Say YES! to Success Peg Stookey – Founder of Legacy Connection

Before you Euthanize Your Business….

......YOUTHanize your business!

Have you ever felt like you were running your business into the ground?  Or that growth was dormant, stagnant, or flat-lined?  Do you feel like you need a “shot in the arm”?  Or a super energy pill?

My friends, I have the answer!  Give your business a dose of YOUTH!

Does this mean that you have to hire a crew of minimum wage workers to do busy work for you?  NO!

Does it mean that you have to volunteer your life away?  NO!

Does it mean that you have to change your business model?  NO!

YOUTHanizing your business can have many possibilities:

• Yes, volunteer but do it strategically.  Mentor someone, anyone, younger than you.  I suggest that we expand the definition of “youth” to be what YOU define youth as.  (Have you ever seen a really old person call someone in their 60’s “young man/woman”?)  If they want to learn about small business, even better.

• Bring in an intern or a co-op.  Wait, I know what you’re going to say and I know you don’t have time!  First, doing so will force you to document some of your systems and processes.  We have many schools, high schools and colleges with co-op and intern programs.  Networking yourself with them will be good for numerous reasons!

• Bring your kids into the business.  Maybe they’ll just do some filing at first.  Or.... maybe they’ll get extra time with you.  Treat them as an employee so that they learn the value of what you do.  HINT:  Find out what THEY like to do and put them to work!

• Like my friend, David Leopold, partner with a brilliant 23 year old to manage your technology! (Be sure to catch David and I talking small business on Monday's at 11:30 at www.oursmallbusinesstv.com!)

• Add someone in their 20’s or 30’s to your advisory board.  I bet you’ll be amazed at what they come up with.

So, WHY is this important now?  With the state of the economy many business owners have gotten pretty beat up.  We need new life, new ideas, new hope to begin to grow again.  Gen X, Y and the millennials are different from the boomers.  I’ve found them to be very entrepreneurial by nature, curious and willing to learn.  Eager to offer help and concerned about their fellow man and the future of our world.

With a little guidance and the benefit of our “mature wisdom” they will be great leaders!  They are stepping up at younger and younger ages to lead and to make a difference.  Information is so readily available to our next generations that possibility mindset is just natural to them.  I love to watch my kids problem solve.  Actually, there are no mysteries anymore.  If they have a question, they log-on, “Google it” and the mystery is solved.  My son has a construction business.  He’s also an engineer.  He started when he was 23.  Did he go out and apprentice with a construction company.  Heck no!  He took what he knew, added in his driving desire to be independent and Googled the rest.  Son #2 got out of college went to work for son #1 and is now manages numerous projects and a crew of 14+.  Was he afraid?  Probably.  Did it stop him.  HECK NO!

How can your business benefit from YOUTHanizing?

1. Bring in new ideas
2. Add new energy
3. Take the focus off the negative
4. Create greater efficiency (documenting your systems so that it’s easier to train is always a good thing!)
5. Leverage technology (This is an entire article in itself!  Just think of the possibilities!)

How will you benefit from YOUTHanizing your business?

1. You’ll feel younger (or maybe older for a while when you realize all that you don’t really know or can do!)
2. You’ll be energized
3. You’ll see new possibilities
4. You’ll be braver around technology and learn the many doors that it opens
5. You’ll feel good knowing that you helped the next generation
6. Maybe you’ll even begin to implement an exit strategy that includes passing or preparing your business to be run by the next generation (Also and article’s worth of ideas!)  Do I hear “Legacy” calling?

How will our community benefit when you YOUTHanize your business?

1. With each and every touch that a business owner has on the youth of our country we plant seeds of entrepreneurism.
2. Every time you offer someone the chance to lead, they grow toward being a leader.
3. You are not only creating jobs now, you are creating future employers.
4. Kids may be taken off the street or simply off the couch-either is a good thing!

I’ll close with this piece of insight:

YOUTHanizing your business will cause you to  YOUTH-in-eyes your business!

Roll YOUR eyes inward.  Do you see the opportunity to become more youthful yourself?  What do you see in the mirror?  Are the wrinkles falling away and the light of possibility twinkling in your eyes?

Say YES!

Peg

PS  I want to thank my friend, Mary Kacaba, owner of Resources Within hypnotherapy practice for helping to plant the seeds of this idea.  Mary, you are the source of true inspiration-in more ways than one!