We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Niki Trentacosta a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Niki, thanks for joining us today. How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?
YES! Vacations are key to maintained sanity in small business. It is easy to tell yourself that you “must stay at work because you have too much to do”, but really, it’s usually not helping. Staying at the office/desk leads to fogginess and burn out.
Our brains need the time to decompress. Sometimes that means a night at a hotel and sometimes it’s a 10 day excursion in France. What is important is to let your brain relax for a brief moment so you can give your best again.
I recommend scheduling vacations like oil changes in your car, about every 6 months or 5,000 miles. Getting an oil change? Time for vacation!
Niki, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I started my career in the Human Resources space where I quickly realized that payroll and employee benefits should be where I focus. My transition to insurance came after about 10 years in the employee administration space with a focus on benefits and payroll.
I realized small business had little to no support in the healthcare space and that I could do what I love and help small business owners AND make money! It was an easy decision to start The Tanna Group as a way to help meet the needs of small business owners looking for guidance in offering their employees corporate benefits.
At The Tanna Group we work with startups and small business owners to implement strategic benefits strategies that are financially and administratively manageable. This allows the business owner to have competitive advantage for attracting and retaining talent and still focus on what they do best, managing their own business.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I do not think my “audience on social” is large, but they are powerful. The key to growing on social (like in business) is to know your focus and stay within your planned goals. If all we care about are getting views, your objective is to post regularly. If your goal is business financial growth, then your objective may be planning more strategic content. Every move in business is strategic.
After you have the plan, then timing is the next piece. Consistency in posting builds reputation and credibility. One post a month won’t gain traction, but one post a day may. Keep at it, even if it doesn’t look like it is paying off.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I thought being a business owner was going to be fun and games. I glamorized the lifestyle and had to unlearn the mindset I had created. I now know that being a successful business owner is a lifestyle that takes strategy, planning, resilience, and forgiveness.
When I started my company I thought I could “do it on my own” and tried hard to succeed. It wasn’t until I gave up that idea and asked for help that my business started taking off.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thetannagroup.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niki-trentacosta/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9WzRTixxkTZStYaxd3kBtQ