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4 Pillars of a Civil Society by @SBSLEducSoltns

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The ‘Holidays’ …

 

… offer entrepreneurs a renewed opportunity to serve, solve, & be civil, especially in hyper competitive industries.

 

With this mindset, we can ask ourselves a key question:

 

How can business owners strengthen the pillars of our civil society?

 

Please think & then brainstorm ways to turn thoughts into energy; consider this post both informative AND actionable.

 

Defining civil society

This topic echoes last month’s post, many definitions exist, leaving us with another question to ponder that’s also well worth our time. Which to pick?

 

Here’s my chosen one.

 

Yet, if you settle on another, there isn’t a ‘wrong’ answer; your choice is likely tied to your unique perspective, lens, and/or life experiences.

 

Civil societies, in the 19th century, often included a ‘sister’ term, a component, [a] mutual aid society …

 

[they] prefigure most functions of the modern state. They’re at least as old as armies, but their mission is life, not death. For millennia, people have banded together to provide each other with health care, pensions, … and livelihoods. They have also leveraged their numbers to elicit some of these same benefits from those other two institutions, business and the government. Mutual aid extends the bonds of kinship and makes individuals into citizens.

― Anya Kamenetz

 

1st pillar :  The Family   

The holidays & families often are rightfully intertwined: so, too, the first pillar of civil society is emblazoned with the word ‘family’ & it’s an earned label.

 

Maybe you’re a family business? Nearby where I live, the Conway Center is a terrific resource for them & the other businesses who seek to serve this demographic. Quite likely, there are ‘like’ organizations elsewhere in America, as family businesses are very common.

 

Perhaps some/all of your clients/customers are families?

 

No matter how we look at it, it’s rather challenging to separate family from civil society, and a civil society from entrepreneurship.

 

2nd pillar : Non Profits ( inc. social enterprise )  

As the 19th century transitioned into the 20th, mutual aid societies began to fade; previously thriving organizations were often overshadowed as America became more centralized, corporatized, & urbanized.

 

We’ve now begun (  this post offers backgrounder ) turning back, with a modern flair, to where we once were as a civil society. Rough edges & burrs on the saddle of the Gig (Sharing/Youpreneur) Economy can, without question, be ‘buffed’ by devolving & delegating societal challenges & thorny problems to non profit institutions, especially social enterprises.

 

What’s a social enterprise? As stated in this annual report, they’re ‘easy to understand’ & more necessary to renewing our nation than many might realize.

 

3rd pillar : Faith institutions 

Faith in the entrepreneurial ‘square’, our common culture, let alone civil society, often stirs up emotions & thorny debates.

 

To avoid needless arguments, I humbly encourage everyone to consider multiple definitions:

Perhaps you’ll pick ‘faith’ as defined by the venerable Napoleon Hill in his masterwork, ‘Think & Grow Rich’ , or maybe you’ll instead lean into a Judeo-Christian foundational definition, as espoused by organizations like Truth At Work.

 

No matter your decision, this pillar’s densely strong, earning its place as one of the key four; it props up each & every business owner at some point(s) in her journey from ideating a business, to launch/startup phase, thru ebb & flood tides, linear or exponential growth,  & further ahead into an as of yet unknown future.

 

How so? Faith oft times can act as the antithesis of fear; it can buttress your failures & keep you anchored to your purpose & mission.

 

4th & final pillar:  Entrepreneurs

And now, the spotlight shines brightly on Y-o-u:  The business founder/owner, the entrepreneur.

 

If by now it wasn’t crystal clear, it now will be: Entrepreneurship, in all its forms/types , is absolutely a pillar.

 

You’ve likely seen/heard statistics about small businesses’ vast importance to our nation’s vitality.

Or, maybe you’ve encouraged someone to start their own business at some point: maybe a family member?; neighbor?; a past co-worker?; or as a mentor for a future graduate or recent alumna from your alma mater?

 

Action(s) as common as keeping your business viable, including delegating task(s) to someone like Karissa , or expanding your product line, are each useful in ensuring that this fourth pillar will always be foundational for generations of Americans in the 2020’s & well beyond.

 

Further context to the first question

The first three pillars have boundless potential: leveraging 1, 2, or all 3 can enable your business(es) to morph from a pure ‘S’ [ self employed ]; to at least a hybrid ‘ S/B’, or even a straight ‘B’.  It’s the latter state where you’ve reached the nirvana of time freedom; you’re definitely working “on” & NOT “in” your venture, thereby freeing the owner to participate more actively in civil society.

 

Profiles Worth Following

NapHill.org

Social Ventures

Truth@Work

DSC

Sivers

YEA USA

Conway Center

 

Please invest further…

… in your thinking.

You’ve read & trustfully sensed the heart, soul, & spirit of this created content; now, will you commit to dig into this curated content from other valuable resources?

 

Civil Society

Mutual Aid Societies & the Gig Economy

Social Capital Primer

Root

B2C v B2B 

Working “ON” & not “IN” a Business

 

In short

  • The holidays offer a chance to reflect
  • Civil society: Quotable quote & definition[s]
  • First two:  Family & Non profits
  • Second 2 : Faith & Entrepreneurs
  • Further context
  • Follow these Social profiles
  • As always, take action: curated content from add’t resources

 

Thank YOU for reading!

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Why You Need to Have a Strategy for Your Brand by @BlissandFaith

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By Tenns Reid | Featured Contributor

Having a brand strategy is crucial to your branding being effective, resulting in having a successful business. If you look at brands like Apple and McDonald’s, they have very clear strategies for their brands, which is why they are so successful. They know exactly who they want to target, how they want to do it, and why they want to do it. When they employ their marketing techniques, they work because they gear them in a way that resonates with their target markets, garners interest, and creates a sense of urgency to purchase their products.

Why You Need to Have a Strategy for Your Brand | BlissandFaith.com

Without a brand strategy, these brands wouldn’t be able to do this or rather their marketing techniques would not work. This is one of the main reasons its so important that you have a strategy for your brand. Today, I’m giving you inside scoop and rundown on some additional reasons on why brand strategy is so important; what it is, how to come up with yours, and the steps to take once you have one.

What Is a Brand Strategy?

In layman’s term, your brand strategy is how, what, where, when and to whom you plan on communicating and delivering your brand messaging to. Its essential to know these key areas in detail, because it has everything to do with how you market and advertise your business.  Your business’ success is heavily contingent on knowing who you’re communicating to, how, and in what ways you do. Done incorrectly, you can find yourself wasting a lot of time and energy, and not making the income you desire to make from your business.

A brand with a strong strategy equates to having increased brand equity, which means that people (your potential or target market) perceive your products and services value higher than that of your competitors or similar brands. If you have one goal with your business, this should be it!

When your brand has high equity, you can charge a premium for your products or services, and your target market won’t think twice about, i.e. Apple and Coca-Cola. In order for your brand to be perceived this way, it must be consistent and have strategic branding – where you are, where you want to be, and what the market is doing.

Why It’s So Important?

Brand strategy is important because it positions you to know the needs, habits and desires of your target market.  This way the promise that your brand makes to them is actually one that they appreciate and resonate with. Your target market should know exactly what your brand offers, what they can expect from it, and how your products or services differentiate you from that of your competitors.

Most importantly, you want your brand to be perceived as one that is not only different, but better than that of your competitors. People are more likely to spend the extra money on the brands they perceive to be better, because they want a higher quality product that they feel will perform better or be more reliable.

How to Come Up With Yours

Coming up with your brand strategy starts with defining your brand. The key compontents of defining your brand are:

1. Your Story, which you need tell in a unique voice through different mediums repeatedly.

2. Your Target Market, knowing what’s important to them and how they perceive your brand in relation to that. When you know these things, you can create a brand that both attracts and retains clients and customers.

3. Your Messaging, which is how you will communicate your story to your target market. Knowing how to best reach and deliver your message is vital to effectively reaching your target market. – Do they respond best to television, print, or social media marketing? Where are they? What tools do they use most frequently? Are they mobile and on-the-go or homebodies who enjoy time in?

4. Your Competitors, knowing who they are, what they offer, and analyzing their weaknesses. You can better brand your business with a different value proposition and really show your target market the benefit of your brand over that of competitors.

5. Your Intentions, in that your brand and its culture is perceived as authentic. Clients and customers must know that you are going to come through on the promise of your brand, meet their expectations, and most importantly, do so in an ethical way that doesn’t compromise their health, data, or investment.

To assess and become more well versed on the key components of defining your brand, you need to be able to answer the following questions about your brand:
  • What is your business’ mission?
  • What are the benefits and features of what you offer?
  • What perception do your customers and prospects have of your business?
  • What qualities do you want your business to be associated with?

What To Do Next?

So now that you know what a brand strategy is, why it’s so important that you have one, and how to come up with yours, there are some critical steps to take to position your brand.

  • Create a visual brand identity, i.e. logo and design elements that represent your brand.
  • Develop a tagline. It should be concise, meaningful, and memorable. Your tagline should capture the essence of your brand and denote your core values.
  • Integrate your brand. Items like your collateral branding (business cards, brochures, stationery, etc.), communication methods (phone, email, etc.), and dress code or uniforms need to be consistent with and reflective of your brand’s tone and voice.

If you need help building a strategy for your brand, please check out my Branding services for more information or email me directly here. I’m also available for coaching and consulting, which includes brand audits and one-on-one help! You can learn more about those services here.

 

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Tenns ReidTenns Reid is the voice and one-woman-show behind the branding, design, and coaching boutique, Bliss & Faith.

She helps fellow busy and creative female solopreneurs and entrepreneurs who are passionate about blogging and business bring their brands to life! Her goal is to provide a resource to help them reach their goals, embrace their passions, and strive for success. She is committed to educating, informing,  and sharing with those who want to achieve their dreams.

Tenns holds a degree in Business Management with an emphasis in HR and a minor in Sociology.  She has worked in many industries to include Retail, Restaurant, HR, & the Military, which has given her a wealth of knowledge and experience. In being a Brand Stylist, Business Coach, Designer, and Blogger, she is able to combine both the creative and artistic side of her  brain, with the technical and analytical side.  Tenns loves learning, researching, and solving problems and is so happy to be able do a job every day the marries so much of who she is, while being able to help others and make a difference in their lives.

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10 steps to smash your business goals this year! by @alyciaedgar

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by Alycia Edgar | Featured Contributor

We all have grandious ideas about what we want to achieve in our business.  Not the day to day stuff but the projects you’ve had on your agenda for quite a while that get pushed to the side because the day to day just takes over.  There is a way to get those projects done each and every year and throw a big celebration at year end for your accomplishments.

You may have seen how to be more productive tomorrow and how to get the important stuff done each week but lets see how you can be more productive over the entire year.

The little things that make you more productive today and next week go along way to adding up to a year. But how do you tie it all together to make the power of many into the sum of the whole.

Here’s what you need to do:

  1. Clarify your Vision. What are you and what are you becoming?
  2. Clarify your mission.  What do you do? What business are you in?
  3. Set some bold goals.  What goals can you set that aren’t comfy but big, hairy, audacious goals?  They make you want to squirm and the prospect of achieving it makes you want to jump up and down with glee, but the thought of the journey involved to get there makes you want to vomit.
  4. Break It Down. Take each bold goal and write down the steps involved in getting there.  Depending on the goal you may have from 2 to 6 steps.  Otherwise known as a milestone.
  5. Break It down again. With each step you’ve arrived at ask yourself what are the tasks involved to achieve that step.  Write them as if you had to explain it to a 5 year old.
  6. Estimate time. How much time will each task take? (and be realistic)  Add up the estimated time to achieve each milestone.
  7. Set a BHAG Date.  Lock It in. When exactly do you want to achieve your BHAG?  Perhaps it’s a completed book, launching a new program, new website launched? Pick a date. If you’d read this post you will already have your business development days and have plotted them onto your wall calendar.  Lock in your BHAG date. Really lock it in. Circle it, highlight it, star it.  This is achievement day!
  8. Plot Your Milestones. Now work backwards, plot in your milestones by assigning dates based on the estimated time to achieve each milestone.
  9. Run out of time to Schedule? No business development days left when plotting out the milestones? Good to know isn’t it.  You have a few choices, push out your BHAG date, schedule in more business development days or get more resources.  Pick one and adjust accordingly.
  10. Record Your Tasks. Take the tasks and put into your task management software, notebook or whatever you use.  Your due dates for these tasks are dependent on their estimated time allocation and when the milestone is due to achieve, write it down, schedule it in, make it happen!

Now get to it.  See you in a year!!!

Like to see how this works with an actual business?  I’ve created a free download of a case study for this formula above. Simply click on this link to access your free download.

Photo Credit: WinterArtwork via Compfight cc

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Alycia Edgar – Leading expert in creating systems for profitable business from Business Performance HQ – Torquay, VIC, Australia

Screen Shot 2013-07-16 at 10.54.45 AMForget about your mental picture of an accountant sitting behind a desk crunching numbers all day, stopping only to peer at you over the top of his or her wire-rimmed glasses.

A trained accountant, yes, but also much more. Alycia Edgar does not fit the picture painted above; instead she is a latte-sipping, beach-loving business owner who happens to be great at numbers and systems.

Alycia is a leading expert in creating systems for profitable business growth for her clients.  Nothing makes her happier than looking at your business numbers and helping you to understand what the numbers are saying, implementing systems to make your business more productive, or processes to make everything happen quicker and smoother.

Alycia is passionate about the idea that the right systems are the key to driving business growth.

She can share clear strategies that can help business owners become more productive and profitable immediately.

Alycia works with business owners to achieve this result through one-on-one mentoring and consulting on how to roll out innovative systems, procedures and processes. And will be launching her revamped Bizfficiency course later in the year.

A lover of social media, you can follow Alycia on twitter @alyciaedgar, Facebook – Alycia Edgar, instagram, Alycia Edgar.

To find out more visit www.businessperformancehq.com.