Episode 29: Tips for Small Business - Celebrating Your Wins As a Small Business Owner Even in Covid-19 Lockdown
In this quick tip episode, Fiona shares her experience when she made a mistake in one of her emails and how she learned to celebrate her wins instead of being too focused on her mistakes. What are you doing now? What do you consider as your wins at the moment and how would you like to celebrate them?
Topics discussed in this episode:
Introduction
Celebrating the wins
Fiona's Email Mistake
Looking Back
How to celebrate the small things
Conclusion
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Episode transcript:
Hello and welcome to Episode 29 of My Daily Business Coach podcast. Today we are going to discuss a tip, tool or tactic because this is a tip episode.
If you are new to this podcast, we have three types of episodes. We have tip episodes like this. They’re quick. They're usually less than five minutes and they come out every Tuesday Australian time.
And then every Thursday we have a longer episode, which is either a coaching episode with me, Fiona Killackey, or on the alternate Thursdays, it's a longer interview episode with some incredible small business owners around the globe.
So two episodes come out every week. One is a tip, a short one on a Tuesday, and the longer ones come out on a Thursday.
So today it's a tip episode. And I think that what I'm going to talk about is super important. Given everything else that's going on in the world now, I am in lockdown again in Melbourne and shout out to any other people listening that own a small business and are operating in Melbourne, particularly those with retail physical stores and cafes and also those of us with children. And I've had to call on this tip many, many more times myself in the last few years, in the last five years of running my business, but also especially in the last few weeks, particularly being in severe stage four lockdown. So let's get stuck into this tip, shall we?
Okay, so today's tip is all about celebrating the wins. And I know I know some of you will be like, what exactly am I winning at right now? I'm a small business owner. It's Corona time. It's 2020. Like please tell me how I'm winning. But there are ways that you're winning and there are things that we should be celebrating. No matter how small they seem to be. So what actually prompted this episode was a recent email that I sent out.
So you may or may not know that I send a weekly email every single Sunday to thousands of small business owners around the world. If you are not on that, you might want to get on that. And you can subscribe at mydailybusinesscoach.com. Back to what was prompted to write this episode was that I try and batch write these emails that go out, but I don't always and sometimes I just write them on a Sunday right before they go out. And that is what happened in this instance.
Now, you may or may not know as well that I have recently published my first book, and it's called Passion, Purpose, Profit, and it's published with Hardie Grant in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand and online everywhere. And of course, I'll put a link to that in the show notes. But I sent out an email recently to thousands of small business owners, thousands of people, and I mentioned the book. I was like, you know, well, I've done this. I've launched my book.
And I actually called the book Passion, Purpose, Profit. So the book is not called that. The book is called Passion, Purpose, Profit. And I called it Passion Purchase Profit, but I have to laugh about it.
So purchase. I used purchase instead of purpose. Now, I don't know if that's some Freudian slip because I want to buy this book, but whatever the reason, I not only wrote that in the email, I also QA-ed it. So I did a, you know, a check of the email, I proofread it, but then I ended up somehow sending it like that. And I know that is like super shock horror because I have worked as an editor and a proofreader and in my time leading the kitchen team at Amazon UK, you know, I was one of the top kind of QA-ers is for email, so we would have QA-ers across the company to to double check other people's emails. And so it's not like that's not something that I do and it's not like I shouldn't know the title to my own book, but that's what I did. I completely missed it and I completely stuffed up.
But you know what? I saw it when it went when it got sent out that evening. And I just laughed. I laughed so hard. And I text my sister and I text my best friend. And I was like, “Oh, my God, look, I did it. This is hilarious.”
Now I think back to the ME from a few years ago or even, you know, when I worked in-house at head of marketing jobs or senior marketing roles or senior content roles. And I had to celebrate because I laughed because the old me, the Fiona a few years ago or ten years ago or whatever, would have seen that simple mistake in actual funny mistake as the end of the world. You know, I would have been like,” oh my God, I can't believe I sent that out.” And I would have just been kicking myself about it for, like, the whole evening. I would have let it ruin whatever I was doing that night and I would have turned it into this catastrophe that it really wasn't, you know, like it's called Passion, Purpose, Profit.
It wasn't the first time I've mentioned the book. And I think it's kind of hilarious. So I called it Passion, Purchase, Profit. But the fact that I laughed. It might seem really small, but it actually shows how much I've grown in my business. And as a person, you know, sure, I shouldn't have made that mistake. And I need to triple check these things. But I also allowed myself grace. I thought we are in severe lockdown. I have had my book launch last week launching while in state four a lockdown. Obviously not ideal scenario. I was juggling kids. I'm juggling home school. I have a baby who doesn't sleep and I have other responsibilities. And you know what? I made an error. I stuffed up.
And I also know that my audience are such incredible people that they might have even laughed at it as well. Well, they might have been like, oh, is that like a slip that she's put into make us buy it? Who knows? So I actually ended up celebrating what could have been a horrible mistake. You know, I took a moment and I sort of congratulated myself with the change in mindset and I congratulated myself, you know who I am right now. The fact that I can just laugh that off. And, you know, I don't laugh off every mistake. And obviously, it depends what mindset I mean, at the time. But I really laughed at that and I thought it was pretty hilarious. And I just sort of let it roll off me, like, yep, we stuffed up. Cool. Keep moving. Keep going.
So today, I really wanted to discuss how you can celebrate the small things even in lock down, even in 2020, which has been an absolutely dire year for so many small business owners.
So when you think about kind of what have you done lately that you're proud of? You know, it may be to do with your business. It might not be to do with your business. It could have been taking a moment to pause before that, cracking it had a loved one or at the kids. I have been there. It could have been taking the time to really listen to a colleague or a staff challenge right now instead of just getting super defensive. It could have been switching off completely, like turning your phone off, turning the screens off and giving yourself time away from a screen, even though, you know, we all have massive to do lists all the time. So thinking about what are the small things you're doing that deserve to be celebrated right now? It could have been that, you know, put up your boundaries. It could have been that you said, no, I don't really want to get on another Zoom call. It could have been that, you know, you decided to just completely read and escape funny, you know, Marian Keyes’ book instead of working through. I don't know the paperwork that you have to do for your business. It could have just been taking a break or flip side you could have been actioning things in your business that you've kind of been holding off on. So one of the small things you're doing that deserves to be celebrated.
And when I was coming up with this topic and thinking about it as a podcast episode, it reminded me of a conversation that I had a few years ago with a friend, and she was asking me how I get stuff done and how I don't get trapped in, you know, thinking about all the things I haven't accomplished yet. And I said to her that when I'm getting stressed about not having achieved something in my business or in my life, I, you know, really think about or it could also be like, you know, if I'm going down the compare and despair shame spiral, like after scrolling Instagram or seeing something else that, you know, maybe I'm not there yet in my business. I take a minute and I think back to who I was a few years ago and had that version of myself would feel about who I am now and what I've been able to achieve in my business or in my life now.
So even sometimes on a very personal note, even when my son is not sleeping, my youngest son and I can get stressed. And then I think, oh, my God, Fiona, you know, we tried for a while to have a second second child. And I can get caught up sometimes in, oh, my God, I'm not getting to sleep. Instead of being like, oh, my gosh, how long did you pray and wanted this child and thought about this child? And now he's here in front of you.
So I think sometimes doing that in all parts of our life can really help us just be present with what we have and appreciate what we have and celebrate the wins that are right in front of us. So usually, yeah, like I said, that just that shift, that doing that exercise, you know, what can I celebrate right now or what have I done? What am I proud of? You know, who was I a few years ago and how would they feel about everything I'm doing right now? It's enough to shift my perspective and really feel better about where I am today and all that I've done, even in 2020, even in a land of lockdown.
And I think it's similar to this idea of celebrating the small wins. I also think now more than ever, we can focus only on what we don't have or we can't have or what we can't do or haven't been able to achieve instead of everything that we're doing right. You know, we got up, we looked after ourselves and others. We connected with people in our community. We considered, you know, what our audience most needs right now and tried to deliver that. We considered what our staff most need right now and tried to deliver that. We did our best.
So how might you celebrate the small things that you're doing right now?
You know, sending that email. Sharing that post. Reaching out and saying thank you to someone who needs to hear it. How are you going to kind of pat yourself on the back? And I know it might sound fluffy and it might sound. Oh, where are you going with this? But mindset really is the thing that will make or break you as a small business owner. It's super important to remember this as we get bogged down in, you know, oh, I don't know enough about a SEO. I'm moving my physical store online and I don't know enough about Shopify or e-commerce or user experience or branding or marketing or how am I going to build a community or how am I going to send out my email sequences? You know that those are all things that, yes, you will be worried about from time to time. But ultimately, the one thing that will help you or hinder you with anything in business is your mindset.
So this tip is just one way to help you get a more positive mindset happening despite everything else going on around you. So the two questions to leave you with from this podcast episode is, one, what are you doing? Well, right now, what are you doing that you can be proud of right now? And then the second is, how are you going to allow yourself to celebrate that?
So it could just be, you know, literally that you pause. Like, I paused after that email and I just laughed and I thought, wow, I'm laughing at, you know, a mistake that is pretty kind of bad. They're still laughing about it. It's my book title. How could I get that wrong? It's like spelling my own name wrong or something. But, you know, it could just be that it could just be a small pause or it could be like, you know what? I am going to go and find some amazing small business food company and I'm going to support them. Want to get some beautiful food tonight or I'm gonna get beautiful drink. So I am going to let myself turn off my computer and I'm going to just watch a beautiful film or I'm just going to hang out with my people that I love or I'm going to Skype my uncle or do something else. How might you celebrate what you're doing right right now?
So that is it for the Quick Tip episode. If you're listening in real time and you listen to Episode 26, which was an interview that my lovely friend Natasha Ace did with me about my book, you might be aware that I'm running a little competition at the moment to win one of five signed copies of my new book, Passion, Purpose, Profit. And also we in that competition, we are giving away one totally free one to one coaching session with me. So those are usually valued at $399 and you'll be getting it for zero. So that's super fun. And all you have to do to enter is tell us what you think of this podcast. The best way that you can do that is to leave a review on iTunes. You can share the podcast or your favourite episode on Instagram and just make sure you tag @mydailybusinesscoach so we see it. Or even you can just send us a good old email: hello@mydailybusinesscoach.com. So winners will be announced to the 29th of September and entries close Tuesday, the 22nd of September, 2020. And that is Australian time. So get your entries in and we might be chatting, you and I, about your business.
Thank you so much for listening to this tape episode. And I'll see you next time. Bye.
So you may or may not know that I send a weekly email every single Sunday to thousands of small business owners around the world. If you are not on that, you might want to get on that. And you can subscribe at mydailybusinesscoach.com.
Contest
All you have to do to enter is tell us what you think of this podcast. The best way that you can do that is to leave a review on iTunes. You can share the podcast or your favourite episode on Instagram and just make sure you tag @mydailybusinesscoach so we see it. Or even you can just send us a good old email: hello@mydailybusinesscoach.com. So winners will be announced to the 29th of September and entries close Tuesday, the 22nd of September, 2020. And that is Australian time. So get your entries in and we might be chatting, you and I, about your business.
