Lists Lists and More Lists

So I've been trying to think about my business rather than just forge ahead. Since I don't have myself to hire, I have to try and do my service for myself. This is as challenging as I tell my customers it is. Once you start thinking about your business, 1 or 2 things get focused on and very quickly, that 1 or 2 things becomes 50. I find that making a goals list (which includes a timeline), a daily and weekly To Do list and just a general list of ideas seems to work best for me. These have to be looked at and updated every couple days in order for them to work.

Another thing this does is establish priority which is vital to any business. One thing I found was this blog was not a priority every day so I've cut back the time spent on it for now. What also surfaced regarding this blog is that it is important and should be updated at least weekly or it's just a waste of time for the reader and myself. A lot happens in a week, even at this stage where it feels like a bit of a waiting game.

When I mentioned providing my service for myself, I actually meant sitting done and writing a plan, just like I do for my customers. Not a business plan, that's done, what I mean is an action plan that I can then build my goal and To Do lists from. I'm aware that this feels like a lot of paper pushing but it's really not, I use a computer...

All joking aside, it's vital to do this paper pushing in order to create your business and fuel it's fire. The way I do it may not be the best way for you to do it. I've certainly had ways of doing this proposed to me that fell by the wayside almost as soon as the words hit my ears. Not every idea works for everybody. What I'm really getting at here is, in the beginning, it's vital to put pen to paper and really hash out every detail of what you need to do. Make this a practice and you will find a way that works for you. I've already, only a few weeks into my business, discovered 30 year old businesses that need to hear and do this just as much as the start up. This helps bring your business into focus and helps you stay the course.

I didn't forget about you.

Boy have I been busy. Each day I'm accomplishing more and more. The response has been very good so far but no money, honey. This morning Martha and I had a discussion about how much time I spend on this new venture and how to structure our week. Starting Monday, I'm working 8 to 4. I'll do this Monday through Thursday and then everything else that happens is just gravy. Stay tuned for a real update. Today is Friday and it's family time. No matter what, this is an essential element to the success of this business!

To the zoo!

Tomorrow is a BIG DAY

So was today. I finished one plan and wrote another. All 3 that I have written have been so vastly different. I can't wait to see what a months worth of plan's looks like. I'm hoping it doesn't look like I did 3 for free and that's all folks.

As The The said, "This Is The Day"

Today, February 2nd, 2009 is the official first day of Southgate Small Business. Until now, I have just been preparing and researching. Today I turned on the open sign (figuratively). This is a significant day in our lives around here. After our last business closed we said we would never do that again, of course 10 minutes later we were discussing what our next venture should be, but we really didn't know if we would ever do it again. And here we go again. This is much different than last time. The most obvious changes are that Cella was a retail store with multiple employees and a store front and crazy expenses from the get go. What I'm doing this time is a service business with little to no overhead, no merchandise management and the only employee is myself.

So here's the big reveal for those of you who don't know anything about this. What I do is work with small business owners, managers and/or sales people to uncover and solve issues their businesses may be having. My goal is to guide them on whatever I can to help their business succeed. The whole reason my company exists is to make small businesses healthier and stronger. It's may way of helping out this country, it's economy and our families economy at the same time.

I started today by writing my first "Plan" and doing some research for my next client. I have three "Plans" that I'm am writing this week and expect to pitch before next week starts. I'm really pleased with the results of my efforts today and am confident that what I have to offer is unique and of a high quality. My goal is to really help these businesses succeed. My first plan involved basic marketing and limited PR. This is what this client needs desperately and has not done at all. I know that if he follows my advice, his business can only increase.