Diversity and Inclusion: how do we make it become part of our corporate culture?

In times of social unrest, it becomes more critical for founders and leaders to dive deeper into diversity and inclusion within their organisations.

With recent events across the world bringing systemic racism and inequality to light, it is more important than ever to be upholding diversity and inclusion within the workplace. The worst thing any organisation can do right now is to do nothing.

But where do we start? How do we navigate the topics of diversity, inclusion, and equality with respect and do it right? How do we communicate about this with our team and our customers? How do we become more aware of our unconscious bias within our HR, marketing, or daily operations and address them effectively? What steps can we take to ensure long-lasting diversity and inclusiveness is part of our company’s culture?

EO Melbourne has been into the topic and some members have shared their thoughts and tips through the article “We asked the question: As an entrepreneur, how do you practice diversity and inclusion in the workplace?” This time, the chapter invited Dr Emma Fulu, Founder and Director of The Equality Institute, and Hannah Kassay, a refugee who came to Australia 17 years ago from Eritrea, to shed more light on this issue as they shared their experiences and thoughts on how we, as a society, can do better.

Emma talked about her personal experience coming from a family of diverse backgrounds. Growing up, she has received undue treatment from people who have perceived her as different from them. Since she found herself wanting to address injustice and inequality, she then pursued a career that enabled her to do this.

She became a researcher, social entrepreneur and one of the world’s leading experts on equality and the prevention of violence against women and girls. Her groundbreaking research has been featured widely in international media, including on BBC, Al Jazeera, CNN, and Huffington Post, and published in high-level academic journals. She is also a representative on the Victorian Government’s Ministerial Council on Women’s Equality, co-Chair of the Gender and Rights Advisory Panel of the World Health Organization, and a member of the Lancet Commission.

Eventually, she founded the Equality Institute, a global feminist agency working to end violence against women and girls with the ability to combine world-class research with creative communications.

For companies who want to uphold diversity and inclusion in their organisation, Emma stated that it is best to communicate with honesty and humility, to listen to team members, to acknowledge areas for improvement on this aspect, and to take further action that can create long-term impact. She recognised that there is no quick solution to ensuring equality in companies, but a good approach is to have a diverse recruitment process to more targeted groups, which may require more time and effort.

Hannah, on the other hand, shared her journey from her childhood in Eritrea to her move to Australia. “When I came to Australia as a refugee, ZERO was the only way one could describe my starting position. Without knowing English or having any real formal education, it was only power of will, utmost dedication on a daily level, and continuous personal growth that made me into what I am today - a businesswoman with a deep awareness of what it takes to convert ZERO to ONE,” she revealed.

She started her company, ACS Cleaning Melbourne, from scratch with zero income and built the business into a trustworthy resource that it is today through old-school perseverance, dedication, and customer-obsessed approach. Today, her business has 10 franchises and growing, with plans for expanding nationally.

Throughout her journey, when she has come to realise that she was different from everybody else, Hannah began to educate herself. Later on, she developed self-esteem and saw her value as a person. “Diversity comes from within,” she remarked, and equality is something she regards as self-responsibility. For her, diversity and inclusion in any organisation must be a genuine effort where the leader or CEO explores what it truly means to be different and conducts open communication about it. She also pointed out that embracing diversity will also nurture the creativity and growth of an organisation.

Through her business, Hannah extends an opportunity for women and those who are marginalised to reach their goals through franchising. At present, she does some public speaking and organises workshops and mentoring sessions for everyone interested in hearing and learning about the principles that proved their value and soundness during her whole career. “I have a special interest in empowering underprivileged women and youth, helping them find their place in a global business ecosystem,” she stated.

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EO Melbourne comes up with webinars and learning events like this that helps entrepreneurs look into various social issues that may be beneficial in growing their business and developing their organisation.

Applying a childhood lesson to the entrepreneurial journey

Entrepreneurial insights flourish from experiences, resources, education and learning events. Yet, some of the lessons that business owners now carry in their entrepreneurial journeys may often be traced from childhood. Some develop their skills and knack for business since their early years, whether it’s through their family or their self-learning.

Founder and Director of Graman Advisory and Executive Director of Clark Rubber Graeme Goldman looks back to his early years and realised the gem of lessons he got during those times.

“I grew up in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in Africa. Rhodesia was and still is a third world country, which means there is a lot of poverty. My father was a pharmacist, so whilst we were not wealthy, we were comfortable,” Graeme shared.

He recalled his childhood days and how he would enjoy it with his family. “When I was 6 or 7 years old, we, as a family, would have a big outing for the week and go to the movies on a Sunday night. This was a big event because in Rhodesia at the time, we did not even have TV (yes, think about how lucky I was to grow up without TV).”

However, one incident was ingrained in his mind and brought a valuable lesson that he still carries to this day. “On this particular Sunday, I was walking with my dad, my hero, and we walked in and bought the tickets. Next step was to go to buy popcorn and lollies. But my dad bent down and asked me if I would like to do something instead of spending money on popcorn and lollies. I said no because I was entitled to those, just like every other Sunday at the movies,” he recalled.

“Dad asked me if I saw the beggar on the pavement as we walked in and I said, ‘no, I did not’. Dad explained to me that the beggar was begging because he had no money and no food, and we could give the money for the popcorn and lollies to the beggar to buy food, but I would have to forego my treats,” Graeme continued.

The next thing that happened made little Graeme realise something important. “Begrudgingly, I walked with my dad to the beggar and dad gave the beggar the popcorn money, shook the beggar’s hand and wished him well. As we walked back to the movie, my dad said something to me that I have never forgotten and something that I have lived my life by:

‘there but for the grace of god, go I.’”

What his dad meant was that Graeme was fortunate not to be in a similar situation as the beggar, which is why he has to empathise with them. That lesson has shaped Graeme’s view of the entrepreneurial path and helped him overcome the challenges he encountered along the way.

“As entrepreneurs, we have all faced difficulty and hardship in our journeys. At least I know I have. Every time I think how challenging life is for me at that moment, I remember those words my dad said to me more than 40 years ago. It reminds me that life could have been a lot harder for me than what it is and I am grateful for what I have and for what I have been allowed to achieve,” he remarked.

Truly, the path of entrepreneurship may be full of ups and downs. However, many more may be in an even worse situation than the one you may be in. The entrepreneurial life calls for perseverance, endurance, relentlessness and determination. It may also need human values like sincerity, compassion and honesty. One does not learn all these overnight. Some of them you may already have picked up from your childhood lessons or your experiences, which you may be able to apply to your role as a business leader.

The entrepreneurial journey of Datto’s Austin McChord

Reading about the life journey and insights of successful entrepreneurs is inspiring and educational. But there’s a different kind of learning experience that you get when you hear their stories firsthand and have the opportunity to ask them questions that have been lingering in your mind. Such was the opportunity that EO Melbourne has presented to its members and community when it held a virtual event with Austin McChord, the Founder of Datto.

Becoming a unicorn startup is one of the goals many entrepreneurs want to achieve. But how does one start small and become a global success? It was not a smooth journey for Austin as he shared the ups and downs that he went through during the process of growing his business.

Austin started Datto from his parents' basement in 2007 and went on to build it as the first unicorn startup from his home state of Norwalk, Connecticut. With the mission of bringing best-in-class data protection solutions to underserved small and medium-sized businesses, he was able to make Datto as the world's leading provider of IT solutions delivered through managed service providers (MSPs).

According to Austin, there were some hits and misses as he began making his first products from limited resources. He built his online store, created a website and had his products listed on Amazon only to see no sales. However, out of his not-so-glorious beginnings, he kept on creating and innovating until he saw some promise from the ideas that he and his team have executed.

Moving out of the basement to a bigger office and later several locations across the US and around the world, Datto has grown and Austin, as the founder, continued to chart that distance to the future. While coming up with new concepts and creations, he made sure to look after his team and customers, as well as respond to the needs of the community, especially during times of disaster.

One particular incident that Austin couldn’t forget was when he received a strategic deal where a company wanted to buy his business. He didn’t believe it at first, but when he realised they were bent on offering his venture, he took Datto even more seriously. At that time, the deal didn’t get through and Austin went on to build Datto to the point wherein they even bought their competitors’ products.

As Datto became huge, Austin wanted to move towards his next big journey and give the company a new leadership space. He stepped down as Datto’s Chief Executive Officer after serving for over 10 years. Now, he invests in and advises other technology growth companies, while continues to invent and experiment in his lab in Norwalk, CT.

Since then, Austin has received various distinctions and awards. He was named to Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 list in 2015, named an Ernst & Young Technology Entrepreneur of the Year in 2016, and earned recognition as one of the nation's top 50 philanthropists in 2017 by the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

It was an inspiring entrepreneurial journey worth emulating. Austin showed that with determination and perseverance, along with a passion for his craft and commitment to his team and clients, he can achieve his goals.

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EO holds chapter, regional and global events for its Members that help them in their entrepreneurial journey. Interested to join the EO Melbourne chapter? Check out how through this page.

The Coronavirus Disruption Project: a webinar with Jeffrey Cole

"Daily life is far more disrupted by the pandemic than after 9/11 or the beginning of World War II, and anxiety is at levels only seen after Pearl Harbor and the Great Depression," said Jeffrey Cole, Director of the Center for the Digital Future in the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. The Center conducted a study titled "The Coronavirus Disruption Project: How We are Living and Coping During the Pandemic," which found rapid life changes and concerns as to how Americans confront the pandemic.

Jeffrey recently held a webinar with EO Melbourne on The Coronavirus Disruption Project and shared the findings of this study, which provided insights that helped better understand the thoughts of people who go through similar life experiences, anxieties and coping mechanisms.

Jeffrey has been at the forefront of media and communication technology issues both in the United States and internationally for the past three decades. An expert in the field of technology and emerging media, he serves as an adviser to governments and leading companies around the world as they craft digital strategies. In 2016, Jeffrey was one of the founders of the Global Disruption Fund (GDF), a technology investment fund based in Australia. He is one of the members of the Investment Committee identifying innovative companies and those about to be disrupted, making investments based on his work.

Veering from the Center's traditional work in annually examining digital change since the year 2000 in 35 countries, The Coronavirus Disruption Project took an extended look at life during the pandemic. As people are living through the greatest social science experiment of all time without warning or preparation, millions have had to suddenly move their work, learning, buying and everything else online. To see how everything has changed and will continue to change, Jeffrey gave a detailed look at how people have lived and coped during the crisis.

It was an insightful webinar for the attendees as Jeffrey elaborated on the data they gathered last April and June. People revealed what they missed most when isolated due to the pandemic. He also tackled people’s hobbies, habits, and sources of information with the new lifestyle that COVID-19 has brought to people's lives. With the shift of activities to the online and virtual space, the study revealed how people are navigating through the changes and how they perceive the transformations in their lives. Following his presentation was a healthy discussion as Jeffrey answered questions from the webinar participants related to the topic.

EO Melbourne continues to hold online learning events like this that allow its members and community to acquire additional knowledge and deeper understanding not only of the business environment and the entrepreneurial journey but also of the adjustments and modifications entrepreneurs can employ to adapt to the present environment.

Check out EO Melbourne’s past events in this page and its 2020-2021 Q1 events through the video at the homepage. Are you interested to be part of EO Melbourne? Read here on how to join.

The importance of mentorship in the entrepreneurial journey

The entrepreneurial path can be quite daunting for those who are contemplating to take it. But even when you’re already in the journey, there are times when the ride can be tough and you seem to be lost midway due to the pressures coming from various directions. Having a guide, someone that has been through this before, to point the way can help ease the anxiety of not knowing what lies ahead and can even be instrumental in accelerating things. This is where mentors come beneficial to one’s entrepreneurial journey.

Entrepreneurs Damian Blumenkranc, Co-Founder of Creativa, Attento, and Just Click Videos, among others, and Benjamin Trinh, Founder and Managing Director of Life Ready Health Group share that having mentors have helped them in the success of their endeavours. Apart from being on the receiving end as mentees, both have also become mentors to other entrepreneurs, helping others in their businesses as well.

“I have experience at both ends, been a mentee and a mentor many times, and planning to continue getting mentors and helping others.”

-          Damian Blumenkranc, Co-Founder of Just Click Videos

From his experience being a mentee and later on as a mentor, Damian recognises the value of mentors in one’s entrepreneurial journey. “Having mentors has been critical to my success in business. It can take years to go through the experiences and the mistakes you need to make to know what to do best in each situation. As entrepreneurs, we face new challenges daily and having someone that can guide you through those hard or strategic challenges based on their success & failure experiences can mean a life-changing difference,” he stated.

Yet, to be able to give back by guiding others has become a fulfilling experience for Damian as well, providing him with a different perspective and understanding as a business owner. “As a mentor, it is extremely rewarding to not only see your mentees’ businesses flourish, double and triple, but also to know that all those hard-earned experiences are useful beyond your realm and gives you the energy to tackle any new challenges to come, hopefully with the help of a mentor to guide you through it as well.” 

Choosing a good mentor to guide you may not be easy. But there’s no need to look too far, according to Damian. “For those that haven't had a mentor before, I think the best mentors are not necessarily those that are 100 steps ahead of you (they are great for contacts and inspiration), but those that are just 2-3 steps or maybe 3-5 years ahead of you because they will not only be able to relate better to your situation but also have fresher memories similar to what you are facing and a contemporary approach to solving your current hurdles.”

“Ensuring people have access to mentorship ensures they learn and grow within your organisation.”

-          Ben Trinh, Founder & Managing Director of Life Ready Health Group

Ben has experienced the benefits of having a mentor in shaping his growth as an entrepreneur. “When I joined EO at 23 years old, my business had barely scraped over the $1 million and Accelerator hadn't existed. Thankfully, some mentors helped guide and shape my business into what it is today,” he said.

Acknowledging the value of mentors to startup owners like him, he later went on to guide other entrepreneurs who are in the same situation he once had. As a result, Ben shared, “I participated in the EO mentorship program as a mentor for 2 years. Apart from that, I also sit on numerous advisory boards and provide help to other founders.”

Moreover, he found that mentorship done internally is also significant when running a business because it develops the people within that organisation. “Succession planning is critical in any business. Without it, businesses get stuck with young people leaving for other opportunities elsewhere. Ensuring people have access to mentorship allows them to learn and grow within your organisation. It also ensures you are replicating the strong aspects of your key people for each of your managers. In our corporate culture, we must ask, ‘who will replace you?’ This culture, combined with forum-style governance, has allowed us to scale from 3 people to now over 400 across 3 states,” he shared.

EO Melbourne Mentorship Program

EO Melbourne Mentorship Chair Dr James L Murray revealed how the chapter is working on this program to help entrepreneurs learn from others who have the experience to guide them in their journey. “This year, we have gone above and beyond to recruit some amazing Mentors from outside the chapter. Some are absolute rock stars in the Melbourne entrepreneurial community. There are also many YPO members and lots who have exited multiple times successfully.”

According to James, “Mentorship ranks as the #2 member experience after their forum. The program ranks higher than learning events, retreats and universities. For a small-time investment of only 20 hours for the year, they may meet and get to know someone who can change their life and their business forever. Also, training in how to be both a Mentor and a Mentee will serve them in all aspects of their life.”

If you are interested to know more about this program, visit our Mentorship page for more details.

EO Melbourne's online catch-up events: Chat Roulette and Needs & Leads

In a time when physical interaction is limited and most people are at home due to restrictions, reaching out to one another is of great importance. Having a community where members can seek help or extend assistance can make a huge difference in people’s lives. This is how EO Melbourne has become a flourishing environment for entrepreneurs where continuous growth and constant support takes place.

Recently, the chapter held virtual catch-up events that allowed members to get to know each other at a deeper level and lend a hand to those in need. Members were more than enthusiastic to participate in such endeavours that provided them with an avenue to strengthen their bond as they navigate the challenges of the current crisis together.

Needs and Leads

The EO Melbourne community is always thriving due to the rich exchanges of ideas among members. Taking this a step further, the chapter created an exclusive virtual event with structured networking and business matching.

It was an opportunity for members to connect, express their needs, and provide leads for each other. Participants of this online session had the chance to share their three core areas where help was required, and at the same time, offer introductions or solutions for the other participants.

Based on the positive feedback received, the chapter offered a second round of this online event. Needs & Leads 2 included Board Members from EO Brisbane and EO Sydney to assist participants who had needs in those states, a great benefit for members with national businesses.

Chat Roulette

Ever heard of Chatroulette? It's a site that took the internet by storm in 2010 that pairs random users for webcam-based conversations. EO Melbourne introduced its version of it, but on Zoom. Instead of random users, EO automatically paired members with each other.

EO Melbourne's "Chat Roulette" Social Hour was an enjoyable event for those who love to network, wherein speed dating and Forum One2One was combined into a single, fun, and cool activity.

This event allowed members to have four one-on-one conversations with other members for ten minutes each. Conversation starters were provided to help move the chats along. It was an opportunity to catch up with other participants and an amazing way for them to get to know someone new.

So, who says one can’t have fun and enjoy other people’s company despite the restrictions of the lockdown? It’s often nice to spend some time with friends and surround yourself with like-minded individuals, even though it’s in the virtual realm. Moreover, having a group like EO Melbourne can help and support you through the challenges that the present situation may bring.

Interested to be part of EO Melbourne? Click here to join.

EO Melbourne's virtual Wine-Tasting Nights

A week loaded with various tasks and business concerns to attend to deserves a relaxing Friday evening. A glass or two of wine is a wonderful way to cap the work week and welcome the weekend. EO Melbourne recognises this as the chapter recently held virtual wine-tasting events for its members.

To start our virtual wine tasting journey, EO Melbourne Member Hugh Jones and his wife Raquel, the couple that established Weathercraft Wines, hosted a wine-tasting night where participants enjoyed three of their wines: 2018 Limited Chardonnay, 2019 Rosé, and 2017 Shiraz.

Hugh and Raquel shared the story behind each wine, its characteristics and how they are processed. Produced from the Weathercraft Wines vineyard in Beechworth, their wines are a result of fruits handpicked from painstakingly managed vines.

But there’s more to just the bottles of wine that the group enjoyed. They were also inspired by the journey that the Jones couple took in turning Weathercraft Wines into a reality. “In 2016, my wife Raquel and I fulfilled a long-held dream and purchased an established, premium vineyard, at Beechworth in North East Victoria. We immediately started producing our wines from the site. Raquel focuses on the winemaking, whilst I focus on the business side,” Hugh revealed.

“Vintage dependent, we produce around 1,800 cases of wine per year from our little winery, and we are very fortunate to be located within spitting distance of some of Australia’s most iconic producers, such as Giaconda, Savaterre and Castagna, to name but a few. Although our focus is on Chardonnay and Shiraz, Raquel’s European heritage has inspired us to grow alternate Spanish varieties best suited to the climate, rainfall and soil composition of our site,” he added.

The following wine-tasting event was a Wine Masterclass brought by Willow Creek Vineyard & Jackalope Hotel and Brad Hampel, EO Melbourne Member and Director of Solution Entertainment. Attendees learned more about the art of winemaking and food pairing during this virtual event.

Glass-in-hand, winemaker Geraldine McFaul walked guests through the winemaking process and shared her viticultural secrets. Participants were also led to a guided wine tasting experience with Jackalope Hotel’s Food & Beverage Director (and Sommelier), Ollie Tucker.

McFaul’s understanding of the terroir and its subtleties is instinctive. When working with exemplary fruit, McFaul says the biggest challenge is “doing less rather than more”. For the wines from the Willow Creek Vineyard, it’s all about letting the vineyard shine through.

With a fastidious focus on cool­-climate chardonnay and pinot noir, McFaul makes some of the most elegant single-vineyard wines on the Mornington Peninsula. Under the expert hands of original viticulturists Robbie O’Leary and, more recently, Ant Davenport, Willow Creek Vineyard’s fruit is hand-tended, block by block, which includes pruning, canopy management, yield control, and harvest. The vineyard consistently produces the fruit of excellent quality, lending itself to minimal intervention and manipulation in the winery.

Members additionally experienced a wine and cheese night with Austin’s Wines, who delivered a virtual pairing of 2018 Austin’s Chardonnay and 2018 Austin’s Pinot Noir as well as L’Artisan Cheeses & crackers in the comforts of their homes.

Austin’s is a family-owned vineyard in Victoria’s beautiful Moorabool Valley. They have been producing wine since 1982 and is now owned by the second generation of Austins.

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These virtual wine-tasting events have been popular among members of the EO Melbourne chapter where they were able to connect online and enjoy the experience amid restrictions imposed due to the pandemic.

How about you, what activities do you engage in to relax your mind and body after a hard day’s work? We’d love you to share your story with us.

We asked the question: As an entrepreneur, how do you practice diversity and inclusion in the workplace?

Having a diverse workforce and ensuring the inclusion of everyone within an organisation – regardless of race, gender or beliefs – help grow a company’s corporate culture, enhance one’s competitive edge and contribute to its bottom line. Entrepreneurs share their experience and tips on how they uphold diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

“Throughout my journey as an entrepreneur and even as an individual, I have been very fortunate to meet people from diverse backgrounds who helped me get to where I am now. I believe diversity and inclusion occur when different people from different experiences come together with their shared stories and talents to work collaboratively.”

- Anou Khanijou, Director of IFOTA Group and Managing Director of anouconcept

Anou believes that practising diversity and inclusion in the workplace is essential for a thriving business. “It encourages innovation, creativity and a sense of belonging and purpose. In my companies – IFOTA, a uniform wholesaler, and anouconcept, a PR and marketing firm – we have team members from diverse backgrounds. We have a work culture that embraces diversity and promotes equality. Culture may seem amorphous and vague, but to us, it means concrete actions in the workplace. These include, for example, having both men and women in leadership or management roles, hiring people from a variety of backgrounds, asking team members to contribute ideas, and respecting those ideas by turning them into action. Even simple activities like shared lunches from different cultural backgrounds and joint birthday celebrations are ways in which we promote unity in diversity,” Anou cited.

“I work with a lot of creative minds and being inclusive means acknowledging their skills, giving them the freedom to be innovative and to make suggestions, and allowing them to be themselves at work. Promoting diversity and inclusion also involves having the right attitude towards challenges and mistakes. We need to recognise that not everybody has the same experience and lessons in life. I got to where I am today because I learned from my failures and I was given second and third chances. My team deserves the same, and I see mistakes as learning opportunities,” she continued.

Recognising the value in people’s diverse experiences and backgrounds, Anou mentioned three tips to effectively promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace:

• Know your staff and know them well. Know what they have to offer and encourage them to participate based on their unique skills and needs.

• Be open to learning. Listen and learn from and together with others.

• Practice what you preach and set an example. By doing so, you create an empowering work environment where your team members trust you and want to collaborate with you.

“Diversity and inclusion have become - and rightfully so - one of the hottest topics across corporations in recent times. At Sharp & Carter, our guiding pillars are Trust, Generosity, Care and Humility.”

- Anthony Holdstock, Partner at Sharp & Carter

Sharp & Carter is more than just another recruitment agency. It is a team of individuals who aspire to change the way the recruitment industry is perceived and who believe that success can be achieved by putting people’s interests first.

“As such, we work with several blue-chip listed companies and many corporate responsible organisations to try and achieve better diversity and inclusion, not only in our workplace but also in theirs,” Anthony avowed.

“Guided by our pillars and values, our leadership group developed a set of non-negotiable behaviours that we, as leaders, must always uphold and remain constantly accountable to. This, in turn, has resulted in a culture of inclusion where employees feel safe to be themselves, and safe in the knowledge that if they come to us with any issue or concern, we will always respond from a place of these four values. Ensuring that we at ‘the top’ always act in this manner assists in growing a culture whereby every staff member follows the lead and checks themselves against these values in their interactions,” he professed.

Anthony also pointed out interesting aspects of promoting diversity in an organisation. “For example, language and communication in writing advertisements are important to attract a diverse range of candidates. Using phrases like ‘up and coming’ can promote ageism, while unconscious bias terms such as ‘strong foundation’ are found to attract more male candidates, whereas phrases like ‘multi-faceted’ will attract more interest from females.” 

He has a few pointers for those who want to develop diversity and inclusion in their respective businesses:

• Awareness is the first step. For those looking to become more aware, there is an excellent book called “The Art of Thinking Clearly”. This book explains about biases and talks about eliminating bias to make better decisions.

• Culture eats strategy for breakfast. Having the right people on the bus, people who genuinely care about making the workplace the best it can be is key. It starts from the top and cascades to the rest of the team. If this is pushed through the organisation and all the people and all the leaders believe in it then it will be driven through. If this breaks down and only happens in pockets you have the wrong people on the bus.

• Assess, review and challenge. The best leaders self-assess and are constantly striving for improvement. Better habits more consistently lead to better outcomes. 

“For us, the key to inclusion is to ensure that we appreciate the differences in each other while bringing everyone back to our core values in the business so that we’re all on the same page, looking to achieve the same core goals within the business.” 

- Nyree Hibberd, CEO of Koh Living

“In terms of diversity, at Koh Living, both myself and my business partner, Tui Cordemans, are out and proud gay! I remember 15 years ago when we were first hiring staff, we would routinely ask if they had an issue working with people that we're gay.  Today, it’s absurd to think that we even asked those questions, and we’re grateful for our growth and changes in society to not see ourselves as different at all,” Nyree shared.

Having a joint purpose, no matter what their role in the business, has always kept Nyree and Tui on track. “We focus on the things we have in common, not the things we have that are different,” she stated.

Because human connections and relationships are at the heart of their business, ‘Making people feel important’ is one of their corporate values where they promote and practise respect and responsibility. Whether it’s a customer, supplier or service provider, everyone is important at Koh Living.

With that, Nyree shares a few tips to those who want to advance diversity and inclusion in their teams:

• Be aware of the diversity within your teams, especially if there are any staff that are sensitive to particular things.

• Ensure that there is no room for sarcasm and putting down. In my experience, Australians can be rather cruel with jokes without being directly nasty – so in our warehousing environment where there was a lot of casual staff, we make it clear what is and isn’t acceptable.

• Ensure each team member understands the important role they play in the overall goal of the business. We do this quarterly, having a quarter goal, and weekly. We check with each person their high priority activities for the week to help the business achieve its quarter goal. We find that it makes everyone feel they are on the same team, and there is little room for not feeling included when you’re part of the big picture.

“I firmly believe that a culture of diversity and inclusion in the workplace starts with the leadership team. We have assembled a leadership team from unique and diverse backgrounds who have different experiences and views on the world.”

- Costa Vasili, CEO and Founder of EthnoLink

Highlighting leadership as a significant part in diversity and inclusion in an organisation, Costa elucidated that “By starting from the top down, this culture developed in the leadership permeates through the rest of the company, helping to foster the diverse and inclusive culture that we want for the entire company.”

As one of Australia’s leading providers of professional translation services to corporate and government organisations, EthnoLink Language Services caters to clients with diverse composition or those that reach out to multi-lingual stakeholders with different backgrounds. Thus, diversity and inclusion are prevailing in Ethnolink’s internal and surrounding environments.

Costa then shares his tips for those who want to be better in this area of their business:

• Be real and honest with yourself about how your company is performing on diversity and inclusion. It's a typical response to be defensive and thinks that everything is fine in your company, but if you want to make meaningful change, you need to be completely real with where you're currently at.

• Take on the mindset of "the standard you walk past is the standard you accept". If you see or hear something that doesn't align with your company's endeavours to foster a diverse and inclusive culture, call it out and seek to educate.

• When advertising for positions with your company, let potential applicants know that you are a diverse and inclusive workplace and that you encourage people from unique and diverse backgrounds to apply. Each of our job ads has a statement to that effect which can help improve the talent pool that you source new talent from.

Now, you can take these pieces of advice to your business and see how you can apply them to ensure you have a diverse workforce and inclusive organisation. Share with us your experience by leaving a comment below or sending us your story at communications@eomelbourne.org.

Ways of streamlining your business

As your business grows, you will find that tasks increase, files pile up, materials (and dust) gather and more things need your attention. Some items take longer to turn around, need several documents and require to deal with a lot of people. When work gets more complicated and unproductive, maybe it’s time to review your business and see where you need to streamline and simplify things.

Streamlining items and systems means you declutter objects and remove unnecessary steps so that you can cut down on wastage and use resources wisely. You can use modern technology and techniques to make your organisation more efficient than before. How to do that? Take a look at a few suggestions on how to simplify different aspects of your business, whether they are physical objects or processes.

Focus on your core products and services

When you try to expand your business, the temptation to do many other things that may no longer be part of your core products or services is high. Instead of doing so many things within your business, it is better to separate them into different ventures and let each focus on its strong components. Pay more attention to the quality over quantity of work you do. Eliminate factors that are not essential to your business but take a lot of time, resources, and energy from you and your team.

Outsource certain tasks

For you to be able to focus on the core of your business, outsource the components that are not your expertise. Which part of your business can you farm out to experts? Is it design, finance, IT, engineering, PR, marketing or delivery? Outsourcing allows you to have lesser things to think about, do what you’re best at, and reduce cost. 

Take out unnecessary steps in processes

From hiring to finance to procurement to operations to generating reports, review if there are steps that are not very essential to the processes within your enterprise. Go through your workflow and check the gaps and bumps that may hinder more than help accomplish a particular task. If you need checks and balances, you can put in systems that will enable you to monitor and generate reports without having to go through extra steps and assign too many people.

Remove redundancies

Check for any redundant positions, tasks, items, or machines. There may be too many forms to fill out. While back-ups are necessary, you can always come up with techniques and strategies to do this without adding another layer in your process or extra task to do to get work done. See if there are any overlap of roles and work. The leaner and simpler things are, the easier and more efficient you accomplish your goals.

Shift to electronic copies

Do you have piles of paper stacked on your desk? Is it difficult to find an important document among the folders kept on your shelf? Shift to electronic copies and cut down on paper usage. This way, you not only minimise your expenses but you also help save the planet. Be sure to have a system on how you organise files to make it easy to find. When it comes to streamlining, also review your physical space if it is conducive for work or if there is too much clutter that sometimes affects the way people do their job.

Automate your systems

Take advantage of modern technology and see the available software in the market that can help you in your business. You can consult an expert to check which part of your venture you can automate and make things faster and more efficient. Focus on the portion where you spend more time and workforce so you can ease the flow of processes.

Reduce delays

Maybe there are things where you can communicate online or electronically so that you don’t need to spend more time on the road or be physically present in meetings. If you can make things faster or lessen the amount of time you need to spend on menial tasks, find ways to reduce delays. Cut down on your travel time and do meetings more efficiently.

When you have streamlined your business, review it from time to time so that you can adjust and refine the changes you have instituted. No need to complicate things when you can do them more simply. In the end, you can even be more productive while saving some of your energy and resources.

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How to do a proper handover and transition at work

People exiting an organisation is a common occurrence in every business. There are plenty of reasons why staff members leave the company. Whatever is the circumstance behind an employee departing, the changing of employees is something that every entrepreneur should prepare for to ensure that there are no gaps in-between periods of a team member leaving and a new one coming in.

A common scenario is to secure a short overlap of time where new and old staff can work together. However there are many times when the outgoing staff member has already ended their service while the incoming person has not yet begun working in the company. Whichever circumstance you have in your business, it is best to assign a person, such as an HR staff or team leader or office manager, to oversee that proper turnover is done by the exiting employee.

Below are a few pointers to facilitate a smooth transition of work so that nothing is left unattended when someone leaves your team.

Have a turnover meeting

It may take a single meeting with the outgoing staff member or a series of meetings to discuss the transition and handing over of tasks. Let the employee give you an overview of the day-to-day activities of the position the person is holding, incomplete tasks, and other pertinent information you may need to continue where the member has left off. If a new person is already reporting, sit together with both of them so that you can all discuss pending matters that the departing person will be leaving behind as well as orient the incoming employee about the role.

Create a turnover document

Prepare a checklist of things you need from the employee so that it’s easier to navigate through the tasks once the position is left vacant. The document includes the list of files being handed over, unfinished tasks or unfulfilled responsibilities, and the contact details of clients, suppliers and other stakeholders they normally deal with while working in the organisation. If the person is handling social media accounts and online access on behalf of the company, get the account information and passwords. The document becomes a reference for you and the one who will be filling in the role.

Check physical and digital files being left behind

Don’t just simply receive the files handed over to you. Review them and familiarise with them, especially with contracts and important documents. For the soft files, understand how they are organised so it’s easy for you to look for them in the future. Verify the list of files given to you and check thoroughly in case something is missing or forgotten.

Get introduced to accounts, clients or contacts the person is handling

In positions where the employee has several external contacts or dealings with, such as in sales and marketing, be sure to get the directory of these accounts. Set a timeline where the outgoing team member introduces you or the new person to people they regularly come in contact with during their tenure in your company.

Set a period to shadow the outgoing employee

Sitting down one time or having a single meeting before the employee leaves may not be enough to fully cover the gaps. If a new person has begun reporting, let that person shadow the outgoing employee as part of the new staff training and orientation. Otherwise, if there’s still no one to take the place of that team member assign someone who will shadow the person or document the day-to-day tasks and activities properly to have a smooth onboarding process when the new person comes in.

Generally, it is easier and more cost efficient to retain good people because hiring a new one takes a lot of effort and energy. However, since it cannot be avoided that people will leave an organisation, better be prepared for this eventuality by setting up a system that will make handing over of tasks seamless that will ensure the continuity of tasks.

Leadership in the Time of Crisis

EO Melbourne Navigating Now and Preparing for Post-COVID-19

"We've aged a generation in the past three weeks. What matters has sharply come into focus. Family matters. Love matters. Kindness matters. Health matters. Generosity matters. People matter. Community matters. The rest is just noise.

Aside from physical distancing, the biggest thing you can do right now is to choose to see the best in each other. Be kind. Be patient. Be tolerant.

Be quick to help out in any way that you can. Be forgiving when you would otherwise be upset. See things through the eyes of others and try to understand where they are coming from.

Seek out opportunities for generosity. Reconnect with your community. Reconnect with yourself. Reconnect with your priorities. Live them."

- Anonymous

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought governments, businesses, and communities to a standstill, affecting lives all over the world and across all levels of society. Entrepreneurs are not spared from the adverse effects of this pandemic. EO Melbourne’s President Kym Huynh shares how the crisis has impacted the lives of entrepreneurs in Melbourne and how he, and his Board, tackled the situation head-on to both help those affected navigate through the challenges and prepare for a world post-crisis.

“What differentiates COVID-19 from other world crisis such as the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2008 and September 11 of 2001 is that no one knows what the end date of this pandemic is. Consequently, we cannot accurately plan for the future when we do not know when the endpoint for the current crisis is,” Kym states.

“During uncertainty, people seek answers, people seek leadership, and people seek direction. And when you throw a global pandemic on top, you have an environment where emotional states are heightened, and people become prone to acting emotionally rather than rationally. When I consider this in the context of leadership, it is important to augment how we typically lead with such speed in decision-making and an increase in our communications cadence,” he continues.

When faced with a challenge or difficulty, Kym’s normal process is to:

1.       Step back

2.       Choose not to immediately react

3.       Assess the environment and situation

4.       Gather multiple credible data points

5.       Stategize

6.       React from a place of stillness

Leading the team

Entrepreneurs, by definition, are leaders. The people employed, the family members and the communities that entrepreneurs touch all look to them for cues on how to react and respond. “If you’re going to be in a position where you are seen by others as that of being a leader, you might as well be a good one,” Kym reflects. “One thing I have learned from leadership during COVID-19 is that I don't always need to have the answers,” Kym quips, “but rather that I need to be present, constant and visible so that I create that environment and space of safety and stability”. In that, he makes sure he is a constant so that he can provide stability to his Board, EO, his family and his community.

He enumerated the immediate things he did to mitigate the complexities of the situation:

1.       Make sure everyone is calm and collected

“The topmost priority for me was to manage the emotional state of the collective, and dive deeper 1-on-1 with individuals where needed,” Kym states. He believes that making sure everyone, particularly the Board and the team, is in a still, calm and collected state-of-mind is very important. For the Board and the team to lead, they need to be able to make good decisions. To make good decisions, they need to be in a good emotional state. Therefore, he made it a priority to make sure that every single person around him was good with themselves so that they could effectively look after the Chapter.

2.       Create an atmosphere of safety and stability

He made sure he was highly visible, and accessible by opening his normal lines of communication more so that people can come to him for that feeling of safety and stability. “In my experience, sometimes the little things you do can mean the world to others, and COVID-19 amplifies this experience. Whether it be a phone message, an email, a phone call or a video call, I have found that these simple actions reassure people that I—and my Board--are present and that we are thinking about the situation. These simple actions are important because people are looking for stability in a time where there's so much instability,” says Kym.

3.       Create concise, focused and impactful messages

Once everyone is calm and feels safe, he and his Board were quick to communicate to the Chapter that they’re there for the members, doing everything they can to support the members with messaging that can be comprehended easily, leaving no room for ambiguity. “It is important that any messaging is easy-to-understand, and leaves no gaps because if we communicate with gaps, others will fill in the gaps for us, and they will fill it in incorrectly. Even more during a crisis, it is imperative that the messaging is concise, focused and impactful,” Kym states. “It was important for myself and my Board that we communicate a message of unity, solidarity, and that together we are stronger,” he adds.

Plan of action

Words of assurance and encouragement must be accompanied with a specific, timely and measurable plan of action. Kym convened his Board to exchange experiences and insights and review the collective feedback and sentiment from the community. These are the action points they came up with during their fruitful Board meeting and in the succeeding discussions:

1.       Appointment of a Resident Psychologist

Knowing that people are hurting and many businesses have been severely impacted, the Board made it a priority to support those who were in need. To show that they’re there for the members, the Board decided on the appointment of a resident psychologist that is entirely funded and supported by the Chapter. That is, any Member of the Chapter, if they need to, can call and directly reach the resident psychologist for a confidential conversation.

2.       Member-to-Member support

Members of the Chapter are paired up with one another, wherein they can reach out and stay connected. It provides members with an avenue to pick up the phone, call another member, check on that person and let the conversation flow. “It is crucial that we lean into, and invest in, our relationships with one another during times of crises,” Kym shares.

3.       Board-to-Member reach-out

The Board recognises that there are a handful of members who have contracted and remained quiet while fighting their fires. These members were identified and assigned to Board Members. Kym speaks from experience, “When I'm in a crisis, I tend to feel like I don't want to burden and bother others with my issues. It is a difficult compulsion to fight, despite cognitively knowing how much better off I will be if I share openly with others and being vulnerable. The lesson here is to not wait for people to ask for help, but to be proactive, pick up the phone, and reach out. Our small acts of kindness and compassion can mean the world to another.”

4.       Supporting members through the current crisis, and preparing members for the world post-crisis via condensed learning events

The Chapter launched a 12-week webinar series consisting of members sharing stories, learnings, experiences and expertise with other members. According to Kym, “These learning events create solidarity, reinforce the community, and create safety. Knowing this, we moved fast to create these events, source our speakers and add resources to promote them to our members.”

From the board meeting, webinar topics were discussed, wherein the first half of the series is focused on navigating the current crisis while the other half is to help prepare members for what happens post-crisis. Topics were determined based on the issues that the Board Members were experiencing themselves and those that they heard from other entrepreneurs and business owners.

5.       “No member will be left behind”

EO Melbourne adopted the motto, “No member will be left behind.” The message was communicated quickly and repetitively. It was short, concise, focused, and left no room for misinterpretation. The Board also ensured that the substance of the message could be supported by ensuring that the Global Support Package and Local Support Package combined to create a substantial assistance package.

“We are mindful that there are members whose entire businesses and livelihoods have been severely impacted, and that they're in a very stressful and overwhelming situation. We accounted for this type of scenario. So, we wanted to make sure that if any member wishes to continue to engage with EO next year, we will find a way to make it happen,” asserts Kym.

Moving forward

Although the future seems uncertain, Kym accentuates that the EO Melbourne Chapter must move forward stronger, better and wiser, highlighting that we are stronger together. He illustrates this by sharing the idea of a stick, wherein if it remains alone, can easily break. But if bundled together with other sticks, it becomes significantly more difficult to break.

For Kym, “We must move forward stronger. We must be more connected with one another, and with that connection will come solidarity. We will move forward better, wherein we will be kinder to ourselves, each other, our families, our friends, our teams, and our communities. We will move forward wiser when we can carry the lessons we've learned during this crisis into the future. After all, like it or not, the crisis has happened, so it is incumbent on ourselves that we do what we can, to make the best out of the crisis.”

“Times of crisis creates opportunities for great leaders to emerge. It is leadership not only in our businesses but also in leadership with ourselves, our families and our communities. I hope that every single person reading this finds it within themselves to stand tall and proud, and to step up to becoming a great leader, one that serves others, leads with compassion and lifts those around them. We started the year with the theme, ‘our best year yet,’ and with our leadership, not only can this be the best year yet for ourselves, our businesses, families and communities, but also the EO Melbourne Chapter,” Kym imparts.

The pros and cons of serial entrepreneurship

There are entrepreneurs and there are serial entrepreneurs. But what is the difference between the two? Both start a business from an idea. While a typical entrepreneur may opt to stay to run their venture, a serial entrepreneur may pass on the reigns of managing the business to someone else and moves towards starting another one.

Some entrepreneurs may be more skilful at the startup stage and find it a challenge overseeing the day-to-day needs of the business. Serial entrepreneurs thrive at creating ideas and putting such concepts into concrete results by building startups. There’s nothing wrong with it if one’s skills set better matches becoming a founder rather than managing a business. Still, it pays to be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of serial entrepreneurship should you decide to be one.

Pros of serial entrepreneurship

More opportunities to widen one’s creativity

Not all business ideas can be merged into one venture. Some are unrelated that you need to establish a separate enterprise for your various business concepts. The good thing about being a serial entrepreneur is that you don’t get stuck with just one idea or box yourself within your existing business. By opening another startup, you can experiment and come up with many creative outputs without putting your other business in jeopardy.

Gives you more flexibility and freedom

A variety of businesses with different concepts and core products or services may allow you more flexibility and freedom to do whatever you want. As you are more into generating ideas and laying them out, you are not tied up with the day-to-day operations of your businesses. With that, you can pour your time and effort into what you do best while getting experts to take care of areas where you need help the most.

Personal and professional development

Exposure to different industries and challenges will help hone your skills and capabilities. It can provide you with various avenues for professional growth as well as personal development. You get to learn the ins and outs of the many industries where your enterprises belong and understand more the mindset of different market groups.

Can bring in more money

Having more businesses may bring in more sales and profits. It’s not always the case, but if they all become more prosperous, you will reap a good harvest with what you’ve sown. Many successful serial entrepreneurs now enjoy various streams of income because they have established several ventures and provided a good foundation to allow them to grow.

Cons of serial entrepreneurship

Several risks to take

Establishing businesses here and there may sound exciting but it may come with a huge price. Starting a business means investing your resources, time and effort. If you have several ventures you may need a lot to invest in them, which means exposing yourself to a lot of risks. You need to be more calculating in your decisions to lessen probable harm to you and your businesses.

Need for trustworthy people

Since serial entrepreneurs are usually more present in the business during the early phase and may have to hand over the reins to someone else, there is a need to find trustworthy people who can manage the various aspects of the business once it has started to take off. As the entrepreneur moves on to another startup, there must be strong leadership that will steer the other ventures forward.

A lot of accountability

Although there may be directors and managers that will take care of the other businesses and their departments, having several enterprises entail bigger accountability to the entrepreneur. There are more people under your wing. One misstep may not only affect one venture but may also affect the others. When something unexpected happens, you have more people to tend to and matters to attend. It cannot be avoided that as you multiply your businesses and expand them, there are more mouths to feed and more individuals relying on you. It might be difficult to pull out when the right time comes.

Lack of focus

With three or more businesses to your name, you need to allocate quality time for each. Having too many may result in a lack of focus, causing one or several of them to suffer. Some of your businesses may demand your attention all at the same time and not be able to address a certain issue may yield to losses and failure.

Becoming a serial entrepreneur takes a lot of courage and confidence. Not everybody may be one, as much as not all can become an entrepreneur, but if you put your mind and heart into it, you may be able to surpass the unimaginable and be able to build a business empire.

When to partner with a competitor

It may not be commonplace to find competitors partnering with each other, but it is also not a rare case. Besides, such collaboration only lasts for a certain period and is not expected to be done in the long-term.

However, there are benefits you can get by working with a competition, although it may also pose some risks. But if you have a common goal in mind, then doing so may mean you have to set aside your differences and cooperate until you achieve what you both want to attain. Just make sure that you keep your trade secrets close to your chest as certain circumstances may call for it.

During times of crisis

A crisis, tragedy or disaster, such as the global pandemic we are currently experiencing, are few instances when you need to put two minds together until both your businesses can surpass such difficulty. Oftentimes, several companies in the same industry come together to cooperate so that they can survive and navigate through a crisis.

For innovation in the industry

Competition happens not just among businesses belonging in the same field but also among various industries. With the rise of online and app-based ventures, physical stores or those with physical products experience a dent on their performance. Other industries are left behind because of the fast technological advancements. Partnering with a competitor to revive your industry or innovate it is a good move to help your business withstand the rising trend of other new industries.

When expanding the market

It is often difficult to enter a new market or expand your existing one to new territories. To save you on your effort and resources, as doing so may require a huge risk, partnering with a business similar to yours may be a wise thing to do in certain situations.

To complement each other’s business

While you are competitors, you may have different strengths and unique selling propositions that one may have over the other. You may complement each other’s businesses by putting on the table something that the other one does not have.

In facing a bigger competitor

When a huge corporation dominates a certain market, small businesses sometimes suffer as they only get a meagre portion of the pie. They need to join forces so that they can increase their market share and have a better competing power against the big player in the field.

For a common charitable cause

Businesses usually help out a sector that is related to their brand or operation. Construction firms would want to build homes to the homeless or schools to communities in need. Enterprises that are into children may help in education. Competing companies can work together to help a particular sector of society, hoping to provide better conditions to that group.

It may be an opportunity to find a circumstance where you can partner with a competitor. But then, think it over thoroughly, do a lot of research, discuss it with your team and analyse the situation carefully. There are benefits with working with a competitor but know the risks. Be sure that you do it to advance your business and help you get closer to your vision and goals.

Tips on doing niche marketing

Getting exposure to as many people as possible may be a good thing. But it can take so much time, effort and resources on your part. Meanwhile, if you target a specific market, it will take less but may produce the same or better results.

Niche marketing is a strategy where you direct your initiatives towards a target market and customise your messages and design to their preference. It is different from mass marketing, wherein you convey you communicate to a bigger audience. On the other hand, niche marketing focuses on the segment which has the most need and most interest in your product or service.

To make sure that your niche marketing strategies are effective and successful, here are a few tips that may help your business.

Get the demographics of your market and segmentize them

Surveys, feedback forms or interviews are just a few methods of getting information about your customers. It’s always helpful to gather data, observe first-hand and analyse the numbers to set the foundation of your strategies. Know the age, location, occupation and other information on the demographics of your clientele. From the statistics generated, divide your market into segments so you can decide the best group to target for your niche marketing.

Research on the behaviours and psyche of your target market

Delve deeper into your target segment and know their behaviours, hobbies and preferences. These will help outline your strategies on how to approach and communicate with your market. Understanding their needs and pain points and seeing the connection as to how your products or services address such will enable you to tailor-fit your marketing campaign towards them.

Maintain a database of your customers from that niche

Put together a database of your clients belonging to your target segment and communicate with them regularly. Better yet, provide an avenue for them to form into a community. It will enable you to strengthen your relationship with your target market and encourage loyalty to your brand.

Choose the right communication platform or channel

Once you have determined your target market’s mindset and behaviour, select the right platform or channel where you will communicate to them. Although bags are the same, targeting a high-end and matured market is unlike communicating to a young group. The idea with niche marketing is that you don’t have to be all over the place. Instead, you can focus more on where you can be most visible to your intended audience.

Craft your messages and design for the target segment

When you have fully known and understood that market segment you want to aim, craft your messaging and design your marketing materials as to how they will appeal to them the most. Doing so is like communicating to them directly. Adjust your messaging and design according to the platform you are using. Ads in written format should not be the same with broadcast media. Similarly, direct emails are drafted differently from press releases and social media posts.

Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up

Sustain your initiatives by scheduling properly your activities. If you did an exclusive event for your target market, sent out an email or launched an online campaign, make sure that you do a follow-up. With so many things going on in a single day, people may tend to forget about your brand. Make your presence felt in a way that your product or service becomes more relevant to them.

If you even know better the market you want to target, you can be even more specific on your action points. Don’t forget to evaluate how effective your niche marketing is and if it’s something that you should consider doing for your brand for the long-term.

How to sell your business

Selling a business, big or small, is not something that happens overnight. If it is part of your exit plan, you need to outline how to go about it so that when the right time comes, you can easily start the ball rolling. Whether it’s the point when you feel you need to move to another industry or retirement, attend to other personal matters or navigate through a crisis, such the pandemic that the world is experiencing, selling a business is always an option that an entrepreneur can consider doing.

The logistics of preparing to sell your venture is tedious in itself, which includes the financial, legal, mental and emotional aspects of it. Consider also that there are people that will be affected by it, so think through it several times before you make decisions, plan out your steps and carry them out. What are the things you need to do to help put your enterprise on the market?

Know your company’s worth

You have to know your company’s market value. There are several ways to calculate this, which is by looking at the return on investments, growth, performance rating, assets and other factors. It also depends on the size and potential of your business. You may consult with an expert or check out data in your industry to help you determine the right price for your venture.

Look for a broker, adviser or someone to represent your business

A broker can help you look for potential buyers and also help with the valuation of your business. Consider that the broker gets a piece of the pie as well, but you can unload some burdens on your shoulder. However, if you want to do it yourself and save some money from getting a middle man, you should have an adviser whom you can consult on various matters regarding the sale. If someone is willing to help you out minus the hefty fee, then the better it is for you.

Organise your financial books and important documents

Prepare your finances to make sure that everything is in order. Work with your accountant on this so that it is easier to present your business status and when due diligence is required. Also, make sure that important documents, especially licenses and legal papers, are in place and without any problem. Prepare a contract and have a lawyer and financial expert check it for you.

Talk to the people around you

Whether it is a family business or not, it is good to talk it with your family so that they can support you on your decision. Discuss the matter with your business partners, if you have any, as well as your associates and staff. They will be most affected by the sale of your business, so you have to make sure that emotions are kept in check by giving assurance and clear directions.

Polish your business model, systems and workflow

Your business must be able to function and grow without you. Should you decide to stay in the business even after the sale, you need to change the mindset of people within and around your organisation. Lessen the dependence of your people on you. Strengthen your systems and workflow so that when the new owner comes in, the business will continue to operate.

Get the word out

If you have already done half of the preparation of selling your business, start talking to people and let others know of your intent to put your business in the market. Once, everything is ready and the only thing needed is a buyer, market or advertise your business and get on the proper channels that can lead you to interested parties.

Review prospective buyers and prepare for due diligence

Once you have a list of people who are expressing interest to acquire your company, check their background thoroughly to make sure that you are leaving your venture in good hands. In the same way, buyers will also conduct due diligence on your business, so be prepared for it as well.

Negotiate, close the deal and hand over the business

When you and the buyer agree on the price and the provisions on the contract, sign it, close the deal and provide a period of turnover with the new owner. Once everything is done, don’t forget to celebrate.

Starting and building a business is like nurturing for a child. The emotional attachment may be there, which may often make selling a business a little difficult for entrepreneurs, even for team members. If you have fully thought and decided on putting your business on the market, mental and emotional preparation is paramount. One way to look at it is that you want the best for your company, so selling it to the right person or group may be necessary to let your business grow more and flourish in its industry.

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The need for concept testing

Good ideas can raise your business to greater heights. Whether it’s a brand name, logo, packaging, new product or service, promotional design or marketing campaign, concepts help your venture grow and thrive. But how do you know if your brainchild is indeed a good one? Some may seem brilliant but they don’t necessarily translate to sales or profit.

Concept testing allows you to calculate the probability for success or profitability of your idea. You may conduct a survey, focused group discussion, interviews, product sampling, test runs or soft launch to gauge how your target market will receive your idea. Some companies acquire the services of an agency to do market research while others do it in-house. Whatever method you think is best for your idea to be tested, know first why it is important that you do it before you fully launch your idea.

To avoid wasting time and resources

Trying to perfect your idea on the drawing board will often cost you time instead of going out and testing it to your market. You launch your idea to the market without knowing how they’ll respond to it may sometimes lead to failure. Remember that the process of turning abstract into something concrete involve investment, effort and time, which may go to waste if the project does not succeed. Testing your idea on your target market will give you a piece of the bigger picture that you may not be able to view if you only stay within the confines of your workspace.

To know the pulse of your market

You come up with new concepts, may it be a product or a marketing strategy, to satisfy your customers. While you may be contented with what you have come up with, people may have a different view of it, and it will show with how they will receive the fruit of your idea. You cannot know what’s in their mind unless you test it on them and see their reception to the novel thing that you want to introduce. It will also give you insights that you may find useful in your other initiatives or endeavours.

To estimate the potential of the idea

You, your team and closest friends may find your new idea remarkable, but you can only estimate its potential, especially the profit or benefits it may generate unless you go out and ask your existing or prospective buyers if it’s something that they deem favourable to them. You can then gauge the extent of effort and resources you can invest in such a project once you can approximate the degree of returns it can give you.

To improve it further

There are times when time is crucial and one does not have the luxury to perfect an idea. Concept testing acts like a filter that highlights areas you can still work on while providing you with answers that you will not be able to generate if you spend so much time on the drawing board. As you gather feedback from your target market, testing your concept can even give birth to tons of new ideas and help you improve your initial concept to become a better one.

To bring you closer to your goal

The goal could be increasing sales, expanding your business or leaving a legacy to your clientele. Whatever it is, concept testing will help you determine if your idea will lead you in the right direction. It will help you plan the next steps that will bring you closer to your goal.

So, next time you have a brainstorming session in your business, don’t miss out testing your concept on your market in the whole process. Choose the best method or methods to do it that will help you evaluate better your concept.

Mentoring your team effectively

Business growth is not only measured by the increase in sales and profit but also on how the organisation develops and improves. Human resource development allows you to shape the people within your organisation and let your venture grow and thrive.

Whether there is a newbie in your team, someone up for promotion, a member being honed for succession or only a skeleton staff is working and you have to deal with a lean organisation, training a team member is part of your human resource development. One form of training is by mentoring, which is teaching new skills, adding knowledge and guiding the person-in-training.

It can be done formally and informally, as mentorship can also be part of your corporate culture. However, if you have a goal in mind and to make sure that your mentorship is effective, there must be a certain framework where the mentor and mentee can refer to as they go through the process. You or your HR may outline the things needed for mentoring, such as the activities we have listed below.

Do a skills review

Before you plan out how you will conduct your mentoring, do first a skills review so that you can identify the strengths and weaknesses that the person can work on as well as where the skills set can fit in your organisation. What are the competencies that need to be built up? What talents and capabilities that must be instilled in the mentee?

Set clear objectives and accountabilities

Once you have identified the skills that can be enhanced and those that still need to be developed, design the objectives and measurable goals of your mentoring. Draw up an action plan and specify who is accountable for which. Stipulate how you will achieve your goals and how to evaluate if the mentoring is indeed successful.

Build a good mentor-mentee relationship

As much as you have a goal in mind, don’t forget to put importance on the whole process and the relationship. As tennis player Arthur Ashe once said, “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is more important than the outcome.”

Trust is a good foundation to make the mentorship a fruitful one. Mentors must exercise patience and provide motivation and inspiration to the mentee. On the other hand, the mentee must be open to correction and learning so that the lessons that the entire experience can bring will be ingrained deeply to one’s frame of mind.

Delegate and assign tasks

Experience, as they say, is the best teacher. The best way to mentor someone is to allow them to be immersed in various situations where they can exercise good judgment and resourcefulness. Delegate tasks that the person can work on. Don’t spoon-feed. Rather, be a guide and allow room for the person to do things based on his abilities and work style.

Monitor and evaluate

Have a regular huddle or avenue where you can assess the short-term goals of your mentoring. By monitoring the progress of the process, you will be able to define the areas where you need to work on the most to achieve the objectives you have set for this mentorship.

Mentoring is a way of sharing knowledge and building expertise among your people. As your team develops, your business will also grow. Even when you have a lean organisation, if you have quality people, it will keep your venture going. Moreover, looking after the improvement of your staff also boosts their morale and strengthens your relationship with each other. But as you mentor your people, it is also best that you also look after your professional growth. Have someone mentor you as well so that you keep on increasing, expanding and improving your skills set and experience as an entrepreneur.

Benefits of business collaborations

Companies, big or small, sometimes work together for a common goal that will mutually benefit each party involved. Collaborations are not uncommon among brands and organisations, especially if this can lead to increased knowledge and sales. Such partnerships may occur through joint projects in developing new products and services, enhanced processes, training and upskilling of people, sales and marketing initiatives and so much more.

Before you get into any form of collaboration, you first have to assess your current state and upcoming plans vis-à-vis to that of the prospective partner organisations. Conduct a SWOT analysis of your business and the other participating businesses. How will this benefit you and your company? What will be the division of labour? How are you going to work out the partnership? What are the stipulations in the collaboration?

One thing to note is that you need to do your thorough research and risk assessment before committing to a collaboration. Make sure that things are documented in black and white so that you have something to refer to in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the business relationship. But if such cooperation between businesses become a huge success, the benefits to your venture can be enormous.

Shared learnings

Collaboration may lead to the sharing of new information, best practices and additional knowledge about your industry and current trends that can be useful to the development of your business. It is when you go outside the box and expand your horizons that you will get to see so much more things to learn that can help you and your venture grow significantly.

Enhanced human capital

The best training for your people is to provide them with on-hand training and exposure, one that collaboration with other businesses can bring to the table. It can widen their horizon and allow them to think outside what you consider as a norm in your organisation. This will enhance their capability as they get to experience new things in a different setting.

Improved products and services

Whether your partner with other businesses to develop a new product or service, combine the best parts of your respective offerings or enhance what is already available, such cooperation will allow you to offer more to your customers. In effect, it will attract additional prospects to your business and grow your clientele.

Increased promotions and brand value

Some collaborations may be limited to joint promotions or marketing tactics. Nevertheless, partnering with another brand, especially a stronger one, may increase the value of your name and expand your reach. It will widen your audience and market as you will be able to communicate to your collaborators’ network. In the long run, it will be helpful to your brand, not only for name recall but also for its trustworthiness.

Financial gains

With experienced people, better offerings and attractive promotions, collaborations may be able to help boost your sales and increase your profit. Successful partnerships may even benefit your bottom line in the long-term as more and more people will look at it as a sign that your business is one that they can depend on. Moreover, the resources and effort that you will put into collaborations vis-à-vis the advantages you will gain will be more cost-efficient as compared to you doing it all by yourself.

Competitive edge

During and after a successful collaboration, all the learnings and improvements that your venture will obtain will give you a competitive edge over other players in the field as you move forward on your entrepreneurial journey. Other businesses get into some form of cooperation with other companies, even for a short period, to use it as a launching pad for more endeavours.

There are surely great wins when you work with other business entities. There are also risks involved and failed collaborations may even have an adverse impact, so do it sparingly and with caution. But if you work towards making it successful, you will reap the fruits of your labour a hundredfold. They may not necessarily come immediately or in monetary form, but it will provide your organisation with many more insights that you will not normally get when you work on your own.

How to pivot a business

During interesting times, such as a global pandemic and an economic crisis, some industries and businesses suffer due to little, no or negative growth. It often happens during normal days as well, when the market does not seem to be enthusiastic about a brand or certain products or offerings. There are several moments when a business hits a plateau or reaches a downward slope. When this occurs, maybe it’s time to revisit your goals and if you need to do a pivot.

Pivoting is an option to save your business from eventual failure. If you do it at the right time and proper strategy, you may be able to even grow your venture. While it may not be easy to do a turn, especially if it’s something that may not be aligned to your core products or services, it is an opportunity to test your flexibility and resourcefulness.

The question is how do you pivot? How do you decide what kind of new offer should you be doing? How do you get out of the mould and institute changes in your business?

Assess your talents and assets

Have an inventory of your assets and talents. Maybe you can use your raw materials and turn them into something else that is unique, affordable and marketable. What are your other skills and talents? You can probably turn a business out of it. If you have hobbies and you are good at them, you can consider creating a business out of those. See how your other resources and talents can respond to a need in society. Some businesses are born out of necessity, while others are built because of ingenuity, generating new interest from the public.

Look at opportunities for new demand

Feel the pulse of your customers and see what keeps them preoccupied or if there’s anything that can make things easier for them. The best way to pivot is to create new demand for your market. Find gaps in society and evaluate how you will be able to fill that gap. Opportunities usually come in areas where there’s most need, so keep your eyes open for them. Some of them may be unrelated to your current offering. Look beyond what you currently have and view the scenario from the eyes of your current and prospective clientele.

Explore the digital world

Take advantage of modern technology. If you can bring your business to the realm of the digital space, you can probably come up with tons of possibilities to pivot your business. Transactions are done faster online, and with the occurrence of the pandemic, more and more industries are turning to the virtual world to deliver the services they can offer.

Innovate your business model or offerings

Is your business model still working? Are your products and services in demand at this time? If the answer to both questions is “no”, then probably it’s time to rethink your strategies and approach. Brainstorm with your team and assess how you can innovate to pivot your venture. You can bring your products a notch higher by innovating or introducing something novel to your clients.

When your business hits a wall, find ways how you can go over or around it. Look into how businesses that have successfully pivoted did it and learn from their best practices. There are many ways to pivot. Be creative. Consider carefully various alternatives and plan your next steps towards achieving your goal.

Data vs gut-feel in decision-making

How do you make decisions for your business? Do you rely on numbers or to your intuition? In this age where information is vast and several tools are available in measuring them, many companies turn to data in helping them come up with plans and strategies for their businesses.

It cannot be denied, however, that there are entrepreneurs who gained resounding success for listening to their business instincts. But with resources, people and many other things on the line, you cannot afford to take a huge risk and decide on something that cannot deliver the expected result.

There are pros and cons when deciding based solely on data available or listening only to what your gut is telling you. The key is a balance of both. There are times when you need to take into consideration one over the other but it is helpful not to discount the other in the process of arriving at a resolution.

Data-gathering may take a lot of time, effort and resources. While numbers can scientifically provide a basis in forecasting what is to happen, there are other factors involved that data cannot fully capture. Since businesses always involve people, emotions and other influences may come into play that data may not be able to completely predict. That’s where gut-feel comes in. Certain decisions have to be made instantaneously and your instinct and hunch can guide you to making a good one. The downside with intuition is that it is more of a hit or miss thing, which can lead to either great achievement or a huge failure.

Numbers may sound cold but logic can provide a greater probability. On the other hand, perception and gut-feel will provide the warmth and may up your chances for success. Here are some instances of how looking at both methods can be advantageous in decision-making.

Spotting trends and patterns

Consumer behaviour can be plotted and measured, which can allow you to see patterns on how trends come and go. Data will provide you with a rationale on how the market moves and allow you to see the next things that may happen. However, how things will unfold cannot be foreseen fully by the numbers. Changes in human habits are unpredictable because people’s feelings are not based on logic. You need to have a good grasp of your market through experience and relationships, which may be able to complete the picture that data can partially provide.

Getting feedback

Surveys are prevalent nowadays, especially with modern technology, as they can be administered online. It’s a good way to get feedback from your clients and prospective customers. But it can only gather limited information as you may not fully know the rationale as to why participants gave such answers. But if you communicate effectively with your market and you interact with them regularly, you will be able to comprehend why they behave in a certain way. Knowing them well will enable you to get their pulse which graphs and pie charts may not be able to entirely provide.

Planning strategies

You can craft your strategies and tactics based on scientific facts. It may save you unnecessary losses as it will help you efficiently match the need and demand of the market rather than taking a shotgun approach and make you overpromise what you can do or underpromise and limit your capability. But there will be times when experience and right judgment may give you a better lead than what data can offer. You can inject some creativity and ingenuity in your strategies based on your gut-feel and good perception.

Putting your faith in your intuition may pose an enormous risk. But going into business is a risk in itself and only those who are courageous can truly achieve success. However, you can take a calculated risk when you back your judgment with data. That will increase your odds towards success.