Most women starting a new business are full of ideas (which is great) and passion (even better!). But it can be easy to get caught up in the ‘fantastic idea’ and make mistakes that can be easily avoided. So here are some tips for starting out:

Take time to test: you absolutely need to go with your ‘gut feeling’ when starting a business. But if you do not take the time to test and research, you are likely to fail (and fail quickly). Talk to experts and people who have been in business for more than five years. Work out who your target market is and see what they think of your idea. You might receive feedback that you did not anticipate and may find you have to do some more work before you launch. That does not mean you should give up! The product or service you launch may look different than what you first envisaged, so be open to change.

Market aggressively: you are competing with many other products and services, and advertising ‘noise’ in general, so you cannot expect that your idea will ‘sell itself’. No matter what it is, you have to create a comprehensive marketing plan. This does not necessarily mean spending a lot of money, but you do need to have a clear plan of what and how you are going to promote.

You cannot do it all: at the very beginning, you will likely be the one doing every aspect of your business. But if your idea takes off, you must bring in other people with specific talents and skills. Associate yourself with other business owners and start building valuable and trustworthy relationships so you can draw on those networks when you need to.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

My kids bought me a Superwoman t-shirt a few years ago. I like wearing it, as most days I do feel like Superwoman with all the tasks I’m juggling. But I came to a stark conclusion recently: I am NOT Superwoman. This wasn’t an attempt to bring myself down and be negative, but rather it was a reality check that revealed I really couldn’t sustain effectively everything I was doing.

I am a typical business owner with entrepreneurial traits: that is, I cannot stop my mind from coming up with new ideas or new ways to do things. It can be hard to filter or prioritise those ideas and work out what to focus on. I am coming to the realisation that because I am not Superwoman and do have a finite number of hours in the day, I am not able to progress every idea I come up with, no matter how good it is!

The process of working out where to focus my time now involves asking myself questions such as:

-       is this new idea going to impact negatively on my core business?

-       am I prepared for the additional time and energy it will take to progress this idea?

-       will my ‘outside work’ commitments (including family) be negatively affected? Will I be sacrificing time with those people and/or activities?

-       is it important enough to make the commitments and changes that will be required?

Sometimes answering the above questions will result in a resounding ‘yes’ and a new idea will flourish. But other times, I know I need to be prepared to let other commitments take priority and let a good idea lay dormant for a while longer. 

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

There are many women in business who have inspirational stories and lessons we can learn from. Arianna Huffington is visiting Sydney this week, so this is an opportune time to write about what we can learn from her.

Arianna Huffington is most well-known for the news and blog site ‘The Huffington Post’ that she launched in 2005. If you are on social media, you are likely to have seen an article or two from this website, which has become a “frequently cited media brand”.

Aside from Huffington’s forays into politics, book writing and even some acting, an incident in 2007 gave her another ‘platform’ to push. She suffered a facial injury when she fainted at work, because she was severely exhausted and not getting enough sleep. In many of her books and within her own workplace, she promotes a healthy balance between work and the ‘rest of life’ and the ‘power of a good night’s sleep’.

Her latest book, ‘Thrive’, is the culmination of what she has been practicing and preaching since her fainting incident. It is an attempt to ‘redefine what it means to be successful in todays’ world’.

What is success to you? Is it about the amount of money you are earning? The number of staff you have? Arianna Huffington has learnt the hard way that our traditional notions of success lead to burnout, illness and “an erosion in the quality of our relationships, family life, and, ironically, our careers”.

Most business women I know are not getting enough sleep and operate their work and lives in a way that can have disastrous effects. As Huffington says “The essence of leadership is being able to see the iceberg before it hits the Titanic."

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Have you seen the Facebook page and blog called ‘Humans of New York (HONY)’? When you find the page, you may wonder why I am recommending it. It’s not a business. It’s got nothing to do with women in business. But just today I realised what an amazing example it is for business owners.

The creator of the page says: “I began Humans of New York because I thought it would be really cool to create an exhaustive catalogue of New York City’s inhabitants…but somewhere along the way, HONY began to take on a much different character. I started collecting quotes and short stories…these portraits and captions provides a worldwide audience with daily glimpses into the lives of strangers in New York”.

Although it is not a commercial/business venture (aside from a #1 New York Times bestseller book that has now evolved from the blog), the creator of this page has tapped into a dazzlingly simple ‘niche’ market.

The page creates a ‘global village’ culture, where readers feel connected to the subjects. His images provoke response. His stories are not embellished – he just lets the words speak for themselves.

This popularity has come about because the creator of the page has appealed to basic human emotions. The absolute best marketing does exactly that too. Luxury car advertisements are a classic example. Rarely do these ads give the viewer a list of specifications or the price. Instead, they sell a ‘feeling’ and appeal to desires. They want you to fall in love with the product first.

What we can learn from Humans of New York is to find ways to appeal to the most basic of wants and needs in order to elicit an emotional response to your product or service. This will be far more successful than trying to convince potential customers to buy in to your latest sale without first investing themselves.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Have you heard the saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child’? It is a concept that believes children need the influence, nurture and support from a wider group of people beyond their immediate family. When it is said today, more often than not it is because someone is lamenting the loss of that ‘village’ concept.

In today’s society, most of us live in large communities, extended families are distant and we live a more individualistic lifestyle than in previous decades and centuries. Most of us do not experience that ‘village’ lifestyle where we are intimately involved in each others lives. There are some who are wondering how we can reclaim some of the benefits of that lifestyle.

Many local businesses seem to have been going through a similar thought process. There is a definite focus amongst many locally owned and operated businesses to highlight and promote the fact that they are local, and use that as a positive point of difference to large corporations.

The flip side of this though, is that for these businesses to succeed, the local community has to embrace the idea of supporting local business. Anecdotally, I have been encouraged by the shift I have seen over the past few years. My own business has seen a dramatic rise in local clients, who are keen to support local business.

Supporting local business helps your community economically, generates more local jobs, reduces environmental impact. It also has many benefits for the buyer, such as often knowing the source of your product (or the person who has created it), better service and increased community interaction.

So let’s claim the ‘village’ concept for our local businesses. In order for a local businesses to thrive, it takes a village to raise it: so support local business and encourage those around you to do the same.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

“A ship in harbor is safe - but that is not what ships are built for.” This quote by John A. Shedd is so interesting for women in business. Most of us spend a great deal of time in our personal lives protecting and keeping safe those around us. So sometimes our instinct in business can be the same: to avoid risk and keep our business ‘safe’.

Occupational and hazardous risks aside, taking risk and moving outside the ‘safe zone’ is something that every highly successful business has done. Read the biographies of any entrepreneur or industry leader, such as Richard Branson or Steve Jobs, and you will see numerous examples of pushing themselves and their companies into ‘risky’ situations.

This is not to say that all their risks paid off: in fact many of them didn’t! And I am also not suggesting that we all need to follow the extreme examples of Branson and Co. in our own businesses.

But as this quote suggests, as a business owner, you have a particular set of skills. You likely started your business because you dared to dream that you could be a success. If you are being ‘safe’ are you doing what you were built to do?

So I am challenging you to re-capture those big dreams! Ask yourself:

-       What needs to change?

-       How can I do business better?

-       How can I exceed the expectations of my customers?

-       What can I do to create a truly unique experience for people who come into contact with my business?

-       What calculated risks can I take?

-       How can I generate passion and excitement amongst my staff to help me achieve my goals?

Are you prepared to try and fail rather than wonder what might have been?

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

As a woman in business, you have probably seen the latest television advertisements for the company AAMI. The premise of the light-hearted scenario is that “small business owners never switch off”.

I found myself agreeing somewhat: if you are anything like me, you are always thinking of ideas and your business is never far from your mind. Inspiration can strike at the oddest of times and often occurrences and experiences outside of your work time can prove to be useful to your business (in a variety of ways).

However, the more I see these advertisements, the sadder I become. The dad who is speaking to a client on the phone in his van, while he watches his son’s AFL game, is cheating himself and his son. He is watching the game, but he is not fully present. And I am certain that this would not go unnoticed by his son. Spending quality time with friends and family (and particularly children) means not being distracted and focussing fully on them.

Although business owners should be passionate about their business - and there will always be times when urgencies, deadlines and crises mean that the business ‘comes first’ - we also need to switch off. Children grow up quickly, friendships need regular input and life in general passes by all too quickly. We need to invest time in the things that are important.

Switching off is also important for your business. If you are never, or seldom, taking time to refresh and regenerate, your business will become stale. You will miss opportunities, increase stress levels, decrease motivation and find it difficult to negotiate your way through difficult periods. Do yourself, your family and your business a huge favour: schedule daily, weekly, quarterly and yearly times where you truly “switch off” from business.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Most of us know that to succeed in business we need to find a niche. But often other factors take precedence. Many women start a business to work around family commitments, and so choose an industry that is conducive to that, rather than researching possible directions. But finding a niche is essential to long term success.

But how do we do that? What does ‘finding your niche’ look like?

Recently I had lunch at a new local restaurant. When I arrived at the restaurant it was immediately obvious to me that this business has found their niche. It was not that they are doing any one thing that makes them stand out from other restaurants. But they have worked hard to pull together a number of small, but meaningful aspects that combined, are establishing them as a memorable eatery.

What stood out to me was that the business owners have done their research. They have responded to what they know their local community enjoys. A key factor in their success seems to be the experience they provide for people: they have a great ambience, the food is upmarket yet not overpriced and staff are friendly and interested.

As you can see by this example, ‘finding your niche’ does not necessarily mean finding one unique product or service. Your niche can be a combination of tried and true factors. If you are still not sure how to find your niche, just start doing one area exceptionally well. Simply by doing that you will begin rising above all the other businesses who are content to keep doing what they’ve always done.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Last week marked a sad occasion: the passing of the legendary Maya Angelou, American author and poet. She became a poet and writer after a series of occupations as a young adult. She was an actor, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs. Maya was active in the Civil Rights movement, and worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.

I have always found Maya Angelou inspiring (and have quoted her a few times in this column!) because she consistently broke conventions and worked hard to rise beyond her difficult childhood and early adulthood. She became recognised and highly respected as a spokesperson for blacks and women, and provided the world with many profound and inspirational quotes.

So my tribute to Maya Angelou is to list some of her most inspiring quotes – enjoy!

• I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
• Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.
• One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.
• I learned a long time ago the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side, be an advocate for myself and others like me.
• I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

On Facebook this week I was reading many responses to the resignation of Georgie Gardner, one of the hosts of The Today Show. She explained that she was leaving so she could spend time with her family while her children are still young. Most women admire her decision, although the reaction has also been “Georgie seemed like she had it all, but even SHE can’t balance a demanding job and children”.

Georgie certainly isn’t suggesting (in words or example) that every working mother needs to follow her lead. But it did prompt me to think again about how business women achieve some sort of balance.

Everyone who has started a business has encountered numerous situations where they needed to seek expert advice. Seeking assistance (with tasks outside your skill set or on larger ‘direction’ and goal issues) is essential to taking back time.

You need to ensure that you plan the next steps and goals in your business: but you also need to be prepared to throw it out! You will waste time and create more stress by sticking with a plan that isn’t working.

Although it likely goes against your very core as a business owner, you need to stop aiming for perfection in everything you do. There will always be something that can be improved and if you wait for ‘perfection’, you are likely to miss opportunities and waste a great deal of time aiming for the unachievable.

We all feel overwhelmed at times. But the sooner we realise that extensive hours (and inadequate sleep) has more negative than positive results, the sooner we will find a better balance in life.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Like most women in business, I have read many books related to running a successful business. Some are general and inspirational in nature. Others are more specific on topics like marketing. Whenever I read these books, and particularly the ones that have specific strategies, I always find myself wondering “well why isn’t everyone doing this?”.

What I have realised over the years is that while many of us may be motivated to read a book or listen to expert advice, actually making the required changes are on a whole other level.

There can be lots of reasons why we do not act on what we read or hear. Sometimes it is lack of energy or motivation. Sometimes it is lack of time and resources. Sometimes it is even a fear of success (what will that change mean for me?).

If you are anything like me, my biggest stumbling block to change is this: I read about some amazing strategies, I want to do them all at once, and then the task becomes too overwhelming. Sound familiar?

There is a simple solution: even though it goes against the grain for a perfectionist like me, it is perfectly OK to chunk the change down to smaller, more manageable tasks. You do not have to act on everything, or make massive changes all at once. Some sage advice from Brad Sugars is this: “you double the size of a business by adding 1% in 100 ways … not by adding 100% with just 1 idea”.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Even if you didn’t watch The Oscars this week, chances are you heard about “the selfie that broke the Internet”. Ellen DeGeneres hosted The Oscars in her typical laid back, slightly irreverent, style. During the show she decided to take a ‘selfie’ with Meryl Streep, which turned into a group selfie with lots of stars jumping spontaneously into the shot. She posted it on Twitter and it apparently broke the record for re-tweets.

The reason I mention this photo, is not just because it was a great photo, but because of one person who jumped into the shot. If you are near a computer, take another look at the photo and you’ll see an attractive young black man with glasses right at the front of the shot. I assumed it was an actor I hadn’t heard of. But it turns out, he is the brother of Lupita Nyong’o (winner of the Best Supporting Actress award), a college student and not in the least bit ‘famous’.

What a great example! Instead of being intimidated by the famous people around him, he jumped right in with them. Instead of wondering if he was entitled to be there, he had confidence to take advantage of a situation. It is likely that he didn’t think it through all that much before he did it: as his sister said in an interview after The Oscars, “he lives his life with an exclamation point!”. His natural inclination was to be where the action was and jump in with both feet.

What a lesson we can learn from him: be bold and embrace opportunities. Who knows where they might lead!

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

Last week I experienced some interesting scenarios in my interactions with local businesses. On the one hand, I was provided with excellent customer service via genuine and sincere concern by a business owner and her staff. On the other end of the spectrum, I was compelled to pen a rather long and detailed letter of complaint to a business that showed little disregard for fulfilling their obligations.

It was very obvious to me that my positive interaction was with a business who understands that their most important asset is their ongoing relationships with customers. They clearly demonstrated a desire to remedy an issue and did everything possible to ensure that I would remain a returning customer.

The negative interaction with the other business showed by their actions that they are not focussed on meeting the needs of their clients. Even when a situation was brought to their attention, they did little to remedy it.

It is highly likely that you will need to deal with complaints. It is how your business deals with those complaints that will set you apart. There are some essentials that are relatively easy to cover, including: respond to complaints as soon as possible; provide customers with an opportunity to be heard; assure the customer that you are seeking to find a solution; give the customer reasons to return to you despite the issue that has occurred.

Although you may not always find a solution that is mutually agreeable, the way you deal with the complaint will show your business in an exponentially better light than the one who deals badly with a complaint. Give the complainant as little to complain about as possible.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

"Snowboarding to me isn't about the accolades. It isn't about competing. I do it because I love to snowboard, not because I love to compete.". Torah Bright is becoming one of Australia’s most well known Olympians, not just because she has won, and continues to win medals. But more so because of her attitude to what she does.

Torah’s friends have described her as someone who refuses to be limited by outside expectations. This Winter Olympics she has added a third snowboarding challenge: her past success has been in half-pipe and slope-style, and this year she has added ‘snowboard-cross’ to her competition. When asked why she doesn’t just focus on the disciplines that are her strengths, she says “This is about pushing boundaries...I call it character building. It’s a chance for the inner Torah to come out”.

What an amazing attitude! In business we are often told “do what you love” and “focus on your strengths”. Which is not bad advice. But Torah has taken this a step further and decided that she needs to pursue areas that will grow and stretch her, even if they are not ‘areas of strength’ yet. She is choosing to challenge herself, not for reasons of glory and winning, but for her own enjoyment, achievement and sense of joy.

Do you feel that way about your business? Do you find joy in what you do? Or are you going through the motions of what you think you need to do, according to other people’s expectations? These are big questions, but important ones for ensuring that we are living our life truly doing what we love and what fulfils our potential.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

There are some recent studies which show that female entrepreneurs are happier than their male counterparts. Not only that, they are generally amongst the happiest people in the world. Speaking from my own experience, I know that I only have to imagine working for an employer, and I immediately realise how satisfied and happy I am with my current circumstances!

The happiness of female entrepreneurs overall may be due to some practical reasons, such as the average ‘salary’ being much higher than those in traditional employment. But I think there are some more compelling reasons that this.

Although I have written a number of articles relating to the difficulties of ‘work/life balance’, the fact is that ultimately you are in control of the hours you work and can adjust your schedule to suit. Last year I was able to attend all my children’s special events and activities, despite working an average of 40 hours a week. I am fully aware of how valuable this is and this benefit was one of the motivating factors to starting (and now continuing) my business.

Many female business owners and entrepreneurs start their enterprise because they want to ‘make a difference’. This might be directly via business products/services or as an ‘offshoot’ of business profits (for example, donating money, time or resources to supporting social enterprises). Brain scientists agree that the more ‘good’ you do, the happier you are. It stands to reason that having the opportunity to incorporate rewarding work into your everyday activities will increase your happiness.

If what you do does not make you feel a high degree of happiness, perhaps it’s time to question why you do what you do?

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

It’s the end of the year. Most of us are winding down for a well earned break and hopefully a re-charge to start 2014 with a bang! I thought my column this week should include some lighter reading to help kick start the re-charge process. So here are some of my favourite quotes for motivation:

• “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent. It is the one most responsive to change” (Charles Darwin).
• “The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake – you can’t learn anything from being perfect” (Adam Osborne).
• “Be bold. If you’re going to make an error, make a doozey, and don’t be afraid to hit the ball.” (Billie Jean King)
• “Perseverance is failing nineteen times and succeeding the twentieth.” (Julie Andrews).
• Most of us have trouble juggling. The woman who says she doesn’t is someone whom I admire but have never met.” (Barbara Walters)

I can only speak for myself, but my motivations also run deeper than ‘business success’. The following two quotes are my all time favourites for remembering the really important things in life:

• “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” (Maya Angelou).
• “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” (Anne Frank).

And at this time of year, this quote is particularly pertinent for female business owners:

• “Women need real moments of solitude and self-reflection to balance out how much of ourselves we give away.” (Barbara De Angelis).

Have a wonderful Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

At a time of year where you are probably feeling swamped by busyness, it is good to remember that as a female business owner, you really are operating in an environment of abundance. Too often we can get ourselves in a rut of bemoaning the lack of cash flow or the proliferation of competitors. But in reality, those are just excuses.

As the ‘captain of your ship’ you need to remember that you hold the power to make your dreams a reality. Other people spend time fantasising about it: you are actually out there doing it! And as an added bonus, you know you enjoy being able to make decisions that affect your future, rather than being beholden to someone else’s goals and dreams.

Running your own business should mean you have flexibility and freedom – if not you need to ask whether you’ve just created a ‘job’ for yourself with an inflexible boss (you!). Yes, you work hard and often put in more hours than your friends and family with regular jobs. But ultimately you get to decide when to take time off and how many hours you put in.

In our current technological age, we have an abundance of resources at our fingertips: advice, how-tos, online support, blogs, webinars and more. What would have taken weeks of research, and a great deal of time and effort to solve, can now take a few hours.

This abundance of resources and circumstances should spur you on to continue forging ahead. Positive thinking by itself will get you nowhere. But being grateful for what you do have and viewing your situation in a positive light, will give you better focus and drive.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

“Vulnerability is the birthplace of creativity, innovation and change.” Dr. Brene Brown.

What a challenging statement! Most of female business owners are attempting to project an image of strength and confidence, so how does this statement stand alongside that? Surely with our staff we do not want to be ‘vulnerable’ – is that not a sign of weakness?

We need to first look at what vulnerability means. In this context, Brene Brown is referring to being open, honest and transparent (rather than possibly our typical definition that relates more to ‘weakness’). Anyone who studies culture and people (or if you have been around the block enough times!) will likely agree that showing your ‘true self’ (including areas you are not proud of, or mistakes you have made) gives people the opportunity to relate to each other in a real and meaningful way.

Projecting an image of perfection does not inspire collaboration or a sense of community in your workplace or team. In fact, it can have the opposite effect: behaving as though there are never problems or that you are not bothered by anything will make you seem like you don’t care and that you can’t understand what your team is experiencing.

Attainment of your business goals will be best achieved when your team can see that you are indeed human – and humans sometimes fail or falter. Recognising and embracing this fact means that you and your team can be prepared for mistakes, thinking creatively in times of crisis will come much more naturally. Showing that you are vulnerable and showing your team that you persevere despite adversity, will inspire your team to do the same.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

No matter how long you’ve been in business, it is always a good idea to go back to basics for a reality check. Often it can be easy to forge ahead and forget about those fundamental lessons. So here are a few reminders:

1. Overestimate: have you noticed that when you try something new in your business, more often than not it takes you a lot longer than you thought? A good rule is to work out how much time it should take and multiple it by four. If it takes you less time, you can give yourself an early mark!
2. Care for your customers: we all know that great customer service is paramount, but in this instance I am referring to working out how to really cater for your customer’s needs before you try to sell to them. As Seth Godin says, “Permission Marketing is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them.”
3. Know who to listen to: it is always wise to get professional advice, seek opinions and do your market research. But as a business owner, you also need to listen to that ‘inner voice’. If you make decisions based on other people’s demands or agendas, chances are they will be the wrong ones for your business.
4. Be flexible: the world of business, particularly any linked in any way to technology (very few are not!), is moving and changing quickly. Five year business plans can be useful, but they should act as a guide only. You need to be ready to respond to change and opportunity at a moment’s notice – don’t get left behind!

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender

I am a massive P!NK fan. She is a breath of authentic fresh air in a music industry that for the most part, reduces female artists to the sum of their body parts. Aside from her athleticism, her amazing talent and entertaining shows, she is also a pretty gutsy woman.

P!NK has been quoted as saying “You can’t move mountains by whispering at them” which I think is an awesome way to approach life’s challenges. It is also very apt for approaching business issues.

There are often articles I read that speak highly of the positive effects of more women in business and the corporate world. These articles usually refer to the ‘softer’ qualities and attributes that women can bring where issues are perhaps ordinarily dealt with differently in male dominated arenas. Women may approach situations more intuitively, or consider aspects that their male counterparts do not.

And that may be true. But I think women bring much more than ‘soft’ skills to the business table. Most of the women in business I know (and other women that I admire for their achievements) didn’t get there because they sat quietly behind the scenes. We shouldn’t mistake references to ‘softer qualities’ to mean ‘meek and mild’.

What I know of those successful women is that they are tenacious, determined, confident, driven and focussed. They are prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve their business and life goals. And I guarantee that to deal with big and important changes, they engaged in a great deal of roaring and very little whispering.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender