building a business – Page 4

Our Businesses Grow At Their Own Unique Speeds

A loved one started
tomato plants from seed.
He compared their growth
with the growth
of other tomato plants
on social media videos.

His plants were growing
at a slower rate.

But they are healthy plants.

And different growth rates
should be expected.
All seeds are unique.
Each tomato seed
is slightly different.

As is each business.

No two businesses
are situated in
the exact same location,
for example.
That’s impossible
even or especially
on the internet.

There can only be
one first listing
after a search
on a keyword,
for example.

We can take steps
to increase growth
but don’t be surprised
if our business grow
at different rates.

They SHOULD grow
at different rates.
They are different businesses.

Display Your Why

Building a business
can be extremely challenging
at times.

Things go wrong.
We sacrifice other things
like watching TV
or spending time with loved ones
or…sleep.

Many of us,
every so often,
wonder
WHY we’re doing this.

One thing
that has really helped me
persevere
during times of doubt
is having my WHY
highly visible.

I write my WHY
on the top of my calendar.

Some buddies
send themselves
digital reminders
about their WHYs.

Some buddies print
their WHY on posters
and hang these posters
in their offices.

Display your WHY.

Remind yourself
why you’re working hard.

Stay motivated.

Leveling The Playing Field

A friend of mine
works in the film industry.

He told me
that the actors who are most vocal
about dropping mask mandates
on set
are also the actors
whose abilities
to recite lines
have been damaged
by past bouts of COVID.

They can’t remember sh*t.
And they know
this is f*cking with
their ability to do their job.

So they want everyone else
to be in the same situation.
They want other actors
to have THEIR brains damaged
by COVID also.

They want to level
the playing field.

If everyone has
a sh*tty memory,
they won’t be unusual.
They might still
keep their high profile jobs.

It is a devious
and desperate strategy.
But it is ALSO effective.

People are selfish.
Remember that.

Stop For A Moment

We, business builders,
tend to be heads down
and hard at work
for most of the day.

Take a moment
and look around you.
Gaze up at the sky.
Listen to the birds.
Watch the squirrels play.

Embrace that awareness,
that sense of connection
to something bigger,
something lasting.

You’re a part of all that.
The product or service
you are seeking to supply
will be part of all that.

That is truly special.
Savor it.
Bring that feeling
to your work.

Spite Is A Valid Motivator

Every time
one of my writing buddies
has
a book release,
she says,
“Take that Professor” X
“You said I would never
be a writer.
You can suck a$$
because look at me now.”

And then she laughs.

She is fueled
by pure spite.

And…
it works for her.

I once received
a review
that said
my action-packed romance
had too much sex in it.

I crammed the next story
with as many sex scenes
as I could fit into
the plot
BECAUSE of that review.

And that sex-filled story
sold VERY well.

Spite is a valid motivator.
Embrace it!

A Lot Of People Experience This

An online friend
had black hairy tongue.

She was told
that ‘a lot of people’
get it after a COVID infection.

What she WASN’T told
was ‘a lot of people’
had died
after having those symptoms.

She brushed off
the advice to go
to the hospital.

And she died within a week.
(Mask up, friends.
This d@mn pandemic
isn’t over.)

Hearing ‘a lot of people’
or
‘a lot of businesses’
experience something
doesn’t mean
it ends well for
those people/businesses.

All it means
is there is likely
a lot of research
already completed on
your experience.

Study that research.
Take your situation
seriously.
And please mask
the f*ck up.

Is This Working For You?

An online buddy told me yesterday
she had COVID three times
in the past three months,
testing all clear
between those bouts.

She insists
she doesn’t have to
wear a mask.

Maybe not
but she has to do
SOMETHING different
because what she’s doing
right now
isn’t working for her.

I suspect you have processes
or strategies
that aren’t working for you
also.

Evaluate them.
And try something different.

Preparing For The Busy Season

This month,
I’m preparing the vegetable garden
for next year’s planting.

I’m clearing the bed.
I’m spreading compost.
I’m covering it
with a thick layer of leaf mulch.

These are all tasks
I COULD do in the spring.

Except the spring
is the busy time
for gardening.
There’s planting
and transplanting
and turning the bed
and a gazillion other things
to do
at that time.

By completing some tasks now,
I’ll make the busy season
less busy.

We’re ramping into
the busy season
for retail sales.

The holiday season
will, hopefully,
be hectic
for stores.

If you can complete
some tasks now,
you’ll decrease your stress
during that busy season.

Sales Is A Necessary Skill

One of the key jobs
of a business builder
is to sell.

She sells her products/services,
her company,
herself
to
prospects, customers,
business partners,
banks,
and other entities.

She sells everywhere
she goes.

In his newsletter,
Carmine Gallo
shares

“I remember the first time
a famed venture capitalist
debunked the myth for me.
Geoff Ralston,
the president of
seed accelerator Y Combinator
(early investor in Airbnb, DoorDash,
Reddit, and thousands of other startups).
During our conversation,
I called public speaking
and storytelling
a “soft skill.”
Ralston corrected me
before I finished the question.
“You might call it ‘soft.’
I call it fundamental,”
he said.

Ralston’s point was that
an entrepreneur can have a great idea,
but if they can’t persuade
investors, partners,
and potential employees
to join them,
their startup won’t even
get off the ground.”

Sales is a necessary skill.
Gain it.
Practice it.
Use it.

Choose Your Own Weekend

My ‘weekend’ starts tonight.
I’m taking two days off,
will be doing the minimal
for the Romance Novel business.

Today, as you know,
is a Wednesday.
The traditional start
to a weekend
is Friday night.

But I run my own business.
I can take days off
whenever I want.

We don’t have to be stuck
with traditional thinking.

If having Saturday and Sunday
‘off’
or
starting the work day at 9am
or
wearing socks at the office
makes no sense to you,
change it.

Create the working environment
YOU want to enjoy.