![\"work\"](\"https:\/\/seejanewritemagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/work.jpg\")
<\/a>You could say that Daniel Stewart and Alex Wier of Augusta, Ga., ad ageny Wier\/Stewart<\/a> are entrepreneurial soul mates.<\/p>\n \u201cMost 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,\u201d said Daniel Stewart, Studio Director of Wier\/Stewart.<\/p>\n \u201cWe decided that we didn\u2019t 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,\u201d added Wier\/Stewart Creative Director, Alex Wier.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Stewart and Wier were joined by Wier\/Stewart Agency Development Director, Lee Heffernan, who previously worked in New York City marketing women\u2019s television stations to advertisers and designing the Martha Stewart Pets market campaign. The team\u2019s synergy and family-like business relationship was apparent from the moment they took the stage.<\/p>\n Together they drafted 12 steps to help rising entrepreneurs love what they do as sole proprietors and in business partnerships.<\/p>\n Check Your Attitude<\/b>: 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\u2019re not going to suddenly get a better one.<\/p>\n Set Your Goals<\/b>: 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.<\/p>\n Assemble Your Crew<\/b>: Don\u2019t try to do everything yourself. Find people who are good at doing what you need to be done and don\u2019t be afraid to delegate. Get people who are dedicated to the same things you are. If you\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n Have a Revenue Model<\/b>: Hourly rates can put you in a corner because someone may only want to pay you for two hours when it\u2019s really a ten hour job. Consider having clients commit to a minimum number of hours, or set up flat rates for specific tasks. Don\u2019t be afraid to ask to be paid what you\u2019re worth.<\/p>\n Develop Your Process<\/b>: 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\u2019t be proud to showcase, offer alternative solutions so you can both agree on a professional end result.<\/p>\n Know What Works<\/b>: Don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n Solve the Problem<\/b>: The client may not know what the root problem is, but it\u2019s your job to figure it out. Show people things they didn\u2019t know they wanted. Think of creative ways to achieve their goals and help them reach new audiences.<\/p>\n Find the Void<\/b>: Look for unique ways to capitalize. Think about your competition and evaluate what they\u2019re doing, and, most importantly, what they\u2019re not <\/i>doing because that could be your ticket to a new opportunity. Be innovative with your business by finding the marketplace void.<\/p>\n Do Something Different<\/b>: Step away from the traditional and think of ways you can incorporate new technologies into the client\u2019s goals. Build better mousetraps everywhere you can.<\/p>\n Self-Promote<\/b>: Do fun and creative things to get your business noticed. Try guerrilla advertising or fun office window decorations to attract passers-by.<\/p>\n Fire a Client<\/b>: That\u2019s right. Fire a client<\/i>. If a client is unnecessarily difficult to work with and is making you hate your job, which means you\u2019re not doing your best work, fire them. More than likely, if they treat you poorly, they treat others poorly, so potential future clients won\u2019t think badly of you for firing them. In fact, firing a client commands a certain level of respect from people.<\/p>\n Plan for Growth<\/b>: The No. 1 reason small businesses fail is because they didn\u2019t plan for growth. Plan for the big order and the high profile client. And if a client asks you, \u201cCan you get this done?\u201d the answer is should always be \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n About the Southern Coterie Summit:\u00a0The Southern Coterie Summit<\/a>, or Southern C Summit, is a conference series that brings the together \u201cbest of Southern brands, bloggers, businesses and an assortment of Southern creatives to collaborate, create and innovate.\u201d The conference is an extension of\u00a0The Southern Coterie<\/a>: 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<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 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\u00a0@fixedbaroque<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0@awhitewrites<\/a>. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Mandy Shunnarah You could say that Daniel Stewart and Alex Wier of Augusta, Ga., ad ageny Wier\/Stewart are entrepreneurial soul mates. \u201cMost 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… Continue reading Finding Happiness in Your Work<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[180,182],"tags":[52,95,49],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/seejanewritemagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/work.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seejanewritemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seejanewritemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seejanewritemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seejanewritemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seejanewritemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=991"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/seejanewritemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1099,"href":"https:\/\/seejanewritemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/991\/revisions\/1099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seejanewritemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seejanewritemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seejanewritemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seejanewritemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}