accomplishment Archives - TEVO Small Biz

I See Light at the End of the Tunnel…… Holy Crap It’s A Train

July 25, 2012 By Judy Mackenzie 1 Comment

Do you feel like that with your business? I have certainly had days where there is so much going on I don’t know where to start. In the early days of my business, I could see all the opportunities that were available to me but I just didn’t know where to start. So I often entertained myself with learning new stuff. I am a “research junkie”. When I get stressed I learn, when I am happy I learn and I get a ridiculous high from knowing new stuff. That’s all great but how do I make money with all this new stuff??? I have heard it called “shiny object syndrome”. What, squirrel……

Thank goodness that was long time ago and I now have a plan that keeps my inner urges to learn under control (well maybe almost), but I have been able to put a format together that makes sense from a business perspective. I can use my need to learn as part of my business and create products and services that shares all the good stuff, without people like you having to sit through all these seminars and webinars. I have tested the materials and created programs to help people like you to move forward in your business. Nothing better than learning from someone who has been there and really gets the frustration, fear and exhaustion of doing your business all by yourself.

Let me tell you a story that just happened today. I am also an executive coach, so when one of my friends gets into a pickle they call knowing I will give them the straight goods. This friend of mine called today to try and understand a past trauma that she had experienced. She also told me about some really cool stuff she was doing in an effort to move forward. I asked her if she would like to make her move forward plan something to build on. (She was talking about taking her experiences as an executive and turning them into stories. I said Huh, #Patrick Lencioni made a fortune doing that. Maybe you could be a writer. She said “oh I don’t think I could do that.” Of course as a coach my response was why not?She said I am better at talking than writing. I have great stories though and I have a lot to teach.

My response; So, why don’t you record your stories and send them to a transcriber. I do that all the time. It will cost you under $20.00 and I have a name for you. If you do this a bunch of times you have an book. Get it put into the right format for Kindle or some other ebook reader and Bob’s your uncle – you are an author. By the way, I have a name for that service too. You can also have a book cover made for under $20.00 so you can make it look real spiffy.

My friend was gob smacked. She said “I had no idea you can do that, I am so excited” She was so busy thinking about going forward that she had completely forgotten about her worry about the past. Now, that will rear it’s ugly head again, but nothing beats feeling bad about something with an exciting new project and success. So this is how I use my learning to help others.

I recently put out a fabulous 24 page resource guide with the top tools and apps that I have gathered in my travels while learning from some top professionals. Many of these I have used myself but they are all tried and true. In the early days I spent a fortune trying to secure these resources. These are so amazing. This is my gift to you if you feel that the light at the end of the tunnel is a train. Even if you are not overwhelmed, you will enjoy the material.

I will keep you posted on other ways to keep that light at the end of the tunnel , optimism and not a fatal locomotive. It is my job to Grow Businesses and Empower People.

Click the following link for your free Killer Tools and Apps – Your Life Just Got Easier report

bit.ly/PFDZ50

Filed Under: Blog, Goal Setting, Leadership, One Page Business Plans, Systems that Work, Uncategorized Tagged With: accomplishment, business, development, goals, leadership, learning, self development, time management

5 Key Resources for Women Entrepreneurs

May 9, 2012 By Judy Mackenzie 1 Comment

Posted on Apr 23, 2012 by Emily Suess
Posted in Business Development, Starting a Small Business

There is no denying that women-owned businesses significantly impact the U.S. economy. In fact, according to the Economics and Statistics Administration of the United States Department of Commerce, just five years ago 7.8 million businesses were women-owned, and those businesses brought in a staggering $1.2 trillion in sales receipts. As if that’s not impressive enough, just consider that women-owned business employed 7.6 million workers in the U.S. at a time when jobs were seriously hard to come by.

Women-owned businesses are a huge part of the U.S. economy, and because of that it’s in every citizen’s interest to see them succeed. To that end, I’ve compiled a list of resources for women business owners covering a range of government, private, and non-profit organizations.

The NAWBO professional group was originally found in 1975 and presents itself as “the unified voice of America’s more than 10 million women-owned business.” It’s a dues-based association that represents women’s interests in all industries. The group maintains more than 7,000 members and supports 70 different chapters across the United States.

The WLE is a social organization for women entrepreneurs. It was founded by businesswomen, and it works to help women “fill in the information gap” and “provide a venue for building connections that will facilitate their success in business and in life.” The organization provides a multitude of resources including conferences, business coaching, interactive programming, teleconference and a leadership development program.

The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council started in 1997. It certifies businesses owned, controlled, and operation by women in the U.S. The organization serves as an “advocate of women-owned businesses as suppliers to America’s corporations.” It accomplishes this by acting as a liaison for corporate member that run a Supplier Diversity program and women-owned businesses.

Also founded in 1997, the WomanOwned.com site serves more than 3.5 million women entrepreneurs across the globe. The site, founded by entrepreneur Christina Blenk, offers assistance in online business information and networking to help women get their hands on the resources they need to launch, run, and grow their businesses. The site includes a searchable database of women business owners from all industries in just about every country in the world.

The Office of Women’s Business Ownership was established in 1979 and is part of the federal government’s Small Business Administration (SBA). It oversees Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) throughout the U.S. which provide assistance to women entrepreneurs who are “economically or socially disadvantaged” by offering training and counseling to women business owners. Resources include the Gateway for Women-Owned Businesses Selling to the Government and a comprehensive business directory.

In order to succeed, any business owner must maintain ties with her customers, her community, and supportive organizations that provide invaluable resources from launch to expansion. Hopefully, these resources will give you a starting point for achieving your dreams as a business owner. For more resources for women business owners, read: 47 Online Resources for Women Small Business Owners.

Filed Under: Blog, Home, Leadership Tagged With: accomplishment, badass women, development, entrepreneur, goals, performance management, Planning, self development, solopreneur, success, values, women's entrepreneurial support

The Top 10 Ways to Get What You Want Out of Life!

December 7, 2011 By Judy Mackenzie Leave a Comment

I have spent the last 20 years researching and working in a field that helps people live their dreams. By assisting people with creating exciting goals, reducing distractions and aligning beliefs and values, I ultimately help them get to the most important part—achieving their goals.

For my clients the most significant aha! moments often occur when they realize why they have been unable to meet the goals they set out for themselves year after year. The primary reason is that their goals are out of sync with their personal or professional values and beliefs. Understanding this can serve as a catalyst for approaching your personal or professional life planning in a different way—a way that will dramatically increase your success rate.

If your goals often get away from you, then the following 10 steps will be very helpful. This list is based upon challenges my clients have faced and learned from over the years. I know it works, and I am only too happy to share it with you.

The Top 10 Ways to Get What You Want Out of Life!

(a.k.a. 10 Key Considerations for Making Plans and Goals)

Make sure your goals are actually yours. They cannot come from other people’s expectations or desires.
Stay out of the past. The present and the future are very important, and the past has already happened. As they say, “It is a new day.”
Make sure you keep your ideal life clearly in your mind. You need to keep a close comparison of the ideal and your daily life. This is the stuff that keeps you on track.
Understand clearly what makes you happy.
Do you know where you want to go in life? This is your life plan. It is really important to have a life plan that resonates deeply with you.
Make sure you live your life to make your personal or professional plan come to life.
Are your goals in alignment with your values? Are you clear about what your values are? You need to revisit them regularly to make sure you are moving in the direction you really want.
Examine your beliefs. Your thoughts become your beliefs. Your beliefs become your behaviour. Your behaviour becomes your actions. Your actions become your life. How about those beliefs? Do you have any that aren’t working for you now? Are they getting in the way of your success?
Never, never limit your potential. There is very little you can’t do, and even that is debatable. It’s all about alignment.
Keep your negative thoughts, limiting beliefs and self-sabotaging behaviours under control.

After reading this list, what are you going to do differently?

What is your first step, and when are you going to have that completed by?

These action questions should follow any new plans you decide on. You will find the whole process much more invigorating once you have adopted the 10 Key Considerations to Making Plans and Goals.

Please share your success stories about how these simple but effective tools have moved you from frustration to action.

Do YOU Have Clear, Written Goals?

September 4, 2011 By Judy Mackenzie Leave a Comment

A Harvard Business School Story

the bestseller book by Mark McCormack

In What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School: Notes From A Street-Smart Executive by Mark H. McCormack, the author tells of a study conducted on graduates of the 1979 Harvard MBA program. Those graduates were asked, “Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” Only three percent of the graduates had written goals and plans; 13 percent had goals, but they were not in writing; and a whopping 84 percent had no specific goals at all. Ten years later, the members of the class were interviewed again, and the findings, while somewhat predictable, were nonetheless astonishing…

The 13 percent of the class who had unwritten goals were earning TWICE as much, on average, as the 84 percent who had no goals at all. And what about those who had clear, written goals and plans for accomplishing them? That three percent were earning an average of TEN times as much as the other 97 percent… put together!

In spite of such proof of success, most people don’t have clear, measurable, time-bounded goals.

In the bestseller Goals! How to Get Everything You Want-Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible, Brian Tracy teaches how to identify in the clearest terms the things you want out of life and how to make a plan to help achieve those things. He includes the following list.

Four Reasons Why People Don’t Set Goals

They don’t realize the importance of goals. If the people with whom you spend the most time—family, friends, colleagues and so forth—are not clear about and committed to specific goals, there is a chance that you won’t be, either.
They don’t know how to set goals. Some set goals that are too general. In reality, these are fantasies common to everyone. On the other hand, goals are clear, written, specific and measurable.
They fear failure. Failure hurts, but it is often necessary to experience failure in order to achieve the greatest success. Do not unconsciously sabotage yourself by refusing to set goals for which you might fail.
They fear rejection. People are often afraid that if they are unsuccessful at achieving a goal, others will be critical of them. This is remedied by keeping your goals to yourself at the outset; let others see your results and achievements once you’ve accomplished your goals.

Make a habit of daily goal setting AND achieving, for the rest of your life.

Focus on the things you want, rather than the things you don’t want.

Resolve to be a goal-seeking organism, moving unerringly toward the things that are important to you.

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Have these tips motivated you to set some goals? Do you have any goal-setting success stories that you’d like to share? Please speak your mind below.

Are You Satisfied with How Your Employees Are Performing?

September 4, 2011 By Judy Mackenzie 14 Comments

Image via Wikipedia

It’s performance management time and everyone is just thrilled to be part of the process. People love to get feedback, and managers are just itching to have those constructive feedback discussions with their fully engaged employees…

Not so much, I get it. For the past several years I have worked with companies both large and small to deal with this very issue, and believe it or not, we are making some serious inroads into this area without a great deal of kicking and screaming in the process.

What most managers and employees loathe about performance management is the subjective nature of the process, and yes, there will always be some of that. However, the bulk of the process should be very clear and easy if you are working within an accountability and responsibility framework. This process involves a cascading concept that takes the executive’s accountability and breaks that down, distributing it among the different departments and the managers within those departments. Then those managers cascade their responsibilities down to the people who do the operational and tactical work.

Requirements for a Successful Accountability and Responsibility Framework

What makes this system work?

The relevancy of the document you produce. Everyone is interested in this framework, since its structure and “moving parts” support the vision at the top.
Clarity about departmental and individual accountabilities. Who does what, and what can I count on you for?
The performance management system is based upon this accountability and responsibility matrix, and you are working with real behavioural indicators to prove success. This helps keep the subjective part to a minimum.
All parties know what is required and what is being managed.
Employee engagement roars ahead as everyone is feeling in the loop and clear on what is required. (Success breeds success.)
Tough conversations are replaced with brief coaching sessions.

And before you know it your productivity is up, employees are happy, and managers are less crazed!

Although I have made this sound simple, it is in fact a very manageable process to undergo. Each company I have worked with actually takes this system and applies it to job descriptions, performance management and pay-for-performance programming.

Employee engagement is a force behind success (www.customerthink.com)
The Difference between Performance Appraisal and Performance Management (www.brighthub.com)

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Have these tips motivated you to set some goals? Do you have any goal-setting success stories that you’d like to share? Please speak your mind below.

I See Light at the End of the Tunnel…… Holy Crap It’s A Train

5 Key Resources for Women Entrepreneurs

The Top 10 Ways to Get What You Want Out of Life!

Do YOU Have Clear, Written Goals?

A Harvard Business School Story

Four Reasons Why People Don’t Set Goals

Are You Satisfied with How Your Employees Are Performing?

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I See Light at the End of the Tunnel…… Holy Crap It’s A Train

5 Key Resources for Women Entrepreneurs

The Top 10 Ways to Get What You Want Out of Life!

Do YOU Have Clear, Written Goals?

A Harvard Business School Story

Four Reasons Why People Don’t Set Goals

Are You Satisfied with How Your Employees Are Performing?

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