The cost of not choosing Happiness in your Business

I want to give a practical example of what it may cost to you and your business not being aware of Happiness in your workplace.

Some time ago I have been contacted by the owner of a small company. He told me about the history of his business: being an expert pizza maker, after 15 years as an employee he decided to make the big step into entrepreneurship.

He opened a small pizzeria and started selling his delicious pizza, cooked in the traditional Italian way, investing in a wood-fired oven. He soon gained a lot of customers, first in his neighborhood, then in all the city where he lives. In the beginning, he was open just for dinner, but then, thanks to his success, he decided to open for lunch, getting even more customers, who came from all the offices that are around the pizzeria.

One year and a half after launching, he was running a 5 figures business, with thousands of customers per year and he began receiving inquiries about catering. Without even thinking about it, seeing a favorable opportunity, he decided to widen his offer.

Of course, he soon realized that being alone was no longer an option, so he started hiring employees and rented a larger location, where he also had an office and some storage. He hired office clerks, delivery guys, more cooks, and started accepting catering orders.

Suddenly, all the magic seemed to disappear.

The customers were still praising his pizza, but not the rest of the catering service. The delivery was not impeccable, causing more troubles than earning, the new cooks were not used to the changes in preparation.

Thus, orders started decreasing, and our friend decided that it was time to lower prices in the hope to acquire new customers. Doing this, his profitable businesses started suffering, and for the first time, the first negative months started coming out in the balance books.

He then tried to speak with his people, trying to understand which was the matter, and he discovered that almost no one of his new employees was actually happy with their job, nor they were understanding all the fuss about the need to increase hours and work more.

After 2 quarters of minus signs, our business owner contacted me, desperately calling for a safety line. He described me his business situation and asked for help.

The first and obvious thing I did was telling him to invite me to meet his people, speak with them as a group and individually, and then letting me work out the situation acting both as a coach and a consultant. In that way, we would have been able to set up a plan to reach new goals commonly agreed on, we would have increased the sense of belonging of his team, creating a more enjoyable business environment and giving new stimulus to everyone.

He decided to ask his accountant if this was the right choice and the accountant suggested that investing time and money, scarce at that moment, in a soft skill like coaching, was not a good idea, because the business needed cuts, just cuts.

So, our business owner decided that his accountant could be right and chose not to ask his employees what was going wrong. He started firing them.

Guess what?

The business is now on the verge of collapse. It will hardly recover. No new orders are coming, no new employees are being hired and the last ones are leaving. The once smiling and skilled owner is now depressed and resentful.

Sad? Yes.

Predictable? Yes.

If you choose to ignore your employees' happiness (you can also call it satisfaction, commitment, involvement, morale …) and if you think that investing time and money in asking them how they could give your business their best, it’s a perfect recipe for disaster. Guaranteed.

Trust the experience of a coach, grow a Happiness Habit in your business. Start involving your employees in your daily management. They represent, with your idea and your customers the most relevant assets of your business.

Daniel Rieth and I are experts in bringing back the smile on your and your employees' faces.