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Archive for Motivation

The Business Loser

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Thursday, December 3rd, 2015

loserWe hate to call them that but some of them are losers. Business losers that is, owners of small or large businesses that may not seem like losers in general but they have all of the symptoms.

He or she lacks integrity and any belief in what they are doing – what they say and what they do are at complete opposite ends of the spectrum. They also lack real ambition. While they are interested in making money they don’t want to do the work necessary to obtain it. If they have goals, they don’t put forth any effort to attain them. They contribute as little as possible and this means they also work as little as possible. One of the biggest traits of a loser is their laziness and total inability to see that they really don’t do anything at all.

Business losers have no real concern for their customers. While pretending they care what their customers think, they try to pacify them rather than please them. In this same vein, they don’t realize that there are consequences for their actions and the business is run haphazardly with no thought for future growth or success.

A loser lacks class and their personality leaves a lot to be desired. It isn’t that these business owners don’t have friends and acquaintances, it’s that people don’t trust totally trust them and their negative attitude turns people off. They have no sense of humour and don’t understand humour. They complain. Everyone loves a complainer, you can tell by the huge group that always surrounds them. 🙂

Not only does a business loser not respect their customers, they also don’t really respect themselves or even know what it means to have self respect. They refuse to take responsibility for mistakes they make in their own business and play “victim” very well.

These types of business owners need to realize that they are no more special than anyone else. Just like the others, if they want a life, they will have to work for it. For those of us who aren’t losers, we have learned that each of us has a different idea of how our lives should look, and our idea of success will not be the same as our neighbours. No one is entitled.

We’ve learned how not to do everything for everyone else but at the same time we aren’t selfish with what we can contribute. This means our time, our effort and our respect. We’ve learned that good business values mean good business and that our customers mean we have a business.

© Chris Draper, DemGen Inc. 2015

image courtesy of flickrhivemind

 

 

Categories : Business Experts, Motivation, Small Business
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What do You and Your Business Lack?

Posted by: admin | Comments Comments Off on What do You and Your Business Lack?
Wednesday, October 14th, 2015

happenClients. Many small business owners start out with very few clients. Dependency on only two or three clients puts your business in jeopardy and upsets the client/business owner ratio to a point where you are almost an employee and no longer really in charge. Though adding clients and building your business is a challenge, it’s a necessity if you want to keep your business going and lower your risk of losing your business all together.

Business skills. Though you may feel your grasp of technology, marketing and accounting are more than  you will need to succeed in your business, the real challenges tend to crop up when you don’t understand the industry you are involved in. Competitors, trends, client diversity and demographics are just as important as the soft skills necessary to run a business.

Focus and organization. Working on your business means you have to pay crucial attention to details. Though many business owners tend to follow a business plan to the letter, others know that in order for any plan to work, they must be thoroughly immersed in all aspects of their business. Knowing your business inside and out, concentrating on the necessities and staying organized help your business grow.

Innovation. Without new products and services and the ability to improve those you have, your business will stagnate and others will move ahead in the marketplace. Though there will always be a place for the tried and true, if what you have works best for your customers, you should be reminding them of this. Don’t be afraid of change and don’t resist the necessary changes you need to bring to your business.

Self confidence. Just like everyone else, business owners will sometimes feel that what they are doing is not good enough or maybe just not enough. The economy may have them worried and there is always the fear of failure. When you focus too much on the “could happens” and not the “what will I make happens”, you run the risk of beginning  a vicious cycle that eventually leads to a business slowdown. If lack of confidence is a problem for you, look for a mentor, someone who has already been through what you are now going through.

© Chris Draper, DemGen Inc. 2015

 

Categories : Entrepreneurial Lifestyle, Motivation, Small Business
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How to Rid Your Business of Narcissism

Posted by: admin | Comments Comments Off on How to Rid Your Business of Narcissism
Wednesday, September 30th, 2015

narcissistNarcissists are those who greatly admire their own abilities and while this may seem like an attribute that would help in business, the need for constant gratification can quickly mean the demise of any success your business has already seen.

Believing in yourself is one thing but when your ego takes over and you have an inflated sense of self-importance, you can also miss opportunities for advancement. Is narcissism becoming more common? It certainly seems that way. As a state of mind, appearances seem to be everything to more and more of our customers and at the same time, it’s also becoming more common among business owners.

Ask yourself, when your business runs into difficulties, are you open to discussing it with someone else or taking an honest look at what went wrong or do you tend to blame something or someone else for your problems? Are you interested in the business community in your area or is it all about you and your business? If either of these questions shows that others hold no interest for you, then there is a good possibility that you tend to be narcissistic.

Realizing your temperament tends toward narcissism is the first step toward changing it. Looking at yourself in a mature manner shows you that narcissism has no place in your business. What you appear to be is not necessarily what you are and to be successful as a business owner, your customers want to know that what they see is what they get.

Turning your narcissism into pride in your work is a big help toward ridding yourself of an unwanted personality trait. Of course you should be proud of what you do and you can show it in your marketing and advertising. Taking it a step further, ask your customers what they don’t like about your current offers and what they would like to see available in the future.

Those two steps alone will take your mind off yourself and onto something productive. Rather than believing that you will automatically attain success and that you deserve it, take the steps that need t be taken to ensure your business is headed up, not down. While a need for attention is strong in narcissists, there is no reason why that attention has to come from outside yourself. Put some effort into learning something or developing a new product that you would praise if it came from another.

There is nothing wrong with thinking the best of yourself. It’s when it gets in the way of thinking about others that it causes a problem. Your business is based on what others think. Taking advantage of your customers for your own personal gain will cause you to lose your business. Learn more about empathy and find out how your caring about others, through your business, can actually help you feel better.

© Chris Draper, DemGen Inc. 2015

image courtesy of sickrose

 

Categories : Motivation, Small Business
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How do you Feel About Integrity?

Posted by: admin | Comments Comments Off on How do you Feel About Integrity?
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2015

integrity  What does integrity mean to you?

The official definition is “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness; the state of bring whole and undivided.”

Is your integrity important to you and how do you feel about the integrity of your business? Though you may not put a lot of thought into your own integrity, when it comes to your business, you can be sure that your customers are thinking about it.

They want to know if you mean what you say and if you back up the quality of what you are providing to them. A business relationship is or should be built on trust and if you are at all concerned with the reputation of your company then acting with integrity will always help your business to succeed, no matter what type of business it is.

Integrity is a personality trait, one that begins to develop from a very young age and eventually becomes part of your character. Can it be learned? Since integrity is measured in different ways and looked at differently in other cultures, it can’t be taught to you. You have a certain level or standard of integrity which can be changed so that it is more consistent but you can’t grow it or improve upon it in any other way.

Improving your business integrity will mean taking a long look at your behaviour, breaking habit and reinforcing others which will help your business. The intent to change has to be there. Honesty, one of the most important facets of integrity, will be necessary in all of your business communications including promises to your customers.

Your own code of ethics tells you a lot about your own integrity and how you apply it to your business. While your ethics may have you follow rules, your integrity means you will always do the right thing, regardless of what those rules are.

While not everyone will agree that certain people, including themselves, are ethical, they can usually agree on who has integrity and who doesn’t. Looking at your business this way, from an outsider’s point of view, will often tell you whether or not you find integrity important.

© Chris Draper, DemGen Inc. 2015

Categories : Motivation, Small Business
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Is Stress Contagious?

Posted by: admin | Comments (2)
Wednesday, August 19th, 2015

stress Several years ago, a study from the Max Planck Institute found that stress can be extremely contagious. Just being around someone who is depressed, very stressed or observing stressful situations can cause you to also become stressed. Surprisingly, stressful situations online and reading articles about stress, (such as this one!), also raise your stress levels.

In a world where we are constantly bombarded with ways to relax and relieve our stress, news on our health and how to improve it, is it any wonder that more of us are stressed each day?

Each business owner, within their own small business, will always have a certain amount of stress and small amounts of stress are good for us, they can motivate us to get things done that we otherwise wouldn’t bother with.

But when you start to add in the other responsibilities such as family, trying to find time to spend with friends, outside interests of our own, our stress builds. Add to that the stress of others and you can become a walking time bomb for ill health. How do you juggle the things you have to do with those you like to do and at the same time avoid the added stressors that come with it.

First, take a look at the people you do spend your time with. You know which of these people get upset easily, are depressed or negative. These are the ones you need to avoid or spend less time with. Rather than agreeing with them that everything is going downhill, remember, you do have your own opinions and it’s best to stick with them. Most people empathize far too much and that empathy can actually be bad for you. Other people’s stress and bad feelings can drain you and that’s the last thing that we, as business owners, need.

For example, Susan, a small business owner, who only has weekends to spend time on herself and her interests, has a new boyfriend, we’ll call him Bill. Bill works part-time and doesn’t have any additional responsibilities. After several months of dating, he is complaining because Susan doesn’t have the time to spend with him that he wishes she could. At the same time, he has resentments toward a variety of people and things and seems to get depressed easily. Susan is starting to feel the stress of Bill’s complaints toward her and also about the many other things that bother him. She feels that he isn’t being fair but also feels guilty because she can’t spend the time with him that he’d like her to. This is a perfect setup for contagious stress, where Bill’s bad attitude and depression can transfer to Susan, until she is also feeling anxious.

Each of us has a responsibility to ourselves to ensure that our negative feelings, (and we all have them) don’t grow to the point where they wipe out any good that we do for ourselves. When you take into consideration the fact that outside stressors can also come in human form, this makes it even more important that we focus on what is most important to us. While our family and friends will always be important to us, we can’t allow their stress to become ours.

© Chris Draper, DemGen Inc. 2015

image courtesy of thaliachung

 

Categories : Motivation, Small Business, Work/Life Balance
Comments (2)

When Your Business Gives You the Blues

Posted by: admin | Comments Comments Off on When Your Business Gives You the Blues
Thursday, July 9th, 2015

blues business “I ain’t had nothin’ but bad news
Now I got the crazy blues”

Sound familiar? The lyrics are actually from an old blues song called Crazy Blues by Mamie Smith but at any time they can also describe hundreds of small business owners who see nothing but difficulties ahead.

Feeling down over your business is a normal reaction for long term business owners. The daily routines begin to get boring and it isn’t unusual to lose your inspiration. The usual cause for this is not daring to try new things, fear of what the future may bring or just a lack of positivity.

Identifying the cause of your feelings is the first thing you should do. Is your business really doing that badly? Are there ways you could begin to change this today? If there are, take just one step. Then take another tomorrow. Small steps on a regular basis can bring things back in line more quickly and propel you further ahead than tackling a huge project that you might give up on or find is too much work.

Self doubt can be exhausting and a major cause of depression. The challenges of attempting to come up with new ideas on a regular basis are difficult without new input, either from talking to other business owners or possibly from taking up new hobbies. Even a change in routine and schedule can make a huge difference in the energy you have available for your business.

Entrepreneurs are known for their desire or insistence on perfection. We’ve been led to believe through numerous television shows and commercials that we can all have that perfect lifestyle if only we do this or that, own this or that, wear this or that, and so on. This illusion is one that several companies and manufacturers of various products are trying to break and the sooner small business owners join them, the better. Perfection is rather boring and leaves nothing interesting to the imagination. It also doesn’t appeal to a lot of your customers who are looking for the unique and different. Keeping that in mind, you may be motivated to try new things that are in line with your products and think up services that are difficult to find.

Learning to appreciate our own qualities can help us achieve greater success as business owners. Rather than trying to be like everyone else, decide what it is that you bring to the table. What do you have that no one else has? What can you provide better than anyone else? This can help you through any difficulties that arise with your business. Focusing on the needs of others is a great way to keep your mind from concentrating only on the worst fears.

© Chris Draper, DemGen Inc. 2015

image courtesy of allmusic

 

Categories : Entrepreneurial Lifestyle, Motivation, Small Business
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Famous Success Quotes

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Monday, February 23rd, 2015

demgen famous success quotes

 

Success Quotes

Categories : Motivation, Productivity, Quotes
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Are You Happy?

Posted by: admin | Comments Comments Off on Are You Happy?
Friday, December 5th, 2014
Are You Happy?

Categories : Entrepreneurial Lifestyle, Motivation, Work/Life Balance
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The A-Ha Moments: How People Realize What to Do in Life

Posted by: admin | Comments Comments Off on The A-Ha Moments: How People Realize What to Do in Life
Friday, September 12th, 2014
The Aha Moments: How People Realize What to Do in Life

by annavital.

Categories : Entrepreneurial Lifestyle, Motivation, Starting a Business
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DemGen’s Flexible Tours of Duty

Posted by: admin | Comments Comments Off on DemGen’s Flexible Tours of Duty
Tuesday, August 5th, 2014

index_1_ I remember growing up in the job climate, one that pitted possible employee against possible employee. Endless interviews where the same questions were always asked, everyone had identical resumes and you never really knew what the employer was looking for. One thing you did know was that it was rarely your unique talent, for almost everyone knew the answers the employers wanted to hear.

After many interviews, it occurred to me that what they were looking for were the not especially bright people. Creativity or imagination was not appreciated and if you were able to work with very little supervision, you were downright suspect, for the hiring managers didn’t want someone working there who could possibly take their jobs from them.

There were a lot of possible employees that fit that bill but I wasn’t one of them. Employers knew they could find lots of people that were more or less average, have them work for a set number of years and then when their salaries were becoming too high, they would replace them with another average, so-so, boring person and start the cycle all over again.

In this way, companies cycle through many employees and the dream/myth of a full time long term job slowly disappeared. Most jobs that go by that description now tend to be those that no one wants to work at full time anyway, let alone for a long time.

Enter virtual teams. Our company, DemGen, doesn’t offer full time work. We are a team that collaborates on projects. We work together, virtually, with one goal in mind and that is to help your business grow. We each have our own unique talents and in this way our abilities offset each other so those who hire us get the best of everything.

Our work is flexible. For the most part it can be done anytime from anywhere. We have time for things outside of work and that time keeps us healthy so when we have to, we can give 110% to get the work done.

We aren’t replaced every several years; instead, new members are added to the team who have new talents that blend well with those we already have. We don’t have an insecure boss who is always looking over their shoulder (and yours!) to ensure their job isn’t going to be taken by one of us because we like our work and aren’t interested in someone else’s job.

We are good communicators, network well and aren’t looking for the gold watch or the big pension. We want to enjoy our work lives as well as our time outside of work, for the two go together. People work best when they have an interesting and varied life outside of what they do for a living.

The climate these days tends more toward virtual teams and remote workers. For many of us this works well and once larger companies learn the benefits of hiring virtually (and also the benefits of doing it properly), work may once again become something that people are proud of, instead of something they avoid.

© Chris Draper, DemGen Inc. 2014

Categories : Entrepreneurial Lifestyle, Motivation, Virtual Teams
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