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I talk a lot about working on HUGE projects in chunks of 30 minutes per day.  My rationale is that you can do ANYTHING if you piece it into small bites.  I like to set a timer so that a 30 minute project doesn’t swallow my entire day by becoming a 5 hour project.  Lately I’ve been thinking of all the things – small and large – that you can get done in 30 minutes.  There are also little tasks that can make a big difference when you only have a small amount of time.  (I suffer from not wanting to start a project if I have a phonecall in 30 minutes.)  So, here is my list of small and large projects you can get done in 30 minutes – broken down into small challenges and large ones.  Pick only one of these to do each day and commit yourself to 30 minutes.

Small (quickie) 30 minute challenges:

These are the quick little projects that’ll make you feel just a little bit better about yourself and your biz.  These are usually one-timers that can be done when you have a small chunk of time where you are waiting for a call or an appointment.

1. Clean out a file drawer.
2. Make a coffee date with someone you want to know better in the wedding industry.
3. Wipe down your desk and computer screen.
4. Call your mom.
5. Pay 5 bills.
6. Clean your thing-a-majigger draw (you know, the one with the paper-clip explosion).
7. Write a blog post (idea: the thing that excites you most about your business).
8. Take a 30 minute walk to clear your head.
9. Write down 5 things that make your business different.
10. Read a business article in a magazine, blog, or book.
11. Send a thank you note to someone who has helped your business.
12. Take a nap.
13. Read your goals for 2010.
14. Give.  Find a charity or non-profit and donate $5 to their cause.
15. Sign up for a networking event.

Large (long-term) 30 minute challenges:

These are the HUGE projects that when broken up into 30 minute chunks, you can accomplish over time.  These are the items that you’ll repeat every day, 30 minutes at a time, until you are done.

1. Clean out your email inbox.
2. Work on one piece of your business plan.
3. Write a book: one page at a time.
4. Organize a large pile (or box) of denial.
5. If you have months of receipts, input them into your accounting software.
6. De-clutter: Grab a bag and find 10 things to throw away in your office.
7. Redesign your website: one page at a time.  (Work on the concept and the flow if you are not the designer.)
8. Organize inventory
9. Write down systems and procedures for your business: one process at a time.
10. Design a new collection, a new product, or a new division of your business.
11. Create a database of every person you’ve ever done business with.
12. Clean out your computer files.
13. Organize an open house for your business.
14. Plan for the next wedding show (that you attend as an exhibitor).
15. Train an employee on a new responsibility.

Do you notice how none of these items included “check facebook” “talk on twitter”?  (Yes, I do a lot of that too.)  The point is that if you really commit yourself to spending time on something – even in little increments – you can accomplish a lot.  Are you short on time?  Or, are you short on commitment?

Courtesy of Wordle

Quick – what is your mission statement?

I’m hoping that you were able to proudly state the exact mission of your business.  If not, we’ve got some work to do!  (If you do have a mission statement, follow along so that you can analyze it’s effectiveness.)

The SOUL of your business

The purpose of a mission statement is to define the core philosophy of your business.  Namely, why are you in business?  What is the purpose of your business?  It is usually a sentence (or a few) that describes THE SOUL of your business.

Let’s revisit some of these characteristics of a strong mission statement.  Spend 20 minutes today working on the following questions:

• Why are you in business?
• Who are your customers?
• What is the nature of your products and services?
• How will you serve the people of your business (employees, customers, stakeholders)?
• How do you differ from others?
• How will you reach your goals?
• What underlying philosophies or values guide your business?

When you’ve worked on those questions, write 1-3 sentences to define the mission of your company.

Need inspiration?

I always get inspired by learning from other businesses, particularly those outside of the wedding industry.  Here are a few of my favorite mission statements.  They truly define what these companies are doing:

Nike: To Bring Inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.
Harley-Davidson Motors: We fulfill dreams through the experience of motorcycling, by providing to motorcyclists and to the general public an expanding line of motorcycles and branded products and services in selected market segments.
Microsoft: At Microsoft, we work to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential. This is our mission. Everything we do reflects this mission and the values that make it possible.
Bristol-Meyers: To help all people live healthy lives.

Dig around missionstatements.com for inspiration.  They have some great resources!

Living Your Mission Statement

Your mission statement should be the guiding force in your business.  It should be the statement that drives every decision you make.  It should dictate how you market yourself, how your operate, and how you make money.  You should know it by heart.  You should share it with your employees and your contracted labor.  They need to know what is the heart and soul of your business.  Share it with your clients (on your website and/or promotional materials).  Let people know what you are all about.

Your mission statement shouldn’t change often.  But, if you have a major shift in your business, you should reassess it.  Tweak and change until it fits just right.

Live your mission… every day.

Now… share with us… post a comment below with YOUR business mission statement below.

It’s our Anniversary!!!

One year ago today I (Michelle, here) started writing the Sage Wedding Pros blog.  I have always found myself having “business-y” conversations with fellow wedding colleagues.  I always loved hearing about the strategy of their business.  And, often I found myself asking a gazillion dorky questions: “Who is your customer?”  “How do you market yourself?”  “What is your ROI on that ad?”  In return, I would get asked for advice.  So, I wanted to get some of these thoughts on paper computer screen.  I wanted to take the business of weddings back to basics.  And, so I started Sage Wedding Pros as a resource for all of those things that you might learn if you open up a college textbook in finance, accounting, marketing, or operations.

A few months later Kelly joined me to bring our message to the masses in-person.  We wanted to take the blog to a deeper level and give people REAL TOOLS for creating a sustainable business.  And, because we feel firmly that without a plan, you’ll have a much harder go at being sustainable, we launched The Simple Plan – our easy-peasy approach to writing a business plan in 2 days.  VOILA!  People nationwide are writing business plans with us… and making big differences in their businesses.

So, today… in honor of our 1 year on this blogging universe… we have 2 fun announcements…

The Simple Plan’s NEW WEBSITE!

We have a new website to learn all about The Simple Plan’s speakers, locations, cities, etc.  You’ll be able to find the site by going to:  www.TheSimplePlanSite.biz or by clicking the workshop link in the menu bar above.  This far more user-friendly than navigating our blog for information.  We hope you enjoy it!

Photo Courtesy of Barbie Hull Photography

A Giveaway!

We want to know how we are doing.  And, we want to give gifts!  So, we are giving away 3 of these cute little business card holders.

All you have to do is tell us how we are doing by filling out the form below before Sunday, March 21st at midnight EST.  We’ll draw 3 names at random and send 3 lucky people these business card holders.

Easy-peasy!

A HUMONGOUS THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU FOR READING AND LEARNING WITH US THIS PAST YEAR!  The ride is always more fun with friends.

To be in business, you must be making money.  You must be profitable in order to have a sustainable business.

How do you plan to create a sustainable business?  What is your plan for profitability?

If you don’t know or are not sure, you need to figure it out or you won’t be in business long.

You MUST be profitable.

For more wedding business insights… read our sage declarations.

Nancy Liu Chin
Owner, Nancy Liu Chin Designs
www.nancyliuchin.com
San Francisco, CA
Established 2001

Why did you start your business?

This is a great question. I did decided to start my own business after working in corporate American for over a decade. Having always been a creative soul, I wanted to do something for myself. After 9/11, I realized that life was short and that I wanted to find something that I could stand behind. So a month later, I officially went to SF’s city hall and the rest is history. Another part of why I wanted to start a floral and event design business was that I struggled as a bride to find someone in the Bay Area who could turn my vision into a reality. There were so many wonderful floral designers but very few who could take flowers and work them into the space and the decor. There was a couple high end celebrity designers at the time who did the whole thing but no one who did it for bride’s with smaller budgets.

What book do you recommend to new business owners?

Tipping Point and Outliners by Malcolm Gladwell
Think Big by Donald Trump

Do you have any cool goal-setting tips to share with us?

Definitely have a 1, 3, 5, 10 year plan. You don’t need a fancy spreadsheet, just write down where you see your business in 1 year, 3 and etc.  Look at your numbers, project your numbers.  Realize how much you need to take home at the end of the day.  Don’t think your product or service is enough, set some marketing goals.  Understand the Law, rules and regulations.  It’s hard to set goals so for short term, try to do something within the month, 3 month, and 1 year.  Don’t pick too many goals and then write 3 steps within each goal so that you can do them one step at a time.

What do you find to be the biggest challenge as a business owner?

People are unpredictable. Consumers are unpredictable. Other people are never as reliable.  Loyalty in this business doesn’t often mean long term.  You constantly have to do it better and better.  Production and creativity takes time.  Not enough hours in the day to do everything.  Technology doesn’t always mean easier or simpler.

If you were starting your business all over again, what would you have done differently?

Not sure if people really want to know my answer. If I had to do it again, I would have taken longer to work with someone far more experienced. I would have spent more years shadowing, apprenticing. There just wasn’t enough opportunities for people to shadow and assist when I was starting so I had fewer options. Today, there so many companies so I think the chance to learn is key. To learn from people who are experts in their field is quite valuable. There are so many programs today that just wasn’t around when I started. The training from a mentor is something that I can’t go back and attain so I would strongly encourage new business owners to partner, shadow and apprentice. Learning good strategies, communication and technical skills are foundations to a good owner. Many people don’t realize that you a good worker, doesn’t make a good owner. To have a chance to work side by side with an owner in a managerial role will benefit people in the long run.

Want more great reads?  Check out our book list!

Is there someone that you think is AWESOME in the wedding industry?  Tell us about’m!

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Email consumes so much of our daily attention and business energy.  We spend so much time reading, responding, sorting message.  And, we waste time re-reading them also.  Think of your daily routine.  Do you find yourself combing through emails trying to find that one email pertaining to a client?  Do you find yourself reviewing an email for the 34th time unsure of what to do with it?

Here are 5 Easy Tips for Email Maintenance:

1. Wait one hour before checking email in the morning.
   Unless you have something time critical (pending orders) in your email inbox, wait until mid-morning to check your email.  Why?  Because it allows you to get WORK done.  It allows you to get something critical done before the barage of correspondence that consumes us every day.  I’ve had days where I sit down to answer email and don’t get up for several hours because they keeeeeeep coming.  Give yourself time to do WORK.  Here’s another related post on waiting to check email in the morning.
2. Set up folders to help you file and archive email
   If you don’t have folders set up yet, do so.  And, make them easy for you to work with.  I keep them broad enough so that I don’t have too search to hard through hundreds of folders.  I have about 20-40 folders (depending on the inbox.)  It can be as simple as “Colleagues” “Clients” “Personal” & “Travel”.
3. Auto-filter email
   Set filters on your email so that email on specific subjects or from certain senders automatically go to one of the archive folders.  For example, any email from one of the officers at Get Hitched Give Hope automatically goes to a “GHGH” folder.  These are typically not urgent and I can respond to them when I have a little more time.  Also, if you have newsletters that fill up your inbox, but you do enjoy receiving them, set up a filter that sends your messages to a “READ THIS” folder.  Then you can read your newsletters in one sitting.
4. Start a HABIT of reading each message only once
   A few months ago I realized that I was probably reading most messages 2-10 times.  This is because they would sit in my email inbox and I would revisit them until I was ready to respond.  I thought, “How much more efficient would I be if I took action on every email as soon as I saw it?”  And, so this became my mission: read a message, act on it, and archive or delete it.  This is a huge challenge to do.  How did I do it?

   - I set times in my day to only work on email.  Therefore, when I’m reading email I have the time to respond.
   - Ask yourself: What do I need to do NOW to act on this email and clear it out of my inbox?
   - If the email requires that I take some action at a later time, I add it to my to-do list.  Then, I file the message.
   - I archive or delete everything that is done with.
   - Any email that needs additional follow-up (these are usually messages that I can resolve within a day or two) stays in my inbox as “unread”.  Having it “unread” is a trigger to me that I need to act on it soon.
   - Keep my inbox to a maximum of 20-30 messages (MAX) with an ideal amount of 0-5 messages.  (HAHA!  This was hard to do… see my next point.)

5. Clear out your inbox for 30 minutes a day
   About a year ago I had ~879 messages in my main email inbox.  These were mostly messages of old “important” things that I felt I needed to have access to.  The funny thing is that in a sea of 879 messages I never accessed them.  They were mostly personal emails from friends/family that I wanted to read or keep.  Or, they were newsletters that I wanted to dig into.  Some of them were suppliers that I didn’t carry but “might” be interested in carrying down the road.  It was a little nutty.  So, I decided I was going to take on this behemoth and clear it out.  I committed myself to 30 minutes per day of only inbox cleaning.  During the 30 minutes I focused solely on old email only (nothing that just came in).  I wanted to archive or delete those  messages from 2004.  And, little by little, I did it.  About a month ago I was able to get to INBOX ZERO!  This is the first time in 5 years I have a clean inbox.  And, it has made the BIGGEST difference in the maintenance of my inbox… and my productivity in general.  The clutter was bogging me down.  It’s amazing what you can accomplish in 30 minutes a day over a long period of time.

So, there you have it… my quick-n-easy email tips for you!  How about you?  What are your email secrets?

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Recently, I’ve heard a few wedding professionals comment to me that they already have a business plan or that they did their plan years ago.

I wonder, “YIKES!  Have you stopped planning for your business?  I sure as hell hope not!”

The day that you stop planning for your business is the day that your business is done.  The business plan is a constantly evolving mechanism.  It is a living and breathing document.  As your business changes, as you grow as a business owner, your business evolves.  You must be reviewing your business plan every 6-12 months.  You must be revising, restrategizing, editing, and rebuilding.  You must find new things you want to do.  You must define new goals.  You must reexamine your branding.  You must tweak your sales forecasts and your expense budgets.

You must plan or your business is dead.

Don’t believe me?  Read this post on Palo Alto Softward and their never-ending 22-year-old business plan.

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Lately, I’ve been a little shocked by people’s email and telephone protocol.  What seems to me as something so simple and straightforward does not seem to be the case for everyone.  I’m going to preface this post by laying down a few assumptions:

• I believe in setting boundaries.  No one should be answering email and phonecalls late into the night.  I also believe in keeping weekends.  It is OK to not respond to email on Saturday-Sunday.  (Or Sunday-Monday if you work on Saturdays.)
• There are days that our job requires us to be out of the office: meeting with clients, at site visits, at networking functions.
• We all get busy and there are days where we are bogged down and can simply not respond to everyone’s inquiry.

Let’s address a few HUMONGOUS CORRESPONDENCE OFFENSES:

Not responding to email in a timely fashion

Email MUST be responded to within 24 hours.  Here are my rules for ensuring his happens:

• I quickly scan my email for personal and business.  Personal email usually requires a little more time and thought.  My friends, fortunately, do not require a quick response.  Business correspondence does.
• At the end of my workday, I check my inbox to make sure every single business email has received a reply of some sort.
• If I do not have an answer or need more time for an email, I simply let the sender know, “I’ll get back to you before the end of the week.”
• I archive and file all email once responded to.  My inbox has only “open items”.

If you have trouble, organizing your email and keeping everything straight, you may need to set up folders and filters.  See this post on setting up your email inbox.

Like I said, there are days that we have maxed out on our responsibilities as business owners and we must prioritize.  Some times email must play a second fiddle in order to fry the bigger fish.  This is completely understandable.  The problem is when poor correspondence becomes the norm.  Not only are you sacrificing potential business, but also you are sacrificing relationships with colleagues.  You are sacrificing your image and your brand.

Responding to a phonecall with an email

I’m not a big phone person.  I prefer email because I’m very visual.  I need to see something in writing for it to truly set in.  It also creates an easy reference for me to take action in the future.  I know many wedding professionals agree.  Planning a wedding is an intricate web of many little pieces that are nice to “see”.

There are times, though, that a phonecall is necessary.  And, usually a phonecall is made when something is urgent and/or very important.  If I’m calling you, do not email me back. There’s a reason I phoned you.  Just like with email, ensure that you have returned every voicemail at the end of the day.

Now… there is only ONE reason a phonecall should receive an email reply and that would be if you want to set up a better time to talk by phone. There are days that I simply cannot take a phonecall.  I understand this.  Typically, I schedule ALL phonecalls if I can.  If you receive a phonecall that you cannot take and it is NOT urgent, then a quick email asking to schedule a time is appropriate.  Again, make sure the call is not urgent or this defeats the purpose.

Phone = Urgent
Email = Not Urgent

Please respond to phonecalls with phonecalls.

Not setting an “out of office” responder

I am a HUGE fan of the “out of office” auto-responder.  You should be setting this on your email any time that you cannot or will not be responding to email within 24 hours. If you have the slightest doubt that you will be able to respond to email, just set the auto-responder.  This is a great habit to establish.  Here are some examples of when to use this:

• Out of the office for site visits
• Away from your desk for client meetings
• At home with your kids for the day
• Have family visiting from out of town
• On vacation or business travel
• On the weekend (especially if you take an “unconventional” weekend such as Sunday – Monday)
• You are simply too swamped to respond to email

The last point is VERY important.  If you are slammed with work, you need to let people know.  Otherwise, you look irresponsible.  If you cannot take any more business and don’t plan on responding to inquiries for some time, please let people know: “We are booked through the end of April.  We will be meeting with clients beginning May 1.  If you are interested in setting a time to meet, reply with your May availability.”  If your heavy workload is confined to a short window of time, let people know, “I’m in the throws of invite assembly!  Woohooo!  Please know that I’ll be in touch with you within 72 hours and not a minute more.”

The auto-responder is awesome for giving you breathing space.  It allows you to work on email when you can best respond.  Not only does it curb the expectations of the sender, but also allows you to be present with your other commitments.

How about you?  What are your correspondence pet peeves and what are your solutions?

The Simple Plan on March 29-30 will take place at:

Cafe Deluxe
Cleveland Park
Near the National Cathedral
3228 Wisconsin Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016

For those of you who follow me on Twitter you’ll know that the way to grab my attention is to start chattering about food.  (“Did someone say cheese?”)  And, I cannot wait to taste the deliciousness that I am seeing on their menu.  The staff and crew have already been nothing short of amazing to Kelly and me.  This is a workshop marriage made in heaven.

For tickets and information on The Simple Plan visit Eventbrite.

We recommend the following nearby hotels:
Omni Shoreham Hotel – 202-234-0700 (rates starting at $198)
Savoy Suites Hotel – 800-944-5377 (rates starting at $179)
Holiday Inn Washington DC – Georgetown - 202-338-4600 (rates starting at $158)
Days Inn Washington DC – Connecticut Ave – 202-244-5600 (rates starting at $139)

Cafe Deluxe is near the Cleveland Park Metro Station.

Can’t wait to see you there!

What are you best at doing?

What work do you prefer to do?

Ask yourself these questions at least once a month until you feel you’ve defined your niche.

You must learn to differentiate in order to truly compete in the market.
You must be different.
You must have a unique niche.

This differentiation can be revolutionary, but it doesn’t have to be.  However, you MUST offer something different.  McDonald’s was not the first fast food restaurant.  But, Ray Kroc was able to introduce a new system by which his restaurants were run.  And, he was able to sell this formula time and time again until he had started the first franchised network of restaurant chains.  What he did with McDonald’s was completely different from anyone else at the time.

I love this post by Sean Lowe, author of the blog The Business of Being Creative on changing the game.

Be DIFFERENT.

For more wedding business insights… read our sage declarations.