Small Business Community was first published on Women in Focus.
Women in Focus is a website and initiative by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. It is a place for women to be inspired, informed and connected with other women in business in Australia and around the world. Angela Vithoulkas, CEO of VIVO Cafe Group, radio broadcaster of Eagle Waves Radio and public speaker, will be the Guru on the Business Beat section and will be providing weekly articles on all things small business.
The GFC has had more casualties than the obvious. It has hit the not for profit / charity world hard as well. The economic crisis that we have been through and are still going through has meant that one of the first places corporations cut back from is donations and sponsorships. This means that NFP have a short fall that in turn will affect a community that has already run out of options and suddenly allies. Small Business has long been active in the community at a grass roots level. No bells & whistles, just real differences that matter more than money.
The very spirit of small business is to find solutions and options that run with a small or non existent budget. It’s never easy, for many of us in small business we are barely keeping our heads above water, let alone having an excess of funds and finding somewhere to park it. We know that it’s a very fine line between the haves and the have nots and that’s why we fight so hard to help in anyway we can. Sometimes it’s the option that’s open to all of us – a cheque, but mostly it’s the one thing that big business can’t even come close to doing; our time.
Imperfect Business Daughter was first published on Women in Focus.
Women in Focus is a website and initiative by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. It is a place for women to be inspired, informed and connected with other women in business in Australia and around the world. Angela Vithoulkas, CEO of VIVO Cafe Group, radio broadcaster of Eagle Waves Radio and public speaker, will be the Guru on the Business Beat section and will be providing weekly articles on all things small business.
I carry my guilt as an imperfect daughter like a handbag – sometimes I empty it out, mostly I add to it and give myself permanent neck pain. Some of it I attribute to my Greek culture, some of it to just being a daughter who followed in her mothers footsteps somewhat but never quite gets it right. These are my words not hers.
My mother was a small business owner since before I was born, while I was growing up and eventually we became partners for 15 years until she retired 12 years ago. We share a very unique experience and history, and I think my mother would completely understand if I had this conversation with her, but I won’t. How can I tell her that I may be happy in my business choices, that my career has brought me much satisfaction and fed my soul in ways I never dreamed, but as a daughter I think I leave much to be desired.
Robbed of Fashion was first published on Women in Focus.
Women in Focus is a website and initiative by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. It is a place for women to be inspired, informed and connected with other women in business in Australia and around the world. Angela Vithoulkas, CEO of VIVO Cafe Group, radio broadcaster of Eagle Waves Radio and public speaker, will be the Guru on the Business Beat section and will be providing weekly articles on all things small business.
Should it really matter how you look or dress at work if your work isn’t fashion related? Why do we make assumptions and characterisations based on what we see others wearing? Can you honestly say you have never done this?
Too many questions?
I have spent most of my life growing up and working in hospitality, not an industry known for its fashion forward dress code. Yet I know I have been and am judged by what I wear, and I do the very same thing to my customers – the more expensive the suit, the smaller the tip.
I like wearing a uniform at work, it saves time and money, and I don’t worry about how I look - only the work that needs to get done. I find it non negotiable to be comfortable in an outfit that is going to be on me for 16 hours, that includes my steel toe cap boots and very thick socks. I can’t do my job in heels or flats; I can’t do my job without my hair up and at least 2 pens in it. I certainly can’t do my job in a fancy suit that restricts my breathing and I would worry about it getting dirty.
Online Business Radio was first published on Women in Focus.
Women in Focus is a website and initiative by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. It is a place for women to be inspired, informed and connected with other women in business in Australia and around the world. Angela Vithoulkas, CEO of VIVO Cafe Group, radio broadcaster of Eagle Waves Radio and public speaker, will be the Guru on the Business Beat section and will be providing weekly articles on all things small business.
Don’t you love those ideas that come to you as an epiphany and seem so amazing? They seem clear and strong, quite simple and straight forward. They settle around you like fairy dust and make you have secret smiles, the kind only you can see and feel because you are not ready to share it yet. Then piece by piece it builds in your mind, it makes it to paper, you tell someone and then you have the start of a plan. Uh oh, you now need to put up or shut up. That’s what happened to me 6 months ago.
Innovation Overload was first published on Women in Focus.
Women in Focus is a website and initiative by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. It is a place for women to be inspired, informed and connected with other women in business in Australia and around the world. Angela Vithoulkas, CEO of VIVO Cafe Group, radio broadcaster of Eagle Waves Radio and public speaker, will be the Guru on the Business Beat section and will be providing weekly articles on all things small business.
Let’s start with some big words; cutting edge, innovative, extremely big WOW factor, world first, powerfully creative, world class leader. Did you sit up straighter as you read these words or did you start to feel inferior ever so slightly? What if you are a regular business owner who didn’t re invent the wheel or discover a new strand of DNA? What if your ambitions don’t include world domination, just a good life for you and your family? Where do you sit in this business dominion that seems to rejoice and celebrate you only if they can label you “innovative” and “creative”? Well, you would be sitting with me. Hi. Welcome to my world.