3 tips for using the power of kindness in your small business
As small business owners, sometimes it can feel like our work is never done. There’s always another task on the to-do list that will take you towards your goal and simultaneously take up more of your time. From marketing to finance to service development to admin and much more. We certainly wear a lot of hats!
On the other hand, there is a lot to celebrate about running a business yourself. I’ve been running mine for 13 years now and during that time I have met a lot of other owners, all with a story to tell about how they have come to be their own boss. Many of the positives come from having control and autonomy, being able to flex our work around other responsibilities and interests.
Connecting with others
Something I worried about when I first started out on my own was no longer having a team around me. I enjoy having other people ‘on my side’, people I can turn to and share the highs and lows of my professional life with.
We have a traditional view of business as being a competitive, sometimes cut-throat, world where everyone is out for themselves. I was concerned there wouldn’t be a lot of camaraderie or kindness in the new world I was entering. But that hasn’t been my experience at all.
I soon discovered that as a freelancer I’m part of lots of teams: a team with my clients’ employees; a team with other consultants who I compare notes with from time to time; a team of people running other small businesses who face similar business challenges. And a team of like-minded people in online communities who are also living the dream and working on their terms.
The days and weeks I spend a lot of time at my desk, head down with client work, can feel lonely sometimes. But I know I can reach out for support. For me, kindness has shown up in many business scenarios, including:
The people with established businesses who took the time to chat with me when I first started out, giving me advice on everything from how to set my day rate and where to find clients, to when to set up a website and what services were worth paying for.
The contacts who introduced me to people in their network who they thought could be potential clients for me.
The people in my network who send me supportive words and encouragement about the work that I do and the things that they like about it.
The fellow consultants who I regularly have coffee with, in person or virtually, as a way to maintain connection.
The members of the online freelance community who responded to my message that said ‘I’ve told a client I can do x but now I realise it’s not as easy as I thought’ by saying ‘we’ll help you, we’ve got your back’.
Small business stories
One of the things that I do is to run the Time for Kindness programme. The aim of this work is to inspire hope and positivity by celebrating the kindness that already exists in the world. Our audience submits stories of kindness in business on a regular basis.
Some of my favourites are:
A business that slows its production down during school holidays to enable parents to spend more time with their kids.
A zero waste shop owner who recommended other local businesses as a venue for an event for neurodivergent people.
An expert in their business field who took time out to give advice and shout outs to a fledgling business just starting out in their field.
Zoom meetings attended by home-schooling super-heroes who were made welcome, invited to draw a picture and listen in to Mummy or Daddy’s work – “They are after all the employees of the future, why not make them feel welcome and part of the conversation.”
Notice kindness
It’s not just being directly involved in acts of kindness that can make a difference to you and your small business. One of the most powerful things you can do for yourself and your business is to notice the kindness going on around you. And if you have employees or others working with you, encourage them to do the same.
Time and again people tell me that hearing and talking about stories of kindness makes them feel more positive and hopeful – who wouldn’t want some of that attached to their business?
Top tips
Kindness has made a huge difference to my business and to me personally. It is a powerful thing because it connects us as human beings. If you’d like to add some of that power to your business, here are my tips for where to start.
Make a conscious choice to look out for kind acts. They will be there, you may just not have noticed them before. If you catch yourself focussing on the negative, stop and ask yourself if there is a different way to look at what’s going on. Even in the darkest of situations you can often spot someone who is doing something kind to help another person, however small their action is. The more you practise this way of thinking, the easier it will become.
Recognise that even the smallest of acts can be kind. Kindness doesn’t just show up in grand gestures. Commenting on a small business’ social media post, sharing a software tip with another owner, offering to do the washing up for a colleague – these are all small but mighty acts of kindness. And they add up over time.
Be kind to yourself. It will be easier to spot something in others if you’re experiencing it yourself. So silence the negative inner talk, create reminders of what’s out there so you can turn to them on darker days, close the laptop early some days and cook a nice meal. You are doing your best with your business, so celebrate that.
Kindness is all around us. We just don’t talk about it enough – yet!
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