Breaking Down Your Business | Small Business | Business Owners | Entrepreneurship | Leadership

What’s In This Episode:

How do you change things up with your business? Jill's revamping her website. Brad recently changed pricing. Change can be good, but sometimes when you don't think things through all the way, you can be surprised at the details that you miss.

Jill has a highly collaborative relationship with her team. Brad pretendsthat he does - he's collaborative-ish - but what works in some areas might not work in others. Since he hasn't asked his employees how they feel about certain changes, he doesn't know what their feedback is. But he feels like because his tactics are working, people are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

 "Sometimes you've got to break what's working really well in order to turn it into something new." - Brad

Brandon Bruce, former rower, and cyclist across 508 miles of Death Valley, now owns a business called Cirrus Insight, which sells sales software to salespeople. Up to this point, they've focused on inside sales but they want to branch out to have more of a field presence in the bigger cities and get more face-to-face time with customers and prospects. So how does he build up a sales force?

Brad suggests hiring more inside sales with the expectation that they'll become outside sales. Jill says to run a mini-boot camp and figure out who might be best on the outside and test in multiple cities to figure out what's actually working.

"Leading only one way never helps anybody." - Jill

How do you get your team on board with new ways of doing things? Do you listen to their feedback?

Direct download: Breaking_Down_Your_Business_EP_269.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 2:00am CDT

What’s In This Episode:

How do you measure and improve your own performance? Jill uses external measures but also uses her gut instinct. She also asks a few people what they think, because feedback can be helpful. How does one get better as a business owner?

Brad believes that it's a balancing act. As he gets better in one area, he gets worse in another. And as a business owner, you have to know so many things. But you can definitely hire out for things you're not so good at.

 "Email is not your job." - Brad

Meditating leader and company owner Rob Dube calls in. His company Image One was recently named a 2017 Small Giantby Forbes. But with all the good news, he really just has one problem: How does he manage the influx of email? Between his team and customers, it can be overwhelming.

Jill wants to know if he has any systems set up to filter through emails and he does have a filing system. Is response or reception the problem? Brad reminds Rob that email responsiveness is not a measure of effectiveness when it comes to being a CEO. Plus, the more emails you send, the more you get back. Not everything requires an immediate response. Jill thinks that Rob may be suffering from CEO anxiety and that he can practice not responding to people - no matter how much it hurts.

"There are lots of ways to educate yourself as a business owner." - Jill

How do you measure and improve your own performance as a business owner? What are your tactics?

Direct download: Breaking_Down_Your_Business_EP_268.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 2:00am CDT

What’s In This Episode:

Jill and Brad are doing things a bit differently in this episode and talking about networking vs. building business relationships. A lot of people feel like networking is an ugly word, but only feel that way in a business context.

 "But isn't that what relationships are - just mutually benefitting?" - Brad

Jill doesn't believe that you can succeed without relationships, and Brad thinks that the reason people disdain networking is that it's viewed as a competition. It took Jill a long time to change her mind about working by herself. She didn't realize how beneficial it was to have face-to-face interactions with people until she went out for coffee meetings and was able to see how energized she was about her own business.

Brad intentionally scheduled meetings - lunches, breakfasts - so that he could see other people. When Jill began The Founding MomsMeetups, she got feedback almost immediately about the positive impact it was having on the other business women in the room.

"Relationships are the reason the world goes round." - Jill

There's a lot that people miss from nonverbal communications and there's so much to be gained from face-to-face interactions. Granted, there are those out there who meet face-to-face only to swap and collect business cards. But Brad remembers how he ended up doing business with those whom he was truly vulnerable with and invested in. It's important to remember that at the end of the day, people connect with human aspects - not how much you earn or what you do, but that you've shared similar experiences.

It's also worth noting that networking takes time. You need to build up trust and do it regularly. You won't walk out of an event with a ton of new business.

What are your thoughts on networking vs. building business relationships? Do you value it or do you believe it's a waste of time?

Direct download: Breaking_Down_Your_Business_EP_267.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 2:00am CDT

What’s In This Episode:

Are you fun? Jill recently ran a webinar and heard from someone afterward who said, "I love this, but I'm not very fun." Jill realized that people feel like they're boring or not enough in some way and that it prevents them from joining a group they really feel connected to. Don't do that thing! If you want to try out The Founding Moms Community for free, go to The Founding Momsand use code awesome1moto get a free 30-day trial. If you're a mom entrepreneur, become a part of the FMC and get advice from other mom entrepreneurs, video courses, an accountability program, and so much more.

 "People are weird." - Brad

Saul, producer of BDYB, has a listener question for Jill and Brad. Bruno writes, "Hey guys. I love the wacky, crazy vibe of the show. I was wondering if you could share some of your craziest customer stories."

Jill thought about her favorite podcast guest: Erika Kerekes of Not Ketchup, who took Jill's interesting marketing advice and it worked out for her! She also has a story about a guy who had a very creative way to get someone to sign up for life insurance.

Brad had a customer who got ghosted by an employee. They passed each other as they were going in and out of an elevator, but the customer didn't realize that the employee had quit until she got to her floor. He also knew a guy who would send phones out to people via FedEx, then call those people once the package had been received.

Saul's takeaway? "Weird works."

"They need instruction. They need guidance. Is there something you need that can make your job easier?" - Jill

Jill and Brad then discuss the top 5 ways managing employees needs to change:

  • Everyone needs to use Slack.
  • Ask them what they need more often.
  • Listen when employees tell you something is not working.
  • Be a proponent of having your employees work together more often.
  • And the number one thing is something you really should be doing...
Direct download: Breaking_Down_Your_Business_EP_266.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 2:00am CDT

What’s In This Episode:

Jill and Brad love reviews - and they got one! One listener says, "Love the energy on the show and the fun hosts like to have with guests!" (Want to leave your own review? Go here.)

Brad thinks the whole hiring process is a bit broken. He describes a client who has had negative reviews on Glassdoor (think of it like Yelp for employers), and how people are Googling the company - which is how they find the Glassdoor reviews. Brad doesn't understand why companies aren't Googling candidates in turn, as a way to use all the information available.

 "You know what this is? This is taking your shoes off at the airport." - Jill

Iain MacLeod, author of Fatherhood, has a peculiar problem: Iain MacLeod isn't his real name. He wrote the book under a pseudonym at the request of his wife, but he also has a separate marketing company under his real name. And now, he's trying to promote both. What does he do?

Jill's take is that people don't really care, and suggests that it's worth having a conversation with his wife again. It would probably be a bit freeing. If he has to keep the two names separate, then maybe he just accepts his other name as his stage name.

"Resumes are dead." - Brad

Jill and Brad then discuss the top 5 ways recruiting needs to change:

  • Never ask for a resume ever again. Look at LinkedIn.
  • Do a phone screen or video chat and save yourself a lot of trouble.
  • Put the salary in the job posting.
  • Interviews should not be adversarial hazing rituals. Be likable.
  • And you need to put effort into this one..
Direct download: Breaking_Down_Your_Business_EP_265.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 2:00am CDT

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