to be truly entrepreneurial, with some even going so far as to say you’re wasting your time if you’re not that type.

A US study by the Northeastern University's School of Technological Entrepreneurship showed that “nearly two-thirds of entrepreneurs claim they were inspired to start their own companies by their innate desire and determination, rather than by their education or work experience”. What this suggests is that while many people have the ability to learn the required skills to be an entrepreneur, they also need an insatiable curiosity, a sense of adventure, a love of learning and the ability to spot opportunities and make a business out of them.

But does that mean you won’t enjoy success if you don’t seem to have all these qualities? There are qualities of successful people which can be learned and honed over time, including being:

• Visionary (forward looking, dreams and aspirations)
• Passionate (spurs on hard work and motivation)
• Courageous (no rewards without risk)
• Unstoppable (unwilling to quit despite failures)
• Willing to grow (change and growth is needed to reach goals – no one has all the answers straight away!)

So are you an entrepreneur? If so, how much of your success is from innate qualities, learned skills or just good old hard work?

In the words of Richard Branson: “I wanted to be an editor or a journalist, I wasn't really interested in being an entrepreneur, but I soon found I had to become an entrepreneur in order to keep my magazine going.”

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

“I admit it's tempting to wish for the perfect boss - the perfect parent - or the perfect outfit. But maybe the best any of us can do is not quit, play the hand we've been dealt, and accessorize what we've got.” So says Carrie in Sex and the City, during one of her many musings on life.

Being a business owner is no different. Most of us have grand plans for our business – and so we should. But it’s easy to get bogged down in what we don’t have (yet) instead of focusing on the strengths and resources that already exist in our business.

Waiting until everything is “perfect” can often mean that an opportunity is lost. As business owners, we need to always strive to do things in the best way we can. But sometimes, “accessorising” what we’ve already got is the best way to start moving forward.

We should have long term goals, but while you are working towards those, look at ways that you can utilise the staff you have now, or ways that you can improve the systems you already have in place. Find ways to repackage products or services that you know are valuable for your customers. Team up with another business owner to get that exciting project off the ground.

Work with what you’ve got rather than looking for the “perfect outfit” – because it might already be hanging in your office, waiting for a great accessory to make it work.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Most women in business are juggling many things, and despite our best intentions, it can feel quite chaotic at times.

Last year, I set a goal with my business coach: to be content with the chaos. This wasn’t something I was particularly keen on doing. Yes, I wanted to do something to improve the “balancing act”, but navel gazing is not generally my thing. Anyone who knows me well would agree that I'm a very pragmatic, task oriented, "get on with it/over it" kind of person.

But despite my misgivings, we started out by observing what felt chaotic. Amazingly, the very act of writing down those things began a process of feeling okay about the chaos. I began to pinpoint areas that really triggered those feelings of chaos and working out "is it me or my environment?". I began to approach “chaos” with a bit more clarity and sanity!

It was interesting that a really simple exercise resulted in small but significant changes in my perception and therefore outlook.

And often it is small changes that can make all the difference: making time for a 15 minute walk during the day; getting to bed 30 minutes earlier; getting up before the kids so you’re ready for their morning routine; taking time for small celebrations (eg clearing your inbox!).

In the words of Frank A. Clark: “Everyone is trying to accomplish something big, not realizing that life is made up of little things”

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender