‘Smash the Rest of 2021’ Event Day!
Last Thursday was our EPIC ‘Smash the Rest of 2021’ Event Day. It’s been 9 months since my last in-person event, so it felt amazing to finally be back together with everyone. We had a mixture of newbies and existing clients so it was great to see everyone finally be able to network with each other and work on our businesses as a community.
My team and I arrived early to get set up and make sure we were all ready for the day ahead. As everyone started to arrive there was such a great energy! We were all so excited to be back in-person. There were even a couple of emotional moments within the first hour or so!
A few people said they we’re feeling quite nervous, which is completely understandable. We’ve all become so used to our own personal bubbles over the last year, which is completely natural. So it is a big change too suddenly be back in a room with everyone.
Let’s smash the rest of 2021!
I’m sure we all know that sometimes it can be quite frustrating, having to share our elevator pitches to people over and over again, so we kicked off the day by going round the room and each answering these questions;
- Who are you and what do you do?
- How do you help people?
- What are you looking to achieve from today?
This way we were all clear on exactly who everyone was and what our businesses are, and we only had to say it once!
Most people said one of the main things they were looking to get out of today was to simply see some faces. We’ve all been trapped because of COVID, and it’s been very isolating recently so I know that we all wanted to just reconnect and work on our businesses together.
Everyone briefly shared their story and we discussed what we all wanted out of today, and what was going to make this day successful for us. But like I’ve said many times before, success is TOTALLY subjective! It’s completely different for each individual so I wanted to make sure everyone was 100% sure that this was a safe, non-judgemental and confidential space where we can all be honest and embrace vulnerability.
Successes and Struggles…
After introducing everyone, I wanted to get across that we always tend to focus on the negative. I know that’s how my brain tends to work sometimes. So the fact that we’re all like-minded allowed me to gauge that from everyone.
So, the first task I set out was for everyone to think about and list down all the good things that have happened in the last six months. Whether personally or professionally. I thought it was a really great way for everyone to give themselves that recognition that they deserve. As well as focus in on the positives for once.
What went well over the last six months?
It’s so easy to get caught up in the negatives, and the things that we tend to do wrong. But this was all about giving ourselves credit and recognising our hard work. We each shared a couple of things that have gone really well for us over the last six months, and it was amazing to hear everyone’s progress and celebrate our successes together. Here are some of the things that were said;
- Hired new employees
- Had a shift in mindset
- Stepped outside comfort zone
- Took accountability
- Prioritised self
Business IS personal, especially for small business owners. If you disagree, I definitely would question that.
What have we struggled with over the last six months?
We moved on to talk about things that we’ve struggled with within the past six months, whether in their personal life or within their business. Whilst it’s important to think positively, we do have to be real. It’s so important to me that we all share and support one another. That’s why I held the event day! Here are some things we’ve struggled with over the last six months;
- Technology
- Setting boundaries
- Fear of failure
- Not enough time
- Sharing the workload
- Lack of sales
I asked the question ‘who here has resonated with something that’s been said’, and nearly every single hand went up. This goes to show that we’re all on a similar journey, and no matter how hard it is to realise it, we’re not alone! This is why I do what I do. I’ve been through so many of theses struggles. It’s so difficult when people like your friends and family simply don’t understand them. So I wanted to create a platform where like-minded people can share their story and we can all relate to each other and have a supportive network behind us.
Time and Money…
The next task was to write down absolutely EVERYTHING that we do in our businesses and our personal lives. Making sure to include things that we may not want to do.
but are a necessity.
Once listed down, I had everyone split their lists into things that only they, as the business owner can do. Then things that can be outsourced, or given to someone else to do. Whether that be someone in their team or someone external.
Through this task everyone was able to get some clarity about how they’re actually spending their time. As well as if they’re spending it efficiently and productively. Like I said earlier, it’s so common for run business owners to feel as though we have to take on everything ourselves, and can’t ask for help. But we started our businesses for what reason? To be able to do what we love! This is why it’s so important to delegate the jobs you don’t NEED to do. This way you can put more of your time and energy into delivering your product or services to your clients.
Time and money go hand in hand…
So next I had everyone work out exactly what they wanted to earn on a monthly basis, based on the amount of hours they want to work per month to reach their financial goals. This includes the take home figure and the desired amount of DELIVERING hours they want to be doing.
By delivering hours I mean the time spent actually delivering your product for service to your clients. If you want to deliver less hours, prices have to go up! This way you’re reaching your financial goals. But you still have time to do the other things that are not being outsourced, and still reaching your time goals. It’s important to make sure we outsource as much as possible for the things that we, as business owners, don’t actually HAVE to do.
It’s so important that we find stability and balance between time, money, and support.
If you have less time, but more money in the bank, hire someone new who is already trained an experienced in the job role. This way you won’t have to make time to train them and can afford to pay the higher wage for a more experienced employee.
If you have more time, but less money in the bank, recruit apprentices or kickstarters! You’ll have the time to train and nurture them to what’s right for your business. With apprenticeships, you get a grant for hiring one, but with the government’s Kickstart scheme, the government pay 25 hours a week of the employee’s wages.
Planning, Ideas, and Goals…
The final task of our ‘Smash the Rest of 2021’ event day was a big one. I wanted everyone to list out every single one of their ideas and goals that they’re looking to do and achieve in the future/within the next six months. Basically to have a complete brain dump and get it all on to paper.
Once all written out, I asked everyone to number their list and start prioritising everything they want to do. The main thing I wanted people to leave with today was at least one clear vision for one priority of theirs to get started with and implement what they’ve learnt.
I saw so many people come up with some amazing ideas that may have been thought of on the spot. Or maybe had been in the works for a while now but they haven’t had the time, support, or tools to go ahead with it. It seems as though so many people had already gained so much clarity in their business and what their plans may be for the future. Like I always say, we just need to remember to ALWAYS hold each other accountable and TAKE ACTION!
People were sharing their transformations and epiphanies that have come about because of the event day, and it was great to see everyone making such good progress, personally and professionally.
Organise and strategise…
At this point the energy was still amazing. We were all so exciting to ‘Smash the Rest of 2021’, and were all buzzing about our future prospects. I had everyone use our 90 day wall planner, and sticky notes to organise and prioritise everything they’d listed. The sticky notes allowed people to colour co-ordinate all of their tasks so they can easily keep track and organise quickly. It was amazing to see everyone working on their businesses and gaining that clarity back. Especially as a team. It was so rewarding to know that I’ve helped them throughout this process and that they’re going away having learnt something new and hopefully with a much clearer vision of their business.
What a blast!
Our event day was SUCH A BLAST! My team and I had such a great time with everyone. It was absolutely amazing to finally be back in person and see everyone make some real progress with their businesses.
We decided to hand out a couple of bottles of bubbly as prizes. One for the best social media post of our event, and one for most improved business owner. Congratulations to Hannah Hollis who we selected for best social media post, and to Julia Taroni, who won most improved business-owner! Great job to both of you.
A HUGE thank you to all of you that came. I hope you enjoyed it too, and hopefully I’ll see you all again soon!
