experience – Page 4

Who’s got the ball?

Posted on August 27, 2023August 27, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

Nowadays there are more company meetings than necessary.

Zoom meetings, Client meetings, internal sync ups, and weekly catchups fill up our calendars every week. Months go on with many meetings that serve no purpose or get results.

Meetings are not going away soon. However, effective meetings are highly valuable for everyone in attendance.

To make company meetings effective, have an agenda, start and end on time, and have clear next steps.

Shellye Archambeau, chief executive of MetricStream likes to end her meetings by asking, “Who’s got the ball?” When you’re in sports, and the ball is thrown to you, then you’ve got the ball, and you’re now in control of what happens next. You own it. It becomes a very visible concept for making sure that there’s actually ownership to make sure things get done.” – NYT’s article

First class experiences

Posted on August 17, 2023August 17, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

Our minds are powerful and create our everyday “reality.”

We have the physical world where every living being is part of. Then there’s the subjective “reality” that’s unique to each one of us.

We create consciously, subconsciously and unconsciously and live in our own “reality.”

To be able to experience a better life or “reality” for ourselves, we have to learn to condition our minds.

If you want to experience flying first class, you have to make the decision to pay more to be there. Once you’ve experienced how flying first class feels like, our mind wants to get back to first class and will motivate you to find ways to fly first class more often.

Similar to flying first class, try experiencing better products, services and experiences and you’ll continue to find ways to attract them and live in your “best reality.”

Empowering Curiosity

Posted on July 26, 2023July 26, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

Building a company culture of curiosity in an organization takes small intentional steps.

If a team member asks a question in a group, how is that question handled?

Does the meeting organizer have an agenda and allocated time for questions?

What is the team leader’s first response to a team member’s question? Is it a straightforward answer or a thoughtful follow up question?

Does the team member feel safe and comfortable asking the question in that environment?

Who has been given the default “authority” to ask questions in that environment?

Is the meeting host intentionally seeking out questions from the participants rather than just expecting them?

Do you have a Company Alumni Network?

Posted on July 19, 2023July 19, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

Companies go through all sorts of changes in their journey.

One of the biggest and costly changes is personnel change.

When experienced employees leave the company for better opportunities, it can take some time to fill the vacancy or get someone ready internally to take that position.

The most untapped and available opportunity that companies have not considered or used is keeping in touch with the employee(s) who is about to leave or have left the company in good terms.

How about creating your Company’s Alumni Network?

The Company’s Alumni Network would consist of anyone who has left the company on good terms and wants to stay in touch with the company and its developments. Most employees have good and healthy professional relationships while working at a company and want to see their team and company succeed even if they decide to pursue other opportunities.

Similar to a college’s alumni network, the company’s alumni network will keep the previous employees engaged and updated on the company’s progress. The company can create a newsletter that is regularly circulated with the alumni network.

Imagine the short and long term benefits of a Company Alumni Network : building goodwill with previous employees, generate possible referrals for employees and new businesses, possibly bring back experienced employees who want to rejoin and much more!

That happy place

Posted on July 16, 2023July 16, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

There was a place called NotTooFarAway.

In NotTooFarAway, lived two groups of people.

One group lived in the city and the other group lived on the beach.

A group from a nearby place called, CuriousEyes looked at the above two groups and wondered:

Are the beach group more happy than the city group?

If the city group make more money than the beach group, who is more happy?

If the beach group visit and enjoy the city more than the city group who are too busy to enjoy the city, which group is happier?

If the city group who have the luxury to visit the beach at any time, would that make them happy?

If the beach group make more than the average salary in their region, are they happy?

If the city group make more than the average salary in their region, are they happy?

If the beach group enjoy their environment more than the city group, who is happier?

If both the beach group and the city group have the same income level, who is happy?

If neither of the group compared themselves to the other group, would that make both of them happy?

Perfect Life vs Authentic Life

Posted on July 8, 2023July 8, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

The Perfect Life is an illusion.

The illusion is fed with constant media coverages, social media feeds, popular culture, society and so on (mostly external factors).

That’s the shiny stuff that attracts our attention and feeds our ego, motivation, and hunger for more.

The Authentic Life is more real.

It’s real because you are living it daily and have more control (mostly internal factors).

Each day we can become more of who we truly are, our unique selves, and own our strengths as well as our faults.

From Entrepreneur to Empowerer

Posted on July 1, 2023July 1, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

How can entrepreneurs grow their startup?

The qualities that help entrepreneurs start their businesses might not be the same that will help take the startup to the next level.

There will still be challenges that entrepreneurs will face when they have hired all the “right people” for the different roles of the company. If the entrepreneurs continue to become heavily involved in decision making of the different functions even when they have put “right people” in those positions, the company will be limiting itself. The entrepreneurs’ efforts might actually be counterproductive then.

For entrepreneurs to grow their company, most times they themselves become bottlenecks to the growth. It’s time to switch from being an entrepreneur to becoming an empowerer (one who empowers others to do their best). If entrepreneurs have empowered other leaders in the best way possible, the company will experience growth in many ways.

Greatness through Giving

Posted on June 24, 2023June 24, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

We can achieve greatness by focusing our energy on helping and supporting others.

When we focus on helping others through what we can give, we put good energy into the universe.

To achieve our goals, we collaborate with people because greatness is not a sole journey or destination.

The more energy you commit into inspiring and helping others, the more you will receive in return.

How are you inspiring and helping others today?

1,000 business cards

Posted on June 10, 2023June 10, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

We were new to entrepreneurship.

My friend was starting to sell custom made jewelry.

He reached out to me to help him with business development work.

One of the first purchases we made was to put an order of 1000 business cards, each.

Well we ended up using probably 50 a piece in the next few months.

Sometimes we can get caught up doing all the fancy activities that seem important at first but not doing much to increase sales or build a business!

Coffee Convoz’s Himalayan Java Campaign

Posted on June 3, 2023June 3, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

Coffee Convoz is currently running a campaign that offers a chance for anyone based in the US to win a Himalayan Java Coffee Cup.

Himalayan Java is a pioneering coffee chain that has been serving Nepali coffee since 1999.

Coffee Convoz is a global community of Coffee and Conversations!

3 A’s to greatness

Posted on May 14, 2023May 14, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

Awareness. Action. Automatic.

Awareness is the first component of becoming great at a skill or craft.

Once awareness is established, action is needed to intentionally practice and work on the skill or craft.

After taking consistent action to get better, the skill or craft becomes automatic.

There’s no failure in sports!

Posted on April 28, 2023April 28, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

Indeed.

There’s no failure in sports. Definitely not in life!

Giannis Antetokounmpo, player for The Milwaukee Bucks eloquently explained why there’s no failure in sports after his team exited the NBA playoffs. You’re always working towards a goal. Sometimes your team will succeed and other times, your team will come up short on those goals.

There are many key insights one can derive after watching the whole video.

Some insights that stood out to me were:
–To not reach your goals when you have put in the efforts/time/energy is disappointing but should not be looked at total “failure” or a “waste.”

–To be successful, you will experience some sort of setbacks but the focus should be on getting better to achieve that goal next time.

-Ownership is key. If you are leading a team or a group, you have to take responsibility for the outcomes – good or bad.

After watching the video, what were your takeaway(s)?

When does the sale happen?

Posted on April 16, 2023April 16, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

For high ticket items, the sale almost always does not happen in one customer touchpoint/interaction.

(If it does, I would love to learn from you and know what worked for you.)

It happens over a period of multiple touchpoints and interactions between the buyer and seller.

Each customer touchpoint is a step closer to the final sale.

What I have seen most useful for high ticket items are that the buyer needs useful information to address questions and concerns, be clear on the value of buying from the specific seller, and a sense of urgency.

Buffalo eats and drinks

Posted on April 10, 2023July 5, 2024 by Nirmal Thapa

Buffalo, New York is a beautiful city serving a variety of authentic cuisines and drinks.

Some of the spots we’ve visited and recommend are:

Restaurants

NEAT – Food and service were very good. Love the ambience.

Cugino’s – Italian restaurant with tasty food and quality service.

Clay Handi – Traditional Pakistani and Indian cuisine.

Duff’s Famous Wings – Finger licking delicious wings.

Allentown Pizza – Savory pizza pies.

Bar-Bill Tavern – Delicious wings and chicken fingers.

Aloha Krab – Variety of tasty seafood.

Tandoori Hut – Authentic Indian dishes.

Nine-Eleven Tavern – Best Chicken wings in Buffalo (served on Buffalo style sauce)!

The Falafel Bar – Authentic Mediterranean food.

Coffee shops

SPoT Coffee – Good choices of coffee with nice ambience.

Jacks Corner Cafe – Delicious coffee and good service.

Owl Eyes Cafe – Nice coffee.

The Intersection Cafe – Very good coffee.

For more coffee spots around Buffalo, NY and other cities, visit Coffee Convoz

This list will be regularly updated as we visit new locations, revisit favorite restaurants or coffeeshops or just want to recommend a restaurant/coffeeshop.

If you know of a restaurant or coffeeshop that we should check out in Buffalo, New York, do let us know in the comments below.

Delivering exceptional value to clients

Posted on April 4, 2023April 4, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

In service focused businesses, meeting and exceeding clients’ expectations is everything.

Providing excellent client service is both an art and a science.

You can learn a lot from others’ experiences, read book(s) and blogs and watch relevant content to understand what client servicing is.

Then there’s the exciting part of actually managing clients yourselves. That’s where the fun, excitement, and value comes in.

I believe if you deeply care about helping clients become successful in whatever they do, they will sincerely feel it. You can’t fake caring!

The beauty of providing exceptional value to clients is to putting your clients’ needs above yours, being empathetic, and making sure they’re successful.

The rest will take care of themselves.

Why pay for it?

Posted on March 16, 2023March 16, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

There’s a big difference of results between doing it on your own (for something you’re not so good at) compared to hiring a professional to do it.

For tasks that you could kind of do it, have an idea about it or know a little bit, it’s better to go with a professional most times. There might be some exceptions here and there.

Recently we hired some professional movers for a few hours to load our belongings in a Pod.

Could we, ourselves have moved the belongings to a Pod? Perhaps yes.

Yet the time saved for the few hours, no physical or mental tiredness from moving, having the belongings efficiently put in a Pod and a general peace of mind made hiring professional help for moving totally worth it.

You actually don’t know the overall benefits of getting professional help until you get one.

What work/tasks can you do best and what can be outsourced to someone who can do it much better than you?

The best time to do a startup is…

Posted on March 7, 2023March 7, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

NOW.

Literally now.

If you are thinking about doing a startup, want to be an entrepreneur or create something of your own, there is no better time than RIGHT NOW.

There is no uniform age, timeline, state, region, phase, moment or any other factor that guarantees the best time to do a startup.

I like to watch this Ted talk by Bill Gross from time to time to remind myself why start-ups succeed.

I used to have an illusion/perception that I need to have a decent amount of money to start a business. Yet when I did start a business, it was more than just money that I needed. I learned about the importance of having a solid business and technical team members, balancing product development and marketing, public relations and network and countless other valuable lessons that I learned only because I started the business.

I believe that if you are thinking of doing a startup or want to go into entrepreneurship, the earlier the better.

For example, let’s say you are 25 now, have an idea and want to build your own company. If you wait 5 years (at 30 years old) to start implementing that idea, the market might have changed, other companies might implement similar idea(s) and you are late to the market, you have other priorities now (family, job etc) among others. On the flip side, if you wait you might be gaining experience in a particular domain that can help build your company or have more financial resources to venture on your own.

I strongly believe that if you have an idea and want to build a company, the best move you can make is to start it. The immediate benefit of starting now will give a lot of momentum to your idea/venture, you will learn tremendously by experimenting and getting feedback from the market/customers/non customers etc. The learnings from starting a business will be exponential. If you start as early as you can, you will gain experience that will be very valuable to the success of your idea/business and also as an entrepreneur.

Doing entrepreneurship is both an art and a science.

I can’t wait to see what you create in the world. Now.

What’s on your calendar?

Posted on March 1, 2023March 1, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

One way to identify what’s a priority for someone is to look at their calendars.

What’s there and what’s not there?

If your calendar does not have the activities/people/experiences that you value or are important to you, pretty soon it will start filling up with other people’s priorities.

Someone can tell you how much they want to be an entrepreneur and live the lifestyle they have always dreamed of. Yet when you see how that person spends their time, you will notice if they really mean it or are not focused on their personal/professional goals. If it’s not booked on your calendar (or time blocked off for it), then usually it will not happen for many reasons.

Usually the calendar is a good indicator of what’s a priority to someone.

Working those muscles

Posted on January 19, 2023January 19, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

Being more creative, more inquisitive, more evolved requires working with intention on those creative/curious/reflection muscles.

If you want to be more creative, keep challenging yourself to think outside the box, look for different ways to solve the same problem or spend time around “creative people.”

If you want to be more inquisitive, keep asking questions, look for follow up questions and learn from others who have the knack for asking good questions.

If you want to be more evolved as a person, invest in yourself and reflect on your emotions, feelings, and behaviors.

When you keeping working on the “muscle/craft” you want to become better at, you will be skilled in it overtime!

Category: experience