Balls to your balls

Before I start, I found a bit of home video of meself on the internet.  I thought I'd share it with you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxDRUNtud4I&feature=related

I have a bit of a split personality.

It's not my fault, it's all to do with me parents.  You see, I'm a labradoodle.  Normally I'm all square with that but just recently I've been confused.

You see, me human has just bought me a ball flinger... personally I'd have preferred a Porsche, but we makes do with what we're given.

This ball flinger is brilliant.  As soon as me human flings that ball, the Labrador in me takes over before I can do anything about it and me legs have taken me off in pursuit of the missile.  It takes me a while to get them back in control... usually the Poodle takes over just as I arrive at said ball and says to meself:

'She flung the ball, she must want it, she can come and get it!'  And I drops it and wander off.

The issue, though, is that I sometimes forget where the ball is and me human's nose is useless... and she refuses to get on her hands and knees in the long grass to help.

As a result, I'm not really accumulating a stock of balls.  I tend to lose one and find one, so I'm always even, which ain't much good when you're trying to get more.

Funnily enough Renee says that's a bit like customers.  It's no use using up a whole lot of time, effort and cash attracting new customers if you lose sight of ones you've already got in the long grass.  But how do you keep the ones you've got when there's just you.

Well, don't be a Labradoodle with a split personality for a start...

Assuming that you're not (a doodle, that is) you need to keep looking for new customers but keep in contact with the old ones and the only way to make sure you don't drop the ball is to have PROCESSES for looking after them once you've got them.

It's like an actor and actress who look as though they are really natrural and sparking off each other... it takes a lot of rehearsal to look that spontaneous and your service processes have to be the same.

It may take some time to get them right, but as an investment, it's well worth it.

I thought I was cool...

I have this image of meself in mind...

I'm roguish and rakish, much like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, savvy?  Cool, a hit with the ladies and able to do my job (attracting clients into me human's shop) superbly well.

Now I'm not so sure... rather than being Cap'n Jack Sparrow I wonder if I'm actually a bit of Jason King.

If you don't know who Jason King was, 'ave a look at this and you'll see why I'm so worried.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc8q16fttSQ

So what's caused this crisis of confidence I'm suffering from.  Well, I always thought paws planted on middriff and a well aimed lick of the face was a sure fire winner.  Dead cute and 100% certain to get either a) a stroke, b) some food or c) (least important) a new client.

Apparently not.

I recently did my cutish jump up, but it turns out I'm a bit bigger than I remember.  Paws got planted on boobs and comedy paw marks were left on either side of a pristine white T-shirt.  Me human wasn't best pleased.

Okay, not to worry, I can stop that easily enough... but I really put me paw in it on Saturday... literally.

How was I supposed to know that purple paint (and gloss to boot) isn't really good on carpets.  I couldn't help it.  When I saw the lady from over the landing painting her front door, I had to go for it.  Unfortunately I skidded and totally failed to come to a halt.  My front paws ended int he paint pot.

The scream from me human scared me half to death and I made the mistake of running into the house!

Just like you people in business world, I think I need to adjust me approach.  After all, what worked yesterday isn't necessarily goin' to work today.

My human is pretty good at keeping an eye on trends of what's working and isn't, particularly when thinking about marketing.  In fact she spends a day every quarter with some bloke

It Ain't Easy...

...being a dog.

No sooner have I sat down than some one (usually my human) has chucked something across the room...

I try to ignore it but there's something in me that just won't let me.  I have to go and fetch it, bring it back and drop it a my human's feet, only to have the thing thrown across the room again!

Why she can't just let me lie in peace I just don't know.

Being in business is the same - especially if you're running your own business.

My other human is experiencing this a bit right now.  Business is going well and there are a core group of customers who all pay regularly.  The bills are covered and he can even pay himself a little bit, too.  In short, if he was a dog (and he could do worse) he would be content... happy, even, with his lot.

He should kick back a bit, deal witht he work he's got and relax.

Does he listen to me?

No!

He gets an email from a potential customer, he's after like a dog with a bone (excuse the pun).  It's not that he's chasing business, it just comes and, because he runs his own business he feels as though he has to take it.

'After all,' says he, 'you never know when there will be difficult times.'

In a way he's right and my shaggy, dog heart goes out to everyone whocan't do what I do... take mesdlf off into the bedroom and collapse at the foot of the bed.

The secret is, of course, to get enough work so you can pass it out to other people and you can 'manage' rather than 'do'.  The alternative is to be happy with what you've got or bust your buns!

The other thing you need to do is get yourself some help... you know; proper business advice and support.  They can't do the wortk for you but at least you get a trusted adviser who will help you see the wood for the trees... and that can make all the difference.

Obsession

I know it's hard to believe, it's not obsession with me but my obsession with someone else.

You see, I think I may have over done it a bit.

My human is pretty busy at the moment so, as well as Anliang and Richard (me othe human) she has Kerry coming into the office a couple of days a week.  Kerry is at college doin' accounts and this means she's eighteen years old, blonde and very pretty.

Now, I'm blonde and pretty, too, savvy and things seem to be goin' on with me whotsit that I've never experienced before.

The upshot is that when I see Kerry I feel the need to sit and look at her, tongue hanging out of one side of me mouth, for hours on end.

This seems to have had a bit of a negative effect on me human.  For some reason, when Kerry goes home and I need to get attention from elsewhere, she doesn't seem so happy to rub my tum, even when I present it to her to be rubbed.

I got to thinking about this for a bit, 'cos I was trying to see things from her point of view... mostly, if I'm honest, 'cos I need to keep me bread buttered on both sides.

It's a bit like a business getting all lovey dovey with one very big client... every other client gets neglected to a greeter or lesser degree.  This means that when that client goes (and they inevitably will at some point) you're left with a bunch of unhappy clients... or at least neglected clients that are more vulnerable to being nicked by your oppo.

Now, big clients are all well and good and I'm not saying either ignore them or don't given them the service they are looking for.

All I'm saying is don't ignore everyone else, either.

Otherwise you won't get your tummy rubbed.

Savvy?

Travel – A right royal pain in the whotsit

Now I don’t mind a car journey as long as it meets three criteria:



1. It’s short

2. There’s some fun at the end of it

3. The window’s left n a bit so I can stick me nose out



My human does a fair bit of travelling up and down the country and sometimes I have to go with her.



It’s an experience I can tell you... but it’s much like she’s in the office, savvy?



Here’s why: Going down the A1, it’s a hundred miles an hour (not literally, of course. That would be speeding) until, whoa! Roadworks. Then it’s fifty for thirty miles and me human is getting all frustrated at not going fast enough and even more frustrated at the cars streaming by, apparently disregarding the ‘Average Speed Check’ cameras.



‘Why should they get away with it?’ She said about 20 times.



I dunno, thought I. I’m a dog.



In the office it’s much the same... a hundred miles an hour (figuratively) and it’s work, work, work, production, printing, work, scanning, meetings, admin and then some more work.



Personally I prefer to stretch out in the sunshine and look cute... it’s what I’m best at, after all!



Every so often, though, me human has the brakes put on. Not by her, by other people. It’s as though she’s hit roadworks; and boy does it frustrate the living daylights out of her.



If it were me, I’d look at things a bit differently.



You see, my human thinks she’s in competition with all those cars streaming by... but she’s not. She doesn’t know where they’re going, she only knows where she’s going.



In business it’s important to slow down every so often and take stock. It’s both impossible and dangerous to run at a hundred miles an hour all the time. Just think of it like a car journey. You might be forced to stop anyway to fill up with fuel, or worse still, run out altogether. You might get caught by the rozzers and, once again, you’ll have to stop.



All these things can happen to a business where the owner isn’t taking time to make sure they are still going in the right direction and are being as efficient in the business as they can be.



There’s another danger, too.



If you take a wrong turn and you’re going at a hundred miles an hour and you don’t slow down to check the directions, you’re just driving away from where you to be very fast...



So, my doggy advice is, when you hit roadworks or have to stop for fuel, take some time to reflect, to make sure you’re still heading in the right direction and to have a look at the scenery you’re passing through... particularly if there are rabbits to chase!

I confess... I wasn't really sick

I have a confession to make... I pulled a sickie on Monday.

Let me explain.

Last week I had a couple of playmates so I had a week's holiday.  They went home on Sunday and I was feeling a bit sorry for myself.  I was at a loose end, I was beat, incomplete, I felt sad and blue...

Like a Virgin.

No, not Like a Virgin, that's a Madonna song.

When I woke up on Monday, I didn't really feel like doing much.  I was lethargic and, when my human decided that she was going to work and she was taking me with her... I acted up a bit.  I slouched about, I pretended to be sick and pretended I could hardly lift my head from the carpet.

Even though she was clearly worried I kept the act up int he hope she'd send me home.

But she went one step further and booked me into the vet's.

Nightmare!

Last time I went to the vet he prodded me, poked me and squeezed my gentleman's area.  I wasn't having that again...

As my human pulled up outside the torture place I livened myself up.  I leapt from the car and dragged my human into the vet, put my front paws on the counter and generally was made a fuss of by the nurse.

However, to no avail, I was still prodded and injected, but then I got an attack of guilt... I saw the bill.

I've heard that sickies cost British business millions of days every year and billions of pounds.

Some businesses, though, allow their staff to have duvet days.

We all get low from time to time and duvet days allow us to take a day's holiday without having to book it in advance.  It comes off holiday entitlement and so won't count as a sick day... even though, in effect, that's what it is.

Ingenious.

I wish I was allowed duvet days and I could have avoided the guilt I feel for chucking a sickie.

It's not easy looking cute every day, you know.

Hello All

Welcome to the second of my Dog Blogs.

First things first, my human, Renee, has had a couple of calls asking her what my voice is like... well, it's kind of a cross between Keith Richards and Cap'n Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean!  Savvy?

Last week I talked about balance in business - it's like carrying a BIG stick.  This week I thought I'd give you the benefit of my considerable wisdom about a different sort of balance - work life balance.

First of all, there's no such thing as 'work life balance'; there's just life and then you choose what you fill it with.  Mostly I choose to fill mine with chasing sticks, sleeping and licking my... well, let's just say 'keeping clean'.

Oh, and I have to work by looking cute, but overall I think my life is pretty good.

Now, take my humans as an example of balance that's wrong... even if it is only for a few months.

I would say that they have got the business balance bit just about right.  They concentrate on marketing and then they get the work done.  The life thing, though, is all over the place.  They work all kinds of hours to make sure everyone is kept happy... including me.

I don't mind that but a few more sticks wouldn't go amiss every so often.

The only thing that I can say in my human's favour is that the have a plan to start working less.  They know that a few months of really hard slog will mean that they can back off soon.

I don't believe it meself.  I think they'll go on to something else, but it's their dinner, if you see what I mean.

The point I'm getting to is this... imagine your business a chew toy with four arms on it.  Sometimes you'll get one arm being pulled harder than the others and this is okay for a little while, but gets boring if it happens all the time.  To make the game really interesting you have to have all four bits being pulled equally hard... then you have a really good game.

Managing the business, winning customers, working and having time off all have to be balanced, savvy...

But here's a little lesson about 'balance, averages and the short term...'

A German was shooting at rabbits (prefer to chase them, meself) and missed to the left hand side.  He aimed again and missed by the same amount to the right hand side.  He put his gun away and his companion asked 'Vot are you doing?'  'Vell, on average I know ze rabbit iz dead!'

Sometimes you have to get out of balance.  But have a plan to get back into it, savvy?