Create a Successful Business Without Compromising Your Lifestyle

0:05 There are some people that make their work just another thing they have to do, and there are those that make their work something that they want to do. Welcome to Working on Purpose with your host Elise Cortez. In our program, we provide guidance and inspiration from those people who have found deeper meaning and personal connection to their work life. It's beyond nine to five. It's working on Purpose. Now Here is your host, Elise Cortez. Welcome back to the Working on Purpose Show. Thanks for tuning in again this week. I'm your host, Elise Cortez, joining you from Dallas, Texas, which is home base for me. This program is all about helping people more meaningfully and productively connect with their work and equipping organizations to do the same for their employees.

0:49 I bring on guests to have a particular perspective or experience that I think expands the conversation about work and the workplace, and I often draw on the meaning work research I've been doing over the last fifteen years, the work that i do at Insignium, a global magma consulting firm. I'll give the program in just a second, but let me thank my media partner and sponsor, jobbing Dot com. They are the leading locally focused job board in the nation, and they are dedicated to helping employers find quality talent in their own backyard while giving job seekers control over their or their actual search. If you missed the show last week, we were on the air with Judy Hoberman, who is the president of Selling in a Skirt. She's an international speaker, trainer, coach, and mentor. We talked about the differences between men and women at work and what each can learn from the other. Managing productivity, and her soon to be released book called Walking on the Glass Floor, which she plans to launch into a movement in her own war women into leadership positions across the globe. She is a truly a woman up to something. It was really a great conversation with us. This week is Joy Shudekoff, the recognized leader for business lifestyle design for women and the founder of her business consulting practice called Smart Women, Smart Solutions. Joys the author of What's Next, The Seven Steps did or Your Big your Big Idea and create a wildly successful business.

2:02 She joins us to day from Los Angeles. Joy, Welcome to working on Purpose. Hi at least, good morning, Happy to be here, Good morning, good afternoon for me and you. Yeah, it's happy to have you here. And I want to also thank I think it was Heidi Murray of Leadership Women who brought us together. So thank you Hide if you're listening, for bringing me joy. And I mean that in all aspects. Double Chandra all the way. So I want to get as much as I can out of your joy in the short time that we have together. And I really want to make sure that I guess understand the tremendous pearl they're getting in you. So will you kick us off just by just talking briefly about that background of yours. You've really really been on a fantastic journey of your own in terms of work. Yeah, thank you, Elise. You know it's it has been a wild ride. I've been actually a serial I guess I would call myself a serial entrepreneur or for almost thirty years, which is kind of hard because you know, it feels like yesterday. And so just to give your listeners a snapshot, I started my first company when I was twenty nine years old, and you know I didn't I think it's important for people to hear that I didn't grow up thinking I was going to be an entrepreneur, don't I think I barely understood what that was. I was working for someone else, maybe like many of your listeners, And in my early twenties, I found out that. I just remember one year, was around

3:38 the holidays, going in to see my boss for my review, and of course the review was glowing. He said he was very happy to have me as part of the company. But the fact is there weren't going to be any bonuses that year. And oh, by the way, I was earning at top of scale, and I wouldn't be getting a raise for the next year. So you can imagine my disappointment. And so I went back to my desk, and I went home for the holidays, and I didn't do anything at first because I didn't know what to do. I was just very sad and disappointed because there was a lot more that I wanted out of life. But although I was earning a competitive salary, it certainly did not deliver to me all of the things that I wanted to experience in the city of Los Angeles. And for those of you, those of you who've ever been to Los Angeles, you know that it's very it's a very expensive city to live in. And so my first tip for everyone is always be curious.

4:38 Because I started my first business because a receipt for a piece of equipment was in the orthopedic medical industry, a piece of orthopedic equipment, a receipt came across my desk, which shouldn't have because I was in marketing. That's my background. I've I've always been in marketing. And I saw what was being built out for this piece of equipment, and I found out how much it cost to manufacture through making just a few quick phone calls and I could do the maths. You know, it didn't didn't take a rocket Sciences to figure that out. There was a lot of profit there. So very long story, I'll dial it forward. I started a business h with those pieces of equipment, a medical equipment business. That was my first business at twenty nine.

5:23 There's a story we could do a whole nother show on about how how hard it was to get the money for the first ten thousand dollars so I could buy the darned equipment. So I wasn't easy, but I was persistent and I started my first business and that business did extremely well about eighteen months after I started the business, I was able to leave my job, and which was really a gratifying feeling and at the same time scary as heck, because I didn't really know what I was doing, and that that business was a very successful company. I owned it for about twelve years that ended up going international, and before I sold the company, we were we had sales and excess of two million dollars a year. There's a lot to that, obviously, a lot of a lot of reps in towns, a lot of success, and a lot of failure. I want to say that upfront for people to hear, but I learned from my failures hopefully. And you know, at that time, at least my husband had just gone through some By that time, I was married, we were thinking about having a family.

6:29 I wanted I wanted to get off the road. My business was a great business, but it required a lot of travel, and I knew if I wanted to have a family that I needed to change the way I worked, and so I sold my business. After my first child was born. My son and my husband had also come through a very serious surgery. He had a kidney transplant, and I knew I just wanted to change the way I worked, and I took a little bit of time off and I realized that I just loved business. It's in my blood. I had to get back to doing something. And so I know, almost thirteen years ago, started Smart Women Smart Solutions, which is a as you said, coaching consulting company for women entrepreneurs. Because I knew one thing. I knew I had a lot of things I could share, a lot of solutions, a lot of help, a lot of encouragement I could share with other women because of my own journey. And that's that's sort of how I got to where I am today. That is just a beautiful rendition. Joy And can I really appreciate so many things about that. There's a loss I could say about that.

7:39 But one thing I do want to get to absolutely is I'm starting now to wonder, based on what you've just narrated, if that is why you focus on lifestyle design in the context of someone wishing to start their business. Is that right? That it is? It is? You know? I think that the first Now, when I was in my twenties, I had no idea of what this was, or this whole concept of values or I a least, because all I thought about was I just want to make a lot of money and and and and you know, drive my fancy car and live in my great apartment. And and you know, I was unmarried, no kids. I don't even think I've met my husband by that time. But as you, as we mature, we start to think about our time in a different way, because we start to realize that, you know, I always say that time is like the elusive lover, you know, we can never get enough of it. And and so I started to think about how I wanted to structure my second business so that and help other people do that, other women, so that you can enjoy having a successful business and a successful life. And I think the first place you have to look when you when you want to have a lifestyle, uh is what are my what are my values? You know, what's my number one core value? What's my number two? Number three? And I think your life has too needs to be designed around those three core values for you to really be successful. Right.

9:11 I love that. And I don't know that I've ever seen that. I've never seen the idea of lifestyle design in terms of how to create a business you and I know you are considered a recognized leader in that in that capacity. But it is the first time I've really heard that phrase attached to creating a business like that. It makes so much sense. Why I didn't do it when I was on my own, I don't know. But when you when I when you do think about this, so I know that today you still coach women? Is that right? Are you still doing coaching? Oh? Yes, yeah, okay, okay, that's exactly what I do. Yeah, okay. I wasn't sure if you if you had time left in your in your day for that. Because but when I want to talk about here, because this is where where it gets really interesting. I had a couple reach out to me saying, you know, I saw that you're going to have joy in your show, and you know, these are people that kind of want to start their own their own business. And so when we talk about vision, somebody has something that they want to do for themselves in terms of business. They've got some idea, some context. What do we need to understand about vision when starting a business? And then I don't know if you can actually thread it through with what you just said about values, Well, you want your it's a great question. You want your vision to match your values, of course, because if you set a vision for yourself, as an example, to start a business, let's say as a woman that requires a tremendous amount of travel and you've got three kids under the age of fifteen at home, right right, I don't know that that really does that make sense? You know? Absolutely? Yeah, So you have

10:41 to think about your vision in terms of your values when you're setting this up, if you want to enjoy it in all areas of your life. And to me, as I was saying to someone just yesterday, that success to me doesn't matter what the bank account says. Success to me means, you know, have you built a successful business and not given up every other part of your life to get there? You know, you know? And I see examples of that all the time. And I also see people who are quite successful and they have a great relationship with their parents, they have a great relationship with their children and their spouse or partner, and that to me is success right there, and yeah, and it can be achieved. So you need to look at that. And the other thing I want to throw out there though, because I think this can sometimes be a challenge for women.

11:26 I don't like to. I'm sorry to be a gender but it's that I work with women all day and so I see this more than men. And that is when you're setting a vision for your business. For those of you who feel like you're going to go out and need venture capital or you're going to need an angel investor. The one thing I will say about that is is that you really do need to create the big picture for those types of conversations, because investors are looking for how big can this really get, not what your very next step is going to be? Right, So that's a key part of it as well. I just want to throw that in because it's something that I've been seeing a lot of lately. And but you want to really think about, you know, drawing a line down the center of the page, if you will, and say, what's my vision and how can I craft that so that it continues to weave into my values?

12:16 Okay, great, Yeah, I want to ask you about growth. But before we do that, is there anything else that you want to make sure that our listeners get about when it comes time for when around the notion of starting a business that that really matters for them. Anything else that you want to you want them to get Yeah, yeah, I thank you because you're very intuitive, you could hear. I just I don't want to I don't want to run over time, so I'm trying to choose things carefully. The other thing, too, I think if you're sitting in your office or in your house and you've got a big idea and you're thinking about starting a business, you know, I think it's always better to have an oops, oops is better than what if? Right? So go ahead? Right? And this is something that I see a lot of well I'm going to I'm just waiting to get it perfect, or I'm waiting for the right time, or I'm waiting for the perfect time. I got to tell you, there's no perfect time to start a business. You just have to start, you know, And and it's there's no you know. One of the things that I always share with my clients or women that I speak with is that when how will we know when it's perfect? I mean, how will we know?

13:20 I don't know what that looks like, So I don't know if I'll know when it's perfect, but I will know when you when you actually put the idea out into the marketplace and we start to get some feedback and we start to see what people think of it. So I always say, let's make an oops is better than what if? Like, oh gosh, what if I hadn't been the person who discovered the post it pad? Well, you know what, you didn't, but you probably when they discovered it or they put it on the market, they probably had a lot of oops. Mess that up. Let's go back to the drawing board. But look where they are today. So what I get from that joy is you gotta be you gotta be an action, right, you can't be an analysis paralysis? Is that partly what you're saying relutely? Movement will always beat meditation? Okay, movement will beat meditation. I love this so many great phrases I'm getting out of this. Okay. So so let's say we've we've done this joy right, We've got this business off off and running there. We're getting a little bit of traction to start to make some money here. What kinds of things do you see business owners getting stuck at it this level to prevent them from going on to the next level. So they've they've got traction and now they're starting to grow. What what's the stopping place there, well, you know, typically at least what I see is it's it's starting to delegate and build that team. That's typically because if you when you when you first get started, it's just you typically and you're you know, you're answering the phone, you're doing all the emails, you're fulfilling the orders. You know, you're

14:52 providing a service. But as you start to grow, even a little bit, you need to start delegating. And this is a very hard thing for renegade entrepreneurs to do because we're risk takers. Were a lot of times, we're type A personalities sometimes and we think that we know it all and we want to micromanage, and or we don't hire at all because we think, well, gosh, if I hire, it's going to cost me money. And the fact is is that this is a huge mistake that people make, and I have to say typically more women than men, in that we keep piling the work on, you know, and working late into the night or early in the morning. And the key is is to actually outsource as quickly as you can the smallest of details so that you can use that time to go out and create more sales and to grow the brand. That's the biggest mistake I see at that level. That is so crisp. And I can tell you that for the years that I was on my own, I can I know I made that mistake. I actually I was very slow to get help. So charge guilty as charged, just as you say, Joey.

15:58 Yeah, but it's normal, very normal. You know. It's it's so and I understand it. I'm shaking my head, but at the same time, it's you know, it's it's always good to say, you know, we have to start looking at what are the here, here's a great way to look at this for everybody on the listening. And that is one of the things that I have my clients do is make a list of everything that they're doing in their business, down to you know, buying paper clips or sharpening pencils. And they have to keep that list for a week and then we come back and here's the second part of the of the exercise. Then they have to circle with the red pen the things on the list that only they can do, only they can do. And I'll tell you, out of a list of thirty items, there's only about three things that is beautiful, solid advice, and it's great way to take us into our first break.

16:52 Joy, I'm your host, Alice Cortez. We're on the air with Joy shudikof of Smart Women, Smart Solutions and the author of What's Next. Seven Steps to discover your big idea and create a wildly successful business. She joins us today from Los Angeles, California. We've been talking a bit about how to create a lifestyle design business and the vision that goes into that. After the break, we're going to get into cash flow and scaling. Stay with us, Become our friend on Facebook, post your thoughts about our shows, and network on our timeline. Visit Facebook dot com, Forward Slash Voice America. Alise Cortez is a speaker and engagement and development catalyst. She designs and delivers professional development, leadership and engagement workshops and can bring her expertise to your organization. She will help ignite meaningful development within your workforce that will increase employee engagement, performance and retention. To learn more or to invite a lease to speak to your organization, please visit her at www dot leasetz dot com.

18:00 She would welcome the opportunity to help get your employees working on purpose. Have you friended us on Facebook yet why not? Just go to Facebook dot com, forward slash Voice America or search for the keywords Voice America. Once you are part of our Facebook network, you'll receive daily messages about what's happening with our shows. This week's feature guests and new happenings at the Voice America Talk radio network, and you can add your voice to the always active discussions on our timeline. Just go to Facebook dot com, forward slash Voice America or search for Voice America. This is Working on Purpose with Elise Cortez.

18:44 To reach our program today, please call in to one triple eight three four six nine one four one. Again, that's one triple eight three four six nine one four one. You may also send an email to Elise ali Se at Elise Ortez dot com. Now back to Working on Purpose. Thanks for staying with us, and welcome back to Working on Purpose if you're just joining us. My guest is Joy Shudakov. They're recognized leader for business lifestyle design for women and the founder of her business consulting practice called Smart Women, Smart Solutions. Joy is the author of What's Next, The seven steps to discover your big idea and create a wildly successful business. I'm your host, Alice Cortez, So Joy, you and I were chatting on the break a little bit here and I wanted to get into cash flow, but I do recommend I also recognize that there were more things we could have said about strategy in terms of crafting our business. Can you can you speak to that before we go on to cash blow? Yeah, I can. I'll give you quickly there are what I call the five ps of developing a powerful strategy for your business, and I'll just touch on them briefly. You know, the first one really is the purpose of if you could sit down and actually with a piece of paper, pencil or on your laptop and take yourself through this exercise.

19:59 But there's the purpose. Why why does this company exist? Why did I start the company? What's the reason? Right? That's the first thing. The second thing is the people, and that is, you know, who's the who's the product or service for? What do they care about? So really looking at the end user, not you yourself as the founder, but the end user who will use this product or service? What is it they care about? And getting really clear about who the demographic is. The third thing is the perception you know what, what does your ideal client believe? What would what would you like them to believe about your company? Right, so what's their perception about your company, service, or product, the industry and what do you want them to believe? Because this is what you would write in your copy and how you would how you would brand yourself in the marketplace. The fourth p is product, and that is what do these people really want? How do we create value for the customer? So this is really key is determining when you make a product, is it what is it they want to see in the product or the service, and making sure that you include those ingredients or pieces so they'll actually want to buy it.

21:08 And the last thing is very key is the promise. You know, how can how can we reduce customer's sphere of buying from us? What's my guarantee? So that's a you know, we want to make it as easy as possible for people to buy from us, So how can we reduce their risks so they'll go ahead and make the purchase? So those are really five key questions that all start with the pe that someone could sit down and ask themselves when they're getting ready to build a strategy for their business. Great stuff, Joy, I really appreciate just how much meat you're giving me and our listeners. So this is this is great. I've been writing things furiously myself, so thank you. Okay, Well, let's talk about let's talk about cash flow, the ever present challenge of cash flow. I can remember several years ago when I was doing my research and interviewing some of to be wanting if you were accountants, and they talked about you cashflow just like this, you know, this incredibly important thing that that that's their focus. But what mistakes do new entrepreneurs usually make in this critical air of running a business? What have you seen there? Well, the mistake they make is that they never look at it. You know. It's and let's so let me explain.

22:18 Uh, you know, we start a business, we're excited, we're so passionate about the product or service that we're going to bring to the marketplace. I mean, it's something we've been probably dreaming about, envisioning about for years, right, and so we're we're finally excited to bring it, and so we're so we spend uh, you know, so much time getting it out, talking to people, marketing it and doing all of these things that we sometimes forget to look at the bank account and say, wait to hank hank on, wait a man, or whoa are the are the dollars I'm currently spending is actually giving me a return on my investment? Am I actually making money from the things I'm doing? And uh, I see this so much.

22:59 And that's why it's it's critical for for beginning entrepreneurs or who are just out of the gate to really take to really take the time to look at their numbers and figure out if the money they're spending is actually working to bring people into their concept or into their service or product. And I'll know, and I know why they don't do it at least listen, looking at your numbers and looking at profit and loss statements. It is not the sexy part of owning a business, let's face it, but it's something that we have to do. And that's the biggest mistake I see is people just don't ever look at their numbers. And that's why some you know, in many cases, they end up in the red. Yeah, I think you're absolutely right, just just being asleep at the wheel. And I remember that one of the accounts I know you used to say things like he was amazed that people would actually say, well, I still have checks, and so I must be okay, right, right, right, right, So you gave some other really fantastic pearls about the other subjects. Are there certain things that you really want to make sure our listeners get about? Cash flow? Yeah?

24:07 Sure, so I would recommend that you obviously run a profit loss statement for your business. Get in the habit of doing that, even in the very beginning, even when you're spending more money than is actually coming back to you into the business. You know, get into the habit of setting setting up a time at at least once a month, I recommend twice a month, but at least once a month to look at where is all my money going and do we really need all of that. One of the things that we do, and I have all my clients do at least twice a year, is evaluate their expenses. So look at how many how many software you know, how many pieces of software have you purchased for different things that you're launching that you actually don't even need anymore. For example, here's a simple one.

24:56 Let's take survey Monkey. Survey Monkey is a great to and I have used it over the years, many many times. But I only run surveys maybe twice a year, so I'm not going to keep that expense on my on my budget for twelve months. But some people order it and then they just paid the monthly fee for twelve months and they only use it two months out of the year. That's that's uh. Those are those are expenses that we should we should be pay careful attention to and get rid of them because all of those things add up, right. Just trying to think if there's something else I want to share with you about cash flow. I mean, I just I think that it's important to look at how much money you're spending to acquire a customer. You know, what are you how much marketing dollars are you spending to acquire that customer? And are you getting a return on the investment? Are you getting back more than you spent to acquire the customer?

25:52 Does that make sense? It sure does, yes, And again I appreciate the specificity of the kinds of things you're bringing up because I really think it brings home the concepts that you're sharing with us. Joy. So if this is great, I feel so good about sharing you with my listeners, Thank you so much for coming on good stuff. Yeah, you're welcome. So scaling next is what I wanted to get to here, you know, this whole wonderful thing of let's we've got something good here, We're getting some traction. Now we got to scale. And I know that you talk when you're coaching with women to as they scale to watch out for burnout. And I think I think you mentioned seven essential questions that owners need to ask themselves around this, So can you help us with scaling? Maybe those questions would be great? Yeah, sure, one I already h talked about in the setting your strategy. But it's always good every every year to start out the year asking yourself why did you start the business? Because you want to review why? Why the heck are we getting up and doing this every day anyway?

26:53 Right? I mean? Is do we still love it as much as we did the first day that we launched it? A second great question is do you have a clear and focused plan to give you the edge you need to get to where you want to be? So, you know, are do we have a plan to get to this next level in our business that we're going to Are we just sort of shooting in the dark here and just throwing things against the wall and hoping, you know, something will stick. By the way, when you start your business, you should be throwing a lot of spaghetti against the wall and to see what will stick. That's okay, But once you gain traction, it's really key to hone in on what's working and what's not working, which actually ties back to how you spend your cash. Number three, do you have all the clients and customers and repeat business that you want? I'm going to really highlight the word repeat business.

27:47 One of the things that I think that we can tend to forget about, and it's the easiest, easiest piece of business we can bring in is repeat business. You know the old sang elise, A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. And I see a lot of people always looking to acquire another new customer, another new customer, which is great, But let's look at your existing customer base that already knows you, likes you, and trust you. Is there something else you can develop to get them to buy again? Is there a way to get them to re enroll for another period of time after they've worked with you? This is golden and It will bring way more profit to your bottom line because you didn't have to spend any money to reacquire that client. This is so key and it's so easy, and I see people missing this point all the time. So really important to work on that repeat business because you bring more profit. The fourth one is do you have effective systems in place to run a smooth operation? Right?

28:55 This is one really big thing I work with my clients on who have a stab which businesses? Is that what are your processes? What systems do you have in place so that more things are automated and we actually at least go to we dial it back to what happens when somebody sends an email or calls on the phone. What phone number are they calling, what's the message? Who answers, who picks that message up? How long does it take for someone to get back to them? I take them through an entire process. So we get these systems down so that the sales happen quickly and more efficiently. Is this helpful? This is great? Keep going okay, okay, great? So then the next question is really is your you know, is your current marketing attracting exactly who you want as customers and clients, right, you know, are you are you happy when you wake up in the morning and you're happy to go to your office because you love the people you're working with or serving, or it's just like, oh, these are just the people I the clients I'm attracting, and I just have to do it to get by. That just signals to me that you're you're sending the wrong You've got the wrong marketing message because you're attracting the people that really, you really aren't the ideal people to your business, so that you have to take a look at that. And then again, you know, the other question is always do you have a system in place to easily and effortlessly determine how much money is coming into your business and how much is going out? Which I talked a little bit about earlier. Very key to have clear systems on how

30:27 much are we spending, how much are we bringing in, and let's evaluate what we need to keep and get and eliminate. And last, but certainly not least, is how you know. I always ask how would you describe your energy and enthusiasm for your business right now? And you know, are you excited to throw back the covers and jump out of bed every morning degree today or you know, it's like I'm in my pj's until noon, joy, and I have no real schedule, and I'm completely burned out. You know. So those are really the seven questions that you know, women should really ask themselves to make sure that they're on track and are ready to grow fantastic. I I just there's so much there. And I was listening to you talk, and I was just thinking to myself, how amazing you must be to work with, What a gift you must be for the people that you coach. And I wish I wish that I would have met you years ago when I was on my own. I wish I would have met you.

31:27 But I'm glad I know you now. Well, I'm going to say you know me now. At last, you know me now, and I one of these days I'm gonna meet you in person. There's there's no two ways about it. As I like to say, you can run for me, but you can't hide from me forever. O. Well, I won't hide, I promise, Okay, good. Well. Another thing that I was thinking about when you were talking is just you know, when you're really doing this well and you've got this thing humming. You know, there's a lot to manage when you're when you're running your own business, and I one of the things I'm avery aware of today as a management consultant is just how many businesses start to lose their edge because they don't have the eye and the balls as they're looking for new venues and staying relevant. So I wanted to ask how you how you coach your your your people with so much spinning, so much to actually keep your eye on the ball. How do they keep looking for opportunities to build the business, leverage into new venues, and make sure that they aren't becoming irrelevant. Yeah, sure, no, it's a good question. So I think the easiest thing to do is to first look at where is my target client present and hanging out a lot. So, in other words, if you've got a group that's that's a younger, If your if your product or service is geared more towards the younger twenty somethings, you know, you've got to make sure that you're on Instagram and Snapchat because you're you're you're in front of them, right, that's where they are.

32:55 You know, I'm just using that as an example. Social media can be good, but I'm a big believer that you need to actually get out and shake people's hands and look them in the eye. So I would say, look for opportunities where you know your client that you want to work with and grow with, where they are where they tend to be present, and I would make myself available to join into some of those networking activities. And you have more time for that, at least when you have built a team, when you have people supporting the vision and doing things for you in your business, because you have more time to get out and network and leverage yourself, right. So I would say that's one of the ways. The other thing I want to just say about that is but do things that you enjoy and feel comfortable doing. So my best example on this is that I enjoy public speaking, but you know, I have clients and friends who don't, and I always say to them, if you don't enjoy public speaking, I wouldn't make that my go to marketing tool because it can be quite painful if you don't enjoy it, and you know, figure out what it is you love to do. I have some clients who are just beautiful writers, just amazing writers with the written word, and so they know they write books about what they do, or they're great bloggers. They're using their gift to get more business. In that way, I think it has to be enjoyable, because I think people can see through that. If you're out looking for new business,

34:25 but you're doing something that you really don't enjoy, is that helpful. It's very helpful, and I completely agree with you. And yet again, joy another great way to take us into our next break, which happened again so very quickly. I'm Alice Cortez, your host to a bit on the Air with Joyce Hutakoff of Smart Women, Smart Solutions and the author of What's Next, The Seven Steps to discover your big idea and create a wireless successful business. To join us to day from Los Angeles, California. After the break, we'll get more into how to manage productivity and actually build that team to help us along our way. Stay with us, become our friend on Facebook, post your thoughts about our shows and network on our timeline. Visit Facebook dot com, Forward slash Voice America. Alise Cortez is a speaker and engagement and development catalyst. She designs and delivers professional development leadership and engagement workshops and can bring her expertise to your organization. She will help ignite meaningful development within your workforce that will increase employee engagement, performance and retention. To learn more or to invite Elise to speak to your organization, please visit her at www dot Elise Cortez dot com. She would welcome the opportunity to help get your employees working on Purpose. Have you friended us on Facebook yet? Why not? Just go to Facebook dot com, forward slash Voice America or search for the keywords Voice America. Once you are part of our Facebook network,

35:55 you'll receive daily messages about what's happening with our shows, this week's feature guests, and new happenings at the Voice America Talk radio network, and you can add your voice to the always active discussions on our timeline. Just go to Facebook dot com, forward slash Voice America or search for Voice America. This is Working on Purpose with Elise Cortez. To reach our program today, please call in to one triple eight three four six nine one four one. Again that's one triple eight three four six nine one four one. You may also send an email to Elise Ali se at Elise Portez dot com. Now back to Working on Purpose. Thanks for staying with us, and welcome back to Working on Purpose if you're just tuning in. My guest is Joy shutakof, the recognized leader for business lifestyle designed for women and the founder for business consulting practice called Smart Women, Smart Solutions. Joy is the author of What's Next.

37:00 Seven Steps to Discover your big idea and create a wireless successful business. I'm your host, Alice Cortez. So this next segment here I wanted to get into and you've alluded to this already a few times, Joy, and this that whole notion of starting to build a team so we have more time to do the stuff that just we can do. And of course along with that comes in my thinking, the productivity piece. So first, where do you notice that business owners really waste their precious time the most? Where is it that they get lost when it comes to productivity? Hands down? Social media? Really say more about that, because I'm probably guilty. Go ahead. I think that we get sucked into our social media feed, whether it's on you know, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, wherever your favorite channel is, and you know you can you can say I'm going to go on and make a post and then all of a sudden you look up at the clock in twenty minutes have gone by, and so and look, I'm a social media junkie. I mean, I love Facebook, That's where my biggest following is, and I love my peeps, and I go I post every day.

38:06 But I get in and I get out. I do not spend hours going through the seed and getting caught, you know, giving long responses to things. I just I think it's especially for those new entrepreneurs. Uh And and here's the thing. We're wasting time there also because we think that we make a post and then we're actually someone will call us for business not going to happen Like that just isn't going to happen. You've got to establish a very close bond and relationship with them before they're going to buy from you or buy your product or service. So this is, you know, just in my opinion, of course, I see a lot of people getting stuck on social media, and especially at least since the election, hours wasted wasted hours of productivity there. So that's that's that's the one I see. That's it's the biggest culprit. Okay, thanks for that. I really appreciate that.

39:04 I think my listeners will as well. So when you're thinking about productivity, then I got to believe that you've got some things in particular that you try to instill in the people that you coach. So what kinds of things do you really try to encourage them to work on, pay attention to, or do to be productive? Yeah? Sure sure. So So what I talk with my clients about is is that you know, every day we have high value activities and low value activities. And what happens is we get, we get we mix those up, we get a post it note and we you know, write down, you know, call X person for lunch, could be a new client. And then right out underneath that we'll say, you know, take take it and take the dry cleaning. Well, let's those two things have way different values, right, And you have to if you're looking at your business and you have to evaluate, what are the top three things. And I'm going to take this from Tony Robbins, not from Joy Cheutakov. You know, his mantra is three to five to thrive, and his whole day is if I get three to five things done that are really meaningful and impactful to my business. It's a win for me. And that's how I really run my days. I think about what are the top two to three things that are high income producing for me that will take the business forward, and that's what I focus on, and I focus early in the morning to make sure I get it done. And then you know what, if I get something done after those three to five important high impact activities,

40:36 it's a total winner for me that day. So it's about it's about knowing what's important and what's not important, and being willing at least to let go of things that are not as important that we can either delegate or delete. That's really what I work a lot with my clients on because they have they might have a to do list of twenty items, and that's just ridiculous. We can't do twenty things in a day, but we can do three to five, right, yes. And that gets me into that next question, which you already kind of talked about already, is when do we start adding people? And I love what you said about this notion. Write down everything that you do in a day and then circle the things that only that you can do, And that makes me think that you probably want to try to find somebody else to do those non circled things. So I would love to hear how it is that you coached people how to decide that, because obviously there's a monetary element to it. So how do you coach people when it comes time to actually adding adding members? What do they consider it to do it well and effectively? Sure? Sure, So the couple of things.

41:42 The first thing is is that we need to outsource as soon as possible. So just as soon as possible, and it could be just five hours a week. You know, my first assistant who's still with me today, by the way, eleven years later, my first assistant started out eight hours a month. Yes, and what did I ever do? I had her return phone calls, schedule appointments, you know, do do my newsletter? Things like that, things that just were of no value for me to do. But the key is, so the person listening they say, now, Joey, but that's going to cost money. But the thing is, if you use those eight hours in this example, if you use those to go to networking meetings or have a lunch with somebody who could lead you to new business or develop a new program. If you really use those eight hours. Wisely, you will more than make back the money that it costs you to hire that person, plus money for yourself as well. And that's that's where that's the key to this and the other thing I want to throw in about well, how do I hire the right person? You want to hire the person that's the opposite of you. So let me give you an example. I am a big picture thinker. I mean when we get into the details, I just you know, I want to get up and run, run for the run for the hills. I don't. I'm not a detail person.

43:01 So guess what. Both of my gals on my team are so detail oriented. It will it will. It drives me insane. And but you see, we're a nice balance. They're digging into the details and I'm working on the big picture. So we balance each other out. What I see a lot of people do is I see detail people hiring detail people and big vision people hiring big vision people, and so known of the work ever gets done. Does that make sense? It surely does. It surely does well. And I remember when you and I were working on getting this interview scheduled, this conversation scheduled, and I said, said, they're like, well how about this, And you said, uh, yeah, I'm not going to talk to you about my calendar. That that's not something that I do.

43:43 That's not my domain. And I really appreciated that that you were really clear about that, and you have you've got a clear system in place for that, and I totally get that. Yeah, And every time I get involved in those details, I gotta tell you, it's a complete debacle. I just screw everything up, you know. And so you know, Kathy and Lynn are like, joy, just if you could just stay away. Yeah, you know, yeah, I know from the calendar exactly. Yeah. Well when it does come, now, this is where it gets really interesting, right, getting creative if you will, about how to bring on that extra talent so that we don't actually go broke. Have any tips for us there? Well? Yeah, And I would say the one thing I see the mistake I see people making is this, you know, make sure that you're hiring what you're what you are paying people's and you hire them to their to the task. And what I mean by that is, you know, I see a lot of entrepreneurs, you know, hiring someone to maybe answer the phone and answer some emails and they're paying forty dollars an hour. Well, you know, that just doesn't compute. That doesn't make sense. You have to hire for the task or the skill level. Now, when you're when you've got someone on your team who's highly technical and they're doing a lot of heavy duty technical things behind the scenes, they're going to command they're going to command a higher salary, more money because they have that skill. But when you when you have someone who's you know, it's very valuable answering the phones and scheduling comments, very valuable. I mean for me, it's golden

45:15 to have someone doing that, but they're but you, but that's not a forty dollars an hour position. So you have to make sure as you're budgeting that you probably should first outsource to that maybe lower skill level, those things, those admin things, while you build up to being able to bring more people on your team at those higher levels who can do that that other type of work for you. Does that make sense? It sure does? Thank you, very crisp yet again, thank you. Okay, well I want to talk if we can. You just briefly dangled this out at me at this last break when we were talking and you said something about doing it. You have a live event coming up? What's going on? What are you doing? Do I do? I do? So every year I have this.

46:01 I have this event in January because it's a good time to kick off people's business plans, goals and strategies. And it's called a line and we're going to be doing it here in SoCal in January. And if you, if your listeners are interested in getting on our early bird priority notification list and for those people will actually have a short window of some priority pricing as well, which is nice. They can go to Joy Chutakoff Events dot com so that's Joy jo y C h U d A c o ff events dot com and they can put their name on the waiting list and we're going to be releasing all those details right after Labor Day. Sounds really exciting. So is this is this something you do every year or is this then our girl?

46:54 No, No, we do it every year. We've done it. This will be our fifth year. And and the you know the other thing I'll just throw out as we are we are, I am starting a podcast and that will be ending up ending, that will be beginning end of September, and they can find me on iTunes. Oh that's great, that's great, and just really quick. I think this is a tremendous resource. Given what you've already said. Whoever may be listening thinking about if they're going to start a business or maybe scale their business or better managed cash for whatever kinds of things that you can they can expect to learn at this at the event. Oh sure, so a lot of what we've talked about today, and we spend a lot of time on strategy, how to build an effective team, will be talking about leadership and how to have that lifestyle and leadership style.

47:45 I always spend a lot of time on that for women who are growing teams but also want to make sure that they're that they are practicing their values and taking care of themselves in the process. Again, cash flow strategies. It's a very high level conversation, and I mean that in a way that someone who is just starting could come if they want to hear those advanced strategies so they're set up right for success in the future. But it is especially an incredibly es central conversation for those women who are building their business and they know they are ready to really catapult to another level. Okay, got it. Got it sounds great. Okay, Well, we're getting close to the end of the show here before I let you go, and I want to make sure that you can leave listeners with however you want to leave them. But I want to know clearly you are just listening to your voice joy. You clearly are a woman up to something. You are clearly motivated in your work.

48:43 What is it about your business that really keeps you going the way that you do? Oh gosh, it's working with these women, these amazing women entrepreneurs. You know it is, Oh, I get alot emotional. It's it's an exciting journey to every day think that you might be a catalyst to help one more woman, you know, gain her independence and really allow her to be who she was meant to be. I mean, to me, there's no better you know, other than my family, my children, my husband. There's just no better feeling in the world. So for me, that's that's what it's all about. It is helping women gain their power because that's what the world needs. I love that you said, you know, I forget exactly how you said that, but something about getting getting a little emotional or something right, that's when we know that we've got something right.

49:34 That's when we know if we get moved to that place, then that's that's we know we're onto or why. And I'm so happy you shared that and especially the way that you language that joy was was was very special giving women their freedom. Yes, thank you. Yeah. So one thing I guess I didn't ask you, as I didn't really ask you, and I'd love for you to just to say, just shortly, maybe a minute or so, your actual book that you put out there. I would guess that some of the things that you shared with us are in that book. Is there anything else that is important about that book that you think that readers can actually gain from? Yeah? Yeah, you know. The first four chapters at seven chapters, and the first four chapters are really about organizing yourself around It's really good for the person who's about to start a business because it organizes you first around your values and around who you are and how you want to allocate your day and your time to what areas of your life. And then the last three chapters are really about having the right thought process and the right mindset to get into business, because that is key key to business growth is the conversations you're having with yourself. And then of course there's a lot of marketing tips there in the next in the next chapter, and the last chapter is all about productivity and really some tips that more tips that I have there about how to get the most out of your day and the most out of your business. Yeah, it's a great it's a great book, and it's a short read, so it's something that you can do quite quickly. Wonderful joy.

51:08 Well, the last question, if you will, if it's even a question, I'd like to be able to let let my guests have the last word, so to speak. So what would you like to leave our listeners with today? Well, I think two things. Number one is a great mentor once told me that money likes speed, and it's very true. And so my point to that is, alis is that we need to be quicker decision makers. And I do see, especially women, we tend to prolong the decision making process. We tend to wait, wait, wait, wait, And I want more women to stop waiting to make a decision. I want you to make the decision and then you can course correct. Okay, it's like to remember that oops is better than the what if? And then the second thing, and I think this is critical, The most critical part probably the whole call, is you must surround yourself with people who champion you.

52:04 Okay, if you're going to go on this entrepreneurial journey, it is rocky, it is a winding path if there are a lot of cliffs. You know, every day is a challenge, which is what I love about it. And you need to surround yourself with people who care about you, who love you, who champion you, who want to see you succeed, so that they are just one text or one phone call away. Because those phone calls and texts sometimes you need those people to tell you that you can keep going. And I would say that's probably the best tip I've given the whole call. Honestly, Joy, that is a fantastic, great way to finish the show. When we are at a time, let me thank you so much for being with me today. You were a delight and a tremendous help. Oh, thank you so much. Alis really enjoyed it. If you want to learn more about joining what she's up to a Smart Women Smart Solutions, visit her website. It's smart Women Solutions dot com. You've heard to say Before that, that event side is Hudakov Events dot com and we'll see you next week. Have a great one. We hope you've enjoyed this week's program. Be sure to tune into Working on Purpose featuring your host Alice Cortez, every Wednesday at six pm Eastern Time three pm Pacific Time on the Voice America Empowerment Channel. This week, find your life's purpose at work.