CORK WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Map your progress:
Keeping a diary of your goals, ambitions and outcomes is a good source of knowledge to fall back on. By logging the dos and don’ts of your business journey, it allows you to see where you may have done better and what works. This is a simple and invaluable route to self-sustained success.
Make all customers/clients feel important:
The nature of business tends to favour what is successful and what works. This is also true of customers and clients and human nature being what it is, we will usually gravitate towards those who are most of use to the overall prosperity of a business. But beware. All customers – not just successful ones - have potential to become valuable to your business. Circumstances change for all of us and you never know when a moderately good customer will suddenly become an invaluable one. So treat all of them the same.
Assess trends:
One of the pitfalls of business is stagnation. When things are going well people can lapse into a false sense of security. Don’t allow this to happen. Even if your business is flourishing, there is always something new happening, or is about to happen, out there. Watch and follow closely patterns and be ready to insulate or maximise accordingly to any period of change.
Staff are important:
Old habits die hard and one that still lingers is the notion of taking staff for granted. Once upon a time the belief was the harder staff worked the better. This has proven to be false and nothing separates a business more from success than lethargy and burnout. Staff know they’re expected to work. But make tasks realistic and manageable and you will have a more enthusiastic and productive staff base. Think long-term for your staff. Week to week burn out achieves far less than you might think.
Make ‘thinking’ time a habit:
The busy world of working lives demands that we isolate ourselves periodically with the aim of thinking things through. The fast flowing nature of a workplace is not conducive to clear thought. Get used to making short ‘thinking breaks’ throughout the week. Make a space specific to this need. Take time out and think over what’s going on around you, minus the hustle and bustle.