Tweet

What is Decision Fatigue? 

Do you ever start out your day exhausted? Do you dread starting your work day? Are your paralyzed with choices to make? Do you find yourself making bad decisions at the end of the day. If so, you may be experiencing decision fatigue. What is decision fatigue? The definition of decision fatigue refers to “the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual after a long session of decision making. It is now understood as one of the causes of irrational trade-offs in decision making.” It is simple the brain getting exhausted from making decision after decision. Now to explain, we only have so much capacity in a day to make decisions and as the day wanes we find that our ability to make good decisions usually suffers. 

Think about dinner each night. You start the day with a plan to eat healthy but unless you plan out your meals you find yourself stopping at the nearest fast food restaurant to pick up a quick, hot meal. Anything will satisfy you that is quick and doesn’t require thought. It’s why when we are tired or stressed we go to our comfort foods. Decision fatigue is responsible for many bad food choices, ranting Facebook posts, or yelling at your kids or your colleagues. We become overloaded from the choices we constantly must make and have a meltdown of sorts. So what does this mean for business owners? 

Business owners are faced with lots of important and potentially helpful or harmful decisions each day with regards to their businesses. Decisions on contracts, social media content, marketing, accounting, sales, customer relations, etc.. are the norm. We must continually choose what is the best choice for our business and our customers. Have you ever found yourself making quick decisions that you regret later or paralyzed from making a decision at all? Below are three tips to help you avoid decision fatigue in your business. 

Tips to Avoid Decision Fatigue

1. Save your big decisions for when you are refreshed and ready – We all function best at certain times of the day. Some people are night owls, some are early risers. You know yourself best and when are your peak hours of productivity. Use that to your advantage not only to be productive but also in making good decisions. Don’t make big decisions when you are tired, hungry or just spent. That is definitely a recipe for disaster. We only have so much bandwith in our day. Reserve the best part of you for the biggest tasks and the biggest decisions. 

2. Eliminate the need for small decisions – What to wear, what to take to a meeting, what to eat. I try to simplify my life as much as I can and this involves removing the decisions that take up precious time. In our house, everyone picks out their clothes for the week. On Sundays I check the weather for the week and plan accordingly. I do the same with my daughter. It makes mornings so much smoother. Lunches are packed the night before so no one is hangry. Yes, we all know what it is to be hangry. I prepare as much as I can for the next day, the night before. Why? To make my days simpler and smoother. I even write out my “To do” list for the next day. It is so much easier to knock tasks off your list or make big decisions when the little stuff is out of the way. 

3. Limit your options whenever possible – We all have watched a child who is unable to choose from all the candies at the candy store. There is so many good things in front of them they simply can’t choose just one. Adults are no different. You give us too many options and we become victims of the shiny object syndrome. We are so focused on the choices in front of us that we forget to make a choice. Remember that not making a choice is a choice. 

Keeping these three tips in mind whenever you are feeling fatigued from all the choices will help you make better, smarter decisions for you and your company. 

Tweet

Guest blogger, Allan Younger

Launch Challenge

In a recent article, I shared some of my reflections about Venture Café. Winston
Salem is pleased to be the fifth city in the world to be the home of Venture Café.
I am pleased to have participated in the launch event on May 4th held at Inmar.
I am excited to have participated in most of the subsequent Thursday
Gatherings. The purpose of Venture Café is to “broaden, connect, and support
the innovation community” which is a great complement to our purpose at the
Small Business Center to increase business success. I first learned about Venture
Café about a year ago and immediately thought that it would help to position our
community as a leader in entrepreneurship.

This month, I am happy to introduce an exciting program that was announced
during the initial Thursday Gathering of Venture Cafe Winston Salem. Have you
heard about the Business Launch Challenge? On May 4th, six
colleges/universities announced their financial commitments to starting
businesses in our city. Each institution will provide financial capital to selected
persons committed to starting their businesses. Forsyth Tech is pleased to
introduce the Launch Challenge.

As you may already know, the Small Business Center supports current and
prospective business owners in a variety of ways. Persons planning to start a
business are invited to submit an application to participate in one of the sessions
of Launch Challenge. It is a 3-4 month program for persons who will become
business owners by the end of the program. They will participate in our
educational events and meet with our business mentors while preparing to
launch their businesses. Some participants will receive a financial award to help
them to start their businesses.

If you know someone who may be interested in the Launch Challenge, have them
connect with us. Even if you are not quite ready to apply to participate in the
Launch Challenge, we want to support you. You can visit our website learn about
our educational events and to schedule an appointment with a business
mentor. We also invite you to read client testimonials and client success stories
to learn about how we have supported our clients.

The objective of the Small Business Center at Forsyth Tech is to help small
businesses succeed by providing high quality, readily accessible assistance to
prospective and existing business owners in Forsyth and Stokes counties. Our
motto is “Increasing Business Success,” which describes our commitment to
clients. The N.C. Community College’s Small Business Center Network assists in
starting an average of more than 800 businesses each year and the centers have
an economic impact in 90 percent of all N.C. counties each year, helping to
create and retain over 2,800 jobs annually. You may learn about our services at
www.forsythtech.edu. Feel free to stop by our office at 525@Vine in Wake
Forest Innovation Quarter just east of the heart of downtown Winston- Salem.
You may also contact us at SBC@forsythtech.edu or by calling (336) 757-3810.

Tweet

The Good and the Bad

Yesterday I was able to experience two very different customer service experiences. It made me really think because in one everything was done right and many things were done wrong. I saw it as a learning experience and one I wanted to share with you. Here are the two scenarios:

Company ABC has had an issue for over 5 months that I have been inquiring with staff when there would be a fix. I had been a customer of this business for almost 3 years. The staff has said in every possible way under the sun “they are working on it”. I inquired again the other day as a client is now wanting to do business with ABC and again got the same answer. Staff would not give info on who to talk to in management at the store so since it is a franchise I called the corporate office for some direction. Needless to say, corporate understood my frustration and quickly contacted the store. But here is where things went further downhill. ABC’s store manager called me and said “are you the one that called corporate?” I said, yes, I did. She went on to say she knew nothing of the issue prior to me calling and that staff shouldn’t have told me what they did. She even blamed one of the staff for the issue when clearly this is a management issue. I explained that I felt that I was not getting a clear answer so I simply needed to know when the issue would be resolved as “we are working on it” after 5 months was not acceptable. Especially since any reasonable company could have solved this issue in less than a month or two. She spent her time on the phone explaining all the issues they had run into, staff issues and on and on. Honestly, they were clearly excuses. She also made me feel as if I was a snitch for calling corporate even though she repeatedly said that she would have never known of the issue if I had not called. 

Company XYZ and I have done business together for about 4-5 months. I signed on with them for their product for 4 months. All the while they consistently asked for feedback of how they were doing and adjusted their product accordingly. At the end they offered a new product which piggy backed off the one I bought. I didn’t purchase it. The price was very affordable I just didn’t see the value for me although I felt they had a valuable product for many. I received a recorded video asking me why and would I please provide feedback as they valued my opinion. I gave them my honest constructive criticism. I received another recorded video (these are coming from the lead manager) thanking me profusely for the feedback and letting me know they heard me and that apparently they had not done their job well as I had not purchased so what did they need to provide for me so that I would see the value in their product? 

Lessons Learned

Here are the lessons I learned from both of these customer experiences:

1) Listen more than you talk. Company XYZ listens, really listens. They ask for feedback and then review it not to dispute it but to hear. They truly want to have an exceptional product and they make that known in the customer experience. There hasn’t been any shaming of me as the customer for not choosing them and their product. Simply a request to learn more. Company ABC’s employees clearly were not listening and even though the manager heard my complaint (once it was escalated) she was too busy explaining the company’s internal management issues. 

2) Ask the customer what they need. XYZ company was really clear they want to know what I need and how they can provide it to me. ABC Company placed blame on contractors for not fulfilling my needs and never once asked me what I needed to resolve the issue. 

3) Thank your customers for their feedback – Postitive or negative. If a customer takes their time to give you feedback and is seeking a resolution to the problem then you are blessed! Many customers simply take their business elsewhere and you never know why. When the manager of ABC called me and said she didn’t know of the problem I said, you are welcome! She seemed confused. I told her that she should be glad I called if she didn’t know the issue existed then how would she be able to solve it. I was sure that I am not the only one that was frustrated over this issue. I was giving her valuable feedback. She didn’t seem to see that. 

4) Listen, listen, listen. – I can’t say this enough so I will put it out there again. You need to listen to the feedback you are getting. Don’t get defensive. Don’t get discouraged. This is GOLD! Your customer has handed you valuable insight into your business. Even if the feedback is negative, it is something you can learn from and make your business better. 

5) Solve the problem – this sounds silly but you wouldn’t believe how many businesses never solve the problem that the customer was complaining about. If a customer has a problem then by all means offer a solution! You won’t always be able to make a customer happy but it is the effort that you put into it that matters. You always want the customer to at least walk away feeling heard and valued by you. 

Do you have any great customer service stories? Or maybe, you have one we can learn from. Please share your experiences here! 

Tweet

Those who know me know that I tend to be real. I know this about me. I tend to tell it like it is and sometimes that is brash. I appreciate others that are this way too because for me those are people you can trust. They don’t sugar coat things, they don’t lie or create a fake persona. They just are who they are. This blog post is just that – real. Running your own business is a struggle and that struggle is real. There are so many things that come up in business that no one ever tells you about or prepares you for before they happen. I feel that I had a good idea what I was getting into when I started my own business. That’s why my first thought was to run and go do something else, anything but run my own business. I knew it was hard, long hours, a lot of dedication. Growing up I watched my father run his own farm. He worked extremely long hours, seven days a week. He struggled. He got frustrated but he loved it. He had a passion for what he was doing so much so that at 73 he is still very active. Watching him and my mother I learned what sacrifice was. I learned what it was to work hard for something you wanted. At 45 I have discovered that I have that same passion for running my business. I love it. I am doing exactly what I want to do and I am living the dream. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t struggle. 

I’ve learned quite a few things since starting my own business. I share them in the hopes that they help someone who is just getting started or maybe you are one of those seasoned pros but you are feeling frustrated. 

1) Know your worth. Early on I priced my services way too low. I think this is an issue for all entrepreneurs as I see it all the time. I was too busy looking at what “the market” would bear and not looking at the fact that I have 20+ years of very unique experience coupled with a masters degree. I was pricing myself as a beginner not the seasoned professional that I am. I have since learned to price for the value I bring. I no longer have a problem walking away from a prospective client that wants to bicker over price. There will always be people who think you charge too much even if your services are way under priced for the market. The best thing you can do for yourself is to know your worth and walk away from a client that doesn’t understand it. You will have far greater issues with those types of clients than just price and you won’t feel comfortable to do your best work. Work is a relationship and it is important for everyone to feel valued in that relationship. 

2) Surround yourself with people who make you stretch and grow. These won’t always be people that you agree with or even like sometimes. Those that make us grow are the ones that push us, stretch us or challenge our way of thinking. I don’t mean people who are bent on beating you down or being negative. You know the people I am talking about. We all have that friend who looks at things so different from us. They love us and support us but they are always challenging the way we view things or how we think about things. They will tell us when we are wrong. They push us to do things outside of the comfortable spot we are in at the time. They cheer us on when we do the hard, scary stuff. Find those people. They will be instrumental in making you think different and do different things. In thinking different and doing different things that make us uncomfortable, we grow. There is no growth when you are comfortable and secure. Growth only happens when we are uncomfortable. So get used to being uncomfortable. Do things even if you are afraid. Remember, courage is not the absence of fear. 

3) Don’t be afraid to get to know yourself very well. Running a business you will find brings all your strengths and weaknesses front and center. You quickly find out what you are really good at doing and those things that are weaknesses. Don’t focus so much on the weaknesses. If it is something that you can hire someone else to do then hire them. Focus on your strengths and build on that. Get to know you. My favorite saying is, I’m going to just do me as it is what I am good at. Even though I seek to stretch and grow daily, I don’t forget who I am and what I believe in. I simply do me in everything. What does that mean? For me, it means I bring my personality to everything I do, my values, who I am and what I believe in and fight for at the end of the day. My passion, my purpose. I don’t focus on what the competition is doing. I just do me. If something doesn’t align with my values and where I want to take my company then I don’t do it. If I am doing something I should have never started then I stop and turn around. Mistakes help you grow and figure out exactly where your passion and purpose lies. 

4) Comparison is the thief of joy. I know you have heard it many times in life but comparison really is the thief of joy in all things, including business. Don’t focus on what your peers or competitors are doing. You don’t know what chapter they are on in their journey. You don’t know the struggles they have went through to get here. Just like on social media, we tend to only post the things that look pretty and make us look good. That doesn’t mean there is no struggle. We don’t see that part. Don’t compare your chapter 4 to someone else’s chapter 15. It will make you miserable. Let others be who they are and you just need to be you. I find the comparison trap sneaks up on you. Whenever you find your mind comparing yourself to someone else in a negative way, stop. The words we speak to ourselves are much more powerful than those of anyone else. 

5) Never stop learning. Always seek to improve your skills. Find your niche and do whatever you can to be the best in that area. Find classes, read books, watch webinars, invest in a mastermind group or network with other professionals that do what you do and learn from them. In business, I find that you always must be learning if you want to keep growing and doing well. You hear experts talk about being able to “pivot” in business. The need to change direction quickly. The best way I have found to do that is to be an avid learner. You can always find new skills to learn and there is always someone who knows more than you. Learn from them. For me, I teach others because in teaching others I learn. If you want to be really good at something then teach it to someone else. It automatically makes you study it more, get better at it and find out the ins and outs. No one wants to look foolish to their “students”. I constantly am teaching other small business owners about their businesses and finances. It keeps me learning new ways of doing things, smarter ways of doing things. It keeps me sharp. 

What are some things you have learned in running your business that are “a must”? Please share them here with us.