Author: admin

Four Ways Your Team is Keeping you Broke

Posted on | by admin

Almost every entrepreneur has one or two stories to tell when it comes to cash flow and burn rate. Sometimes, your business is making a lot of money but manages to spend even more.

The first thing to assess is yourself. Are you taking too much from the honey jar? If the answer is ‘no,’ then you have to look into your business. A glance at your financial records might not reveal what is keeping your business broke.

In black and white, every expense looks legitimate, even necessary. You might not be responsible for what’s keeping your business broke. Surprisingly, fixing your cash flow problem may require you to assess your team and their actions. 

In many cases, it’s your team.

Before we list the four ways your team is keeping you broke, we must clarify a crucial point. The fact that a team member could be the cause of your declining revenue is both surprising and repairable. And this doesn’t make them a bad employee. We all have our shortcomings, sometimes a bit of guidance and correction is all that is needed.

Laziness and Nonchalance

Four Ways Your Team is Keeping you Broke

To put this in perspective, you have to see your employee’s service as something with financial value. As an entrepreneur, your success comes when the value you get from your staff is more than the amount you pay for their services. When an employee provides mediocre or reduced services, you are bound to lose money.

This can present itself as calling in sick too often, not meeting up with deadlines, poor attitude towards customers, etc. All these actions can hurt your business and keep you broke.

Chaos and Distractions

Four Ways Your Team is Keeping you Broke

Some employees can be termed agents of chaos. Perhaps that phrase might be too harsh. However, some employees cause many distractions that make it hard for other team members to function.

This could lead to your entire team acting below capacity and costing you money instead of making money. That employee who likes to sing out loud with his headphones on is doing more damage than you think.

Distractions make people cranky. Cranky employees can’t think straight and tend to lash out at customers and other employees. In most cases, employees responsible for constituting a nuisance might be oblivious to the havoc they are wrecking. It is your job to find the problem in your team and straighten him or her out.

Financial Ambiguity

Four Ways Your Team is Keeping you Broke

Financial ambiguity comes in many forms. Generally, it means when a member of the team isn’t very straightforward with money. It ranges from ordering the most expensive wine when on an official lunch to not reimbursing funds that were not used during a trip or mission.

This is very hard to catch as it doesn’t show up on the record books and is often not technically seen as stealing. However, it is important to note that a little here a little there makes a lot.  Beware of your team’s wasteful habits and make efforts to stop these habits from ruining your business.

Bad Management

Four Ways Your Team is Keeping you Broke

As a micropreneur, this finger is most likely pointing to you. The financial situation of you and your business largely depends on your decisions. One major problem most entrepreneurs face is differentiating business finances from personal finances.

This can leave you and your business spending more than you earn. As a micropreneur, you are a member of your team. And like every other member of your team, you should earn a predetermined salary. Tough months might have you taking a salary cut, but you should highly avoid taking bonuses unnecessarily.

Taking a bonus every now and then is a slippery slope to brokenness. Businesses have cycles. When things are looking up, it isn’t time to get a new car. No, its time to reinvest or save up for the rainy days.

Measuring your business’s current stage and the right compensation for you and every member of your team is crucial to keep your business afloat come rain come shine.

Conclusion

As a micropreneur, keeping your business alive is a full-time job, especially in the beginning. Irrespective of how profitable your business currently is, a bad employee can put you in a bad financial position. Out rightly stealing from the company is easy to detect with a keen eye.

However, some things that cost your business have to be sensed not seen. Sometimes discovering the leak in your cash flow might require a critical look at your team members.

Being Innovative and Creative: True Innovation

Posted on | by admin

Have you ever stumbled across an excellent business idea that makes you giddy with joy? You believe it is so profound and Innovative that no one has ever come up with it, so you make a quick search online to be sure. Two minutes surfing the web and your smile is upside down. Your unique idea isn’t so unique. Over 20 businesses are already doing the same thing, offering the same service, or producing the same good.

This can be very discouraging, especially if you have already started daydreaming. You might have subconsciously started to develop elaborate plans on how you would build your business to fill the hole left by the lack of your good or service.

You thought you have invented something new and special, only to realize that your new idea isn’t so new.

Let me get you in on a little secret. Your idea is still valid. The fact that it has been done before doesn’t mean it can’t be your innovation. Innovation is 20% idea and 80% execution. So what if your idea isn’t new and out of the blues, it doesn’t change the fact that it is profound and in demand.

Irrespective of the competition in your chosen field take your idea and own it. Innovate by improving on the basic concept and making it a better version of the generic.

Conclusion

There was already speech before the alphabets were invented and there were already phones before smartphones were developed. Imagine where we would be if Thomas Edison decided not to develop the light bulb because lamps were already lighting up the world.

Don’t discard that business idea. Own it by improving and executing it better than anyone in your industry. That is true innovation.

How COVID-19 Influences Sales and Where Do Marketers Fit In?

Posted on | by admin

Over the last few months, there had been an increase in the pace at which the world has gone digital. The slow, protracted process of moving our work, transactions, and interactions online has been forcefully sped up by the coronavirus’s effects.

Physical contact has been pushed to a minimum. Companies, irrespective of size, have been forced to move their activities to the digital sphere.

Now more than ever, the success and growth of a business is dependent on marketing. The strength and proficiency of your marketing team would determine if your company would prosper or struggle.

Customers aren’t going to stores to get a free sample or a personal tour from a concierge. Now customers get their impressions and make their purchasing decisions online.

With your marketing team taking the forefront in leading your business’s growth in these trying times, it becomes necessary for them to be well skilled and equipped.

The market has changed, and everyone wants a piece of the pie. The efficiency of your marketing program decides if you get a big slice or mere crumbs.

How COVID-19 Influences Sales and Where Do Marketers Fit In?

Here are a few tips you and your marketing team can employ to keep your business at the top of your chosen industry.

Customer Experience

How COVID-19 Influences Sales and Where Do Marketers Fit In?

 

This is an extensive yet crucial aspect of digital marketing. Creating excellent and convertible customer experience is in more ways than one the whole essence of digital marketing.

Building good customer experience is more than just bombarding your potential customers with facts and information. For success, you must create a feeling and an emotion around your brand. Customers want to feel an emotional connection with your brand.

When your new customers find themselves on your page, they are supposed to get a specific and intentional emotion and vibe oozing out of every content of your brand.

This emotion or feeling is why they would keep coming until they make their purchase or purchases. It is your job to continue providing that feeling consistently without sounding boring or monotonous.

The golden rule is to remain fresh while still staying true to the essence of your brand.

Leverage Analytics

How COVID-19 Influences Sales and Where Do Marketers Fit In?

Digital marketing can only be optimized with the use of analytics. Analytics gives you a detailed view and understanding of your customer’s journey as well as trends.

Analytics leveraged correctly, can guide your marketing team and your business to attain the satisfaction and loyalty of your customers.

The idea that analytics is technical and challenging to utilize is false. Most recent analytics programs are easy to use and leverage.

Quantity and Quality

How COVID-19 Influences Sales and Where Do Marketers Fit In?

With corona keeping everyone indoors, customer’s demand for digital content has risen. Data has shown that people now spend more time on social media than before. The days of one television ad showing repeatedly on the T.V are over.

Now customers want something new and fresh as often as possible. Marketing has gone beyond just informing the public of your product or getting them excited.

To survive in today’s market, you must build a connection with your target audience. The only way to create this connection is by producing quality content in high quantity.

This is the best way to keep your audience loyal and begging for more. Out of sight, they say, is out of mind. Your marketing team must remain in the views, ears, and minds of your customers.

Conclusion

With changes come opportunities. The market has become a level playing field with big companies competing with startups and micropreneurs. Now more than ever, micropreneurs can dominate the market with ease. It all comes down to how equipped and competent your marketing team is.

However, there is a massive workload to execute if you are going to meet your customer’s expectations and stand out. It is advisable to consider outsourcing some aspects of your business’s marketing.

Another way to go about improving the digital marketing section of your business is to train your staff. There are companies like Allison Todd & SiMar, that specialize in the training and upgrading of your workforce to meet current demands.

If you love this article here are more articles you’ll surely enjoy.

  1. Pandemic Pivot
  2. How to Position your Mind and Business Profit

How to Position your Mind and Business for Profit

Posted on | by admin

To learn how to position your mind and business for profit, it’s essential to understand what to feed your mind. There are so many strategies and forums out there for entrepreneurs to take advantage of. From self-help books to digital online classes, the information and knowledge is out there. When it comes to gaining entrepreneurship knowledge and wisdom on , the available content is limitless.

The mind is a powerful place and what we feed it is bound to influence and shape our business. The question becomes, how do we choose what to empower our minds with? Digesting the wrong information or material adds noise you don’t want disrupting your path to success. How then do we choose the right thing to feed our minds with and ensure we are getting good content?

It is with this in mind that Allison Todd created and designed and set up Position to Profit. Being in the midst of other thriving entrepreneurs would ensure two things:

1.      Some of the most effective business methods would be revealed after connecting and brainstorming with business owners also position to profit group members.

2.      With the help and guidance of Allison Todd and her team, the premium content recommended and acquired are not just words but actionable plans that lead to results.

In the end, the best place to learn is with like minds who have goals like yours. Through the position to profit , you are sure to get access to strategies that have been tried and tested. With the company of fellow entrepreneurs and guidance from Allison Todd and her team, you can drown out the noise and listen to the unmistakable music of success. Position your mindset and ultimately, your business to profit by joining position2profit today.

 

Website Launch: My Pandemic Pivot

Posted on | by admin

Over the past few months, businesses have seen the effects of the global pandemic. They have faced closures and combat emotions of loss and lack. Now is the time to figure out the new normal now. Make your pandemic pivot! How many times have you heard that? Our immediate next steps are unknown. So, what can businesses do to stay ahead in the pandemic (and everything else in 2020)?

My Pandemic Pivot

People may be tired of hearing the “pandemic pivot” but I can attest, it’s a real thing. My decision to redesign my website and re-introduce my brand was not one made lightly. In December, 2019. I hired a coach to help me stay focused on the big picture. I planned some really cool events and more. As we began to make plans, I thought I had all the pieces in place. And then, the world changed.

One of the components of this plan was to redesign this website. I weighed the pros and cons with a focus on the budget. This is a time to stack, I thought, not a time for big purchases. It just didn’t seem like a smart decision. Many days, I would chuckle at my focus to plan growth goals instead of watch the news. Planning for moving forward, while it felt like time was standing still, what was I doing? Surprisingly, I think this is the “thing” that grounded me, amid chaos.

My message since March has been to remain focused and grounded. To keep going. Respect your feelings. Celebrate the wins. And, don’t forget to show yourself grace. For all these reasons, I had to figure out a workaround for the budget. Without many ideas, I reached out to a creative circle of friends. Whether they were cheering me on or lending their skill to get the job done, all were vital and needed.

Pivot, Position & Profit

If you haven’t guessed it, I’m here to share more about what I was working on (see blog title). And let me say, having my super friends support, was everything. I’m moved by their energy and expertise. They make me want to do more. I needed to do more. First, I created Position2Profit.com. This is a community for business owners to share and support while learning yours truly. And it’s in this community that I teach business lessons, share years of expertise and giveaway some goodies!

Next, I took 50% off some products in my shop. I want to build a community where business owners have support, accountability and motivation, like I do. That special circle of friends fueled me . They dedicated time and value to the redesign of allisontodd.com. As such, I hope to help and inspire others.

The energy, the late nights, the intricate details ….all the reasons I kept going on the many days when it felt easier to stare out of the window. The feeling of putting your heart into your vision, is unique and fulfilling. Creating something special and impactful is just what the doctor ordered.

What About the Team?

While wanting to stare out of that proverbial window, I wondered if it made sense to keep the team. Would I have enough work to keep them busy? They wanted to keep working. So, I figured out a way. And Team SiMar jumped all in. They managed work projects and collaborated with curiosity and creativity. I think working on the website and the new packages and products was a good dose of what all needed. Thankfully, my pivot project kept us busy and active.

During this time, I understood how crucial coaching and guidance is to entrepreneurship. I can’t help but wonder how many business owners need someone to help them find their reset button. How many more business owners needed to hear my message? How many needed superfriends in their life? Maybe 456 because that’s how many Position 2 Profit members we have so far. I want us all to win. Creating this website will help me to find more business owners with a story, untold.

The Keys to the Digital Door

With that, I snap the digital red ribbon and open the virtual doors to allisontodd.com. Today, August 16, 2020, I announce the relaunching of my website. My intentions are to ensure that I am more available in a digital space. To motivate and inspire business owners. To guide them in the positioning of their businesses and their brand. To assist them in building profitable teams. And to offer my expertise and information where it is needed.

I’m hopeful this site will help me reach a wider audience and solve more problems. Eagerly, I share my knowledge with brands and businesses. My goal to position businesses to profit and scale. I want to do my part to make the world of entrepreneurship a better place. In the meantime, I promised my twins I would move the launch up a day, today, their birthday. And here we are, let’s celebrate!

P.S. Please share your feedback. I would love to know what you think.

The Good, the Bad and the Profit of Being Your Own Boss

Posted on | by admin

Being an entrepreneur has its pros and cons. Running a business and being your own boss sure has its benefits. However, roses have thorns. A proper understanding of an entrepreneur’s life would help you prepare for the positive and negative aspects of running a business. While running a business affords you a sense of happiness and fulfillment, stress and pressure are also significant parts of the package. Its a packaged deal of freedom and control, mixed with long hours and compulsory dedication.

Benefits of being an Entrepreneur

You are the boss.

This is a rather obvious benefit of being an entrepreneur. In fact, it is one of the major reasons why being an entrepreneur is so fulfilling and attractive. You are in control, the captain of the ship calling the shots and making things happen. Your thoughts and decisions make real impacts. It is way better than submitting suggestions to a middle manager who ignores them or takes credit for them. Every move you make effects real impact and change.

You Are in Charge of  Your Earning and Finances

Another major advantage of being an entrepreneur is that you determine how much you earn. You have the power to improve your earnings. How much you make isn’t left to the mercy of your boss or some obscure company policy. How much you make is based on the effort you put into your business and how much you decide to pay yourself. Of course, you must be careful not to suck your business dry. Nevertheless, financial independence is a major source of joy for all entrepreneurs.

Flexible Working Hours

Another major advantage of being your own boss is flexible working hours. You get to decide when and how long you work. You can organize your schedule, so you work at the time you are most effective. For instance, if you are a night owl, you can organize your schedule so that you sleep during the day and work through the night. This is impossible in a corporate 9-5 job.

Flexible Working Condition

As an entrepreneur, you get to determine and influence the environment in which you work. This ranges from equipment, co-workers, furniture, office location, etc. You get to create the perfect conditions for you and your business to grow by surrounding yourself with the right people and the right ambiance.

Job Security

Being an entrepreneur means you can’t get fired. The fear and pressure of getting that scary letter from your boss don’t exist. Your drive to work hard is purely based on achieving your goal and taking your business to the highest peak possible. Your motivation is positive enthusiasm to meet your full potential.

The Joy of Building Something Real

The joy of creating and nurturing a business is so overwhelming and fulfilling. Building your business from the ground up brick by brick, client by client, project by project, and sale by sale is bound to fill you with a sense of achievement. There is a special and joyous pride that comes with being the owner and builder of a successful business. That feeling is worth more than silver or gold.

Cons of Being an Entrepreneur

Your clients and team are your employers.
As an entrepreneur, you are your own boss. However, you are still accountable to a lot of people. You are accountable to your clients and customers. You are also in a lot of ways accountable to your teammates whose careers are in your hands. If you want to run a successful business and lead an efficient team, you have to relate with everyone with guided respect and care. To be a good entrepreneur, you have to be answerable to your clients, customers, and employees. Treating them with respect and thriving for their joy and satisfaction is a necessary ingredient for success.

Long Hours, Pressure, and Stress

Being an entrepreneur requires impossible hours. Sometimes you had wish there were more than twenty-four hours in a day. Success in entrepreneurship usually requires dedication, consistency, and determination. Everything hangs on your shoulders. There is no pressure or fear of getting fired. However, the task of keeping your business running and growing is enough to keep you busy and under intense pressure.

Financial Insecurity

One secret that most people tend to miss is that with financial independence comes financial insecurity. Earning a salary gives you a steady stream of income, making it easy for you to plan for the future. However, as an entrepreneur, your earning is reliant on the success of your business as well as the market and economic cycles. In essence, you don’t know for a fact how much you or your business would earn. Plans and projections are very important; however, they are not guarantees. The business world is very fluid, and so is the financial state of an entrepreneur. To stay in business and avoid brokenness, you would need to have good financial discipline and money management skills.

Conclusion

Most times, entrepreneurship is presented in a single light. Super dark or super bright. However, entrepreneurship is a spectrum, and getting a clear picture would require careful consideration of all pros and cons. In truth, some features of entrepreneurship double as pros and cons. It all comes down to how well you manage your business. The good news is the pros outweigh the cons by a very wide margin.

Building the Perfect Team

Posted on | by admin

Why is it that some businesses have the the perfect team and others can’t seem to keep the team together? Many CEOs want the perfect formula for the perfect team. And truth is there is no definite design to building the perfect team. But leadership, communication, business resources and collaboration are core components. The perfect team goes a long way in deciding the direction and the growth rate of your business for a building entrepreneur.

Business Direction

First, let’s consider the business direction. People who you choose to join your team will have a reasonable influence on your decisions. The perfect team member is invested in their role and your business. They are open to both understanding and collaborating with their team members. As such your business direction is fuel by essentials of a perfect team. On the contrary, a bad team can lead you down a wrong path, leaving you lost in your business searching for sales. However, a good team would work tirelessly to show you new and better ways to take your business to where it needs to be. Therefore, choosing the perfect team is important.

Business Growth

Next is business growth. The reliability and proficiency of your team determines how fast your business grows. When you assert group norms that allow your team to work efficiently, you create standards by which they work. When you are trying to build a business to great heights and expand at an exponential rate, the ability to think outside the box is very valuable. And that can not happen without a strong foundation. No CEO wants a team of drones but rather a team of diligent innovators and freethinkers.

In conclusion, building the perfect team shouldn’t be based solely on their education and certification. Qualification is good, however, some other factors need to be considered. The goal is to build a team that isn’t just competent but also in sync with your business vision and values. Getting the perfect team isn’t an easy task as a mere interview might not reveal all the qualities you are looking for in a team member. However, with patience and due diligence, you can create your perfect squad.

Onboarding Tips: Team Integration Made Easy

Posted on | by admin

The process of integrating new staff into the everyday workings of your business can be a bit tricky. With your employees managing their roles and responsibilities that keep your business running smoothly, new team members can begin to feel lost and alone. Here are a few tips on how to integrate your new team without disrupting the day to day running of your business.

Simplify Onboarding

The first day for any new team member is usually a roller coaster. The first day is often an uneven balance of retaining information, remaining professional and asking the “right” questions. A new employee can get a bit intimidated by all of the information, processes and people. The best way to avoid this is to make all necessary information available to your new employee before they begin their first day of work. Merely telling them about their position isn’t enough to ensure that your recruits hit the ground running.

Your recruits need to have a detailed understanding of their roles and responsibilities. This includes sharing information about their direct report, team members, benefits, work expectations and more. Don’t throw your new team member into their work without sharing more about where they are working and who they are working with. I like to use a digital onboarding system that notifies me when documents are opened, reviewed, completed and/or signed. The convenience of completing this via email also provides an opportunity to review at your leisure. Before the work day, of course. This way recruits resume their first day feeling ready and confident to get some work done.

Create a Mentor-Mentee Program

A simple way to help your new new team adjust to their new work environment is to set them up with a mentor, their “go to person”. This can be the business owner, their direct report or a senior team member. Two or more mentors is not a bad idea as it allows your team member to choose a mentor who resonates with them.

 The main goal is to ensure the new team member feels free to ask questions and make clarification without being judged. Creating a good working atmosphere goes a long way in ensuring that your new employees are effective and enjoy a good work experience.

Leverage the Internet

The internet provides a lot of programs to educate, train and certify your team. It basically creates a virtual office for you and your workforce. For instance productivity software is at the top of the list of these programs. Instead of waiting for your recruit to submit misguided results, keep track of their work to ensure you can correct their mistakes before they make them.

Conclusion

The first few weeks of your new employee’s work experience is essential. Proper handling of these integration and adjustment period is very crucial in the progress of your team. Your ability to retain the best employees ensures the greatest results. The best way to create an effective onboarding process is to invest the time in the planning and creating of the system.

Coach Allison Todd Interviews Tee Thomas

Posted on | by admin

Every business owner has a different experience as they meet the challenges of COVID-19. Listen as Coach Allison Todd interviews Tee Thomas, Founder of Formation Salon & Spa.

Before the pandemic, Tee was working on the construction of her newly acquired location. As she prepared for her grand opening, she continued to make minor updates. Then she decided to hire a new business team. Many business owners understand the responsibilities Tee had to juggle both while safe at home and in order to reopen in June. However, she would need more than understanding to implement the necessary changes.

Like many, she had many things to consider. She redesigned one of her suites specifically for high risk and older clients. After days of cleaning and sanitation, there is still much to complete. During the interview, Tee shares more about why its her responsibility to press forward and be of service to others.

And now, not only is she prepared to open her business doors, she wants to position herself to lead others during these uncertain times. Tee says, “We’ve been delayed but not denied. We must press forward.”

https://youtu.be/6EplydVSZLk

Top 2020 Digital Marketing Hacks for Your Business

Posted on | by admin

Consumer habits keep changing. How can you identify the digital marketing hacks for your business in order to attract your consumer? In the past several years, there’s been a steep rise in the number of consumers going online to access products and services. It is estimated that the total global online retail sales are going to rise significantly to around $4.8 trillion by 2021. Allison Todd, Operations and Digital Growth Strategist, unfolds the top digital marketing hacks that businesses out there can leverage in the coming era.

If you want to scale your online business, it is imperative that you target your audience, in order to attract your consumer. Once you start targeting the audience, your online traffic increases. Eventually, your website clicks start increasing. Then, you begin to speak specifically to your consumer and your revenue begins to grow. Here are some of the top digital marketing hacks that you should crack, now:

Content is Still King

With the ever-increasing utilization of social media platforms, the delivery of high-quality content has never been more important. Your content will attract your target audience to your brand and core offerings. The delivery of top-class, high-quality content to the target audience goes a long way towards building brand loyalty and ensuring customer retention.

Voice Search Optimization

With the ever-increasing deployment of technology like Google Home and Alexa, businesses should work on content optimization including voice searches. The way in which the end users conduct searches online tend to differ significantly –whether they are typing or speaking.

Integration of Chatbots

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming one of the major implementations for delivering optimized & personalized user experiences. The use of chatbots or ‘chat robots’ help to automate and ensure communication with the end customers. The modern chatbot technology offers the assurance that customer interaction is taking place effectively while the customers are being provided with timely responses.

Update SEO

Every year, the major search engines out there like Bing, Yahoo, and Google keep update the respective search algorithms to improve the overall user experience. To comply with the algorithm changes, you should update the SEO for your website as well. By doing so, you can remain on point with the latest digital marketing trends as well as practices to yield the best results. Therefore, it becomes imperative for you to ensure that your website is updated with the latest changes in the search engine’s algorithm changes.

Repurpose Old Content

While most business owners are well-aware of the potential benefits of content for their business, they do not post updated, relevant content on their website. A comprehensive digital marketing strategy, includes the repurpose of old content on your website.

Make the most of the latest digital marketing hacks for your business! Learn more about the hacks we use and gain support from my community while you grow. Join us, here. And if you need some ideas specific to you and your business, contact Allison Todd.