The Creative Voice ✱

Category: Business

  • One thing rich people do but the poor don’t. ⚠️Warning: This will change your life.

    One thing rich people do but the poor don’t. ⚠️Warning: This will change your life.

    Let’s face it! Your number one priority as an entrepreneur or business owner is to sell high-quality products/services, which hopefully leads to customer satisfaction and loyalty. ‘Sell’ being the key word here, not just produce but be able to sell consistently and sustainably.

    But this is very difficult to achieve when you are being distracted by the constant bombardment of questions/problems which require your decision. And there will be millions of teeny-tiny decisions that will drag you away from this goal to sell and generate greater profits, not just revenue.

    Questions such as which font to use, whether to post on Insta or TikTok, WordPress or ClickFunnels, Mailchimp or MailerLite, etc., will not let you focus on the only thing that matters, and that is to sell.

    So the number one skill of an entrepreneur would be the ability to stay focused and prioritise. A good method to use is called the 80/20 rule or the Pareto principle. According to Pareto, 20% of efforts lead to 80% of results, whereas the rest 20% of results take away 80% of the effort.

    In some sense, this means that the desire for controlling every single aspect of your business will take your attention away from the most important tasks. This is one of the reasons why the people who constantly micromanage have such a hard time, not just mentally but financially as well.

    But the people who delegate their tasks to the right people and focus on that 20% that matters the most win! Employees are the one thing rich people have and poor people don’t. But having employees isn’t a prerequisite for applying this principle.

    You can apply the 80/20 rule even if you are a solopreneur and start focusing on the efforts that get you traction from the right customers, and the rest of the tasks you can outsource to freelancers.

    Think of it this way: do you want to be the best violinist? Or do you want to be the conductor of the orchestra? Because you might be the best pianist or violinist in the world, but still you can’t beat an orchestra.

    Once you have proved your business model and made some money from your business, your number one task becomes how to sell more and for a greater amount of money, not the mundane routine operations of the business.

    Only 4% of your activities each day drive your business forward and move the money needle. The other 96% of the things still have to get done, but they shouldn’t get done by you. – Sabri Suby

    The best-selling author Sabri Suby takes it one step further; he asks you to delegate 80% of even the 20% that’s important. So you’re focusing your 100% on the most essential and important 4% of tasks, setting yourself up for undeniable success. He calls this the 4% rule.

    Of course, it’s not easy, especially if you’ve been a solopreneur for a long time; it might feel like handing over your child to someone else for raising, but it’s absolutely essential for growth.

    Because if you create great products/services and your customers never get tired of telling you how delighted they are with you, then this might be the only thing stopping you. Start by delegating a few things at a time and move on from there.

    Furthermore, you do not need to hire people in order to delegate. You can get an intern, automate or even exchange skills. And this makes financial sense; let me explain:

    Say, people pay you $100/hour for consulting, but instead of focusing on that, you’re designing flyers that you could have given someone $20/hour to do. It would make you way more productive at the high-paying task because you would be more focused and not exhausted. Would you ever give an employee $100/hour for a $20/hour task? Then why would you sell yourself short?

    So to sum up, one thing rich people do but the poor don’t is that the rich people DELEGATE.

    What are your thoughts on this post? Let me know in the comments below. As always, have a wonderful day and a wonderful life. Share this article with those you love; sharing is caring 😉

  • Set systems, not Goals!

    Set systems, not Goals!

    Systems matter more than goals and dreams; that’s one of the things I have realised in the last couple of years. The secret to long-term success is looking at the big picture but acting in the current moment, in the here and now. And soon these little successes add up. It’s like integration in mathematics, each strip adds up and creates the Integral.

    Optimise for the starting line, not the finish line. Any outcome you want to achieve is just a point along the spectrum of repetitions.
    – James Clear

    So without further ado let’s start building systems for success. And the way we do that is not by aiming for the finish line but by aiming for starting line because we often want things just because they are an option, there’s a possibility for that, and the environment is conducive to that outcome.

    Look at the modern living room for example, the entire room is literally designed for one purpose and that is to make you watch Television, all the sitting is oriented towards the TV and the Television hangs beautifully on the finest wall above the entertainment system like a piece of art. And no doubt we are so addicted to it to the point where we even want to avoid conversations and just stare at a screen.

    The point is that our environment controls us more than we’d like, it shapes our habits and behaviours and if something is out of sight, it’s out of mind. But at the same time, we are not slaves to our environment.

    We can shape our environment. So, first of all, think of what you want to achieve and then start removing everything from your environment that could stop you from achieving your goals. Conduct a Failure Premortem analysis and remove all the friction.

    Then start shaping your environment to aid in achieving your goals. For example, if you want to read more before bed then just put a book over your pillow and see the magic, if you want to learn to play the guitar just put it on your favourite sitting spot within the house, possibly the sofa and then every time you sit down and chillax you’ll be greeted by your guitar.

    And the more you repeat something, the more you identify with it and true change is a change in identity. So if I practice French three days a week and even if I am not very good at it I still start identifying as a French speaker and soon that change of identity will drive me into learning more and refining my skill.

    The more evidence we have of something the more likely we are going to believe it. In the 1950s, Curt Richter, a professor at Johns Hopkins, conducted a famous drowning rats psychology experiment. This experiment, though cruel, demonstrated the power of belief, hope and evidence in difficult situations.

    Richter put rats into large buckets, half-filled with circulating water. Being notoriously good swimmers – the rats lasted about 15 minutes before giving up and succumbing to the depths of the bucket. But then they decided to try something else.

    In a follow-up experiment, as the rats started to give up and sink, he pulled the drowning rodents to safety, dried them off, and gave them a brief period of rest only to put them right back into that same bucket. Here comes the amazing part – those same rats now swam for an average of 60 hours i.e. two and a half days. A rat that was temporarily saved survived 240 times longer than one that was not given any intervention. That’s the power of belief.

    Let me know your thoughts on this topic in the comments below, and like and share the post with your family and friends because sharing is Caring ;).

  • These Management myths keep you stuck and poor. Fix them now!

    These Management myths keep you stuck and poor. Fix them now!

    These Six Management Myths to Avoid (and Six Alternate Maxims to Consider) are the courtesy of Jeanne Ledika of Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. These are classic management adages and tenets which don’t work anymore because things are so dynamic these days and their modern alternatives. I first read them in a free pdf by Darden Executive education but the pdf is no longer available (wasn’t the last time I checked) and these maxims are just too precious to be buried under the currents of time and change. So I am sharing them here.

    Myth 1: Think big.

    Better maxim 1: Be willing to start small — but with a focus on meeting genuine human needs.

    Pressure will always exist to be sure an opportunity is big enough, but most really big solutions began small and built momentum. When the Internet was still new, how seriously would you have taken eBay or PayPal? In an earlier era, FedEx seemed tailored for a niche market. To seize growth opportunities, starting small and finding a deep, underlying human need with which to connect is best.

    Myth 2: Be bold and decisive.

    Better maxim 2: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket — always explore multiple options.

    In the past, business cultures were dominated by competition metaphors (those related to sports and war being the most popular). During the 1980s and 1990s, mergers and acquisitions lent themselves to conquest language. Organic growth, by contrast, requires a lot of nurturing, intuition and a tolerance for uncertainty

    Myth 3: Don’t ask a question to which you don’t know the answer.

    Better maxim 3: Be willing to start in the unknown and learn.

    Pressure will always exist to be sure an opportunity is big enough, but most really big solutions began small and built momentum. When the Internet was still new, how seriously would you have taken eBay or PayPal?

    Myth 4: Measure twice, cut once.

    Better maxim 4: Place small bets fast.

    This one works fine in an operations setting, but when the goal is creating an as-yet-unseen future, there isn’t much to measure. And spending time trying to measure the unmeasurable offers temporary comfort but does little to reduce risk.

    Myth 5: Sell your solution. If you don’t believe in it, no one will.

    Better maxim 5: Choose a worthwhile customer problem, and consider it a hypothesis to be.

    When you are trying to create the future, knowing when you have it right is difficult. We think being skeptical of your solution is fine — what you should be certain of is that you’ve focused on a worthy problem. You’ll iterate your way to a workable solution in due time.

    Myth 6: If the idea is good, the money will follow.

    Better maxim 6: Provide seed funding to the right people and problems, and the growth will follow.

    Managers often look at unfunded ideas with disdain, confident that if the idea were good, it would have attracted money on its own merits. The truth about ideas is that we don’t know if they are good; only customers know that. Gmail sounds absurd: free email in exchange for letting a software bot read your personal messages and serve ads tailored to your apparent interests. Who would have put money behind that? The answer, of course, is Google.

    The challenge for managers is to find a balance between the myths and the realities of business. In this age of uncertainty, an unavoidable but healthy tension exists between creating the new and preserving the best of the present, between innovating new businesses and maintaining healthy existing ones. As a manager, you need to learn how to manage that tension, not adopt a wholly new set of techniques and abandon all the old. The future will require multiple tools in the managerial toolkit — a design suite especially tailored to starting and growing businesses that adds to our current set of analytically orientated approaches to managing today’s businesses well.

  • Don’t Worry, Be Crappy! Seek progress over perfection

    Don’t Worry, Be Crappy! Seek progress over perfection

    Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour. The same is also true for growth in business as in life. Design, whether of a product, service or an entire business, is a highly iterative process.

    Design is not linear; it’s not a plan, something you once decide and execute and you are done, it rather evolves through each trial, failure, customer input, ideation, iteration, challenge etc.

    In some ways it’s like jazz, you can’t set the design process into stone because it’s all about the live improvisation in response to everything that goes on around it.

    Customer demand, market conditions, competition and government policies are constantly changing. And sometimes we may not understand the customer needs and difficulties as clearly as they do. So it’s essential to get that user input in the initial phases of the design.

    Instead of waiting for that final reveal after spending a fortune on research and development and hoping everything works out we advise you to test your product in the early stages of design, even if it looks crappy or has the minimum features or amenities. It’s very easy to make changes in the early phases of design and development than in the end.

    As a design agency sometimes we even show pencil sketches to our clients and get their feedback, we take notes of a meeting and get feedback so we are not vulnerable to misunderstandings and rework. Getting feedback and making changes in the early phases of design is a lifesaver.

    Here is what Guy Kawasaki, an evangelist, author, speaker and one of the original Apple employees responsible for marketing the line of Macintosh computers in 1984 has to say about being crappy:

    “The first step in launching a company is not to fire up Word, PowerPoint, or Excel. There’s a time for using these applications, but it’s not now. Instead, your next step is to build a prototype of your product and get it to customers. I call this, “Don’t worry, be crappy”—inspired by Bobby McFerrin’s song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”

    Another way to use this philosophy is by employing what’s called an MVP, a Minimum Viable Product. A minimum viable product (MVP) is a version of a product with just enough features to be usable by early customers who can then provide feedback for future product development.

    Eric Ries, the author of The Lean Startup explains the MVP concept in this way:

    “It is not necessarily the smallest product imaginable, though; it is simply the fastest way to get through the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop with the minimum amount of effort. . . . The goal of the MVP is to begin the process, not end it.”

    Mr Kawasaki adds two words to MVP and transforms the acronym to MVVVP: Minimum Viable Valuable Validating Product.

    First, the product can be viable—able to get through the feedback loop and make money—but that’s not enough. He says: “It should also be valuable in that it jumps curves, makes meaning and changes the world. Let’s aim high!”

    Second, the product should also validate the vision of your startup. Otherwise, you may have a viable and valuable product (which is good) but not necessarily one that validates the big picture of what you’re trying to achieve.

    For example, the first iPod was not only a viable product (early to market and profitable); it was also valuable (the first way to legally and conveniently buy music for a handy device) and validating (people wanted elegant consumer devices and Apple could transcend selling only computers and peripherals).

    The right way to build an MVP (Source)

    Note well that this is not permission to ship a piece of crap but a suggestion for a shift in the mindset i.e. Instead of going all in at once and then regretting or delaying because of the belief in measure twice cut once there’s a third option viz to see each idea as a hypothesis, placing small bets and learning from them, constantly validating and pivoting the business model as necessary. This would lead to the development of a really fluid and progressive organisation.

    What are your thoughts on this? Let me know in the comments below. And if you enjoyed this post, share it with your family, friends and fellow entrepreneurs. After all, sharing is caring :).

  • The Future of Business is Personal: Building Relationships in the Digital Age

    The Future of Business is Personal: Building Relationships in the Digital Age

    Introduction:

    In an era dominated by technology, the future of business is increasingly personal. As consumers become more discerning and demanding, businesses must shift their focus from simply selling products or services to building meaningful relationships with their customers. This article explores the importance of personalization in business and provides strategies for fostering deeper connections with your audience.

    The Rise of Personalization

    The digital age has empowered consumers with unprecedented access to information and choice. To stand out in this competitive landscape, businesses must go beyond generic marketing messages and offer personalized experiences that resonate with individual customers. Personalization involves tailoring products, services, and communications to meet the specific needs and preferences of each customer.

    Key Benefits of Personalization

    1. Increased customer satisfaction: When businesses provide personalized experiences, customers feel valued and understood, leading to higher satisfaction levels.
    2. Improved customer loyalty: Customers who feel a personal connection to a brand are more likely to remain loyal and advocate for the business.
    3. Higher conversion rates: Personalized marketing campaigns can significantly improve conversion rates by targeting the right audience with the right message at the right time.
    4. Enhanced customer lifetime value: By building strong relationships with customers, businesses can increase their lifetime value and generate long-term revenue.

    Strategies for Personalizing Your Business

    1. Collect and analyze customer data: Gather information about your customers’ preferences, behaviors, and demographics to gain valuable insights.
    2. Segment your customer base: Divide your customers into distinct segments based on shared characteristics to tailor your marketing efforts.
    3. Personalize your communications: Use customer data to create personalized messages and offers that resonate with individual customers.
    4. Offer personalized product recommendations: Leverage customer data to suggest relevant products or services that align with their interests.
    5. Create personalized experiences: Go beyond products and services to provide personalized experiences, such as personalized customer support or exclusive events.

    Conclusion

    The future of business is undeniably personal. By focusing on building strong relationships with customers and providing personalized experiences, businesses can thrive in the digital age. By implementing the strategies outlined in this article, you can position your business for success in the years to come.

  • The myth of Work-Life Balance

    The myth of Work-Life Balance

    Life is not really divided into semesters, academic or financial years, months, weeks and days, nor is it divided into work, recreation, play, hobbies etc. All these are just mental abstractions devised for practical benefits. And while they serve a purpose they also come at a price, any time we divide anything into aspects we eventually forget that we created the split but it’s not fragmented on its own. Now that being said let’s return to the topic of work-life balance.

    The idea of work-life balance however noble at its source really impoverishes one’s experience of life. Because it is impossible to separate both. Let’s say you had a huge financial gain at work, would it affect your personal life? Hopefully yes! Now let’s say you are happy in your personal life will that affect your productivity at work? Speaking from experience, a definite Yes! But the influence can also go another way around, both work and life can have a negative influence on each other. This is because work is not separate from life but a part of life. A part that will occupy a large amount of your day.

    So let’s say we change the terminology from work-life balance to work-play balance, what would happen then? This would mean that you would spend majority of your day on something that you’d regard as purposeful work then to make enough money and spare time for something else called Play, something you’d enjoy. Well that’s not good either for it is better to regard everything we do as play by letting go of seriousness but maintaining sincerity otherwise one would be stuck in this conflict of what you need to do versus what you want to do and that would make your life a living hell.

    But now one might say that it’s not easy to regard my job as play because it requires serious effort or I hate my job but I have responsibilities so I can’t quit it. In the second case I might advise a change of career in a long run but in the short run in both cases I would like to point out that – psychologically speaking – being too serious or grim is not making you any more efficient than being playful. It gives us a sense of being more productive because you feel it as this mental strain but it’s not helpful whatsoever.

    Research has shown us over and over again that flow state is the most productive work state, athletes might call it being in the zone. I know it’s easier said than done but it’s possible with some effort to make any work a little more enjoyable and playful by not resisting it and by flowing with it because by resisting it we are just fighting ourselves.

    I might be in a miserable situation but if I keep telling myself it’s miserable than I am only destroying my positive energy while by not repeating it’s miserable and focusing on some positive aspect or some positive vision for future while still not giving up on the effort, still being sincere but without being serious makes a huge difference for me.

    Now returning to the idea of work-life balance instead of striving for balance, striving for a dynamic equilibrium could be much more helpful, that would be much more organic than allocating fixed hours for something and sticking to it, it is ok to not workout some days, it is ok to not be 100% productive every single day, it is ok to be in a rut sometimes. Understand that everything is cyclic and has it’s own rhythm.

    Cut yourself some slack, even the sun doesn’t shine for same hours throughout the year, even the moon doesn’t show up on your window looking the same everyday. So instead of trying to find this perfect balance focus on the thing that comes easiest and most natural to you and do so with joy and keep on doing one thing at a time, no multitasking just one thing at a time.

    Turn your life into a dance, a symphony, playing one note at a time with perfect presence and joy. Celebrate little things and that will get the ball rolling and instead of arriving at balance you will arrive at something better, it’s called fulfilment.

    What are your thoughts on this? Let me know in the comments below. Like and Share, for Sharing is Caring ;).

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