On The Doorstep Of a New World

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On The Doorstep Of a New World

by Elli St.George Godfrey on January 7th, 2011
51 Comments

This year, this possibility…you’re on the doorstep of a new world. Business is changing and re-forming itself. What are you seeing from this doorstep?

Before you cross that threshold, there is something more basic that needs to be in place. It’s your basic view of the world. Some people call it your mindset or a paradigm. While these words can feel overused and not related to the everyday functioning of your small business, your view of the world colours everything you do, everything you imagine and everything your business becomes. If your mindset is fearful or expectant, your behaviour follows what you think and feel.

The combination of your value system, life experience and personality is a potent one. This is a source of power and wisdom. Entrepreneurship is based on your aspirations that the world can be improved. You imagine your business making a difference in the world. This difference can be as simple as making project management more usable for non-technical professionals to encouraging entrepreneurship in developing countries. Your view of the world influences how you use this potent mixture.

So why aren’t we crossing the threshold into this new world? Our ideas may not be radical to someone else but they are to us. It feels revolutionary and this goes right back to our mindset and what is really underneath it all.

For starters, it’s worth taking a look at your basic framework. According to Carol Dweck, there are two types of mindsets-fixed and growth. A fixed mindset is the belief that one’s intelligence and level of talent are unchangeable. A growth mindset is the opposite. Intelligence and level of talent can be augmented. (If you want to find out which mindset is typical of your beliefs, take this mindset test). Which mindset do you have?
Enjoying your work because it is so essential to who you are. If you’ve gotten the message that work is hard and unpleasant, then running your business is nothing more than a glorified job. With so many people complaining about their jobs, it seems wrong to say you do find yours rewarding. Do you still enjoy your small business?
We make the “rules.” No one else defines your corporate culture (yes, even sole traders have a corporate culture) better than you. You can decide where you work (and where your employees work, if applicable). You decide what your business produces and what constitutes success. You make choices every day about the norms and expectations of your business. How do you want to use this power?
We might make a profit from work we love to do. Profit is a loaded word. Are we selling out if we charge the market value of what we do? There is an odd story lurking in many of our minds that we will be terribly misguided or evil if we create wealth. If you are unethical, more money isn’t going to change anything. Basically, anyone who is prone to using tricks or scams is going to do that anyway. Still, we can intimidate ourselves as profit is a measure that we have something people are willing to pay for and that we are running our businesses intelligently. How do you view profit?

What if we were simply pragmatic as we cross the threshold? I don’t mean pragmatic in a dirty dealing kind of way. And the attitude of “go along to get along” can be pragmatic for many but it fails utterly in the new world. Be more daring! Take your ideals and put them into action. This is a much more James-ian type of pragmatism. What kind of business are you creating? What purpose does it serve? Even if you are not explicitly a social entrepreneur, you are changing the world.

It starts with three questions:

1. On a scale of 0-10 (o=not at all; 10=completely), how committed are you to converting your ideas into action?

2. How do you want to measure the outcomes of your ideas?

3. What would happen if you chose to keep things as they are right now?

As you answer these questions, begin imagining what this looks like on a day-to-day basis. This how the new world gets created. There are too many messages about how wrong things are. That’s not to say that the environment is perfect for the growth of your business. That would be denial. It’s much more paradoxical from the doorstep. The mindset that can acknowledge fears, outside influences and desired goals is much more adept at managing the growth of your small business. Design a plan that combines your value system, life experience, personality and business goals. You use your ideals and find practical everyday actions that supports an eager mindset.

Now what do you see from the doorstep of this new world?

Category: Leadership, Self- development

Tags: business, doorstep of a new world, mindset, pragmatism, small business

The Author: Elli St.George Godfrey

Elli St.George Godfrey guides small business owners as they expand in their own community or internationally using her 3 Keys Coaching process helps clients not only navigate growth stages. With each stage of the 3 Keys coaching process, we tackle strategic planning, goal setting, managing change, organizational development and managing the stress and feelings of overwhelm that often plague small to mid-size business owners and executives. This results in clients feeling confident in identifying and developing strategies to be more effective leaders, plan more creatively, increase revenues and overcome the fears and obstacles that interfere with building thriving small to mid-sized businesses. I am also Chief Community Manager of Kaizen Biz and Host of Twitter chat, #KaizenBiz (a chat that uses the concept of "kaizen" for continual improvement in how we think and act in business). Please visit www.abilitysuccessgrowth.com/about/ to learn more and I look forward to meeting you in a complimentary coaching session. http://www.abilitysuccessgrowth.com

Add Your Comment

http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

Hi Elli, great post! I like it! How do you view profit? Well my own views on this have changed quite considerably in the last while. If I am honest, it used to be about the money for me, in fact I would go so far as to say I didn’t even see people, I just saw the size of the invoice. nnI’ve changed now to the point where so long as I have enough to live now, I couldn’t care less about the dough. Now the biggest consideration for me is getting to work with the right people, with the right type of mindset. In this regard I find the internet and social media great, you can put yourself out there and like minded people find you, thus generating genuine opportunities for collaboration. nnEven as I read back over this comment, I realise I now sound like the guys I was so cynical about 4-5 yrs ago, itu2019s great! n
Facundo

Great piece and loads of references to explore. Interesting digginig into the connotations of “pragmatism” Elli
Anonymous

Facundo,nnDelighted I’ve tweaked your curiosity! Tee-hee!nnWilliam James is an interesting thinker and well worth learning more about him. While he is often characterised as a quintessential American philosopher, his view of pragmatism seems to fit the idea of social entrepreneurship quite well regardless of geography. What kinds of businesses can we build if we find practical applications for our ideals and then assess them regularly to see if they are truly beneficial?
Anonymous

Niall,nnIf I’m not putting words in your mouth, it sounds as if you’ve discovered that money and profit are tools and not the be-all-end-all. I’d love to hear if there was a watershed moment or if you’ve been slowing growing into this perspective. nnOften times I hear people say, “it’s not about the money” when that’s exactly what’s it’s about. It can seem risky to be honest with yourself and admit that you want to leave some kind of legacy. There ARE people out there (thank you, social media!) who think and feel the same.
http://www.encouragingexcellence.ie/ Mairu00e9ad Kelly

Great post Elli. Having come originally from a fixed mindset to a growth one this resonates with me and there are still (and always will be) parts of my mindset that will require adjusting to the current circumstances. I’m glad I’m not the only one who sees profit as more than just money.nnVery true too that we make our own rules in business – if I got one euro for everyone who told me my “rules” were wrong I’d be earning a second income from that alone, lol, doing it the way everyone else does would lose me my uniqueness.
http://twitter.com/sean_osullivan Sean O’Sullivan

Hi Elli – FANTASTIC post. Gosh, it tweaks so many of my buttons that it’s a joy to read. I wont list the points I agree with – it’s everything you said. And I loved your comment Niall – not seeing the people, just the size of the invoice. Man, been there. nnActually if there is one point I find particularly comment-worthy Elli, it’s your views on profit (within the context of the overall post) – which I wholeheartedly endorse. It sometimes gets characterised as a negative motive in the context of people working to effect change; but to me its a pretty important consideration in building sustainability and scalability into anything you want to do. Not wealth for wealth’s sake; waste of time, you cant take it with you and it wont make you an iota happier. But as a tool in the toolbox, dont knock it. nnOk, I can’t help it – another point I have to say “yeah!” to is – “Even if you are not explicitly a social entrepreneur, you are changing the world”. This reverberates with me on a couple of levels. Firstly, the intrinsic pleasure we get from our lives is just immensely enhanced by knowing there is true value to others and/or society in what we do. I believe there’s an innate desire to contribute, to make a difference to others and to know we’ve made that difference. But with the best intentions in the world, we still gotta eat. By aligning our values, sense of meaning and desire to contribute, with our strengths/skills and our daily “work”, we can bring a harmony and energy to our lives that you just dont get from compartmentalizing your life into “work” and “other”. nnTangentially related – I can think of few enough businesses who couldnt add an explicit social-entrepreneurship aspect to their business or marketing models that would have at worst a zero cost to their bottom line. The online/social media and other advances have made possible creative marketing and business models that just couldnt have existed in the past. It’s our world to re-imagine.
Anonymous

Sean,nnWhat a beautiful response! (And a big thank you for your compliments!) Two points stood out of me. The first was your inclusion of sustainability and scalability. When we can do a little or a lot more than just cover basic costs, we open up opportunities to expand our influence and even philanthropy. nnYour other point that caught my attention was how you illustrated the paradox of making enough money for our own needs AND acknowledging our desire to work. Actually, your point is very similar to Dan Pink’s book, Drive. It’s not about compartmentalizing any more. People want to have a more seamless life.
Anonymous

Mairead,nnI can relate to the re-adjusting process. nnYour dedication to creating a business that is fully aligned with who you are is magnificent! Be unique!
http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

Hi Elli – wow, what a post.nnI am going to answer the last of your questions I think (in the context of someone who is willing to change!). If I kept going exactly as I am now, I’ll start going backwards and losing faith in why I went out on my own in the first place. This is against the backdrop of a tough 2010 where every corner seemed to present insurmountable challenge. What is keeping me inspired to continue and willing to look at new ways of doing this is that firstly, I survived 2010(!) and secondly, still enjoyed doing it. The question for me is finding the right avenue to grow the business – I need to look at different alternatives and that is the challenge for this quarter (and the rest of the year!)nnThanks for sharingnBarney
http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

“Design a plan that combines your value system, life experience, personality and business goals”.nnAs a Coach, Elli, it’s easy for me to agree with this statement! However, like many (including Niall below) I used to view work as a means to making money to get richer than I always was.nnI now depend on my work fitting in with my value system and personality, as well as the others mentioned in your post. I realise that in the early days of my career, I viewed money as the only reward for doing “work”. Now it is so much more complex, and so much more rewarding, because it is sustaining my lifestyle, empowering me to help others, matching my personality (I can be myself, and fulfill my goals so much better).nI never even thought that I would be self-employed and running 2 businesses, when I started my first job, many moons ago, it feels like I was a different person. I wasn’t really, but I was not expressing my true self in my working day!nnFrom my doorstep right now, I see a new Ireland emerging, and it will be the small businesses who will get on with the business of doing business, growing the economy and re-immersing ourselves in our true values.nnThanks for a great thought provoking, eloquent post!
http://twitter.com/sean_osullivan Sean O’Sullivan

Sounds like my kind of book! Thanks Elli.
Anonymous

Drive is well worth reading! I hope you enjoy it, Sean!
Anonymous

Elaine,nnI think there is a process of maturity as we progress in our careers. There comes a point when one asks, “is that all there is?” For you, this turned out to be 2 businesses and yet this sounds like it fits you to a T! nnYour vision of small business leading the way of how Ireland emerges is so exciting! The challenge will be finding a sustainable model so it works over and over.
Anonymous

Barney,nnFirst of all, congratulations for surviving 2010! For a number of us, that was an accomplishment in and of itself!nnYour enjoyment of your business is infectious! This passion is fuel as you search for the right avenue to grow your business. The engine for your search is the assessment of your alternatives. nnI just read an interesting post from another entrepeneur who talked about how she launched a service that her heart wasn’t into. She related how she was relieved that no one signed up for it because she truly didn’t want to provide the service. Her biggest lesson was that she had to believe in it too so she could sell it. The realization I took away from this was that no matter what servicde or product we offer, we are selling to ourselves as much as we are selling to our customers. A good check for us is to notice if our heart is as excited as our minds.
http://twitter.com/xcelbusiness Helen Cousins

Thanks Niall. Time is a biggie, and I plan to deal with that in part 4. I used to have to keep a timesheet when I worked in accountancy practice and time does not equal value! Professionals should price for value and throw time-sheets out the window. I’m not suggesting not to charge for your time, my point is that by using “time based thinking”, most professionals underprice their work, because they think they are selling time. Professionals do not sell time (or at least they shouldn’t!) If you consider how long it took perhaps for Beatles to pen, say, “Yesterday” and imagine if they charged u00a3500 / hr for that vs what they actually got – you may see where I’m going in Part 4. Some may not agree… n
http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

Great answer Helen! That’s what I love about the BT community, I am constantly learning from you all
Paula Ronan

u00a0Thanks for some very useful and practical advice, Helen. We are actually putting some of it to use at the moment!u00a0
Paula Ronan

As I recently plagiarised at a talk on marketing : Ask not what you can do for social media, but what social media can do for your business! Totally agree that social media should be about solid business benefits, not about its features – good luck with the project, sounds like a great idea, well done
Anonymous

Thank you Paula. It’s always good to have the angels on your side!
ccommunicate

Could not agree more there are an infinite amount of experts but you are correct, where is the substance. Social media works but is as individual as the company.On the subject of substance and not to change or hijack this. I had a conversation with one of my customers today their website was not getting any hits,Why? downloaded source no title no keywords horrible presentation, Customer was charged u20ac1500 for this by one of the experts.
http://twitter.com/marketingdebbie TheMarketingShop.ie

Great post Eamonn and so accurate, “leaders” without trust can’t lead properly in any walk of life and often do more harm than good.
Epobrien

Thanks Debbie, there’s no doubt that leaders must pay attention to their credibility if they want to inspire anyone. You only have to look at the current Republican primaries in the US, or our own Presidential race, to see how politicians struggle to maintain support once their credibility is dented.
Epobrien

Hi Niall, Great points - people are placing less trust in political leadership and yet we have never needed it more. We live in risky times and collective responsibility linked with shared vision is something we need to foster. One thing is certain, political leadership divided will fall – we need the opposite.
http://www.appointmentsetting.com/ simonswills

The overall tone of our governmental authority is almost beyond fix & appropriate management are now more usually discovered elsewhere.
http://www.weberclean.com/ Kyle-Carpet Cleaning Fargo ND

Thanks for the tips,as I am starting to build my social media brand this article has a lot of great pointers and will help me with my business. Thanks Niall.
http://www.connorkeppel.com Connor Keppel

Great post Niall. So many people rave about empty stats with no idea of ROI. It’s not just the digital realm either. Well done!
Susan Oakes

Good points Niall especially number 3. Unless they are prepared and trained all the planning, listening etc could be undone. It is kind of funny that as social media is at the basic level about human interaction some make it seem more complicated than it should be.
http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

Thanks Susan, absolutely! It’s always been about people and not technology
http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

Thanks Connor, I keep getting asked; What a Facebook fan worth to my business? Fans are people and your customers are people so in-between must lie the value for your business.
http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

My pleasure, thanks for the comment!
http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

Hi Simon, For me, the visionaries are sitting on 100 billion dollar businesses. The rest of us are simply trying to keep up
DavidFitzgerald

Nice one Niall

How do you identify the most appropriate social channels?
I hear it alluded to frequently but other that “group” searches what other strategies can be used?
http://www.appointmentsetting.com/ simonswills

Dear friend, thats really so great and trustworthy of you. I don’t blame anything on any point. The main thing for any business is to keep it intact if its not growing more and faith is the biggest weapon.
http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

Thanks David, I’m guessing that you’re asking with respect to a niche market/industry? In the case of a very niche market… I’d probably use a combo of 1) build a lighthouse (something of big value) 2) an integrated virtual & real world approach
3) plus a combo of the most obvious social channels,
for B2B: Content, Linkedin, Twitter
or B2C: Content, FB, Twitter.
But, in fairness ultimately the best answer lies in defining result you are looking for, that’s what puts the meat on the bones.
http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

Hi Niall, enjoyed the read!

On measuring the return on time spent on social media (e.g. working to gain new fans and followers), what kind of methods of tracking would you recommend? I think that social media can be a time sink for businesses, and I definitely feel that since it is so new, it’s really not easy for businesses (especially SMEs who can’t afford the most sophisticated tracking tools), to assess what they are getting from it!
Catherine

Fab read great post and agree with Debi love thet quote
http://www.smartsolutions.ie/blog/ Elaine Rogers

I believe (rightly or wrongly) that engagement on other websites (such as this for example) improves SEO and SEM, especially when we can include our SN, Blog and weblinks every time we comment. Would you agree with that?
Great common sense pointers there Aoife, and welcome to TYB!
@smartsols_ie:twitter
http://TheMarketingShop.ie/ Debbie McDonnell

Great first post Aoife, lots of really useful information there. If I could add one thing it would be to be very careful when choosing an SEO expert to work with your business. Get a recommendation if possible as the right person will be good for your business, the wrong one will drain your cash and potentially damage your site in Google.
http://twitter.com/aoiferigney Aoife Rigney

Thanks Niall!
http://twitter.com/aoiferigney Aoife Rigney

Thanks Debi! It’s exciting being part of Tweak Your Biz!! Thanks for sharing
http://twitter.com/aoiferigney Aoife Rigney

Thanks Catherine!
http://twitter.com/aoiferigney Aoife Rigney

Hi Elaine,
Yes! I would totally agree with you there. By engaging with people on a variety of different platforms (using your SN, Blog and web links each time) it increases the number of inbound links to your website. This all helps your SEO but also your online brand reputation!

However, I do have to say that unless your SEO is set up correctly using the basics in the above checklist, engagement on the various platforms is pretty pointless. Also, if Google Analytics (or similar) is not set up, you have no way of knowing which platforms you are engaging with, are worth your time! As we all know, time is precious! Working smarter not harder is key with SEO! Thanks for your kind welcome too!
http://twitter.com/aoiferigney Aoife Rigney

Thanks for your kind comment Debbie.
I would totally agree with you there – and I am so glad you brought it up!!

To be honest, if someone was calling themselves an SEO expert to begin with, I would be worrying! Let’s talk straight.. Nobody ACTUALLY knows how Google’s algorithm works when crawling websites, because Google keep it a secret. It is a guessing game!
So it is crucial to have an experienced person when dealing with your website.
If I was looking for an SEO expert I would:
1. Ask around. (Use all of your networks to get recommendations)
2. Check out their previous work
3. Don’t just go with someone because you have heard of them, they may be all talk and no action.
4. You are employing someone to work on one of the most important parts of your business. Make a contract (or agreed written agreement)
5. Also, just because they may be the cheapest, doesn’t mean you are getting a “good deal”!!!

Hope that helps in someway… I’ve been doing Search Engine Optimisation for 2 years now, and I am still learning new things everyday!
Elishbul

Thank you for that ! Succinct and easy to follow for us non techies
Donna

Thank you for this article. At times I get lost in understanding SEO, it can be overwhelming, so much information, but sometimes confusing. I like your instructions.
http://twitter.com/#!/antonmccarthy Anton McCarthy

Hi Aoife, nice first post! Like how you mentioned how your content should benefit the user. This is the essence of great SEO – creating value for your readers, not trying to ‘trick’ search engines with spammy, worthless copy. If you’re going to go to the time/expense of creating content, why not make it great?
John Twohig

Well Aoife, for somebody who thought her first post was not going to be very good, I think you have scored a direct hit. The post is excellent, simple to follow and well thought out. I agree with Anton when he says, it’s important to post content with your customer in mind, not many do.

Welcome to TYB and keep up the good work.

John, Munster Abu!!!
http://twitter.com/boozerevolution eric cross

Very well put together checklist, thank you =)
http://twitter.com/boozerevolution eric cross

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http://www.cocktailcodex.comCheers!
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Yeah SEO is the best of getting traffic and leads to your website the thing is to make the best SEO strategy for link building andmartink123 Social media optimization,
http://www.mgtdesign.co.uk/web-design-northampton/ adam

Social Business Strategy as a model is still developing, collaboration, values, authenticity and sharing are all key pillars to the successful adoption and implementation of the strategy. Keep in touch with us.

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