by Angela Taffs | Jan 10, 2015 | Personal and Lifestyle, Starting a Business
Finding your passion
Why finding your passion is so important in business
So today I met a lady who I have been advising on her business.
Whilst I would never tell anybody that their business is doomed to failure, I will also never sugarcoat a situation for someone where I do not see a successful future.
We sat down and went through some cold hard facts. The lack of clients and sales was one but the more pressing concern for me was that when she discussed her business with me, there was something lacking in her voice. She had no passion.
I truly believe that to succeed in anything, whether business or life itself, in order to give yourself the best chance of success, you need to be passionate about what you are doing. If the thought of getting out of bed and going through the motions of what you need to do fills you with dread, you are never going to fulfil your potential.
So we stopped talking about business. I went off tangent and asked her to tell me what she enjoyed doing in day-to-day life. What were her hobbies? What did she look forward to? What did she get excited about? What did she enjoy in her childhood?
The difference in her face and speech was incredible. When talking about what she enjoyed her face lit up and her body became more animated. She became alive.
After a while and with some thought, we found a way of bringing her passion into her business. We could adapt what her business was currently offering and go in a slightly different direction without losing the main ethos of what her business was about.
We brought hope and excitement back into her business and I am sure that with some more planning and dedicated work she will now start to see her clients increase and her income get to where she wants it.
It is not guaranteed that this will work with everyone and with every type of business but sometimes sitting down and going back to basics can be so worthwhile. And the basics of a small business are you – the business owner. Ultimately you are the business.
So if you feel stuck in a rut and would like some help to bring the passion back into what you are doing, give me a call. I don’t make any guarantees but I strongly suspect that some new ideas for your future may come to light.
You may just discover that finding your passion for what you do isn’t that hard after all.
by Angela Taffs | Jan 8, 2015 | Business Success, Personal and Lifestyle
The right way to setting and achieving your goals
Every so often we need to take a step back to reflect on our business and plan new goals for moving to the future.
When reflecting on the past, please remember to not focus on what you haven’t done but be proud of all the things you have achieved. You want to start planning your new goals with positivity and motivation, not feeling down and deflated.
People set their goals differently, depending on their current situation, resources, physical capacity and other factors. You can, however, follow some guidelines to make sure that your goals are credible and possible.
When setting new goals, remember a few basics:
Setting and achieving goals
Be Specific.
General descriptions usually do not have boundaries, so you always leave room for mistakes and compromise. If you want results that you can be proud of, be specific. Include amounts, dates and everything else needed to train your mind to start working towards that goal.
Be Measurable.
Goals need to be measurable so that you can gauge how well you are doing and know when you have achieved them. Include measurable details such as the number of hours you want to work, the amount you want to earn etc.
Be Attainable and Realistic
Whilst it is great to have dreams and high ambitions, only set them if you truly believe you can achieve them. Particularly with short-term goals, if in your heart you believe they are too high to reach, your enthusiasm for trying to attain them will be dampened. Set objectives you truly believe you can reach within a given amount of time with the resources and capabilities you have. Setting a goal to double your income overnight is unrealistic, but setting the goal to achieve this over 12 months may be achievable.
Be Time-Bound
Set deadlines to achieve your goals or else you’re never going to finish anything. Stay specific when setting timelines and schedules. For example, indicate things like “To achieve 1000 subscribers to my mailing list by 30th April 2016. Setting the exact time and date will spur you to start working on your goals, instead of putting it off for another available time. Some goals can take years to accomplish so it is wiser to break these down into smaller objectives, still complete with deadlines. You can finish everything in a sequence to finally reach the biggest one.
Follow this method for setting goals and achieving them. Whatever goals you set, I wish you all the very best and do let me know what your goals are in the comments below.
by Angela Taffs | Jan 8, 2015 | Personal and Lifestyle, Running a Business
Do you have an accountability buddy?
I was reading an article this week and came across this quote:
“The low points in a startup are so low that few could bear them alone”
~ Paul Graham
And how true this is.
Within the article, it stated no one can succeed in business by going it alone. It stressed how important it is to get support from other entrepreneurs who are at the same stage as you and can understand what you are going through and from those with more experience who have been there before you and come through the other side. By connecting with others, you no longer feel alone and you no longer have to face obstacles on your own. You realise that others are having exactly the same problems as you and you can share ideas together to help you get over your hurdles. So if you feel that you are struggling with your business, reach out to others for help. Share your struggles, your goals and your successes. Pair up with an accountability buddy and use each other to plan and review your progress each week.
As part of my Small Business Kit, there is a secret Facebook group to give women the support they need but may not be able to find immediately to hand. It is somewhere individuals can come in confidence and share their thoughts and feelings about their business that they may not necessarily want to air in public. And they must just find their accountability buddy in there. If you haven’t already, seriously think about joining.
I really don’t want you to suffer in silence.
by Angela Taffs | Dec 29, 2014 | Personal and Lifestyle
Why there really is no such thing as a stupid question
How many times have you been in a meeting or at a conference or workshop and come away not really understanding all that was said but you were too afraid to ask what might have been considered a stupid question? Did you scuttle off home and quickly do a search online to find out what was being talked about? Do you wish you had known this in the room as it would have helped you understand the rest of what was being said?
Many people try to save face by pretending to know what others are talking about but this leaves them with a fear of inadequacy. They become afraid to fully engage in the conversation as they are not wholly sure what is being discussed.
Don’t be afraid to ask a stupid question
I was once the only female manager in a room of 17 men. The subject that was being discussed had a lot of jargon that I was not familiar with. This was a common occurrence and I would always leave the meetings feeling I was stupid and then be nervous about going to the next one for fear of being asked something I didn’t know.
One day, I decided to brave it and ask what the Chairman was talking about. I was shaking and terrified everyone would think I was the ‘dumb blonde’ asking a stupid question. What actually happened was that after I asked the question, a number of other managers thanked me for asking as they had no idea what was being said either. The chairman praised me for making the effort to fully understand the subject matter and I instantly went up in everyone’s estimation.
So in future, ask stupid questions. Ask the questions that everyone else is afraid to ask. You will become more confident in yourself and be admired and recognized as a confident person.
And if you have what you consider a stupid question to ask me, post it in the comments box below.
by Angela Taffs | Dec 29, 2014 | Personal and Lifestyle
How many times do I hear “Oh I would love to do that but there just aren’t enough hours in the day”?
Constantly. But is this true or is it just that we have our priorities all wrong?
Are you your own worst enemy?
A simple way to create time for yourself is to become your own best friend and stop being your own worst enemy.
I used to exercise on a regular basis and felt fantastic for doing so. But then life and all its inherent problems crept up and time for doing what I wanted to do diminished.
I was talking to someone recently about how I wanted to get fit again but I just didn’t have the time. All I needed was half an hour to go for a short jog, do a 20 min DVD or go on the cross trainer that is gathering dust in my spare room.
He asked me the following question:
“If your best friend phoned you and told you they had been given a warning by their doctor that if they didn’t lose weight they were going to become seriously ill and they asked for your help, would you help them? If they asked you to join them 3 evenings per week for just half an hour to go for a walk, swim etc, would you be there for them?”
Well, of course, the answer was yes. I wouldn’t be a very good friend if I said no.
What is someone you loved was rushed into hospital? Would you make the time that evening to go and visit them? Of course, you would.
What if George Clooney was going to turn up in town and you were offered a free ticket to have dinner with him. Would you find the time to go? I hope not! I hope you would say, “no I am far too busy for you George but I know a lovely lady called Angie who will take my place”
So I guess by now you get the point of what I am trying to get across about being your own worst enemy.
Instead, create time for yourself by becoming your own best friend? Treat yourself with the love and with the respect you deserve. If you don’t take time out to look after yourself, everything around you will suffer at some point, I promise you.
Remember, you can be your own best friend or your own worst enemy. Choose wisely. And create time for yourself.
Until next time
Angie x
by Angela Taffs | Dec 29, 2014 | Personal and Lifestyle
Business dress for women doesn’t have to be boring!
Business dress for women can sometimes be a little dull, so recently I invited an image consultant to be a guest speaker at a women’s start-up business club that I run.
As soon as everyone arrived, I realised that I was the only one sitting in my regimental black. I know they say you should never wear black, but it is such an easy fail-safe colour to choose, especially for work. I have black skirts, tops, trousers and dresses that I wear almost daily to work. I accessorise with my usual silver jewellery but it tends to stop there.
So often women are afraid of going to a style/image/colour consultant as they think that after the session they will have to buy a whole new wardrobe, but that is not the case.
First off, the consultant decided that in all her 20 years of working in the business, she had never found anyone so difficult as me to colour match and eventually gave up saying I would need a one to one session with her for a few hours. Well, I like to be an individual I guess! But the inability to correctly colour match me turned into my advantage. Whilst others tried on different colour clothes that they didn’t already own, I stayed in my black dress but started playing around with the accessories and colour swatches to hand.
Accessories update a boring outfit
In the day-to-day routine of life, I had completely forgotten how much a few simple accessories can completely transform an outfit. I was wearing a simple v-neck black wool dress with a simple star-shaped silver necklace. By removing the necklace and putting on the most chunky leopard print design necklace worthy of Cleopatra, I suddenly transformed my simple look into one of style and wow. I felt fantastic.
Next came the scarves. By being shown how to tie a scarf properly (more research on this soon) I could change my dress into a zingy fun outfit with lime green, or sophisticated luxury with a silvery sheen little number.
So when I got up this morning and automatically put on a black top, skirt and black boots, I suddenly stopped before leaving my dressing room and started to look around. I found a beautiful topaz blue necklace and earrings which I put on instead of my usual understated silver. Suddenly my look was more interesting and I felt more interesting.
I then took this off and played around with different coloured belts and reminded myself that such a simple and cost-effective accessory could completely transform my outfit.
I really must make more effort, and have more fun when dressing.
So here are my top 5 accessories for chopping and changing to transform your look and to illustrate how business dress for women doesn’t have to be dull.
One dress, many outfits
Scarves
Remember they don’t have to be tied around your neck. Use them as a belt or tie to the handle of a handbag for added interest
Jewellery
Whether a necklace, earrings or bangles, jewellery can instantly give you a different look. With costume jewellery being so inexpensive, you can play with different colours, designs, shapes and sizes dependent on the look you want.
Belts
Again, different colours, shapes and designs can transform your outfit in an inexpensive way.
Shoes
My passion of course! Take a black dress and add a red pair of shoes and a statement is instantly made. Swap the red for leopard skin. Change the heel height from flat to stiletto. The possibilities are endless.
Bags
If you are on an evening out or shopping during the day, a bag can be a simple way of transforming your outfit in just the same way as other accessories. A simple small clutch for sophistication. An oversized shopper for casual elegance. A decent handbag can be expensive but go hunting in the charity shops. It is amazing what you can find.
Business dress for women doesn’t need to be dull. Utilise some of these ideas to transform your business attire and let your personality shine through.
