Will It Change You?» Productivity

Turning a Business Idea into Reality: a case study

Ross — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:58:27 +0000

I’m just so supportive of people who come up with great ideas, but especially so of those who have the perseverance, drive and motivation to push forward and turn that idea into a reality. Starting up a new business is a fantastic venture, but as we all know nothing will happen unless you get out there and make it happen.

An example of this is a brand new business that has been launched in my hometown of the Sunshine Coast, Australia.

Gifts In A Bag is a company that has recognised the fantastic array of local products available at the sunshine coast, and built their own local business by sourcing the very best of these products and featuring them in ready made and unique gift bags.

The great thing about Gifts In A Bag is that not only do they support local industry and products, they are providing a really great service – why shop around for gift bags when someone has already done the hard work for you?

Here’s an example of one of the gift bags, the Dine me – le petit:

Dine me – le petit

Lavoche crispbread
Swiss dark chocolate natural blueberries
Small free form board
Fat Hen Farm Lemon Myrtle olive oil
Fat Hen Farm Dukkah
Fat Hen Farm tapenade
Lloyds Condiments raspberry Jam
Honey roasted macadamia nuts
Home made biscuits
Alchemy cordial – Dewdrops

As someone who hates to shop around for gifts, I’m totally sold on this idea! This bag and many others like it showcase local products, are competitively priced and are also presented in environmentally friendly bags made of 80% recycled paper.

Some of the other gift bags available that cater for a variety of occasions include Baby me, Dine me, Drink me and Love me.

Bec&Bec, creators of Gifts In A Bag explain the reasoning behind their unique products:

“More than a few ideas have been kicked around to arrive at Gifts in a bag. But in the end it’s come about because of our passion to showcase the beautiful and unique products that can only be found in one particular region.

You know when you go on holiday or even for a Sunday afternoon drive and you find the most perfect and unique locally made gift that you would never find in a shopping centre – it feels great! Well we want to recreate that feeling with our Gifts in a bag range.

Gifts in a bag currently ship anywhere in Australia for just $16, and bear in mind that bag and shipping prices are all in Australian Dollars, so they really do represent great value for money.

If you want to know more about this great business or the products they have available, please contact Gifts In A Bag.

Have you put your business idea into practice?

A route to success with massive potential

Ross — Sun, 31 May 2009 13:57:59 +0000

credit: pfala

I was inspired this week by Paul Piotrowski’s e-book article on exponential growth as it relates to not only elements of nature and cell growth, or business and finances, but also things like the power of exponential growth in effort and results, motivation and returns, and a whole host of other real world applications.

From the e-book “Mastering The Most Powerful Force In The Universe”:

The study of success is a multi-billion dollar business. Self help books, courses, coaching programs, home study courses, websites and hundreds of other resources have been created to help us study success so that we may experience it in our lives.

However, there is a slight problem with all this wonderful self-help “stuff”. The problem is that IT doesn’t work, unless YOU work IT. I would venture a guess that 95% of the programs out there would work to achieve the results we want, but 95% of us don’t work the programs long enough to get the results. The problem is not the programs. The problem is our philosophy in life.

We are masters at ignoring the little things. We hate the words “long term”. All we want is the quick fix, the quick pill, the dramatic success story that happens right now. Get rich quick. Make money fast. Lose weight now – 40 pounds in 40 days!

We are surrounded by a culture built on this whole concept of the quick fix. We are mesmerized by movies and stories of instant success. How many movies have we seen where an athlete decides to go for gold and the movie breaks into a 2 minute montage of him working out and getting into the shape of his life and then we watch him go for gold!

This is great, however, in real life we don’t get into top physical shape in 2 minutes. It can take months or years.

Does this mean that we have to take a slow, boring, conservative route to success? No, it’s not about that. It’s all about understanding how exponential growth affects your life.

It got me thinking about sticking with things, dedication and the like. I’ve always been pretty consistent with jobs, a fairly stable long-term employee if you will… But I have also found myself jumping from one new idea to the next in other areas of my life particularly when I’m bored or uninspired.

One of the key points I took away from the article is that this tendency to give up on things in life is really because we’re not seeing the results we want or expect within an initial time frame. Whether this is a few days, several weeks, months or whatever – the point is that often the first 80% of effort will often produce little result. It’s what we do after this point that really counts. Sticking with things potentially allows us to tap into massive powers of exponential growth, available to us in a whole host of areas in life.

I also think there’s a lot to be said for starting things now, today rather than regretting never starting them earlier, or lamenting the time already lost…

** Just as an added disclaimer, I have no affiliation with Paul’s site Inspired Moneymaker – but check it out sometime, he has some interesting thoughts and ideas. The e-book is available for RSS subscribers.

Richard Branson: Secrets of a global icon

Ross — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:53:40 +0000

credit: Rachel Kramer Bussel

I’ve always liked Richard Branson, for a variety of reasons. Part of this is because he has been remarkably successful in most of his ventures, and is an entrepreneur at heart. I also like his philosophies and business models, the way he places great value on people and building networks of like-minded individuals. He is an adventurer, a traveler, someone who appreciates life and lives it to the fullest.

I think most of all however I appreciate his personality and character. Obviously I don’t know him personally, but by watching him in his Rebel Billionaire series and reading several of his books, I get the gist of what kind of guy he is. The Virgin brand appeals to me, too – it’s quirky and fun, and doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Virgin seems to stir up a bit of controversy at times, such as with it’s 80′s retro Virgin Atlantic video shown below. I have to admit I laughed my head off at the World’s Best Airline Complaint Letter which was sent to Virgin, and smiled at Richard’s response.

Setting aside the playfulness of the brand and all of Richard Branson’s boyish larrikinism, you have to admit that even if his character or business practices don’t appeal to you, the level of success he has achieved makes you sit up and take notice. When Richard takes a moment to offer some advice, it’s probably in our best interest to at least listen to what he has to say!

Lessons in Life

A great little quick reference book I have is titled Screw it, Let’s Do it: Lessons in Life. If you haven’t read it, let me encourage you to do so – it’s one of those books that is both inspiring and encouraging, and you can easily (as I do) refer back to various chapters when you need a bit of advice on something.

I wanted to give you a snippet of some of the great suggestions found in this book, check it out:

“I don’t deny that I have done well and had success. It has even been said that I turn what I touch into gold. People ask me what my secret is. How do I make money? What they really want to know is – how can they make money? Everyone wants to be a millionaire.

I always tell them the same thing. I have no secret. There are no rules to follow in business. I just work hard and, as I always have done, believe I can do it. Most of all, though, I try to have fun.”

Here are some of the truths Richard has learned along the way:

“My motto is, ‘Never do anything if it means you can’t sleep at night.’ It’s a good rule to follow.”

Have fun, work hard and money will come

Don’t waste time – grab your chances

Have a positive outlook on life

Chase your dreams but live in the real world

Have no regrets

Keep your word

Make a difference and help others

Sure it’s great to have a list of ideals, such as the one above, but what’s great about Richard is that he expands on each of these with real world examples and tips, making them not only great words to live by, but ones we can actually apply to our own lives.

Difficult decisions

Ross — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:08:21 +0000

credit: aussiegall

I read an interesting quote today on making difficult decisions which I’ll share with you shortly. It’s fair to say that difficult decisions can be a source of great frustration! I know from my own experiences that thinking or worrying about which is the best choice to make can consume our thoughts day after day, until we have resolved to go one way or the other.

The core of this quote intrigued me, because it asks us when we are really honest with ourselves, do we truly in our heart of hearts already know which way we should choose for most difficult decisions; do we already know which is the correct decision we should make?

I would venture to say that with a lot of difficult decisions that are a source of grief and worry, probably much of that has to do with stewing over consequences and ramifications, such as the quote suggests, rather than the uncertainty of which decision we should actually make.

From Jon Baker’s site (source unknown):

“There is no such thing as a hard decision.
When we think we have a hard decision to make it’s because we’ve already made the decision and don’t want to deal with (or don’t know how to handle) the consequences of that decision.”

I’ll let you make up your own mind.

The value of time

admin — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:11:05 +0000

credit: gcardinal

As an interesting exercise, today I took my watch off for the day (insert gasps of shock and horror!) This may not be such a big deal to some people, but I’ve been attached to watches for many years! Not only am I a fan of the variety of styles and types available, I also like to keep my finger on the pulse so to speak when it comes to what I’m doing in a day!

Granted I’m on holidays at the moment so my schedule is not as busy as it normally is, but on the flip side you would think this is the best time to run such an exercise… not so, I discovered!

We rely so much on time, it’s hard to get by in a day when you don’t have easy access to a clock. What time is the bus? When do we have to be there? What time should I call you back? When you rely on time as much as I do, it’s a real eye opener when you spend a day trying to ignore it!

I lasted approximately an hour in my state of “not-knowing-time bliss” before realising we were meeting with some family that morning, and I wasn’t sure how long I had until we had to leave! And so the theme went on for the rest of the day. We had to be back by a certain time, we wanted to know when the movies were on, and so on and so on.. I discovered I spent much of the day asking everyone else what the time was, making the exercise a little pointless!

Or was it? I did come to a few realisations – firstly, I rely on time a lot more than I thought! Secondly, I’d like to try this again on a day that I have completely free – I think it would be nice to have days where I don’t worry about time so much! Thirdly, I really missed my watch!

How much of your life revolves around the time of day? Everything moves so fast these days it’s good to stop and relax once in a while without worrying so much about what time it is. Food for thought, anyway…
(By the way, my watch is off again today – take two!)

It’s not all about you: the bigger picture

Ross — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:50:05 +0000

One thing I always try to keep in the back of my mind as I plod through this crazy life is seeing the bigger picture.

credit: Stephen Poff

You hear variations of this phrase thrown out there all the time, often in reference to people’s work habits: “He can look at things from a different perspective” “That’s someone who thinks outside the square” “She’s advanced quickly because she sees the bigger picture.”

What does this actually mean, and why should we bother having this approach at all?
Well, initially for me adopting this philosophy was born from a series of failures (like most of the lessons I have learned so far in life!). I’ve looked back on many different situations and experiences in my life and with the benefit of hindsight thought, “I was so narrow focused!” This realization has helped me not only in my career, but in my personal life also.

Most of my working career has been in health care. Being able to apply the ‘bigger picture’ approach in this line of work is absolutely invaluable in order to do the job well. For example, situations involving dealing with angry, abusive or violent patients and families can sometimes be de-escalated by understanding where they are coming from. It’s easier to say that on paper than it is to do in real life, let me tell you! The natural inclination is to get security guys to crash tackle and physically restrain these people, but the reality is they have often reached breaking point out of desperation. They may be stressed because a friend or loved one is badly hurt, they might have financial repercussions from being sick, or perhaps they’re behaviour is because they are scared to death on the inside.

How thinking outside the square can help you in life
Thinking outside the square is a great way to problem solve tasks. You might be stuck for ways to re-arrange an outdoor area to maximise space… Or maybe you’re trying to work out how to fit several appointments into a day… Juggling a budget… Planning a function… It’s widely known that by allowing yourself to incorporate lateral thinking in your approach, you can really boost productivity and results.

credit: zen

This approach to problem solving also works really well in other areas of life. Consciously deciding to see the bigger picture can benefit the way you respond to situations. It also helps the way other people respond to you, and the way you feel about yourself and others. For instance, when you are in a confrontational situation you might ask yourself, “what will it accomplish if I continue to argue with this person about how I am right?”. When you’re upset about the way someone handled a situation, ask yourself why they may have done that – what differences in their upbringing or personal life may be contributing to their actions?

Why not take the time to stop and think outside the square in different areas of your life this week? In taking a “Bigger Picture” approach, your levels of satisfaction can really get a boost.

For more great ideas, see Ben Carson’s amazing story, Think Big

Improve productivity, fast!

Ross — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 23:25:48 +0000

I’ve often found my great intentions to get things done during free time periods in the week are foiled by some kind of external influence, eg:

credit: alisdair

A phone call from a relative that turns into an epic conversation… I go to mow and the mower won’t start… The football starts on TV and I get a little caught up… Someone needs help with some problem that takes up a lot of time… I lose track of time Digging and Stumbling…!

The reasons are many and varied! You can’t solve all of these problems, but there are a few things you can do to improve your productivity in the home or office. Get cracking with these ideas and see how much you get accomplished this week!

1. Take the phone off the hook. When you have something planned for a half hour or hour period, you’d be amazed how easily phone calls can mess things up! Try switching off your mobile/cell too – you’re not going to miss anything that can’t be caught up when you switch back on.

2. Remove other potential distractions. Turn the TV off, put the new magazine out of sight, close down firefox so that you can get that job done.

3. Start on the task at hand immediately. Don’t do a quick last minute email check – this will inevitably lead to a quick check of a web page, which leads to quickly posting some comments etc etc…

4. Tell other people you are not available. If others are aware you are busy, they will be less inclined to bother you for trivial things that can slow you down.

I’ve also found that making a conscious decision to use your time well works better than hoping you get some things done!

What productivity tips have worked well for you? Do some ideas work better than others?