Do you want to get your business out of your head?
Regardless of the size of your business, standard operating procedures are an essential ingredient for successful outcomes. SOPs make running a business simpler for all involved, from contractors and staff to directors and government bodies, and most importantly clients/customers. They assist with providing quality, productive, consistent outcomes, efficient work practices, and training materials or friendly reminders to the small business owner juggling multiple tasks. They are a key ingredient to help scale your business.
So letâs look deeper into the what, when and why when it comes to creating SOPs.
What are Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)?
I mentioned that every business needs an SOP. And yes, itâs true. But what exactly is an SOP and why do you need one? An SOP is essentially a step-by-step guide for executing recurring tasks in your business.
It specifies when, how and why you do a particular function in your business. E.g how to perform a particular process, or how a system is to be used.
Examples of Standard Operating Procedures
For a small business SOPs might cover areas like:
New customer/client onboarding:Â This will show the steps you take to bring on board a new customer/client.
Updating your website: Branding guidelines, steps for uploading information, links, videos and photos, programs integrations, updates, changes to company policy or public notices to customers/clients, compliance updates etc.
Sales calls:Â a guide to handling the tricky sales calls
Invoicing and bookkeeping:Â steps from sending an invoice and the variables in pricing, to receipting payments, entering customers into the financial management system, reconciling accounts, and running reports.
Blog management:Â Instructions on how or where to draft the post, searching for keywords, posting on your website, style and format of posting, frequency and time of posting, how to promote new blog posts
Once you have a collection of procedures for different business activities, you could compile them into a user manual for yourself or any contractor or employee you bring into the business to handle specific business functions.
7 Benefits of Standard Operating Procedures
As a small business, following standardised operating procedures can save you time and allow you (and your team) to be more productive. They reduce errors, and improve compliance with industry guidelines. Here are 7 reasons why every small business should have SOPs:
1. Setting standards and structure within your business
A successful business can act quickly on leads and opportunities, this can be done effectively if the relevant operational information is easily locatable, relatable and transferable.
2. Reducing error rate
Having a documented procedure provides a brilliant level of quality control. There is no ambiguity or creative divergence, a simple and concise process to follow. Train new employees or Virtual Assistants and other contractors knowing that a consistent approach will be followed.
3. Saving time
We all want our businesses to operate smoothly, and Iâm not going to lie, SOPs take time to implement. This time, often many small business owners struggle to allocate. However, it can be done gradually, as you are doing the work, document as you go. Consider it a short-term time investment, for a long term gain. If left undocumented, your stress levels and time wasted trying to find how you wrote a particular sales pitch, or where you saved that file you urgently need, will continually hold you back from structure, efficiency, clarity and growth.
4. Preparing for delegating / outsourcing
Once youâve drafted and tested your SOP, you can outsource work to a virtual assistant with ease. Or write that job description with clarity about the core tasks and skills required for the role. Outsourcing frees you up to go on that holiday youâve been planning, or to do the higher level tasks to build the business.
5. Assisting with training
If you have a written SOP manual it can be used as a tool to help train and onboard VAâs, or a new employee. It will ensure consistency, and provide a starting point to introduce the business. It also serves as a reference tool when the information overload hits. While making it clearer where the responsibilities for each task lies.
6. Supporting high level customer service
Your customers/clients wonât see your SOPs, but theyâll certainly benefit from, and feel the positive impacts of you following them. They ensure each team member has clarity around expected outcomes. Customer service like ending with a positive phrase at the end of a phone call e.g. âThankyou, for calling, is there anything else we can do for you today?â Or possibly its following an internal escalation process, to ensure the right person is handling the level of customer interaction, suitable to their role.
7. Leading a path to regular reviews, efficiencies and continuous improvement
By systemising or documenting your processes, you can then visually see where they fit together. This will likely lead to streamlining any processes which may overlap or seem superfluous. It may highlight areas where automation can replace repeated tasks. Because after all, maximising efficiency within your business is a genius move.
How do you document Standard Operating Procedures?
There are various ways you can document SOPs:
From formal templates, with document registers
Video demonstrating a process
Steps in a checklist on a program like Trello
Another option is to ask your VA to type the processes piecemeal as you are training/providing processes to them.
When it comes to documenting, no one size fits all. Find what works best for your business systems and resources.
To start you off, Iâve added a link to a free template you can use at the bottom of this blog. Feel free to adapt it and make it your own. I use this template with links to processes (e.g. on-boarding, marketing, blog writing, website etc) stored in Trello.
TOP TIP:  Ensure consistency with your procedures. Font size, H1,H2, colours etc⊠This will (with hope) become your business handbook, and once all compiled, youâll want it to appear uniform and professional.
When and where to start?
Thereâs no time like the present! Why not start writing your SOPs next time you do the actual task?
The other option is to start with the processes which you dislike the most, or the processes which take the most amount of your time, or are not frequently used but challenging or hard to remember. Simply open the template supplied below and start recording your processes. Save it to your SOP library. This is the beginning of your handbook or manual. Itâs prudent to get someone else to test it and provide feedback. Update as required, and review every 6-12 months.
By documenting your processes and procedures, not only will a weight lift, as you start paying yourself forward. Youâll be more organised, reduce errors, make brilliant use of your time, be able to outsource or delegate and scale effectively, therefore increasing profitability and productivity. Sounds great doesnât it?
If youâd like to talk about preparing your business to outsource, planning out your socials and blogs or if youâre ready to outsource your digital content marketing or administration, please feel free to contact Deb for an obligation free consultation.
CEO mindset: Vision with action is the key to growth
Starting a business takes grit and determination. As time passes, many business owners focus on automation and efficient systems implementation. Business begins to flow smoothly, which is awesome! A smooth-running engine can feel adequate. It can be tempting to rest on your laurels and continue as you always have. However, a CEO wouldnât stop there. CEO mindset is what sets the most successful entrepreneurs and business owners apart from the rest!
Assuming you want your business to grow, your mindset is key. So, letâs take a look at CEO mindset and what practical tweaks you can produce today, (no matter if youâre in your first year of business or a well seasoned business), to transform into tomorrowâs successful outcomes.
Beliefs and behaviours of an effecive CEO
When I think back to my previous corporate life. There are certain thought patterns, beliefs and behaviours each CEO displayed. Traits like:
Strategic decision-making
Being a visionary rather than being bogged down in the nitty gritty daily operations
Strong communication skills
Realistic optimism
Brilliant listening skills
Reading people effectively
A willingness to take calculated risks.
Understanding the value the business produces
Here are a few practical ways you can introduce a CEO mindset for your small business.
Vision and mission
Have a Vision and plan of what you want to achieve, and how youâre planning to achieve it. Your mission statement is a perfect starting block.
But what is a Mission / Vision Statement?
Itâs a summary of an organisations core purpose, focus and goals. While the mission is the âwhatâ and âhowâ, the vision statement is the âwhyâ.
Combined, they should be a guiding beacon supporting you as an owner in all areas of your business. From sales pitches, to social media marketing, to the way you engage with your customers or clients. If youâre consistently making decisions inline with your ultimate goals, it will assist with developing a strong brand and differentiate you from your competition.
Your mission statement should also guide all those who join your organisation when it begins to scale. From contractors to employees at all levels. As author Simon Sinek said,
People donât buy what you do, they buy why you do it.
As the CEO is the ultimate decision maker, when it comes to setting a companyâs vision. Itâs important to plan ahead. Where do you want to be in five, ten, or 15 years? A CEO will consider all stakeholders, and have a clear understanding what enables the business to generate value.
Planning
Set aside time to plan out your vision and mission â long-term planning. Regularly block off time in your calendar and mark it âplanningâ, this is important for the success and health of your business. Then you can batch plan your quarterly blogs and socials. You know you can market yourself online, to build your brand, but unless you know your long-term goals, these approaches may not be well aligned.
Continuous learning and development
Focus on learning new skills and mindset approaches, as Jim Rhon shares:
Everyday stand guard at the door of your mind.
So, read or study and then apply that to your business or personal life which will in turn positively impact your business.
Mentor
CEOs rely on subject matter experts to advise them on vital company information, data and issues. They often have a team of advisors and need to report to a Board of Directors to remain accountable and provide guidance. CEO mindset: Consider how you too could benefit from a business advisor, accountability partners and subject matter experts to guide you in various areas of the business.
Physical movement and mindset work
Tony Robbins, is someone I admire, he uses deep practice incantations, along with physical movement to ensure he is in the right headspace. He says
âŠthe more you do something with focus, trying to do it as well as you can, you [build up the fatty layer of insulation around your nervous system called myelin] in your brain.
This will enable your focus and positive attitudes to be sustained.
Robbins also practices mindfulness techniques. For example, saying 3 things heâs grateful for that day. Whilst the incantations are still a work in progress for me, the gratitude statements have formed part of my daily routine, and I am better for it. Who inspires you? And how can you learn from them to continuously develop and grow?
Upskill
Staying focused on continuous learning and development, for example how to coach employees effectively. This skill is so important as when eventually, the business grows to a point where you must learn to manage the people who manage systems and processes, you will be prepared and ready to become a genuine CEO. So as a business owner, be flexible and adaptive to learn new skills as your role changes.
Systemise and outsource
CEOs look to the future. So why not implement processes and systems that will be needed in the future? If you only focus on the here and now, you may end up with only short-term plans and results, but lacking business direction.
So introduce a company handbook, even if itâs just you! Or have an outsourcing strategy before youâre ready to outsource. Set up your processes and procedures, with the mindset someone will need to use them one day, hopefully soon!
You can have a CEO mindset no matter what stage you are at in your business. Whether youâre about to launch or a well seasoned business owner. Focus on one area at a time and put your CEO hat on. For example, for my business, Iâll own up! Iâve been neglecting my financial management. Which we can all agree is far from ideal for a small business owner. While my accountant is not concerned, as Iâm following the compliance requirements. I havenât paid enough attention to doing it well and efficiently, because I donât know HOW to do it well, and I donât LOVE doing it. So Iâve avoided it.
Iâm currently using a free accounting software, why? Because itâs intuitive and everything I need for now. But ⊠while it does suit my business as it stands at this moment, fast-forward 2 years, or possibly even 6-12 months, and itâs unlikely to be sustainable. Its free features are incredible, but it also means some processing requirements are more cumbersome and consequently time-consuming.
To put my CEO mindset hat on, I know I need to look at the current issues and the future, I need to:
Source and receive training from a tax agent or book keeper who is familiar with this software, how to set it up properly, so itâs compliant and simple to report to ATO.
Look and plan for the future. I intend to grow the business, this software will soon not be fit for my business. So, Iâm researching and seeking guidance on the best financial software systems for my business and budget for the next 5 years.
Take steps to learn bookkeeping for my business. Not because it is a service, I want to offer my clients. But because it is a skill as a small business owner, that I need to know!
Know how to administer it myself, so I can make educated decisions and clearly define the tasks required.
Outsource it to a bookkeeper with aligned business ethics, and effective communication skills.
Have a think about your business. What areas are you ready to learn about, or outsource or both?
Reduce stress
Finally, if you look at where the pressure is: assess how you can remove it?
Notice it, observe it with no judgement, not saying Iâm a âfailureâ or âshouldâ instead step outside of yourself and assess what you need. What takes the pressure off for you? A holistic balance is a key ingredient for a happy and healthy business owner.
So actively partake in activities which reduce stress, help you stay centered, and keep you positively focused. Continuously learn new skills, simplify some areas, Batch plan your quarterly blogs and socials, outsource if needed. Plan ahead in alignment with your vision and mission, and act on those plans.
The spread of the CORONAVIRUS has forced thousands of working parents to work from home WITH KIDS. My best friend mentioned she was unsure how she would manage it. This is a relevant issue affecting so many of us. Managing working from home with children who need to be homeschooled can be overwhelming Kids, especially younger kids, demand around the clock attention.
As a virtual service business owner providing outsourced marketing support to small businesses, Iâm somewhat experienced in this space. Have I mastered it? Not exactly. Did I have to home school as well? NO! But the philosophy remains the same. There are most definitely strategies you can put in place to minimise the fallout â and even thrive. Iâm implementing them, and fine-tuning them, and so can you. We can do this, not alone but together! So, if youâre struggling to navigate your new life outside of the office, These strategies from a home working Mum may help you survive these challenging times with your sanity mostly intact.
1. Mindset is key
Be kind to yourself
Youâre going to have wobbles during this experience. After all, humans are not built to be in close confines without the ability to socialise! Add in working from home while homeschooling the children. ahhhh! Expect extra emotion and acting up, (from the kids too.) This is not normal, this is an unknown, scary and huge change. They will miss their friends as much as you will.
With routines disrupted and families thrown into close quarters, cabin fever is a real danger.
Adding to this, fear is in the air. Working Mums have shared their fears of running out of work, money, Losing family and friends. The physical and mental strain of needing to add even more hats to your existing workday. Fear of letting your children down by not teaching them in the way a teacher could. Fear of the impact isolation may have on mental health. Or being pulled in directions, so youâre not giving them the love and gentle care they need, especially at a time like this. Even the fear of not being able to wipe yourself after going to the toilet. Know youâre not alone.
Aim to eradicate your fear!
Step 1: Acknowledge your fears. Theyâre valid.
Step 2: Understand its purpose is to keep you safe. Be kind to yourself.
Step 3: Breathe deeply 3 times, inhale, exhale!
Step 4 â Choose a new more helpful focus. Redirect yourself to ACT. Our thoughts are POWERFUL and can stop our actions towards positive outcomes. I was stopped from positive action all last week. Iâve refocused. I took some vital ME TIME â A virtual 1:1 yoga session from a gorgeous friend. I washed my bedsheets and sent the family for a fun camping venture in the backyard so I could enjoy the simple pleasure of quiet night, in a freshly made bed. #Restorative. What can you put in place to improve your mindset?
Step 5 â If you feel yourself slipping back into an unhelpful headspace. Shift it again. Sing and dance with your kids, or take up a hobby, or do a family meditation, using deep breathing. I use the calm app. as do my kids. They have bedtime stories, focus on anxiety, or lack of sleep, meditations and much more. Even Matthew Mcconaughey shares a story. Switch the channel. STOP what youâre doing, get up and refocus.
Versatile Marketing has been liaising and collaborating with Everymind over the last 6 months. They have a program called Ahead For Business. Itâs a great small business resource to use. Take the mental health checkup. Use their toolkit to equip yourself with further support and ideas.
Ghandi summarised the importance of mastering mindset with this quote:
Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your throughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny.
2. Dedicate an office area
You need a designated place for your home office, so all family members are aware itâs your office. Even If it is on the kitchen table. At specific designated times, they have to respect this is your workspace and not disturb you while youâre sat at it. unless itâs an emergency or urgent.
Avoid OH&S issues, keep it as ergonomic as possible. Create a makeshift foot stool. Or use a box to get the height of the computer correct. Ensure Wi-fi is fast enough. The lighting needs to be sufficient. A headset and a printer/scanner is a nice to have also.
Create a schedule/routine but be flexible.
Plan ahead
Set a time block routine from the outset. Aim to keep your wake-up times the same as they were, consistency and routine is key. Youâll all cope better, when you know what and when you are doing each day. Even if itâs as simple as wake time, eat time, play time, learning time, exercise time.
In saying that, ensure itâs flexible and adaptive. For example, if you need to get up an hour earlier than everyone else, for self-care or to smash out some urgent work, do it. Equally, if one morning you all want to stay in bed until 10amâŠdo it!
Work smart not hard
Work out the best time to make phone calls or be on teleconferences with the least distractions.
Set specific times for activities to break up the day. Feel free to use our Daily Routine 2020. Provide a print-out of the routine for your kids. Prepare any materials /supplies they may need.
Set alarms/Bells. Use Google Home or other devices to help your kids remember what to do next. (Automate it as much as possible). Above all, be realistic and flexible, expect to be interrupted.
It isnât easy to work from home with kids. Use our resource sheet which lists brilliant, free aged-based school resources for your children. Utilise these as a supplement to the schoolâs online learning or alternative learning plans.
Consider working late at night when kids are in bed. However, please ensure youâre getting enough sleep. Easy to say, with so much to juggle, often hard to achieve, however we all need to stay healthy!
Allocate your most critical work during a time when your kids can sit for a good 2 hours straight. If theyâre really young, capitalise on their nap times. In our household this occurs during electronics time. Because when theyâre absorbed in a movie, playing Minecraft, reading eggs or Mathletics, I smash out work!
Food
Pre-prepare the dayâs food as you would for school and show the kids their lunch bags. This is what they get to eat between 9-3pm. This will minimise the âMuuum Iâm hungryâ distractions, and ration the food stores as well. They seem to eat twice as much at home than at school otherwise. Align break times to school or daycare timetables. Crunch and sip in the morning, then recess, followed by lunch.
Plan to enjoy a minimum of one meal with them. You need a lunch break. Itâs nice to connect, re-set and recharge the batteries too. So why not enjoy it together. Be sure everyone has water, and drinks regularly.â 2 litres of water a day is optimal. Give someone a job of being a water monitor â kids love power! đ
Exercise
Set time for you and kids to exercise together, itâs important to stay healthy, and active. There are so many activities, from zumba, aerobics on tv at home, to jumping on trampoline, go for a scoot, bike ride or walk around the block. My favourite online kids workouts where its fun for mum too are Cosmic Kids Yoga, and a visual pleaser P.E with Joe . Similarly, this re-connects you and the kids, theyâll feel recharged to go off for some more solo activities. Vitamin D, sunshine and fresh air are vital for mental health and for defeating/preventing viruses including COVID-19.
Connect
Plan activities together! Now more than ever your kids need some extra parent time. Squeeze it into your plan. Bake bread, make play doh, play scrabble, kick a ball in the backyard. Stay connected with friends and family. Itâs so important for maintaining mental health and social engagement.
Allocate some quiet time for you all throughout the day. If possible, create spaces in your house for zones. A games zone, learning space (with some activities set out). A chill out corner with pillows and headphones. If itâs too small for this, then stick with the boredom box (see below) and bedrooms when people need alone time.
4. This is not normal homeschooling and youâre not a school teacher!
Go easy on yourself. Be flexible and adaptable. Utilise the school curriculum provided. If your kids donât complete all the tasks one day. It doesnât matter. This is far from a normal situation and any learning is good learning.
I interviewed a fellow Virtual business owner, with a Diploma of Education, Sandy Pisch. Sandy is a homeschooling single Mum, with 2 boys with disabilities. (Autism, ADHD & Tourette Syndrome).
From a Mum who certainly understands the juggle of working from home. Sandy shares with us her 3 top tips for our temporary home schooling/ home working gig:
You donât have to do every subject every day.
Have shorter blocks of work, nothing more than 30mins, with numerous âbrain breaksâ (5-10mins). Even though, at school, theyâre in the classroom for an hour or more in between starting/recess/lunch/home. They actually fit in numerous short blocks of work. Thereâs lots of âteacher talkâ and moving around between the floor and desks. A fantastic website for âbrain breaksâ is GoNoodle.
Itâs super important to connect what theyâre learning with real life. Talk about things. Let the kids ask questions. Tell them stories and experiences. Play with them, go outside and let them explore the natural world. ALL of this actually ticks off SO much of the curriculum, without even realising it.
Many neighborhoods are getting on board the âbearhuntâ. Search on Facebook for your local area. People are putting teddy bears in their windows. Go for a fun walk and see how many you can spotâŠturn it into a maths exercise and add a teddy bear to your window too!
5. Create age-appropriate boredom boxes
Dedicate a weekend to gather boxes you have lying around the house. Label them, 1 box per child. Let your kids be involved in this, and for creative time or free time, this box can come out for inspiration.
For kids without reading ability print images of the activities. Search around the house for the initial box contents. Some of their favourite books, stickers and pencils, with paper. A sewing kit. Then place on your to-do list to order more craft etc. (planning ahead is vital refer to tip 2).
6. Use screen time and virtual support networks
Sometimes the kids are going to go a bit cray cray⊠so enlist the support of Netflix and put on a movie. Or Zoom call your Mum, or an elderly neighbour or childfree friends and ask them to spend some virtual teaching time â they could teach piano, or read a story, or tell a story of their past â include some modern history. Or family history. Win-win-win.
7. Fill your bucket and invest time filling up their buckets too
Itâs important to acknowledge when you need time off, to be proactive about your mental and physical health! Each person will need time alone in a sacred space that they can retreat to.
Remember to appreciate the forced time together. Be present to the amazing opportunities to really re-connect with your family. Spend some extra quality time together. Smell the roses, soak up the sun on a walk together, have a picnic in the backyard while weather permits. If cold camp out in the house, have a dance party, do the biggest puzzles together, make music together, bake and have movie nights.
It is absolutely possible to work from home with kids. You just need to be realistic about the quantity you can get through as do your employers. Find the balance that works for your family, utilising your circumstances and resources. And remember, kindness is key. We need to support all those around us too, so if there is one thing today that you can do for yourself or someone else, amongst your crazy busy day. Do it!
Donât forget to support your local small businesses. Theyâre the backbone and heart of your community. Support leads to success. Versatile Marketing are sending everyone strength of spirit, structure, focus, love and calm in all this crazy time.
Need help with your digital marketing?
At Versatile Marketing, we provide professional outsourced marketing support for small Aussie businesses. If youâd like to find out more, check out our services,  or book in a complimentary discovery call. Donât forget to download your free kids resource list and a copy of our daily routine. And, if you suddenly have some spare time to look at your content marketing, to become more visible in business. Youâre invited to download a free copy of our seasonal, printable content calendar.
Nickâs passion in both work and life is growth development; he is continually looking for and finding ways to growth hack and build success for both companies he works for and himself.
If you run a business, you know how important an online presence is. Even if youâre not necessarily selling products or services from your website, itâs still a good idea to give customers and potential customers a way to find you â and to find out about you.
So, how do you ensure your company is visible online and ranks higher than the competition?  Well, it comes down to three words: Search Engine Optimisation (more commonly known as SEO)
What is SEO?
SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, is an important digital marketing tool. It allows your website to increase its visibility online. That translates to more traffic and more opportunities to turn prospects into clients.
Itâs also an integral tool in terms of brand awareness, relationship building, and positioning yourself as an authority in your industry.
SEO uses various techniques to help you move up a search engineâs ranking so that you begin to appear on the first page when anyone searches using keywords related to your service or industry. With over 3.5 billion searches performed every day on Google, customers and prospective customers are clearly using search engines to find what they need.
Why is SEO Important?
A staggering 67% of all people who perform a Google search only check the first page of Google when seeking out information. Meanwhile, as high as 92% of clicks happen on the first page of Google search results, leaving a mere 7% of clicks for all remaining search results pages.
That means itâs very important to work to improve your companyâs ranking on key search criteria. If you want to be seen, you need to try to get to the first page of the search results. This will not only improve your visibility, it will help with the likelihood of people clicking through to your website, driving traffic onto it, and helping you get one step closer to converting clicks to customers.
Organic search is also a very big portion of a companyâs website performance. Chances are, your clients arenât finding you through business cards or email signatures. Theyâre seeking you out by Googling words related to the products or services they need. There are a few easy SEO strategies you can put into place to help grow your business and increase your online presence.
Are there benefits to SEO?
While SEO isnât a magic bullet, it is an important part of a larger overall branding and marketing strategy, mostly because it dramatically improves your companyâs visibility. Visibility is just one aspect of why SEO is important, however. There are many benefits to implementing SEO into the bigger marketing picture. For example:
It gives you and your business credibility
Whether you like it or not, searchers are making mental notes in terms of the rankings they see. Psychologically, they feel search results that are closer to the top are âbetterâ. A higher ranking is like an extra vote of confidence from Google and people tend to click on the first few ranked results. At the end of the day, higher rankings translate to more credibility, whether itâs real or perceived.
Itâs one of advertisingâs best ROIs
SEO rewards those websites that are highly ranked â more than any other form of on- and off-line advertising. The reason? It allows your business to market itself to people who are looking for the products or services your business provides. In a sense, customers are already specifically searching for you. You just have to convince them that your business is the right one to choose, and a high ranking due to SEO does most of the work for you because, as mentioned above, your higher rank already lends you more credibility.
It gives you insights into your customers
SEO gives you an invaluable opportunity to learn more about your customers. By using Google Analytics to track your traffic, youâll be able to unlock data and metrics to learn:
How they search
The language they use
The technology they use for browsing
The region they live in
The dates and times they are most active
These insights can help you make more informed marketing decisions, like when to offer sales and to whom, both on and offline.
With 91% of people checking reviews online before they buy, it wonât be long until virtually everyone is searching for products or services online. That means itâs more important than ever for your business to be easily located online as well. If people have a hard time finding you, theyâll end up spending their money with the competition.
As you can see, SEO is an important aspect to branding and marketing, and, as mobile usage rises, will continue to grow in importance. Making sure youâre visible allows you to source new customers and gives you an edge over the competition. More importantly, by ensuring youâre visible locally, youâll be improving the chances of landing customers that are close at hand. At the end of the day, SEO continues to be an important part of an overall holistic digital marketing strategy.
Versatile Marketing takes great pride in their professional blog writing service, Deb and one of her Associates specialises in blog writing. Utilising your brief, we provide quality researching, blog topic brainstorming and planning and drafting a well constructed blog, with your key audience in mind. So, if your business needs assistance with blog writing , utilising some of the important SEO factors, book in a discovery meeting today.
Creating a healthy balance in your business and your life
For those of you who I yet have the privilege of meeting, I wanted to share a little bit about myself. Why?
Because stress, overwhelm and mental health issues should be spoken about. There can be a certain stigma around admitting that youâre struggling â almost as if itâs a sign of weakness. Iâm here to tell you that you can share your vulnerabilities with others, remain strong and know you arenât alone. You can grow from your challenges, implement new techniques and create a healthy balance in your business and your life.
What happens if we donât get the balance right?
Iâm but one of 1000âs of Australian working Mumâs, who has suffered from workplace stress and overwhelm. It lead me to dream and create Versatile VA so I could become an advocate for work life balance. Not only to create balance for myself and my family, but to support women in business who juggle so much. To let you know youâre not alone. When we support each other and build each other up, we all achieve amazing results.
Becoming a Mum changed me
No one can adequately prepare you for the mass of emotions, ridiculous tiredness and life altering changes becoming a Mum can do to you.
When I became a Mum, I was working for a large organisation, with a passion to make a positive difference. When baby Jess was 6 months old, my maternity leave ran up. I just wasnât ready to leave her, we were only just getting to know each other, she needed me, and I her. So I extended my leave for another 3 months, which was all I was permitted to do without losing my job. When Jess had been in this world the same length of time sheâd been inside my womb, I returned to work.
My first day back to work, I rang day-care twice to see how she was. When someone was kind enough to ask how I was coping, I burst into tears. People stared, and I was told to take 5 minutes and go and pull myself together. I went through the motions, attending a few meetings and typing away at the computer with a longing in my heart. When I collected baby Jess that afternoon my anxiety immediately lifted, I was so relieved my little girl who was crying and reaching for me, while I walked away from her in the morning was smiling and contented. sheâd had a good day, but I had not.
Time passed by, and whilst I was working part-time, the workload was the same as my full-time job (just squished into part-time hours). I found myself finishing work by 9pm when reports and deadlines were due. Clearly this was having an impact on my whole family. I hadnât realised the impact it was having on me , I was overwhelmed. When I stopped being able to be structured and organised in my approach, I knew something was wrong, I ended up taking stress leave, feeling ashamed and like a failure, as hours and hours of additional work and a commitment to âmake a differenceâ, whilst sacrificing family time and self-care, went unnoticed and unappreciated.
I had no more to give. I was stressed, overworked, unhappy and burnt out, Iâd lost myself. I didnât realise at the time, but I was suffering from post-natal depression. After seeking the proper support from a psychologist and slowly implementing self-care techniques, it became abundantly apparent that work-life balance wasnât achievable in this job and I resigned.
Jess is now 9 years old and since then Iâve had another gorgeous daughter â Abby. Iâve had some amazing business opportunities in various organisations and one year ago, I proudly launched Versatile Marketing. Continually practicing and forever seeking to enhance the harmonious work/life balance.
Running your own business can be hugely rewarding, but for many small business owners wearing all the hats and having sole responsibility for the companyâs success or failure can take its toll. Knowing how to reduce stress at work by proactively looking after yourself, learning to say no and establishing good habits should be things we all practice in our working environment.
Letâs take a look at some methods you can try to help overcome stress and anxiety in your working day and regain your passion and purpose for the business that youâve built.
1. Create business and personal goals
If we âbegin with the end in mindâ â step 2 of Steven Coveyâs book 7Â Habits of Highly effective people. We can remain focused on our big goals. Without setting goals, we can often jump around putting out one fire after the next. Or we action tasks in an ad hoc style, which in turn creates overwhelm.
Challenge yourself to set business and personal goals. Set yourself 5 personal goals and 5 business goals for the year or for the next 6 months. Everything you do, should fall into the achievement of one of the end goals. Remind yourself of your goals on a daily basis.
Reflect upon the achievements at the end of that period. See what worked and what didnât. Then shoot for the stars again, either resetting the same goal, or creating new ones.
2. Create healthy routines â theyâll become healthy habits
Simple habits and routines free up willpower for where it is needed most. They minimise decision fatigue, so you have a more productive day. This is most applicable in the morning. So, if you plan your morning effectively the day before, youâre setting yourself up for success.
Letâs look at a healthy morning routine:
It might start with a warm lemon water first thing after you wake
A prayer, gratitude, affirmation or a 5-minute yoga exercise to pay respects to your body, mind and higher purpose.
A review of your calendar and to -do lists so you are well-prepared for the day ahead.
A warm shower
A cuddle in bed to spend a few quality moments with each of your kids before you rush them around getting sorted with clothes, hats, breakfast and bags.
You pack the lunches you prepared the night before into your bag as you head off to start your workday on the front foot.
Reward yourself with a coffee or whatever it is that sets you into a happy work mode.
If you can eliminate decision-making from your mornings, youâll have more energy and time to have the most productive morning you can! All because youâve set up some healthy routines and prepared the day before.
3. Create healthy boundaries â Say ânoâ!
Learning to say ânoâ to some work requests is particularly challenging if you are a people pleaser like me. But itâs important to remember that there is only so much time in one day. What you say yes to now, will create a ânoâ to the next possible opportunity, you canât say yes to everything as there just isnât the time. So, unless you are asked to do something in alignment with one of your goals, itâs important to start practising some healthy boundaries and say ânoâ.
By saying no, it doesnât mean that you arenât good at time management, the contrary, you are valuing your time to achieve the goals you have set for yourself and your business, itâs a smart way to fast track your success and reduce burnout.
4. Self-nurture â Take time for you!
As a small business owner and parent, self-nurture is often one of those things that falls to the bottom of the long list of âto-doâsâ. It is vital to schedule time out in your calendar for some rest and relaxation. You canât be your best without giving to yourself.
This may mean that youâre:
honouring your knock off time each day to go for a walk and unplug
turning off the computer at 830pm nightly, so you relax and get some good sleep.
treating yourself once a fortnight to a massage or getting your nails done.
>soaking in a bubble bath with a book and a glass of wine
going out with your friends or on a date
Whatever it looks like for you. Pick up your diary right now and schedule it in. Block out time in your calendar on a regular basis and honour it, you are honouring you!
So please know, if youâre feeling overwhelmed, youâre not alone. Implement at least one step in the right direction today, it will assist you to achieve a healthy balance. Set meaningful goals, plan your time based on your goals, set healthy habits in place, learn to say no and practice self-nurturing on a regular basis. Unless we get the balance right, we are not living into the purpose of our passions.
Versatile Marketing has been created to support business owners doing the juggle, just like you!
Our goal is to provide valuable support and guidance to you. Our blogs, Facebook page and soon to be launched Group (stay tuned) and our website resources are all intended to support you. Creating genuine heart-centred, supportive and longstanding business relationships with Australian small business owners.
7. Leading a path to regular reviews, efficiencies and continuous improvement
Your beliefs become your thoughts.
Set a time block routine from the outset. Aim to keep your wake-up times the same as they were, consistency and routine is key. Youâll all cope better, when you know what and when you are doing each day. Even if itâs as simple as wake time, eat time, play time, learning time, exercise time.
Allocate some quiet time
5. Create age-appropriate boredom boxes
Jess is now 9 years old and since then Iâve had another gorgeous daughter â Abby. Iâve had some amazing business opportunities in various organisations and one year ago, I proudly launched Versatile Marketing. Continually practicing and forever seeking to enhance the harmonious work/life balance.
3. Create healthy boundaries â Say ânoâ!