Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Here goes.......My business is barely off of the ground and I have days where I want to throw in my cards. Frustration of daily life gets the best of me. I must work a 40-hour job but all I can think about at work is how much of my business I could tend to during the day. I could finally finish my biz plan, design a better website and find clients. I am writer with a huge love for business planning but I can barely plan my own business....lack of time.

So my question is, when the road gets rough, what do you do? Some pray. Some use 5 or 10 minute tactics to at least do one thing. Some criticize themselves. Is this good or bad? Some can take a hit and keep going. How in the heck do you pull that off?

My life is ready for me to make major moves, but how? How is everyone managing?

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www.EllayWestConcepts.net Ellay West Concepts (Freelance Commercial Writer)

Ellay,

You say you are a writer. Maybe this is what you do for a living. I don`t know. But if you can write, there is work out there - plenty. This could fund your future plans. Have you tried Freelance Writing? It is something you can do in your non-40-hour-per-week job to help create a revenue stream. Easy to do part-time and bring in some pretty substantial revenue. Could fund your other plans or maybe you`ll find out you like FLW enough to do it full-time.

I recommend checking out Peter Bowerman`s website and books - the Well-Fed Writer. His eNewsletter is very good, too - I recommend signing up for it, too. He was in your same position years ago and his story is very insprirational. It helped me greatly. His books have case after case after case history of people just like you. Buy the books and read them - I think they may help change your outlook. Could be that FLW`ing might be the spark that changes your life.

Good luck and keep smiling. You woke up today and probably will tomorrow. You have 86, 400 seconds every day to accomplish great things.

R@

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Richard Arnold · Key Concept Writers · Business Communication: The "Key" To Success· Law of Attraction Blog · Life Ain`t Brain Surgery Blog

Ellay, I think that most of us are our own worst critics.  I know that this rings true for me. No one it tougher on me than me. 

There are days when in between caring full time for my 21 month old son while my husband finishes his EMBA while working full time and acting as president of a large project management group, launching a children`s clothing line and online store with my business partner - who also works full time - and everything that entails - which is much more work than I ever anticipated - that I ask myself, "why am I doing this again?  Is it really worth the stress and complete lack of a "normal" life?"

This always seems to be the right combination of questions for me.  I always give myself the right answer: It`s going to allow me to help create freedom for my family, which is really going to lead me to really help make a difference in the world during my life time (I plan to live well beyond 100 :-).  Those are the two most important things in my life: family (and creating financial freedom for us), and making a difference in the world.  This is why I wake up everyday, take a deep breath (often times) and charge on.  At the end of the day, I know that all of the hard work, frustration and stress is for something - it is for us - and not for The Man.

Also, and not so romantic, is that I create a list for myself every evening of what I need to accomplish the next day. This really helps keep me motivated and accountable to me.  Sometimes there are upwards of 15 to dos.  If I don`t get them accomplished, then I know that I`m not really working toward my goals.  This usually helps keep me in line.  If I fall off, when things start to pile up, I tend to get right back on track.

And I`ll also add that when you really start seeing your labors begin to pay off, or at least form into something that is starting to make sense, what an incredible sense of accomplishment you feel.  This alone is the best motivator to keeping pushing onward and upward.

Keep your chin up and spirits high.  You can accomplish anything if you try.  Onward and Upward!

And remember the words of one of our literary geniuses, Samuel Beckett:  Ever tried.  Ever failed.  No matter.  Try again.  Fail again.  Fail better.

Cheers,

Tammy

 

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Tammy Graham, Founder & CEO, True Genius Apparel Company: fitting your personality; www.mytruegenius.com. "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

Hi Ellay,

It appears that you are falling on a common trap for new managers, you should always keep this in mind ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail’.

IMO you need to plan for all of your time, the week has 168 hours, of that you must dedicate 40 hours to work, 10 hours to commute, 21 hours to sleep, 14 personal hours, 12 hours to eat, 21 hours to family, 20 hours for entertainment. The rest (about 30 hours) is what you have to work with, make a plan and force yourself to stick to it, some days you’ll have no time for your business, other days you may have more time than you are willing to put into it. Whatever your plan is, plan for every hour of next week, you’ll have some unrealistic assumptions and make mistakes, make the necessary corrections for the following week and so on until it is just right for you.

Cheers,

Elí

Eli, how long have you been getting by on 3 hours sleep a night?


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ha! good point. That ought to teach me to proofread my posts...

That should`ve read "41 hours to sleep", she would have to adjust the rest accordingly of course.;-)

I`d take a real hard look at my current daily expenses. Reduce them down to bare minimum. What`s that line from The Godfather, "go to the mattresses." That`ll take a minute or two, but cut out all things and pear your cost of living to the bottom.

At that point, you can take a look at temping, freelancing, and so forth. The temping industry is in a slump as so many companies also cut costs and outsource to overseas workers. But it`s still there. You can use multiple temp companies for work.

Use Craig`s List to find offerings for writers. It`s one of the main ones I`ve seen that has a category specifically for writing. I`ve not had all that many results, but then again, I don`t apply to every particular ad either.

Look around for SEO writing. It`s not hard to learn the rules, and as a writer, you`ll definitely be in a "hot" market at the moment.

You don`t mention if you`re married or have children. If you are, perhaps you can reduce costs, or perhaps discuss with your wife if she`d be willing (or able) to help bring in some income while you`re focusing on building the business. If you`re alone, then you can probably cut your expenses far more drastically than otherwise. The lower those costs, the easier you`ll be able to find "pick-up" work to pay the basic bills while you`re planning and building your actual business.

As for how I cope, in the same situation? I repeat to myself that a) the universe isn`t broken, and somehow I`ll scrape by; and b) when someone asks how I`ll pay the rent, I respond: "It`s a mystery!"

Check out "Shakespeare in Love" for the relevant reference. In that movie, when things got down to the very last instant, the theater owner used it. It was inspiring...! :-) Hang in there and follow your passion. Although it`s incredibly nervewracking at the start, "Winning big requires risking big!"

elley,just stay focused and remember to strive to seek to find and never ever to yeild,live by this mantra and things will come to furision. trust me. best of luck keep me informed as to your rise to acclaim.     bart!

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bart tarrington chairman sunbird project