According to the US Bureau of employment, 4.5 million Americans exited Corporate America in March 2022. While burnout was cited as one of the main reasons for the exodus, fulfilling one's passion was a close second. This signifies there are many Americans including moms who may want to take a break and return to the workforce as an entrepreneur. CPR's momtrepreneur series continues with an additional five attributes of a mom and entrepreneur. In the previous two postings, CPR illustrated how the attributes of a mom could be easily transferred to solid skill sets as a business owner. To date, CPR identified and depicted ten attributes that apply to lead a business successfully. Today, we will explore an additional five attributes. They are:
performs acts of divergent thinking
finds ways to be creative
sound decision-maker
cultivate cohesive teams
renders customer service
1. Divergent Thinking
Most people associate divergent thinking with the concept of thinking outside of the box. While this is true, it also lends to the diversity of your thinking. Seeking creative ways to entertain your children, exploring new ways to woe your customers. What's true in both scenarios, you are actively seeking diverse ways to maintain the interest of your stakeholder. As a mom, you want to keep your children entertained or distracted, pending the situation at hand; similarly, as a momtrepreneur, you are actively identifying new ways to attract new clients, maintain your clients, and convert some potential clients.
2. Creativity
To practice divergent thinking, you must exercise creativity. In one of our earlier blogs, CPR cited its stand on creativity. It's pretty simple. As creatures created by our CREATOR, we are creative beings. Historically, society likened creativity to the art movement and to people who skip to their beat (aka eccentric); today, a plethora of literature supports "creativity resides within"; however, you must elect to exercise creativity. So, creativity is intentional; it flourishes in a judgment-free positive environment. As a mom, you encourage your kids to color outside of the lines but not on the walls; similarly, in business, you encourage your team to think outside the norm but stay within the legal requirements. In both situations, the leader must approve the culture of creativity as the norm.
3. Decision-making
Making decisions is critical both personally and professionally. Committing Acts of Commission comes from deciding to act upon a lead, idea, premise, or other instead of committing Acts of Omission, failing to act. Acts of Omission typically leave you in a state of paralysis analysis. Failing not to act is the biggest blunder. It would help if you acted based on sound decisions. According to Eby (2008), the benefits of making decisions are as follows:
Good decisions last longer. You will rarely need to revisit a decision made using a well-thought-out process, and it can sometimes last the entire lifespan of an organization.
Good decisions weigh internal and external factors. A decision-maker should consider a company holistically. A sound decision won’t have one part of the business succeed at the expense of another. Both internal and external factors can affect the decision and the company's road map.
Good decisions eliminate conflicts of interest. With transparency and stakeholder buy-in during the decision-making process, questions or concerns after the fact become far less likely. The benefits of this process are keeping the organization on track and focused and reducing churn.
Good decisions actually work better overall. Good decisions get the decision-maker, department, and company closer to their goals.
While this advice is for an effective business model, in family management, making decisions offer the same advantages.
4. Team-building
Teams are critical to the success of any family or business unit. CPR promotes the concept of Together Everyone Achieves More (T.E.A.M) in both theory and practice. Moms comprehend the importance of the family unit. A mom ensures each child plays along to get along while still aiming to ensure each child achieves their highest potential. In business, it's no different. A leader must be able to relate the goals to the team, set the agenda on how they will be achieved, and ensure questions are answered. Doubts are removed, eliminate any form of toxicity, and at the same time, each member of your team knows their personal and professional goals are being met. For a team to operate at its optimum, the team needs to understand that the leader is vested in them so that they can invest in your company. There are no shortcuts.
5. Customer Service
Customer service is paramount in doing business. Good customer service will attract customers, golden customer service will keep customers, and platinum customer service will convert potential customers to new customers. While the first step in customer service is on fulfilling your customer's needs, the second half is the experience the customer receives from you and your team. From the beginning to the end of the transaction, your customer's needs should be the focus. This involves paying close attention to every detail, including timely deliverables at excellent prices. The final customer service component is relying on your current customer to refer or tell ten other customers. For moms, your family is your customer. Whether it's homework, dinner, road trips, shopping sprees, doctor's appointments, or discipline, your goal always is to keep your children in a happy home. Happy kids, Happy Life! While there are innumerable attributes, we will explore the final five tomorrow. Your comments and feedback are welcome.
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Warm Regards,
CeeCee
Managing Partner & Founder
CPR LLC
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