building a business – Page 3

Working With Our Flaws

Yesterday, I talked about
how humans are flawed.

We’re humans.
That means
we’re flawed also.

And that’s okay.
Flaws make us special.

But we should recognize
what our flaws are
and we should work WITH them,
not against them.

I don’t like
doing the same tasks
over and over,
for example.

I went to university for accounting.

Yes, ouch.
The expected accounting role
consists of doing the same tasks
over and over.

We complete month end
in June
and there is another month end
in July
and
in August
and…

I hated that typical accounting role.
And because I hated it,
I didn’t excel in it.

I was fighting one of my ‘flaws’
and f*ck, it WAS a battle.

Then I discovered project management
and wow,
that role was easy for me.

Projects end!
I can complete them.

And each project is usually different.

My ‘flaws’ became strengths.
I’m now working WITH my nature,
not against it.
And I’ve found great success
in project management.

Accept your flaws
and your differences.
Success will come
much easier
when you work WITH your unique nature.

Plan For Losses

When I garden,
I know that a portion
of the harvest
will go to the squirrels
and other wildlife
and
another portion
of the harvest
will go to slugs
and other insect life.

I plan for this.
I sow extra seeds.
I grow extra plants.

Losses are to be expected
in business also.
Some of your products
will be damaged
or defective.
Some of your customers
won’t pay their bills.

Plan for this.
Sell or produce extra.

Constantly Ill

A dear friend caught COVID
two weeks ago.
It took her a week
to semi-recover.

Now, she’s caught COVID
AGAIN.

Some of the newest variants
can be caught
every two weeks.

Think about that.
We might be infected
every two weeks.
It takes a week
to semi-recover.

Even without considering
long term impacts,
that means being ill
50% or half the time.

That would REALLY
f*ck with our productivity
and our value of life.

While we’re waiting
for society
to take action
on cleaning the air
in indoor spaces,
we should wear
masks.

We have businesses
to build.
We can’t afford
to be ill 50% of the time.

F*ck that agent.
I hope everyone she represents
looks for someone else
to partner with.

Because, of course, writers
need to make money.
Writing might be a great job
but it is still a job.
And writers need to eat also.

Also…
no one works with an agent
for fun.
That is purely a business relationship.

Make certain
the people and businesses
you partner with
have the same view
of your future
as you do.

If they don’t,
look for someone else
to partner with.

Do You Have Patience?

A loved one
buys fully grown plants
for her garden
every year.

She doesn’t have
the patience
to grow anything
from seed.

She wants instant results.

She would be a disaster
at building a business.

To build a business,
patience is a must have trait.
We have to be emotionally able
to wait
for results.

Know who you are
as a person
before you start
a business.

If you don’t
have the patience
to grow a plant
from a seed,
you likely don’t
have the patience
to build a successful business.

Know Your Hard Limits

A wet bulb temperature
(100% humidity)
of 31C/87.8F
will kill a healthy person
in three hours.

That’s a hard limit.
Nothing we can do
will change it.

We could stay still,
hydrate,
sit in the shade,
and none of that
would help us.

While building our businesses,
it is important
to set our hard limits
also.

One of my hard limits
with the romance novel business,
for example,
is I would never
write a romance novel
that didn’t have
a romantic happy ever after.

A romantic happy ever after
is my definition
of what a romance novel is.
I wouldn’t try to trick
the reader into reading
a different type of story.

Decide now
what you would never EVER do.

Write it down.

Stick to that hard limit.

When To Stop Asking A Person For Help

I ask a person for help
usually about twice.

If they refuse to help
both times,
I stop asking them.

And I ask someone else.

This might seem like
a no-brainer rule.

Why would you continue
to ask
someone who won’t be helpful
for help?

Yet we do this
ALL the time.

Usually we do it
with loved ones,
with parents
or spouses
or siblings.

And it causes us
heartache.

Stop asking
people who won’t help us
for help.

Focus on the people
who WILL help us.

No Regrets

A loved one
and I find ourselves
in the position
where there’s a break
in each of our schedules.

We’re traveling
during that time.

Will that travel break slow
the build on
the Romance Writing Business?
Yes.

But I know
I’ll regret it
if I don’t take the time
to travel.

When you’re faced
with an opportunity,
ask yourself
if you’ll regret
not taking that opportunity.

If you will regret it,
do everything you can
to make that opportunity
happen.

Live life
with very few regrets.

Don’t Delegate Tasks That Won’t Save You Time

Yesterday,
I talked about
how we shouldn’t delegate tasks
that we love.

We also shouldn’t delegate tasks
that will never
save us time.

Yes, initially,
it will take longer
for us to delegate
a task
than do it ourselves.

We have to train
the person
and likely quality control
the output.

But once training is complete,
delegation of that task
should save us time.
If it doesn’t save us time,
we either have the wrong person
doing the task
or the task shouldn’t be delegated
at all.

For example,
a family member sends me emails
asking me to order items
for him
from a large online store.

He gives me
detailed instructions.
He picks up the item
from me.
And he gives me cash
for the item.

It would be MUCH faster
for him
to simply order it himself.
(He refuses to do this
for some unknown reason.)

His delegation
is not only costing me time
but it is costing him
MORE time.

Don’t delegate tasks
that will never
save you time.

Don’t Delegate The Tasks You Love

One of my writing buddies
LOVES crafting covers.

Her self-publishing business
is growing.
She has a lot to do
and is delegating tasks.

Other writers are telling her
to delegate cover creation.
(I’ve delegated this task also.)

I told her to keep it
on her task list.
She loves it.
There are other
less wonderful-for-her tasks
to delegate.

We need tasks
that give us happiness.

That feeds our souls
and it will help us
find the willpower
to continue building our businesses
when times are tough.

Keep the tasks you love.

Tag: building a business