Latest / The 3Bz Podcast - Building Better Business / EP20 -Woah, We’re Half Way There

Transcript

EP20 -Woah, We’re Half Way There · The 3Bz Podcast - Building Better Business

• 0:04
  Hi there business owner. Do you want a better
• 0:06
  understanding of business finance, what your numbers
• 0:09
  actually mean, and stories of the highs and lows of business
• 0:12
  where I'll be sharing my tips and tricks every week?
• 0:15
  Then you're in the right place. Welcome to the 3B's podcast with
• 0:19
  Stephanie. Hello, and welcome back to
• 0:26
  another episode of The Three B's Podcast with Stephanie.
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  I'm your host, Stephanie, and this week I really just wanted
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  to check in with you all and see how you're doing and see how
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  you're feeling. Now the midpoint of the summer
• 0:39
  has kind of approached for us. We're just past the midway point
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  and the juggling is getting a little more tricky.
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  We've had a few plans that have had to change a few spanners in
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  the works, and if it's happening for me, it's more than happening
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  for a few other working parents out there as they're managing
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  the summer holidays. So it was really just to check
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  in and see how you see where you find yourself, see where you are
• 1:03
  and just know that it's okay whatever situation you're in at
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  the moment. Like I said, we've hit the
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  midpoint of the summer holidays now, and many of us are finding
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  ourselves caught between the demands of running a business
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  and providing quality care for our children and the mom guilt
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  that comes alongside of wanting to make memories and be there
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  for our children. As you know, there's any so many
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  summers we're going to have them needing us this much, eating as
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  many snacks as my children seem to do this summer.
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  Do let me know if yours are the same or if it is just me, but I
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  wanted to share a few different strategies that I and other
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  female businesses are using to manage the summer holidays the
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  best way we can. There is no right or answer
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  here, just I'm hoping that this may give you a bit of
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  inspiration if you are in that stock point and and trying to
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  decide how you're going to manage the last couple of weeks,
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  that our energies and patience levels are starting to wane.
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  So one strategy that has proven inviolable for many female
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  business owners just like myself is the art of crafting A
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  sustainable routine. Now it feels hypocritical
• 2:24
  because our routine originally is this week.
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  We should have been up in Leeds wearing Kent with my mum and my
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  stepdad, but they got sick and we got sick and things it just
• 2:36
  didn't work out that way and all our plans had to change.
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  So crafting A sustainable routine that can account both
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  your work responsibilities and your childcare needs can be a
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  real game changer. And you can set clear
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  boundaries. And you can allocate specific
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  time blocks for work to give you some structure, reduce that
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  overwhelm and make you feel a little bit more balanced.
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  But things inevitably change. Things never go according to
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  plan, especially not in my business in life.
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  So it's also really important to be adaptable.
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  So yes, create a basic structure for what you want to achieve
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  each week, each day in the summer holidays, but be flexible
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  and know that it's inevitable that it's likely to change and
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  sometimes even our best plans need to move around and be
• 3:22
  amended. Another strategy that we use a
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  lot in my business and our home is to leverage technology and
• 3:33
  flexibility. Now this has many different
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  angles to it, and as I said before, there's no right or
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  right answers here. This is my opinion and the
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  opinions of other female business owners that I know and
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  work with that I juggle in the childcare over the summer, but
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  technology has become a powerful ally, ally in the quest for
• 3:52
  work, life harmony and balance. You can embrace remote working.
• 3:56
  I'm doing a lot of work from home because I take the children
• 4:00
  to the office sometimes with me, but actually at home they can
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  amuse themselves slightly better and now they're getting slightly
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  older. My children, they don't need
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  that constant sitting with, so they can go off and read a book.
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  They can go off and do coloring and arts and crafts almost
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  independently. Yesterday we baked some muffins
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  which didn't require too much of my input.
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  So working from home and embracing the remote work is
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  helping me quite a lot. Also staying connected virtually
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  with the team if you have 1, can be a lifesaver.
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  I have onsite meetings with my clients.
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  Most months or quarters they go virtual or I don't do any in
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  August and my clients are all aware of that up front.
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  I think it releases that pressure and that that overload
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  that's so easy to get on top of you during the summer.
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  But also you can be adaptable of how and when you tackle tasks,
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  so you can accommodate both business demands and moments of
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  your children. And I give my children tech
• 5:00
  time, so movie afternoons are quite a popular one in this
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  house. So we will have lunch tidy up
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  after lunch and then they'll watch a movie.
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  That gives me a good hour and a half, two hours to really get
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  some focus work done, which is quite helpful.
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  Also, there's nothing wrong with just letting them go on the
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  computer. I gave them both tablets the
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  other day so I could do a meeting virtually and they
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  actually came down and asked for their TT Rock Stars login.
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  So they were actually doing their schoolwork and their times
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  table. So it was educational at the
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  same time, which made me feel quite proud that I'm actually
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  doing something a little bit right this summer with my
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  parenting. But yes, technology and
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  flexibility is key to me. But find what works best for you
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  and another strategy that is probably the most important one
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  out of the four I'm going to share today.
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  And that's to nurture your own well-being.
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  And I am the first person who will raise their hand and say
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  self-care is not as high on my priority list as it should be
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  and it's something that I'm working on.
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  But self-care is not a luxury and it's a necessity.
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  People often say you can't pour from an empty cup and it's so
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  true. When you are tired and haven't
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  taken that time for yourself, you have less patience with your
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  children. I often find.
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  I also find that more mistakes can made in your work as well.
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  So both sides suffer and it's actually much more beneficial
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  for you to take half an hour, an hour out of your work time or of
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  your day to do little pockets of activities that rejuvenate you
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  and make you feel ready to go again to recharge your
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  batteries. That could be a a brisk walk, it
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  could be dancing in the kitchen. We have kitchen karaoke in our
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  house. We get Alexa to play a song,
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  usually Disney related or boy band related, and we will dance
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  and sing around in the kitchen for 1015 minutes and it just
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  changes the whole atmosphere of the house.
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  If you haven't done it, go and do it and let me know you get on
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  because I really it's something we really enjoy doing and it's
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  not every day, but the children now know if I say kitchen disco,
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  they're like up straight away requesting songs.
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  So it works really well for us, doesn't work for everyone.
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  Find what works for you. It could be that the children
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  are in childcare and you take 10 minutes to do meditation.
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  It could be that you make yourself a nice lunch.
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  It could be that you go for a lovely coffee.
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  Any of these little tiny activities that recharge your
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  batteries will equip you to better handle the day, to handle
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  the week, whatever it may be. So please take time for yourself
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  to recharge. And finally, Please remember
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  that you are not alone in this journey.
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  Connect with a support network. It will feel like every day is
• 8:00
  uncharted territory, like you're well out of your depth.
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  But please know you're not alone.
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  My inbox is always open. Connect with other female
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  business owners, other female entrepreneurs.
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  They're also balancing the childcare juggle.
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  They will provide a sense of camaraderie.
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  That's not a word I can say very easily and shared experiences.
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  Maybe they have children that are slightly older and they can
• 8:24
  give you advice and tips on what's worked for them.
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  Maybe you can connect with female business owners whose
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  children are younger and you can help them with stressors that
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  work for you. You can exchange tips and just
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  lean on each other. I often have a group chat with a
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  few of my friends and I will sometimes just put a voice note
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  in there. Having a real rant or real cry
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  and just that element of knowing you're not alone and having that
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  safe space to let it all out is really good.
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  We are all in this together and please do reach out if you ever
• 9:00
  need to, as you've known from previous episodes that I've had
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  a few friends a guest on the podcast already.
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  I'm building a community of female business owners because
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  it's who I am most passionate about helping in my business.
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  So let's do reach out if you need to, but do find your own
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  support network and it will help the summer go by that little bit
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  faster. So as I'm recording this, it's a
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  shorter episode for me this week because I am about to cheer on
• 9:43
  the Lionesses versus Australia in the semi final of the World
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  Cup. Come on Lionesses.
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  As I said, I was so organised of the podcast episodes and then
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  life got in the way and I'm recording it the day before, but
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  I still have lots to share and I hope you've enjoyed the episode.
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  But I want to remind you and leave you with one little piece
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  of a little speech, if you like, a little mantra to listen and we
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  listen to and that is this. I want to remind you that you
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  have the strength and resilience to manage both your business and
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  childcare responsibilities during these summer months.
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  You're already halfway through. You've got this, you're
• 10:20
  absolutely nailing it, even if you don't feel so, and just know
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  that you've got this and I absolutely believe in you.
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  I hope you've enjoyed this week's episode.
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  If you have, please do rate and review.
• 10:33
  It helps me reach more for your business owners and that means
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  an awful lot to me. And I'll see you next week.
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  And that brings us to the end of another week of the Three B's
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  podcast with Stephanie. Thank you so much for listening.
• 10:51
  I'd really appreciate it if you could like, subscribe, rate and
• 10:55
  reviews, podcast wherever you are listening to it so that I
• 10:58
  can reach more business owners and help them build better
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  businesses. See you next week for the next
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  episode.