Posted on December 21, 2021February 3, 2022 by jessi — Leave a comment

Overindexed to Underwater: When Capacity Outweighs Capability and How to Regain Balance

Overindexed to Underwater: When Capability Outweighs Capacity and How to Regain Balance

jessi

Learnings from hitting the stop button in December & january

The end of the year is supposed to be a time of reflection, gratitude, and celebration. It is supposed to be a moment in time for me to look back at all that I accomplished. I welcomed the chance, as I always do, to participate in this exercise. What I didn’t expect were the circumstances or depth I would find myself in for two months.

It was December 1st, the one year anniversary since launching House of Wise. I sat in my friend’s apartment in Brooklyn as we virtually celebrated with the rest of the team. There was much to celebrate. We achieved so much for a small team, in the midst of a global undoing, and young by anyone’s account of a company. After the birthday party, I found myself overcome with a sinking feeling as I made my way to the airport to head home. I chalked it up to standard issue travel stress, popped a gummy, and didn’t give it another thought.

Until it gave me another thought.

As I pulled into my driveway, an undeniable shift started. (That’s a lie. The shift started in early November, but I wouldn’t realize that for another couple of weeks.) I had a visceral reaction to what my mind, body, and soul could not make sense of. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling and it certainly wasn’t a clear feeling. It was simply a lot of feeling. All at once.

I text my founder the next day. I was completely burnt out. I needed time to rest, but I didn’t know what that looked like yet. Spoiler alert: one of the most powerful shifts for me has been defining a truly human-first culture at House of Wise with Amanda. That made what ended up being a two-month hiatus from work possible. I have no doubt about that.

Here are the top learnings when I started unwinding my internal jumble:

The Gratitude x Guilt collab no one asked for is real

I tend to make myself small because, by conventional perception, I have a great thing that others are struggling to find for themselves. “Why would I ever consider giving that up?”

This will make more sense if we got real for a second. Where I’ve gotten to on this point is a byproduct of healing and growing from prior workplace traumas – gaslighting, pay disparity, executive ego. I need to share the triggers that shock my system into “fight or flight” mode and how the responses have progressed from always fight > exhausted/unhappy> always flight > firm & forthcoming.

I understand more clearly now that the risk is the same whether I “always flight” or stay put and ask for change. That said, choosing the latter presents two opportunities: 1) for me to advocate for my needs and interests and 2) giving other parties the chance to support that advocacy. Choice. It always comes down to choice – making them and offering them.

The truth here is that the way I spend the time I have each day should be fulfilling my needs. Some hobbies, jobs, or relationships will be a one-stop-shop for meeting all of my needs. My truth is that I need multiple sources and instead of feeling guilty or ashamed of that, I am embracing and exploring how that comes to life.

Capabilities will always outweigh capacity

You will always be able to do more. We’re not one-dimensional, we don’t fit into one box, we are multi-hyphenates. It is up to us to fiercely protect this balance. Being able to is not the same as being inspired to.

For example, I am excellent at programming conditional logic. However, I’d rather spend my time visualizing a human experience that would benefit from a process that was programmed with conditional logic. Both are my superpowers. The latter makes me want to strut a bit more in my cape and leotard is all.

Minor mentality difference, major emotional difference.

"I am the sole architect of the height from which I fall."

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Understanding the blueprint of life

Trauma-informed patterns are natural self-protections. Healing from these experiences is ongoing work. By giving my career-related traumas space to make me uncomfortable, I am starting to unlock what has been my own limiting beliefs about my potential.

My pattern is to compensate now for the toxic devaluing dynamics of prior leaders by over-indexing and under-advocating for my skills and talents. Helping others is a core driver of mine, but moderation is my shortcoming. When I don’t champion for what I can contribute, I fall hard in frustration and blame, building resentment. The facts? I’m the one who disrespected myself the most.

I am the sole architect of the height from which I fall.

I have the power to renovate the floor plan of my patterns. I can knock out walls and create new hallways where I once was stuck walking through a bathroom to get to the kitchen table. In order to make these changes, I need to build up my toolkit.

It becomes obvious when you hit the stop button to see that you don’t have what you need to knock down the walls or rip out the carpet. That you’ve been doing the landlord’s special and simply painting over the outlets and calling yourself updated. I don’t know if you’ve tried to plug something you need to use into a painted-over outlet in a rental, but it does not work. And if it does, it is not well and certainly not for long.

Going now and pausing often

I am wildly grateful for the full stop of December. and January. I acknowledge that I am very privileged to have a life circumstance that allowed me to not worry about meeting basic human needs while I introspected. What I did will not be an option for everyone.

Creating a new pace is critical. The binary cadence of life, especially in American culture, is dangerous. The narrative is either “hustle hard” or “rest easy”. I prefer a tender chugging along – to go at a manageable pace and not be pressured to slam on the brakes when it becomes too much. I hope for the very same recalibration for you.

It will take time, but time is our most valuable asset. Let’s do this together.

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Posted on July 14, 2021December 19, 2021 by jessi — Leave a comment

How to build a budget for your small business

How to build a budget for your small business in 6 steps

jessi

The following post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission if you become a Bench customer at no additional cost to you.

If a goal without a plan is just a wish, then a small business without a budget is just a side hustle.

Having a well-thought out budget is the key to reaching your short and long-term business goals. It gives you an opportunity to plan how you’ll spend your money in the future, and can help you spot issues with your finances straight away—and, ahem, not two days before your bills come due.

New to all this? Here’s a six-step plan for building a small business budget from Bench, your friendly expert bookkeeping advisors.

What is a small business budget?

Your small business budget is a monthly, quarterly, or annual projection of your business finances.

It should outline all operating costs needed to run your business and give a clear overview of expected revenue and expenses. It tells you:

How much money you plan to spend to run your business
How much money you expect to generate from sales
How much money you hope to have left over after each month

That last one is important. One of the biggest benefits of having a realistic budget for your small business is the insight it provides for planning future investments.

Summarizing your business financials also helps you recognize and eliminate wasteful or ineffective spending to streamline your business operations.

Basically, it’s a way to plan for the future, rather than taking things day-by-day.

Step 1: Estimate your revenue

Your estimated revenue is the amount you expect to make from the sale of goods or services you provide.

While it may be tempting to base your budget on what you dream of taking in, looking at your business’s past performance is a better strategy, trust us.

If your business is established: If you’ve been working on your business for a while, use your sales figures from the previous year’s books as well as any new sources of business income you plan on generating in the budget period to estimate future revenue.

If you’re new to the market: If you’re in start-up mode and don’t have historical books, looking for industry averages can give you an idea of what your business could take in month to month. (You can always revisit and adjust later once you know what your business actually makes.)

At Bench, no matter where your initial forecasts come from, we recommend keeping clean, well-organized books as you go along. This is especially true if your business is seasonal or has an unpredictable sales cycle.

Step 2: Outline your fixed costs

Fixed costs are small business expenses that don’t change over time.

Think about the things you pay for no matter how much you make each month like rent, computer equipment, payroll, insurance, administration fees, or bookkeeping services (as long as you use a service with a flat monthly fee—like Bench).

Knowing the total amount of fixed costs per month will help you understand your non-negotiable monthly commitments and let you know how much extra money you have available for discretionary spending or new investments.

This information might also help you calculate:

What your business needs to earn to be profitable
The amount of cash you’ll need on hand
How much cash reserve you’ll need for leaner months

Step 3: Determine your variable costs

Variable costs include the prices of raw materials, labor, and distribution related to the products or services you sell.

These costs grow alongside your production volume. Think packaging, hourly wages, commission, or credit card transaction fees. So if it costs $12 to produce your patented air pods holder, when you double your production, you may also double your variable costs.

Knowing your variable costs allows you to:

Determine how much to charge for your product or service
Calculate the break-even point of your product or service
Find ways to cut down on costs and increase your profit margin

(See, your trusty budget helped you do all that!)

Step 4: Establish your cash flow

Unlike revenue, your cash flow is the amount of money coming in and going out of your business.

Have cash on hand: Paying your fixed and variable expenses without going into debt is the foundation of growing your business. Without it, you won’t be able to afford to pay for necessities and your business will suffer.

See the bigger picture: Comparing the total amount of incoming cash with outgoing expenses is an easy way to understand your overall profitability. From there, you can decide whether you need to trim, tweak, or expand your small business budget.

In order to get the information you need to accurately calculate your spending, we suggest (surprise, surprise) keeping good records that let you track your earning and spending over time.

Step 5: Figure out one-off expenses

You’ve sorted out fixed costs, variable costs, and cash flow. But there’s one more budgetary item to make your small business operation almost foolproof: the back-up fund.

When your laptop dies suddenly or you need to hire someone to fix the staff kombucha bar, squirreling away a bit of cash for unexpected expenses can go a long way toward protecting your business.

Step 6: Keep your finances on track

Most successful business owners know that a budget is only as good as the data it’s based on. Keeping accurate and up-to-date records takes work, but the insight you gain into your business is priceless.

As your business grows it might make sense to hand time-consuming tasks like bookkeeping over to the pros. From bookkeeping to banking, Bench makes budgeting a breeze.

Expert bookkeeping: Your Bench team will organize all business transactions, prepare financial statements, and keep your books up to date and squeaky clean.

Financial reporting: Your Bench income statement, balance sheet, and visual reports provide crystal-clear data on the health of your business, and let you see opportunities for growth.

Year-round tax support: Come tax time, your dedicated Bench team can take care of everything to make your tax filing simple and stress-free.

Put simply, it’s the all-in-one financial toolkit your business can count on.

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Posted on February 27, 2021February 27, 2021 by jessi — Leave a comment

Debunking the Myth that “Anyone” Can Manage Social Media

Debunking the Myth that “Anyone” can manage social media

jessi

Let’s talk about social media.

More poignantly, let’s talk about deconstructing the antiquated perception that social media management in a professional capacity is “something the receptionist can do” (or the lazy, sexist trope of “the owner’s niece”).

As with most things these days, I was inspired to have this conversation because of a TikTok rabbit hole. My FYP is filled to the brim with all sides of TikTok (iykyk), but the VA side of TikTok has been dominating the feed.

The “you don’t have to have any experience at all to make money as a social media manager” side of TikTok.

I agree with this…to a point. But I also vehemently disagree with it for the rest of the points.

Yes. It’s true. Anyone can post on social media. Have you seen your uncle’s posts lately?!

No. It’s not true. Everyone cannot post on social media effectively. Even people with personal brand careers on social media. (Yes. I said it.)

How to be an effective social media manager for a company or brand requires knowledge of so many overlooked components that someone with “no experience” will fail to grasp.

Effective social posts pass through a number of cross-functional lenses

Does this align with brand values and mission?
Does this align with established goals for product sales?
Does this align with fundraising efforts/messaging?
Does this align with and support growth KPIs?
Does this align with PR and partnership efforts?

The Brand Mouthpiece

It’s not inflammatory to claim that social media is the mouthpiece of the brand. It is.

Social media establishes itself, and is most interpreted as, the “person” of the brand through the content that a social media manager publishes to the platform(s) of choice. It feels less cold and sterile for someone to slide into the DMs than it does to fill out a contact form or respond to a newsletter. Tell me I’m wrong. I’ll wait.

Having built and managed integrated marketing efforts in both capacities (personal brand + brand-brands) for nearly fifteen years, I can tell you, for certain, without a wink, blink or hesitation, that customers are the most boldly responsive, outspoken and empowered on social media.

Here’s an unlikely example:

In an ecosystem I managed at a CPE provider for CPAs (that’s continued professional education for accountants…target demo….accountants), our MarCom distribution channels were primarily email and traditional snail mail (90%) with the introduction of a social media experience (10%).

Guess which channel garnered the highest response rate? Social media. An industry whose average age is 44 was most receptive on Twitter and Instagram once those channels were introduced as options. This was a legacy company, in business for 25+ years when I joined the team, with very high customer retention. The new and especially returning customers found the brand accessible and approachable. Despite the extensive infrastructure we had in place to handle customer care, the DMs were the avenue of choice for a good number of customers to receive assistance in registering for online courses or multi-day resort conferences. This called for an intrinsic synchronicity between the customer care team and the marketing team to maintain continuity in messaging, support, and to avoid confusion. If the social media manager missed a DM, before responding, it was important to connect with the customer care manager to determine if that customer had been taken care of and vice versa.

Which leads pretty nicely into the next point about effectiveness in managing social media: response time.

The marketing channel that's "always on"

The beauty of social media is that everyone uses it in ways that best fit with their lifestyle and schedule.

The beast of social media is that everyone uses it in ways that best fit with their lifestyle and schedule.

This can become a real challenge if you’re not prepared for it internally.

Let’s walk through a support scenario that happens more often than you think:

A customer has made an error while placing their late night, weekend order. The customer expects the brand account to respond first. Their job is just “hanging out on social” right? Surprise! They’ll actually DM the brand account, wait a few minutes/an hour for a response. When they do not get one, they simultaneously DM the founder, publicly tweet and send individual emails to every email address they can find on the contact page of the website. They unknowingly (and sometimes willingly) start The Fire™️.

The Fire™️ is the sense of urgency that makes everyone in the organization’s stomachs drop when it shouldn’t. Customers usually don’t know the ripple effect of this approach, but there are ways to fail-safe it internally. The key? Comms visibility and curiosity. In a 2017 report, it was determined that 72% of consumers expect the person contacting them to know who they are, what they’ve purchased and have insight on previous interactions. Check where you keep track of customer support notes and ask around to your team before diving in to save the day. We all know that if someone ordered the shirt in green instead of blue that they are not in a realm of danger that requires a first-responder grade reaction, right?

It’s also important to establish a proper expectation with customers when it comes to communication. I advise clients often to understand what that looks like on an internal level so no one department or function is sabotaging the success of another. I also advise that once lightning fast, realtime, within seconds replies are established, it’s very hard to condition it to be anything else.

Quick, timely, and informed is always the goal but does not equate to THESECONDTHEMESSAGECOMESTHROUGHSOHELPMEGOD.

The Lasting PsychoSocial effect

Marketing, in every form, is rooted in psychology. To be truly effective at reaching customers or building communities or encouraging the purchase of products on social media, it’s imperative to understand people as people. Not as archetypes or personas, but as individual people with unique factors that contribute to how they experience content and what moves them to action.

A major oversight I see often is the dismissal of the psychosocial effects of social media on people. It has intrinsically and significantly altered the ways in which we conduct ourselves, perceive information, respond to content, and interact with brands. Even ten years ago, you never had a “direct line” to engage with Nike. Now you do in the palm of your hand. There is a biological shift that has taken place in our brains that has reestablished a baseline understanding of what accessibility is to these previously untouchable, consumer monoliths.

The reality is that I can see an adorable picture of my niece who lives in another state, double tap it, and leave an adoring comment, littered with emojis, scroll to the next and have the ability to do the exact same thing to a piece of content from my favorite brand. There’s no major separation happening here like we’ve seen in traditional media. You expect commercials while watching network television. You know that looking at a billboard along the highway means you’ll see which exit to take for the world’s largest ball of yarn. You get the Sunday paper knowing you’ll see the weekly ad for Target. Social media has blurred that line of expectation. It’s happening inline and alongside updates from the people you know and love. Which stands to prove that our subconscious, in regard to brands on (and off) social media, has a greater alignment to how personably we interact with our friends and family and the expectations and emotional responses we have to them than not.

Not a gig for the intern

And so, it’s important to differentiate that posting to social media is very different than managing social media.

Truly anyone can post something on social media.

As a brand, you should be intimately connected to what it means to incorporate your voice, product, or service onto a social platform. It has a powerful impact on your brand as a whole and the experience that customers and prospective customers have with your brand.

We are far, far, far past the age of forgiveness because “the intern running our social accounts didn’t know”. People are hip. They’re with it. Big brands have brought in highly skilled, talented, and ever-learning leaders to guide their social media strategies and content experiences. These good eggs have set the standard for the rest of us.

Having an exceptional social media experience isn’t reserved for brands at scale, but for small businesses, it certainly needs to be firmly rooted in a foundation of scalability.

Wear the Chipotle social suit as a startup and I promise you’ll grow into it.

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