Category: Your Business is you

New Habits

So, we are in the middle of a pandemic. We keep on hearing ‘No’s.’ No, we cannot go to work. No, we cannot visit friends. And no, we must avoid contact in places where we could catch the virus. We need to heed the warnings we hear and see. Yet, I think it is time to get some ‘Yes’s’ in our vocabulary and our corner.

I am not saying we should not follow the warnings; we should pay very close attention to them. The advisories are there to keep us safe. At the same time, there is a lot we can do. There are entire gig companies online. They’re looking for people to perform tasks and be paid by clients who need the content that you could write and send to them on your computer. You can do this with little more than a computer, tablet, or phone and an Internet connection. A little imagination always helps. Some of these jobs, called Gigs, will start off paying $15 an article, and you could end up earning several hundred dollars to ghostwrite a book.

Also, if you are professional, it is easy to see your clientele online using FaceTime, Zoom (which is my favorite,) or any other number of face-to-face applications around on the market and either free or nearly free. If you were trying to grow a business, having a site online allows you a worldwide reach for your customers. Even if you started not being online at a regular time without a pandemic, you would end up online anyway because that’s where the majority of your clients outside your local area would find you.

I am letting you this so you can think about things. If you are going to try something, start small and see where it goes. And remember, the one thing that works always is ‘Work.’

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Business Ventures

Books are great. And it’s always wonderful to be able to sit and read and learn from the actions and exploits of others. It is even a good way to save a little. They say that failure is the price of learning. If you can read a book and learn from someone else, you’re actually receiving free knowledge, although secondhand, as based on someone else’s success or failure.

You never really know until you put your own ideas to the test. If all you do is read books, and reading is essential, then you know what the writer has told you. You do not see the rest of the story, parts the author left out. And in those details, the ones you do not learn in books, lay the aspects of success and failure. To truly succeed you have to go forth and try.

I am not saying you need to fail to succeed. Failure is often overrated. You do have to go forth to see what works and what does not. And, you must know when to go straight forward, and when to pivot into a new direction. You pivot when you see you are up against insurmountable odds which would bury you should you continue to go towards them.

What else can you do to mitigate failure? You can watch others. Find mentors and ask questions. Study what happens to businesses and plan for success. Will this guarantee you freedom from failure? No. It will, though, give you a fighting chance.

If you’re looking for absolute guarantees, business is not the best place to be. Business faces too many variables which range from government regulation to manufacturing, to labor and, most fickle of all, to the customer.

I am not suggesting you avoid business ventures. Read books, find mentors, ask questions, study what’s going on, and do your best. When it’s your business, just know that there is no backup. Your business is you, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. Work to make your ventures prosperous.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.