Chances are you’re the bottleneck in your business

Chances are you’re the bottleneck in your business

by | Jan 26, 2023 | Business coaching for women, Juggle Street, Peak Performance

You might have noticed that when you dig a bit deeper to find the bottleneck in your business, it’s actually you. 

Why is that? 

  1. A big part of it is because as the business owner, you make all the final decisions. 

This can lead to delays in getting things done and a lack of delegation to your team.

And let’s be real, no one wants to work for a boss who micromanages every little thing!

It’s no surprise then that according to the 2019 Gallup State of Global Workplace report, it was reported that within Australia and New Zealand, only 14% of employees were truly engaged in their jobs. 

When you’re the bottleneck, it means you’re not giving your team the chance to step up and make decisions that could benefit the business.

  1. Another reason you may be the bottleneck is that you just want to do everything yourself. 

You may be afraid to let go of control or trust your team to handle certain tasks. 

But this leads to an overload of work and not enough time to focus on the important stuff. 

And trust me, that’s just going to take you down the path towards burnout.

So, how do you fix this bottleneck problem? 

Well, it starts with you learning to trust your team members and giving them more autonomy in their roles. 

This can be done by setting clear goals and expectations, providing training and resources, and giving regular feedback. 

By doing this, you can create a culture of engagement and collaboration, leading to a more productive and efficient business.

Another tip is to create a clear structure of communication and delegation of responsibilities. 

This will help you identify which tasks you can delegate to your team, allowing you to focus on the most important tasks and lead the company more effectively.

And let’s not forget, involving your team in the decision-making process and valuing their opinions can lead to higher levels of engagement.

When people feel like they’re being heard and that their input is valued, they are more likely to be invested in the success of the business.

Don’t be afraid to step back and let your team shine.

Because when they’re working at their best, your business can only benefit.

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Business (and life) success should not be a trade-off for burnout!

Business (and life) success should not be a trade-off for burnout!

by | Jan 11, 2023 | Business coaching for women, Womens Business Mastermind

We’ve been taught as a society to hustle, work hard, don’t stop, keep going… do anything to achieve results and be successful. 

While it’s great to be tenacious and go after what you want in life (and business), at what cost? 

In 2007, Arianna Huffington (co-founder of Huffington post, a brilliant author and businesswoman who’s made it to the Forbes most powerful women list) found herself lying on the floor of her home office in a pool of blood. 

She collapsed from exhaustion hitting her head on the desk, cutting her eye and breaking her cheekbone.  

Arianna was working 18 hour days, 7 days a week and this event caused her to stop and ask herself, is this what success looks like? 

Who remembers the old cold & flu tv ads? 

It was all about the messaging… to soldier on and keep going no matter what! 

What about the messaging for when it was ‘that time of the month’? 

Again it was to keep going no matter what (aaagh those horse riding ads)! 

Hustle culture hasn’t only been thrown at us in the business environment, it’s been a full 360 across all areas of our life. 

And it’s time for change. 

Think about it, even professional athletes know that in order to attain optimal levels of performance, they need to schedule quality rest and recovery into their training schedule. 

This downtime gives the body the chance to repair and grow stronger. 

A healthy (and successful) approach to work and building your business is the same. 

Learning how to do less and be more is more than just a popular catch-phrase (it’s a great book by Susan Pearse and Martina Sheehan!). 

It’s a must for you to create long term, sustainable results. 

In the recent Big Small Business Survey ‘exhausted’ is the word business owners repeatedly use when describing their mood and well-being. 

58% of small businesses surveyed have experienced a mental health challenge in the last 2 years (again according to the Big Small Business Survey).

I know I know! 

You want it all, a thriving business, time with your loved ones, money to live stress free and enjoy life. 

And you can have it! But working tirelessly isn’t the way to get it. 

Mary Oliver famously said ‘Tell me what is it you plan to do with your one wild precious life?’

For Arianna, a chain of events set her on a mission to redefine what success could look like. 

She introduced a 3rd measure of success alongside the traditional measures of money and power. It’s a combination of well-being, wisdom, wonder and giving. 

For our clients it’s the True North Wheel – encompassing Business Growth, Managing Money AND prioritising life as equally important as each other. 

When I think about Thriving in business and in life, I think about redefining traditional measures of success and breaking cycles to allow you (and your business) to thrive without the burnout.

My question to you is, do you prioritise life as much as you do other ‘traditional’ forms of success?

Where you spend your time and the goals you’re going after hold the clues to what your definition of success is. 

For example, are you only focusing on linear, number based, masculine goals such as revenue targets or do you also have more flow, feeling, feminine goals such as how you want to feel, what you do with your time?

I invite you to take a look at these clues and bring critical thinking to what success means to you. Don’t be passive with this, ask yourself… 

Is my definition of success serving me well? 

Is it well rounded covering both masculine and feminine aspects of business and life? 

Does it need to change like Ariannas did?

Nicky is a Sales and Business Leadership Coach with over 2 decades experience in sales and leadership. She’s been running successful coaching businesses since 2015 and is obsessed with helping business owners and teams thrive. She helps her clients install smart business growth strategies and leverage leadership for peak performance.
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THESE 3 THINGS COULD BE KILLING YOUR TEAM CULTURE

THESE 3 THINGS COULD BE KILLING YOUR TEAM CULTURE

by | Dec 15, 2022 | Business coaching for women, Juggle Street, Peak Performance, Womens Business Mastermind

Time is limited.

You’re overworked and tired. 

You have compassion fatigue. 

And now, you’re starting to second-guess yourself and your decisions.  

It’s no wonder you’re left with a constant feeling of letting people down… whether it’s your team, your family or yourself.

Not to put more pressure on you but if you’re feeling like this, how is your team doing? 

And what’s the impact on your culture?

Chances are, you’re not as good at hiding how you’re feeling as you think you are. 

Especially if you’ve been feeling this way for a while. 

Culture changes as people change. 

This continual change means culture is not set and forget.

But it also doesn’t have to be solely reliant on you to create a culture that your team will thrive in. 

For a start, understand that there are ‘motivators’ and ‘blockers’ that can help or hinder the culture in your business.  

According to mccrindle’s shaping thriving culture research, the biggest blockers stopping team members from thriving are:

  • Being overworked
  • Toxic co-workers
  • Lack of resources
  • Unrealistic expectations
  • Poor leadership decisions 

And the key motivators that allow team members to thrive are:

  • Seeing the positive impact of their work
  • Relationships at work
  • Having responsibility
  • Financial compensation
  • Their performance within the business

Building on mccrindle’s research, the 3 things that will kill your culture are as follows…

  1. Lack of trust between the leader/s and team.

I’ve seen this first-hand in business and once that trust is broken, it’s terribly hard to get it back. 

As a leader, it’s critical to focus on building trust from the get-go and to remember that trust goes both ways. 

You can’t expect loyalty and trust from your people if you don’t give it to them in return. It doesn’t work that way. If you feel like you’re having trust issues, you need to explore why. 

A clue that there might be some trust issues in place is if you find yourself micro-managing. I talk about the negative impact of micro-managing and what to do about it in this article. 

  1. Not investing in your people. 

76% of people surveyed strongly agree businesses that fund professional development and leaders that have a focus on coaching and development will positively impact engagement and retention.  

What this tells us is, that it’s not only important to invest in training your people, but it’s also important to ensure ongoing coaching and support for your team. A one-off approach does not work!  

  1. Not having a flexible or hybrid workforce. 

We’ve all experienced the epitome of flexible working arrangements over the last few years and we now continue to find what the new normal is for our individual businesses. 

It’s essential to not get swept up in what a flexible workforce ‘should’ look like and rather consider how you and your team can best serve your clients while allowing individual ability and performance to flourish (a key motivator in teams). 

So the questions to ask yourself are…

  • What do you do to build trust in your business?
  • How do you upskill your people (and yourself)?
  • Are you and your team on the same page about what flexible work is, and is your working environment a win/win/win for you, your clients and your team?

If creating an environment that people love coming to work for isn’t reason enough to invest in your people and culture, then put your commercial business hat on. 

Investing in culture will save you money, reduce team turnover and increase productivity and output. 

So even though it might feel impossible right now to ‘find the time’ know that it’s critical to the sustainability of your future business success. 

Culture isn’t about putting just one thing in place, it’s about creating a living organism that continues to grow and change not just with you, but with your whole team. Check out the 13 things to have in place to create a thriving culture here. 

If you want to pick the brain of an experienced leader and business mentor, book a clarity call with Nicky or Ness here to talk all things thriving culture. 

*Source: Shaping thriving culture infographic, www.mccrindle.com

Nicky is a Sales and Business Leadership Coach with over 2 decades experience in sales and leadership. She’s been running successful coaching businesses since 2015 and is obsessed with helping business owners and teams thrive. She helps her clients install smart business growth strategies and leverage leadership for peak performance.
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Profit is not an event

Profit is not an event

by | Dec 2, 2022 | Business Chaos, Business coaching for women, Money Mindset and Management, Profitability and business growth, Smart Growth

If you’re not earning the profit you want to, it could be because of one of these reasons…

  • Your sales figures aren’t high enough
  • You don’t put any attention towards knowing your profit
  • You’re bleeding expenses

When it comes to creating a profitable business (not just one that pays everyone else and not you!) then being purposeful is essential.

And it’s not just about earning more income.

Because there’s no point in earning more if there’s no profit as a result.

So how do you know that your business is profitable?

Traditionally, we’re taught to figure out our profit we simply take our income and subtract our expenses.

The problem I have with this thinking is that it’s easy to spend to match our income.

And there’s never any money left over.

I prefer to consider the formula differently:

EXPENSES + PROFIT = INCOME

This makes us more purposeful when it comes to setting our income targets.

And if your business is leaking money, then it’s time to get intentional.

The way you do this is by high-quality questions about your expenses.

Go through your Profit and Loss statement for the last 6 months line by line and ask yourself:

  • Was this spending planned?
  • If not, for what purpose am I investing my money into this expense?
  • How is this expense going to deliver value to me and/or provide a return on investment?

Making it a habit to regularly review your expenses, your pricing and your profit targets will help you to earn the profit you deserve.

Because in the wise words of Mike Michalowicz (the guy who wrote Profit First):

“Profit is not an event. It’s a habit.”

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What does your COMPASS say?

What does your COMPASS say?

by | Nov 30, 2022 | Business Chaos, Business coaching for women, Busy Trap, Juggle Street, Peak Performance, Profitability and business growth, Smart Growth, Time Freedom

Do you remember when you made the decision to start your own business?

I do, it was freakin scary but I just knew I needed to take the leap.

Not only had I found something I loved doing (coaching), I was really good at it and I wanted to work with anyone and everyone who needed help.

But just like you, the more years in business, the more challenges we face and that initial excitement wanes.

There are pockets of time when we wobble, feel lost and wonder if we have the energy to keep going.

Funnily enough, the more success we have in business, the more pressure we put on ourselves to keep it up.

It might look something like this…

Externally – it looks like we’re smashing it, a growing team and a growing reputation

Internally – we realise that success in business is solely reliant on us being hands-on

Externally – we’re skilled at our craft and our clients rave about us

Internally – it feels chaotic and the performance of our team is inconsistent

There are just so many moving parts and we’re in the thick of it so we can’t see what we need to fix. 

All we know is, if nothing changes then perhaps it’s time to close up shop.

But wait!

Don’t give up – there is a solution…

It’s about removing the emotion and taking a snapshot of where things are at right now so you can make clearer decisions.

Uncover your strengths and your opportunities, understand what’s holding you back, and discover your blind spots.

Then make a plan to move out of chaos and back to clarity.

The model that Nicky and I use when we help businesses with this is COMPASS

C… Culture

the big picture – vision, purpose, values, goals, expectations, rewards

O… Operating rhythm

business structure, planning, key performance indicators, processes

M… Mindset

responsibility, ownership, transparency, self-reflection, excellence

P… Profitability

accounts, expenses, price reviews, money mindset, A-level clients

A… Action with Purpose

standards, client feedback, boundaries, test & measure, work-life balance

S… Sales

revenue targets, upselling, sales activity, sales skills, onboarding

S… Skills

feedback, coaching and development

And the process we use is the Business Health Check.

If you need help, click here to have a chat and see if it’s time to readjust your compass. 

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Here’s 6 simple time hacks you can use today

Here’s 6 simple time hacks you can use today

by | Nov 15, 2022 | Business coaching for women, Busy Trap, Time Freedom, Womens Business Mastermind

Time is a manmade concept and these days, we monitor time down to the millisecond. 

Honestly, sometimes I amaze myself with what I can get done in 60 seconds. 

I used to be proud of how productive I could be. Until I realised that it’s not healthy to jam-pack (literally) every single minute of the day. 

No wonder I felt like I was run ragged. Who’s with me on this? 

Seriously though, how do we fit everything in without micro-managing our time?

Recently I googled – how I can manage my time more effectively and almost 1.6 Billion search results came back. Interestingly when I googled the same phrase 6 months ago only 514 million results came back. 

People are desperate to find the magic bullet, a better way, the thing that will help them have more time.  

Here’s the kick-in-the-guts – getting more time back and getting out of the busy trap isn’t about finding another time management tool!

No time management tool will make any difference IF you don’t consider your beliefs about time. 

Let me ask you a question… we all have 168 hours a week to play with, is that a little or a lot? 

The answer is that it depends on your mindset around time. 

So before you get excited about a new time management tool what you need to do first is look at how your thinking about time affects your day-to-day.

If you believe there’s not enough time in this world. Nothing will change that.

Here’s 6 time hacks you can start using today:

  1. Work on your beliefs about time. Do you have abundance or scarcity beliefs about time?
  1. Bring mindfulness into your every day. Do you spend more time mindfully living or getting pulled into the whirlwind of busy?
  1. Prioritise tasks aligned with your overall business strategy. Do you find yourself prioritising ‘stuff’ ’cause it feels good to get through a whole bunch of tasks or do you strategically focus on tasks that will help move the dial in your business?
  1. Focus first on desired outcomes, then start prioritising. Do you feel accomplished or in a constant state of chasing?
  1. Be aware of when you drop into guilt, and come back to a higher vibration by shifting your focus to gratitude. Do you find yourself feeling grateful more of the time, or stuck in guilt?
  1. Manage your energy wisely. Is your energy leaking and your feeling overstretched or optimal and energised?

As Laura Vanderkam says in her incredible Ted Talk (watch here) we prioritise the things that matter to us and when we must find the time, we do. 

Working on your beliefs, being more mindful, prioritising tasks based on outcomes, and managing your energy and your emotional state will put you in a better position to not have to cram life into 60-second blocks. Wow! How would that feel?! 

Actually, as someone who’s breaking that habit, it feels pretty damn amazing.

Grab our Time Hacking Audit here to see how you fair with these 6 areas and get some more ideas on what you can do to improve in each area.

Nicky is a Sales and Business Leadership Coach with over 2 decades experience in sales and leadership. She’s been running successful coaching businesses since 2015 and is obsessed with helping business owners and teams thrive. She helps her clients install smart business growth strategies and leverage leadership for peak performance.
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