Today is Small Business Saturday, a day to celebrate and support local small businesses that boost the economy and invigorate neighborhoods across the country.

Local small businesses bring character to the community and they often have unique and specialized offerings that can’t be found with their larger competitors.

But why stop there?  As entrepreneurs and business owners ourselves, we should all be making an active effort to support our community.

We understand that it’s not always possible to purchase from small local businesses, but when you can – do it!

image courtesy of  PAVDW

I was at my favourite Jazz bar last weekend, Reservoir Lounge. It’s a hip place with great bands that pack a crowd every weekend.

After the first few songs, the lead singer called up a patron, out of the blue, to come on stage and sing a song. With girlfriend in hand, he weaved through the crowd and gets up on stage. He then starts into a love song while his girlfriend watches in amazement from front and centre. (Apparently he doesn’t do this often.)

Midway through the song, I realize what’s coming… The proposal. I was ten feet away and had an incredible viewpoint for the whole event. It was beautiful, well planned and I know it will have a lasting impact – on both the happy couple and the entire audience in attendance.

As always, I ponder events in life that have a powerful impact and look for how it can apply to other areas of my life…

In the course of business at DemGen, we send a lot of proposals to prospects. While I don’t expect them all to have the same response (tears and nodding, ‘Yes, yes, YES), I do believe we also do it a little differently. Our proposals are special and very relevant to our prospects’ needs.

I’ve made it a personal challenge to add even more personality and WOW factor to our proposals, given my recent experience.

My challenge to you is: Say YES, to having a similar positive impact through your proposals!

At the end of the day, the goal is the same – starting a lasting and healthy relationship.

Gary Evans

Small business owners use various methods to get their message out there.

Which are the most popular? The infographic below from Bolt will give you an idea.

Via: Bolt Insurance

All successful businesses begin with an idea.

Some may say the “idea” comes from nothing – out of the clear blue sky.  Others believe there’s no longer any such thing as a truly original idea.  My sense is that all ‘new’ ideas are inspired by the collective consciousness of all visionary thought leaders, scientists, and creators, past and present.  Our inspiration then comes through our knowledge of da Vinci, van Gogh, Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, the Wright Brothers, and the Coen Brothers. Now that’s an exciting starting point!

Here’s how I see that original inspiration playing out… Once that idea takes form in an entrepreneur’s mind, we begin to fall in love. That spark of inspiration is what leads your business to become your top priority and your ‘baby’.

It’s that drive/love that leads you to turn a small business “idea” into a “real business”.

This falling in love phase seems to be closely followed by the “perception” of stress in running a “real business”. (I say “perception”, because it is only an idea. That idea can be changed or modified to suit you and your customers better at any time. Ideas are fun, actually implementing them is the hard part.)

Hence, the feeling of falling out of love with your business beckons. I have personally experienced this feeling of falling in and out of love several times with all of the companies I have created.

As we enter Q4, I’d like to invite you to take a step back to ask yourself: Are you currently in love with your business?  If your answer is yes, CONGRATULATIONS, I believe your clients, team and prospects will pick up on that energy and it will lead to more and more abundance and love.

If however your answer is no, then you probably feel overwhelmed with no free time and aren’t sure how to keep all of the balls in the air. (It appears to be one of the rights of passage for any successful entrepreneur.) Alicia Keys has a great song that sings to this falling in and out of love.

Having a healthy and loving relationship with you business is your most important focus as an entrepreneur. You are the leader and visionary responsible for setting the course for your business. If you’re not feeling the love, no one else will.

Luckily, the common cause for these issues can be easily cured… Stop trying to do it all yourself! Realize that your business has progressed and your strategies need to follow suit. I feel the biggest cause to feeling out of love with your business is when you are not doing the stuff you love to do as much as the other stuff. As your business grows, your team must do the same or you will end up uninspired and unhappy.

If you’re feeling business related guilt in any form, it’s a sign that your business has grown beyond you. Congratulations!

Maybe it’s even gone as far as cheating on your business, you are looking for other things you can do?

Your next step is to fall back in love with your business and establish healthy boundaries. Build your dream team that will take your ideal business vision and bring it into reality while taking on the tasks that are not your genius ability.

We invite you to connect with us to discuss your vision and how we can support you.

Gary Evans

Chief Growth Officer

P.S.  Don’t forget, as you were inspired, you will so inspire!  As your business grows others will soon follow your lead and start on their journey down their own entrepreneurial path…

As in curling, there are several rules to keep in mind when running your own business, including basic etiquette. Playing by the rules will ensure your business doesn’t end up stationary.

What are the most important rules to remember if you want to sweep your way to victory?

“If for any reason, a game is interrupted, the game recommences where play was stopped”. In other words, don’t let anything stop you. When you reach roadblocks in your business, find a way around them or over them. Having a mentor that you can discuss problems with, someone who has already been there, is helpful when you run into challenges that seem insurmountable.

“Always be polite to your opponent”. Your competition should be kept in mind at all times but when asked about them or when speaking of them, compliment them in any way you can. When meeting them, congratulate them on the job they are doing and thank them for anything their business methods may have taught you.

“You win the game when you score often”. Running a business will necessarily entail winning over customers in order to succeed. The methods you employ to win the game are what counts. The playing field may not be in your favour when you first begin, but combining hard work with organization and good strategy will help you sweep your way to success. Always remember, focus on your customer’s wants and needs and don’t concede defeat.

© 2012 DemGen All Rights Reserved.

Constructive discontent allows differing opinions, paradoxes, conflicts, and dilemmas to come out in the open where they can be used as valuable business tools! Following are some ways you can start here and now in your business to use this powerful strategy for unlocking group intelligence.

Be a centered leader. Talk slowly and calmly without denying emotions and without becoming reactive to them. Change the rhythm of dialogue to allow safe discord and enable creativity to emerge from open minds and hearts.

Stay open, curious, and empathetic. When you lose self-control, others feel unsafe to speak openly and honestly and collaboration is extinguished. Learn from your instinctive anger or resistance instead of protecting your position.

Withhold response and listen harder to maximize understanding and potential opportunity. Look for points of alignment and remember that feelings are facts to the person experiencing them.

Utilize the Emotional Intelligence of the whole group. Encourage each person to share what he or she thinks and feels without judgment. Affirm and encourage others who express alternative opinions so they feel heard and respected.

Ask questions while you advocate for your position. Clearly state your feelings and thinking process and ask others to do the same. Doing this builds trust and understanding in the midst of discord.

Find cooperative possibilities. Look for concrete ways you and the others will benefit by cooperating. Harness the energy of conflict to create better solutions for all involved. To loosen perspectives, you might ask, “What will happen if we don’t work together?”

Speak from personal experience. Share how you learn—or struggle to learn—from this or similar situations. Encourage others to share their experiences. Using this approach can bypass defensive or adversarial positions, generate empathy, and create openness.

Say no when you mean no. Say you don’t know when you don’t know. You can be firm without disrespecting or disregarding others’ rights, views or feelings.

Follow through with your projected or promised outcomes. Be clear about any commitments you make during dialogue and then keep them.

Harness the transformational power of anger.Deeply caring discussions often include passionate conflict and brief flashes of anger; they make conversation alive and real. Anger can spark courage and creativity, correct injustices, stimulate progress and create tremendous productive energy when it is appropriately expressed and channeled.

Being specific about your disappointment in any unmet expectation promotes a more trusting and resilient relationship.

Accept that there will be some who, no matter what you do to reach them, will not be constructive, no matter what. Acknowledge this fact without letting it get to your heart. Accept their attitude, bypass their support for things that matter to you, and move them on to something that does inspire them (and off your team).

Mine the gold of gripes. Get pet peeves out in the open to increase productivity and profitability. Unresolved or ignored frustrations and complaints are killers of personal initiative. People may give up griping, but they don’t give up the gripe.

Can you think of ways to cultivate constructive discontent in your business?

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© 2012 DemGen All Rights Reserved.