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Meeting your clients’ needs

trish — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:54:49 +0000

Lately, I’ve been exploring Needs – those essentials in life. I’ve been wondering what are the simplest building blocks of a good life and how can that be applied to business so that we aren’t continually producing waste (products, time, energy, etc). As I delved into the world of Needs, it became apparent that it wasn’t just about minimising waste. Creating essential products and services can mean your business survives (and perhaps thrives) in uncertain times. Here’s my recently published article from Flying Solo that explains it more…

When cashflow gets tight, a natural response is to start eliminating those expenses that aren’t ‘essential’. How do you meet your clients’ needs and ensure that you don’t get crossed off their essentials list?

Recently I wrote about how understanding your needs as a soloist can help improve not only your enjoyment of your work and wellbeing, but also your performance. To ensure you’re not crossed off your client’s list of essential services, you need to be sure you’re meeting your clients’ needs.

This begs the question: what do people really need?

In my last article, I looked at our needs as soloists and found that in addition to our basic physiological needs we have the ABC of psychological needs of autonomy, belongingness and competence.

Most businesses meet some need – sometimes indirectly and sometimes creating more needs in the process. You can trade on your client’s fears and get them to continue buying your product because it gives them a temporary feeling of security or feeling good. For me, making clients buy five products to meet a need or setting up client dependency is akin to selling junk or creating waste – it is not only unethical but not sustainable.

The idea of creating services or products that help your clients to the extent that they no longer need you may seem to conflict with the purpose of business. Aren’t we here to maximise profit? Well, no, not all of us.

Most soloists I know and work with have moved beyond this approach. They want their work efforts to be more than the passing of time or making a buck. They are interested in providing great services or products that truly improve their clients’ lives.

A sustainable business for uncertain times addresses clients’ needs as directly as possible and does not create more needs in the process.

How do we create businesses that meet clients’ needs?

Your business may already address a basic physiological need. For example, you may produce the snuggliest winter coats this side of Antarctica and thus be meeting people’s need for warmth. Or, you could be addressing the need for shelter by providing access to home loans or rental properties. As a bookkeeper you are addressing your clients’ need for security and sleep – knowing that their BAS will be in on time!

When I look at the businesses on my outgoings list that I consider ‘essentials’, it consists of businesses that not only meet some of my basic physiological needs but also my psychological needs. They give me choices, make me feel that I belong, and help me grow.

What can you do to better meet your clients’ needs?

1. See your clients as whole people

Your clients have a complex range of needs and are not just consumers who can be manipulated into buying an unending array of products.

2. Meet your clients’ need for Autonomy

How can your product or service increase your client’s autonomy? Do you give them choices? Do they have more choice in life after using your product? Does your product help them feel the “master of their domain”?

3. Meet your clients’ need for Belonging

Does your product help your clients connect with others and feel that they belong? Does it make them feel part of humanity or does it make them disengage with people and with life? Do you treat your clients with respect or speak about them disparagingly behind their backs?

4. Meet your clients’ need for Competence

Does your product allow your clients to learn new things and grow? Do you acknowledge your clients existing competence and give them ways to enhance it?

Finally, and most importantly:

5. Ask your clients what they need

Delve deeper should they answer “more money”: what does more money gives them? Choices? Security? Food on the table?

The opportunity awaits you to find creative, sustainable ways to meet your own and your clients’ needs – and not get crossed off that list.

This article was first published in the online community for solo business owners, Flying Solo.

Understanding your needs as a solo business owner

trish — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:10:54 +0000

Here’s my latest article from Flying Solo… One of the essentials of business success is understanding and meeting your customer needs. But a valuable first step in creating a business that works for you as well as your customers is understanding your own needs…

To succeed in your solo business, you have to understand your physiological and psychological needs. So how do you identify these needs and get your business to satisfy them?

Broadly speaking, needs can be divided into two categories: physiological and psychological.

Basic, physiological needs

These needs are the essential, innate and universal requirements for our well-being and health. We all have physiological needs that have to be satisfied for our bodies to function and stay in good health. These include air, water, food, warmth, shelter, sleep/rest, and safety from harm.

As soloists, we work to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table and that extra warm coat for when we have to venture out of our snugly home offices in winter. But on closer examination, some of the things we might refer to as needs turn out to be something different. Often, we confuse our Wants and Needs.

While our Wants are certainly helpful in providing a window to our actual Needs, they can also thwart or compete against other Needs. For example we may feel we need the waterfront home in the best suburb, but a high mortgage may undermine our ability to satisfy our food, sleep or safety needs. Alternately, the waterfront home might be temporarily satisfying or thwarting another type of need – our psychological needs.

Satisfying your psychological needs

In addition to our physiological needs, we have psychological needs. You may have come across these through Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow believed that it wasn’t just physical and safety needs that had to be satisfied. People also needed to feel that they belonged to a group and were loved, respected, and were able to self-actualise (live their potential).

Maslow’s theory provided the spark for us to begin understanding how human needs influence behaviour. Today, our understanding of psychological needs centres on how our behaviour is self-determined and presents an ABC of psychological needs:

Autonomy

Autonomy must be close to the heart of all soloists. It doesn’t mean we all want to be islands in the sea of humanity, rather that we need to have choices and be free to act as we choose. And think about it, how many of us chose the solo business path because it gives us the opportunity to be our own boss? There are plenty of opportunities to revel in our autonomy as soloists – from designing and delivering our own product or service, to poring over options for that new computer purchase.

Belonging

We need to feel that we belong to a group, whether it’s our family, friends, or work colleagues. We need to feel we are able to connect with others. And as soloists, this is a need we often meet head on in the early days of our ventures. Consequently, we participate in forums and join business or professional groups. Also, part of the belonging (or relatedness) need is love – to be loved and to love others. And while business and love aren’t usually two words that appear together very often, love can flow in our solo ventures. It might be the love you have for your work, showing you care for a client, or your client showing their appreciation of your work.

Competence

We need to feel that we are capable of getting the outcomes we desire. Many soloists start their businesses in fields that they’ve been working in for years, and so have developed a certain level of competence already. But going solo means facing new challenges and in doing so, developing further competence. It can also be the case that soloists are embarking on a new field and have to develop their skills and knowledge as their business grows. When the task is too challenging and the competence need is not being satisfied it can lead to stress, overwhelm and doubt, and thwart other needs.

Understanding your own physiological and psychological needs and creating the environments to satisfy them will not only give you more satisfaction, performance and well-being, but it can also give your business an edge when used to understand your customers’ needs.

This article first appeared in the online community for solo business owners www.flyingsolo.com.au

Career Change: Designing my new brilliant career

trish — Mon, 25 May 2009 00:59:54 +0000

When you’re self-employed, changing careers isn’t just about looking in the local paper to see what jobs are on offer. You actually have the opportunity to continue creating your own work in whatever field or way you choose. Over the last few months I’ve been re-imagining the work I do (and importantly, could do) and I’ve written about it in this article that is published today at Flying Solo.

There is plenty of career advice out there for job jockeys who want to change their employer. But what about a career change for soloists? What do you do when you’ve lost heart in your business? How do you tell it “I’m just not that into you”?

I’ve been going through what those in the personal change industry call [adopt warm counsellor voice] a transition. I’ve been in my current field for seven years, just completed a qualification in a different field, and most importantly, have discovered another (yes, third) field that I’d rather be playing in. Sigh.

In a way, it’s exciting because like the kid in the candy store, I can see much joy ahead of me. On the other hand, part of me doesn’t want to let go of my current business. We’ve had so many fun times together. We’ve grown together. Spent so many late nights together. Parting seems intolerable.

So I’ve decided to go for Option 1.5 The Cake and Eat It strategy. That is, it takes the best aspects of each of my options (1. Stay and 2. Leave) and creates a new option, 1.5 my new brilliant career.

So how did I get here?

1. The thrill has gone. I think it’s common for your feelings about your business to change over its lifecycle. But when my feeling of unrest was joined by a lack of interest, I knew it was time for a rethink. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to ditch the business and do something different or if it just needed a bit of a rejuvenation jag.

2. The cycle of (work) life. Over the course of my working life, I have changed my career focus about every seven years. The lack of attachment to one, lifelong career has given me the freedom to move or shift as my life or situation changes. And as a soloist, I can act on a career change when I’m ready.

3. What next for me? Having made the decision that I was ready to move on (or at least sideways), I sat down and re-visited my values, purpose, strengths, interests, knowledge, skills and abilities – all those things that I personally bring to my work.

I asked myself: what am I interested in now? What’s important to me now? What aptitudes do I want to develop? All this comes together and forms my soloist capital or potential – something that I can access whenever I choose.

4. What next for the world? Here at Flying Solo, you’ll read a lot about business being about connection. Recent technology changes mean that connecting with people who are interested in your product or service is easier than ever. With the world in flux, new market needs are emerging every day, some of which will endure. For me, I see so many opportunities to address these needs with my unique mix of soloist capital.

5. Embrace my inner-entrepreneur. This is my favourite step as it’s about bringing it all together, creating something new and getting very excited. It’s the time of grand visions and audacious goals. Enthusiasm for what I’m doing not only means that I enjoy my work (yay), but it also goes hand in hand with being more productive. And I’ve found that people love to be connected to exciting things.

So I’m now putting Option 1.5 into action. I’ve taken aspects of my former business (the knowledge, the skills, the contact list!) and merged them with the opportunities (the excitement, the obsessive interest, the talent to be developed) and created something fresh: My new brilliant career.

And as a soloist, I don’t need to go out and find an employer who has a position like this. I am my own job creation programme.

This article first appeared in the online community for solo business owners www.flyingsolo.com.au

Seven ways to create a sustainable business

trish — Mon, 18 May 2009 02:04:16 +0000

Creating a sustainable business isn’t just about turning off the lights at the end of the workday. The triple bottom line of people, planet and profits is a useful way to approach creating a business that will manage all your resources sustainably. Here’s Part 1 of an introductory, sustainable soloist series that I did for Flying Solo a couple of years ago. I think it’s more relevant than ever …

The evidence is everywhere. If we don’t treat clients with respect, we lose them. If we take non-renewable resources from the planet, they run out. It’s time to look past our financial bottom-line to see how to create a truly sustainable business.

For me, it always hits me when I buy paper. Do I get the budget $4 ream or spend a couple of extra dollars on the eco-friendly, post-consumer-waste, recycled stuff? Sure, “What’s one ream of paper ?” I say, but what if every business says that and leaves it up to someone else to make the difference?

The challenge is not just to run a profitable business but to run a sustainable business – a business that gives back the resources it uses. Assessing your business with a triple bottom line looks at its environmental (planet), social (people) and economic (profit) impact, and it’s just as relevant to soloists as it is to large corporations.

Now you may not be ready to go solar, but here are seven simple things you can do to reduce your business’ environmental impact and create a more sustainable business.

Consume less

1. Switch off the lights, the computers, the fax and the photocopier at the wall at the end of the working day. If you’re not ready to harness the sunshine, then get supplied with green power. Put on a jumper rather than the heater. Open the window rather than cranking up the air-conditioning. In the heat of the day, have a siesta, take a long lunch or adopt a more European work day.

2. Get on the phone. Can that meeting be conducted by phone? Do you need to take the car or can you hop on the bus or carpool? What’s the impact of your air travel? If air travel is essential, buy some carbon offsets for your business.

3. Embrace working from home. Reduce your travel and doubling up on equipment and resources. Or share an office space with other soloists. When sourcing equipment and services, consider buying local to reduce travel miles.

4. Use less materials. Do you really need to print that? Do you need the glossy promotional materials? Could you ‘go digital’ instead? Consider ways of standing out from the crowd without producing endless bin fodder.

Reduce waste

5. Recycle. It’s now easy to use recycled paper, envelopes, pens, equipment, furniture and clothes. Keep the flow happening by recycling your own resources. Choose lunch on a ceramic plate or get your takeaway coffee in a ceramic mug.

6. Do no harm. Be aware of the potential harmful effects or by-products of the production processes you use. Are your raw materials contributing to rainforest loss or river pollution in the far off place they are produced?

7. Increase lifecycle. What about the lifecycle of your products? Are you buying equipment for life or something that will need to be replaced or upgraded in 12 months? Are you producing high-resource, short lifecycle products to make a fast buck? Or are you creating products that will last beyond the season, the fad or the warranty?

We have the opportunity as soloists to make immediate changes to create a sustainable business, so our business reflects our values and the world we wish to live in. We may be only one business but together we make up a vast chunk of the workforce and can make a difference.

In the next article in this series of three on creating a sustainable business, we look at our relationships with clients and suppliers and ask the question: what’s the social impact of your solo business?

This article first appeared in the online community for solo business owners www.flyingsolo.com.au

Good karma job hunting: Connecting with the hidden job market

trish — Sat, 09 May 2009 02:34:12 +0000

Tapping the “hidden job market” is an oft-mentioned strategy touted by employment experts advising how to find your ideal work.

If you’ve been looking for a job recently, you’ll know that relying on the newspapers or job sites for finding out about job opportunities doesn’t turn up many “woo hoo” jobs. At the other end, if you’ve ever looked for staff, you’ll know that advertising can be costly and often, unproductive. So how do you tap into something that everyone acknowledges is hidden?

It’s all about connections. At the moment we are inundated with new ways to connect with others. Word of mouth, or buzz, is just a Facebook or Twitter update away. But is anyone using this new accessibility to connection to match those who need staff with those who need work?

A philanthropic venture called Karmic Leads is giving job hunters and employers an alternative place to connect. And it’s not just a service to hook you up with “jobs” but includes matching for mentoring, speaking, and board positions.

I love this idea. It’s sort of like a Craigslist for work and it goes beyond the “9to5, full-time, employee” work model.

I have no idea how they are making money from it – as it is apparently a no-cost service – but I assume it is being approached with long-term goals. While the site doesn’t mention any other services, I would imagine that reciprocity would be at work. Those who use the job connections service would be likely to pay-it-forward by perhaps using one of the parent company’s other services. There are lots of possibilities to make this one work, if only for the database and connections it makes for Karmic Leads.

I’m not aware of any similar local sites but it would be a very timely business opportunity for someone who likes to connect with others. And it would get us a step closer to making the real job market visible.

I wonder if I know anyone who would be up for the job?

:: Thanks to Triple Pundit for the lead. ::

Setting up your Business Action Group

trish — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:54:40 +0000

Here’s the second part of the Business Action Group article which sets out the basics for setting up your own group.

Last month we talked about getting together with other soloists to support and grow your business through a Business Action Group (BAG). If you’re thinking “This is for me” then here are the steps to setting up your very own BAG.

Get clear about what you want

People join groups for different reasons. For your Business Action Group to be effective you need to get clear about your own intentions and expectations for meeting, as well as sounding out other members. For example, you don’t want a group where one member’s intention is simply to spend 60 minutes dumping their “woes of the week”.

Select your members

Next you need to identify the people who you would like to work with. In your BAG mix, you may wish to consider skills, experience, knowledge, resources, gender and ages that will complement each other. Also, do you want people from from within (or outside of) your own profession/industry? Finally, check that your expectations and values are a match and your new BAG will be ready to roll.

Your BAG may happen organically, in that you invite one person who invites another and so on, or you might have your “dream team“ already in mind. The optimal size of a BAG is between four and six people. This gives enough time each meeting for each person to focus on their business while maximising the resources and scope of the group.

Get together

Once you’ve identified your group’s purpose and at least one person you’d like to invite then you can organise your first meeting. Here you can find out what everyone wants and create the structure to support this.

Some issues you may wish to give attention to are

how you will meet (face to face, tele- and/or video-conference);
how often (weekly, fortnightly, monthly) and
what your initial commitment to the group will be (e.g. three months and then revise).

From there you can draw on the wisdom and resources of the group to outline how each meeting will proceed and set some guidelines. Meetings usually have the format of:

General introductions and follow-up from the previous meeting.
Each member gets 10 to 15 minutes to discuss an issue/question/opportunity they are facing in their business. This includes outlining the issue, getting ideas/questions from others and then committing to taking some action that the group will hold you accountable for.
Actions are recorded and distributed after the meeting by the leader.

The role of leader ideally rotates through the members, which enables you to get a chance to develop your group leadership skills in the bargain!

Business Action Group basics

Some basic guidelines of BAGs include:

Creating a culture of respect – everyone brings a range of skills, experience and knowledge.
Feedback is encouraged but criticism has no place.
Confidentiality is a given.
No one person dominates the group.
Older members can learn from younger members. The more experienced can learn from newcomers. If you didn’t have something to learn you wouldn’t be there.

It’s personal

Whilst all this action talk may make it sound very task-oriented, once you’ve met a few times you’ll find that trust and rapport emerges, discussions become personal and you start to see people beyond their business bravado.

This is when your BAG becomes special. I’ve been blown away by the brilliance of members of my group, or just touched by their courage in the face of adversity, or their vulnerability when trying something new. And yet they do it. And you’re so proud. And you celebrate.

“You’re doing a great job”

Aren’t they the words everyone wants to hear? When you’re the boss, there often isn’t anyone around to say these words. With a Business Action Group, you’ll not only become more effective and will make decisions that you believe in, you’ll also get the feedback that lets you know you are doing a great job.

Go get ‘em.

This article first appeared in the online community for solo business owners www.flyingsolo.com.au

Dealing with Non-paying Clients

trish — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:46:05 +0000

The following article is published today at Flying Solo. This one was really painful to write but I knew the subject (non-paying clients) is a common experience for business owners and freelancers that is rarely spoken about – in this way, anyway.

I recently had my first non-paying client as a soloist. And, if I may share, it hurt. As someone who likes to go on about the importance of building great client relationships, this really stung.

I couldn’t just let it ride.

I understand how some soloists manage their finances. Where the question when looking at the pile of bills isn’t “What’s due this week?” but “What can I get away with NOT paying this week?” I’ve been there. When I’ve had slow payers before, all it has taken is a reminder phone call to get my invoice on top of that list and it gets paid within the week.

But that’s not how it panned out this time. I did all the “right” things in the service delivery: clearly negotiated terms and expectations before we began. Checked expectations met on completion. Issued invoice. Followed up by phone, followed up by email, followed up by phone and post, and phone again. I was persistent but polite.

90 days later and my partner laughs when I ask her to check the post office with an earnest “Just in case there’s something there!” In my heart, I realise this one’s not going to pay.

Tapping the wisdom of other soloists

Realising the gently-gently approach wasn’t working, I began scouring the articles and forums here at Flying Solo to see how other soloists handled non-paying clients. But as I read through the advice about taking legal action or engaging a debt collector, something wasn’t sitting right with me.

Sure, my former client may be disrespecting me by not paying her account, but do I want to use an adversarial system I dislike to resolve the issue?

Letting it go

I was determined to find a third way, so I asked my colleagues what they would do in my situation. Their responses not only confirmed I wasn’t alone but pretty much summed up what I’d already done and what I was feeling: Do what you can and then let it go. It was surprising the number of people who shared how the day after they decided to move on, the cheque arrived in the mail.

It’s not about the money

In the end, it’s not really about the money, it’s about fairness, respect and trust. If you negotiate a certain amount of work or an outcome for a certain amount of money, and you deliver, then you will receive said remuneration.

Paying your bills or communicating with a supplier when you are experiencing difficulties shows that you respect them and their business. However, the most important thing when I work with people is trust – as a coach, they tell me their deepest desires and trust that I won’t make fun of them, tell the world or use it to my advantage. In return, I trust they will pay their bill.

Doing business with integrity

I know some people will consider these expectations naïve, but experience tells me otherwise. I’m not in the business of making a buck through dog-eat-dog tactics and squeezing as much as you can from your suppliers and clients. If I’m talking to a client and fairness, respect and trust aren’t important to them, I’m quite happy to say no to their business.

Being clear about my rules of business

So for me, this experience has boiled down to realising that a client who I assumed played by the “new rules of business” was actually old school. There will be no debt collectors or threatening phone calls, just a realisation that I have different rules. I might even be playing a different game.

I’ve learnt the need to check the rules potential clients play by and be much clearer about my own rules before putting time, energy and commitment into working with them.

Oh, and from now on, I’m taking a tip from the oldest profession and getting the money upfront.

This article first appeared in the online community for solo business owners www.flyingsolo.com.au

Is this the coolest business card ever?

trish — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:15:43 +0000

I love business card design. I think there’s something about the size constraints of the card that make people think a little bit more creatively about how they represent themselves and their business. In the most memorable cards, it’s the combination of typeface, colour, text and images with texture, material, shape and size that give the card a distinctive edge. Oh, and humour. I love a bit of business card humour. Which brings me to my favouritest card of the moment: the Lego card.

Yes, apparently Lego employees get customised Lego minifigs to carry around in their pockets to give to clients.

Sure they may not fit well in a wallet but who wants their business card hidden away? This is the kind of card I would put on display, and would always be at the ready when I need to order another gross of Lego.

If you’re after a more conventional design – or something a little less chunky – then check out the very cool and beautiful designs showcased at Naldz Graphics. My favourite is the retro, tick-box number for the band, The Royal Chains (designed by Kelli Anderson).

Thanks to GeekDad blog at Wired for the Lego link.

Recession-proof business ideas #1: The topless coffee shop

trish — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 06:02:01 +0000

When times get tough, it seems the tough get a little creative. The Grand View Coffee Shop opened in the small town of Vassalboro, Maine last week and is gathering international attention for its very unique USP: All the wait staff (male and female) are topless.

Media reports indicate that the owner, Donald Crabtree, received over 150 applications for the 10 new positions – many with no coffee shop experience but plenty of the other pre-requisite, um, friendliness. Crabtree says that workers were not selected on an ideal or ‘10’ body shape but rather to cover the range of bodies from thin to full-figured.

In what we would consider an abysmal employment practice, but seems to be quite common in the US and the adult industries, staff are not paid a wage and make money only through tips. Tipping has apparently been high, and by the end of the week, it was reported that the 58-seat shop was full as soon as it opened at 6am, with queues out the door.

For those redesigning or starting new businesses in these unique times, there are a couple of lessons to be learned from the topless coffee shop:

Think laterally about what people really need. What do people continue to need through hard times? Drugs of choice can include alcohol, sex, caffeine, love, food, toilet paper, etc. How can these needs be combined in a unique, profitable and positive way?

Be persistent. Crabtree experienced a lot of opposition from the local community but as there was nothing illegal about what he was doing, the council could not stop him. (I wonder if health regulations would stop this kind of business in Australia?) Of course, the community may run him out of town but with the influx of visitors they will get from all the publicity, it is doubtful that other business-owners in the town, who would benefit from the flow-on, would get onboard.

Never underestimate the power of local media. This story first appeared in the local paper but was picked up by AAP and was across the world in days. Yes, even the Letterman show has called. And who knows what other publicity could have happened because Crabtree turned his mobile phone off after two days. The darn thing just kept ringing with “out of state numbers” and he was losing his voice from all the interviews.

So, for the sake of the workers of the Grand View, let’s hope the patronage and high remuneration continue. And while Crabtree’s venture is clever, I hope future job creation involves a fair wage and won’t require giving the shirt off your back – literally.

Time to start enjoying your work?

trish — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 02:16:36 +0000

Is consciousness around work finally beginning to shift?

Could we be starting to see work as something that doesn’t have to be a drudge or a means to a financial end?

Perhaps.

The uncertainty of the current economic climate seems to be influencing people’s decision to stay in jobs they are not happy in. It has been a jobseeker’s market for the last few years with some employers offering everything including the kitchen sink to attract talent.

But with massive job losses overseas, and prediction of 300,000 losses in Australia in the near future, the attitude of workers seems to be “hold on to what you’ve got” even if you’re not happy. In an article in Saturday’s Courier Mail, journalist Lucy Kippist asks “What can we do?” to get enthusiastic about a job which has lost its shine.

I’m quoted in the article, along with Robert Gerrish from Flying Solo, giving my own take on how you can enjoy your work (complete with Top 5 essentials for Lovin Your Work! I’m slowly learning how to speak in dot points.).

Why I ask if this represents a shift is because they contacted me, not the other way around, to comment on something their news-sense was picking up on.

Does it take a meltdown of the global financial market for people to start thinking more deeply about how they spend half their life?

You can check out the online version of the article, Enjoyment in Employment.