So, 2020 has been a bit of a challenge. I believe the word tossed around frequently is “unprecedented.”

I’ve been talking to my small biz friends and we are all feeling a bit overwhelmed, now this isn’t a new feeling for any of us, but we are in uncharted waters and making decisions we thought we would never be presented with.

I talked about how I pivoted the business to ensure there was a business, but no one could have anticipated that 6 months later we would still be dealing with this and the mental health toll it is taking on all of us.

I’ve all but given up on sleeping since all I do is dream (more like a nightmare) about everything we’re dealing with. Here is just a sampling of what small business owners are dealing with.

• Work from home fatigue
• Going back to work safely
• Understanding liability around COVID-19
• Keeping employees protected
• Ensuring employees are happy
• Ensuring employees have all the resources to do their job whether remote or in the office
• Maintaining positivity at all times (until you can finish off a bottle or two of wine on the weekend)
• Supporting and listening
• Financial woes
• Unreliability of the USPS
• Business development
• Talent attraction and retention

That is by no means a complete list, but it’s what I could name off the top of my head.

The amount of crushing pressure business owners are under right now is ridiculous. We have had to become master EO interpreters, therapists, cleaning supply procurement specialists, negotiators, hypemen, half glass full people, mindreaders, master problem solvers, solution providers, Zoom prodigies…and the list goes on.

I guess what I want you to take away from this blog, we’re feeling really f*cking alone right now and quite frankly we feel singlehandedly responsible for keeping our doors open and our employees happy and it’s really, really exhausting.

Reach out to a business owner, or if you are employed by a business owner – maybe tell them you appreciate them because they’re doing the best they can.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, been a little busy ensuring we survive this damn pandemic. Priorities, I suppose.

The first week, we lost over $15,000 in revenue a month, which does not include the clients who simply couldn’t pay but would when able. This happened on a Tuesday, by Thursday I made the difficult decision to lay off 2 employees. This was all within 3 days. As a small business owner, you don’t get the luxury to debate a decision for weeks or months, you have to make the shittiest decisions in days, if not 24 hours.

I’ve always been the individual that identifies the worst-case scenario and then plans for it. Quite frankly, it’s why 8THIRTYFOUR has been around for 13 years. It isn’t exactly the most pleasant way to live your life, but it has made me a survivor in both my personal and professional life.

After employees were laid off, I sat down (when you could still do so in person) with my leadership team and we took a hard look at finances. What was our projected revenue, actual revenue and revenue lost and what did we anticipate losing in the future. Once we had the worst-case scenario mapped out, we came up with a plan to retain existing employees ideally at their current rate of pay – we had another plan if that wasn’t possible. We then strategized on how to communicate the need for marketing at a time when everyone was hurting financially, and then we put some money behind it and then launched the campaign.

So, we took action, made a plan, and then starting implementing. In other words, we pivoted…we hella pivoted. I saw a lot of business owners being hit hard, I knew some had to shut their doors indefinitely. There were two groups with two very different mindsets: 1. This f*cking sucks, but it is what it is and I gotta pivot; 2. We will never recover, how could the ____ (insert name) do this to us, it is everyone’s fault. I will now rant and rave on social media. The one thing they agreed on, it sucks, what set them apart was how they chose to respond.

I’ll map out the steps we took as a company in the next blog, but simply put it was assessment, education, planning and action.

As if running a small business wasn’t hard enough, now we’re dealing with a pandemic. At this point, no one has any idea what that will mean for second-stage companies (between 10 to 99 employees), so we sit and wait. Waiting is not something we do well as business owners.

Here is what we know:

• The financial market is taking a hit
• Events are being canceled
• Large companies are asking employees to work from home
• Our health care system is overwhelmed

Here is what we don’t know:

• When will the spread slow?
• How long will this go on?
• Will the market stabilize?
• What will the effect be on our businesses?

There are a few options for moving forward.

Curl Up in the Fetal Position Option

While a popular choice, it will more than likely cause an adverse effect on your business. While it is nice to bury your head in the sand or hide under your covers with your 200 rolls of toilet paper, it won’t solve anything and you’re contributing to the panic.

Educate and Respond Option

Personally, I suggest this option. I met with my leadership team today and we talked about the coronavirus. It was not something we wanted to address but for the business and employees, it was a necessity. We broke it down by what we knew, 1). We are a small company and for now, are as safe as we can be working at our office; 2). If you sniffle, you stay home; 3). We must conduct business as usual and continue to serve our clients; 4). It is important for us to continue to educate ourselves and make informed decisions and finally 5.) Don’t panic, it is not going to help anyone. Stay calm, informed and for the love of all that is holy; wash your hands.

There is so much we don’t know and human nature seems to be “fill in the blanks,” which only makes it worse.

We are all going to be ok.

I had an interesting convo with my therapist the other day (more people should admit they see one, helps erase the stigma), we were chatting about the stress a business owner deals with every day and how it bleeds into every other aspect of your life. By the way, this was supposed to be marriage counseling, but it ended up just being me – that is a story there for another day.

In my therapist’s other life, he is a business coach. Which, if you think about it, makes perfect sense. I think what we often need, as business owners, someone to talk to with no judgment. We keep a lot of shit locked inside, we don’t want to bother our significant others, family or friends and not just that, they will never fully understand the struggle.

I wrote a blog a while back that talked about the loneliness a business owner faces. The blog is just as true today as 3 years ago when I wrote it.

What has been my saving grace in recent years is the network surrounding the Small Business Association of Michigan (SBAM). The group consists only of business owners, which means you are in a room with others that experience the same pain points, frustrations, and hurdles. It’s therapy for my mind and soul.

I’ve been talking about mental health a lot, my last blog tackled it and I’m addressing it in this one. If I can help one person by admitting my struggles, then awesome.

I also really want to help, my nature is to fix things. After chatting with my therapist, who is really cool, he and I are tossing around the idea of starting up a business owner support group. He would facilitate because we all tend to be a bit ADD.

So let me know your thoughts. Would you want to attend? What if I said there would be wine/booze/beer? Does that sway you at all?

Ever find yourself scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn…all the photos in your phone…the latest Ann Taylor sale…basically doing anything but tackling the looming project that is due?

I’m convinced it is human nature to procrastinate, it just feels natural to find reasons to not do something. It’s like we are wired to avoid emptying the dishwasher, riding the Peloton, or writing that blog.

Putting things off, actually hurts us emotionally, physically and monetarily. In a survey of 10,000 people by Carleton University’s Procrastination Research Group, 94 percent of respondents said that procrastination negatively affects their happiness. A full 19 percent said the effect is extremely negative.

Side Note: There is a group that studies procrastination, how often do they put something off…I wonder?

There is no secret formula for motivation, for me…guilt and the fear of letting someone down drives me. It doesn’t mean I’m jumping out of bed at 6:00 a.m. to ride 10 miles on the bike, meditate for 30 minutes or read a book…it does mean, I get shit done.

You have to force yourself to do it, even when you don’t want to. 

I tell staff, do the item on your to-do list that you are avoiding doing. Get it over with, you’ll find yourself a hell of a lot more productive when that one task isn’t hanging over your head.

Make yourself be motivated, there is no magic wand to suddenly make yourself productive. It is just pushing yourself and doing the crap you don’t want to do…first.

Set a routine

My mornings consist of me getting up, getting ready and getting out the door. Some people like to run a marathon, write a novel, achieve world peace…all before 6:00 a.m. Well, good for them.

No routine is right or wrong, do what works for you. I work in the evening, after I leave the office, I tackle things that are ‘quick wins’ so I can focus on the big stuff the next day.

Celebrate success

Acknowledge your wins. When you knock out a 35-page strategy, reward yourself with a bottle or two of wine.

It’s never to late to end the cycle of procrastination. Be realistic with yourself, you’ll have good and bad days.

The most important relationships in your business are the ones you already have. We spend so much time searching for the next big thing, new project, new client…we miss or take for granted what is right in front of us.

Since we started implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®) at 8THIRTYFOUR, we made it a priority to map out our processes and develop a scorecard in which we rate ourselves and our performance. A big part of that scorecard is client satisfaction, it is our goal to communicate continuously, effectively and responsively with our existing client base. If we are not keeping clients satisfied then we are not doing our job.

We make communication a priority, it is all about the relationship we have with our clients. Below are just a few of the items we incorporated into our process.

1. Quality content. This might not seem like such a big deal, but each month I sit down and I write a personal message to our clients and share agency, client, community and industry news. I handpick all of the content and then our crack designers, assemble it into an easy-to-read newsletter.
2. Customized reporting. We know that many of our our clients identified communication as a pain-point. In the past they had been burned by other companies that didn’t communicate their activities, results or priorities. Each month our clients receive a report that details our efforts for the last 30 days, how it aligns with their goals (they determine these in our initial strategy session), what the results were and what our recommendations moving forward for continued success. We then add some sweet graphs, a personal note and off it goes.
3. Party time. Quarterly we host an event at our office and invite 8THIRTYFOUR friends, family and clients to relax and enjoy whatever crazy theme we came up with. It is important we take the time to connect outside of work hours. By the way, mark your calendar for 8/3 at 4:00 p.m.
4. Be our guest. If you are following us on Instagram, you know we are out in the community almost every night of the week and we get lonely. We ask our clients to be our dates on a regular basis to galas, networking events, luncheons and more. If there is an event you are interested in, there is a good chance we are going.
5. Thank you. Sometimes a simple handwritten note speaks volumes. We take the time to tell our clients, in writing, what badasses they are.

We continually analyze and refine our process and are always open to suggestions. How do you communicate with your clients?

I failed today in setting an example, in leading, in following our core values. I let frustration and stress get the better of me. Want to know the great thing about it? I have another chance to get it right. Tomorrow is a new day.

Owning and running a business is tough and you are going to screw up. Admitting the mess ups and then moving on is the only choice you have.

We are human and we are not perfect and I’m telling you right now, it’s ok. Moving forward means taking the right steps to get past it.

1. Admit your failure. Once you acknowledge it, you can move on.
2. Do better. If you know what you screwed up, don’t make the same mistake again. Get in the right head space and tell yourself tomorrow is another day and another chance to get it right.
3. Fake it. Slap a smile on your face and set an example.
4. Reflect. Take time in the evening to really truly reflect, ask yourself: “What could I have done differently?”
5. Give yourself a break. No one is perfect and owning a business is really hard. There is a loneliness that is impossible to explain and you are going to have bad days and hard days and really, really shitty days.

Be nice to yourself and strive to do better, that is all anyone can ask of you.

It is hard to fight perfection. We are taught that we should always pursue it, even if it isn’t attainable. Why is that? If it is a lesson in failure then ok, but most often it sets us up for low self-esteem, feelings of inadequacies and disappointment.

As a business owner, we feel that we have to do it all. Let me use myself as an example.

I stop home everyday to let the dogs out, when I am there I clean, throw laundry in, pick-up, vacuum and try to reorganize. When I get home in the evening, I try to make a healthy meal, walk the dogs, feed the dogs, give them their meds and then spend some quality time with them. I then open my computer and start tackling all the items I never got a chance to get to…this blog usually being at the bottom of the list. Did I also mention I lay out my clothes for the next day?

Do you see what is missing (besides breathing)?  You time. We don’t give ourselves time to rest, or to just think. The guilt overwhelms us, if we aren’t working then we see it as failure and that certainly doesn’t fit into our picture of perfection. We always put others first, way before ourselves.

Screw it.

1. Leave the house a disaster, that is what weekends are for.
2. Get to know EatStreet.com, you don’t need to cook and clean-up every night.
3. Accept that you will never get it all done. That to-do list is never ending and always will be – you are a business owner, your work is never done.
4. Breathe and read a book, watch Game of Thrones, drink some wine/beer/vodka; just do something frivolous. Every minute of your day doesn’t have to be productive.
5. Lean on a partner or friend. If you don’t voice your doubts and confide in someone, then it is going to eat you alive. Feel free to email me, kim@834design.com, I’m always willing to lend an ear.

The point is, give yourself a freaking break. No one is doing it all or has it all – so don’t play the perfection game.

Quitters never prosper. Don’t be a quitter.

We’ve all heard it before, but when is it time to throw in the towel?

As a small business owner, when do you know that you have done enough? When do you determine it is time to part ways with a client,  difficult colleague, or an employee? We make these decisions more often in our personal lives than we do in our professional world. Why is that?

Small business owners are very solution-focused, we have to be. You can’t cut and run at the first sign of an issue, we think things to death until we develop a plan to move forward. Just ask our significant others, they love this about us.

I am here to tell you – sometimes shit just isn’t going to work and it is ok to quit. I feel like there is a reason shit rhymes with quit. Maybe they are meant to go hand-in-hand.

You will know in your gut the decision you need to make. Here are a few reminders on why quitting is important.

1. Your health is affected. Sleep is f**ked up. If you are tossing and turning all night long and having dreams about whatever the situation is, it is affecting your health. Apparently sleep is necessary – who knew? Is your Anxiety off the charts? Constant burning in your stomach? Headaches? Pressure on your chest? Let’s just say I have been there and it doesn’t go away by ignoring the situation. If anything it gets worse over time.
2. You’re miserable. Do you dread interaction with this individual? Does your stomach do a flip just thinking about it? Why keep that in your life? What good is that doing you or anyone else?
3. The wrong reasons. Are you trying to make the relationship work for the wrong reasons? Many of us will keep at it because we don’t want to be labeled a quitter. If you are having a hard time defending or finding reason, then it is a sure sign it is time to move on.
4. Priorities or vision has changed. If you have a client that doesn’t fit where you are headed as a company, then it is time to part ways. Don’t drag it out, rip off the band-aid.
5. The future is uncertain. Can you honestly see the relationship going anywhere? Plenty of relationships run their course over time, such as college or high school friends. Why should this be any different?

It’s cool to be a quitter. Don’t let anyone tell you differently, small business owners will never be known for taking the easy way out.

To be clear, I mean public speaking not just talking out loud. Although I do excel at that regardless if I have an audience.

This week, actually today, I am talking to a group of professionals at OrgPro on measuring ROI on marketing efforts as well as personal branding. The latter is my most favorite topic in the world, see here and here and here.

For those of you that can’t possibly imagine getting up in front of a group of people…suck it up. If you are a business owner or have anything to do with business development, community engagement or marketing – you need to be front and center with your peers. Honestly, if you are trying to grow your network then you need to position yourself as a leader and you do that by being the one standing and talking…not sitting (just so we are clear).

Here are a few ways to get started.

1. Event attendance. If you want to speak in front of a certain group of people, then you need to actually attend the orgs/associations events. Get to know the president, event chair and other board members. When chatting with them, let them know that you would love to see a speaker on such and such topic. Follow-up at a later day and volunteer to either speak or pull together a panel.
2. Write. If you are not writing or blogging about what you do or what your specialty is, then why would anyone ask you to speak? You have to illustrate you are an expert or at least know what the hell you are talking about. Reach out to local publications, submit op-ed pieces, blog for another site – do something.
3. Sit on a board. Getting involved in an association or peer group gives you the unique opportunity to assist with programming. You obviously don’t want to be self-promotional but you can volunteer when it is a fit.
4. Reach out to your local Chamber. If you are a member of your local Chamber, then reach out to their events staff and let them know you are interested in presenting on a few different subjects. They may not have something right away, but they now know you are interested.
5. Pull together your own peer group. A few years ago, I started a group along with two other women that discussed leadership. We were responsible for the topic each month, but we invited a variety of different people to participate. Why not do the same? If you love finance, then create a group that talks about numbers. Position yourself as a leader and the rest will follow.

The more organizations, associations and community happenings you are involved in the larger your network will become and opportunities will then present themselves. Remember, personal branding?