Glowleaf

A few months ago, I posted some articles about a concept I am working on, the Elegant Business. This is not just an idea, I have already done this for my business, and now I am trying to break it down and make it easy to learn.

Anyway, I think that this concept had a great welcoming, so I decided to separate it on a different site and expand it from there. Go to http://www.elegantbusinessmanual.com/ and read the previous articles, as well as some new ones. I will keep them coming if I see that people like them.

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written by Glowleaf \\ tags: elegant business, entrepreneur, startup

No matter how stupid and simple it may seem, the to-do list is one of the most important elements of running a business. This is because you need to train yourself to bring results, instead of finding excuses all day to keep yourself busy. Results are the cornerstone of the Elegant Business.

And when I talk about a to-do list, I mean a plain old list on a piece of paper. Forget digital calendars, forget Blackberries. You need a piece of paper that you can keep in your pocket. Digital reminders and organizational aids are useless. You forget to check them, and they don’t feel tangible enough.

Get a small notebook, or a pocket agenda or anything that suits you that you can scribble on.

Then, every workday, write down the things you want to do or have to do. Once you have your chores written down, go through the list and underline the ones that have to be done the next day. Things like payments, deadlines, calls, whatever needs to be done very soon. Also, underline the tasks you consider important. The tasks that if were the only ones done that day, you would be satisfied with a good day’s work.

Try to remember this: a to-do list is not a long-term organizational chart. If it is not in the next few days, then it doesn’t belong on the list.

Then comes the next step. Go through the list once again, and find which jobs can be assigned to others. It will seem hard at first, because it is hard to let go of the control and give important tasks to others, but you will see the benefit very fast. Don’t be afraid to assign tasks to your friends and family. Beg them, hire them, blackmail them, whatever it takes. Maybe your brother can add that bank transaction to his daily chores, or maybe that nephew can do the javascript job. Once you train yourself to think that way, you will find that you will have more and more people to outsource to. And I bet you will be shocked with how many things you can do in a single day once you have a proper network of friends and colleagues.

Then, go out and start doing the tasks in your to-do list.

When the to-do list becomes a rag, write a new one, while moving over the unfinished business from the old one.

Let’s recap.

• Grab a piece of paper.
• Write your to-do list.
• Underline the important stuff.
• Outsource as much as you can.
• Do the tasks, strike them out as you complete them.
• Write a new to-do list the next day.

I know some people will laugh at this, that this advice is too simple, too plain, too banal. But I have seen how this mindframe improves my productivity, so here it is for you. No one said that important stuff should be complicated.

Now go get a piece of paper.

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written by Glowleaf \\ tags: organize, to-do list

The easiest way to get ridiculed at is by trying to use fancy words all the time in order to make yourself look smart.

Now, unless you really are smart, don’t do that. Learn to speak simple, to communicate clearly to everyone. If you ask an actual smart person how they communicate with others, they will tell you that they have to get on the same level with the other person. Yes, communication requires common ground, so a smart person has to reduce himself to the level of his listener.

Think of your target group. If it is teenagers, then you need to learn the new slang. If it is men who compare their PhD’s instead of their dicks, you need to talk like one of them. If it is soccer moms learn how soccer moms talk.

But always, always make sure you get your point straight. Ask them if they got it right, and make them comfortable enough to say so. Ask for questions. “Is everything clear?” should become a reflex for you.

Talking simple and making others understand what you want is an essential skill for the elegant business. Outsourcing and employees are an essential part of the elegant business, and you need to talk to them. You need to order them. You need to explain the specifications of the job you want done.

Most of the times you will ask businessmen about employees and freelancers, and they will tell you that they are a pain in the ass. Actually, in the majority of the situations the problem is located in miscommunication. And a good percentage of that blame falls on the man hiring, yes, the businessman who says freelancers are a pain in the ass.

I know how difficult it is to give exact specifications, because I have hired enough people in my life. At first, my specs were vague, because a: I did not have a clear image of what I wanted and b: I thought people would make something that I was pleased with. Once I realised that I needed exact specifications and actually took the time to give them to the freelancer, their work suddenly became amazing.

No matter how skilled the freelancer/employee is, you have to give them clear instructions when you want them to do something for you. If the orders are not clear, it is your fault, not theirs. And if they the message is still unclear, it is up to you to make it clear. Only if the order is clear, and you took the time to correct any misunderstandings, then it is the receiver’s fault. Not before.

If you constantly tell people, “no, you don’t get what I mean” then you are a poor communicator. You. Instead of talking fancy, start talking simple.

Also, take into consideration the other person’s mind when you give them orders. A cleaning lady needs different instructions than a designer. The cleaning lady needs to be told what to clean, how to clean it, and what nasty corners to take care of. The designer needs exact specifications, image dimensions, file types, exact colors, dpi, style, etc. That is what reducing yourself to another person’s level means. Get in their head, talk the way they talk and give them crystal clear orders.

If the orders are not clear, it is your fault. Learn that.

Also, an other useful habit is to ask for a recap. Give your crystal clear orders, and then ask the person what he understood. Most people will nag about it, “I’m not an idiot, I got it the first time”.

Actually, he is an idiot. Ask politely for a recap. Insist on it. Not only does it make the assigned jobs smoother by eliminating miscommunication, but it also allows you to understand the person better. What he says when he recaps, the way he says it, in what order. Significant things are told first. If his significant points of the specs are different than those you intended them to be, say it. Also, people not paying attention only remember the last bits. Make sure he is paying attention, or else no matter how clear your orders are they will get distorted.

Another critical aspect of giving clear orders are backup plans. If-then situations. It is common sense, but people always neglect them. It could be as simple as ordering food or assigning supplier orders. If-then. Simple. “I want a chocolate donut. If they don’t have any, get me a bag of chips”. “Order 1000 pieces, but if he is low on stock, make sure you get me at least 300 so we can be stocked this week”.

Don’t go overboard with backup plans of course. There is no need for a flow chart. Just think of the most common and possible problems the employee might face and give them enough orders to deal with them.

Another common situation are employees sitting around. Employees get paid whether they work or not, and by definition, employees do not take initiative. Give them crystal clear orders on what you want them to do while on duty. Ask them for a recap. Write the orders down. Give If-then scenarios. “I want you to answer the phone and take orders. Recap the client’s order before you hang up. If there are no calls, I want you to recheck the orders you wrote down for any errors. If the client asks for something you don’t know, check the company policy manual for what to do next. If an order is delayed for any reason, call the client and inform them of the delay”.

The above written orders coupled with a clear manual will eliminate a ton of problems with your employees, and will make your business run smoother. It will also prevent everyone from calling you everytime they come up against a problem. That last part is the biggest gear in what I call owning the business, rather than running the business.

Teach yourself how to be clear, how to give orders, and how to command people. It is an essential skill for the Elegant business.

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written by Glowleaf \\ tags: common words, communication, freelancers, simplicity

You are boring. People are boring. Their lives are boring. Their jobs are boring. Their hobbies are usually boring.

Break the boredom bubble. Bring them out of their boring lives.

One reason that people like stories is because it brings them out of their boring lives and into a fantasy world. That is why people read books, and why people like movies. It enables them for a short time to get out of their misery and into a hero’s exciting life. Mystery, intrigue, murder, passion, failure, epic lives. In ancient Greece, attending the theatre was obligatory for the common folk. The elite of that time believed that people watching tragedies in the theatre were actually educated by it. Since their lives were boring and simple, watching epic love stories and epic war stories expanded their mind and taught them life lessons.

Successful marketers understand that, and they create advertisements that tap into that basic human need to get out of misery. Buy our car, it will make you look like a rock star. Buy our shampoo, girls will want to caress your hair. Buy our gadget, your friends will want to play with you. It goes on and on with every successful product. Just look at the latest coca cola ads, they show an impossible exciting life and then BAM, coca cola zero. This is called anchoring in hypnotist terms, meaning that they abuse the way the mind works.

The mind links information to mental constructs called anchors. It just works like that, and honestly as a marketer/businessman you don’t really need to worry how and why it does that. You just need to abuse that fact. When your brain gains a new piece of information, it links that information to an anchor. Just think of your favourite old songs. Whenever you listen to them, they remind you of someone special, or someplace special, or an event in your life. This happens because your mind has linked that blues song to the memory of the first time you danced with a girl, or a rock song to the memory when you first drove at high speed.

The most memorable memories (pun intended) are the exciting ones. The “I will never forget that in my whole life” experiences. But the truth is, that most people are pathetic. Studies and percentages are usually trash info, but I will write this one down: An average person actually lives only 2 minutes per year. That means that out of every year of life, his exciting moments average 2 minutes.

Want to see it in math? A year has 525600 minutes, and the average person has an adrenaline rush in just 2 of those.

That is one shitty percentage.

If you understand this fact, it will redefine how you design products and advertisements and businesses. It is simple yet complicated, in the way that there is no clear how-to in making people un-bored.

Let me say this again. You are boring. People are boring. Their lives are boring. Their stuff is boring.

Make them think that by buying your product they become cool and successful and rich looking and sexy, and they will buy your product. It doesn’t matter that the product actually does not make all those things happen, it only matters that the customer believes that it does.

Because people want to believe it. They want a way to lose weight in 4 weeks without dieting or working out, they want a device that grows their dick because they think women will like them more, they want fashion clothes that make them feel like celebrities, they want overpriced 5 star suites that make them feel like kings.

Make your business different, so that it stands out of the rest. Make your products different, so that they appear exciting. Find a way to bring people out of their misery for a few seconds, and they will happily pay you for those seconds.

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written by Glowleaf \\ tags: advertisements, boring lives, variety

The elegant business is nothing more than any other business, with some ingredients added to it. I will explain thoroughly what it is and its particular parts, but here is a summary to help you understand.

• The purpose of any business is to make profit. The purpose of the elegant business is to profit just enough for her owner for him to live nicely.
• The goal of any business is to grow, either nationwide or worldwide. The goal of the elegant business is to dominate a niche market and to provide cashflow.
• The structure of any business requires more and more employees as it grows. The structure of the elegant business eliminates the human factor as it reaches perfection.
• The products of any business are varied, follow trends and come in numerous shapes and sizes to accommodate every customer need. The products of the elegant business are designed for maximum profitability and sustainability and provide value only to select but worthwhile customers.

I hope that the above provide a glimpse of what the elegant business is. I know that some may have already created such a business, but I am sure that most people haven’t.  It is a contrarian mindset, one that abides the rules and creates new paths. Most will call bullshit and move on.

It is understandable.

These pages are not for them.

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written by Glowleaf \\ tags: business, The Elegant Business