SOS Exercises
Exercise 1 – WHO ARE YOU?
Since you are in a place of re-defining your business here’s a little visionboard exercise. Don’t feel obligated to do it but it’s just an exercise.
This is what I do when I can’t sleep, I design. Believe it or not I actually feel like designing websites is art and so when I can’t sleep instead of writing sometimes I design. So this sort of was popping into my head last night after I talked to my friend Eve-Marie about redefining her business. Some of it is sort of random but it’s what I think about when I think about what she is doing with her business. She is also going to do this exercise so we’ll see how her picture is different from mine.
So here goes:
if you think about a vision board and you think about your business what comes to mind.
Make a list of little details that pop to mind. Write them down.
In the case of the Boise Guest House Is there a door that is really cool? Is there a light switch cover that is ornate? Make a list of ten random, quirky cool things about your business that might stand out and make yours special and different.
Then make a list of 5 qualities you have in you that make you an expert whether they are experiential or simply something about your personality.
Then make a list of 5 visual things that represent this business you are developing. Is it the earth. Is it a woman holding hands with another woman. Is it a mustache?
These lists are a good way to start honing in on what your identity is.
This was my interpretation of random things that are BGH to me.
Exercise 2 – MEDITATE ON IT
Sit down and take a quiet moment. I know hard with all of the chaos of life.
If u have to go outside do. Meditate for ten minutes. Say the mantra stay simple over and over. Let your mind wander but take it back to stay simple.
Then go inside or do this right where you are at and write at a minimum three pages about your vision and about what you know you can create.
Write about your product, the image, the line.
Write about how you want people to feel when they come across it. Write anything.
This is for you so you don’t need to wrote self consciously
Let me know how it goes.
Share your pages with someone and see if they still seem true as you share them.
Exercise 3 – WE CAN ALL GET ALONG
(If you have a business partner or if you are going to have employees)
1. What you want out of a business/employee partner. Three traits that are important.
2. How you will resolve conflict if it comes up (maybe some neutral business people who can resolve any differences that could arise).
3. What you need to make for your time spent in the company.
4. Long term goals of this business. Is it a stepping stone or a business you are really interested in. Be true about this.
5. BUSINESS PLAN! What do you need in that?
Download this file and have a go at figuring out what your business needs to run.
Exercise 4 – GET CONSCIOUS
Do you want your business to better the world? Most of us do. We’ve learned that life is not just about making money. We want to also have an impact.
How can you position your business no matter what it is to have an impact?
Are there causes you can tie with your business?Are there people in need of jobs who have a hard time getting them who you can give a second chance to and hire? Can you have greener cleaner practice whether cleaning houses or mowing lawns or working with people?
Check out these two sites and see how you can have more impact
How can you affect your community? Is there a cool local business group to get involved with like we have in Boise
What are some practices your business can have that are green? Can you have a compost pile in your backyard or ask people to ride bikes to work once a week?
Give incentives to people for being kind. Create a day out of the month where you do something nice for your clients, whether it’s simply send out a nice email to them thanking them for working with you or offering a discount.
It’s not hard to encourage your clients to be happy and healthy so look around and see how you can impact their lives.
Think about it like this. We all have an impact on a calm lake like dropping a stone in the water. How big of a wave we cause to ripple out is important to notice. Some days it’s important that the impact be big and on others to be gentle.
Write out 5 ways your business can better the world.
Now write out 3 things you can do just for today to be socially conscious as you go about business.
Find a company you admire for having strong consciousness in their practice. Write them a quick letter via email and let them know that you appreciate their business and let them know what you think they are doing is amazing.
It’s easy to point a finger and find fault in a company live Chevron or McDonald’s or Microsoft because they are BIG. But what they are doing is a reflection of society as a whole. By you practicing better business principles, this will ripple out.
Think about it.
