What type of legacy will your business have? If you were to leave  your business today what type of legacy would it have? You are probably thinking but I just started?! It is never too early to start thinking about your legacy. How would others define your business? What would you like others to say about your business in 5 or even 10 years from now? Starting a business is an opportunity to create something new. Created by, cultivated and nurtured by us. It is our idea, our concept and our vision coming to life. It is a perfect example of who we were at the very moment when we decided it was something we wanted to pursue: ambitious, motivated, determined and resilient. Here are a few types of legacies you can potentially consider creating for your business. 

Family Legacy

If you have children, a spouse, partner or other relatives you may be thinking about how you would like them to carry on your legacy. Starting a business is a great way to create a family legacy. Some family businesses have been around for generations, serving their communities and enhancing the lives of many.  The best way to get the family involved in the business is to start engaging with everyone early. Make sure your children, in particular, are involved as young and as early as possible. Don’t wait until your kids are teenagers to start giving them business knowledge and tasks. Motivate them to participate, make sure they understand why the business is important not just to the people you serve but to the family. Ask them for their opinions, implement their ideas and give a sense of ownership. Many  businesses fail to move on with the next generation because of a lack of interest. If you would like your business to become a family legacy the key is to involve the entire family and to create a sense of togetherness and cohesion, so that the business is the family and the family is the business.

Cultural Legacy 

Every business has a culture.  Some business cultures are aggressive, others are competitive, some are nurturing, there are open cultures and secretive cultures too. Your company culture reflects your values and beliefs in the workplace. It also has a significant bearing on the success of the business. Whatever culture you choose to create must be done at the outset because its effects are ever lasting. Once the culture has been embedded throughout the organisation it is almost impossible to change it.  The people you hire must also reflect the attitudes and behaviours of the culture you are trying to create.  A good culture will guarantee success and conversely a poor culture will guarantee the opposite. The good thing about starting a business from scratch is that you have complete control over the culture you are aiming to create. In a few years do you want your business to be known for its fantastic culture which sets it apart from the rest? If the answer is yes , then work cleverly and assiduously towards creating your cultural legacy. 

Impact Legacy

What matters to you? Remember why you created your business in the first place? An impact legacy is one where the business is known for having a high impact. This type of legacy is strongly connected with your business philosophy and to some extent your life mission. This type of business is purpose driven and hopes to have a massive impact on everyone it benefits. As an example, it usually has a social purpose and innovates along the lines of improving lives through economic, environmental or social justice.  As the leader of this type of business, your example is extremely important. You literally must walk the talk. The expectations are high because this legacy you are creating is for the long time, not a fleeting moment. It is difficult to create this type of legacy if you do not believe in what you are doing. The operations of this kind of business are underpinned by a bigger mission. 

Our grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great grandparents and all of our relatives that came before us, left a legacy. In our communities our leaders leave a legacy. In our countries, the founders of our nations left behind a legacy. Everywhere we look around us, legacies are being left behind and created. Everyday at your business is an opportunity to create your legacy. Although the above three legacies have been outlined, don’t limit yourself to these. Your behaviours and actions as you build your business will all contribute to the legacy you will leave behind. When your wings eventually expire what will your epitaph say about your flight? 

So many of us make excuses and as a result we never start our businesses. These are the things we tell ourselves. We rationalise them in our heads and turn them into beliefs. These false beliefs then form our reality. A reality, which never truly actualises the possibilities of making our dreams a reality. Some of us make excuses for not pursuing it. Some of us pursue it and when a problem arises we make excuses as to why we can’t move on. Telling ourselves we can’t do something, before at least giving ourselves a chance is one of the biggest mistakes we make as humans. Excuses are also a way to remove the blame away from ourselves and onto others. I can’t move forward with this business idea because no one will support. Or I can’t do it because I do not have the resources. There are so many reasons why we make excuses. We are afraid of failing, of making changes or of taking risks. Below I focus on two main reasons why we make excuses and in the end never start our businesses. 

Not Up to Par

We think we are not up to par. We believe that all those other people that start their businesses and run them well have some kind of special gene. Or they have rich relatives and loads of family support.  After all there must be some reason why they can do it and you can’t right? Wrong! The reason why they are doing it is because they simply took the risk. There are loads of people out there who start businesses with menial resources and without the support of family and friends. If you don’t challenge yourself you will never know your true potential. If you don’t push yourself you will never know how far you can go. We are all responsible for our own growth. Building a business will force you to grow. You will be stretched in ways unimaginable. You will do things you never thought you could and you will become the person you are destined to be. In many ways, a business is an enabler forcing you to deconstruct your own self-limiting beliefs. You are up to par but first you have to do it, because if you don’t you will always regret never having tried and never knowing if that idea ever really stood a chance. 

Holding on to Past Failures 

Maybe you did take that step and it didn’t work out. So your first business failed? Or perhaps you have tried at other things outside of a business venture and those failed too? This shouldn’t stop you from trying again. Some of the most successful people in our world today failed several times over before making their mark. See past failures as an opportunity to build up your resilience tank. The past is preparation for the future. All those mishaps along the way, some were good judgements and some were bad judgements and this is the way it should be. Celebrate the good and learn from the bad. You pushed through imaginary walls and broke out of your comfort zone. There are no more mental blocks just you beating yourself up over past failures. Is your life more fulfilling now? Would things be different for you now had you not made those failures? Let go of past failures and allow yourself to be open to the new experiences awaiting on the other side.  

Excuses are the reason why so many people settle, despite knowing they could do so much better. If building a business is in your destiny, then you should be out there making it a reality. Why are you intentionally clipping your wings? Not only is this shortening the distance of your flight but it is also making it unbalanced. Be that Bird that flies full throttle ascending into the sky with full power. 

Are you working to earn or working to learn? Most of us see jobs as a means to an end. It is something that we have to do to survive in the world. Translation? Pay bills, buy the essentials, go on holiday (if we are lucky) and the like. Very few of us embrace the mindset of a job being a mechanism for learning just as much as it is for earning. Even those who have a career will tell you that they have done so much and made a great life out of their career but sadly they never mention the learning aspect. 

Majority of aspiring entrepreneurs are not in a position to jump full time into their ventures. Most will work a full time job either before starting to build up a savings or build their businesses’ alongside working. It is important that these jobs be seen as an opportunity to learn. Before accepting a job one of the main questions to be asked is,” How will this job help me build my business? What will it teach me? What will I learn? How will it help bring my vision to life?” Your job is an opportunity to grow. Once you start working on your startup full time, you will quickly realise how useful jobs are to the bigger picture. If you have had many jobs in different sectors, this is also an asset. Below I will explore the importance of jobs as a learning tool and why being a “job jumper” is good preparation for the entrepreneurial path.

Learning Tool

Before you apply for a job, do you consider your business idea? If you are about to start a business in the retail sector, sure one of the most practical things to do is find a job in this sector. Sensible right? Yes it is sensible but what you do when working in that sector is much more important than simply working in the sector itself. Approach each job with a learning mindset. See each task as an opportunity to learn and each project as a unique challenge. In each role see yourself as an entrepreneur and once you have mastered each role move on to a new one. If you reach at a point in your job where you’re bored, it is time to move on. If there are no opportunities within your organisation, that’s a sign that the time has arrived to seek opportunities elsewhere. If you are provided with opportunities to move around the business this will help in developing you as a generalist. Generalist tend to know a little about everything and when you first start your business guess what? You will be doing everything!  

Whilst working in these companies it is important to take note of all of the things that work well and those that don’t. Challenge yourself by thinking about what you would do differently. Would you manage your business in the same way? What changes would you make to ensure your systems were effective. There are many who take jobs because the salary is high. There are many who chase money. I wouldn’t dare imply that you turn down a decent paying job when you have bills to pay and/or a family to support. Clearly priorities matter and one should take precedent over all else. That said, if you are an aspiring entrepreneur your main goal should not be to make as much money as possible. Your main goal should be to learn as much as possible. Remember you have not taken this job to lead a comfortable life as an employee, your long-term plans are to build your own business. If you are offered a low salaried position with the potential to acquire new skills which will serve your business, then consider this a part of your big vision. Don’t settle for a high paying job that won’t involve you gleaning skills that have nothing to do with your future plans. The key here is to develop!

Job Jumper

As an aspiring entrepreneur your main goal is to avoid the rat race not get caught up in it. Most people take jobs with an aim to climb the corporate ladder. They work in one firm either for the majority of their lives or for an extended period of time. This is a very good thing for those who do not plan to own their own business. This does not mean that a corporate executive who has spent 30 years working in one firm cannot start their own business. However, you are not planning on being a corporate executive, so there is no need to get one’s self mired in the trappings of the corporate “melee” surrounding promotions. As mentioned above if the company you work for is giving you a chance to work in different positions then take it. However if you are stuck in the same role, bored and unchallenged then find a new job, which is line with some new skills you need to acquire. 

There will be people who will call you a “job jumper.” This is a most scathing term, meant to make you feel guilty for not knowing what you want. Well, here’s some news: Rare Birds know exactly what they want. Having a job is a part of that bigger plan. Job hopping may be considered career suicide for those who want to be in the job pipeline for the rest of their lives and that’s OK. For you, job hopping presents you with new challenges and the opportunity to meet new people. Job hopping is also a way to learn about new industries. All of which provide you with a fresh and new perspective for operating your own business.

Don’t just get a job where you end up coping and struggling your way through the misery until you can work on your business full time. Get a job, so that you can learn new skills, meet new people, challenge yourself and to develop as a professional. Don’t work hard on the job to get noticed, work smart on the job to develop yourself. Despite what you may have been taught by your family, friends and community “getting a job” isn’t for everyone. Much of the learning in today’s educational system is set up to teach you to be a good employee. If you know this isn’t you, then learn quickly to see jobs as an opportunity to learn as well as earn. Make sure to save some of those earnings for your business purposes. Then when you have acquired as much as you can don’t be afraid to “job hop” into a new industry. Some of the best types of innovation is created when ideas from different industries are brought together. Your future rests in owning a company, creating jobs and contributing to your society. Think of it as Bird Engineering: the application and combination of many useful skills to aid you in flight. 

Our motto: Share Your Secrets. Share Your Success. 

The motto of the SecretBirds global community is share your secrets and share your success. Sharing underpins everything we do. Sharing is essential to our existence. The day we stop sharing, is the day we cease to exist. Why sharing? Because it’s what communities do, they share. If we study various civilisations from the beginning of time and throughout all the ages, sharing was what they did. Everywhere throughout the globe from Africa to Europe to the Americas, Asia and all in between sharing is what created community. Fast forward to today and we read of the shared economy as well as various local communities with a focus on shared values and beliefs. Sharing is  an age old concept which we keep reinventing to suit our current situation and circumstances.  Much of modern day culture, however extols beliefs which deter sharing. Don’t share your feelings, don’t share your food, don’t share your ideas, don’t share your umbrella and you better not share your pen either, she should have brought her own! In this community we encourage women to share their story. We say to them, “share your secrets and share your success.”  So why share your secrets? 

Why not share your secrets?

This may sound counter-intuitive, seeing as a secret should be something private. But is it really? Considering that no one ever really keeps a secret! What’s the first thing many of us do when we hear a secret? Share it! Keeping a secret requires so much effort. It truly is hard work! As little girls we inspired confidence in others knowing we could, in fact keep a secret.  Here we are now as grown women learning that all the secrets we have kept or are currently keeping actually contribute negatively to our lives. With time we have all learned that sharing our secrets is what helps others thrive. We learn that if we can help someone avoid some of the pitfalls of life, we do so by sharing our secrets. We also know that when we share, we help ourselves because it allows us to release the burdens of life. So, why not share your secrets? 

Secrets are curated knowledge

Secrets are curated knowledge. They stem from years of mastery as well as trial and error. This is why every entrepreneurship website share  “Top Secrets from successful entrepreneurs.”  These are people who have done it and they can speak from experience. They bequeath their well curated knowledge unto the rest of us who are still learning the tricks of the trade. We all have something to teach and we all have something to learn. The knowledge you have acquired since you took flight is also relevant, it is also worth sharing. There is something within you that someone else needs to hear. There is someone out there waiting for you to say it. So, why not share your secrets? 

Secrets keep us connected

In order to sustain a community we must share our secrets. We can’t possibly think that  we can be a part of a community by taking but not giving. The road to flight involves reciprocity.  There is no space worth being in if it only involves taking. In the long term it won’t benefit you. If you are looking for short term gains, this community isn’t for you. So, with each share we make a new connection. With each share we further develop our existing connections. Each connection is an opportunity to deepen our bonds. Bonds which help us grow as individuals and as as entrepreneurs. We stay connected because we like it. We stay connected because we want to. We stay connected because we like sharing secrets.

In the avian species the female will carefully design and orchestrate her nest. She only moves in when she is satisfied. She also chooses wisely where to construct her nest. She weaves tirelessly to build her community. In some instances she will even collaborate outside of her species if it means ensuring her survival. Birds continue to do what human beings have always done. The life of Birds, is it really that different to the life of the female founder? Next week let’s explore why we should share our success. Until then share your secrets.

Mentors are in high demand.  It seems as though every week we are bombarded with articles telling us how important it is to have mentors. When we are not being told the importance of mentors we are told that women lack mentors and as such are unable to successfully achieve our goals. Clearly the mentoring market is a hot one with everyone shopping for the best individual to provide them with insight. What we often never hear about is the responsibility of the mentee. Mentors carry a heavy burden, they are responsible for providing guidance and assisting their mentee in every way possible to achieve their desired goals. It is important to remember that the role of the mentee comes with its own obligations. Not every mentor is star quality and equally neither is every mentee. Being a good mentee is important as you take flight. The actions of the mentee make her culpable if the relationship with her mentor goes sour. There are situations when it was simply not a right fit or because the mentor didn’t take the time to understand the mentee’s needs. What about those instances when the mentee was not in a position to be mentored? What does it take to be a good mentee?

Good mentees do not expect their mentors to be gods and goddesses. Your mentor is human, they have made mistakes and like you are also learning. Mentors also have their own mentors. No one stops learning and many mentors are surrounded by people in their lives who guide and offer inspiration and knowledge. This person isn’t that different to you. The main difference between you and your mentor is that they have more experience in a particular area in which you need guidance. Mentors do not have all the answers and do not expect them to. Your mentor’s role isn’t to solve all your problems. The mentor can only give you advice based on their own life experience. It is both unfair and unrealistic to place pressure on your mentor to be all knowing. If you enter the relationship with this attitude, it is doomed for failure because of your expectations. Expectations are premeditated ideas for a situation. When that situation you have created in your mind does not work out the way you had it planned you are then devastated. The only expectations you should have are the ones you place on yourself. 

Good mentees are prepared.  Under no circumstances are you expected to have all the answers but you should have an agenda or at least know what you want to gain out of the mentoring experience. Take the lead and show your mentor that you are prepared to take ownership over some aspect of the relationship. A great mentor will appreciate your efforts and applaud your maturity in taking the time out to consider exactly what you want. In your first mentor meeting you should be able to discuss where you are now and where you want to be. Be able to articulate your ideas and whatever plans you have in mind. They do not have to be cohesive, they do not even have to be completely sensible. What matters is that you have prepared something, you have taken initiative and are showing that you are ready to be mentored.  Discuss your communication style, how often you want to meet, your preferred method of communication. Be able to articulate what works for you and what doesn’t. If you are  a spreadsheet and charts kind of person then say it. If you are a go with the flow kind of person, then say that too. You will waste a lot of your own time being mentored by someone who does not understand your style. Be upfront, be clear and be honest.  This will avoid confusion and those awkward moments where you sit there thinking, “Why doesn’t she/he get this?” Be aware that your mentor is taking time out of their life to help you.  At this stage in flight you know that time and energy is just as valuable as money. Birds don’t waste money, they fly with fiscal responsibility. 

Good mentees want to be mentored. If you know it all and already have all the answers, then you do not want to be mentored. If every suggestion, idea or concept laid out before you is one that you already know, then why are you a mentee?  Every mentor has dealt with a mentee that has all the answers. For a mentor this is great because they can then move on to help someone who doesn’t. This goes back to clarity, perhaps you have not made it clear to your mentor what you need help with? It could also be that you are not open to listening to all options available to you? This is understandable, we are all protective of our ideas but one of the reasons mentors are important is because they give you perspective. They introduce you to new ways of thinking, and reveal different ways of working, which may be unfamiliar to you. If it gets to a point where every suggestion made by your mentor is being shut down by you, then you should consider seeking a new mentor. What does it mean to want to be mentored? It means that you are willing to be vulnerable about what you do not know, things you do not understand and not always having the answers. If you do not agree with your mentors suggestions, then state your reasons and be confident in why you do not believe it will work for you. Have a dialogue about it, because a good mentor appreciates a mentee who can think for themselves. The underlying message here is know when to take reasonable advice and when given this advice follow through and show your mentor that you have done so. 

Good mentees are givers not just takers. Mentoring is a two way street. Both participants will gain from a healthy mentor-mentee relationship. You will learn from your mentor and conversely your mentor will learn from you.   As mentioned earlier, we are all learning from each other and there is something to learn from everyone. What are you bringing to the relationship that your mentor can learn from? You are two different people, with different life experiences what can your mentor learn from your experience? What knowledge or perspective can you give to your mentor about your startup, why you have started it or what you plan to do with it?  How can your experience inform your mentor? What value does it add to the relationship? Get to know your mentor, (within professional parameters obviously) so that you can have better conversations. A mentor will always remember a mentee that taught them something!

The “Aviation Guide” is intended to make you think outside the usual confines of being a mentee. You are already juggling many relationships in your life. The mentor-mentee relationship should be productive, happy and fun. Not a torturous exercise where you always feel like you are paying a visit to the dentist-painful, painful, painful!  Next week, part II will focus on what you need to look for in a mentor. But first before you can identify a good mentor the onus is on you to become a good mentee. Being a good mentee will positively enable your mentor to be a good guide. All Birds need good guides as they journey on in flight. 

Friends.

How many of us have them?

Friends.

Ones we can depend on?

Friends.

How many of us have them?

Friends.

Before we go any further.

Let’s be friends. 

Thanks to the American rap group Whodini for the flashback!

How many friends do you have? Before you answer the question, I want you to think carefully. Now that you have thought about it. So, how many friends do you have?  Is friendship a word you use loosely or is it one that for you comes with a heavy burden?

Many of us have a bevy of people we surround ourselves with and we happily assign them with the title, “Friend.” Entrepreneurship as we already know is an endeavour like no other. Having friends that we can count on along the way is paramount to our success. All that said, how many of us can really say that we are surrounded by friends? Let’s first define friendship. A friend is someone who wants the best for us and supports us to ensure we arrive at that point. A friend listens and is always honest, even when it hurts. A friend is truthful, particularly when the others are only inflating our egos. A friend will wait it out with you, because their intention is to be there for the long run. A friend will stay even when you tell them to go. A friend picks up the pieces when they are scattered about on the floor. Now to the opposite side of friendship or to be clearer what friendship isn’t!

Friends don’t discourage you from achieving your business goals. When you mention that you have changed course, will be taking on a new initiative or aiming for something really big, they applaud you. Your friends want you to get closer to your goals not further away from them. There will be people masking themselves as your friends who will work to demotivate you, belittle you and try to pull you away from pursuing great things. Do you have  “friends” like this?

Friends don’t gossip about your business plans. A friend is a confidante, someone that you can share your dreams with knowing they won’t betray your trust. A friend would not spread gossip about you or try to get you to engage in gossip about others.  Friends know that gossip creates discord and is a source of distrust. Friends know that gossiping with you is a waste of time because you are too busy focused on your own path.

Friends don’t try to change you as you build your business. You will be continuously evolving alongside your business. This change will occur naturally. Your friends will appreciate this. They will acknowledge and accept your evolution. They will want to partake in your growth. If you find yourself pretending to be something you are not around your friends it is important to question your behaviour. Fitting in isn’t something you should have to do with your friends. 

Every journey in flight is different. No two flights are the same. The destinations are all different. Each Bird must own her own flight and give life to her unique journey.  As you continue along you may exhibit patterns that are harmful to the success of your business. There is a natural propensity to resist change but as you build your business change is necessary for survival. Some of the biggest changes in your life will occur when you decide to start a business. You will grow more as an individual during the time you spend building your business than any other time in your life.  As you make the leap, it is best to disintegrate patterns which are of no use to you.  How do you go about disintegrating these patterns?

Recognise

Firstly recognise the patterns. If you do not recognise the patterns you will continuously make the same mistakes repeatedly. This will change once you have either learned the lesson or until you shift the pattern. If you keep attracting clients that don’t value your work or don’t want to pay, there is something within you that needs to change. Like attracts like and you are putting something out there which says I am accepting of this type of client. If your business keeps losing money and you keep spending money, what exactly is it that you need to change? They say you must spend money to make money but are you sure? Where are you spending this money? What is the source of this money? Money like all else in life is energy. Recognise the energy, recognise the problem and then change the pattern.  Let’s say your business were a film, what is the scene that keeps recurring? You play a role because you control the narrative. 

Realign 

You have recognised that you have these patterns. Now it’s time to realign. Realign with your values, your purpose, your vision. Get back on track with why you started this venture in the first place. Are you building this business in the shadow of what you really want it to be? Along the way you’ve heard a lot of toxic messages. Messages aiming to define you based on a reality which isn’t yours. A few things to consider as you realign are where do you see your business in a few years? What will your team look like? Who will be involved? What will your role be in making all of it come to life? You have hit a crisis point as we all do. A complete and utter crisis. A crisis of mindset, a crisis of disbelief, a crisis of words, a crisis of thoughts, a crisis of actions. Crisis must occur for you to remember why you started in the first place. After this crisis your resolve will become firmer and your desire to succeed will become stronger. 

Resolve

Your desire to succeed is now strong. You recognise the patters, you have realigned and now it’s time to resolve. This begins with solutions. The solution being to not repeat these patterns. As the saying goes your attitude will determine your altitude. If you approach resolution with dedication and diligence, then as we all know, nothing is impossible. This is probably the hardest part because it involves letting go. Letting go is one of our most important steps in flight. Let go of patterns that will work against you as you build your business. All problems are defeatable whilst in flight. 

When that corporate job just isn’t enough. When that desk gig just isn’t cutting it. When that nonprofit work has run it’s course. Growing up you were taught that you should study hard, work hard and go after what you want. So, this is what you did and you arrived or at least you thought you did. You arrived, entering the pearly gates, eating fancy meals and attending conferences. You met all sorts of seemingly important people. You were even lucky enough to be put on the fast track. Fast track to management, oh my!  They said in a few years you would head up your own team. You thought to yourself, “This sounds promising.” You arrived or so you thought.  Why is it that after 2 years you started feeling out of place? You realised that this just wasn’t your thing but you felt really bad about having these thoughts. You did what they said you should do remember? Study hard, work hard and then go after what you want. You did it, but why is it that you feel so empty? The problem is the society, which includes the media, family and friends, the institutions and all in between who are constantly foisting their values on you. What if you led in your own way and based on your own values? What if you decided to ignore the society and started doing what you wanted to? Would you have taken that route? What does leading by your own values mean and look like to you? 

Define Your Values

You do not know what your values are. This is because for so long you have been busy listening to everyone with the exception of... you. So let’s start from the basics. Here are a few questions.

1. What types of things are important to you?

2. What matters the most in your life?

3. What is at the top of your priorities list?

4. What is that little voice inside trying to tell you?

So now that you are clear on what values are we can proceed to the next step, which is to make sure your values match how you behave.

Match Your Values with your Lifestyle

This is all about lifestyle crafting. Think of your life as a shape. This very specific shape represents your life. Are you a circle, square or triangle? Now that you have determined the shape of your life. Here are a few more questions.

1. Is your job a representation of this shape?

2. Are you compromising your shape by doing this type of work?

3. Is your current life path in line with your shape?

4. Are the people you are associating with in line with your shape?

Utilise Your Values

Values on their own mean nothing. Utilise your values by putting them in action. Are you getting up in the morning thinking, “Another day of this?” Are you going home at night, after a long day of work, laying in the bed for hours feeling unmotivated and drained? If so it may be time to start utilising your values. Utilising your values simply means being bold and brave enough to put them into practice. 

Reinforce Your Values

All of the above are important to getting your values in order. However, this is by far the most important stage of valuing. It’s called reinforcement. Values must be strengthened and affirmed. There will be times when you may need to remind yourself of what your values are. You will also have to update them as time goes by. Write them down on paper and look at them as often as you can!