Build Integrity within Your Practice

There are a lot of people ‘out there’ who are full of, shall we say, hype.

As a business owner, it is important that you build and network on your integrity and honesty. Be honest about your abilities and turn around time for your clients. I know that the first words out of my mouth are, “Sure, I can do that.” Then I ask the question – “When do you need it?” Ouch!

Sometimes I get myself into a fix and have to work longer hours than I want in order to stay true to my word. Oftentimes, the deadline can be negotiated with your client.

Just be honest. Clients usually understand – especially if it is an emergency on their part. They will appreciate it and so will you in the long run! As a VA, we set boundaries to try and keep certain hours and not be tempted to ‘just check my e-mail’ at 9:00pm.

A couple of tips:

1. Be consistent in the hours and effort you put into your business
2. Be honest with yourself and clients about what you can do
3. Be honest about what it will take to be successful

As your business grows in the right way – you can always blame your integrity!

Happy New Year!

As the New Year rolls into the mountains of Colorado, so do resolutions! My resolution is to be more consistent with information and resources!

A good source for information about small businesses and entrepreneurs is the ‘About Entrepreneurs’ series of Ezines. The latest one has several links and articles about podcasting. However, the information about blogs is also quite good.

Take a look here at Scott’s Top 10 Blog Choices and why:

http://entrepreneurs.about.com/b/a/213119.htm

Now, he did write the article a couple of months ago, but the advice is great.

I recommend you sign up for his ezines – they are full of information for entrepreneurs and can guide you in areas that you might be less than knowledgeable.