Monday 29 January 2018

Doing it alone......

The fastest growing business sector is that of Women in business - and women who are also mums. And they are starting micro-businesses in droves from their kitchen table - often with a child hanging off their leg.

Too many of these businesses will fail. Businesses with awesome concepts and ideas. Filling a need in our society. Failing because of a lack of support, not believing in themselves and lacking the confidence in their knowledge.

Many of these businesses leave it way too late to get help. And when they are getting help they are stumbling around in the dark, often not with the type of help that they need.

You can't do it alone. No single person is an accountant, lawyer, marketer, HR, manufacturer, distributor and so on. You will need support with the day to day things and also the big picture business development. Do you know people who are trusted and real experts and who you like? Do you need to find them?

More importantly, do you understand the concepts behind the tasks that you are outsourcing or employing someone to do? For too many years, I just outsourced my books, then wondered why they were such a mess and I had no clue on how I was going financially in my business. When I took the task back, understood the process and also run the reports I needed to, I could then look at having someone else help me.

Once you start to gain support in your business, you will find you will achieve balance also. When the big picture is clear, and the daily tasks are being completed, with a focus on achieving the big picture - then your business is set for both growth and success.

Having a coach or group you meet with is invaluable to help your confidence grow as a business owner - tapping into the knowledge and skills you already have and guiding you to upskill where you need to. Rachel offers a range of coaching programs that you maybe interested in - take a peek here

Monday 22 January 2018

Asking for help.....why is it so hard?

As an independent, high achiever, I am used to just getting on and getting the job done. At whatever cost to my health and time. Well I used to be until I had a child and my priorities shifted. The person I used to be would not ask for help, I would just keep pushing through and make it happen. Then I refocused and started to ask for help, I even give help, without question. I offer even to help people out - take their kids, cook a meal, give them an ear to help with business.

I find being helpful and receiving help so gratifying. So why don't we ask for help. Why don't we take it when it is given. Why are we afraid of 'help'.

I have heard excuses like 'I couldn't take the help' = your pride and ego are in the way. Or 'I would only have to help them back' = either selfishness or a lack of confidence in yourself. Maybe the person giving help does not expect anything in return.

We are increasingly moving into a sharing economy - Uber, Air B&B - to mention a few. We can share cars, driveways, caravans, swap houses. We can trade our time on air tasker. Even my parents were part of a 'babysitting club' which allowed them the odd night out with no kids.

Human's have never raised children alone - we started in villages, many society's still encourage a village way of raising children. Children who have different influences in their life, create different values and have a broader way of looking at life. Parents need to let go of the belief that we must do it all alone. More importantly we need to trust in others to look after our children.


If your children are being looked after you will have more time to give your business dedicated focus. Or maybe if you want to raise your children in your way, you need to let go off some aspects of your business. Which brings up more excuses 'I don't have the money' 'I am a control freak and can't let go' 'I don't know who to ask' 'I tried it once and it cost me more money and time'. Have you heard yourself say any of those things?

A question - what do you want from your business? Why are you in business? What sacrifices are you willing to make to achieve those wants and whys? Is it time today with your children, or is it handing over tasks and some control to others in your business - so you can have time with your children today? Or maybe you will leave business growth and success until tomorrow - when your children need you less. How will that fit with your ego and need for stimulation outside being a mum.

There are so many reasons why you should gracefully accept help, ask for it from your support community and also give it. All without expectations - just because you can. Start listening for when people need help and offer it. Also next time you feel the pressure building - ask for help!

If you would like to book a clarity session with Rachel to explore this further then please follow this link


Monday 15 January 2018

Step into the real you & be on purpose all year round

This was originally published in an online magazine from Smart Healthy Women - link here


You set a New Year’s Resolution and here it is well into January and you have FAILED.  Summer got in the way, children got in the way, you lost focus and energy. Health goals, life goals, business goals…all lost. What are you planning to do for the next 11 months of the year? Complain and feel like a failure.
Maybe you are ready to hit the reset button and start again. A very plausible thing to do. Limiting yourself to new beginnings for only the start of the year will lead you to failure – always.

By setting yourself well thought out goals and intentions for the future year. Breaking those down into quarters, month, and weekly actions. You not only space out your success over the whole year, you also now that little-by-little daily you are working towards your big goals. Then at the end of the year when you reflect you will see many reasons to celebrate and feel achievement.

There are many tools you can use to gain clarity and stay focused throughout the year, both on the daily things and the big picture. You can also join programs which help you with accountability and support to keep moving forward.

You may find yourself experimenting with different tools until you find something which works for you and your style. You may also find as part of this process you start to reflect on you, your weaknesses, your strengths, who you are as a person or who you would like to be as a person. How you want people to see you, what you would like to be known for and how you want to show up in life and business.
It is essential when you set goals it encompasses all areas – your business, life, and self. Goals which excite you, scare you, stretch you and take you out of your comfort zone. Goals which will grow you as a person. Step into that person. Bring along your support people and your cheer squad. Enjoy it. Do it with intention and integrity.

Here are some steps you can take to create an amazing year – and you can do this whenever you need to:

Step One: Create a vision board or write down your inspiration. In a snapshot what qualities will you improve. What will keep you inspired to achieve your goals in each area of business, life and self – how do you want each area to look, feel, be seen. What is your word for the year. The word which will remind you about your inspiration.

Step Two: This is for those in business. Create a one-page snapshot of your business plan. What is your super power, what keeps your energised in business, your passions, your why, your mission, what are you disrupting and finally your goals for each business or project.

Step Three: Create a one-page snapshot of your life plan. Your I am statements, your purpose, your vision, your values and finally your goals for different areas of your life.

Step Four: I use a planner for this step – you may choose another format. However, add your goals to the planner, breaking them down into quarterly, monthly, and weekly. Look at the time you have available (do you need to consider school holidays for example) and deadlines you may have. Be realistic as to what you can achieve.

Step Five: Stay focused and accountable. Everyday spend the time bit-by-bit working towards the big picture goal. Enjoy the ride. Find an accountability buddy or group, this is the best way to stay focused on what you want to achieve.

Step Six: Always celebrate. Take time to celebrate the small wins and the big successes. Give yourself a reward for all your hard work. While some goals may seem easier than others to achieve; every time you tick a goal of you are closer to becoming the best version of yourself.

You can apply these steps to any goals you may have in life. They could be about business, money, career advancement, your children or partner, your health, weight or stress levels. Any combination of these – your unique life is yours. Your goals, your wants and needs are as unique as you. There is no one shoe that fits everyone.

You need to choose how you want to show up in life. What does success look like to you? What does balance look like to you? Once you determine these things for yourself and you set the goals or pathways to becoming that person, only then will you become the best version of yourself. Living a life that is purely on your own terms.

Plan for a successful 2018

New Years Eve resolutions are a funny thing - often made up on the spot - and not robust enough to last the year. I don't make them anymore preferring instead to set goals for myself and then break them down into actions that I can achieve on a daily basis.



Are you already working on your 2018 goals?

Possibly, your end of 2017 was so full on you missed the chance to stop and think about it - take our planning challenge to help you

Maybe you have started the year and already being sidetracked into other people's priorities and losing focus on your own goals. Do you need some accountability in the mix of support?

Are you still lucky enough to be on holidays. Spending time with your children, hopefully resting. Are you excited about jumping back into your business and reaching your goals. Seeing the opportunities that come to you this year, how you will grow and how your business will grow.

Whatever state you are in at the moment, here are my tips to making sure you stay focused all year long:

1. Be connected to your goals - they need to excite you and inspire you
2. Have conversations with trusted people to always improve your goals
3. Ask for help when things get too much - automate or outsource
4. Be accountable - find a group or person who will keep you accountable to what you say you are going to do
5. Use a planner. Break the goals down into quarterly, monthly and weekly actions and goals
6. Put them somewhere you will always see. Be reminded of them. Don't be led astray

If, like me you are waiting for school to go back do not stress - not long now! Enjoy your 2018.


Keep an eye on your money,honey

This article originally appeared in Inside Small Business


If you are not meeting sales targets, it could be because you do not understand who your customer is; your product/service is not a right fit for your ideal customer; your leads are not managed properly, and sales are missed; your sales teams are not responsive or are under-resourced; your sales targets are too high and are unrealistic; or you are unable to deliver and you over-promise.

You do need sales targets. You also need to be able to measure the effectiveness of your sales process. This enables you to evaluate your marketing and to develop your product or service. Importantly, you need to measure and put a dollar value on every lead that is generated from different activities. Once you can do this you can clearly see what aspect of your marketing is leading to sales.

If you are meeting your sales targets and your business is still not profitable, you need to consider the cost to produce your product or service; your business’ operational costs; the effectiveness of your marketing spends; whether all members of your sales team are suited to the job; and the turnaround times for delivery and for receiving payment.

So, business mum, treat your business like a business – not a hobby. Put on your big girl panties and face your negative money beliefs, and take emotion out of the money picture. Dream big, budget like a bad-ass, and get financial planning advice. Remember that you’re in business to make money, and that you need to know your numbers and the value of your time. Be realistic and do not put pressure on yourself to perform at your pre-baby level. Business is not easy – get out there and “work it, baby”! Do it for your business, do it for your why, do it for your children, do it for yourself!

Monday 8 January 2018

Five tips for achieving balance in your world

This article originally appeared on This Woman Can

Mums in business often believe they cannot achieve balance. With ongoing struggles managing conflicting priorities in business, life and self.
Here is the key to achieving balance – find your own meaning. One that suits you and your family. Then implement that into all aspects of your life. Do not adhere to society’s expectations, these are often unachievable. True balance comes when you understand what it means for you.
Here are some tips that have been taken from my latest book that will help you to find balance in your life, within your house, family and relationships:

CREATE PERSONAL GOALS


What do you want to achieve in your life? Just like in business, if you have no direction, nothing to aim for, you will find clarity and focus difficult. If you can’t see the big picture then the day-to-day stresses of life will wear you down.
Your personal goals may be related to your business goals – if you are also a mum, I am sure they will also be much bigger than your business. Your personal goals may direct your business goals. These are your goals so there are no right or wrong answers. Do think big, think about your future, your partner’s future and your children’s future. What do you want from life and business?
Once you have personal goals, put them somewhere you see every day – your fridge, bathroom mirror, back of the toilet door, computer desktop -– wherever you will see them and be reminded of them daily.


SORT OUT YOUR HOUSE


No one enjoys having to clean, cook, shop and wash day in and day out. It is boring, rarely fulfilling and time consuming. All of this is essential – we need to have a clean house and clothes and we need to eat. You don’t have to actually do these tasks, and they certainly don’t need to be as time consuming as you make them.
Plan systems in your house and outsource tasks.
Any task in your house that you repeat over and over again can have a system set-up to accommodate it. Involve your whole family in this system. Better still, consider getting someone else to do it.
Use this time for family time or you time instead.

GET ON THE SAME PAGE AS YOUR PARTNER


Communicate, listen, talk.
Share your goals and dreams. Help each other to achieve them. Give each other support.
When our lives gets busier and busier, it is easy to take our stress out on our partner. Don’t. I have learned when no one else is around he is. Make them the most important person and they will support you through anything.


TAKE FAMILY HOLIDAYS


Going away as a family is a great time to re-connect. In the busyness of life we often get caught up in the day-to-day tasks. A family holiday gives you all space to breath. To have a rest from routines. To recharge, ground and de-stress everyone.
You don’t need to do long overseas holidays – a long weekend camping in the bush an hour from home will achieve the same family connectedness.
It is easy to feel that family holidays are too stressful to organise and plan – we all have been there dragging entire nurseries around. Make it as easy as you can and know that as your children get older, they need less ‘stuff’.
Become a stronger family for time out together.

GIVE YOURSELF GUILT FREE ‘ME TIME’


It is so easy to put yourself last. Neglecting the most important person in this balance equation – you!
How many people rely on you? Employees, contractors, your partner, children to name a few. What happens when you are not able to give to these people? What happens to areas of your life that need you to contribute – like your house – when you are sick?
Could you find time in your busy schedule to do something for you. Can you squeeze 30 minutes a week or 5 minutes a day to do something that brings you peace and rejuvenates you? Daily meditations or walks. Weekly yoga or singing. Time for a book club or photography club. Massage, hair or nails. Anything that allows you to be someone outside of business owner, mum or partner.
Having me time makes you more present at home and in your business. It will give you more energy to keep giving to everyone you need to.
Give one of these tips a try. Implement your favourite into your life and see how things change for you.

The Power of a Campfire

Campfire's bring people together. Encourages intimate conversation. Campfire's are wild and cosy at the same time. Radiating warmth and promising relaxation. Around a campfire anything can happen, they are magical, honest and enchanting. 

When was the last time you experienced a campfire - maybe a firepit, bonfire or even a fire place with a strong mantel and chimney. Been mesmerised by the dancing flames. Warmed by it. Maybe used the heat to cook food or marshmallows. Had conversations that were as deep and mysterious as the flames themselves.

Can you build a fire? Starting with small sticks and eventually allowing bigger and bigger and logs on. Maybe you hunted for the sticks and logs, cleaning up the floor of the forest. Have you watched a fire sizzle down to embers, before eventually nothing - a pile of charcoal left where once flames danced.

Have you smelt the fire smell on your clothes - maybe even your camping equipment or in the house. Reminding you of the connections you made with new and old friends and the conversations - wild and crazy, uninhibited.

Maybe you are left with a different way to view life, a new idea or a fresh way to tackle a problem, maybe you laughed so hard you are just left feeling happy. That is part of the magic of a campfire.

As people, we crave conversation with others. We need it to change our thinking, open our minds and become better versions of ourselves. 

Picture yourself stepping up to my campfire with flames dancing and welcoming you. Joining other people who are likeminded, have businesses and want success and growth. Learning a new way to tackle old problems.




That is the Campfire Conversations series and you are welcome to join my life or business stream - come for all sessions or join us for just one. Learn more here

Connect, gain support and learn. 

Friday 5 January 2018

Back to school - Business mum style

This article originally appeared on the Business Business Business blog - see it here

The juggle of being a business owner and parent is real. We all feel it and we all have our own way of managing it. Some seem to do it with grace and ease – others simply struggle. And then school holidays happen.

While school holidays have their advantages (no uniforms, lunches, excursions, fundraising, assemblies, 9am start times) they can also hamper your productivity. Especially over the looong break in January (we have 7 weeks) – I am counting down the days until routine can set back in. When I know the hours, I can work in my business on a weekly basis. I can cross things of my to-do list and action my goals.

This year I have started to plan on getting nothing done for my business during the school holidays – or I may set myself one or two ‘projects’ I would like to complete. Anything else is a bonus. This has been hard to achieve, it has mean’t re-thinking my business and the model I operate with. Focusing on core, money making tasks only.

To be able to ‘let go’ during the holidays you need to dedicate some time to planning and preparing your business. Essentially putting it on auto-pilot for a while – especially regarding marketing and promoting it.  You can leave some fulfillment, administration, and business development until after the holidays – simply add tasks to your to-do list. Once I am back in the business, then a couple of admin days later and I am off and running again.

Changing speed in your life, I find, is hard. Switching between parenting and work. Juggling business and school. In school holidays the balance shifts towards your children, opposed to your business. When school starts you need to shift that balance back, and slip back into routines which work for you and your family on a daily basis. Here are my 5 tips to making that easier:

Set your school routines up – uniforms, lunches, communication with the school. Use a new term to freshen up routines which were not effective previously

  1. Pre-cook snacks and dinners in the holidays – have them on stand by for those out of control days
  2. Don’t set deadlines or events for the school holidays, don’t add pressure to yourself
  3. Know your goals for the next term, and the main project you will be working on when you step into your business – start with your feet firmly on the ground
  4. Continue your auto-pilot a couple of weeks after you are due back, give her head the time and space to get up to speed again
  5. Use holiday time as a time to rest and refresh. It is amazing what might bubble up for you when you are giving yourself the thinking space. Enjoy this time with your children.

There are so many school holidays in a year (12 weeks), plus pupil free days and public holidays, sometimes it feels like you are taking one step forward and two back. And then there is illnesses – bugs and other things collected from schools – sometimes by the time a cold has gone through the house three weeks have disappeared.

I have tried to continue working through the holidays and illness – this resulted in me going around in circles. What has worked for me is forward thinking and planning. Understanding a couple of weeks before holidays will be full on and a couple of weeks after will also be full on – however in between you will get time to be with your children and enjoy their company. This time will not last forever.

Finally, if you do need time to be in your business during school holidays – lets face it seven weeks is a long time. There is always playdates or holiday care to fall back on. Use your support network of mum friends – ease the pressure for both you and your children.

Monday 1 January 2018

The key to your success

Welcome to a brand new year. What is in store for you for 2018? Are you excited, scared, ready to step outside your comfort zone?

What help do you need to stay on-track, focused and moving forward with clarity.

Do you need a coach? Check out Rachel's programs here

Maybe you need accountability. If you do then maybe an accountability pod is just for you.


In botanical terms pods protect the seeds until ripe and then split open to reveal them. In animal terms a pod is a group of marine animals (think whales and dolphins) or hippopotamuses who group together for protection, support and socialisation. Are you ready to step into a pod that will help you grow into a successful business?

Are you lacking accountability in your business? Would you like a group of people who will support you and believe in you? But you don't have time or money for masterminds, weekly coaching programs and so on.

Let me introduce you to Accountability Pods. You will meet your pod fellows three times formally over a 10 week period. Expanding your goals, maintaining focus and finally - CELEBRATING!

Pods will be run online through Zoom, with dates being set at the first session. You will be placed in a pod with up to 4 other people where we will match business stage, type and challenges as much as we can. There will be a secret Facebook group created for your pod, which you can use between sessions to bounce ideas, gain motivation or just vent. Remembering giving as well as taking.