Handling the Hard Parts of Owning a Business

Don’t get me wrong for even one second.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE what I do. In fact, I wrote a whole post about it recently on our Leaders Blog.    I sincerely believe I have the best/coolest/most rewarding job on the face of the planet.  And really, who could argue with this cuteness?  But that’s where the conversation usually ends with most people who also think they have the “best/coolest/most rewarding job”.  Most business owners I know won’t openly divulge the icky, not-so-fun parts of what they do, which is terribly unfair.  Business ownership is often put on a tall, shiny pedestal without so much as a mention of how that pedestal was built, how it stays standing and polished, and what it takes to stay there living the perceived awesome entrepreneurial life. Want the honest to goodness truth??  It takes a lot of hard work and grit. We are talking serious determination. Long hours. Unpaid work. Tons of trial AND error. Revisions like you wouldn’t believe. And so on and so on… There are things I have dealt with as a business owner that I never Read More

2016: Simplify, Streamline, Self-Care (part 3)

STOP!!!!  Stop what you are doing right now! Take a deep breath.  How did that feel?  Pretty great, right? Take another one. A slow, deep breath.  Remind yourself to simply breathe and take a second to step away from everything. Close your eyes and take another deep breath.  You’ve got this.  When I feel myself starting to tense up and my shoulders slowly creeping toward my ears, I remind myself to stop, take a moment. Breathe. Remember, to breathe. Previously, I’ve talked A LOT about self care in a series called “Love Yourself”.  However, it’s soooo important that I’m going to rehash it now. Take at least a little time out of every single day to…you guessed it… Do something (literally ANYTHING) for yourself. We get so consumed in the tasks we “have” to do every day that we simply forget to take care of ourselves.  We forget that in order to care for our families, help other people, or be successful at work, that we first have to take care of our selves.  We have to make sure our proverbially batteries Read More

2016: Simplify, Streamline, Self-care (part 2)

Welcome back!!   In my previous post, I divulged the 3 major words Rachel and I elected to describe our goals for the new year that I have also adopted personally. I took on simplify in my last post.  Streamline is a little trickier. It’s not a terribly fun or pretty word, but it is definitely essential in both the future of our company and my future personally. streamline (verb): to make (an organization or system) more efficient and effective by employing faster or simpler working methods. There aren’t many extra hours (or even extra minutes) in any given day.  A lot of things get done at the last minute (or never) because there feel like there is no time.  There are a lot of ideas that never even get started because I’m always playing catch-up. By taking a little time to find the methods/systems that work best for me and my company, I can become more efficient and effective thus creating more time and space in my life to do more of what I love and start on some Read More

LOVE Yourself Financially & Value Your Services

Working in a client-centered field, my primary concern is generally the well being and satisfaction of the individuals I work with.  I want to make sure that their needs are met, that they are happy with the services they receive, and that they will continue to return in the future.    I try to be reasonable, fair, and understanding in all of our dealings, taking into account the human side of my work.  At the end of the day though, I have to remember that I am running a business and that I have to take care of myself and my needs.  I have to take care of myself financially so that I can continue to keep my doors open and provide the same level of services my clients are used to receiving. I have to remind myself: This is not only my passion, but my profession, my company, my livelihood. When figuring out how much I’m going to charge my clients, how much I want to pay my employees, how much I’m willing to pay in rent, I have Read More