No big idea works without little ideas!

My favourite Father Ted dialogue is the one where Dougal comes up with a good idea and then wants out. (Series three, episode one – Are You Right There Father Ted?) It goes as follows:

DOUGAL:  Ted, here's an idea right off the top of me head.  Now I haven't thought it through so it's probably not brilliant but what the hell, sure I'll just talk and see what comes out.  Anyway, how about some sort of special event, eh, celebrating all the different cultures on Craggy Island and then people will think you're a fantastic man instead of a big racist.

TED:  My God!

DOUGAL:  What?

TED: That's a good idea!

DOUGAL:  No it isn't.

TED:  It is Dougal, it is!

DOUGAL:  No Ted there's probably something wrong with it.  You just haven't thought it through.

TED:  No no Dougal, you've had a brilliant idea.  Hah!  But break it down for me a bit more.  What would an event celebrating all the different cultures in Craggy Island actually be like?

DOUGAL:  What?

TED:  What would it involve?  I mean, celebration yes but what form could it take?

DOUGAL:  Ted I want out.

TED:  What do you mean?

DOUGAL:  I went too far too soon.  I didn't know what I was gettin' into Ted.  I didn't know you had to follow a good idea with loads more little good ideas.  I'm sorry Ted.  I'm going to sleep in the spare room.

Dialogue quote from: http://www.geocities.com/televisioncity/studio/1728/pages/fts3e1.html

A good idea is nothing without action. The action part is the lots of little good ideas that follow to make the big idea work.

The only way to get the action ideas is to write down all your thoughts on the idea, or better still, type them up. Extracting the big idea from your brain is the hardest part, but once you get started, it gets easier. Write down your thoughts exactly as you think of them. Don't worry about continuity; spelling or grammar, this kind of pressure will stop the thoughts from flowing. You can come back to these later.  You will find as you are typing or writing down your thoughts on your idea, you will start to get lots of little ideas. Write down the little ideas as you think of them and these little ideas will inspire more little ideas. The more ideas you add and write about pertaining to the big idea, the easier it becomes to think of more little ideas. When the thoughts start to dry up, take a look at what you have written. You will be surprised by the volume of ideas you have managed to come up with.

Now you can arrange all the good ideas into a logical sequence, correct the spelling and grammar and there you go, the beginnings of a Business Plan or Plan of Action. If only Dougal had written his idea down, he wouldn’t have panicked about having to come up with “more little good ideas.”

Professional Car Guard and Proud!

I have just come back from a rejuvenating weekend away on KwaZulu Natal’s beautiful South Coast. We spent two relaxing days unwinding on the beach at St Michaels-on-Sea.

We drove straight from home to St Michaels-on-Sea with the microbus jam packed full of suitcases, games, food and a kayak. On arrival at the car park, we were approached by a car guard who introduced himself as Geoffrey and politely asked if he may have the pleasure of looking after our microbus whilst we were at the beach. He then assisted us to unpack what we needed for the beach and assured us he would take good care of our vehicle.

Later in the afternoon my husband went back to the microbus to fetch his kayak. Geoffrey was at hand to help unload the kayak, oars and life jackets. Again, on our return to the vehicle at the end of the day he was there to help reload all our gear, kids and the kayak and see us off safely on our way with all our possessions intact. Geoffrey was remunerated very well for his professionalism and added value.

Geoffrey’s enthusiasm and friendly smile has definitely influenced us to return to this holiday destination.

Perhaps we should be sending our staff to St Michaels-on-Sea for customer service training!

Long hours and contemplating decisions made

It's another night spent glued to my laptop not noticing the time tick past the midnight hour. It's hard to recall what it was like to have 9 to 5 working hours. It's been 4 and a half years now since I started my business and my working hours, although flexible, have probably doubled! Good thing I inherited my father's workaholic genes.

This week has been particularly challenging as I sent all my staff up to Joburg on an eMarketing Strategy Conference and I have been running the office on my own. At first I thought I must have been crazy to do this but I am actually enjoying doing the work that I used to do before the business expanded. I forgot how much I love to be involved in web site design and layout. I am also enjoying chatting to new clients on the telephone and advising them on the best advertising option for them on our website www.kidzworld.co.za.

The benefit for my staff is they get to go on a road trip and bond. They meet and network with people in Joburg (hopefully) whilst learning about our core business, online marketing. Yes, they also get the satisfaction of knowing that I have to do some of their work. (Don't tell them I am actually enjoying it!)

The benefit for the business is that I get to relook at the work flow and systems we are using and note where improvements can be made. This, I realised, is something that I need to do more often. (No, not send the staff away more often, that would be crazy).

Right now, although I have increased my coffee intake and stress levels, it seems as though this is a good decision, but only time will tell. If it isn't then it will be a good learning curve. Either way I look at it, it is a positive move. After all, in the words of Robert Kiyosaki, "making mistakes and becoming smarter is the job of an entrepreneur;". Quoted from the January 2009 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine.

Giving birth to a business idea is the easy part

My usual comment to first time mothers is that generally the birth is the easy part. The difficult part comes thereafter in raising your kids the right way. It is challenging, frustrating, there are no manuals tailor made to suit your parenting style and values and sometimes we wonder why on earth we decided to bring children into this crazy world in the first place! As new parents, you don’t really realise what you have let yourself in for until it is too late! We soldier on because we love our kids unconditionally and our aim as a parent is to ensure they go out into the world 20 years or so later (we hope) all grown up, skilled and empowered to successfully integrate into society.

Just like raising kids, giving birth to a business idea is the easy part. Turning the business idea into a trusted and well established business is the challenge. As with parenting, you have to be in it for the long haul. Building a respectable business that makes money takes time, an inexhaustible supply of energy and persistence. You have to be prepared to navigate blindly down a long bumpy road that gets bumpier, because the older and bigger your business gets, the more complicated and challenging it becomes. When you become a mother for the first time, you need to acquire a whole new set of skills, such as nurse, psychologist, teacher, nutritionist etc. So it is with your business, when you start out you have to be the accounts person, the marketer, the sales person, the admin person and general dogs body! You cannot just ignore some of these aspects of your business because you don’t understand them. As with parenting, the only way forward is to chat to others in the know, read up extensively and try and try until you get it right. This takes a lot of love and passion.

My message is this: Before you take your business idea to the market, make sure you are so in love with it that you are prepared to invest a lifetime in it, because if you aren’t, the chances are it is less likely to succeed.

Musical Dress-up Skirts

Pull on a musical skirt, sling a feather boa over your shoulders and there you have it, "Musical dress-up". The simple, fun ideas are always the best! Two moms inspired by their daughters have built a successful 5 year old business which has won 14 national toy awards.There are different style skirts from the Macarena to the Can Can and the Waltz and each skirt has a musical device hidden in the pocket. Hours of twirling fun with an educational twist.

http://www.actingoutdressup.com/index.html