The Perils of Owning a Growing Business
By Desty on Jun 21, 2007 in Blogging, Business, Why?
This is the second day in a row where, while writing today’s post, the general idea for my article was also used on another blog. This time, Problogger.net posted 7 Reflections on Scaling a Blog to a Sustainable Business. Darren talks about a fellow blogger, Wendy at eMoms At Home, writing about her blog growing faster and bigger than she can keep up with, and Darren gives her some suggestions on how to deal with it.
I can relate. Just last night as I was finishing up the dishes my wife oh so gently asked when our next event was. In our offline business, we search out and attend various county fairs, arts and craft fairs, etc. The summer is our go time of the year where the bulk of our business income is generated. I had to admit that I hadn’t taken the time to keep ahead of the pack in booking new events because I had been so wrapped up in getting this blog up and running. She then asked how our books were doing. You see, while she actually runs the operations of the business, I keep the books and set things up. I dusted off the books and discovered that I hadn’t recorded anything since about mid May, which times right along side when I started blogging. She didn’t have to say another word at that point.
As a person and as a businessman, I have two traits, for good or bad, that help me do what I do. First, I can multi-task pretty well, in that I can be working on task number one, stop in mid-stream, switch to task number two, go back to task one, start task three, back to task two, etc. Its funny, but I can compartmentalize fairly well. Also, when I am focusing on a task, I can focus my efforts to a laser sharp point, so much so that almost everything else fades to nothing. Its great to not have to worry about distractions, problem is that I can get so focused that I forget to go back to task one or task two. You guessed it, I had been so focused on the blog, learning about blogging, and creating networks that i had forgotten to go back to my offline businesses!
I’ve determined that I’m going to have to put a clamp down on my blogging activities. For the readers out there, you won’t notice a thing. I, on the other hand, will be limiting my research, my interactions, and postings to a set amount of time everyday, instead of watching the RSS feeds to new posts, checking stats, etc all day long.
There’s a lesson in all of this. Some people can run several businesses as long as they have great systems built around those businesses. Some people can run several businesses without business systems. Those who use systems to help manage their businesses find those businesses growing faster and larger than those without systems. Also, the use of those systems allow the growth to continue without the owner / manager being overwhelmed; when a business grows faster than the current system can withstand, simply expand the system either thru the hiring of more employees, outside contract help, or create a partnership with an existing business and farm the extra work out on a sub-contactor basis.
Develop your business system before you need it. Your system should be in place, if no where else than on paper, before its needed.
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Really good points. I learned this a long time ago from Alex Mandossian, and still haven’t put this into practice. Thanks for the great post.
Thanks for the comment George! I have a system in place, on paper actually, but for that system to kick in, the business has to have more cashflow in order to hire others to work it. As a business owner, I can’t afford to slack off.
Well, I hope your cashflow improves so you can activate that plan. Great post, I will be linking to it in my weekly tips post later today.
All the best,
George
Thanks for the linkage. Hope to see you around!
I think that happens to all new bloggers, you’ve done well to put a stop to it so early!
It’ll pass
I don’t think that its limited to bloggers. I remember about 15 years ago I ran/owned a small business computer consulting firm. I’d go in, get an overview of their operation, make suggestions about where using a computer could help them save money and become more effecient. I worked non-stop. If I had a girlfriend back then, she would have left because I lived and breathed that work. Priorities are a must. Life in general should be #1. Without a life, what’s the point?
@George
you can try printing a good article like this so you can read it even if you’re just idle and not online.
I have often faced this problem .. Excellent points there mate thanks for that.. the Growing business often puts a man often wondering with questions in head such as What to do now? What next? How to?. Business was often a serious trouble for me . I tried many options of expanding it but I often found myself at sea. Systems are the one of the most important third party points vital for a effective running of a business and its growth. I tried investing on online ads, and others But I was disappointed with the low number of leads and less sales.I landed on globalbx. Its a free confidential forum to facilitate the buying and selling of businesses, and its a complete business source for helping business buyers and sellers through the business exchange process.I had a list of 31,000 businesses for sale and 1000s of
franchise opportunities before me and on top of its free with no listing fees and zero commissions.. It has worked wonders for my business .. Love your posts man .. Keep them coming