Who are the Key Stakeholders in your business?

As every business is different, so too will the stakeholders in a business vary. Recognising whom your business depends on is essential because they will determine your success.

Stakeholders are a group of individuals or groups with an interest in the success of your business. The stakeholders in a typical business can include:

·   Customers or clients

·   Staff members

·   Suppliers

·   You the business owner(s) or Shareholders.

·   Business partner(s)

·   Your spouse

·   Your family

So who are the Key Stakeholders in your business?

If you have yet to identify them, may I suggest you to start to determine yours as soon as you can!

By knowing the Key Stakeholders in your business, you can begin to produce a successful set of strategies that will help your business grow.

Why?

It’s because your business is dependent on your key stakeholders.

Stakeholder management is vital for the success of any business.  Without key stakeholders a business cannot remain competitive.

Market research will inform you of your target audiences’ needs and expectations, which in turn will determine the specific goals and objectives of your business. Thus, aligning your business with your customers’ needs through specific strategies will ensure business success.

Want to learn more about Your Key Stakholders  in your business?

It’s as simple as 1... 2... 3...

1: Like  ArtSHINE's Facebook page

2: Come along to the ArtSHINE workshops in Sydney: workshops@quantumcompass.com.au

3: Contact Vinh for a no cost, no obligation coaching session:

Vinh direct on  0410 636 138, Vinh@QuantumCompass.com.au, 

or go to: 

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ArtShineDiscovery

Make Tomorrow Today™

7 Steps to Business Lifestyle Success in Your Creative Practice.

1. Your Daily Focus:

Start each day with a focus on what you can do to create income. What actions and activities can you put in place? They don’t have to be big, and they could be small tasks in your overall action plan. So, by setting yourself a goal to do at least three income producing activities you’ll begin each day with a focus on completing these activities first. Before you do anything else. What this means is that you'll finish your day knowing that you've invested your time well and you'll be contributing to the ongoing success of your creative business.

2. Your 90 Day Action Plan:

Your 90 day plan can be something as simple as a series of Goals and Tasks put together as a list of priorities. Think about the “easy step” or “quick win” tasks that you can do that will take you towards your “big picture”, life changing goals. Think of activities you need to undertake, and then stay focused on those mini tasks over the days, weeks, and months of your plan. Make a habit of reviewing and revisiting your goals regularly each week. Get as clear as you can about what you really want. Establish a vision for your passion and commit to what you want to achieve. Believe it and most importantly… Take action!

3. Leverage Your Time:

How are you spending your time? Everyone gets the same 24 hours in a day... What are you doing with yours? Decide what’s important for you and build some habits and plans around how you priorities all the demands for your time. Ask yourself what tasks and activities will bring you closer to your goals, versus what activities take you off your path.

As you go about building your creative practice and developing your Business LifeStyle you can start to identify the tasks and activities that bring you closer to your goals, and those that take you further from them. As you start to understand these priorities you can develop systems and processes that keep you on track.

4. The Power of Your Team:

Even if you’re a “Solo Practitioner” and operate your creative practice on your own, you can still have a team... Think about all your stakeholders, and that includes you if you are the face of your business. Your team can include people like your key suppliers, your financial supporters or shareholders, your family & friends, your business advisors, and of course, your clients. How can you better engage this team to achieve your goals?

5. Your Income:

At Quantum Compass we work with our clients to develop multiple streams of income that work for you to support your artistic endeavour. Imagine how your Business Lifestyle will be different when you have more than one income stream. And there’s so many ways we can achieve this... Workshops & Classes, Information products, and on line shops for example are all great places to start. As we work together we start to identify opportunities to create income that isn’t a direct exchange for your time too... So income can be generated quite separately from your daily activity.

6. Your Investment in Yourself:

Investing in yourself is the best investment that you can possibly make. If you want to see your creative practice grow, invest in a mentor or coach who will teach, inspire and motivate you and who will keep you in action and accountable. Think about what training and workshops that you could attend. How about networking events and seminars? Books and magazines? (From the local library, it doesn’t have to cost you much!)

7. Your Attitude is Gratitude:

Look around at where you are, and what you have. Being grateful for what you have, and showing gratitude is an important aspect in creating a successful Business Lifestyle. It’s important to think about what you have to be thankful for everyday, and to appreciate what you’ve got. Your family, supportive partner, friends. When we thank others for their actions they immediately feel like doing more for us too. Expressing gratitude calms the emotions. Expressing gratitude brings us into harmony and is good for the heart and soul. Expressing gratitude opens many doors to happiness, serenity and good health. Expressing gratitude is one of our tools for enhancing and increasing the good things in our lives.

So... What are you grateful for?

Want to find out more about creating a sustainable Business Lifestyle in your creative Fashion Design Practice?

It’s as simple as 1... 2... 3...

1:Like  ArtSHINE's Facebook page

2: Send an e-mail to this Quantum Compass address: ArtSHINEworkshopInfo@QuantumCompass.com.au and get more info about our workshops for creative professionals.

3: Contact Vinh for a no cost, no obligation coaching session: just call Vinh direct on  0410 636 138, Vinh@QuantumCompass.com.au, or go to: 

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ArtShineDiscovery

How to leverage time in your Art, Craft and Design business

Photography by Monica Li

Le Petit Moni Photographie

         Tomorrow is a promise...

                                 Yesterday is gone...

                                                               
                                                           So Make tomorrow Today                   
                                                                                           -Quantum Compass

What would you do if you had “more time”?

Here’s what a lot of people have said in answer to that question:

*Have more time with family

* Relax and rest

* Travel and see the world.

Right now I’d like to share something with you that when I understood it seriously changed my life…

Time is the only resource that you have that can never be taken away from you. And no-one else has any more of it than you do… When it comes to time every-one is equal…

How many hours in a day does Richard Branson have? Bill Gates? Or anyone else I could name?

How many hours a day do you have?

24 hours in a day.

And what happens when you’ve spent your 24 hours? What happens when that day ends?

You get another one!

So the ”fallacy” about “spending” time, “saving” time, or “making more” time is that you can’t… You have exactly the same 24 hours that everyone else on the planet has. No more. No less.

The real secret to success is what you do with those 24 hours!

So,

·         You always have time.

·         You always have all the time there is.

·         You always have the same 24 hours as everybody else.

·         You always have all the time you need to do things right here, right now.

·         You always make the choices about how you use your time.

Now, let’s look at how you can leverage your time to the best effect…

Ways to leverage time:

Now is the perfect time (is there any other time?) to learn the difference between:

·         The urgent things

·         The important things.

Urgent things demand your time but can usually wait, even when they seem like emergencies.

Important things move you in the direction of your dreams and goals.

A clear focus on the difference between the urgent and the important will be critical to your future success in this, or any other business.

And a clear understanding of the activities you undertake that are important rather than urgent will see you succeed sooner.

It is not possible to manage time. But you can leverage it. Time is a most precious commodity, and your only natural resource. Only dead people don’t have time. They’re also the only ones with no problems. It’s not a matter of having time, but of arranging your priorities.

You can change your time effectiveness by changing the way you relate to the idea of time.

You can choose to live in a world of scarcity or abundance. Or you can choose to live in a world you create where you decide your own priorities.

It’s time to own your future. It’s time to focus on what you want by leveraging your time in activities that advance you directly towards your dreams and goals.

It’s your future after all. Procrastination is the thief of time and the graveyard of opportunity.

If you wait until you have time, you’ll be waiting forever. You will never have time. It’s the most elusive concept ever devised. That’s why there’s no such thing as tomorrow.

So make tomorrow today...

Have you ever found a calendar with a tomorrow on it?

There’s only today.

Tomorrow is a promise. Yesterday is gone. Do it right now! Do it in the moment that you’re in!

When your priorities are in order you know what you need to do right now. So just do it. Think in terms of moments of time. Grab those little bits of time and do the “little bits at a time” that will take you closer towards your goal.

Sometimes it’s the scary thought of those Herculean tasks and goals that we set ourselves that cause us to procrastinate and stall in our actions. By breaking down the task into smaller chunks, you‘ll soon find more things get done, and more things get done sooner.

Four DOs can assist you arrange your priorities:

·         Can Do:

Task can be done but neither urgent nor important

·         Could Do:

Task could be carried out but not so urgent nor so important

·         Would Do:

Essential but not so important

·         Must Do:

The important task that needs to be actioned right away!

These four Dos can help you to identify which task is urgent or important. When you are losing focus, these four Dos can bring you back on track with your priorities.

All you have to do is focus on what you want to achieve.

Useful tools to help you plan:

·         To Do List (use it daily)

·         Weekly Activities Planner

·         Follow up calls

·         Daily To Do tasks

·         Things to follow up

·         Diary Planner

·         Daily Journal

·         Plan your day

·         Set priority

·         OPIC Planning Sheet (From Quantum Compass)

Create positive habits for the New Year

I was asking myself the question today why so many of us love the idea of setting new year resolutions for the new year  and as the  year progresses some of us fail to execute what we committed  to do everyday. When you look back at the goals you might achieve half or not at all. I often ask why are we kept doing this ourselves year after year.

We are all creatures of habit.  In fact, most of what we do every single day we do unconsciously on auto-pilot and it is very difficult for new habits to become second nature.

So “Make Tomorrow Today”

We know, setting goals are easy, execution the goals are another story, despite our good intention and excitement we still fail. Why?

What we are lacking at time are:

·         The drive

·         The motivation

·         The encouragement

·          The passion to achieve it.

·         The Desire to get it

·         The purpose  why we need to achieve

The key to achieve your goals are to:

 Plan Well!+ Prepare Well! + Execute well!-> SUCCESS outcome

Well, here is a little tip that I use to easily help myself create new habits and routines that I want to stick to daily.

1. I use Google Calendar, if you have not tried it just go to   http://calendar.google.com

2. I enter the item that I want to remember into Google Calendar and I make it a task that repeats every single day.

3. I then request Google calendar to auto mail  me a daily reminder.

I have used this to develop powerful new habits such as:

·         My daily exercise

·         Reviewing my goal list and affirmations every day (I even add my goals and affirmations into the 

               description so that they end up in my inbox and I can review them instantly)

·         Set events and appointments

·         Share my calendar with my partner, clients  and public (our seminar events)

So, take full advantage of http://calendar.google.com and start creating new success habits today.

How To Plan Your Fantastic Year 2013

New Year 2013- Pyrmont
Photographed by Henry Lam

Last week we talked about setting purpose goals & your New Year resolutions. 

Today we would like to share with you our strategies for setting your purpose goals. So that, 2013 is a year full of real purpose and is the year for you to focus on executing those tasks that will get you to where you want to be. 

So what can we do to make the New Year a fantastic one?

The answer is....it's entirely up to you! You can choose to go with the flow, whatever happens happens (que sera sera!) or you can choose to make a big difference this year and be the key driver and steer the direction to where you want to be. 

There are things we can and can't control and we don't have a crystal ball to understand what our future holds. However, if you really want to have a purposeful & fulfilling year, you can certainly set purpose goals and strategies to take you where you intend to be.

So what ever you do, don't delve on the past as last year was history. Right now you have the power to do something about it and do something meaningful for your life.

Here are the OPIC steps to making the most of 2013.

1.  Set your Objective or Goal area using the nine priorities in life

Using the 9 priorities in life will help you to set goals that are important to you. Although there are 9 areas, some may not be appealing to you or relevant to you right now, so just choose the areas that you want to focus on.

Once you have selected the areas, it is now for you to priortise the areas. List the one that is most important to you first and then the rest.

This year we set goals in all nine areas. We have already assigned goals we would like to focus on in the particular months. There is no right or wrong way to assign your goals. You need to be honest to yourself and set a realistic time frame for you to do. Some of our clients prefer to just focus on one area at the time this way they can give more attention to each goal. Other clients focus 2 to 3 areas at the time. At the end of the day you know how you like to work and so make it fun and exciting and reward yourself once you reach the priority areas.

Here are the 9 priorities in life

1. (MBS) Mind, Body, Spiritual (Health & Fitness)
2. Relationships
3. Family Connection
4. Business & Career
5. Financial Competency
6. True Wealth
7. Gratitude  
8. Fun & Refresh
9. Leveraging Time

The 9 priorities in life are just a great way for you to get started, so you can add more or remove some; it's entirely up to you. Focus on the areas that matter most to you.

For each of the life areas you've selected, choose one or two goals that you'd like to achieve in 2013.

2. Plan your Steps & Tasks

Once you are happy with your Life areas (select at least 5 areas) you can plan sequential steps to help you reach your goal. If the goal is too big then you can chunk it down into sub goals so it is easy for you to implement the tasks. At these stages think about what you want to accomplish in those areas during this year.

3. Implementing your Steps & Tasks

The key to this step is to execute your goals within a time frame. Look at ways on how to implement the tasks you have set in each goal. Who else can help you to do the task and by when would you like to complete those tasks. It's a good idea if you could get help too such as, outsourcing the task to other experts who can help you reach your goal.

Remember to look at your goals and see if you are hitting the target. Good goals leads to tasks that keep you moving forward to your dream and not just going in circles and achieving nothing.

 4. Make a Commitment to your goals

To be able to achieve what you set out to do, firstly you need a big commitment from yourself. This is to frame your mindset so you can commit to those tasks. For example one of the commitments is that you could set aside 5 hours a week to focus on executing the tasks you set out for the week.

Now let's look at some of the goals we set out for the 9 priorities in life you can too use it as a guide to start your goals:

1. (MBS) Mind, Body, Spiritual (Health & Fitness)
•  Mind- Learn:  photoshop-1 Feb  and video workshop-1 June
• Body- Hire a Personal trainer- 14 Jan
• Spiritual-Visualisation for 10 minutes every morning
2. Relationships- Spend quality time with my partner. Romantic dinner once a month, 2-3 holidays together this year. Our engagement in  6 January.
3. Family Connection- Visit mum & dad every two weeks and spend quality time with them.
4. Business- Launch new ArtSHINE website in March, ArtSHINE branding products in April, Launch Ebook in June and ArtSHINE creative magazine in November.
5. Financial Competency-  Pay off one credit card, set up self manage Super in Jan. & purchase an investment property by June.
6. True Wealth- Fund raise to support Lymphoma Australia.
7. Gratitude- Thank and respect people around me and do my  gratitude journal daily
8. Fun & Refresh- 4  holidays a year and spend time with friends & family
9. Leveraging Time- focus on the importance things, recruit an intern to help with ArtSHINE and invite more creative guest posts.

Want to learn more about how to set purpose goals for 2013? 

It’s as simple as 1... 2... 3...

1. Like  ArtSHINE's Facebook page

2:E-mail Quantum Compass  Goalsetting@QuantumCompass.com.au or contact vinh@quantumcompass.com.au  or  +61 410 636 138

3: Contact Vinh for a no cost, no obligation coachingsession:

 COaching  Discovery Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ArtShineDiscovery

Have you set Your New Year's resolutions or purpose goals Yet?

Happy New Year everyone and thanks for visiting ArtSHINE's blog. Your support means a tremendous amount to us at ArtSHINE. 

The starting of a new year is very exciting for you and maybe for others, a little nervous, little lost and may even lack focus and purpose.

For us at ArtSHINE there's surely a psychological New Year day effect that gives us the excitement and motivation to work towards our new year goals for 2013.

So, have you set Your New Year's resolutions or Purpose Goals yet?

If you did not get the chance, you still have time. Setting new purpose goals don't have to wait for the new year or a special event.  In fact you can set new goals at any time, there is no such thing as it being too late to set new goals either!

So do it now!  You have not missed the boat at all. You might feel like you did. It's all in your head, just because the new year has started already, that does not mean that you are late for setting your purpose goals.

"We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think"- Buddha

However, New Year is definitely a great time to set new goals.

That's why so many people set New Year's resolutions or goals at the start of a new year. This is because the new year is a new beginning and you too can start the New Year with a clean slate.

If you don't know where to start and not sure how to set purpose goals that are well balanced for you business and personal life, we’re here to give you some helpful tips so you can get start it.

Setting goals is not hard, the hardest things are to execute those goals so you can get where you want to be. This is where the majority of people fail to take action. Poor execution will delay and even stop you achieving your goals.

The goals you are going to set will be well balanced and full of purpose so that it will empower you to execute those tasks so you can move forward in achieving your goals in 2013.

From our experiences, we've learned that our lives can easily  get unbalanced, therefore  at ArtSHINE  we set our goals based on "The 9 Priorities in Life".  These 9 areas will help you create a well-rounded personal and Business Lifestyle.

Consider the 9 priorities in life when setting your goals:

1. (MBS) Mind, Body, Spiritual (Health & Fitness)
2. Relationships
3. Family Connection
4. Business & Career
5. Financial Competency
6. True Wealth
7. Gratitude  
8. Fun & Refresh
   
9. Leveraging Time

Set goals in each and every area.  It will give you lasting success and be well-rounded in all 9 areas of life.

When you learn to set goals regularly, you will be less vulnerable to the winds of change that blow unfocused people in all different directions in life. 

Tune in next week, we will share with you our strategies for setting your purpose goals. So that, 2013 is a year full of real purpose and is the year for you to focus on executing those tasks that will get you to where you want to be.

2013 could be your best year ever!

The Power of a common goal

One of the most empowering ways for people to bond is to work towards a common goal together.

If you lead a team, having a common goal that’s clear and meaningful will have a significant impact to your people and your business.

Find that inspiring goal.  

Remember, the pay cheque is only one reason people come to work. Your team wants to have a sense of belonging and feel a real part of the business. That happens when you give them a sense of purpose.

At the core people want to feel that they are doing something significant and that they are seen by others as being an important part of that something.

So, what if you are a sole trader and work on your own? How do you share your goal then? Who do you share it with?

Did you know that you can share your goals with your stakeholders?

Stakeholders are a group of individuals or groups who have an interest in the success of your business. When you are working alone and cocooned in your business you need all the support you can get. What makes your business strong and focused is to share your business goals with the people who care about what you do. The more they understand what you want to achieve the more support you’ll receive.

Never take that support  for granted, and always show your gratitude for the support that you get.

Now, here’s a question... On a scale of 1-5 how would you rate the power of your goals?

Do those goals inspire you? Do they empower your people?

Want to learn more about goal setting the ArtSHINE's way?

It’s as simple as 1... 2... 3...

1: Like  ArtSHINE's Facebook page

2: Come along to the next “Action Planning” workshop.

    E-mail Quantum Compass: Goalseting@QuantumCompass.com.au  for details of the      

    next half day session near you.

3: Contact Vinh for a no cost, no obligation coaching session: 

    www.surveymonkey.com/s/ArtShineDiscovery