Episode 8: Business Coaching: Do you have the right people around you for your small business to succeed?

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SHOW NOTES

All right. So today is all about cultivating crews. And as we go through this, you'll understand what I mean by this. But this is a really important part of running a business. And it's something that I work on with my one on one coaching clients quite a bit, because as a business coach, I am often the support for a small business owner. I work with a lot of owners, small business owners who have teams.

And yet they're the MDA or the CEO. And so often they're not relaying the issues to their staff. And sometimes I can be the only person that they're bouncing ideas off. And that's great. But it is my philosophy to teach people what I know and to give them the confidence to go off and do that themselves. You know, I'm not in it for, like, let's, you know, let me charge you for the next three years every month.

I am here to work with you for six months or 12 months to really nut out what can be changed or amended or improved within your business to grow it and scale it sustainably without burning out. But one of the things that I like to work on with people, even at the start, is to think about when we stop working together, how are you going to keep going with, you know, all the good work that we're doing and all the things that you're learning, how are you going to stay accountable?

And one of the key ways that I find that that works is to cultivate your crew, so cultivate a support network of people around you. And I'll go through what those crews look like, because there are various different groups that I think need to be there for you to really feel confident to grow as a small business owner.

So I guess let's talk about staying accountable to to start with, because that's where a lot of this comes from. I don't know about you, but have you ever watched, like, a new series on Netflix, say, or stand off one of the other ones and you silently promise yourself, you know, I'm only going to watch one episode and then you find yourself somehow three hours and five episodes later and you're still watching? I do that when I get some time. That's that's what I do. And so as hard as it can be to admit it, we break promises to ourselves all the time, you know. But when it comes to making promises to other people, we often try a whole lot harder to show up and to stay true to our word. And I'm sure that you have experienced that as well. Like you tell yourself, I'm going to do X, Y, Z tomorrow and then tomorrow comes and you're like, oh, well, whatever.

But if you had said that to a friend or a colleague or one of your staff members, you turn up and you show up.

So I don't know if it's because we don't want to let someone else down or because, you know, if we want we don't want to be thought of in a negative light when someone else expects us to show up, we do.

So no matter how passionate you are, there will always be areas of your business that you simply don't feel like tackling. You know, we don't always want to do everything that's on our To-Do list. And for some business owners, these might look like having difficult conversations with staff, while for other people it's looking at the financial numbers or your website analytics.

These are things that we know we have to do, but we keep putting them off until sometimes they become an issue. And often when I work with a particularly sort of CEO as an M.D. and even the consulting work, it's because an issue has arisen that they've needed a business coach. So I think what I'm trying to teach you today hopefully will help alleviate some of that, because you're going to create these support crews around you that will help you in all parts of your business as you go so that you're not necessarily just waiting until something has become an issue.

And likewise, when it becomes to, say, business goals, we can have all this fun. You know, I love doing this. All this fun, making plans and creating masterpieces with Post-it notes and sharpies and butcher paper and whiteboards. Yet months on these goals, they remain simply that, just a goal, you know, rather than things we've actually accomplished for the business. So having people around you who not only understand these challenges, but who can keep you accountable can mean the difference between a business that merely survives and a business that thrives.

So how are you currently being held accountable for the things that you promised yourself you'll do? Like take a minute to really think about that. I'll repeat the question. How are you currently being held accountable for the things you've promised yourself that you'll do? Are you showing up for your business in the areas you know will help grow your business, or are you kind of shying away? Are you staying on top of the more tedious parts of your business so that they don't become a future problem?

Do you, you know, regularly check in with others about the business tasks and the goals that you said that you would complete? Do you have a way to get feedback from trusted advisers on your next collection or campaign or your next communication tactic? Do you have a group of business friends that you can call on to discuss everything from your pricing strategy through to how to deal with, you know, the absolute dreaded comparison items which we all go through? 

I haven't met a business owner yet that hasn't gone through, you know, about a comparison artist every so often.

But if the answer to any of these questions is no, then you need to cultivate a support group and a really supportive support crew. And so in a lot of the work that I do, you know, I talk about taking action and setting yourself goals and all of that kind of stuff. But trust me, the business owners that I've worked with who've been able to really scale their business and grow and, you know, not only just sit, but actually get their goals, are also the people who or the business owners who have people that they can stay accountable to and a business support crew that they can call on.

So let me go through, you know, who's in your crew and kind of talk through the key kind of crews that you want to think about now, if you're driving or you're listening to this in the gym or with the kids while you're cooking or something else, there will be a PDF that you can download with a lot of this information and kind of an exercise sheet to work through. And you can get that at mydailybusinesscoach.com/podcast/8 as this is episode eight.

So let's get back into it now before you race off. You know, you've heard this and you're like, oh, I need to like join an online group or I need to get into a really expensive mastermind. Take a minute and consider who is already in your life. Now, there's nothing wrong with mastermind's or membership's or anything like that, but we often have entire networks around us that we never even think to use.

So here are the kind of key core crews that I think everybody should cultivate who's in small business. They're generally five groups that you want to look to create.

One is your core crew.

Two is your bounce off crew.

Three, you'll creator crew.

Four, your external crew.

Five, your aligned groups crew.

And what do these actually mean? Let's find out.

So let's talk about the first one. Your core crew as a name kind of suggests this crew consists of the people that you really can call at any time of day who be there to wipe your eyes or when things turn to shit, or who'll be the first to pop the champagne.

You know, when it's time to celebrate. 

These are your ride or die people who you fear absolutely no judgment from.

So they're people who, you know, they only want the best for you. And you can trust them to give you 100 percent honest feedback on just about anything. And while this crew, you know, often it will include your significant other, or your spouse, partner, possibly a sibling or even your parents, if you're lucky enough to still have your parents around. It shouldn't consist solely of family members and or your spouse because and I'm going to get into this in another episode.

I think, you know, you can't rely 100 percent on your kind of romantic partner to be your punching bag or your venting person on every part of your business. It's really important that in your core crew, other people who are not family or related to you in some way. So that's number one, your core crew. Absolutely essential. Number two is called your bounce off crew or this is what I've called it. Your bounce off crew said this crew is similar to the core crew, but you wouldn't usually run to them when you're having a complete meltdown and you know, there is no shame. Everybody has meltdowns. You'd go to your core crew for that. So this is your bounce off crew. And this is more likely that this group is made up of people who work in a similar or complementary industry to your own. So people that you can literally bounce ideas off.

And that's why it's called the bounce off crew. These are people that you can rely on to chat through things like staffing issues, marketing ideas, pricing strategy, platforms and tools and apps and even things like recommending a good accountant or lawyer. So they are, you know, #collaborationovercompetition kind of people and the business friends that you might even partner up on a project, an event or a product collaboration. Depending on what some of the members of your core crew do for for work and business, you may well have some of them in this group as well. So that is the bounce off crew.

The third group is your creator crew. And this next group is really all about helping you with the more creative elements of your business, especially in terms of branding and marketing. So they are people who could help you with, say, copywriting, photography, bibliography, visual branding, technical stuff like, you know, the back end of website design, analytics, linking your e-commerce platform with email platform, event management, public relations, social media and even personal branding and figurehead marketing.

One of the biggest challenges I hear from small business owners all the time who are either launching or looking to scale is to find creatives and skilled creatives at that who get them. So, you know, who really understand them. Documenting this group allows you to see who you already know that you could hire or discuss ideas with first. And I must sort of point that out. This crew is not like, oh, my friend's a photographer and I'm just gonna get all always free stuff from her or him.

It's more about this are my creators and I'm going to pay what they normally charge. I'm not going to ask for matkes rates. But I'm going to make that list of people I already know that I trust that if I was going to do a brand photo shoot or get a new logo done, I could go to them first because I know that they understand me as a person. And sometimes people will go out and get all this visual branding work done and then realize, oh my God, I totally forgot about X, Y, Z's boyfriend who does this really well. I don't know why I didn't just work with him. So that is why it's important to think about your creator crew.

The fourth one is your external crew. So I love my accountant. I know I sound like a complete nerd, but I am loud and proud when it comes to promoting her business because I just feel like I've learnt so much.

You know, without her, I would have come up against some pretty massive obstacles that could have cost me big time. And in particular around Coronavirus and sort of figuring out what I what I was and wasn't eligible for.

She just held my hand through all of that. So I talk about my accountant every chance I get and my accountant is part of my external crew. And so your external crew is really made up of people like your accountant, your bookkeeper, lawyer, nanny, cleaner, dog walker. You know, basically anyone who makes the day to day running of your business but doesn't work specifically in the business easier. So, that is the fourth crew.

The fifth is your aligned group's crew. And so while this group is last in order, it's by no means last in importance. And that is something that really needs stressing. This crew consists of all the people that you might know from various groups that you're a part of. So, for instance, it might be church friends if that's you're so inclined, it could be people from a sporting club or friends from an online group or people inside a business community on Facebook, a book club, or even your school or university or college alumni.

So how can these people help you? That's very nice. But you know, the people I play basketball with, how do they actually help my business?

So apart from practical advice related to various areas of business, such as a membership group, if you're part of a membership group, you know, you might actually be showing you how to launch and grow membership for your own business. But they could also help you with opportunities to meet your ideal audience and share your journey. So let's say, for example, that you work as a health coach and you specifically work with young women aged 12 to 15 on body image and confidence.

And so you might also play basketball once a week.

So you might look then at where you're playing basketball example, you know, the sporting complex or club that you actually play in and see if there's an opportunity for you to run an event where you would have a chance to chat to the parents of the girls that you work with or the girls themselves about the topics that you're interested in.

Alternatively, you know, you might have just launched a resort, wear a fashion brand and you'll also part of like a school alumni. And so you may offer some of your items for charity in a raffle, you know, related to the school in return for a spot in the newsletter or social media. Or you might go in and talk to senior school students about your career in fashion and your new brand. Now, that is a big caveat to this group, just like the other groups.

People are your best asset. They should always, always, always be treated with respect.

You know, don't expect your cousin's wife to offer free legal advice when that's her profession or don't hound your local community group to get you sales. Both of these things are just plain wrong. So for most of us in that five groups that I've just listed out, there will be people who cross over, you know, some some people might be in one or two or even three of those groups.

And that's completely okay. The point is really about cultivating these crews is to remember who we have in our own networks and how they may be able to help us reach our business goals. Now, there is a group that is clearly missing from what I'm talking about, and that is your internal crew. So this internal crew is including all made up of your internal staff, your suppliers, your contractors, manufacturers, people who the business just would not work without.

And this group can should be kind of considered on its own. And that is because it will shift and it will change much like the other groups. But this group will also be reliant on you as the business owner for guidance and help rather than the other way around.

So think about who is in your current internal crew and then think about who would you like to see in this crew in the near future. For example, you might want to hire more staff or even your first staff member if you just sort of starting out. So let's talk about your internal crew a little bit more because it is so important. I want to talk about specifically cultivating a successful internal crew. The way that you can do this is to write a list of all the people in your internal crew.

Then consider the skills and the expertise that they can offer to your business. So remember to note down here, you know, every skill that they have, not just what their job is on paper, in inverted commas, but, for example, you know, maybe your virtual assistant worked as a bookkeeper prior to starting their virtual assistant agency. And so they might have skills that can help you in other areas, such as bookkeeping or your financial records that you might not have considered.

Similarly, your suppliers or your manufacturers might have experience in your industry outside of what you have directly hired them for. So, for example, perhaps they're helping another client with more sustainable manufacturing processes and testing things and experimenting. And you're also interested in that as well. So they might have networks that you can leverage to help you with other parts of your manufacturing, such as, you know, your swing tags, your packaging, customs or fulfillment centers.

So look at the list of your internal crew and people that you've written down and think about, is there anyone missing, you know? Are you accounting for all the skills and experiences these people bring into your business? And then you want to think about future proofing your internal crew. So, you know, if you have worked with me before, this might be something that we have talked about. But I can't really emphasize it enough that people are your best asset.

So look at the list that you've written down for your internal crew and then think about how you. How often in connecting with these people, you know, do you offer a considered welcome gift when they join the company, you know, even remotely. Do you have handwritten note, for example, from a company founder such as yourself?

These kind of things, just a handwritten note, can really help so much to help people feel welcomed when they join the company and to help them feel seen and valued.

And likewise, a welcome lunch even over Zoom or Skype for remote staff can help people feel energized and excited about their role.

So on that note, you'll also want to think about do you have regular connection sessions with your staff where you don't just talk about work? And this could be, you know, a monthly potluck lunch where everyone kind of brings things that could be a quarterly night out, a Friday film afternoon or lunch and learn, or simply a weekly 15 minute catch up over coffee in your office kitchen.

Work is such a huge part of who we are today, especially a small business owners. You know that life and work very much integrate and overlap. And you want to ensure that the people who work for you, the people in your internal crew, feel that you acknowledge them as people, you know, with lives and families outside of work. So things that are really small and simple and genuine, you know, like a "How is your weekend?" And actually sticking around to listen to the answer can do wonders for staff morale. So really stop and think about how you're showing up for the people who show up for you.

And one last thing to consider when it comes to your internal crew is who else you might need in the mix in the future. So it can be hard to know, you know, what you'll need in your business in twelve months time or 24 months from now, especially with everything going on in Coronavirus land, I guess, or with coronavirus like we just don't know.

But stopping to have a real, you know, think and consider and spend some time reviewing the work that you've done on your internal crew, thinking about who is missing or what kind of skills are missing. So, for example, perhaps you want to add an online course as one of your revenue streams or and you think, well, I won't have the time to actually build this myself. And so you need someone who can work part time in the business and build, you know, your online course on a platform like Kajabi or Teachable or or any of the others alongside all the relevant, you know, email sequences that go with courses or things like webinars or Facebook ads.

Or you might have decided that you'd really like to move your product based business from being 100 percent online to including a physical store. And if that's in your plans, then you might want to look at your internal crew and think about who is on this list that might want to become the manager for this physical store.

And so you really want to think about all of these kind of questions and then think about, you know, what are the blocks that are coming up for you? So either around things like I don't have the money to hire these people or these hires are so far in the future, they're not worth worrying about. You know, no matter where you are in your business, taking time to consider who else you'll need in the future to hit those goals that you've set for yourself is never wasted at a minimum, it forces you to focus on what the business will look like in a couple of months and years to come. But it also allows you to start thinking about who you already know who could fill these future staff gaps and how you might help them up skill and gain experience that will benefit both you and them in the future. Like I said before, there is a downloadable for this podcast episode because we are talking about quite a lot of stuff.

And sometimes when you're listening to podcasts, you're not necessarily in a situation that you can write down notes and sort of answer these questions.

So I would urge you to if this is something that's important to you, to go to mydailybusinesscoach.com/podcast/8 and you'll find a downloadable to go with this.

But there's a couple of other things that I wanted to add before I finish up this episode. Okay, so lastly, there is another important group that any small business owner really, really, really needs to cultivate, and that is what I call your non-work network.

So having people to talk to and socialize with who have nothing to do with your business is absolutely imperative to mental health. You know, talking 100% about work can leave you feeling overwhelmed and out of sorts. Trust me, I have been there. And while I really don't believe in a perfect, you know, work life balance, I do believe that there are things you can do to ensure that work doesn't completely rule your life. So what I want you to think about and what I want you to do when you can do this, you can press pause.

If you've got a notebook and you can do this now or do this at a later stage is to write down the top three people in your life who are not related in any way to your business and then really ask yourself and be super honest. How often are you showing up for them? How often are you initiating contact and making the effort to see them or phone them? What would it feel like to schedule regular catch ups with these people?

For many of us, that last question, you know, might lead to a huge sense of relief and peace. And knowing that we have a regular time every month or every quarter or every month, you know, week even if you could do it to completely switch off, to laugh, to love and listen to the people who matter most to us. So as much as you love your business, it's important to have a break from your business from time to time.

And cultivating your non-work network might just help you do this. And the final point that I want to kind of leave you with is to maximize the mix.

You know, one of my absolute favorite things about living in London and I lived in London for five years was the sheer diversity of people. So Melbourne, where I live now, it's incredibly multicultural. And, you know, there is I think there's something like hundred forty six languages spoken in Melbourne, but there was nothing like getting on a tube in London and just hearing, you know, all the different accents and languages in one train carriage. And I remember looking up around the table at a birthday celebration in London pub when I was there, and we had friends on that just that table for our birthday from Bahrain, from India, Vietnam, South Africa, Australia, England, New Zealand, Sweden, the US, Indonesia and Germany.

And what I'm trying to say is that when it comes to cultivating a business you love, diversity is key.

Try to ensure that the groups you're cultivating are not just cookie cutter clones of yourself. Your upbringing, your culture, your religion, your ethnicity, your skin colour, your sexual preferences. Your education or experiences. Too often as small business owners and really as as people in general, we can exist in bubbles where everybody else looks and acts and sounds and feels and has the same political, you know, ideals as we do. And the best thing that you can do for your business and life in general is to ensure that you are surrounded by a diverse group of people who can provide insights and ideas that you may not have considered.

So that is really the end of this coaching session. I apologize again about my croaky voice, but I really hope that that gives you some food for thought and some ideas to really consider when it comes to cultivating people in your life, you know, really thinking about how are you going to stay accountable to the goals and tasks that you've set.

And are there particular people in your staff or friends or family who can help you do this? You know, thinking about the support crews that I listed out, you know, thinking about who could be in them and how can I set up a system so that I can see these people on the regular. And also, how can I give back to them? So it shouldn't be just take, take, take. It should be really how can I cultivate these crews?

And then how can I also be a support system for them, thinking about who is missing from this. And, you know, with your internal crew, who is missing from the type of skills and experiences that I'd need with my staff to help my business get to the next level. And, you know, like I said before, finally making sure that when you're listing out people, you're really looking for diversity, because if we all just what's that song and Groove Armada song?

I'm not going to sing because I had a lot of feedback on Episode four. I'm just not going to keep singing every time.

But you know that if everybody looked the same, we'd get tired of looking at each other. That was one of my favourite songs in the 90s. And it's so true. Making sure that you've got a diverse mix is only ever going to be a good thing for your business. So that is it. That's the end of Episode eight. Like I said in the beginning and throughout. There is a PDF that you can download to work through this yourself.

And of course, if you would be so kind as to leave a review, if you found this useful, it would just be immensely appreciated. And it will help other small business owners find this and hopefully cultivate their own support crews. Thank you so much for listening. I'll see you next time.

Thanks for listening to My Daily Business Coach podcast. If you want to get in touch, you can do that at mydailybusinesscoach.com or hit me up on Instagram - @mydailybusinesscoach.