5 Things I Get Asked Most as A Business Owner
The 5 Things I Get Asked the Most
as a Business Owner - And the Answers I give!
It’s wild to think it’s been almost 10 years since I started GLJ! In that time I have learned SO. MANY. LESSONS! I have had great successes and landed on my face a lot. There’s some areas I’m really proud of and others I’m too embarrassed to share. But when it comes to sharing, one of of my favourite things is when a fellow business owner or entrepreneur comes to me for help in an area I feel confident in, and I’m able to help.
I wanted to put a few things on paper and share them with you in the hopes to start some more conversations amongst entrepreneurs on the island . . . or just lend a hand to someone who needs it!
HOW TO CREATE A COMPANY CULTURE
That you love!
The culture at GLJ is what makes this place feel like magic (for me anyways)! Having a strong company culture not only sets the vibe, but it’s a really useful tool when making important business decisions. When at a cross road whether to hire, fire or promote someone, it always came back to culture. Trying to figure out what content to share, what product to launch or what supplier to use . . . the answer is there - does in align with your company values or not?!?
In case a fellow entrepreneur needs some inspo, here’s our a sneak peak at 4 of our 7 company values
Make a high end product with thrift level practices
Be in the spirit of doing what’s best for those around you
Create only the highest quality, safest products
Use good judgment
Have a growth mindset
Have a customer-first service mentality
Lead with integrity and empathy
The key is to really LIVE these values and work by these values.
Company values hold you as the owner or manager accountable and if you create values that really align with yourself personally, then you should end up REALLY LOVING WHERE YOU WORK!
2. HIRING
How do you find the right people?
This is all about #1 - Company Culture!! We hire for culture. Candidates who are drawn to our culture as a reason for applying will always make it to the top of the pile, whereas those who tell me they are interested because of the location or schedule are usually moved to the bottom. We look for people who seem to use good judgment, have empathy, have interests and hobbies (a passion for something) and in particular, I am looking for those with a growth mindset.
I use Indeed.com for hiring. Once I post the job I might get 60-80 applicants. It can be overwhelming. In order to easily cut those in half, there are a few steps you can take. There’s an option to create questions the candidates must answer, as well as have them do a quiz, in order to be considered. This weeds out those who are applying to anything and everything, and helps me find the ones who are really interested in this position. From there, I email them a few follow questions. With this, I am looking to see if they take the time to properly formulate sentences and if they put care and respect into their answers. And finally, I like to do phone interviews first, then bring in the top candidates to meet in person.
If I vibe with a candidate and feel they would fit with our culture and have the necessary skills to get started with us, then they come in for a second ‘working’ interview with my team. 2 hours in the kitchen with the team - not me. I have to get thumbs up from everyone they worked with to make a hire. It’s a team decision.
It might sound like a lot of work, but that’s how we find such amazing people.
Hire slow - fire fast.
3. REELS
Finding the inspo and figuring out what to post
Hands down, Instagram reels are what I get asked about the most. How do I come up with the reels, and where do I get my inspo . . . And the first thing you need to know is that I really love making them! I’m a pretty creative person, and creating fun and engaging content is rewarding for me. I also have a background in theatre, so combine those two loves and it makes sense I prioritize more time than probably needed in this area.
The first step I would suggest you make is get clarity on how you want to make your customer FEEL. At Good Life our brand promise is to make people FEEL GOOD. We do that via the foods we make, the service we provide and the content we put out. Since our community loves our fun content and delicious recipes, that’s what we make the most as we’ve learned that’s what makes them feel good. I think social media should be about creating a feeling or energy that aligns with your brand. Nail that first then focus on the details.
If you’re really stuck or you just need some momentum, I highly recommend hiring someone to help. There are so many people offering their services in the social media arena. Have someone help you get started with planning content, clarifying your vision and getting some ideas going. And if you can budget help, keep them on.
I’m also INCREDIBLY LUCKY to have an amazing team around me who’s input, ideas, and willingness to try new things is incredible. I would not be making reels like I am if I was a solo entrepreneur - I cannot emphasize that enough! I rely on them for ideas, for their talent and to inspire me to want to make them. They’re pretty magic people! I spend about 10 minutes a day watching reels and save anything that seems like we could put our spin on it - then bring it to my team and we decide which ones we should do.
4. PRE-PLANNING MARKETING CONTENT
Using calendars, apps, and re-purposing content
I like things planned so a marketing schedule works well for me. If I left posting to social media up to chance, or in the moment, it would never happen! I have 1 employee and 1 contractor to help me. @kbyrnemarketing helps with interacting, DM”ing, edits all my content, helps write content, keeps me abreast of the latest trends and tools, and is a great team mate for brainstorming and talking out ideas with. She also rocks at looking at what we shared this time last year and making notes in our calendar about which content would could re-purpose. Daniella (also GLJ’s manager) does the bulk of the stories - she has a creative eye and can make beautiful things. She is super talented! She films the bulk of our recipe reels, captures behind the scenes stuff and is a fantastic collaborator. Plus, she is young and hip . . . Something this 43 year old relies on to help us relevant and stops me from posting really cheesy captions. :)
Together, we use Later.com to plan out a few weeks of content at a time. We use the notes feature as a communication tool with each other. I get really inspired and excited when we have content I am looking forward to sharing, so it’s an important part of my work flow. This way I can also pre-write the caption for posts and reels and Kathleen can hop on and edit them, and Daniella can work on future stories when it fits in her schedule.
5. STAYING POSITIVE + BELIEVING IN YOUR BUSINESS
after a slump, a mistake or a total disaster
Although movement, eating healthy, hydration and sleep all make a huge difference, really there are no hacks or tips that are really gonna get you there unless you 1000% believe . . . It all comes down to one thing. YOU. You against you. You have to keep believing in yourself even when you feel like you are failing. You have to have deep belief you will be successful.
Up until 2023, I always had this deep knowing and belief that Good Life was always going to be a success - that was my super power. When I lost it last year, it just about took me out. For any of you who went through a crippling year like we did, or maybe you just got really off track, you probably experienced the self doubt and feelings of failure and absolute desire to just give up. When that creeps in, you have to find a way back to believing.
You have to believe to see it.
You have to believe it first before anybody else might. YOU. You have to practice and pretend you have the self confidence in the world before you might actually feel it.
If you want to tap into something bigger, like improving your business, you have to figure out how to push yourself, especially after a period of feeling gutted.
What YOU all can’t see about me is ALL of my internal battles. All of the things I have had to overcome . . . all of the things I am still overcoming. Just like I can’t see yours. And those are the hardest things to over come. Not the lack of hiring the right people, or inability to show up on social media, or having clarity with your company culture. It’s the friggin’ internal battles we have to overcome every day – The self doubt. The self critic.
So that’s where I have to do the most amount of work if I want to be able to continue to succeed.
Maybe right now, in this moment I might feel like I am winning the battle, but it’s a DAILY battle. End of 2023, I was loosing the battle. The insecure version was stronger than an ox and I have to work REALLY hard to battle her. And a lot of times I lose the battle. But I have to choose to take the actions each day. And I have to stop blaming other people, industry, trends, markets . . . It all comes down to me against me.
Because I still believe I am meant for more and that I should keep doing what I am doing because it FEELS like I still have more to give and more to share, so I have to prove it to myself. And you do too! I believe in you. Let’s all collectively believe in each other, believe 2024 is our year and infect the energy that surrounds us with hope. We got this!