B2B Sales Strategies for Founders, Freelancers & Startups. Get the Fundamentals Right and Scale | Exited founder, entrepreneur & part-time NPO consultant
I used to dread Mondays. Sunday nights the anxiety would start. The only problem; I was the boss, the co-founder, it was my company. 🖤 Mental Health Friday 🧠 and today I am shamelessly reposting Kevin Liebenberg ‘s post about company culture. It resonates with me. Although it's been a while since I was in the thick of running an agency, I typically just remember the good stuff. My co-founder (and now husband) Henk Pretorius, PhD will often gently remind me about my Sunday night meltdowns... (clearly I've blocked them out). It's not that the company had a terrible culture, it's just that we set a very high standard for ourselves and everyone working there. And that can be hard to maintain at times, but we refused to settle for mediocrity. Agency life on the 'supplier-side' is stressful. Multiple clients, many projects, running a business, keeping your team happy, trying to stay 'balanced'... While we focus a lot on employee wellness (and we should!) entrepreneurship can be lonely - it's not like you can have your mental breakdown in front of the team, that just won't go down well. Leaders need to be strong and do their crying in their pillows in private 😅 It helps to find like-minded individuals or peers to talk to if you are feeling stressed and close to burn out and I'm lucky that I had my co-founder and super-organized-balanced-person-planner Henk to keep me from torching the place every Monday (usually by Wednesday I loved my job again 😅). To all the sales-peeps, solopreneurs, startups, founders and business owners; I see you. Remember to focus on your well-being. Have a great Friday. Sign up for my weekly newsletter about B2B sales here: www.elnapretorius.com
Enough said!
Really interesting. In my humble view, I've experienced the best and worst possible Sunday nights [between 2000 - 2016] and have gotten to a point now, where I try to be the change agent in promoting a good culture. It is not easy but once you start getting buy-in from a few, it multiplies and becomes contagious. When you walk into the office, greet everyone with a smile even if you are not smiling inside. If you have operational staff, go down to the shop floor and greet everyone with a bit more than a smile, they will appreciate that. Walk with purpose and even sing softly if you must. We all have the ability to become change agents. Like MJ so clearly stated: "I'm starting with the man in the mirror, I'm asking him to change his ways....If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make the change"... Just thought I'd share 😊
Hey Elna Pretorius - thanks for a valuable new angle to this issue. I can totally relate and I've found a handful of fellow entrepreneurs who have formed an informal circle of support and empathy hugely helpful. Sometimes you just need to hear yourself say something to someone who really gets it (which is typically not your spouse, or best friend, unless, like in your case they are in the same boat) to feel like you can carry on and you actually aren't losing your mind!!
100% spot on!
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8moIt’s hard to find an organisation that has good culture these days where instead of the feeling of dread that kicks in on that Sunday evening, rather the feeling of excitement and joy to head back to work in the morning, see your colleagues again and tackle the challenges that lie ahead with grit and eagerness. I’ve had bad experiences in my career and I seek to work with an organization that makes me feel the same level of excitement as what I had the night before my wedding. 👍🏻📈