Kelly Eckert's Blog

The Ripple Effect of One Small Step

Kelly Eckert — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 09:36:00 +0000

I adopted (again) a vegan diet almost two years ago. In some ways, it was a knee-jerk reaction to learning more information about the meat industry. Going vegan felt like a way to “atone” for years of having essentially chosen to remain ignorant.

(By the way, this article is not about going vegan. I’m not going to try to convert you! Going vegan is just an example.)

Going vegan was one small step. I thought it was one small step in isolation. That is, I did not expect it to have any effect on the rest of my life. I was, and still am, amazed to discover the ripple effect this one decision had on the rest of my life. It has made me more compassionate. It has given me a clearer view of the interconnectedness of everything. It has grounded me and given me a greater sense of purpose.

One client of mine took up running for exercise. She committed to it right away and made a point of running every day. She noticed rather quickly that she was able to make and keep other commitments more easily. She began to expect more of herself; her self-confidence increased. If she could be a runner, she could be anything.

Another client took up gardening for stress-relief. She soon noticed that she became less judgmental of other people. She began to see the potential for growth in everyone. She became more compassionate and helped to nurture the best in others.

One thing that was going on in these three examples is the exercising of our willpower muscle. Changing your diet requires willpower. Running every day takes willpower. Maintaining a thriving garden takes willpower. Regularly using willpower on that one thing strengthens the muscle and makes using willpower on other things easier.

Of course, as physical muscles become fatigued and wasted, so do willpower muscles. Using so much willpower in one area can make using it in other areas difficult or impossible. My runner client, for example, may have expended so much willpower running that she lost her ability to keep any other commitments.

So I think there is something else going on here, something that transcends willpower and strengthens the ripple effect of one small step. I think that thing is the effect of living your values.

In my case, going vegan was a way for me to live my value of compassion—not in theory, but in real three-to-five-times-a-day practice. Every bite of every meal, I put my values in action. That constant food-based reminder of my beliefs spilled over into the rest of my life. For example, if I choose compassion in my movie theater snack, how could I not choose compassion on the phone, with a store clerk or with my own family?

My gardening client valued growth and beauty. Gardening is a literal, physical demonstration for her values. That vigilance to cultivating growth and beauty in her garden spilled over to her relationships. How could she nurture the best in her flowers and see only the worst in other people? She couldn’t. She felt at peace when she brought her values of growth and beauty to all of her relationships. When she stopped being judgmental of other people and started nurturing the best in them, as she nurtured the best in her flowers, she felt a new sense of wellbeing that rippled even farther, into her career.

This kind of ripple effect doesn’t happen to everyone. But there’s nothing special or lucky about the ones to whom it does happen. I think what is essential to allowing the ripples to spread is living with integrity. That is, we must have an integrated life. We must live our values in all areas of life, not just diet or exercise, not just our relationships or our jobs. If we value compassion, we must bring compassion to everything we do, say, eat and wear. If we value beauty, we must cultivate beauty in ourselves, our homes, our neighborhoods and our relationships—even the fleeting ones.

So much of the compartmentalization that we do on a daily basis is exhausting to us. It’s understandable. For example, if you’re concentrating your energy on providing good customer service all day at work, you’re probably ready to relax and have someone serve you at the end of the day. But when you get home and confront more chores or more people to serve, your customer service skills may get thrown out the window. Sometimes you may even wonder how you can be so good at your job when you can’t seem to apply those skills outside of work.

One thing that can help is to stop focusing on providing good customer service and start focusing on your deeply-held values. Do you value harmony, cooperation and relationships? Then make that your focus—at work and at home. You’re not providing good customer service in a vacuum. Stop providing it because your job requires it. Make good customer service the result of living your values.

Living with this kind of integrity does not deplete you; it energizes you.

Sure, you’ll still be tired after work. No, you won’t always act with compassion. You ARE human! But you will be opening yourself to the ripple effect of an integrated life. When waves hit a solid surface in a body of water, they rebound. They don’t go through the solid surface. Remove the walls in your life—at least open the doors between then—and the ripples will go through, uplifting and energizing you along the way.

Plan backward to move forward

Kelly Eckert — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 13:16:47 +0000

Do you think of your goals as something you HOPE to get done or something you PLAN to achieve?

How you manage your time can reflect your real view of your goals. When you just hope to get something done, you don’t really plan ahead. You approach your time as sort of an experiment. For example, if you hope to clean out your closet, you probably don’t schedule a block of time for that activity. You probably leave your free time open and adopt a wait-and-see attitude: “If I feel like cleaning my closet, then I will.”

In my last post, I wrote about if-then plans. The example above is NOT an if-then plan—not if you really want to get it done. An effective if-then plan for cleaning your closet would be, “If I feel like watching TV, I will first clean my closet for 15 minutes.” You can also replace “if” with “when” for even more powerful if-then plans. “When I’m finished with dinner, I will spend 30 minutes cleaning my closet.”

If-then plans are an effective form of micro-plans. Let’s talk a minute about macro-plans.

If you truly plan on achieving your goals, you will plan your time in a way that gives you forward momentum toward those goals. That’s where macro-planning comes in.

Think of your goal as a point on a map. To arrive at that goal, you have to map out a course by which you will navigate. Most people get that part when setting goals. You write down your goal, and you figure out the big steps to getting there.

Now what?

Let’s use the metaphor of taking a road trip and programming your destination into the GPS. While you’re driving, you notice that the GPS often recalculates your route based on traffic and other road conditions. The computer is always comparing where you are with where you want to be and looks for the best route to get you there.

That’s what we have to do with our goals. Once we set a goal and map out the steps to get there, we need a way to monitor our progress. Casually checking in on occasion isn’t enough. You need a system, a routine that gives you a structure for checking in and recalculating route accordingly.

The system that works for me and has helped many of my clients achieve their goals is to “plan backward-move forward.” In a nutshell, you map out a route to achieve your goal, set smaller monthly goals and even smaller weekly goals and plan your days based on your weekly goals.

1. Set monthly goals

You can sketch out several months in advance, but real monthly goal setting is done at the beginning of that month. That’s key here: Plan each month that month. That’s how you monitor your progress and recalculate your route as necessary. If you plan several months in advance, what happens if you don’t meet one month’s goals? What do you do the next month? Planning each month that month gives you the flexibility to take into account new circumstances and information. And it gives you the power to work from where you are. Let’s say you’re writing a book and plan to write six chapters in August when your regular workload is light and two chapters in September when your workload is expected to pick. What do you do if you don’t meet your August goal? If you stick to your original September goal, you’re now way behind where you wanted to be, even if you do meet your September goal. Or do you try to make up what you didn’t achieve in August while also sticking to your original September goal?

Again, it’s fine to pencil in long-term monthly goals, but you’ll want to use your internal goal positioning system to monitor where you are each month and set definitive monthly goals accordingly.

2. Set smaller weekly goals

Now that you have your monthly goals, you will set even smaller weekly goals. Again, do this each week. Do not plan your weekly goals in advance. If you want to pencil in some goals as an ideal, that’s fine. But do your real goal setting at the beginning of each week.

I use a rough approximation of Stephen Covey’s suggestion to plan your week around your roles. What I do instead is set my weekly goals around my different projects. For example, my projects may include coaching, Positivity Girl™, Parents Association, my home, my kids and my husband. My weekly goals may include updating my website, scheduling Parents Association speakers, organize the laundry room, take my son swimming, take my daughter school shopping and schedule a date night with my husband.

3. Schedule your week in advance

Now that you have your weekly goals, it’s time to schedule the tasks and activities that will enable you to achieve your goals. Physically write in your calendar all of those activities at the beginning of the week. Meetings and appointments with other people are easy to schedule. The trick is to schedule YOUR time to work on more nebulous activities.

Let’s go back to the closet example. Instead of saying, “If I feel like cleaning my closet, then I will,” pick a block of time and physically schedule it in your calendar. How about 30 minutes on Tuesday after work and two hours on Saturday morning? So put those in your calendar and create if-then plans: “If my calendar says to clean my closet, then I will.” Or set an alarm to remind you.

4. Plan each day that day

So you’ve got your calendar scheduled for the week. Why would you need to plan each day that day?

We all know how unexpected things crop up. We may get a call in the morning to move a meeting up. We may have to completely revise a proposal that afternoon. When a wrench is thrown into our plans, it usually foils some other pre-scheduled activity. If revising the proposal absolutely must be done Tuesday evening, of course you’re going to blow off cleaning your closet that night. So here’s why planning each day that day is so powerful. It gives you the flexibility to take the wrenches into account. If you have to finish the proposal Tuesday night, you can reschedule cleaning your closet. Find another open block in your calendar and schedule it right away.

When you plan each day, you are reminding yourself of your pre-scheduled plans, you are reinforcing your if-then plans and you are adjusting your plans based on where you are that day.

Hey, this is the perfect time to put this system into effect for you. It’s the beginning of a new month and a new week. Spend some time today setting a monthly goal. Then set a smaller weekly goal. Schedule your week accordingly. Then remember to plan each day that day.

I usually do my planning on the weekend. If the first of the month falls in the middle of the week, I make my general goals the weekend before then finalize my goals on the first of the month. I plan and schedule my week on Sunday. And I plan each day in the morning while having my coffee.

Give it a try and let me know how “plan backward-move forward” works for you.

End Procrastination: How to “just do it”

Kelly Eckert — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 22:52:51 +0000

There seem to be two types of people who buy Nike products: the people who naturally “just do it” and the people who wish they naturally just did it. The first group wears the swoosh like a badge that marks them as part of the elite “doers” club. The second group hopes they will absorb the energy of the swoosh through osmosis.

If you’re part of the second group, you’ve probably discovered that wearing the swoosh has limited effect. It may get you out running for a few days, but the effect seems to wear off quickly after that.

If you’re part of the second group—as I am—you need more than just a swoosh to get you started. You need a tool that works.

I’d like to share a very effective tool called if-then planning. Hundreds of research studies have shown if-then planning to be highly effective for a range of issues, such as overcoming procrastination, losing weight and stopping smoking.

When you create if-then plans, you are essentially reprogramming your brain and behavior. You are eliminating numerous superfluous choices that keep you from achieving your goal. You are replacing inaction or inappropriate action with positive action.

Here are some examples of if-then plans:

(Weight loss) If someone offers me a cookie, I will politely refuse it.
(Stopping smoking) If I feel the urge to smoke, I will chew a piece of gum.
(Dealing with interruptions) If the phone rings, I will let it go to voicemail.
(Procrastination) If I receive a bill, I will pay it immediately.

More procrastination/getting started examples:

If it’s 9a, I will sit down to work.
If it’s 5:30a, I will do yoga.
If I have 15 free, I will work on my manuscript.

There are several ways that if-then planning helps you get started. First, after you create your if-then plan, your brain begins scanning the environment looking for the “if” part of you plan. In other words, you become highly sensitive to any situations that meet the conditional part of your plan. Let’s say you’re working on overcoming procrastination. Once you have your if-then plan, your brain starts looking for opportunities NOT to procrastinate.

Second, if-then planning helps you eliminate unhelpful options in advance. When you don’t plan in advance, you often find yourself feeling confused about what to do in the moment. When you don’t plan in advance, you leave yourself too many options. All that flexibility leads to confusion which leads to inaction. The “then” part of your plan defines very clearly the only course of action that you are to take when you find yourself in a situation that meets the “if” part of your plan.

Third, the action part of your if-then plan tends to follow automatically when the “if” part is met. When you brain recognizes an “if,” it tends to go on autopilot to the “then.” Let’s say you have the following if-then plan: “If I feel hungry outside of meal time, I will eat a handful of nuts.” As soon as your brain detects hunger, it will trigger a cascade to move you toward eating a handful of nuts. There’s no thinking required at that point. It’s not a matter of “What should I eat?” It’s simply a matter of “Where are the nuts?”

Two important points of if-then plans are (1) you must make them in advance and (2) the “then” part must be specific. You can’t wait for the situation to arrive before you decide what to do. That’s the whole point of if-then plans; you make then in advance to eliminate having to make a decision in the moment. The decision you’ve pre-made must be specific enough so as not to allow waffling. For example, saying, “If I feel hungry, I will make a good food choice” is not specific enough. It does the opposite of what you want; it creates the need to make a decision. The “then” part of your if-then plan must contain the decision in it.

What you are doing is reprogramming yourself to take the actions that have thus far been difficult for you to take. As such, you must be committed to what you are doing. If you don’t really want to do the thing you’re trying to do, even if-then planning won’t guarantee success. You have to be committed. You also have to believe the plan will work and that you are capable of doing it. For example, let’s say you have this plan: “If it’s 9a, I will write for 6 hours straight.” How much do you believe that plan would work for anyone? How much do you believe that you could do it? So make a plan that you believe in and that you believe you can do. Finally, make your plan right FOR YOU. If you hate nuts, then don’t make that your plan for when you’re hungry. Substitute carrots or hummus for the nuts.

Make an if-then plan to try out this week. Take note of what works and what doesn’t. It’s OK—and expected—to tweak your plan over time. You may not create the perfect plan the first time. So adjust a little for next week. Have fun with it. Experiment. When you create the one that works for you, you’ll find both the “if” and the “then” flowing automatically.

For more details on if-then planning and all the research to back it up, check out Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals by Heidi Grant Halvorson, PhD.

If you want to share your if-then plans with me, I’d love to see what you come up with. And let me know how they work for you!

Choosing the right path

Kelly Eckert — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:58:20 +0000

Many of my clients want help making decisions—about a new job, a move, a side project or an approach to a problem. On the whole, I feel that they have already made a decision. They don’t really want my help to decide. They want my confirmation or validation that they’ve made the RIGHT decision.

Of course, it’s not my job to say a decision—any decision—is right or not. Though I admit there were many years when I wished someone smarter and wiser would just SHOW ME the right path for me, just tell me what I was supposed to do. So I understand that niggling self-doubt that often lingers after we’ve made a decision.

I think part of the self-doubt comes from our wondering, “What if I made the wrong decision? What if I get stuck on the wrong course?”

Another part of the self-doubt comes from our fear of failing in our chosen course. Can a failed course have been the RIGHT course to begin with? Well, no one can guarantee success in any course. You can be on the course that’s right for you but still fail.

Would YOU still, in retrospect, call that course the right course? Maybe not. Many people define the “right course” as the course that gives them the most success. By success here I’m referring to the typical American view of success: money, promotions, luxury, power over others.

My view of success is different. Yes, I’d like money to be part of my career success. But I would not feel successful in any position with any amount of money if I didn’t have several other things that are essential to MY sense of success. Some of these for me are: a sense of contribution, passion, using my strengths, personal growth, serenity and joy. THESE are the things that make ME feel successful. THESE are the things that let me know I’m on the right path.

I can’t predict with absolute certainty ahead of time if I will succeed at a particular course or not. If I based every decision on that qualifier, I’d likely never try anything new at all. I CAN predict with some degree of certainty for any particular course how much of a contribution I may make, how much I that path will feel my passions, how much I may use my strengths and how much I may grow. When I have these things, serenity and joy seem to flow to me more naturally.

So how do I help my clients make a decision—or validate the decision they’ve already made? How do I help them eliminate the self-doubt that often follows making a decision?

I help them see the decision from a different, often more distant, perspective. I help them look at the big picture beyond this single decision. And I help them see how this decision fits into the puzzle of their lives.

Specifically, we look at their passions and strengths, their big goals and their life vision. We get away from looking at a decision from the perspective of “typical success” and view it more from the perspective of “my success.” We define success for the client in terms of doing what they love, achieving their goals and fulfilling their life vision. There are certainly differences from person to person. But when these things fall into place, happiness, the feeling of success and a sense of “rightness” usually result.

So what can YOU do to make the “right” decision, to pick the best course of action for you? Look at YOUR decision from a different, more distant perspective. Look at the big picture beyond this single decision. Look at how this single piece fits into the puzzle of your life.

Here are some questions to help you determine if a particular course is the “right” course for you:

How does this choice allow you to make the most of your strengths and passions?
How does this choice move you toward achieving your big goals?
How does this choice align with your life vision?

If all else appears equal, ask yourself which course of action will support the lesson you most need now. For example, if you need more personal growth, which course will challenge you to grow more? If you need more serenity, which course will enable more peace?

Free yourself this Independence Day

Kelly Eckert — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 14:33:09 +0000

“Man is free at the moment he wishes to be.” —Voltaire

We celebrate the Fourth of July as our Independence Day not because that is the day the world recognized our freedom, nor because all of a sudden British rule ended. We celebrate the Fourth of July because that is the day we as a country chose to be free. The Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It was this document—with clearly detailed parameters and goals, committed to in signature and defined by a date—that rallied the citizens of the newly declared United States of America and prompted in them the freedom of mind that sustained them during the fight for freedom of government.

“I know but one freedom, and that is freedom of the mind.” —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Throughout history, we have seen that freedom of mind is the most important freedom of all. You can have physical freedom and financial freedom, but, if your mind is not free, the rest doesn’t matter. Physical freedom does not guarantee peace or happiness. Financial freedom does not guarantee peace or happiness. Only through freedom of mind can we hope to find peace and happiness.

Does being physically free matter if you live with fear, judgment and self-imposed limitations? Does being financially free matter if you live with worry, scorn and doubt?

Nelson Mandela found freedom in prison. Mahatma Gandhi found freedom under an oppressive regime. Rosa Parks found freedom in segregation. Eckhart Tolle found freedom in poverty.

For these and many other people, situations of extreme oppression or limitation spark the awakening that mind is what matters. While extreme situations may facilitate awakening, there are not required. We can live in a Democracy with some degree of financial comfort and CHOOSE to free our minds.

Isn’t that the ultimate in freedom—to choose to free our minds when we could rest in the comfort of physical and financial freedom while our minds remain closed and imprisoned?

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” —Albert Camus

It is easy to take our Democracy for granted. It is easy to throw around words such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But how deeply do we realize that “governments . . . [derive] their just powers from the consent of the governed”? In other words, how often do we remember that WE are ultimately responsible for our freedom?

I admit that aspects of physical and financial freedom are beyond our control. But there is nothing and no one preventing us from freeing our minds.

The Declaration of Independence goes on to state that “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” In other words, when our our own mindset imprisons us, we have the right and the responsibility to alter or abolish it. When our own programming and beliefs limit and control us, we must reprogram our thoughts and beliefs. We must reprogram our minds with beliefs that free us rather than limit us.

We must free ourselves from fear, worry, doubt, judgment and scorn. We must free ourselves from limitations that keep us from growing and evolving.

I challenge you to write your own Declaration of Independence. Call it your credo, your mission statement or your life’s intention. Whatever you call it, make it about your freedom. Set your intention for how you will free your mind—and keep it free.

Celebrate YOUR independence today by taking back control of the thoughts that still imprison you. Be aware of when you limit yourself. Take notice of when you are not free. Commit to freeing yourself of fear, worry, doubt, judgment and scorn.

Happy Fourth of July!

Are you procrastinating or are you afraid?

Kelly Eckert — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 19:00:28 +0000

What is the biggest thing holding you back from achieving your goals?

What most often holds us back is fear. Sure, the fear may manifest itself in different ways, such as procrastinating on one hand or overextending ourselves on the other. We don’t think of these self-sabotaging strategies as fear-based. We beat ourselves up for not “just doing it” or not being able to focus. Procrastinating and overextending aresymptoms of fear. We procrastinate because we fear failing. The longer we put off doing what needs to be done, the longer we delay risking failure. We overextend ourselves because we fear failing or not being perfect. The more projects we’re involved in, the more valid an excuse we have if we fail or come up short.

When procrastinating and overextending ourselves are the result of fear, it is difficult to resolve them directly. It’s like addressing the symptoms rather than the root cause. We can create systems to stop procrastinating. We can just stop overextending ourselves. But, for lasting change, we must address the root cause.

Here are four steps to help you overcome fears that hold you back from achieving your goals.

1. Listen to the fear

Fear doesn’t want to hurt you. It wants to protect you. And—like a small, hyper-vigilant dog—it will keep barking until you pay attention. The more you ignore the small, yiping dog, the louder it barks. The more you ignore fear, the more persistent it gets. I’m just suggesting that you take a moment to hear what the fear has to say to you.

2. Reframe the fear

Now that you know what the fear is about, you can change the meaning of it. View a failed attempt as moving you one step closer to a successful attempt. Here’s a real world comparison. The average batting average in major league baseball is 26 percent. That means that the average player gets 74 strikeouts for every 26 hits—or 3 strikeouts for every one hit. Reframing that statistic, the average batter needs to get 3 strikeouts in order to get one hit.

3. Talk to the fear

Next you can talk to the fear and ask it to stop worrying so much. Make this a journaling exercise in which you write a letter to your fear. Tell it that you’re strong. Tell it that you’re OK with the risk. Tell it that you’ll be OK even if you fail.

4. Remember your why

The last step toward overcoming fear is reminding yourself why you want to overcome the fear. Why do you want to achieve your goal? Find what really motivates you about the goal. Write down the goal, and write down your why. Put it on a couple of sticky notes and hang them where you’ll see them every day: on your computer, on your bathroom mirror, on your refrigerator. You can overcome any obstacle with a strong enough why.

4 Reasons Small Businesses Fail: Reason #4

Kelly Eckert — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 19:12:54 +0000

In my previous special reports, I discussed three big reasons small businesses fail: (1) lack of a clear vision, (2) lack of a clear plan and (3) lack of a clear market. In this final report, I’ll discuss a fourth reason small businesses fail. There are certainly more than four reasons why businesses fail. But these four are some of the biggest and most common.

REASON #4: LACK OF MANAGEMENT SKILLS

The final cause of business failure I’ll discuss here is lack of management skills. So many entrepreneurs start their own business because they love doing something: organizing, editing, graphic design, etc. It’s the DOING that inspired them to start a business, not the managing. For example, the freelance web designer loves designing and coding websites. That’s how she wants to help people. That’s how she wants to make a difference and make a living. She may have even quit the big company she was working for because she didn’t like the management part. As a solo-preneur working for herself, why would she need management skills anyway?

Even solo-preneurs need to develop their management skills, whether it’s managing themselves and their time or managing a virtual assistant. As your business grows—as it will, if you want it to—you will quickly reach the point when you can’t do it all yourself anymore. You need help. Depending on your type of business, you’ll have to hire employees or a virtual assistant.

As a business owner, it’s easy to see everything that needs to get done—all the different tasks and the minutiae of every job. We often assume that everyone else shares our perspective, and we’re shocked to discover that they have their own perspective and their own priorities. It’s not that we’re right and they’re wrong, or that they’re right and we’re wrong. It’s just that we probably weren’t completely clear about the job responsibilities and about our expectations.

Most people aren’t born with good management skills. The good news is that we can all learn good management skills. Even the most successful entrepreneurs aren’t born with these skills. What makes them so successful is that they are willing to learn the skills they don’t already have.

As a business owner—even as a solo-preneur, you ARE a business owner—you are responsible for much more than just doing the thing you love. To make your business successful, you’ll have to learn the skills you don’t already have. If all you really want to do is design and code all day, you can do that more easily working for a big company. When you work for yourself, you have to spend at least part of the day managing.

Here’s something you can do now to start improving your management skills: Create an organizational chart for your business. Start out by listing all the different jobs in your business. Then write a job description for each one. Include in the description your expectations, specific milestones and metrics for judging their work. Having clearly defined job descriptions and expectations will put you and your employees on the same page. It will also give you a ready reference when it’s time for a job review.

Even if you have a solo-business and you’re the one who does it all, it is still worth your time to create a basic organizational chart. Make a list of all the different tasks you perform. Write down your expectations, milestones and metrics for the different tasks. Now figure out if you’re ready to hire a virtual assistant. Having your list of tasks, expectations, milestones and metrics will make it easier to hire a virtual assistant. You’ll know which tasks to keep for yourself and which ones to pass on. You’ll be able to clearly relate your expectations for each task and discuss specific milestones and metrics for success.

Creating a detailed organizational chart with job descriptions is just one part of developing your management skills. But it is an invaluable resource for you as a business owner and for your the long-term success of your business.

You may have expected to see “lack of money” on this list of reasons small businesses fail. While money certainly plays a big part in the success of a business—it IS ultimately the one metric that matters—lack of money is usually a SIGN of business failure more than it is a CAUSE of failure. Your business doesn’t fail because it’s not making money. Your business isn’t making money because it’s failing. When you address the root causes of business failure—including lack of vision, planning, market and management—your business will make money as a sign of its success. Where lack of money comes in as a cause of failure is when the business has high start-up costs and requires an immediate investment of capital. If you open a restaurant and don’t have enough money for kitchen supplies, your business is obviously going to fail. But money alone won’t guarantee success. Vision, planning, market and management will help ensure both the wise use of the capital you start with and the desired income of the money you want.

4 Reasons Small Businesses Fail: Reason #3

Kelly Eckert — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:09:14 +0000

In the past two special reports on why small businesses fail, we discussed: (1) creating a clear vision for your business and (2) creating a clear plan for achieving your vision. Today we’re going to discuss the third big reason small businesses fail and the importance of identifying the clear WHO for your business.

REASON #3: LACK OF A CLEAR MARKET

You’ve probably heard it numerous times before, but successful businesses have a clearly defined target market. That’s right; you’ve got to have a niche. You may worry that defining a very specific niche will decrease your chances of getting new business because you’re limiting the pool of potential customers/clients. But think about it this way: Limiting the pool of potential customers/clients is just an efficient way of finding people who are ready and willing to spend their money on you.

Defining a clear niche allows you to avoid wasting your time and money on people who aren’t right for you and who probably wouldn’t buy from you anyway. You’d be wasting your time trying to sell tampons at an AARP convention or a side of beef to a vegan.

“But EVERYONE can use my service,” you may be saying.

No, they can’t. And would you really WANT to serve all of them?

The thing about having a clearly defined niche is that YOU get to chose whom you want to serve. It doesn’t mean that you’ll necessarily say “no” to anyone who doesn’t fit your niche. My niche is entrepreneurial women in their 30s and 40s with a family. But if other people feel drawn to work with me, I don’t automatically turn them away! I have men clients, I have teenage clients, and I have women clients in their 50s. I make client decisions on an individual basis. But I focus my marketing on my specific niche.

Defining a clear niches doesn’t limit your reach; it clarifies and refines your reach. When you’re clear about whom you’re serving—whom you’re marketing to—it immediately becomes easier to figure out WHERE to find them and HOW to market to them.

Here’s one little tip on how to market to your niche: Figure out their unique need and tell them how you can meet it. People care less about WHAT you do and more about what you can do FOR THEM.

For example, if you’re a professional organizer—and that is one service that really can be used by everyone!—marketing to moms of young children will be different from marketing to corporate executives. What is the mom’s need? It may be maintaining order for exploding toys and baby gear. What is the executive’s need? It may be creating a file-keeping system that reduces wasted time and increases profitability. Telling the executive how good you are at organizing baby gear will be huge waste of both of your time!

So don’t be afraid to pick a niche. Having a clear niche will lead to having a clear marketing plan. Pick your niche. Figure out their need. And tell them how you can meet their need.

You should actually define your niche BEFORE you create your vision and your plan, as these hinge upon who your target is and where you can find them.

In my final special report on how to keep your business from failing, I’ll discuss the fourth big reason small businesses fail. Here’s a hint: It’s all about MANAGING!

4 Reasons Small Businesses Fail: Reason #2

Kelly Eckert — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 09:41:13 +0000

In my first special report on why small businesses fail, I wrote about the first reason small businesses fail: lack of a clear vision. I shared with you my business’s vision and guided you through writing your own vision statement. I’d love to read your vision statement if you haven’t already sent it to me.

Today we’ll discuss a second big reason small businesses fail:

Reason #2: Lack of a clear plan

Once you have a clear vision of where you want to be, you can’t leave getting there up to chance. If you have no plan for achieving your vision, your vision is more wishful thinking than an actual goal. Once you know where you’re going, the only way to ensure you’ll get there is to plan exactly how you’ll do it.

I wrote last time how I spent many years with no clear vision. For what fuzzy vision I did have, I had no clear plan. I actually prided myself on having the flexibility to take new opportunities as they came. I thought that if I had a set-in-stone plan, I would lose all spontaneity and would be stuck with the same vision and plan forever.

But the problem was, wherever it was I thought I wanted to go, I was never going to get there by randomly floating, bouncing from possibility to possibility. Let’s use the vacation example again. If you were going on vacation to Hawaii, would you randomly show up at the airport and take whatever flight was leaving next, regardless of where it was going? Of course, not. You’d plan your flights ahead of time to take the least amount of time and money while giving the most comfort and enjoyment.

It has made a huge positive impact on my business and my life since I realized that I had to treat my business life with the same care and planning that I treated my vacation time. Said like that, it seems really obvious. Who would plan their vacation more than they plan their business? Plenty of people it turns out, given how many small business owners have no business plan and no marketing plan.

Having a plan for achieving your vision doesn’t hold you prisoner. It gives you the map to chart your course and navigate around obstacles. Having a plan doesn’t mean you have to stay on the same course forever. It guides you on your chosen course and shows you other paths to take if you get stuck on the current one.

If you own a business that has received funding from a bank or VC firm, you’ve probably already got at least a basic business plan. If you are a solo-preneur or are funding your own small business, maybe you think you don’t need a business plan. But if you want to achieve your vision, if you take your business as seriously as you take your vacation, you’ll write a business plan.

You can find entire books and websites about writing a business plan, so I won’t go into all the details of business plans here. We will be working on components of a business plan in my Small Business Bootcamp for Women Entrepreneurs. I hope you’ll join me there so I can help you create your business’s plan.

In my next special report on how to keep your business from failing, I’ll discuss the third big reason small businesses fail. Here’s a hint: It’s all about WHO!

4 Reasons Small Businesses Fail: Reason #1

Kelly Eckert — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:40:47 +0000

According the US Department of Commerce, more than 25% of businesses fail in the first year. More than 60% of businesses fail in the first five years.

As a small business owner, I find those statistics pretty frightening.

On top of that, even though women own 30% of privately-held companies, we account for only 11% of sales from privately-held companies.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like those statistics. For my own business and my clients’ businesses, I’m exploring why businesses fail and what we can do to help our businesses survive and thrive.

Why DO most small businesses fail?

There are four big but often overlooked reasons that so many small businesses fail. Today I’ll discuss the first reason:

Reason #1: Lack of a clear vision

For the longest time, I was guilty of not having a clear vision—not just for a business, but for my whole life. Sure, I knew I wanted happiness and fulfillment—and “enough money.” But, beyond that, I was clueless. In my past careers, all of which were entrepreneurial, I had an idea of what I wanted and where I wanted to go. But I never wrote it down. I never developed a fully-formed, crystal-clear vision for my businesses. For example, when I was a marketing consultant, I knew I wanted to be “successful” by helping other people be “successful.” OK. But what did that mean exactly?

The problem was, I was afraid to create a well-defined vision for myself and my business. Saying yes to one particular vision meant saying no to all the other possibilities out there. I was afraid that I would get what I wanted—only to find out later that I really wanted something else. So, instead of risking picking the wrong thing, I didn’t pick anything at all.

And that’s exactly what I got. I became really unhappy doing consulting. I felt like I was drifting. I didn’t know where I was going and so would have no idea when I got there.

If you have no clear vision for your business, how will you know when you’ve gotten what you wanted? How will you know you’ve achieved your dream? How will you know you’re a success?

Let’s use the example of going on vacation. For most people, vacation is such a precious time that we decide well in advance exactly where we want to go. We have a very clear vision of where we’re going. We know if we want to stay in a 5-star hotel or a camping ground. We know if we want the beach, the mountains or a city. We’re very careful about envisioning all the details of our vacation, and we spend weeks or even months ahead of time relishing that image in our heads.

Why, then, do so many of us solo- and entrepreneurs skip the step of creating a vision for our businesses? It’s as if we care more about our vacation than we do about our business!

Here’s an exercise that will help you create a clear vision for your business. Imagine that it’s five years in the future, and your life has gone as well as it possibly could have. You are happy and fulfilled. Your business is wildly successful. Imagine what your life will be like. Feel yourself marinating in joy. Picture as many details as you can. Write down everything you imagined, being as detailed as you can.

You can do this exercise several times to help you refine your vision.

When your vision feels crystal-clear to you, create a vision statement for your business. Be sure to include the purpose of your business. Your vision statement doesn’t have to inspire or thrill others. But it should definitely inspire and thrill YOU!

Want to read my current* vision? (*That’s right. Your vision will change over time.)

Here it is:

“To be a kick-ass coach and guide-on-the-side, holding the spotlight for entrepreneurial women to find and follow their path of peace and fulfillment.”

That’s it!

I’d love to read your vision. Please do share! And if you want help creating your vision, contact me by phone (412.528.1789) or email (kelly@kellyeckert@mac.com).

In my next special report on how to keep your business from failing, I’ll discuss the second big reason small businesses fail. Here’s a hint: It’s all about HOW to realize your vision!