Archive for the ‘Women in Business’ Category
Your health is good business was first published on Women in Focus.
Women in Focus is a recently launched 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, will be the Guru on the Business Beat section and will be providing weekly articles on all things small business.
I don’t tolerate my own health weaknesses very well. Yet my major business decisions, plans and moves came from either my own health crisis or those close to me. Although I also acknowledge that I have a very short memory of these milestones and always believe it won’t happen to me….
I’m sure I’ve mentioned once or twice before that I have been in business with my brother all our business lives. We have grown up together literally in the hospitality world. We know what its like to have a health crisis in business and the effect it can have on those around you. And when the one thing that you have always relied on lets you down - YOU, it’s an eye opener.
Your Actions in Business Matter was first published on Women in Focus.
Women in Focus is a recently launched 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, will be the Guru on the Business Beat section and will be providing weekly articles on all things small business.
We hear the words “sustainable, green, environmentally friendly, climate change” just to name a few, and some of us may either be overwhelmed or confused. Personally I was dismissive as to how any of that mattered to my business. I understood on the personal front, but didn’t really have any idea as to how it would fit in with my business, affect my business or even be effective for my business. After all, my business and the environment didn’t really influence each other did they? WRONG.
During one of my moments of what the corporate world calls “strategic planning” but I call just plain thinking, I was of course drinking coffee. That’s what I do so nothing too mind blowing there. But it was out of a paper cup, and that got the thought process started. This in itself is a dangerous path as my team would attest. It usually results in change, and that is not what my team likes, it is what my business likes and therefore me. And all of us know that Business Actions mean growth, improvements and of course change.
Is winning everything? was first published on Women in Focus.
Women in Focus is a recently launched 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, will be the Guru on the Business Beat section and will be providing weekly articles on all things small business.
Uh oh, I could be in trouble with this answer. Everything is pretty all encompassing, not a lot of wiggle room here. But I want to be clear and narrow this very broad sentence; I’m referring to awards and what they mean to a business and the owner. For me they have meant a lot, for others nothing. Would I describe it as “everything”? Yes.
Asking the question “is winning everything” will annoy some people, and rightly so. I’m not back peddling but I am saying that it’s not only winners who win. It’s what you do with it that matters and makes the difference.
Business Youth was first published on Women in Focus
Women in Focus is a recently launched 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, will be the Guru on the Business Beat section and will be providing weekly articles on all things small business.
For me there are two types of youth in business; one is when you are literally a young age person in business and the other is when your business is young, perhaps just starting out. While one is about the person and the other is about the business, they do have a lot in common. I say that because I have always believed a business has its own spirit, its own identity often in spite of its owner. They both have a heart; they just don’t look the same.
Ah, I remember the early days of being a “young person” in business. The energy, the exuberance, the denial. I was 18 when I first started running my family business and 21 when I went solo. I really did believe I knew everything. Now just before you presume this is a young person bashing, its not. It’s a fond memory walk down a bitter sweet path of experiences that I could have done without on an emotional level, but were necessary on a business level. I look back at the young girl I was and wish I could wind back the clock and jump in with some wise words and a hug. On the other hand, I was tougher than I gave myself credit for.
What’s ahead
Business Daughters was first published on Women in Focus
Women in Focus is a recently launched 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, will be the Guru on the Business Beat section and will be providing weekly articles on all things small business.
We often hear of the struggle we have as women to have it all and do it all. The pressure we are under to be superwomen, manage families and work, look great and unruffled. Then we wonder what effect we have on our families when we don’t meet these expectations, let alone ourselves. We agonise over the long term results - will our children hate or appreciate our sacrifices, will our partners understand and are we even happy doing it “all”. Well, speaking as a daughter of a mother who walked this path and then later as a daughter in business following in her shoes, I think I can safely say the research is in.
I spent my entire life sharing my mother with every business she ever bought and worked. I grew up in the back of a shop. I did my homework on the counter in between my list of jobs. It’s just the way it was.
Raising the family
Staff vs Boss in Business was first published on Women in Focus
Women in Focus is a recently launched 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, will be the Guru on the Business Beat section and will be providing weekly articles on all things small business.
Sounds a bit like the Twilight movie doesn’t it? Are you on Team Staff or Team Boss? Is it this adversarial in reality or just perception? Do small business owners and staff see it different to the rest of the world? Possibly.
Regardless of the size of your business or team, staff is one of the biggest challenges any business owner faces. I have spoken with hundreds of owners and managers, and the most frequent question I get is “how do you deal with your staff?” Now that’s the million dollar question that some people have built empires on, consult on and lecture on. But no one can give you the definitive answer because there isn’t one. It’s a people thing. We are a wild card us people, and since no two people are the same…..well, you get my drift.
Friends and business was first published on Women in Focus
Women in Focus is a recently launched 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, will be the Guru on the Business Beat section and will be providing weekly articles on all things small business.
As a self employed business owner of many many years, I have gathered some experience along the way and wisdom tends to come from walking a path barefoot, strewn with broken glass. It’s almost a right of passage to have a scar or two. So the subject of doing business with friends has come up a lot. For some it’s almost a mantra “never do business with friends”. And what about doing business with family? That’s a big one and a whole other blog.
Do women find it harder to do business with friends than men? Do we always regret it when it gets too hard or we feel we are about to lose our friendship because someone is getting the better deal and we feel resentful? We have all heard of mates rates but what does that mean for our business?
To talk about me personally in small business over the years feels difficult. It had always been strictly about business, never personal. My blogs and keynotes are about real life business and real life business experiences. These don’t often include details of the emotional toll and the personal sacrifices that naturally occur along the way. I have always believed it to be a bit like airing the dirty laundry. But having previously discussed my parents, my brother and my business and not revealed some of my own puzzle seemed hypocritical. So, in the interests of fairness, here is a little bit of me.
It has seemed in the past (and still perhaps) that we have been quiet as business owners with regards to how we are treated by our politicians and government.
We have tended to keep our head down and get on with the job. Our job, our risk, our problems. We are almost pre-disposed to accepting what is dealt to us with little if any opposition. Interest rates going up, up and more up, banks reducing funds access to small business (when we were not the ones over borrowing), our overheads skyrocketing - power, gas, fuel, stock, wages….. When will it end?