I can't believe how much information is thrown at small businesses. All the information is intended to be helpful but it becomes too much and difficult for anyone to make decisions. From social media strategies, financial resources, investor pitch competitions and government programs it all becomes a huge opportunity that requires analysis to determine what is right for your business. In the end, how to do you know what to do?

I am a small business owner and as a small business consultant I have been following relevant entities that support small businesses. My Facebook feed is full of trainings, software and other items that claim to drive customers and crack-the-code of limitations. What good is this if you don't have a solid business launched yet? So how does someone get their a solid business launched? One step-at-a-time.

I recently joined a Facebook group of women small business owners. It was a fantastic group, but a bit too large for my comfort. What I loved about the group is women were showing their websites and/or sharing their business vision and were getting feedback. Not just "looks good" or "needs improvement", but tangible feedback with changes to make it better. I also saw many other small businesses offering to help them. This is the type of small business community that will help entrepreneurs be successful.

This may be a bit off our topic for today's topic, but I have to challenge small businesses to shop at small businesses. I recently heard a small business ordering printing from an online company instead of ordering from their local print shop. Lets shop local even when we see we can save a few bucks online.

​Back to the topic, here are the three must-have's every small business owner needs. The rest will organically fall into place as you build your business with your expertise and vision.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE
You will not operate your business successfully without an accountant, an attorney and insurance companies. The landscape is changing and you must make sure that you have the professional expertise to navigate your finances, legal matters and insurance. The accountant will help you with payroll, taxes, budget, accounts payable, accounts receivable and other financial matters. Your attorney will help you with establishing your business, contracts and/or other legal matters your business encounters. You may need one or more insurance companies that will handle your business liability insurance, cyber insurance, medical insurance and other voluntary benefit insurances. Make sure you shop around and are comfortable with the professionals and/companies you will be working with. When you encounter a situation you will want someone that makes you feel safe, heard and supported.

MARKETING EXPERTISE
It is hard for me, even as a small business owner with marketing expertise, to see how much time we spend in marketing when we could be working on our business. I understand starting out the budget is limited but as you obtain traction invest in marketing expertise. Another way to talk about marketing is your brand. Being able to have a cohesive online and print messaging will build loyalty to your products and/or services. What do I do? I am still doing my own online marketing, but I use my locally owned Minuteman Press for all promo and print materials (double-sided business cards, pens, notebooks, clothing and more).

BUSINESS PEER COMMUNITY
In a previous article I talked about the importance of community. This community can be a chamber, a mastermind group, a local entrepreneur group or one that you put together for your own needs. What this community will do is allow you to talk and have others understand what you are saying. Most people who are employees don't ever understand what the decisions and/or challenges their employer faces. You will also bring your expertise to be able to support other small businesses. You are not lonely at the top.
Thanks for reading, I hope you got something out of this and I would love to hear your thoughts. Have a great weekend.

My weekly chamber connections had us break up in small groups and discuss the advice we were given in our current career. I was with an electrician working for his dad's company and an IT guru who owns an IT company. They shared work hard and don't stop learning. Great advice!

Whenever I am asked the advice I was given, I always remember a mentor of mine said "It is lonely at the top.". I had no idea what this meant until I found myself as the owner of a pregnancy retail shop and spa. From launching, growing and implementing the vision many days I remembered my mentor's words of loneliness. I did have a lot resources and so many people who wanted to be a partner with their own business to my business, but not an active partner in leading my business. When I had to make the difficult decision to either close or sell the business, it was a tough decision because I had two fantastic young employees who would be displaced with this change. I was so grateful that I found someone who was interested in buying the business and rebranding it to a new city. I supported my employees in their next season and I am so proud of both of them in their success of owning their own businesses.
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So this week has been a reflection of making sure that it isn't lonely at the top for my new consulting business. More importantly that I know how my consulting business can be the active partner that brings value to small businesses and nonprofits.
Here are three opportunities of community to make sure that it isn't lonely at the top for you:

1. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: I am a huge advocate of the role a chamber of commerce to our business communities. It can serve in a business owner's ability to connect with thought partners in their own communities. Each chamber has its only culture and/or leadership so try out chambers that are in your communities. My favorite programming in chambers are the lunch & learns and meetings where a business presents so we can go deeper into how they started, what barriers they have overcome and what goals they have for the future.
2. COACHES: If I was writing this a few weeks ago, I would not have included how important coaches (plural) are in the life a business owner or leader. Recently I was experiencing a block whenever I would stand up to talk about my business. Yes, for some this is normal, but for me this was an indicator that something wasn't right. I enjoy speaking in front of people. I hired a coach to help me with my tagline and how to describe what I do in less than 15 minutes (laughing). I also hired a coach to talk through what might be stopping me from being able to just talk about my business. I knew the script of failure may be still lingering from my previous business and I needed to delete this. The coach experience has been successful. Both coaches I met through attending chamber events.
3. MASTERMIND GROUP: Many people have told me about Napoleon Hill throughout my entrepreneur journey and for some reason I never read any of it. I haven't read Think & Grow Rich yet, but started with "Three Feet from Gold" and it has changed my life. I can't get enough of the writing of Napoleon Hill. Starting a mastermind group has been on my goals for a few years because I truly do believe that we can't be successful in business as one-person. It is the gifts and talents inside each person that make a dynamic team. I saw this in operation when I had the opportunity to build a business team to support a growing research department at a University. I have recently joined my first mastermind group with thought partners around Selling from the Heart. I encourage you to pre-order the new book and invite you to the insiders group.

​As you close out this week and prepare for next week, I challenge you next week to connect your business with community that wants your business to succeed. Your advice won't be "It is lonely at the top.".
Thank you for reading. Please share how you make connections in your business next week.

I have empathy for the demands of the small business and nonprofit leadership however I hear in my day-to-day life from so many employees that they wished their employer offered benefits. I do live in a world of small businesses and nonprofits, so I am mostly hearing from employees of these type of organizations. 

What is keeping small businesses and nonprofits from offering voluntary health benefits to their employees?
Here is what I have been hearing as I am out working in the field. I don't always get a chance to meet with the leaders to go deeper to understand their point-of-view, but from what I have heard I am sharing in the first Weekly Reflection by Faith newsletter.

Why small businesses and nonprofits have said they aren't offering benefits.*

"Lack of financial resources to contribute." - Yes, this make sense when you see the high cost of healthcare and you think that employees want you to contribute to it, it is easy to brush this off. What if your employees just want to have the opportunity to have financial protection for their paycheck, an accident, a disease or death. 

"No time to implement." - Yes, we understand this also when we know the demands of small business and nonprofit leaders. What if you knew there was benefits company that would not only provide the voluntary benefits, but also provide benefit counselors and the infrastructure to implement with systems you are already using. Why would you say "no"?

"I asked the employees if they wanted voluntary health benefits that they will pay for and they said "no"." Yes, that makes sense especially if they didn't have all the details of what the benefits were and the rates. Get the facts including rates and invite a representative to explain the products to your employees so they can make a good decision.
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Quality employees are an asset to your business. Small businesses and nonprofits can be competitive with benefits to retain and recruit quality employees.

We look forward to hearing your feedback.

 Have you ever had a job where there wasn't any training? I have. Once I had a job and didn't get told where the bathroom was. It felt weird to ask, "Where is the restroom?". It was at that time that I told myself I would NEVER have anyone on-board without some basics for them to have the best first day ever. Here are three reasons why training matters in your small business or nonprofit.

ON-BOARDING CONSISTENCY
On-boarding should be a formal process to convey the values and culture of the organization. Each employee should be provided the same information so that they all have the same grounding as they enter the organization. Employees are deciding if this will be a good fit from the beginning. Many employees may have left a organization and/or job they loved, but you offered them a promotion or opportunity they were seeking. Make sure you are able to meet them where they are at and start to build community so they want to stay. Through the consistent on-boarding practice employees will have a sense of stability and safety to learn their own role in the organization.

COMPLIANCE IS IMPORTANT
Yep, employees can bad talk all the orientation required to start a new position, but your organization is on the line that your employees know what is expected and are compliant. Compliance is HIPAA, OSHA and many more government mandated compliance. The new compliance that your employees need to know about cybersecurity and their role in reducing it at your organization. Make sure your have annual training that refreshes your employees of all expectations you have around sexual harassment, discrimination and other items that may be grounds for termination if found the employees aren't compliant.

EMPLOYEES CAN DO THEIR BEST 
Individuals learn differently, written, hands-on or oral. Make sure your training offers different modalities so that your employees will have an opportunity to use their learning strengths. In the tight workforce right now, I know the burden that training can put on managers. Managers should think through how to scale up the training to get employees going but also have balance with their responsibilities and getting the new employee up and going. If your processes aren't written down, this is your first step. Have employees write what they do so you will always have a position "handbook". Make sure you know where this is saved and/or periodically get a copy of it. Back to my on-boarding where there was no training, I survived and I learned to do my job networking with resources and making mistakes. I know that this wasn't efficient and I also know that not everyone would have worked through it. Commit to train your employees with the basics and then support them to success.

When you think of employee benefits, I'm sure you think of large businesses. You may also think about businesses that have profit margins to contribute to the benefits financially for their employees. If you are a small business or nonprofit, I want you to know that benefits are important to your employees and if you haven't already, are worth pursuing. Here are three reasons for prioritizing benefits in your small business or nonprofit.

BE COMPETITIVE FOR QUALITY EMPLOYEES
Most employees who work for small businesses and nonprofits are committed to the product, service or mission. They may choose to work for a small business or nonprofit because of the values conveyed by the organization. What about the employee who has multiple offers and will need to do an analysis of two organizations? Benefits may become the deciding factor. Small businesses and nonprofits can be competitive! Voluntary benefits such as dental, short-term disability, accident and even a life insurance policy can show your employees you care about them especially if you find affordable products who also support a benefit infrastructure for your small business and nonprofit. Did you know that pre-tax benefits taken by employees will lower the payroll taxes? Now that is something small business or nonprofit accountants might be interested to learn more about. 

ESTABLISH A HEALTHY WORKFORCE
Every day we are hearing about the mental health crisis in our country. Your employees are no exception. Being able to be creative with benefits can create healthy employees who are supported to do their job and also contribute to their family and community. As I have been working with small business and nonprofits, I am hearing so many creative ways they are supporting their employees with out-of-the-box benefits. One nonprofit recently let me know that they have created more sick time to leverage missed days that may be needed to support their mental health. I also know a mechanic shop who buys lunch every Friday for the team and encourages them to take vacations. If they don't use their vacation, the owner mandates they use it. Flexible work schedules can also be used to provide balance and ensure employees are at their best when on the job.

DEMONSTRATE GRATITUDE
With turnover, silent quitting and no shows, I know it is hard to think gratitude toward some employees. No matter an employee's decision to be a good or bad employee, providing benefits beyond the salary is a way to show employees you are grateful for them. Without them how would you keep your doors open and serve the people you want to help? Being able to convey a total compensation value to your employees will allow them to know that your contribution to them is more than a salary. Recently I heard that an employer purchased brand-name company branded winter jackets for every employee in the company. Their HR couldn't believe how many employees said "Thank you and how they felt appreciated". They felt valued and knew their employer was grateful for them.

Final thoughts, benefits don't have to cost the business money, just offering or finding relevant ways to have your employees feel supported will increase your profits as you retain and recruit quality employees.

Does performance matter post pandemic? It should. As a leader during the pandemic, I was leading a team of 23 employees virtually through the pandemic and the unrest in Minnesota. I had to shift old ways of thinking about performance to ensure our employees felt safe and were given the flexibility to get their job accomplished. This meant that hours of work weren't only 8:00 am - 4:30 pm and we came together as a team to support each other to ensure our stakeholders had what they needed to do their jobs.

We are now in 2023 and with the workforce gaps, I know it is easy to let performance slip, especially on the employees that have stayed with the company through the ups and downs of the past few years. If you don't have a performance management system, I am going to encourage you to have one. If you have a performance management system, but have put it on the bottom of the TO DO list, I am going to encourage you to set aside time to launch it again. If you have maintained your performance management system through the ups and downs, kudos to you!

Here are the three reasons why I am encouraging all businesses including small businesses and nonprofits to have a performance management system.

RETAIN HIGH PERFORMERS 
There is nothing worse to be a high performer on a team where there are no written expectations and mediocre is the highest praise. What I mean is the lowest denominator of an employee should not be the standard so that there is no recognition for people who go the extra mile. There should be some core expectations that all employees MUST comply with to maintain their good standing. So many times in my career employees may be having issues with performance but there wasn't a good infrastructure to determine where were the barriers so the performance wasn't improved. Others who were able to perform would then not be given recognition for their work outcomes. A good performance management system will solve both scenarios of the performance issues being resolved and the high performer obtaining recognition.

MAINTAIN PRODUCT / SERVICE QUALITY
When performance management isn't valued at a company it will start to show with the level of service and/or product quality. Recently I heard a story about the quality of a auto mechanic shop that used to be top-notch, but had slowly declined. When the customer identified that their battery had died on the road and there were visual signs the battery wasn't good, but their recent service check said it was ok, they wanted to know if the mechanic had seen the problem. Instead of empathy for the car owner, the manager told the car owner this wasn't their issue. The car owner should have known their battery was old. When I heard this story I wondered if the manager was frustrated by not being able to maintain a level of performance with their mechanics. The long-term customer is considering taking their business somewhere else because this has broken their trust with this company's leadership and performance. A good performance management system would allow management to identify performance issues that are directly impacting product / service quality by utilizing customer feedback and/or peer feedback.

SUCCESSION PLANNING
Turnover is hard on an organization both from a change management and financial prospective. Many organizations haven't built a culture where people can grow within the organization because of other priorities on the business. Without a good performance management system you can't identify which employees need coaching and which ones aren't going to work out. However, when you have an organization that has been able to identify performance issues and work to resolve them, you will start to have your employees wanting to stay around longer. Employees may find themselves in seasons where they aren't performing at their best maybe due to personal life issues, but when they know their company has the tools and resources to help them through the season, they will build loyalty. A performance management system will also identify areas where employees are performing well and this could open up growth opportunities within the organization. When they become managers, they will be able to lead like they were led. 

So what is a good performance management system that I have been talking about? Is a system that allows both managers and employees to set goals, schedule periodic check-ins to review goals, obtain coaching opportunities, have an established basis for termination and an overall performance metric each year for bonuses and/or other benefits.

Recently I had the opportunity to support the vision of a local retail business owner to expand a ladies shopping event to our city. The Princeton Chamber of Commerce invited me to participate in the discussion. This was a dream come true for me. As a previous retail business owner in Princeton, Minnesota, I knew collaboration of businesses was the only way a small town can bring in customers to spend time shopping, eating and having fun.

A few businesses who had networked at chamber events met together.  We were all thought-partners and were able to come up with how we would manage the membership of this Ladies Local - Enjoy Princeton to ensure consistency during the event, purchase marketing materials and what would be the measurement of our success.

Our first Ladies Local Shop Small Spring Crawl is this Saturday, May 14, 2022 from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm and we welcome you. Last weekend I visited each business (and yes purchased a few items). Grab your friends and family for a fun day of shopping, eating and having fun. 

PUNCH CARDS can be picked up on Saturday 5/14/22 and dropped off at all locations. You are going to want to get a stamp from all the shops because the GIVEAWAYS are fantastic!

COFFEE CORNER: Start your shopping experience with a latte of the day, breakfast sandwich and roasted coffee for at home.

THE MARK: The buyers at The Mark are up-to-date on trends coming for summer. You are going to want to check out the latest fashions to feel great at parties and weddings this summer.

HIERLINGER's SHOES: You will find comfortable and stylish shoes for all your summer activities. There is a great selection of hiking and tennis shoes.

JODIE's ANTIQUES and TREASURES: Do you have special occasions with people who are difficult to buy gifts for? Jodie's has a variety of unique items that will be a special gift for your special occasions.

​PRINCETON BOOK & BIBLE:  More than books and Bibles, this shop has home decor that will make your family encouraged and hopeful. There are special gifts for confirmations, graduations and weddings.

NORTHERN NUTRITION: Try the best wellness shake or tea that are delicious and will give you energy for more shopping. Make sure to check our their fun mugs and other wellness items you can purchase.

PRAIRIE RESTORATION - RETAIL: More than seeds, this retail shop will make you feel like you are in a prairie full of flowers and plants. From note cards to home decor, you will enjoy shopping for yourself.

MARV's TRUE VALUE: Find all you need for your summer garden, camping and home renovation projects. Other home decor items are also available.

Get ready for a mini-road trip to your final shopping destination and hopefully you still have room in your car.

RUSTIC DEPOT: A one-of-a-kind shop that will WOW you with products to make you smile, laugh and want them in your home. 

All this shopping will make you hungry and thirsty. We have selected three restaurants located near the shopping.

PARTICIPATING RESTAURANTS
Pizza Barn - Princeton: A local favorite with special recipes that make their pizza delicious. You may want to even purchase their fun branded clothing as a souvenir.

Foreseasons Clubhouse Restaurant: The patio on the golf course is awesome! A great place to reflect on your shopping with drinks, appetizers and dinner.

​Pine Brook Restaurant: Located by Rustic Depot, this is a great restaurant for lunch or dinner. Delicious homemade recipes that you will want to return for more.

Thank you for planning to make a trip to visit Princeton, Minnesota and enjoy your day!