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!

Declarations of change can’t be limited to a calendar month, nor should they be governed by it. If you don’t promise something in the New Year does it mean it’s less official or it doesn’t exist? I seem to have miss placed the rule book here. It should never be too late or early to make a difference.

Each New Year brings a January rife with the pressure of making resolutions and then the question of “did you achieve your last year’s resolution?” As a business plan, it sucks. Your business doesn’t identify with this system, your budget doesn’t and neither does any balance sheet entry I know of.

Crystal ball business

I prefer to challenge myself in my business, rather than set a demand for the business. What’s the difference? A lot. Why? Because my crystal ball isn’t always reliable and it doesn’t have an EFT function to pay the bills. I also dislike failure; I find it a negative influence and a real confidence killer.

For example - sales are a focus for me in 2012. The question I have asked of ME, not the business is “how?” What I can do differently this year that will change the sales outcome? I can’t just say I want more sales or I will get more sales. Statements aren’t answers. Questions bring answers.

I’m asking the questions; I’m discovering my game plan and allowing the tactic to blossom rather than issuing ultimatums. Of course sales managers everywhere are cringing at this and screaming “targets, numbers!”

I learnt many moons ago that the most effective way to bring about change within my business was to start with me. Usually the culprit for good or bad results within the business begins or fails with the leader. We determine much of the destiny of our business therefore we are the “knew or new”.

Knew

When we make our business or growth plans, we include information that we know. We know what ideas worked in our business or, more importantly what didn’t. History tells us a lot. We can analyze performance and dissect results. So I ask “what do I know?”

New

Brand new ideas look all shiny and fresh from the outside, but on closer inspection they are usually the result of adapting bad or old ideas that didn’t work. I’m not talking about innovation or inventions; I would assume that these are not reserved for the month of January only! After questions comes new answers, the things I knew become and develop into the new things.

January is a beginning, but remember that December was a few days ago and business is a cycle not a stop start. January should be about the future, about the coming weeks and months and about you the business owner. For me it’s about resolving rather than resolution. One is a solution and the other somehow limits me. I guess it has different meanings for all of us, but if I could wave my guru wand - yes they gave us one along with the title - I would wish for a little bit less of the commando January action that requires superwomen powers to execute. Maybe we should just enjoy the season, get the kids ready for school, take a walk, get a life…mmm, I’m sure I asked Santa for that one. Oh well, maybe next year! Happy month of questions, happy New Year of answers to you all!

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.

When the words “disability” or “impairment” are mentioned in the workplace, many things happen. A noticeable shift takes place, people look away or shuffle their feet. They are not quite sure whether they should say something or nothing. Have our attitudes changed much regarding employing or doing business with people who have a disability or impairment?

I recently had the pleasure to interview Greg Standen from Hassle Free Marketing on one of my radio shows. He is the proprietor of the business and was coming on the show to talk about employing people in the workforce who may have physical challenges. It didn’t occur to me right away that he may have a challenge himself. When the thought eventually crossed my mind, I was too embarrassed to ring and ask him if he needed anything “special” from me.

Should I or shouldn’t I?

I did reach toward the telephone once or twice; I drafted a couple of emails and I even contemplated delegating it to my production team to ask the question that I couldn’t seem to. Then I was happy to move the responsibility to Greg - if he had specific requirements then I assume he would tell me…..?

Well, he didn’t tell me. He arrived in a wheelchair and for the first time I saw the studio and the building through his eyes. The doorways were narrow, there is a step from the green room into the studio, and naturally there are several steps just to get into the building. None of that even slightly slowed him down. In fact, he found a way into the station that I didn’t know about and I have been going there for over six months.

Great expectations

I’m not holding him in awe, I’m sure he wouldn’t want that. Actually I am holding him in awe, because I whine about being on my feet all day….Greg doesn’t want you to judge him on the way he gets around, but he is also open about any help or accommodation that can be made so that he can get his work done as fast and as thorough as anyone else. That’s exactly my expectation from a client. He is a smart, intelligent and focused business owner and I would expect nothing less than that of any small business owner. He is also very supportive of the small business community, of organisations who are supportive of finding employment solutions for people with physical challenges and to top it all off, he’s a nice guy. Great sense of humour as well.

Do we expect people who have a sensory or mobility challenge to not be capable business owners? Do we assume we will have to make many allowances just so that we are seen to be fair? I think this is true to some degree. I imagine this is the case due to our lack of knowledge and first hand experience. Not anything more sinister other than if you haven’t ever had to get around in a wheelchair then you most likely have no idea that stairs are your enemy and doorways are design flaws.

First business impressions

It’s not just our business sites that should be friendlier to people who have an impairment, it’s how we do business in general with people who may be impaired. Judging any book by its cover automatically pigeon holes and dismisses the potential of any relationship. I’m sure many of us conduct business with people we have never met. They may well just be a voice on the phone or a signature on an email or even a twitter handle. I’m equally sure that we have been happy dealing with these people whom we have never met. Now imagine you meet them and they are in a wheelchair, has anything changed besides the possibility of your sudden impaired judgment?

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.

Health shock

Many years ago when we started our very first café, my brother had a devastating accident. We had been open only a few weeks when he was involved in a car accident that left him unable to work for several months and tragically saw the loss of an aunt and two of our cousins. I was in shock and confused, I even thought about closing the business down. It was so hard for me and of course for him, but in very different ways. I was left with a new business that wasn’t doing well, unable to concentrate and then faced a mutiny from staff who demanded a massive pay rise to stay. When the sharks smell blood in the water they circle in for the strike. I was twenty one at the time.

I worked myself so hard for almost a year, seven days non stop. I never saw my friends, never went out. I concentrated only on getting the business up and running and coping without my partner. When my brother came back full time I was already over worked and stressed to the max. My body had almost forgotten to sleep properly, my diet was crappy and I lived on sugar. It was almost another year before I would admit that I was physically unable to keep going. They make em tough where I come from!

We sold that business, fortunately we did very well. But I had to take a year off to recover. I’m sure my business plan left out the part (assuming I had written one of course) “allow for one year of recovery when faced with heath issues”.

Pushing your health limit

Women tend to push themselves harder I think. At least the women in my family do. My mother worked seven days a week in her businesses, I watched her growing up. She worked hard, never took time off unless she sold a business and never used the excuse “I’m sick”. That’s the example I had so that’s how I work. But she is paying the price for it now. That said she is 70 years old and can still work a ten hour day, although she is coming face to face with age kicking and screaming the whole way. I have always pushed myself hard, worked through ill health and pain. Is that something I’m proud of? Sometimes yes, mostly no.

A few years ago I learnt my biggest business lesson when I fell down a flight of stairs and fractured my neck. It didn’t stop me from working. It did make my life miserable and everyone else’s too. Being a martyr only looks good in stories of saints, no one who really cares about you wants to see you behave that way. It’s also not good for business when you have to deal face to face with people.

Pay attention to you

Instead of taking the time I needed to get better, I pushed through days of excruciating pain and humiliation. My mother had to come to my house everyday to help me get dressed and brush my hair, then come to work as well since I couldn’t go to the bathroom by myself. Does it sound nuts? It was. But it was a new business and I had memories of what had happened last time with my brother and I just didn’t want him to go through that. This went on for four months before I was able to be independent again. On the surface anyway, that’s how it looked.

I’m not proud of this time in my life, I think I short changed my business, my family and myself. I know I’m tough; I’m blessed with what I call good bounce back genes. We don’t take long to get over things; we just get on with it. This isn’t the best choice, and women often put their needs - emotional & physical, last. But if we take a moment to ponder the advice they give you on an airplane before you take off “put your own mask on before anyone else’s, so that you CAN actually help them” we may just make a decision that works for us and therefore everyone else.

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.

November has been the month of green here at Women in Focus. The whole green topic has made me reflective, a bit out of the blue actually - no colour pun intended! I have paid closer attention to any mention of green or sustainability, and paid a lot more attention to what’s going on in the corporate world. For instance the 2030 Sustainability Plan for the City Of Sydney.

When I say reflective, I do mean reflective in my business - I haven’t quite got to the point of making this blog a “Dear Abbey” retro thing! It must also be this time of the year as well. As the year comes to a close plans for 2012 must be considered. I have begun to contemplate the position my business could find itself in, in terms of sustainability and being green. What if I can’t do more? Or am I concentrating too much on being green and forgetting the fundamentals of running and growing my business.

How much $ is green?

Every major company or government - state and federal, has greens plans in place for the future, blueprints that have step by step structure of their goals and intentions. Yet small business cannot afford to do this. I can’t plan for 2030, or anywhere near that. Will this compromise my ethical plans? I have an obligation to pursue a profitable plan, to drive sales and incorporate an exit strategy. I don’t know how much room their will be for green. It’s been a tough conversation to have with myself. I thought my commitment to change would just fit in with everything that needs to happen to keep the doors open.

These thoughts then bring about the next level of questions - how does small business deal with this? We don’t. How will we rectify this? We don’t know.

Is it just a matter of being less demanding on ourselves and simply say that some attempt at feeding the green frenzy is better than none? Or should we just hope no one notices that we don’t have a long term plan and we will just blend in and not stand out? I hope not.

Forced change

I think change happens in many many ways, and embarrassing small business into it is not the way. We don’t have big cheque books to just initiate plans that most likely will not make us any return on our business investment. Honestly, a lot of small business will make decisions based on what they can afford, not so much on what society thinks is the best social responsibility course of action.

It comes down to communication as usual. We need more help - what are our options? Our real, doable, possible and affordable options? Not pie in the sky stuff. There are many businesses out there that can help small business in this area but we just don’t know about them. Why not? Are we just not listening and looking, is it too hard for us? Yes. To all of it.

Green business choices

My reflective time has highlighted many questions for me; it’s also brought some answers. Small business is resilient, we tend to absorb a lot, handle tough times and come out bigger and better from the hurricanes and tornados that the economic climate has delivered of late. Can we make enough change in our businesses to impact change in the future green world that’s coming, ready or not? Of course we can. We just need to look at everything in our own unique way, not necessarily the corporate or bureaucratic way. We know what suits our business and we need to focus on that.

Each one of our distinctive businesses is capable of making a difference, we just need to not assume that we will implement all the changes that big business does and will. For some, it will be minor changes, for others huge. For some our future plans will include very long term projections and cultural shifts, for others it won’t. That’s just business, and we are doing our best to be the best we can be. For today and for tomorrow.

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.

I do several shows a week; my Monday night show is called Angela’s Business Mix. This is for community radio 2SSR, 99.7fm. You can listen via radio or online 2ssr.com.au, Mondays 6-8pm. I chose to make this particular show green in keeping with the community spirit.

We offset the entire show including: the guests transport to and from the show, my teams transport, mine and the power to run the show. We also took into account every physical item we used to make the show happen - paper, beverages etc.

Guests were easy; the difficulty was in choosing just a few. I think it needs to be a weekly green show personally, but that’s a whole other job! They weren’t your typical green businesses either, I’m happy to say. Like Australian Graffiti Register, a national business which is helping to win the fight against vandals and saving the environment. They demonstrate how a business can operate within a community and provide a platform for several organisations to come together and improve this very serious and costly challenge. Local councils, police and the public come together to make a difference.

Young greens

I didn’t want to leave out our youth either, a wonderful organisation called Hot Rock introduces programs in our schools to inspire and motivate students and teachers into being sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Phil Smith from Hot Rock brought in some students from Engadine High to share their stories, including the documentaries they are making, songs they are writing and artwork. Again, not your typical plan or strategy!  Emissions Management Scheme a start up business came on the show to discuss the type of technologies that are available for small business regarding carbon reduction. Some of their stories included businesses saving up to 60% in costs, without changing their equipment, just their behaviour.

Green royals and food power

To top off my week, I was fortunate to attend an event called “Curating Cities: Sydney & Copenhagen” hosted by our Lord Mayor City Of Sydney and of course the Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark. I must admit I did get all excited and I did practice my curtsey just in case….

This event showcased artists and even more interesting, food and beverage!

People got on exercise bikes to generate enough power for blenders to make fruit cocktails and smoothies, right there in front of us. For a very brief moment I did wonder how many bikes and people I would need in my café to do this.

And no, Princess Mary did not get on the bike, no she didn’t bring the twins and yes she is very beautiful.

Cocktails and dreams

Have you ever had a Wet Kiss or a Murkish Delight? I hadn’t until last week. At least not the kind of wet kiss that is made by a company called Cross X Species. This company focuses on and experiments with food products to promote emergent food systems and their habitats.

The Wet Kiss was a purple marshmallow canapé. Marshmallow is a wetland plant and used as a medium to educate us that one of the greatest extinctions of a species since the dinosaurs is happening right now - the amphibians.

The Murkish Delight Canapé was a golden air bubble made of vodka, vermouth and green olives. In my world that’s a martini. Here it was to invite us to invert our own experience of the terrestrial environment and the wetland. Very cool on both fronts. Go to www.carbonarts.org and click on the Cross X Species Adventure Club for more details.

So as you can see, in the space of a week, my life information level changed again, and I still haven’t even begun to share. It’s a curious world right now, as we become very creative in our message delivery and the way we process our information. Who doesn’t think a message delivered via a martini will be heard? Or how wonderfully motivated our students are to take the message even further? And how lucky am I to be a part of it as well.

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?

Are you a believer?

Skeptics around the environment may or may not be justified; this is not the point of this blog. What ever your thoughts, improving our planet is something we should all be united on. I don’t think any evidence exists against this. What I like the most is that the conversation and debate is well and truly underway. We are consciously looking at alternative choices and options that are for the better.

As with most aspects of business, nothing is easy. So why would the climate or being green be any different? It’s not. Green Business is big business. Local government, state government, federal government, international bodies, representative bodies, large organisations and the corporate big business world in general all have active mandates addressing the green challenge. They all have short and long term initiatives, boards, advisory panels and experts. Yet a major hurdle of this movement has a rather large and noticeable missing link; SMALL BUSINESS.

Big needs small

I am not surprised. Anything on a big scale needs the co-operation and support of small business if it’s going to have a meaningful impact. The usual suspects have reared their ugly heads and made small business scared of being green, of discussing the climate issue and of course lets not even contemplate that there could be alternatives for small business that wont send them broke.

The global climate challenge for the planet needs to be addressed for and by small business. Baby steps to make the leaps sustainable. Small victories to ensure the war can be won battle by battle. We emit carbon, we need to reduce carbon. Could it be that simple?

Climate Friendly

This week I had the pleasure of working with an organisation called Climate Friendly. They have produced a starter kit for business. They are an offset provider and understand that this entire matter is not about making anyone feel guilty about how they operate, but rather about what can be done to balance and reduce our conflict. They organised a small but effective event for small business to come together to hear what can be done right now.

It’s not about preaching and pointing out our sins - for the most part business is operating with the tools that are available, with the technologies that are in place. Most of us are not in the business of inventing innovation nor is there any logic in sending any business into closure. Sometimes there are no better green choices available that we can afford. But we can afford to offset our emissions and communicate this with our staff and customers. That’s how we can make the biggest impact, by sharing what we are all doing. By bringing to light the improvements we have made in our businesses that on their own are little ripples, but together will bring about change.

Choices and options

The whole point of offsetting your emissions and purchasing carbon credits is to help create new renewable energy infrastructure and energy efficient projects. It’s to support the exploration of our future, to change the current course we seem to be on and actually plan a strategy that will work. Even if you don’t think your business can do anything more or anything at all, think about offsetting. It’s a choice.

I’m convinced that I can make a difference as a business, I’m convinced that I could do a lot more and that I will. But as I am investigating and discovering new and wonderful opportunities, I am also discovering equally amazing businesses and the people behind them. Many of you need to come out from the shadows and let us celebrate you more, the planet needs you.

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.

Thinking Thinking…

I began to analyse how big my footprint was in terms of paper cups. In a busy city café like mine where we go through 30 or 40 thousand paper cups a month, it was not a pleasant environmental footprint thought. I was horrified at what I was contributing to, and how strange that the busier I was the worse I was making it. Prosperity from me equaled bad for the environment.

Of course its one thing to acknowledge a problem and another to actually fix it. But I needed action, I needed a solution and I really believed that my customer wanted that too.

I investigated and searched for solutions but it appeared that I was the only one really concerned about this. Others were paying lip service but the costs were so high that it was completely out of the question. You see there is a cost to change and action that sometimes can affect the bottom line so much that’s its just not going to happen. It took a long time to source the right company who was willing to create a movement with us and take a leap of faith. I am very glad this happened.

Action = Solution

We have been using a Bio Cup now for about 3 years. I’m proud to say that its about 2 years before anyone else. And this is just the beginning of our Action for Change In Business. We started here and then just began to look at everything, including being the first café in Australia to actually achieve a silver rating GreenBizCheck environmental certification.

When we undertook our massive refurbishment 2 years ago, sustainability played a massive role in the design and surprisingly the exclusions of what we took out. Like air-conditioning - a ridiculous strain on power consumption in a business which spends most of the year with all its doors open! Our whole re wiring and CBus system, the materials used and our auto motion lighting played a big part in reducing power, costs and being environmentally smart.

Different Choices & Costs

A tough choice is always going to influence a business action when it comes down to money - your money. That’s what I faced and face everyday. What will it cost me and the business to do it or not do it. Will my short term cost effective choice mean negative long term sustainability? And when did this whole environment stuff become another part of the business that I had to figure out? Since I have so much spare time and all.

It has become very much like second nature now though, we always think twice about our actions and what they will cost the world we live in. That’s the kind of thinking that must take place, we are very much part of a wider ripple than just ourselves and our business. Everything matters and everything and anything can make a difference. I actually get excited now when I discover a solution or action that will make that difference.

Next Time

I have only talked briefly here about some of the changes I have made, some of the choices I have been part of. I am going to share a lot more in the upcoming weeks, and I hope you will too. Please feel free to share your thoughts, actions and choices, I would really like to discuss and mention them in up coming blogs. Making a difference does start with one person and one business. Yours.

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.

Telstra

In 2007 I was very fortunate to hear the words “and the winner of the Telstra NSW Women’s Business Owner Award is Angela Vithoulkas”. I’m sure my heart stopped beating and the world as I knew it would forever be different. Very dramatic I know, but for me very true.

The process and the journey of this award had me completely enamored from start to finish. I had butterflies in my tummy for weeks. My brother hand delivered my submission because my hands were shaking so much, and I had descended into the realm of self doubt. What right did I have to enter this award and be part of such an elite group of women? I had those kinds of self doubting questions all the way through. I think changing that kind of thinking was actually the biggest win of all.

Being Nominated

I can recount every second of every moment of when I was first nominated - my brother did it from my computer so it looked like I nominated myself, right up until midnight of the big day. I know exactly where I was and what I was doing when I was notified of being short listed, of when I found out I was a finalist, and all the things that came with that. I even remember what music was playing in the elevator the day of my interview as a finalist. Peter Allen When My Baby Goes to Rio.

This award didn’t just affect me; it made a difference to those around me as well. That was completely unexpected for me, I didn’t realise that my customers and my team would be so proud of me and for me. This win was for all us, their loyalty and hard work was never more evident to me than when I clearly saw how much it meant to them as well.

Finalists represent the best, a status that should never be forgotten or overlooked, especially by them. They should celebrate it over and over again. There are many types of winners and they don’t all get their name called out.

To all the state finalists, state winners, national finalists and soon to be crowned winners for The Telstra Women’s Business Awards, I offer my congratulations.

Welcome to the alumni. It will be the time of your life. Enjoy it, leverage it and make some life long friends. I did.

The good, the bad and the win

As with everything else that life throws at us, you take the good with the bad. And so you take from any award win or process the same principle- learn from it and move forward, share your experience and encourage others, appreciate and respect your accomplishments.

I have won several awards, a wonderful benefit that has allowed me to develop my business and my career but not in ways you might think. For me the greatest win has been the way I see myself. As a self employed business owner my whole life, there was no one to tell me “great job Angela!”  or “here is a promotion Angela”. I had to decide my identity, and like most self employed people I didn’t. I never thought I measured up or that I was good enough. I just went about my business and almost like a teenager wondered where I fitted in.

I don’t wonder anymore. I’m right here with all of you. Exactly where I want to be and where I deserve to be. Is winning everything? It’s a good place to start.

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 an employer for almost three decades, it is safe to say that I have personally hired and fired hundreds of people – very young, young, middle aged, older than me age and a lot older than me age. They all had positives and negatives going for them in terms of interview, trial and hire. Is it different working with young people than same age or older than me people? Yes, and I think my world of hospitality is a great example of talking about youth in business since we work with apprentices a lot.

It’s true that many employers take on youth just because they are a cheaper option. I disagree with this strategy, but that’s just me. I have never employed anyone because they would be a less expensive choice. I hire based on attitude, and if you think that bad attitude and disinterest are realms reserved for the youth, YOU ARE WRONG.

I take out of the equation anything that I can’t change about someone in the interview – age / gender / hair colour / tattoos, and look at everything else. Appearance is another blog for another day, the stories I will tell…

Big questions

There may seem obvious reasons why young people miss out on being hired, or even interviewed, and of course lack of experience jumps out first. Second for me is trust. Can you trust their commitment, are they hungry enough for a job to turn up and put the effort in? Naturally other things come into play and everybody has different benchmarks, but these are the two big players for me.

Lets look at lack of experience first; big issue. You hire people for what they can do, not what they can’t do right? Right, to some degree. Young people need a job in order to get experience, can’t get a job because they have no experience. This is a typical circle that can be problematic. The responsibility to change this lies with both sides. Many industries could learn from the businesses that put on interns. Legitimate work experience for the youth and a chance for employers to see the characteristics that money and age can’t buy. Of course the government world of red tape is slowly swallowing this up.

Fear and trust

Trust – that big elephant in the room – is a scary thing to contemplate when recruiting people and it definitely comes up when hiring a younger less experienced person. We look at them and ask ourselves will they ever understand that work is actually a good place to be 40 hours a week (that’s not my week BTW), that turning up is important everyday?

Will they treat my customers and my business with respect and want to grow with it? Well, there is no crystal ball for anyone, though big HR firms will give you a second bite at replacing someone, but trust is a ‘how you were brought up’ thing with a large dose of DNA. And it’s not exclusive to an older person. In fact it’s been my experience of the exact opposite.

Care factor

All employers should take their responsibility of employment seriously. We are who our employees look to for a future, to feed their families and prosper. It’s irrelevant of their age and the size of your business, but it’s even more important when you employ youth. Here we get to change the world by shaping someone else’s future employee. Does that sound strange to you? Not me. I take a special interest in our youth because I know it’s a good bet that I won’t be their only employer, but I may just be their best employer since I care about their tomorrow.

Look at the bad habits of your employees that are over 25, don’t you wonder why they have them and how they got them? Don’t you wonder why they think it’s perfectly acceptable to take an extra 20 minutes for lunch all the time or always come late? Or not communicate important points or be a team player? Your older employees that only just scrape by are the ones who didn’t have great bosses in the beginning. Talk to your older stand out ones and I would be willing to bet that they had a couple of tough good ones who shaped and trained them.

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

The big jealous factor that the young have over us that are not as young (I refuse to label anyone old in business, including myself) is the fact that they really don’t know how tough it can get in business until they are pretty much in the war itself. Bit like teenage versus adulthood. The simple fact that they haven’t experienced it yet means they tend to be more adventurous, take more risk, have more fun and live on the wild side. As I mentioned before, I remember those early days well. No fear, no pain. They just do it, and it takes more than a hurdle or two to knock them down.

What about when a business is young and the owner may or may not be? A young business faces similar prejudice as a young owner; no track record, no experience and no back up. A young business is about taking each day as it comes, learning what its strengths and weaknesses are and how to deal with them. That only comes with time. It’s a bit like new shoes. You fall in love with the way they look, you try them on, they look even better on your feet and then you try to walk in them. That’s the deal breaker. Then it just takes time to wear them in, to know how long you can wear them before the pain is unbearable. Doesn’t stop us from wearing them of course

What if?

A young business is about hope, it’s about the future, and it’s about the possibility of what may happen. It’s not about what’s been done. As I said, a young business owner and a young business have much in common.

While I can no longer claim to a young person - almost three decades in business eliminates that possibility, it seems my subconscious likes to be in that zone. I live in start up mode. Buying, selling and building businesses over and over again literally mean that I’m almost always in a young business. I’m constantly experiencing new challenges, finding mountains I haven’t climbed before and situations that can be baffling, even for this “not as young” business woman. The difference is stamina. I know what it takes to run a business and I know what success looks like. I also know what a complete disaster and the end of the world smells like. And I definitely know which one I prefer.

For the very young ambitious entrepreneur I share with you the exhilaration of the beginning. Nothing comes close. Don’t just reach for your dream, run as fast as you can to it. For those in a young business, be kind to it. It will give you twice as much back as what you put in.