Finding Happiness in Your Work

By Mandy Shunnarah

You could say that Daniel Stewart and Alex Wier of Augusta, Ga., ad ageny Wier/Stewart are entrepreneurial soul mates.

“Most people will tell you business partnerships fail, but we had the same idea of what we wanted to do to be happy and the same idea of what wealth was, so we courted each other,” said Daniel Stewart, Studio Director of Wier/Stewart.

“We decided that we didn’t want to wake up in the morning, realizing we were just chasing money. My idea of wealth is being able to go to the grocery store and get whatever food I want without looking at the price,” added Wier/Stewart Creative Director, Alex Wier.

The team at Wier/Stewart lives by the mantra of finding happiness in your work and shared tips on how to find such happiness at the Southern Coterie Summit in Athens, Ga., on Aug. 1.

Stewart and Wier were joined by Wier/Stewart Agency Development Director, Lee Heffernan, who previously worked in New York City marketing women’s television stations to advertisers and designing the Martha Stewart Pets market campaign. The team’s synergy and family-like business relationship was apparent from the moment they took the stage.

Together they drafted 12 steps to help rising entrepreneurs love what they do as sole proprietors and in business partnerships.

Check Your Attitude: Sometimes your attitude is the only thing you have control over. Clients appreciate a good attitude because it makes achieving a mutual goal easier and bad attitudes are apparent from workplace morale. When hiring, be wary of bad attitude red flags because if someone does have a bad attitude, they’re not going to suddenly get a better one.

Set Your Goals: Think five years from now and plan every step to get there. Many small businesses fail because they become complacent. Imagine what your business could do if it got a big break and plan to make it happen.

Assemble Your Crew: Don’t try to do everything yourself. Find people who are good at doing what you need to be done and don’t be afraid to delegate. Get people who are dedicated to the same things you are. If you’re worried about hiring someone, give the potential employee a trial period before hiring. But in gathering your team, you have to be okay with people making mistakes. Just make sure they have a positive attitude and want to get better.

Have a Revenue Model: Hourly rates can put you in a corner because someone may only want to pay you for two hours when it’s really a ten hour job. Consider having clients commit to a minimum number of hours, or set up flat rates for specific tasks. Don’t be afraid to ask to be paid what you’re worth.

Develop Your Process: Do a good amount of work on the front end to establish yourself as an expert in your field. Have several meetings with the client to establish what they want the finished product to look like before you begin work. And if the client wants you to do something that you wouldn’t be proud to showcase, offer alternative solutions so you can both agree on a professional end result.

Know What Works: Don’t be afraid to try new things and push the envelope, but know the basics of what works so you have something to fall back on.

Solve the Problem: The client may not know what the root problem is, but it’s your job to figure it out. Show people things they didn’t know they wanted. Think of creative ways to achieve their goals and help them reach new audiences.

Find the Void: Look for unique ways to capitalize. Think about your competition and evaluate what they’re doing, and, most importantly, what they’re not doing because that could be your ticket to a new opportunity. Be innovative with your business by finding the marketplace void.

Do Something Different: Step away from the traditional and think of ways you can incorporate new technologies into the client’s goals. Build better mousetraps everywhere you can.

Self-Promote: Do fun and creative things to get your business noticed. Try guerrilla advertising or fun office window decorations to attract passers-by.

Fire a Client: That’s right. Fire a client. If a client is unnecessarily difficult to work with and is making you hate your job, which means you’re not doing your best work, fire them. More than likely, if they treat you poorly, they treat others poorly, so potential future clients won’t think badly of you for firing them. In fact, firing a client commands a certain level of respect from people.

Plan for Growth: The No. 1 reason small businesses fail is because they didn’t plan for growth. Plan for the big order and the high profile client. And if a client asks you, “Can you get this done?” the answer is should always be “yes.”

About the Southern Coterie Summit: The Southern Coterie Summit, or Southern C Summit, is a conference series that brings the together “best of Southern brands, bloggers, businesses and an assortment of Southern creatives to collaborate, create and innovate.” The conference is an extension of The Southern Coterie: The Social Network of the South. For more information on the next conference in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 17, check out the Southern Coterie Summit website.

Mandy Shunnarah is a freelance writer and editor, and an aspiring novelist. When she’s not writing, she can be found reading, learning to letterpress, watching Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones, and finding stray cats to cuddle with. Follow her on Twitter at @fixedbaroque and @awhitewrites.