Small Business Tips Archives

Why Every Business Should Blog: The SEO and Digital Marketing Goldmine

Leave a Comment / Small Business Tips / Michelle Symonds

When Sarah launched her online boutique selling eco-friendly apparel, she did everything by the book. Sleek website? Check. Social media pages? Live and active. Product photos? Professionally done. But a few months in, she noticed something troubling: traffic was flatlining, conversions were tepid, and her store was practically invisible on Google.

Then, on the advice of a friend in digital marketing, she added a blog.

At first, it felt like an afterthought. But soon, weekly posts about sustainable fashion, behind-the-scenes insights into her production process, and styling tips started pulling in traffic. Not just any traffic, these were qualified visitors who stuck around, subscribed to her newsletter, and bought from her shop. Her organic search rankings rose steadily. What changed? Sarah had tapped into one of the most underused and powerful tools in digital marketing: a strategic blog.

The Blog: A Digital Marketing Engine Hiding in Plain Sight

Every business whether it’s a startup or a legacy corporation can benefit from maintaining an active, content-rich blog. This isn’t about random musings or outdated “company news.” We’re talking about a well-researched content strategy delivered through fresh, targeted blog posts that align with what your customers are actually searching for.

Here’s why that matters:

1. SEO Superpowers: Blogs Are Search Engine Magnets

Search engines love fresh, relevant content. Every time you publish a new blog post, you create another indexed page on your website, which is a new opportunity to appear in Google’s search results.

But it’s not just about quantity. A blog allows you to:

Target long-tail keywords your potential customers are Googling.
Answer frequently asked questions, improving your chances of earning featured snippets.
Internally link to your product or service pages, enhancing site structure and authority.
Build backlinks more naturally because high-quality blog content gives others a reason to link to you.

In short, a blog makes your website discoverable. Without one, you’re playing digital hide-and-seek with search engines and probably losing.

2. Build Authority and Trust, One Post at a Time

In today’s skeptical marketplace, consumers don’t just buy products, they buy expertise. A blog is your platform to prove you know your industry inside and out. And that is true whether you are a global finance broker, national events organiser or a small local startup.

When a potential customer lands on your post titled “How to Choose the Best CRM for a Small Business” and finds actionable insights, they’re not just better informed, they’re more likely to trust you when it’s time to buy.

This is content marketing 101: provide value first, and sales will follow.

3. Keep Your Website (and Brand) Alive

A static website with only product pages feels… well, just that, static. Blogs breathe life into your brand. They show you’re active, engaged, and evolving.

Fresh content signals to both customers and search engines that you’re relevant and in tune with the latest trends. Whether it’s a commentary on industry news, a case study, or a tutorial, regular blog updates that provide people-centred, helpful content will turn your site into a living, breathing resource.

4. Fuel for Social Media and Email Marketing

Let’s face it if you’re trying to constantly come up with social media content it’s, quite frankly, exhausting. But every blog post can be repurposed into multiple social media snippets, newsletter content, or discussion starters in your community.

A well-maintained blog creates a content ecosystem, where one post feeds multiple channels. It’s efficient, scalable, and aligned with your brand message.

5. A Funnel for Conversion, Not Just Information

But great blog content isn’t just informative, it’s also strategic.

Each post should be crafted with intent: some will be about raising awareness, educating or entertaining. Others will be part of the customer journey to conversion. That could mean inviting readers to download a lead magnet, sign up for a webinar, or explore your services.

Through calls to action (CTAs) embedded in relevant content, blogs become subtle but powerful conversion funnels.

6. Insights into Your Audience Straight from the Data

Here’s an underrated benefit: blog analytics offer a goldmine of information. Which topics get the most traction? What keywords are driving traffic? Where are users dropping off?

This feedback loop helps refine your broader marketing strategy. Your blog becomes a real-time research lab, offering insights you can use across your business.

The Bottom Line: Blogging Is Not Optional

But don’t panic! You don’t need to be a brilliant writer. You just need a well-researched content strategy.

A business blog that’s regularly updated with well-researched, SEO-optimized content is more than a marketing tool. It’s a competitive advantage. In a world where attention is scarce and trust is hard-won, blogging lets you earn both, organically and at scale.

So if your business isn’t blogging yet, the question is “why not?”

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Vulnerability team leader talking about project progress with remote team

Does Vulnerability in Leadership Really Build Trust and Connection With Others?

Leave a Comment / Small Business Tips / Jo Jeffries

As a result of the market shifts, global crises and challenges resulting from the disruptive events of recent years it has been necessary to look for multifaceted solutions. It is important for organisations who are looking to be resilient, innovative, and adaptive to make sure they have good team collaboration. Effective collaboration needs a good foundation of trust. and a trust deficit can all too often be the cause of failure. For any leader who want to be build a collaborative, strong team then it is important to demonstrate this vulnerability, even though it might seem counterproductive. When they embrace vulnerabilities, leaders can create deep connections. This can increase engagement and can drive better productivity.

Trust and vulnerability – the link

Trust is essential for successful teamwork. It allows team members to rely on each other, share ideas comfortably and address any issues without worrying about judgement. When trust is lacking, then a team can fall into a pattern where competition, designment and miscommunication occur. This make collaboration difficult.

One of the best ways to build trust is through vulnerability. Whilst a traditional leadership model my suggest promoting authority and strength, the modern work environment benefits when a leader shows openness. When a leader shows some of their own uncertainties and challenges they can model trust. This helps establish a norm where trust and collaboration can grow.

Vulnerability as a leadership skill

Vulnerability doesn’t mean oversharing to undermine your own authority. Rather, it means a strategic, conscious approach to humility and honesty. There are some key steps a leader can adopt to help encourage openness amongst their team.

Acknowledge emotional triggers and reactions

Leaders need to recognise their emotional triggers. Rather than impulsively reacting they should practise stopping for a moment to look at their emotions. When they are calm and measured in their response to a challenge this can help a team see that setbacks are a normal part of the growth of a project rather than a problem.

Shift from a mindset of ‘Prove Yourself’ to ‘Improve Yourself’

In settings of high-performance there can be a pressure to appear very competent all the time. But when leaders focus on constant image management, it can result in a culture where others feel the need to prove themselves, often at the expense of learning and collaboration. It is important that growth is prioritised over perfection.

Admit mistakes and uncertainties

One of the most powerful things a leader can do to show their vulnerability is admit when they have made mistakes, this level of transparency can make it easier for employees to also admit to their struggles.

Encourage feedback then act on it

When you embrace feedback it sends the message that everyone has an opinion that matters. It reinforces the idea that insights and knowledge are things that should be shared.

Be consistent

This type of trust is built by being consistent rather than from single moments. Consistently act on the same values and this will show your commitment to your team and result in much higher levels of engagement.

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What to do when a team member threatens to quit your project

When a member of your project team threatens to quit the project, it can be an incredibly stressful moment as a project manager. This is not least because it can threaten the future of your project and all your carefully laid our timescales. It is, however, an opportunity that you can use to address any underlying issues that you may not be wholly aware of. Ultimately, how you handle the situation can strengthen your team.

There are a number of different reasons that team members might threaten to quit. The most obvious is that they are working under a project manager that they don’t get on with. However, they could also be upset about pay or even feel that they have been passed over for promotion.

Let’s take a structured look at how to navigate this situation effectively, and how you should respond to any employee who threatens to quit. Our thanks to the APM project management experts at Parallel Project Training for their input on this article.

Understand the reasons behind the threat

it is essential to take time to consider the situation before you take any action. This means that you should take a moment to assess all of the details. Normally, people do not threaten to quit without a really good reason. Identifying the underlying cause of this threat is key, and some of the more common reasons include:

Workload stress – When a person feels overwhelmed by the responsibilities of their role it can feel like the only thing to do is quit.
Conflicts within the team – Conflicts within the scheme can create friction and make it hard to come into work. It is important to remember that these conflicts can arise with other team members or with leadership.
Lack of recognition / career growth – This can lead to a team member feeling undervalued or as though their career has become stagnant
Better job opportunities elsewhere – The situation in the current workplace may have forced the team members to look around. This could mean that they have either received a competitive job offer or have decided to take a different path with their career
Work-life balance issues – The reason may also be a personal one, with other commitments causing strain to the person. This may mean they have chosen to change career / give up their job to help with this balance.

When you identify the reason and understand the motive behind a team member’s frustration then this can help you find the tools to address the problem in the most effective way possible.

How to respond when a team member threatens to quit

When a team member expresses their desire to leave, a response that is thoughtful and strategic can go a long way towards helping you de-escalate the situation. You need to be in possession of all of the facts so that you can see what solutions there might be. However, it’s important to remember that you won’t be able to help every team member who is in a position where they feel like quitting.

Stay calm and listen

It is important to avoid reacting in a defensive or dismissive manner that doesn’t consider the concerns of the team member, you should:

Arrange to have a conversation one-to-one
Actively listen to what the team member has to say, don’t interrupt them
Acknowledge their feelings and show some empathy

Quite often a person can say that they are going to quit simply because they are frustrated. Venting their frustration can often result in a good deal of clarity over the situation. Offer a safe space where they are able to express any grievances, and this may prevent them from making impulsive decisions.

It can also be a good idea to ask some open-ended questions. This will help your team members to elaborate on the nature of their concerns. This might be things like “What aspects of your role feel unmanageable?” or “what would make your role feel like a more positive experience?” The responses that you get to these types of questions will help you to identify the specific problems that might need to be worked on.

Evaluate possible solutions

Once you have got to the root of your team member’s concerns then you can begin to consider what you might be able to do to help improve their situation. This might include:

Rebalancing workload – Adjust some of the tasks that the team member has to make them more manageable and reduce stress.
Conflict mediation – Set up discussions that can help to resolve interpersonal issues
Provide recognition – Give appreciation for work that has been done and look for ways in which you can help offer career growth opportunities
Flexible options – This might mean adjusting schedules or other work arrangements in order to provide better balance.

When you take the time to try and understand the issues and make changes, you are demonstrating your commitment to the wellbeing of your team members. And also maintaining the integrity of your project.

Should you try to keep the team member or let them go?

Unfortunately, not every threat to quit is something that you should try and find a solution for. Sometimes letting a team member go is best for everyone. It is important to think about just how valuable someone is to the team. If they have skills no one else has then their role may be critical to project success. If the demands have been simply too high then it may be best to let them look for what they want elsewhere.

Sometimes even the best solutions are not what the individual wants so it can be best to let them have their say and leave. If you have addressed their concerns and it still seems like departure is the best option, then the best thing you can do is ensure the transition is smooth for your project and the rest of the team.

Some team members who threaten to quit are just venting their anger and really just want someone to listen. Their worries can often be resolved with no issue to your team. However, some people threaten to quit because they want something that simply isn’t possible, and when this happens, it is usually best to part company.

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A Practical Guide to Leading Remote and Hybrid Teams

Leave a Comment / Leadership, Small Business Tips / Peter Durrant

In the not-so-distant past, managing a team meant gathering in a meeting room, reading faces, and exchanging thoughts across a table. Today, leading remote and hybrid teams looks very different. Some team members are in the office, others are dialing in from home offices or café corners halfway across the world. The once-clear boundaries of “workplace” have blurred, and the role of the modern manager has shifted with them.

Remote and hybrid work isn’t a trend, it’s a reality. But for many leaders, the challenge lies not in accepting this shift, but in navigating it effectively. Productivity, cohesion, accountability, and even culture all feel harder to pin down when your team is scattered. Still, with the right mindset and a few grounded practices, remote and hybrid leadership can be just as human, effective, and rewarding as its in-person counterpart.

Clarity First, Always

When proximity disappears, clarity becomes your most important tool. Remote and hybrid teams cannot thrive on assumptions, vague directions, or offhand comments made in hallway conversations. Leadership in this context means setting clear expectations, on priorities, responsibilities, communication norms, and availability.

This doesn’t mean dictating every move. It means ensuring that everyone knows what success looks like, what the current goals are, and how their work connects to the bigger picture. A well-written brief, a simple shared roadmap, or a clearly stated weekly objective can do more to align a team than hours of unfocused Zoom calls.

Trust as a Default Setting

Leading from afar demands trust, not the blind kind, but the intentional kind. You don’t have the luxury of seeing who stays late at the office or who speaks up in every meeting. Instead, you have to lead by outcomes and effort, not optics. The best remote managers resist the urge to micromanage and instead create structures where team members are empowered to deliver on their own terms.

This doesn’t mean letting go of oversight altogether. It means replacing surveillance with structure: regular check-ins, shared goals, transparent progress tracking, and open dialogue. The goal is to create a rhythm of accountability without resorting to control.

Communication Is the Culture

In hybrid and remote teams, communication is culture. It’s the glue that holds everything together, strategy, morale, and relationships. Without daily face time, every email, Slack message, or video call becomes a cultural artifact.

That’s why it matters how you show up and how often. Set a regular cadence of updates, whether it’s a Monday morning team video call or a Friday roundup email. Use asynchronous channels for updates that don’t need immediate feedback, and save video calls for discussions that benefit from nuance or collaboration. And above all, make space for casual connection. A virtual coffee chat or a Slack channel for weekend stories may seem trivial, but these small rituals build trust and cohesion.

Hybrid Doesn’t Mean Half-Engaged

One of the biggest traps in hybrid teams is the unintentional creation of an “in-office elite” , where those who show up physically get more facetime, more influence, and more opportunity. It’s often subtle, but it’s real. Good hybrid leadership requires deliberate inclusion. That might mean ensuring remote colleagues aren’t just muted squares during meetings, or it could mean rotating days in the office to avoid the same people always being the ones “in the room.”

Hybrid leaders must constantly ask: Am I designing meetings, decisions, and communication in a way that includes everyone equally? Am I rewarding visibility, or results? Inclusion isn’t a byproduct, it has to be part of the plan.

Flexibility With a Backbone

Flexibility is the great promise of remote and hybrid work, but too much of it, without structure, quickly descends into chaos. Good leaders balance autonomy with boundaries. Set core hours if needed, establish turnaround times, and be transparent about when real-time availability is expected.

At the same time, avoid defaulting back to rigid, in-office norms. Productivity shouldn’t be defined by being “online” 9 to 5. Instead, measure outcomes, respect work-life balance, and acknowledge that flexibility, when coupled with trust and accountability, tends to lead to better performance, not worse.

Feedback Still Matters, More Than Ever

When leading teams in a remote or hybrid setting, silence is dangerous. Without in-person cues, people can begin to second-guess themselves, feel invisible, or lose direction. That’s why timely, honest, and specific feedback becomes even more important. Don’t wait for quarterly reviews. Make feedback part of your weekly rhythm, positive, constructive, and forward-looking.

A quick message acknowledging good work, a thoughtful suggestion for improvement, or a simple “How are you doing with this project?” can go a long way. Your visibility as a leader is now measured not by how often you’re seen, but by how often you’re felt.

Leadership Without Walls

There’s no going back to a one-size-fits-all office. The future of work is flexible, blended, and evolving. The challenge, and opportunity, for today’s leaders is to create coherence without co-location, and connection without constant contact.

Leading remote and hybrid teams is not about recreating the office online. It’s about reimagining leadership for a world where work can happen anywhere, and great teams aren’t defined by geography, but by purpose, clarity, and trust.

Done well, this kind of leadership doesn’t just work, it elevates.

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No-nonsense Guide to Measuring Productivity in SMEs

1 Comment / Skills, Small Business Tips / Peter Durrant

In a world awash with KPIs, dashboards, and data overload, the term “productivity” gets thrown around with abandon. But for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), measuring productivity isn’t just about watching numbers tick up on a screen – it’s about understanding where value is created, where time is lost, and how to get the most out of lean teams and finite resources.

Unlike sprawling corporations with dedicated analytics departments, SMEs often operate with limited bandwidth. Time spent measuring is time not spent doing. And yet, without some framework to evaluate productivity, businesses risk operating in the dark – making decisions based on instinct rather than insight. The challenge, then, is to find a pragmatic, no-nonsense way to measure productivity that works at the scale and pace of an SME.

Start With the Basics: Output vs. Input

At its core, productivity is a simple equation: how much output you get for a given input. But the trick is defining those terms in a way that’s meaningful for your business.

For a manufacturing firm, it might be units produced per hour of labour. For a creative agency, it could be completed client projects per month. For a software company, maybe it’s new features released or bugs resolved relative to team hours. The key is to identify your core value-generating activity and track it consistently against the time, money, or people you’re putting in.

Don’t get bogged down in perfecting the metric – just pick something that reflects your business reality and is easy to measure. Over time, you can refine it. But in the beginning, consistency is more important than complexity.

Measure What Matters, Not Just What’s Easy

Many SMEs fall into the trap of tracking what’s easiest to count: hours logged, calls made, emails sent. These can be helpful indicators of activity, but they’re poor reflections of productivity if not tied to outcomes.

Instead, think critically about which metrics actually move the needle. A sales team that makes 200 calls a week isn’t necessarily productive if the conversion rate is poor. A developer who codes fewer hours but delivers higher-quality work may be the most productive person on the team.

So, consider qualitative outcomes alongside quantitative ones. Client satisfaction, retention rates, rework levels, and speed to market are all meaningful indicators of productivity that can be more telling than raw output alone.

Use Tools But Keep Them in Check

Productivity tools and project management platforms can be incredibly useful, especially for SMEs looking to track progress without spreadsheets spiralling out of control. Whether it’s Asana, Trello, Monday.com, or a good old-fashioned Gantt chart, the right tools can help teams stay focused and accountable.

But the tool is only as good as the discipline behind it. Avoid the temptation to track every task or micromanage every move – this creates noise and often stifles creativity. Instead, set clear goals at the team and project level, and use tools to monitor progress against those goals at regular intervals, not obsessively.

Don’t Underestimate the Power of People

In a small business, individual performance can make or break overall productivity. Unlike large firms, where underperformance can be hidden in the bureaucracy, SMEs feel every shortfall.

That’s why measuring productivity also means paying attention to employee engagement, communication, and culture. A team that feels trusted, aligned, and motivated will almost always outperform a disengaged one, regardless of the systems in place. And in a world of hybrid and remote working getting people together from time to time on business trips, for instance, has been shown to boost productivity according to Situ, the global accommodation specialists.

Regular one-to-one check-ins, open feedback loops, and clear recognition of effort all contribute to a culture of productivity. And when something isn’t working, don’t be afraid to have the honest conversation. Transparency matters.

Track Trends, Not Snapshots

One of the most common mistakes SMEs make is judging productivity on the basis of weekly or even daily data. But business productivity is rarely linear – it ebbs and flows with projects, seasons, and people’s lives.

So focus on trends. Are things improving month over month? Are projects being completed faster than before? Are revenues rising relative to headcount or hours worked? These broader patterns tell a far more useful story than any isolated data point.

A monthly or quarterly review cycle is often the sweet spot for SMEs – long enough to see meaningful changes, short enough to stay agile.

Less Perfection, More Progress

Measuring productivity in an SME doesn’t require a consultancy-level audit or enterprise-grade software. It requires common sense, a willingness to ask hard questions, and the discipline to review and refine regularly. Keep the metrics simple, tie them to real business outcomes, and don’t forget that people, not numbers, drive performance.

Ultimately, measuring productivity is a means to an end: helping your business grow, compete, and thrive. Measure it with purpose, manage it with care, and your SME will be better for it, not just in efficiency, but in resilience, reputation, and results.

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Limiting beliefs future proof your career leadership training Imposter syndrome

The Power of Mindset – Overcoming Limiting Beliefs for Personal and Professional Growth

Leave a Comment / Small Business Tips / Jo Jeffries

Limiting beliefs are often not only ingrained but can really hold you back when it comes to personal and professional development. Whether these beliefs stem from past experience or cultural conditioning, they can often leave a person believing negative things. “I’m not good enough” or “I don’t deserve success” are common thoughts. These beliefs can create a barrier that makes it difficult to reach their full potential.

Limiting beliefs go beyond simple frustration. They affect how people feel about their own abilities and how they perceive themselves. It is important to be able to recognise these beliefs. By knowing your inner critic, you can overcome them in order to find personal and professional growth.

Common Limiting beliefs

Unfortunately, there are a number of negative beliefs, and at one point or another most people will have struggled with at least one of them. These include:

I am not good enough: This points to a fear of failure and oftens stops someone from taking risks or pursuing their dreams. This could be true whether this is a belief that you are not good enough for something that is work related or something more personal.

I am too young/old: Age should not be a barrier for anyone, but we often have self-doubt that age hampers us from succeeding in life or when it comes to changing careers
I am not smart enough: Underestimating how smart you might be, an inability to learn new skills or obtain and retain new knowledge is common, it is important to have the confidence to work through this.
Money is the root of all evil: This sort of belief can often hold you back from being financially successful and can result in a financial struggle

How do limiting beliefs impact on personal growth?

When it comes to personal growth, limiting beliefs has various impacts. They can create an unfortunate fixed mindset. It is often all too easy to muddle along in your comfort zone. It’s simpler keeping everything the same and not rocking the boat by trying anything new, learning a new skill, or even making a few simple changes. This can stop your personal development. It keeps you stuck in a rut where you are permanently in a state of self-imposed limitations.

How do limiting Beliefs impact on professional growth

With professional growth, limiting beliefs can also be incredibly damaging. Beliefs such as “I’m not smart enough” or “I am too old/young” can be detrimental. They can stop you from pursuing potential new career opportunities. You will miss out on valuable opportunities that could help with career growth and a sense of professional fulfilment.

How to break free from limiting beliefs

It is easier than you might think to break away from these limiting beliefs that can hold you back. Self-awareness can be incredibly important. Therefore you need to find time in your busy routine to identify those negative self-limiting beliefs that might be holding you back.

You should also challenge your limiting beliefs. Are they true or are they based on unfounded assumptions? Remind yourself what you are capable of and what you have already achieved.

There are a great many things that you should be doing to ensure that you overcome you limiting beliefs so that you can improve your personal and professional growth.

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Why AI fails at mentoring

Leave a Comment / Small Business Tips / Jo Jeffries

AI has made significant steps in recent years. It is now even able to generate information in a more conversational manner. In fact, some of the AI-generated chat programs that you will find out there are incredibly good at what they do. In some cases, it is often impossible to work out if you are speaking to a real person of not. When it comes to business, this offers fantastic potential. However, it also invites some difficult questions. Is AI also capable of replacing social institutions, friendships or peer-to-peer interactions? Worse still is, it possible that it could be used to replace mentorship?

There are certainly many things that AI can do but it cannot yet replace the more intangible aspects that are associated with human interaction. With this in mind, we explore why AI fails at mentoring.

What AI is good at

Before we consider why AI fails at mentoring lets take a very brief look at what it is really good at:

· Finding patterns – AI can sort through large amounts of information and data and find patterns to make predictions.

· Automating lists that are repetitive – Because it’s good at finding patterns, it is also great when it comes to creating commands for repetitive activities.

What can’t AI do?

AI is however not very good when it comes to generating new information. When it comes to interacting with humans it can really struggle. Furthermore, it can’t really respond all that well to a prompt where it simply doesn’t have the information necessary to hand.

The lack of human element

To put it simply, if you were looking for advice from a mentor in areas which you were struggling in and wanted advice, support and a little guidance, AI simply doesn’t have the capacity to give you this. It would be more likely to give you some random information that it was able to find that it believed would fit what you were looking for. Unfortunately, this usually would be way off the mark.

A mentor is there to guide you and no matter what the problem send you in the right direction. It may not be with the full answer that you need but rather the right guidance to find that answer or the information that would lead you to the solutions. This requires a significant amount of knowledge and often the ability to think outside the box. Essentially this is something that AI has yet to master.

When you choose a mentor, you do so for many reasons. One of these is that you want someone you can learn from, who has been in the position you are in themselves, and so understands. This is simply not something that AI will have any knowledge of. Therefore, any answers that it gives you will be based on guess work and probability.

A mentor is also someone who can help you when it comes to networking. Again, this is something that AI simply has no real knowledge of. It might be able to suggest ways in which you can network, but it does not have the human connections to help you.

There are many ways in which AI is a great and incredibly valuable tool. However, when it comes to mentoring, the human touch is essential and this is not a bad thing.

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Feeling Stressed? How Hobbies Help With Stress Relief

Leave a Comment / Small Business Tips / Peter Durrant

Today’s world seems faster than ever, leading to many people obtaining a new companion: stress. Being able to juggle work, family and social commitments is getting harder than ever, and often, if we’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed and drained, the hobbies are the first things to go. However, neglecting your hobbies can actually be the worst way to handle stress. Even amid the hustle and bustle of daily life, hobbies provide a powerful antidote to stress. Research has shown that engaging in activities we enjoy can provide us with a bit of relief from world pressures, significantly improving our mental well-being.

Backed by science- hobbies are good for you

A study published in 2023 provides clear research that hobbies are good for your mood, health and more. Over 93,000 people across 16 countries were surveyed, and many of these had long-standing mental or physical health conditions. The results were startling.

Compared to people who didn’t have hobbies, those who undertook their interests regularly reported to be in better health, were happier and had fewer symptoms of depression. While this doesn’t prove that hobbies cause people to be happy and happy and healthy, research has found that creativity, self-expression, relaxation and stimulation found in people’s hobbies held strong links to good mental health and well-being.

What does it all mean?

Simply put, hobbies can provide you with a sense of accomplishment and joy, no matter what they are. Whether you enjoy cooking and mastering new recipes, reaching a personal best in a sport you undertake, or completing a challenging riddle, that feeling of achievement can significantly boost self-esteem, contributing to better mental well-being.

Benefits of taking time for your hobbies

Besides the sense of achievement you’ll obtain from finishing something challenging, or getting better at an activity you enjoy, there are other benefits of taking time for your hobbies.

Staying mindful

Stress is often closely linked with the worry cycle. When you ruminate on a problem or a situation, this can perpetuate a cycle of negative thinking that can be difficult to get out of. Most hobbies require a degree of concentration. This means we must be present in the moment while we undertake them. Whether playing a complex card game such as Magic: The Gathering, where lack of concentration and focus could completely change your game, or painting or playing a musical instrument, if your mind is entirely focused on the task at hand, it can put the brakes on a worry cycle.

Being socially connected

Many hobbies provide an opportunity for social interaction. Whether you join a book club, attend a crafting workshop, or simply volunteer with your local litter-picking group, you’ll find like-minded individuals who share your interests. Social connections have been well-researched and are known for their valuable impact on various aspects of mental health. They can help lessen feelings of loneliness and allow for you to feel more connected to your community, which can help you feel more supported.

Choosing the right hobby for you

The trick to reaping all these mental health benefits of hobbies and avoid feeling stressed, is to choose an activity that genuinely sparks interest in you. What works for one person may not work for another, and while some people thrive in solitary hobbies such as reading or writing, others thrive in more social activities such as group fitness classes or hikes.

Integrating hobbies into your daily life

Whether you’ve found less time for a hobby that you used to enjoy or you’re looking to start a new one, a little research is a good idea before you get started. Take a look at your local community and news pages to find what is available to you, and really think before you commit. For example, if you’re into social gaming, book clubs, sporting teams or fitness classes, make sure that events are on days or nights that you can attend before you opt-in. After all, if you try something once and really enjoy it but find the schedule doesn’t work for you, this can be disappointing. Likewise, if you intend to join a sports team, make sure the level of the team you’re joining is appropriate for your fitness and skill. Otherwise this could cause you to feel worse, not better.

No matter what hobbies you like to undertake, finding time for them in this time-poor world is tricky, but worth it. After all, a hobby can significantly improve your mental and physical health if you’re feeling stressed, which will have a positive impact on other areas of your life too.

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Building a Leadership Pipeline in Small Businesses

2 Comments / Small Business Tips / Jo Jeffries

In the modern business world, effective leadership is crucial. This is true not only for large organisation, but for small businesses. As SMEs strive to stay ahead of the curve throughout their growth, a robust leadership pipeline becomes imperative. Here, we look at the essential components of building a leadership pipeline in a small business.

What Is A Leadership Pipeline?

Simply put, creating a leadership pipeline means proactively identifying and grooming those who could be future leaders within your SME. There are certain useful rules to follow when it comes to creating a robust pipeline in order to secure the future of your business, even after you no longer work in it.

Rule 1 – Identify Leadership Potential

The first thing to do is to identify those within your business that have leadership potential early on. Going through a thorough assessment of employees’ skills, competencies, and aspirations will help you identify potential candidates, but it is important to look beyond their current job performance and consider abilities such as strategic thinking, adaptability, and interpersonal skills.

Rule 2 – Building a Framework

When you have identified potential leaders, you will need to create a framework to support their development. Providing them with a mix of experiences that broaden their skill set and allow them to operate in different parts of the business will be extremely beneficial. On-the-job learning, mentoring, and formal training can be combined to help create well-rounded leaders.

Rule 3 – Mentorship

Mentorship has a pivotal role in leadership development. Pairing your identified candidates with experienced mentors/leaders who can provide guidance, share insights, and offer constructive feedback can accelerate their development. It can also provide useful proof to other employees that you are working on their behalf.

Rule 4 – Succession Planning

A robust leadership pipeline needs to include succession planning. An SME that has identified which roles are critical and prepared those who want to step into these positions when the time comes is a business that will not fall when a member of staff retires or leaves or throughout periods of change..

Rule 5 – Creating a Leadership Culture

It is essential that a business that wants to succeed embodies a culture that values and prioritizss leadership development. This can not only encourage employees at all levels to aspire to leadership roles, but can help improve the diversity within your business. Diverse teams can bring a huge range of benefits to an SME, and could help to identify areas for future development that may not have been previously considered.

Evaluating Leadership Development

While setting up a leadership pipeline is a job that might take some time, you will need to return to your framework to make adjustments sometimes. Carefully establish metrics for measuring progress, early on, and this will allow you to make changes if something isn’t working quite so well as it should.

Investing in leadership isn’t just a strategy. Developing a leadership pipeline means you have put in long-term investment to secure the success and sustainability of your business.

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The importance of growth mindset for leadership success

1 Comment / Small Business Tips / Jo Jeffries

If you were to look into the background of any company that is successful, the one thing that you are most likely to find is a team leader who has adopted a growth mindset. Letting go of a fixed mindset can be one of the best ways in which you can improve your chances of leadership success.

What is growth mindset?

Growth mindset is a belief and attitude that individuals have the potential to develop their abilities, talents, intelligence and emotional intelligence. This means that they believe that success comes from the desire to work through challenges. This is rather than avoiding them. A leader who has a growth mindset is someone who tends to focus on the process more than simply focusing on the outcome.

This is of course in contrast to a fixed mindset. A fixed mindset sees things like talent and intelligence as things that cannot be developed or changed and are fully fixed. Leaders in this category are fully results orientated. To them, challenges are failures.

How can a growth mindset help you team develop?

When you adopt a growth mindset you can improve the potential of your team dramatically. Plus, you can provide a healthy culture where accountability helps to drive growth in your business.

Even during times of crisis, if you prescribe to a growth mindset you will envisage opportunities for your team. You don’t believe in giving up or looking for someone or something to blame when things do not go well. In fact, quite the opposite. A team leader in a growth mindset will look for ways to increase the growth of the team and overcome any challenges that come their way.

How can you create and nurture a growth mindset?

If you are looking to adopt a growth mindset there are a number of practices that you can use. These will help to create the right mindset for you and your team.

Embrace change – the world is a rapidly changing digital space. It is one that we need to embrace rather than fear.
Be self-aware – in order to grow and change we need to understand where we are staring from. When you are self-aware you have the tools to make better decisions. Plus, you can explore the opportunities that will help grow your business.
Disrupt yourself – with self-awareness comes the ability to disrupt yourself. This is something you should do before someone else does it for you. This allows you to become the one who is driving innovation.
Understand and reward the value of learning from failure – failure happens. It is important to learn from your mistakes and use them to help you make better decisions in the future. Make failure one of the learning tools that you use within your organisation.
Process should be part of an ongoing project – a key factor of the growth mindset if focusing on the process and not simply the result. You cant do everything perfectly, 100% of the time and this is why the process is just as important.
Practise perseverance – Results do not happen overnight it is important to be patient and persevere in order to get the results that you are looking for. This is what will allow you to lead your team forward to a point where you will have more impactful goals.

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