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Life’s Little Distractions
I can’t hardly tell you what I’ve accomplished this week. It seems like one of those weeks where I’ve been running around trying to catch up, but never seem to get anything DONE!
Had to be out all day Monday, spent Tuesday catching up on those mundane little things that leave you no evidence of anything accomplished. Wednesday I started a file upload, but due to our flaky internet, it did not finish – Kevin was sick that day, so he didn’t get anything much done either. My daughter sliced her thumb open and required 5 stitches and a tetanus shot (so we got the other kids updated on their immunizations while we were at it). Thursday the same daughter had to see the cardiologist, which took half the day, the other half of which was spent trying to finish the download, which involved finding another FTP client. Today, the day is rapidly being eaten up with piddly little things that seem to have no bearing on the work that is behind!
We have days like this. Sometimes we have WEEKS like this. Where the work on the list just sits there, the income that is needed doesn’t come, and we feel like our business is just stalled. And it seems that family needs come into the picture – not as an irritation, but just as a factor that doesn’t seem to make us feel any better.
When someone gets sick, or when things come up that take us way from work, it is hard to get back on track sometimes. And the family stuff that gets in the way is something we rarely give ourselves credit for having accomplished. Maybe because it doesn’t PAY us!
In between this all though, I did get some things done that aren’t going to help much immediately, but which will pay off long term – I created three MicroBusiness Tree in the Rock sculptures (http://westernhillsinstitute.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=47)
and posted them for sale on our Institute site. I updated several course listings, and completed the instructional writing for 5 booklets. And I created a booklet brochure for the Institute, which we can use to mail out to various businesses. There were various conversations with clients, and completion of a header and several site assessments, as well as no less than FOUR “What do I do?” inquiries (the ones where people want to know how to find a good business for themselves).
All things considered, I had a busy week, and a productive one. But most of this stuff won’t pay me right now – most of it is that kind of stuff that you have to do if you want the business to grow, but which you don’t see results from right away.
Part of the reason I am writing this is to outline what I’ve done in a way that helps ME realize all that I’ve accomplished. Sometimes we don’t realize how much it is until we try to describe it.
So the next time you feel frustrated at not being able to get anything done, write down what you DID do. It just might astonish you!
MicroBusiness Success Strategies
Tiny startups often use frugal tactics to be able to afford to get off the ground. Many of those tactics though, have a nasty backlash – they make you look unprofessional.
Good MicroBusiness Success Strategies are things that save you money, but which either have no backlash, or which have a disadvantage turned into an advantage.
Here is an example:
Many frugal businesses reuse boxes because it saves them money over having to buy packing boxes. Sure, many people can use USPS Priority Mail boxes of one kind or another, but they just don’t work for everyone. So they reuse boxes – and not all boxes do well being reused. Some just look tacky.
Create a label. Put your logo on it, and over that, put “This Box Proudly Recycled By”. You just turned a disadvantage into an advantage. Same tacky looking box, but now, it makes you look responsible and successful instead of making you look too cheap to afford a good box.
This is a perfect example of a good MicroBusiness Success Strategy. Another is posting a message on your site “We use PayPal to keep our prices low, and to protect your sensitive financial information.”
Don’t have a lot of customers? Then you are a “friendly business who knows their customers by name”.
How can you turn YOUR frugal tactics into MicroBusiness Success Strategies?
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