Do you ever have those weeks where you think that you need a clone? Where, if you have yet another “brilliant” idea you’ll just about explode? That’s been me this week. In between organising the rebranding process for my business, working on existing projects, fulfilling my commitments to the Working Women’s Network and the Wakehurst Junior Rugby club, meeting new clients and sending out several proposals for new accounts, I have still had to be a Mum, a wife, a housekeeper.
Now I’m not asking for sympathy here. You make your bed, you lie in it. But, sometimes I find myself so overwhelmed with people and work demanding my attention that it’s hard to know where to start.
In an earlier post I told you all about getting organised with the online collaboration tool, Projjex and following the advice of Katrena Friel of BSI Learning at the Priority Management Workshop.
This is all fantastic and has revolutionised my daily approach to work. However, it doesn’t answer those questions I have about where to take my business next, what’s the best way to deal with my accounting, what do I do about hiring someone to help me out?
Apart from my initial set-up and branding where I employed the services of a graphic designer to create my brand, and consulted a solicitor to draft my terms and conditions, I have always done everything in and for my business, yes, even down to creating the website.
But, I seem to have reached a new level in my business where bringing in the experts for advice and practical handling of certain aspects seems to be the only way to go. I have recently started the rebranding process with a delightful graphic designer (who just happens to be part of my business mastermind group) to create a new logo for the next phase of my business. I will be working with professional web design company, The WebShowroom, to create a new and (totally) improved website and I think that I will soon need to hand over the money management to someone who actually enjoys asking people for money!
I am also getting to the stage where I will need to consider hiring someone to help me actually deliver the work, a process that I’m not particularly looking forward to (apart from handing over some of the work, obviously). For this, I think I will need the help of a business coach to guide me through all of the pitfalls that this entails.
Basically, it has dawned on me that I bring certain skills and talents to my business and, by taking on every aspect of it I dilute those talents and what makes me strong in business. So, it’s time to bring in the professionals and outsource the things I don’t like to do and things that others are much better at.
And, after Linda Hailey’s keynote presentation this week on Your Business Your Future I will be better placed to know which professionals I need to call in! I’ll give you my verdict next week.
Until next time.
Karen
Karen Morris is the Working Womens Network media officer. She runs Inscriptions, a copywriting and PR Consultancy, is a contributor to Flying Solo and is a wife and mother to three active boys. She loves life and work and has an insatiable appetite to learn all things new, especially all things 2.0.
Great article, Karen. I think we all reach a stage in not only our business lives where we have to sit down and grasp the fact that we need help to move forward. Whether it be help around the house (dishes please honey!), or in our business and the direction we wish to take it. It is great to look at this as an opportunity and a new horizon of your business. A business coach is a great idea to get everything in perspective and written down in some sort of logical order so you can tackle this head on. A virtual assistant or personal assistant who has the necessary expertise and who understands the challenges of business is also important. Here you need to find one that is not only experienced, but has a business mind, and the shares your passion and enthusiasm. I look forward to hearing about the next stage of your journey!
Thanks for writing about this. There’s a mass of great tech information on the internet. You’ve got a lot of that info here on your site. I’m impressed - I try to keep a couple blogs reasonably live, but it’s a struggle sometimes. You’ve done a great job with this one. How do you do it?