As women in the business world, it can be frustrating to feel like you constantly have to bend and contort yourself to fit a traditional (linear/masculine/Art of War) business model when you don’t feel like you fit that mold — and may not even want to fit that mold.

A wide variety of books have been written to teach women how to be successful in the business world…in other words, how to be more like men. How to talk like men (Talking 9 to 5: Women and Men at Work) and how to behave like men (What Men Don’t Tell Women About Business), to name a couple.

Hey, I’ve read them. These books have been highly valuable for me and many other women in understanding and navigating a business landscape still largely run by men.

But in the aftermath of the most recent economic crash, many of us have begun to question whether we want to perpetuate a way of doing business that clearly doesn’t work. At the very least, it doesn’t work for us. It goes against our grain, our often organic, intuitive, community-minded, and collaborative ways of knowing and working that defy traditional business “rules.”

For many years my idealistic and feisty, fire sign self felt the need to fight the system, which frankly just left me feisty, irritable and frustrated. In recent years I’ve instead begun to disengage and focus on building and supporting a business community that respects and values my way of being, including for the creative and intuitive skills I bring to the table, not the just the logic.

The thing is, the new way to do business –- viewing your business as part of the overall fabric of your local and global community, a “we” instead of a “me” –- actually works. And it works extremely well. It’s not heralded, largely I think because women just do what they do without need or desire for a lot of fanfare. But oh, it works.

Think I’m crazy? Think it can’t be done? Check out How She Does It by Margaret Hefferman, an author whose motto is, “Let’s not play the game, let’s change it.” Now THAT is my kind of woman!

“The numbers are staggering. Between 1997 and 2006, privately held businesses owned by women grew at three times the rate of all American privately held firms; women’s companies are creating jobs and growing profits at twice the rate of all firms and are responsible for more payroll than all the Fortune 500 companies combined. Clearly the model of business excellence is changing.”

Margaret Hefferman, How She Does It

So ladies. What do you say we get out there and change the system…

Liz Gaige
Marketing Navigators Consulting

PS: Hey, what books (business or otherwise) have helped shape your confidence and enhanced your skills in doing, and being in, business? Drop me a line and spread the power…

Old Rule: There’s only one right way to do business.
New Rule: Do business your way.

Ladies, we are going to break some rules this year. We’re going to rock the boat. We’re going to quit apologizing and just be ourselves, thank you very much. And, we’re going to challenge some ideas about business and how it gets done.

Historically, industrialized commerce has been a masculine world run in a focused, linear, analytical manner, with no need for emotion or feeling. It was created by men for men, so it has suited them just fine.

News flash! Women are fully entrenched in the workforce and starting businesses at 2-3 times the rate of men. Trouble is, the structure hasn’t changed. We hit a glass ceiling or try to build business in a framework that doesn’t come naturally, and it can be tough going. Like being left-handed in a right-handed world.

But that’s just the way it is. I mean, the “old boys” are dying off, but they won’t ever be completely gone. What’s a gal to do? Well, toss out the old rules for a start. How about this, instead:

We may do business with men,
but we don’t have to do business like men.

Hey, I like men. They are lovely creatures. Some of my best friends are men. But I’m not one. I don’t want to be one. So why would I act like one in business?

News flash! Gentleman, Art of War as an approach to business is soooo last century! There’s a new game in town and here’s how it’s played. Money is a tool, not a scorecard of value or success. We don’t need to crush anyone in order to be successful. We can care more about the community than money and still make lots of money – which we then use as a tool, not a scorecard.

Don’t get me wrong ladies, we may still need to make some concessions when we work with men, just like you would make adjustments to accommodate someone who is, say, hard of hearing. Understanding their communication style, slowing things down, sticking to a single goal-oriented topic…all of these efforts just make things run more smoothly.

But I am a woman in business, so I’m going to act like a woman.

• I will work with people I like and respect and whose values I can support.
• I will be in business with my heart and soul, not just my mind.
• I will be collaborative with no need to outdo my colleagues.
• I will utilize my feelings and emotions to help me make better decisions.
• I will talk about my clothes, my nails, my shoes…and then get down to business and negotiate like a pro.

Ladies, we don’t need to fight the existing business paradigm. We just need to disengage, respect our values, do things our own way, and build strong companies that together create a new model of how the business community can operate.

THAT is some serious rule breaking.

Liz Gaige
Market Navigators Consulting

Business owners get caught betting on the wrong hands (i.e. wrong opportunities). Don’t chase opportunities for too long. The longer you chase the opportunity, the more likely you are to lose your time and money. When I worked in a casino, a majority of people lost money by hoping for the ‘long shot’ while playing. They would try to make 21 with 4 or more cards. There are rules to blackjack that stipulate when you double down on a bet and when you let it ride with what it has. In blackjack, you never split aces or eights and you only double down on the next card that is played. Same goes in business.

The only time to double down (invest more) in a deal is when:

• You know that is more likely for the deal to happen than not happen.
• No part of you has, at any point, wishes you hadn’t been involved in the deal.
• The potential loss of income off the deal is at least 50x greater than your investment thus far (don’t dismiss investment just in regards to your money, If you waste your time, you are also losing money or the potential of money that you aren’t making while you are chasing a deal).
• You know that you have all the tools to get the deal done and that the other side is as invested (or more) then you are in the deal happening.

The only time to double down (invest more/pay more) to a key staff member/team member is when:

• They make you money, not cost you money.
• They create solutions, rather than drama.
• They make your life easier, not harder.
• You can’t imagine being able to replace them.
• They are loyal to you, get the job done, and are completely and totally accountable.

Don’t spend time in shitty deals or with shitty staff. If you are ‘chasing’ the right outcome, it is time to fold the cards, get up from the table, and find another game.

Best,

Chris.

www.GhostCEO.com

I’m a ‘broken record’ about women learning to be selfishly selfless in business. Put yourself and your interests first. It is easy to stay in a business deal way too long. Doing so ensures you waste more time, money, and lose opportunities. When you are wondering if you should stay in an existing business deal, ask yourself the following questions:

1. What am I getting out of the deal?
2. What am I giving up to be in the deal?
3. Is it what I expected it to be? If not, did I make my expectations clear?
4. Have I asked for what I wanted from the deal?
   
5. Are the partners necessary for me to move ahead?
6. Am I making money or do I have control over making money?
7. Is everyone contributing fairly?
8. Is everyone participating in the mutual success?
9. If I had it to do over again, would I?
10. If I weren’t in this deal, what else would I be doing?

After making the list, start a second list of pros/cons of being in the deal. If the cons far out weight the pros, get out. Wasting time and money is something you can, and must, control.

Best,

Chris.

www.GhostCEO.com

Being an entrepreneur is risky at times, but that risk can be mitigated by you planning your actions. With the economy in the dumper the way that it is, I think that being an employee is a much more risky situation than being a business owner. As an employee, you are in a position where your employer can fire you at any time if you aren’t an asset to the company. On the other side, an entrepreneur can always take a horrible situation and make it better because they have the ability to call the shots and go ‘all in’.

In recent months, I’ve been chatting with both employees and entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs are empowered (with the assistance of a fire under their butts) to go and get more clients and accounts. The employees on the other hand are holding on to their jobs with death grips hoping that their company doesn’t have to do layoffs or downsizing. They have given their power up to the boss and thus are dis-empowered. This economy empowers business owners who are prepared to go all in. If you go into the market scared of what could happen, you will get crushed. If you put all your money on the table and get the mindset of ‘do or die’, you are going to get rich! Even among business owners, there are some that are laying off staff, cutting all their costs, and hoping that things recover. Those are the people who are going to watch smaller, more dynamic, and courageous companies come in and eat their lunch for them. The big take from the small, but the quick take from the big.

Go all in this month and kick it up a level. You can control the risk and a worst case scenario is almost always better then not taking any action at all. Here are some example of the ‘all in’ mindset.

Don’t have enough clients? Go hunting for new ones!

Staff are not stepping up? Get rid of them and find new ones. It’s an employer’s market right now. Lots of great talent out there that are hungry for jobs.

Costs to high? Start negotiating with your vendors. They will likely adjust or risk losing you as a client. Great time to talk cell phone plans.

Strategic partners are cutting back? Get new ones. If you want to make money, find hungry partners.

Old marketing tools aren’t working? Get new ones. New markets need new tools.

Clients aren’t paying quickly enough? Post interest terms and those that are too slow can be cut lose once you find a replacement for them.

Partners are impersonating ‘Henny Penny”? Tell them to get their heads out of their asses or you’ll be finishing your relationship with them. You don’t need people dragging you down right now. Fly with eagles, don’t run with turkeys. It’s not personal; it’s business.

In poker, as in business, the person that goes all in wins almost all the pots. People get scared of what they could lose so they stop playing. Take your money, their markets, and drink it up my friends. Nothing is sweeter then the taste of victory.

Best,

Chris.

www.GhostCEO.com

Okay. Not to keen out here, but financials are the foundation of your business development efforts. Your profit margin is the difference between what your bring in and what you put out. Sound simple? It is, but the problems start when business owners start taking on expenses that they don’t need. You need to run a tight ship, not matter the size of your company and only outlay money that you can have a measurable expectation of getting back.

I have business partners that critique my penny pinching methods of saving money. It isn’t like I’m running to the grocery store with coupons. Instead, I only spend money in business that I have to. I don’t lease big office space (in fact right now I don’t have any space at all!) I was subletting some space from another coach and realized that in a given month, I had seen only one person in my office the whole month. Why the hell would I pay $500 for one hour of meeting space? I gave up the space and will only get space again if I can make money getting space.

I haggle my cell phone plan almost every month. Now that things are starting to get competitive in the cell phone market in Canada, I am on the phone once a month getting a better deal. I’m a $300/month cell phone user. I got my provider to give me an additional 200 minutes of long distance for $5.00 I grind and grind on cost because the money I don’t spend is the money I get to keep.

I fly first class everywhere I go. This could be considered a luxury, but instead I see it as an investment. Aside from saving 40 minutes before take off and after landing (getting on and off the plane first), I have met excellent contacts in both the lounges for first class as well as in seat mates on different trips. I may be paying 3x the cost of coach, but I always get 3x the benefit, plus I can lay my work out and bill for 5 hours of work. I couldn’t do that in coach.

In business, don’t spend money you don’t need to spend. Keep things on the cheap as long as it doesn’t come across cheap. I take clients to nice restaurants, I put up clients in nice hotels. But when I’m travelling alone, I’m happy to stay in a Super 8 rather than the Fairmont. I do stay at various Fairmonts, but through a travel program I have, I rarely spend more than $99/night. I justify this cost by having meetings at the hotel in either the pub or cafe and I always get my valet costs covered by the hotel manager.

In business, regardless of the type of economy you are in, I want you to consider every cent you spend and ask yourself this question: “Am I making money by spending this money? Examples of what fits and what doesn’t:

• Taking a client for a nice lunch: YES
• Taking your partners for a nice lunch: NO
  
• Buying the newest Blackberry because you want it: NO
• Buying a new suit for a presentation: YES
• Getting a nice car to drive to and from your office: NO
• Flying first class: YES if you are working on the plane AND you are chatty with others in the lounge/seat next to you.
• Buying a new laptop with a bigger screen so your eyes don’t get sore: NO

When I first started making big money I started spending big money. I couldn’t figure out why I never had more money left in my pocket at the end of the month. Then I went on a spending diet one month. I didn’t buy anything that I couldn’t directly relate to generating money for me in the month. Not only did I have a pile of money left at the end of the month, but I had actually done better business. By having excess cash each month, you’ll have a nest egg for when things slow down. Living hand to mouth is no way to build a business.

Remember as you increase your revenues you should also be decreasing your costs. The difference between the two should get larger and larger every month. Build business like a queen, but spend like a pauper.

Best,

Chris.

www.GhostCEO.com

When I first started in business, I simply had the name of my company on my $45 business cards (they are the ones on the top left hand corner circa 1998). Over the years I played with different branding exercises for different companies I started, but never really understood branding. A couple of years ago, Catherine Worrall, of Ideastream Design took me on and simplified my message and look for my venture company.

Here are some samples of my brutal journey trying to figure out what brand was and how to get to it (you’ll notice I struggled with identity.)

Last week I was having coffee with Catherine and asked her if companies should be re-branding now, or wait until the economy starts its rebound. Here were her thoughts:

Times are tough, but the smart money’s on companies who build their brand through the recession. Companies should look at their brand now, to be ready when times get better and to strengthen their market position while they ride it out. Is the message strong? Does it represent where the company is in the market? Is it a flag for your customers to rally to? Avoid the knee jerk reaction of diluting your branding program – nobody ever shrank their way to success!

Marketing now has greater impact. As other companies lose momentum, your marketing efforts will be doubly rewarded. I believe that brand is the “conversation people have about your company when you’re not in the room” – can you afford not to be part of that conversation? Right now the conversation with customers is happening in a quieter room. As competitors hunker down, companies with a strong brand are heard above the crowd. You will get more impact from the same expenditure. Join the conversation now when advertising sales are stagnant and you can ask for a better rate.

A boom economy makes us complacent. Companies need to be sharpening all their tools to keep from sliding off the radar of their customers. Staying in the game and keeping in touch says a lot about your company. Market efficiently and consistently using digital and conventional strategies to increase the reach of your marketing dollars.

The opportunity to grab market share as others slow down goes to those who prepared for the rainy day and can now get themselves into a superior position. Capitalize on the lull among your competitors and consolidate your brand’s position in the market. Make sure your customers know why they should work with you – why your company or product is different and the benefits of the difference. A powerful brand communicates leadership, and positions your company to move ahead more quickly as business picks up.

Catherine hits it dead on the head. Here is a sample of what she created for me. The speckles on the front of the business card are from my shitty scanner, not part of her design. The cards are double thickness, a beautiful green (same color the US Mint uses to print money I assure you), and I have never had anyone get them and not comment on their quality. Even Michael Jordan in Chicago thought they were excellent cards (that’s another story!)

Think about your brand and what you want the conversation to be about YOUR company.

Best,

Chris.

www.GhostCEO.com

I’ve been bitching and complaining about all the bitching and complaining going on in the media. All the talking heads are promoting fear in the markets, reporting only the bad statistics, and showing people getting thrown out of their homes. A massive majority of people are feeling NO effect in this economy. They are taking part in the recession because the media is propagating that they too can lose their jobs. Then I see companies (big and small) talking about cut backs, downsizing, and all the rest of the fear driven bullshit. Rather than looking at how to make more money, they are looking at how to cut costs. This is why I hate a majority of MBAs. Managers are taught to batten down the hatches, meanwhile entrepreneurs are leading the charge (as long as they don’t read the newspapers.)

It’s a small group of people that see the opportunities held in this market. It is easy to go with the herd and assume that it is impossible to do ‘big things’ right now. Fear and success are self-fulfilling prophecies. You will get what you focus on. Imagine my surprise today when a fellow speaker shared this video with me. Life it too frigging short to be pissing around moaning about how hard things are for you. The difference between a winner and a loser in this market is a winner will do what it takes and a loser will just moan and bitch about it. Look outside business if you want some real inspiration. This market will break some and make others stronger. I’m getting stronger every day and I believe you can too IF you get your head in the game.

Chris Flett
www.GhostCEO.com

I spent my high school years working in a very nice restaurant  as a sous to a Chef . I learned quickly that if you have an hour before the rush, spend 55 minutes preparing your station. If you don’t have your ducks in a row and the rush hits, you are in the weeds (or in non-kitchen language, in the shit) for the whole shift.

I was making a Sweet Potato hash for dinner last night and before I got the frying pan out, I made sure that I had all my materials ready to complete the recipe. The french call this “mise en place” which is translated as ‘put in place‘, but really describes having everything ready at hand when you are about to begin project. Making this meal for dinner took me about 20 minutes to prep my mise en place, and only 10 minutes to cook. If I had tried to assemble the meal as I tried to cook it, I would have likely taken an hour to get dinner on the table, been frustrated, and may have overcooked everything. By taking time to get ready before I started, it was simply adding components in a predetermined process.

When you are doing a business development activity, make sure that you have all the components required to finish the activity successfully. If you are giving a speech, make sure you have your notes, have someone to introduce you, arrive on time, have a glass of water, have sound checked the microphone, and are prepared to answer questions. If you are going to a networking event, have a list of who you are looking to meet, breath mints, business cards, a pen (to make notes on the back of other people’s cards, a note to remind yourself to thank the host/organizer of the event, and a system for following up after the event.

A week ago I spent a week with one of our coaches up in Whistler. Knowing that I was going to be meeting a lot of people, I stocked up on my personal letterhead, envelopes, stamps, and I made a note to get a business card from everyone I met. Each night I brought out my materials, got them lined up on the desk in my hotel and began my business development activity. It took me little time to complete it because I wasn’t running around looking for stamps, envelopes, etc.

When you are doing your business development, practice having your mise en place. It simplifies the process, cuts down on stress, and will take you half the time it normally will if you have everything at hand. If you show me someone who complains about not getting their work done during the week (a common complaint I hear from overly busy, under achievers, and I’ll show you someone who doesn’t understand mise en place. Do your preparation and you’ll never be caught in the ‘weeds‘ in business.

Bonne chance!

Chris Flett

www.GhostCEO.com

I was working with one of our coaches yesterday. We were having a ’sit’ where you chat with a prospective client, find out what they do, who they do it for, how they make money, and if we can model business for them. This coach that I’m with is very talented with a global experience base in business. Auditing her session, there was a small adjustment that I saw that needed to be tweaked. After the session, I gave her my feedback and she had an “AHA!” moment. The comment wasn’t anything big or profound, just a small observation about a necessary ‘tweak’ to how the information was structured. It was like all the dominoes started falling into place and she had a big grin on her face. This little bit of info put everything else into place.

Sometimes, we can’t see the forest through the trees. We are so busy working on our model that we forget to take a step back and have a look. Even when we do, we can’t get objective enough to find out what is working and what isn’t. I’d encourage you to spend time with your colleagues talking about how your deliver information to your market. Is it in the right order? Is it too much? Not enough? Is it being delivered too fast or too slow? How is the person you are giving the information to responding?

When it comes to closing business, sometimes you need to present your solution and then wait….wait for that moment when everything is lined up and you can say, “so…are you ready to move ahead?” When all your ducks are in a row, you can provide the solution to the prospects problem, they are qualified and interested, it is then as simple as asking for the business. Have a great week and keep an eye out for an AHA moment in your business development.

Best,

Chris.

www.GhostCEO.com