[00:00:00] Mel: Hi, and welcome to Less Chatter, More Matter, a podcast about all things communication without the waffle. I'm Mel Loy, and in this show, I'll give you short, punchy, practical communication tips and insights you can start using in your communication practices right away. I'm a former corporate communication executive who happily took a redundancy, started my own business, and never looked back.

[00:00:32] Mel: These days I use my 20 plus years of experience to guide organizations of all shapes and sizes in how to communicate more effectively. I'm wife to Michael, auntie to 12 nieces and nephews, a gym owner, group fitness instructor, yoga teacher, and a bunch of other things as well. I promise these episodes will always be short, sharp, and insightful, so let's get amongst it.

[00:00:56] Mel: Hi everyone and welcome to another episode of Less [00:01:00] Chatter, More Matter. It has been a rollercoaster couple of weeks, heaps going on. Uh, we adopted a new cat. Her name is Cookie and she's super cute. She was a stray so they think she's about a year old but she's settled in beautifully. We also ended up going to the AFL grand final in Melbourne.

[00:01:20] Mel: So for those of you outside of Australia, AFL is the Australian football league. So it's our own special brand of football. And that was just amazing, even if the Brisbane Lions lost. And then I ended up in hospital having surgery very unexpectedly last week. So. It really has been a lot of ups and downs, but that's life and I'm on the mend and getting back into things. At the same time I was bored out of my brain in hospital.

[00:01:47] Mel: So apart from walking a lot of laps of the ward, I made some really good progress on the book I'm writing. It's designed to be a practical guide to change communication, which I'm super excited about. [00:02:00] And I'll be looking to recruit some early readers to get feedback. So if you are interested in joining that very exclusive club, please shoot me a message. I'm also about to launch the pilot of my newest course called Fresh 2 Freelancing. And it's designed to be the course I wish I'd done before I started my business. And the timing of this is actually impeccable because this month we are celebrating three years of Hey Mel! Communication and Training.

[00:02:27] Mel: Look, I wish I could say I had aligned the launch of this course with my business birthday, but I would be lying. It just so happens that I got more done more quickly than I anticipated. So any who, more on the course at the end of the episode, because I do have a special offer if you are interested in being a part of the pilot.

[00:02:45] Mel: Today's episode is a bit of a reflection piece on the last three years, and... Generally speaking, many small businesses do not survive the first three years. I've heard that if you do, then you are doing okay. I'm not sure how true that is. I haven't checked the [00:03:00] stats, but I can say the last three years have been equally as rewarding as they have been challenging.

[00:03:06] Mel: It's been a massive learning curve, not just in terms of running a business. But it's also been an opportunity for me to really spread my wings as a professional communicator, become more creative and look, I think I'm better at what I do three years on. So today I'm going to share three big lessons I've learned from three big years in business.

[00:03:27] Mel: And maybe they'll inspire you to start your own business one day, or maybe they'll do the opposite. Either way, they are lessons I think you could also apply to your career more generally. So please stay tuned in. Also, to celebrate our birthday, I've got a special offer on our workshops and training. So listen out for that at the end of the episode as well.

[00:03:48] Mel: So let's get into it. The first big lesson from the last three years is never stop learning. Now I mean that in two ways. One, never stop learning about your craft and [00:04:00] two, never stop learning about business. Being out on my own has really allowed me to become so much more creative than when I worked in house.

[00:04:09] Mel: And that's not to say that's the same for everyone. I think being neurodivergent means I felt a bit stifled in in house roles, whereas being a consultant means I've had the opportunity to work with a huge variety of clients across so many different industries, which has really broadened my expertise and my knowledge base.

[00:04:27] Mel: It's given me insights into how comms is done differently in different organizations of all shapes and sizes, and not just in Australia, but across the world. I would never have gotten that opportunity otherwise. And that's what I call learning by osmosis, taking it all in and also trying new things as you go, experimenting, seeing what resonates and what doesn't.

[00:04:48] Mel: There's also the more formal part of learning. So in the past, in my in house roles, I would have had to apply for learning and development budget to do any training or learning. These [00:05:00] days, I am the budget. So I've made it my mission to get as many relevant learning events under my belt as possible over the last three years, where not only have I been able to learn a ton, but I've also exponentially expanded my network, which is so valuable for a small business.

[00:05:18] Mel: There's also other types of learning. I've become obsessed with podcasts, apart from, you know, having one, I listen to them wherever I go. So when I go for a walk or if I'm driving somewhere, I pop on a podcast. I found some great comms and marketing podcasts that keep me fresh of full new ideas. I really love them.

[00:05:38] Mel: I think if you stop learning, that's when you stop progressing as a professional and as a business, because you become stagnant. You're not interested in continuous improvement. Being creative and having new ideas not only sets your clients apart from the rest when you produce work for them, but it sets you apart from the rest as well.

[00:05:59] Mel: And speaking of [00:06:00] business, as I said, I also keep learning about running a business and I've had to, because I had no idea what I was doing. But also everything changes so rapidly and you just have to keep up. So to do that again, I listened to a lot of podcasts, but I also read a lot of books. But most importantly, I've connected with other business owners and learned from them.

[00:06:21] Mel: And I still learn from them to this very day. I also invested in hiring a business coach who has been instrumental in helping me sort through ideas, getting clarity on my cashflow, all that sort of stuff. It's how I get better at not just running a business, but growing it as well. So that's the first big lesson.

[00:06:38] Mel: Keep learning both about your craft and to continue to position yourself as an expert that people want to hire. And keep learning about your business and how to make it better, more efficient, and even scalable or sellable. Lesson number two is a biggie. Build your support network. This business gig can be tough.

[00:06:59] Mel: I [00:07:00] can't speak for other business owners, but there have been times of great stress for myself, you know, impending deadlines for delivery, as well as all the work that goes into just running a business, like the paperwork, the admin, all that side of things. That has meant some super long hours working every weekend for months.

[00:07:16] Mel: And so on. There's also all the decisions you have to make and the questioning if you actually made the right choices or what to do, if those decisions end up being the wrong choice. And I think the third part of this is the mindset of the entrepreneur. It is very different to being someone who is in house as part of a bigger organization.

[00:07:39] Mel: It's looking at the world quite differently and constantly scanning for opportunities. And having a gazillion ideas at any one time. And not everyone understands that mindset or understands that ambition to do something big with your skills and your business when it is such a challenge. You know, why would you put yourself through that is a very good question.[00:08:00]

[00:08:00] Mel: So on one hand, you need to have a close support network of family and friends who while they may not necessarily understand what you do or why you do it, they fully support your decision to own and run a business. And they give you that space to rant and to cry, you know, or what I do, I rant about the injustices and all that sort of thing.

[00:08:20] Mel: But also they realize that sometimes you will be sacrificing time with them to keep the business going. And they recognize that and they accept it; and they recognize that you don't necessarily like doing that, you know, it's not something you're actively choosing to do a lot of the time, but it has to be the case if you want the money to come in. And they're able to recognize also when you're stressed and they don't question your ambition.

[00:08:44] Mel: Now, unfortunately, I've seen this with people before, particularly women whose partners or family members didn't understand what they did and why they did it. So they didn't support that person. And they get really sooky when the business owner was spending as much time [00:09:00] with it, wasn't spending as much time with them as they used to, told to just suck it up when they were worried or stressed, or like they were actively questioning these people.

[00:09:09] Mel: Around, you know, should you keep going with your business? That kind of lack of support is really damaging to a person's self esteem. And of course the business will suffer as a result. So when you do get going, my tip is that you may have to prune some of the deadwood as a necessity. And do a bit of education work with that inner circle.

[00:09:31] Mel: The other piece to support networks is your professional support network. And I cannot understate this enough. Being part of a network of people who understand what it's like to be in your position is invaluable. People who are going through it at the same time as you or have been there, done that. They get it.

[00:09:49] Mel: They get why you do what you do. So they can help you navigate decisions and tough times. And they can be great sounding boards for ideas. I'm part of a few [00:10:00] professional networks personally and professionally, I have benefited enormously from these. It really is like finding your tribe and they are your biggest cheerleaders and they give you the space to learn and experiment. So that's tip number two, build your personal and professional support networks.

[00:10:18] Mel: The final big lesson from three years in business is this. Be okay with being patient. Now, patience is not something that comes naturally to me. And I feel like it's not a natural, natural attribute of many business owners, but I learned very quickly early on that not everything is going to happen as fast as you want.

[00:10:39] Mel: And while you might have loads of ideas, you have to patiently and logically work through them. Now, when I say not everything happens as quickly as you'd like, this is in regards to a couple of things. First, it's about inquiries from potential clients. In my case, I got a few straight up, but then it took a while for others to come through.

[00:10:58] Mel: A big part of that is just [00:11:00] building awareness of you and your business, getting on people's radars and reaching out to your contacts. It would be wonderful if we were all flooded with inquiries from day one, but that's unlikely to happen. And that can feel really stressful, especially if you've given up a full time gig with a regular salary to try going out on your own.

[00:11:20] Mel: The consequence of that is that often we just end up saying yes to work that isn't really what we want to do, but we do it out of fear of not having enough work. So I've learned to be patient in terms of inquiries. You have to spend the time up front. Getting in front of people so they actually know who you are, what you offer, and then they consider hiring you.

[00:11:41] Mel: Also, they may not have worked for you straight away, but if you stay on the radar and show you can add some value, they may work for you further down the track. The second part of learning to be patient is actually about winning the work. I know I've spent hundreds of hours taking initial briefs, working up proposals, and then [00:12:00] hours and days just waiting to hear back.

[00:12:02] Mel: And the reality is that a, not every proposal you write will be a winning one. And b, procurement processes behind the scenes can take a really long time. Decision making, particularly in big organizations or where there is not much of a sense of urgency. It's pretty slow moving. So of course, don't be afraid to follow up, but allow time for the mechanisms on the client and to go through their processes.

[00:12:28] Mel: It can take anywhere from a couple of days to weeks before you hear back. Don't sweat it. Be patient. You will get an answer either way. Eventually. In terms of ideas, I am a self confessed serial ideator. Now, part of that is the ADHD because I'm just constantly chasing the dopamine. But when you are in an entrepreneurial mindset.

[00:12:49] Mel: You really do come up with a lot of ideas all of the time, because that's just how your brain starts to work, not just for my own business, but for other people's businesses as well. And look, some of these ideas will be [00:13:00] trash, but others will be gold. And it will be tempting to want to do all those shiny things at once at the risk of doing none of them well.

[00:13:09] Mel: It's also the risk of ignoring the work you should be doing or pinning your hopes on an untested idea because you were too quick to implement it. So patience around your ideas is a big thing. Take the time to sort through them, brainstorm, test them with others, and figure out a logical sequence. Also, ask yourself, do they all align with your growth strategy or your business strategy?

[00:13:33] Mel: Or are some of them just a nice idea? And for the really good ones that you do want to pursue, again, apply patience. You will get to them eventually. You just need to be mindful of everything else you have to do as you run a business. Or as I did, you will end up working stupid hours, trying to do all the things.

[00:13:54] Mel: So it's time for a recap of this special business birthday episode. Three of the biggest lessons [00:14:00] I've learned from my first three years in business are number one. Never stop learning about your craft and about business. Engage in as many learning opportunities as you can. Anything from podcasts and books to conferences, workshops, courses. If you keep learning, you'll keep growing your business and growing your reputation as an expert who people want to work with.

[00:14:23] Mel: The second big lesson is build your personal and professional networks. You will find this challenging journey even tougher without your cheerleaders supporting you behind the scenes. So build those networks early on. And number three is be okay with being patient; be patient about the work coming in, be patient about inquiries, be patient about proposals and be patient about ideas that can be really uncomfortable for some people who are like me, but it's better than being a hot mess.

[00:14:55] Mel: So to celebrate our birthday business month, I have a couple of [00:15:00] cheeky offers because the magic birthday number is three. I'm offering 30 percent off any of my workshops and courses. If you book them by the end of November this year, and they are completed by the end of May next year, 2024. So that's 30 percent saving on any course.

[00:15:16] Mel: So if you're keen on that, check out the link in the show notes or shoot me a message. And secondly, as I mentioned at the top of the episode, I'm about to launch the pilot of my new course, fresh to freelancing. Now this is the course I said at the top, I wish I'd done it before I started my business. It will be run live via zoom and there's nine modules covering.

[00:15:37] Mel: Everything from setting up your financial structures and insurances through to branding and marketing and even scaling or simplifying your business. Being the pilot round, I am going to offer it for half the price for a maximum of 10 people only. We will be kicking off in the first or second week of November. So if that's of interest to you, check out the link in the show notes, or again, just [00:16:00] send me a message.

[00:16:02] Mel: Okay. That's all for this week. Happy birthday to us. I hope you got something out of this episode, even if you aren't a business owner, or you're not contemplating being a business owner just yet. And don't forget, you can sign up to our fortnightly email update, where we recap some of the key trends we've chatted about online on the podcast and on the socials, as well as share a bunch of top tips and links to useful resources in the meantime, have a wonderful week.

[00:16:26] Mel: And I will see you all next week for a fresh episode of Less Chatter, More Matter; keep doing amazing things and bye for now.