Archive for the ‘Women in Focus’ Category
Isolated as a Business Owner 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, will be the Guru on the Business Beat section and will be providing weekly articles on all things small business.
We work hard; we dedicate ourselves to building our businesses, to looking after our families and finding that never ending search for balance. On this journey peppered with moments of elation, triumph, pain and a good pinch of ”ok what’s next?” there is a fair bit of loneliness. At least for me as a business owner that’s been the case. I’ve had nowhere to go to find information, to connect or discover things beyond my own experience. Nowhere to share or lessen my burden. Organisations and industry bodies were for unions and “professionals”, not for people like me. Thank goodness times have changed.
It’s not easy for others who aren’t business owners to understand what it’s like. Sometimes it’s hard for me to understand! I have been self employed for most of my entire life; I started when I was 17. I don’t know any other way of life. I never made friends at work since everyone at work has always been employees. I have been conscious of the line between friends, employees and customers. Early on I learnt my lesson after some experiences that really blew up in my face. There have certainly been exceptions to these self imposed rules which are a delight, but they remain exceptions.
New Startup Thrills 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, will be the Guru on the Business Beat section and will be providing weekly articles on all things small business.
There should be a drum roll, a symphony written specifically for the unveiling of a new business, and fireworks. Definitely fireworks. Launching a startup should be something I’m used to, since I’ve been setting up new businesses for decades. But this is a very different story, a new chapter and a massive adventure that has had me breathless for 18 weeks. Wow, I even have that sick excited feeling in the pit of my stomach right now as I’m writing. #gulpdifficultyswallowing.
I’m going to share some of the journey of my new startup business up to launch day. Conception to launch is 18 weeks of nail biting moments, fantasy dreams, weird desires, work and friend conflicts, family and business dramas. I think my hands have been shaking the entire time. Of course I am simultaneously launching 2 businesses with 2 others on the drawing board and let’s not forget the existing business - my day job that pays the bills!
Small Business Truths 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, will be the Guru on the Business Beat section and will be providing weekly articles on all things small business.
Your duty and role as a business owner - boss, head honcho, CEO, call it whatever you like, is to face and deliver the truth. The whole truth and nothing but the entire small business truth. Of course you do one or two other things occasionally that also impact on the business (I assume you can hear my sarcasm here?) but nothing more intuitive than seeing reality.
I spent many years as a “boss” assuming my job was to turn up and do stuff. That the rest just happened, and it did in many ways for many years. But to grow a brand, to take the next steps in building a bigger business requires some hard truths and tough decisions. Sometimes circumstances create the catalyst; sometimes we do it because we recognise the need. Sometimes we don’t and we can end up loosing a lot.
Family Business Crisis- Push or Pull 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, will be the Guru on the Business Beat section and will be providing weekly articles on all things small business.
I have been in business long enough to know that things can get tough - it’s just the law of time, almost three decades in business can’t sail past without drama. As an employer I face staff dilemmas, cash flow challenges, growth decisions, competitors, personal limitations and buckets of stress. I also face serving my own self satisfaction in the constant push pull of life balance versus work. Still working on that one.
This week I face the greatest challenge of all - my business partner is sick and looks like a long extended leave of absence. I am resentful and annoyed and worried. We have been in business together all of our lives, officially 27 years. Right now as I write this post he is waiting for major surgery and I have to cope with more than I ever should - and so is the business. He is also my brother.
Knew or new business ideas? 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 so many small businesses, the start of the New Year is full of resolutions, plans, strategies, promises and commitment to change. It signifies hope. For just as many small businesses it represents a tough financial time, a realization of limitations and an in-your-face look at the shape of their business. It’s tough either way.
It may seem strange to label hope and plans for the future as tough, but resolutions don’t come free. When you say out loud what you wish for or where you want your business to go, be or achieve, you pretty much set yourself a benchmark that’s a yes or no situation. Its black or white, it’s a you did it or you didn’t. Suffice to say I’m not much for New Year Resolutions!
Royal green 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’m really happy that November is the environment month for Women in Focus. I need the whole month just to get through some of what green business, sustainability and the environment means to me. Add to the mixture a royal event and a world record and I think I may need more than just November!
World record
In my other day job as a radio broadcaster for small business, I set a goal a few months back to have a completely green show - green guests (not in colour, although that would have been fun had I thought of it at the time..), green businesses and most importantly offsetting the whole show itself. This was a world first world record event. That’s what took place on Monday 14 November.
Is green the new 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.
There is no doubt that being green in business has spawned a whole other industry or niche market. There are many new companies that have sprung up to advise, develop, resolve, promote and substitute our bad habits for good. The government and Carbon Tax fit in there somewhere as well.
I’m somewhat old school about business - I need to see a product or understand a service for me to be convinced that it exists. Climate change has become a commodity on top of a social enterprise on top of a divided scientific community. It’s a bit like PR when you think about it. Difficult to actually see a return on your investment but can you afford to not do it?
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