…Self Esteem

OK ladies let’s talk.  Sorry gentlemen, I’m directing this one to all the ladies.  I’ve talked about Girl Power before, but I want to talk about something I am guilty of and have met a lot of other women who do this too.  It’s called self-doubt.  Now I’m sure men experience this but I’ve not had a lot of conversations with them.  

I was meeting with two accomplished, intelligent ladies recently who wanted to start their own business. What I heard repeatedly was self-doubt from both of them. They really criticized themselves for their perceived short comings.

After we had our conversation I told them my observation. They were a little surprised but admitted that they did downplay their strengths and did not always talk about themselves in a positive light. I’ve met a lot of women who do this.  I grew up in a family of women (four sisters, two nieces and two grandnieces and I married a man who has four sisters and two daughters) so this theme comes up. 

Women are not always programmed to think about what they have accomplished or when talking about themselves finding that balance that lets people know they are accomplished but not bragging.  I think it’s a fine line sometimes. 

So the next time you are talking with someone listen to how you describe yourself and your skill set, etc. and see how positive you are being about yourself.  If we don’t talk in a positive light about ourselves no one else will do it for us.  Our self-talk becomes who we are.  Who do you want to be? 

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Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)

Follow Suzanne Cormier on Facebook and

Twitter @BizWorksCenter

...Do You and Your Business Partner have a Pre-Nup?

So you are in this relationship – and everything is wonderful and fabulous and you can’t imagine not having this person around.  Sounds like a love story right? Believe it or not you can feel this way about your business partner. And just as you have that happy, everything is wonderful period in your love relationship; you can have it with a business partner.  But what happens when the magic wears off or things just aren’t going as you expected and one of you wants out? 

When we meet with any business owner and there are partners involved we advise that they ask the tough questions ahead of time, when things are good.  How will we end this relationship? Who gets what if one of us wants out or if one of us dies?  There are lots of questions around a relationship that have to be answered NOW.   What you don’t want is to be answering these questions when you might be at an emotional point in your relationship. 

Make clear up front how a buy-out will take place and spell out the terms. Also make clear what happens if a partner dies.  Does the family have the right to take that family member’s place or can the remaining business partner buy out the family share of the business?  Get a lawyer involved if you can afford to do that.  Make sure that you are both happy with the end result because you don’t want to be unhappy if it comes to an end. 

Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)

Follow Suzanne Cormier on Facebook and

Twitter @BizWorksCenter

...When an Apology Goes Horribly Wrong

When LuLulemon was having problems with one of their garments, one of their co-founders decided it was best not to own up to the mistake but took a unique approach.  Lululemon co-founder Chip Wilson responded, "Frankly, some women's bodies just don't actually work for it [...] they don't work for some women's bodies. It's really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there over a period of time, how much they use it."

Um, so women’s thighs rub together and it’s their fault?  Wow.  How could someone allow a response like that to escape their lips?  Let’s just blame the customer instead of owning up to the fact that what we made wasn’t really the best quality.  I’ve been reading other’s responses to this and have come to the conclusion that when people thought they were going to get an apology they got more of the same. He said “I’m sad. I’m really sad. I’m sad for the repercussions of my actions. I’m sad for the people at Lululemon who I care so much about that have really had to face the brunt of my actions. I take responsibility for all that has occurred and the impact it has had on you. I’m sorry to have put you all through this.”  Never once did he apologize to the women “whose bodies just don’t work for it.”

He has taken a huge chunk of the market and basically told them he doesn’t want or care to have their business.  Good for him that there must be enough really thin women with thin thighs who can be privileged to pay $100 for a pair of his yoga pants. 

Sometimes when people say stupid things and then compound them with more stupid things the best thing they can do is just be quiet. 

Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)

Follow Suzanne Cormier on Facebook and

Twitter @BizWorksCenter

...YELP!

The Wonders of Customer Reviews

I use Yelp a lot to look for restaurants, especially if there is a new one in town or we are out of town and don’t know where to go.  I was reading the reviews on a local brew pub that opened up recently.  I was amazed at the bad reviews of the service staff, particularly one server.  It made me wonder if business owners actually looked at their reviews online and if they don’t, why not?  If I owned a place that offered a lot of customer service every day, I’d like to know how my staff was performing. What better way than to read what your customers wrote about their experience.

Now I know everyone has an off day, but the theme throughout was bad customer experiences with one person and also many people saying that the staff just stood around and ignored them.  Wow, as the owner I’d really want to know that, especially if I was not there all the time. 

Business owners now have so many ways to get feedback from their customers yet they fail to utilize them.  I would hope that this business owner read the reviews and made some staff changes as well as did some re-training on customer service.  It’s crazy to have all this feedback and then never use it to make your business run better.  Because for everyone who writes a negative review there are probably three of four people who do not but never go back to that business and tell everyone they know not to patronize them. 

So if you are a business owner and have Yelp or other reviews – read them and listen to your customers.  

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Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)

Follow Suzanne Cormier on Facebook and

Twitter @BizWorksCenter

...Just Call Me Back!

My husband was looking for a lawn service to come I and do some work in our yard- seeding, etc. We called a company we had used before for a large project. We had had trouble with this company the first time around with communication.   But when they did give us a quote it was a lot less than the other companies.  So we tried to schedule them and got no response.   It took a phone message to the owner to say “Hey- we have a quote and want to move forward with your company and GIVE YOU BUSINESS if only someone would call us back!”  Eventually they did and the work they did was great.  So he thought he would try them again.

Well this time the communication was pretty much nonexistent. My husband had to leave two messages before we received a call back. The sales person left a message and my husband called back- we still haven’t heard back from him. We are now looking for a new company to do the work.

So how do companies maintain business if their sales team acts like this? Do they have so much business they really don’t care to even get in touch with us?  It is amazing to me that they are still in business.

Do you have regular sales meetings to make sure that your sales people are doing their jobs?  Do you track phone calls and sales leads to make sure people are getting the service they need?  If not, then you may be losing a ton of business you didn’t even know you were losing.  An owner who is not keeping track is probably losing out.  

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Suzanne Cormier

Executive Director

BizWorks (Small Business Incubator)

Follow Suzanne Cormier on Facebook and

Twitter @BizWorksCenter