I suppose that’s quite a revealing question – particularly about my current business position! And, although I’m not particularly being kept awake at night I am increasingly finding that I am constantly thinking about and planning for the business.

I recently launched my new website, created for me by the wonderful Sergio at The Web Showroom. And, whilst I am thrilled with the results and have received nothing but positive feedback for the website, I had hoped that once the process of rebranding was over things would settle down nicely and I could continue to focus on my work.

But, as business owners what is our work? Is it the skill we have for what we physically do for a job, in my case PR and business communication, or is it something much bigger than that?

Through various networking and promotioaln activities, including my connections on Twitter and now having established my Linked In profile, as well as establishing a Facebook fan page for the business, I have managed to continue to grow the business almost on a weekly basis, with more new clients and leads each week.

This is fantastic and, while I had already started to experience the crazy Take-off phase of the business, as described by Linda Hailey at her Working Women’s Network presentation a couple of months ago, I thought I had the beast under control.

Mercifully I have now taken on a VA which has lightened my load considerably. If you’ve been wondering whether this is something for you, I cannot recommend it enough. My wonderful VA will basically take on anything I give her, even some PR activities, and complete them with ease. I have been very, very lucky to find her.

However, even though having Bronwen on board with me has given me the ability to take on more clients and still be able to deliver and stay organised, there will come a time soon where I will have to make a decision about the next step.

And there is also that bizarre feeling that the business is leaving you behind. What do I mean by this? Well, at the moment my head is filled with ideas on how to grow the business and to take it where my goals lie will involve having people other than myself delivering the work to the clients. This is completely foreign territory to me and is going to take some getting used to.

Until now, everything that has been produced by Inscriptions Media (and its former incarnation) has been down to me and me alone. My ideas, my style, my work ethic, my values. It’s very hard, especially when you’re in the creative sphere like I am, to take on someone else to do the work that you have been doing for so long without worrying about the reputation that you’ve developed for yourself. Will they deliver to the same standard as you? Will they take up as much of your time in supervision as it would to just do the work yourself? Are you qualified to train them? Will you be any good at conveying the philosophies and standard that you have set for your business? As you can see, there are a million and one questions that go through your (well, my) head!

Then there are all the practical decisions to take into consideration. Do I move to office space? Do I look for consultants who can work with me or do I take the plunge and employ staff? These are all key issues within a growing small business and not ones to be taken lightly. I’m looking forward to hearing what Sharon Williams from Taurus Marketing has to say on this in next week’s network event. I think her insights will be invaluable in helping me make the right decision as to what to do next.

I suppose it’s a good problem to have! I look forward to sharing some ideas with you and Sharon on the night. I am hoping to report back with some new direction in the next post. J

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.

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