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    Beyond The Craft: Essential Skills for Small Business Success
    Beyond The Craft: Essential Skills for Small Business Success
    Beyond The Craft: Essential Skills for Small Business Success
    Ebook132 pages1 hour

    Beyond The Craft: Essential Skills for Small Business Success

    By Peta Stewart

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    About this ebook

    "Beyond the Craft" delves into the often-overlooked aspects of business ownership that go beyond technical expertise. From effective communication and leadership, to the art of social media and self-care, this book equips aspiring and current small business owners

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPower Writers Publishing Group
    Release dateSep 19, 2024
    ISBN9781763580916
    Beyond The Craft: Essential Skills for Small Business Success

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      Book preview

      Beyond The Craft - Peta Stewart

      PREFACE

      When I first got the idea to write a book, I felt like I wanted to use it to promote the benefits of running a business in ‘the bush’ (as we call anywhere outside of the cities in Australia where I’m based). I’m a real advocate for life in the bush because of the way I feel when I get home after speaking at conferences or delivering training programs for organisations located in Sydney and Melbourne which are the two biggest cities in Australia.

      Don’t get me wrong, they are both beautiful places with a lot going for them, but from where I sit, life in the country is the only way to go for me. I couldn’t ever see myself giving up the slower pace of life in the country, or the proximity to nature, and space in general. Then there’s the disincentive of the relative stress of commuting in the cities where burgeoning populations have shown up weaknesses in relation to planning and infrastructure.

      What’s more, I could be wrong, but I don’t see much evidence of the sort of community spirit that is fostered and easy to establish in the bush. There’s also the question of the cost of living to consider. The way I see it, people who have oodles of money and can afford to live near the beach or overlooking Sydney Harbour have got it made, but if it was a question of living in the suburbs and commuting to and from the city every day, I’d say forget it.

      So now that I’ve got that off my chest, I feel really proud to be able to give something back and pay forward my good fortune of living a life I love and doing work I find really fulfilling by writing this book.

      I have the greatest respect for people who are in the business of helping others. Like the staff in my business helping people buying or selling a property, to being a celebrant who marries people and everything in between. This respect stems from the understanding that running a business is a challenging endeavour, fraught with adversity that tests the resilience, adaptability, and strategic thinking of anyone who enters the business world without full awareness of its demands.

      That said, even those with their eyes wide open are not immune to the almost inevitable ups and downs that come with the territory. There’s not only the financial risk involved, especially for those requiring significant capital to get their business off the ground. There’s also the risk to their health and their relationships to be considered as well.

      The kind of financial uncertainty I’m referring to here is compounded by fluctuating market conditions, competition, and changing consumer demands. If Covid taught us anything, it’s that people like us need to be prepared to continuously innovate and adapt to stay relevant and profitable. That alone can be a daunting and financially draining process.

      Moreover, running a business involves managing operational challenges including hiring and retaining skilled employees, maintaining a healthy workplace culture, and ensuring efficient workflow processes are in place. In other words, entrepreneurs often find themselves wearing multiple hats, and juggling roles ranging from marketing and sales to human resources, with customer service thrown in for good measure. This can lead to overwhelm and burnout, especially in small businesses where resources are limited. Additionally, regulatory compliance adds another layer of complexity, as businesses are required to adhere to laws and regulations that can vary greatly depending on the location and industry in question.

      Despite these challenges, many people find running a business deeply rewarding. I have written this book for anyone starting out in business, and those who already have a business but are struggling to feel rewarded because they’re finding it hard to keep their head above water. Essentially, this book is about helping those people to avoid some of the pitfalls I fell into back in the day. Burnout serves as a prime example.

      I’ve read numerous business books myself, and I’ve learned that the best way to truly benefit from the time we spend reading is to reflect on how the information within those pages applies to our own lives. The only problem is that it’s easy to forget to do that. But fear not, I’ve got you covered. At the end of each chapter, I’ve included reflective questions for you to consider, unpack, and determine where you can take action.

      I want to commend you for reading this book, and I want to wish you all the very best for a future that involves running a fulfilling and profitable business.

      INTRODUCTION

      It’s likely you will have at least one thing in common with me. If being a savvy businessperson had nothing to do with your decision to start your business, then you’re one of those people. If you’re anything like I was, you opened your business because you are excellent at your craft. And you figured the clients who were coming into the business being run by your boss would be much better served if you had the freedom to do things the way you do them best. That was certainly the case for me.

      Essentially, I was (and still am) an expert when it comes to property conveyancing, and after working in the space since 1999, it made a lot of sense to open my own conveyancing business. The rest is history because that’s exactly what I did. When I first started out, I loved having the autonomy to do things the way I wanted to, and to serve clients in a way that was fulfilling both for them and for me. The only problem was that there is more to running a business than being a well-qualified expert of one kind or other.

      It really doesn’t make any difference if we’ve gone to the best university and completed a degree, or finished an apprenticeship with flying colours, or received extensive on the job training to master the technical skills required in our industry. I say that because if we lack the critical business skills to keep the doors open and food on the table, then unless we’re lucky enough to tap into divine intervention of some kind, or funding is available to bring a business manager onboard, odds are that the business is going to falter.

      Doing the conveyancing work when I opened my business was the easy part. The challenging part was dealing with the unseen complexity of things like hiring competent staff, creating a healthy culture, and handling responsibilities around accounting, marketing, leadership, and human resource management. These are just a few of the hats we need to be comfortable wearing to run a successful small business.

      Opening my business was an ‘interesting’ time for me to say the least, because (among other things) I wasn’t aware of the intricacies inherent in wearing the hats I just mentioned. The first challenge I had to come to terms with was the fact that I was exceptionally good and exceptionally average at the same time. I wasn’t used to that dichotomy being in place, and I didn’t like it one little bit.

      If you ask most micro to medium business owners why they opened their business, I’m prepared to bet you won’t hear many of them saying because I am good at running a business. The answer is more likely to be because I wanted to build houses my way, or I was sick of working for someone else, or I wanted to spread my unique process for brewing coffee to a worldwide audience, or something like that.

      I’m imagining what motivated you to pick this book up as I’m writing this introduction. You might or might not resonate with what I’m about to say, but what I know is that I wrote this book for the business owner who is kick-ass at their craft, but missing out on opportunities to be successful and have that beautiful thing called peace of mind when their head hits the pillow at the end of the day.

      I know what it’s like to be running a business on gut instinct, wondering what all the noise about the importance of things like culture and leadership is all about. In fact, the decisions I made around what to include and what to leave out of this book were based on my experience of being in that position when I opened my own business. So, what you will find in the chapters to come are bite sized pieces of information that you can easily action to improve your results.

      I’m not trying to cover all of the bases here. I’m giving you practical hands-on advice based on what has worked well for me. I’ve written this book because I wanted to share what I’ve learnt over the years of running my business so that you won’t need to waste the amount of energy that I did to get to where I am now. The thing is that I love imagining you having more time to focus on what you are really good at because you’ve had a heads up about what’s involved in running a successful business through reading this book.

      I smile when I remember the feelings that came up when I first started to think about writing a book. Basically, I had no idea

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