Making Business Fun

[Spider]

As many of you will know, I have a blog called "Making Business Fun." So far, I have spoken of --

Measuring Fun
Happy employees, happy customers
Attitude
Changes
Fun logos
Magic - from the Witch
Having fun climbing stairs
Adding humor to communications
Telling jokes at work
The World's deepest trash bin
Play, Creativity, and Lifelong Learning
The Fun Theory award
...and others.

Now, I'm not running out of ideas, believe me - but I thought I would tap the creativity and ingenuity of my friends at SBF (Well -- okay -- my enemies, too - if you must!!!!)

I'd like to hear of some fun things you have done at work, introduced into your business, or anything you have done or heard about that adds fun to the workplace AND benefits the business, employees and/or customers.

The base idea is that Happy customers spend more money with you and happy employees are necessary to create happy customers.

What do you say?

[Harold Mansfield]

A lot of us are one man shows, so we don't ( at least I don't) have any ideas for an office type setting or businesses that have multiple employees. For me, just being able to work from a home office with my comforts and distractions set up is half the battle.
Most of the things I do because I do work alone, would not fly in an office environment.
So it's kind of tough to offer anything constructive since I don't have any knowledge of running an office full of people.

If you want some ideas for making a home office fun or relaxing to work in, I can probably help out with that.

When I have worked in offices or on a staff it was mostly in hospitality and our employee bonding pretty much amounted to drinking and club hopping.

..and by the way, you don't have any enemies here.

[Spider]

Harold - that 'enemies' remark was part of the 'making business fun' process -- like, a joke, y'know? Jeez! You have been working alone for too long, my friend!

[Harold Mansfield]

I know it was. Next time I'll include a smiley face for ya :)

[Spider]

I know you knew - a smiley face would have meant I couldn't follow up.

There! :) -- back at ya!

[Harold Mansfield]

So what can a one person business add to the mix? Do you tackle any articles on things like keeping focusesd when you work alone of making your home office comfortable or anything like that?

[Patrysha]

Well I'm rather partial to the witch...bwa ha ha :-) I've since been making a further transition into the witchcraft theme and just finished getting the skeleton ready for the new website.

I have no idea about working in an office environment...I only ever worked in one for a very brief period in time...a collections agency. Everything else has been retail, restaurants and radio...all the jobs have been fun in their own way except the collections place...oh and that day I was a telemarketer...that wasn't a fun place at all either.

Music is the one thing that was in all the fun environments...and wasn't in the ucky ones.

[Spider]

So what can a one person business add to the mix? Do you tackle any articles on things like keeping focusesd when you work alone of making your home office comfortable or anything like that?B-o-r-i-n-g! No, there are plenty of places that deal with getting a comfortable chair and staying focussed. Making Business Fun is about sparking it up - much easier when you have other people to play and joke with, but perhaps that makes having fun all the more important for the lonepreneur.

I work alone and all my coaching is online, so I'm no different in this regard, although I have worked in lots of offices, corporate and site offices, and also done some on-the-road sales. But - to answer the question - What can one-person business add to the mix?

Every hour or so, I get up and walk about. My wife's pet grooming and boarding business is on-the-premises so I get to let the dogs out on the lawn, throw ball, break up fights and other fun stuff, before returning to the computer. Once a week I go for a swim and often Friday lunch is extended at a local pub. Toastmasters is a useful break and I occasionally attend a Meetup in the area.

If you don't have pets to take a break with, some other personal activity can serve - ten minutes of improvised golf putting, a couple of minutes on the pool table, if you have one - that sort of thing keeps the brain alive and awake. They say, a change is as good as a rest.

What DO you do for a break?

[Spider]

Well I'm rather partial to the witch...bwa ha ha :-) I've since been making a further transition into the witchcraft theme and just finished getting the skeleton ready for the new website...I think your witch-theme is great, Patrysha. You can go around wearing a big black witch's hat. Even if no-one sees you, the fun aspect is still present and still working.

[Harold Mansfield]

I don't really break during the day. I'm almost as comfortable at my desk as I am on the couch (except for the actual couch being there). I usually have music playing through iTunes, got a little TV below my monitors for news and whatever, and I run multiple monitors so I can easily answer emails as they come it, or drop a few jokes or participate in a friends thread on Facebook without interrupting any work that I'm doing.
When I stop for lunch I'll usually log onto Hulu and check out an episode of something I missed during the week.

It's like a little command center...kind of like the one man band with the kick drum on his back and the cymbals between his knees.

So yeah, for your purposes of fun in the office..actually pretty boring and doesn't really offer anyone any ideas to keep a group of people energized and happy.

[jamesray50]

I'm a one person business, but I'm not really busy so I can't offer any suggestions on how to be happy yet at work, except to have more work. But, I did write a blog for my website a couple of weeks ago on How to Keep Your Sanity During The Tax Season. It is sort of along the lines you are referring to. This is a busy time of year for accountants and I had suggestions on different things they could do for themselves and their employees to help ease their stress throughout the rest of the tax season. If you get a chance you can read it on my website under blog. Maybe you will bet an idea from it.

[greenoak]

we have horrible jokey narratives going on all the time...green oak orphans...short jokes with our short person.... lots of bad girl talk if no guys around.......lots of horrrible wife jokes with husbands at the counter...bad husband jokes if the subject is decorating... , a long train of fluffer and flopper jokes, jokes about blaming whoever isnt there, jokes about the head fluffer breaking a nail if she has to carry something.... ...it goes on and on at our place...random customers making fun of dh for golfing even if hes home in the office..... and it all helps with the pressure in a boiler room atmosphere that we work in...
sometimes its a way to make a complaint in good humor.... like when the floppers vent with an eye roll about what they have to do for the fluffers...like get the picture hung in the right place..or moving something for the 3rd time....or a way to complain to the floppers if they mess up a good display to do something on their list.....

[Spider]

Whatsamatter? Can't you girls sleep?!

I suddenly realised that we - and most people, probably - have a hard time associating work and play. So far in this thread, only Patrysha and Ann have mentioned anything to make work fun. All the rest of us have been suggesting having fun by stopping work! Taking a break, going for an ice cream, playing with the dogs, and joking with a friend (as distinct from joking with a customer.)

Patrysha's idea of marketing herself as a witch - a marketing witch, applying witchcraft to achieve sales magic - is about making business fun - for herself and her clients. It even gives her some scope to be cranky and play with that as being a witch! (Handy for the "morning after the night before" occasions!) And for blaming the ingredients (eye of toad, not eye of frog) when her marketing idea doesn't quite work out!

It sounds like Ann has a lot of fun in her business, too. If her staff are having fun, there's a good chance her customers have fun being there, and that is always a great attraction for people to return. Fun, happy staff is going to translate into fun displays, fun sales conversations, and fun movement (bright bouncing walk rather than disinterested ambling.) A lot of this affects customers on a psychological level, I think. Although I have no idea what floppers and fluffers are!

This is what I am talking about regarding making business fun.

[greenoak]

patryshas ads sound great...
hey spider...wish you could meet them all.....
.the floppers do the hard work of carrying stuff around and placing it and the hauling, the hanging , the good strong nails, GETTING SOLD FURNITURE OFF THE FLOOR, ...like the prop guys in a play....then the fluffers fluff it all up and make it look good....aka visual merchandising....
we use fun in our ads all the time too....as is ~~ a fun place to shop...nothing real serious like going to the dr or the divorce lawyer or the unemployment office....we are kind of like about taking a break and indulging..and making your house feel good.... the happy side of life...
we have some geek jokes too and once in a while dh throws in ~ a she who must be obeyed joke..FROM RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY, .. i know ive gone overboard w hen he clicks his heels a nd salutes.... that always telegraphs something to me....
its funny how lots of married women have the about the saME OPINION OF GUYS, lots of times the women shop and we give the guys coffee.... guys usually dont care for our popular painted furniture , they like real wood.......they just dont get it...

[Patrysha]

Lol...I actually have been searching high and low for a decent witches hat. It's the wrong time of year though and I am not yet desperate enough to make my own...though I will if I can't find the perfect hat by the end of October. I've discovered in the search how incredibly picky I am about witches hats though...

Work has almost always been fun for me...there's always something in a job, project or situation that can take a job from an absolute grind somewhat passable. Not every situation can be a laugh a minute, but I lose all patience with people who can't find silver linings and sweet spots...to me that is choosing to be cranky. It just doesn't make sense to me to choose to be miserable. My husband is the worst for this...his mind immediately skews negative first before opening up to other frames of reference and other ways of looking at a situation.

[Spider]

Witches Hats and other accoutrements - Oriental Trading (http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/search/processRequest.do?Ntt=witches+hat&requestURI=searchMain&Ntk=all&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&N=0)

[Patrysha]

Thanks Frederick, but those ones are too crafty and the costume ones too whimsical. The kind I am searching for is more like the one in this picture Royalty Free Stock Images: Witch (http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-witch-image16538459)

[Spider]

Try this--
Professor Mcgonogall Witch Hat - Movie Character Hats (http://www.costumeandpropshop.com/detail/EL-LU2341.html)

Also, for hubby -- “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results.” -Willie Nelson

[greenoak]

patrysha...i know you are pretty f ar from the bible belt....but down here witch has some really negative connotations...some real not logical connotations....it would be a bad word more than a the fun word....it might matter if you are trying for a geographically wide marketing target......
eborg, how about getting started on your day with some roger miller!!!! for kind of a fun peppy perk ..

[Harold Mansfield]

Believe it or not, I actually break up my day by joking around with friends on Facebook. I have about 4 or 5 people that I can either count on for a good laugh or count on to set me up for a punchline. We haven't seen each other in years but it's exactly how we were back in the day so we get each others jokes. I can get in a few jabs and punchlines without stopping what I'm doing and it does help the day go by faster.

[Patrysha]

Yes, I considered that, but considering the way relationships develop with my best clients...I doubt I'd get along or attract anyone with those sorts of viewpoints anyway. I think that anyone ingrained in the types of thoughts and traditions that still hold witch as a bad word wouldn't be hiring a darkie anyway...

[greenoak]

oh dear.... i never thought of that....
its pretty widespread tho..not sure where the witch part starts, in their local church i guess..
.we sell way less halloween than in some parts of the country...so somebody is telling them its real and evil.... wonder if their kids still get to trick or treat?

[Spider]

Would the Salem witch trials have anythig to do with it?

[Patrysha]

oh dear.... i never thought of that....
its pretty widespread tho..not sure where the witch part starts, in their local church i guess..
.we sell way less halloween than in some parts of the country...so somebody is telling them its real and evil.... wonder if their kids still get to trick or treat?

Well it's based on the interpretations of passages in the Bible that say not to consort with those who tell fortunes and commune with the dead. I am a Christian and have heard the rhetoric on some level...never in church but through different conversations and groups and so on. Those who take it beyond the scripture (at least in my opinion they do...I do understand the viewpoint I just don't agree with it as far as fantasy and fiction witches go) would tend not to allow things like Harry Potter or Sabrina or things like that (but will usually allow the works of C.S. Lewis which is pure hypocracy imo.) Some parents who hold to the strict interpretation do allow Trick or Treat as long as the children dress as "good things" rather than witches, zombies, vampires and so on, while some won't. There's usually plenty of Halloween alternatives for people who don't want to do Halloween. Shoot there was one book I read way back when that stated that a true Christian wouldn't allow their children to play with Care Bears or My Little Pony because of the magic and mysticism...

I guess I mostly just figure that of all the potential clients out there, that the ones who find witchcraft or the hint of it offensive can choose some other marketer...which is good cuz they'd likely be too uptight to be a good match for my personality anyway. Just the same way that I tend to shy away from businesses who promote themselves as Goddess...I am certain they are wonderful people but it makes me feel uncomfortable so I don't shop there.

[greenoak]

you are describing the ones who have really thought about it and really believe.and you described them very well.....
.its too bad but they have influenced a big group who arent thinking that deep about it but just might hold witch references against you out of vague casual feelings...kind of average folks who might otherwise be ok for you...
it sure wouldnt bother me....but i wouldnt use it around here.. ...

[Patrysha]

That's okay...for one thing my clients (the ones who have been with me for years) are all far above average anyway. My target wouldn't be the type to apply superstition to a business decision. Second, I'm pretty sure the popularity of Bewitched, Sabrina the Teenaged Witch, Charmed indicates a large enough pond to fish in. I only need about 30 retainer clients more to reach my next income target...

[greenoak]

if i banned average people i would be out of business...lol..i have to try to welcome anyone who can afford me...for bottom line reasons...
.sorry just trying to help...
fyi...i clicked on your facebook marketing link and got nowhere...

[Patrysha]

I do not see how it is banning? If you (the general you, not the specific you) don't like me, don't buy from me is pretty basic, but it's far from banning. But I suppose that is part of the difference between a business that has thousands of feet of floor space and hundreds of thousands in inventory that suppports dozens of families directly needing thousands just to keep the utilities and insurance paid up and a home based business with only digital and creative inventory that needs to support one family. Plus knowing the original McDonald's was designed and marketed to discourage one particular market segment that most burger joints in California attracted at the time attracted allows me to be okay with not attracting every single potential client. If there's no place in marketing for a witch, I'll likely find out soon enough...though it's been recieved well so far :-)

Fixed the FB link, I put a quotation mark where the colon was supposed to be originally...it can be reached from the main part of the new site too though...

[greenoak]

i hear you.... in our business we try to go thru a process of worst case scenario and unintended consequences on all kinds of decisions... ..... i do that a lot, its part of lots of decisions for us...why not for any business? ..and sometimes its a huge help.... .. it wasnt an attack.... ...just didnt know if you had considered that part since you arent around the bible belt....
for instance in naming our store we picked a local name...a defunct town about a half mile away,,,greenoak.....i cant tell you how many problems it has caused over the years....about 2 houses are at that crossroad now and so many out of town people, who are looking for our store, have been sent to that crossroad by old timers who remember when it was a town called greenoak..the new customers must have asked something like wheres greenoak? and got sent to the wrong place.....then they bug the poor people who live there... and those folks send them on to us.........i wish someone had at least brought up that potential problem for me before we actually picked the name..... .....all thats better now with the website and gps...

[ParaTed2k]

Business is always fun for me! First of all, since my income isn't dependent on success or failure, it's never a source of stress. Also, when your business is sending greeting cards and gifts, how can it be anything BUT fun! :~D

[Harold Mansfield]

First of all, since my income isn't dependent on success or failure, it's never a source of stress.

Sounds like your business is not how you make a living. So is your business just a hobby or just not a major source of income?

[ParaTed2k]

Sounds like your business is not how you make a living. So is your business just a hobby or just not a major source of income?

No, my business isn't my major source of income. I'm retired Army and my wife works for Johnsonville Sausage Co. Sendout Cards is one of what I call my "projects". Some of my projects make money while others are strictly voluntary. Experience has taught me that multiple streams of income and residual income are the way to go. Besides, it's much more fun to decide what you want to do, when, and why than do the same job day after day. My goal is to get my projects bringing in enough income that my wife can decide if she wants to keep working, or quit and pick up her own projects to do.

[Spider]

Making business fun -as opposed to taking breaks from the business to have some fun - is what I'm trying to do. On a major scale, I am dealing with a fairly new client who wants to grow his 1 -2 old car renovations a year to a 30-per-year business. He buys the run-down classic cars, fixes them up and sells them. (Actually, that's not his business but as this is an ongoing project, I have changed the details to respect my client's privacy.) We are not talking about spit-and-polish jobs, either - this is total disassembling and reassembling virtually derelict cars, turning them into concours winners.

My job is to help him get from a one-person-with-two-helpers business to a company of craftsmen with skills and responsibilities turning over an anticipated $5 - $10 million a year. Here's the fun in it - I have told him that he must totally reinvent his business as a game. There is no passion in business like the passion for the Game - ie. the business of sports! I have told him to imagine that the game of football has not been invented yet - that he has come along to invent this game for the world - that he is going to sit down and describe the objectives of the game, the rules of the game, the strategies, the players, the support people, the fans, the environment, the stadia, the whole emotional structure -- only we aren't going to invent the game of football, we are going to invent the "Renovating 30 Concours Cars Per Year" game.

And that is what he is doing now. He has an interest in football and he is designing his new business using football as inspiration. This is not something he will put together in a few hours over a weekend - this will likely take him months. But do you think it would be worth having an exciting, fun, passionate base to your business, that gives you a gateway to becoming the top concours renovator in the industry and possibly the world?

That is what I am hoping to capture as Making Business Fun.

[greenoak]

that is such a neat outside the box approach...... i hope it works...from what i hear that business has been hurt by the ecomnomy too...we are close to the auburn car auction....was world famose and closed...
spider,,,i bet you are really fun to brainstorm with.!!
..if i say ive got a wild idea dh covers his ears.....and if my daughter, or heck... anyone who knows me , and wants to give me a thrill they say ive got a wild idea for you.....fun counts around here....

[ParaTed2k]

Spider, that is a great approach! Every good business owner or manager has to decide how they will stand out in the minds of their customer base. Looking at it as "creating a new game" is an awesome way to put it.

I started my business because I was no longer able to work... now I have no interest in returning to work.. I'm having too much fun with my projects to start thinking about things like "promotions" and "raises" to get ahead. All that does is make us really good at helping other people reach their business goals. Now, I have nothing against helping others make their business goals, in fact, it is one of the approaches I take to my business model. However, I would rather look at it as partners in helping each other get successful than me working towards someone else's success, and hoping they recognize my contribution. ;~D