Communicate, Bitches!

Small Biz Book – Post #10

So far in my Small Business Book blog posts, the words Dammit, Hell and The F Words have been used in the titles. I wanted to keep up with the theme, but in no way think that anyone reading this is a bitch. You are, undoubtedly, allowed to be one – we all have our bitchy moments, but please, take no offense in my cursing for the sake of humor.

Back when I was a teacher, in what now feels like another lifetime, there was another teacher in my building who would text pictures of her students to their parents near-daily. I always wondered how she found the time for this, given that I didn’t have time to pee most days. I knew the parents loved it, though, and this fact alone made me consider adding the non-required task to my to-do list. Based on how I was balancing the rest of my educator/mom & work/life duties, I was only able to consider this service, but not actually act on it. (Fast forward 10 years and as a dog mom who travels out of town a few times a year, I demand these proof-of life-texts from Zoey’s caregiver, but…I digress.)

Now, years later, I have found my flow with work communication. (My flow, though, which is texting, because I will go to great lengths to avoid a phone call.) It just makes sense to tell my paint customers the progress of their project before they ask. When I am working in someone’s house while they are away, they receive status pictures when I leave. When a family’s kitchen cabinets are splayed out in my garage, they receive pictures at each stage that shows a marked difference. I used to despise time spent on daily and weekly behavior reports; now I delight in sharing the gratification of visible updates. I always snap before and after pics, allowing me to ooh and aah later, on final invoices and social media.

This may just be the teacher ghost still lingering within (just like those Teacher Dreams): I “show my work” on Quotes and Invoices. It takes thought to come up with a total figure. Whether it’s an estimate of how long the work will take and an hourly rate, or work broken up by measurements, I share how I arrive at my number. I have most definitely underbid (understood when a Quote is accepted like, immediately.) I have 100% over-estimated (understood when I wasn’t rewarded the project.) Still yet, being transparent about my costs feels fair and helps me avoid time spent holding a phone to my ear.

I’ve heard that this amount of communication becomes impossible when a company grows; such a vast quantity of Quotes are requested that detailed information will take too long and kill efficiency. I haven’t faced this problem yet. I can only guess that the need for delegation of this task becomes blatantly apparent. A wise person once said, when something is driving you crazy, that’s the sign that a procedure needs to be put in place.

A blog post about communication would be remiss to fail mentioning the importance of utilizing Social Media. A friend recently told me he stopped posting work pictures on his Facebook business page because it felt like bragging. What the What?! Social Media and Word-of-Mouth referrals are the only two advertising platforms I have had since 2018. Since both are free, I consider this a win/win. I can imagine that Yellow Page and newspaper ads were expensive and time-consuming and at best, put a business just slightly closer to the top of the haystack than the competition. Now, with one click, Facebook allows a business page post to be directly marketed towards the people most likely to spend money on any particular product or service.

Let’s go ahead and extend the saying ‘No sign is a sign of no business’ to ‘No social media platform will eventually = no business.’ Any legitimate business in today’s world must have an online presence. Business accounts on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn are all free. Those three are a baseline to reach a mixture of age groups and businesses. In my opinion, following the launch on Social Media, a business website needs to be functional as soon as financially feasible. Anytime I have considered working for, purchasing from or visiting a company, I look it up on the nearest internet browser. If I can’t find it online or, worse yet, I find the company accompanying misspelled gibberish and otherwise unprofessional posts, I do not proceed.

Since my Small Business Book ~ Blog Style theme is What Not to Do…

Small Biz What Not to Do #10: Don’t ignore, ghost, or otherwise be miscommunicative with customers.

If someone asks for a Quote when I am entirely too busy to provide one, the truth is better received than no response. Any reply is more respectful than silence. If the project is taking longer than expected, I tell the customer. If a certain product is not working or the plan is not going to pan out, I communicate. No one wants to feel in the dark, especially when pertaining to money.

I personally find written communication more desirable since I can interact when the timing is good for me AND (since I’m a terrible talker and tend to ramble), I appreciate the ability to go back and edit before hitting send. Find your flow of communication and do it or delegate it.

And, regardless of all of the reasons it’s important to communicate for the success of a business, communication actually just feels really good. Being proud and passionate about talent and connecting with others are all good, positive things. As a self-proclaimed loner, even I know that life with no one to share it with would be dull and sad. Celebrate progression with others. Or, in other words, Communicate, Bitches!

#9 Accepting $ ~ 6/22/22

#8 Keepin’ it Simple ~ 1/2/22

#7 Time to Train ~ 4/18/20

#6 Spending $ ~ 11/28/19

#5 Make Them Stick ~ 9/2/19

#4 How in the Hell do you find Good Help? ~ 7/10/19

#3 The F Words in Business ~ 7/4/19

#2 From Problems to Procedures ~ 6/28/19

#1 Delegate, Dammit! ~ 6/21/19

Introduction ~ 6/17/19