You want to do it all. Start your own business. Run your home. Maybe you have a family, a dog, cat, birds, a sports class 3 times a week, parents evenings or the PTA.
You want your business to be community based, ethical, charitable, philanthropic & you want people to engage with your product, share with their friends, come back as repeat customers & give you a five star rating. You want to run a fundraiser, a coffee shop, sell apparel & merchandise, give out free advice & in amongst all of this, you want to earn some money to live off. You want all of this & you want it now!
But what happens when you stretch yourself too thin? What happens when your brilliant ideas collide with the reality of running a business & the day to day effort that entails? What can happen is that you can stretch yourself too thin, have too many projects on the go at any given time & slowly but surely, you could lose sight of why you are doing it all; the fact that running your own business is your way of earning money, of having an income.
So, how can you recognise if this has happened to you? When you are fully immersed in the day to day running of your business, how can you see the signs that you might, or could be doing too much, with very little come back? The answer is simple, you can’t.
When you run your own business is it all so very easy to become completely side tracked from where your business model should be going, by trying to juggle too many balls in the air. Every business owner knows that to be seen & remain current in an ever changing market, you need to keep on top of the trends in your sector, be mindful of your client avatars & stay one step ahead of the competition.
However, there is also a need to be philanthropic in your endeavours & also remain connected to the community you run your business in.
So, what happens, when you get to the end of another financial year & you realise that your profits have been dented by your extensive non business related activities? If you haven’t seen it coming until then & acted upon it previously, then this would be the time to take stock, reflect & re-focus.
Therefore, despite you wanting to do everything & be everything to everyone, how could you remain on track & avoid stretching yourself too thin? Virtually Smart Ltd have gathered a few ideas to consider going forward.
Re-focus on the business.
Your business is your baby, but it is also the source of your income. Therefore, despite the need for showing your customer base what kind of person you are & or how philanthropic your activities are; keeping your focus firmly on developing your business is essential.
There is nothing selfish about thinking of yourself first, that is what business is all about . Knowing that every other business owner faces the same challenges you do, should help you go some way to realise that at the end of the day, no one else is going to pay you if you are not at work.
Philanthropic behaviours & charitable activities.
You can still be philanthropic & charitable, without it taking over your life. It is all too easy to plough lots of energy in to raising money for charity & share your philanthropy; but you can do it in such a way which does not impact on the energy you need to run your business.
One way to engage in charitable activities & remain connected to your community, is to choose a local charity to align yourself with. You could perhaps once or maybe twice a year hold a small coffee morning or raffle for your customers to engage with. You are still engaging with the philanthropic side of your nature & your business; but you are not exhausting yourself trying to prove it.
Social media & advertising.
We all know that social media representation & advertising is key to the success of any business. However, rather than pouring over the latest trends, preparing posts for social media channels, advertising, sharing other relevant news; this is where the benefits of hiring a VA (Virtual Assistant) could help.
Hiring a VA is another cost, but in the long run if a few hours a week are being paid for someone else to take up your social media presence, it will not only enable you to re-focus back on the nitty gritty of running your business, but it will also give you freedom to keep your energy for your business needs beyond the social media platforms.
Written by Katy-Jane on behalf of Virtually Smart Ltd
