Skip to main content

Managing your expectations - part 4

Managing the expectations of you and your business is a tricky thing ... I would say that this is more of a problem when you are new and just starting and have a list of things a mile long.  However, after 13 years, I can tell you that I still have days when I feel completely overwhelmed and have to wrangle in the expectations of myself.

Do one thing at a time.  The idea of being able to work at home for yourself is very romantic ... you can have laundry going, the dishwasher going, the kids playing a board game in the other room, all while working away on your business like a boss!  What really happens is, you throw in a load of laundry, and it sits in the washing machine wet for 6 hours because you forgot it, requiring it to be washed again.  You start loading the dishwasher, but the phone rings and the kids drop the board game, causing 250,000 cards and dice and pieces to scatter down the stairway.  The dog throws up, the power goes out, and you realize that you don't have a clean bra ... because they are in the washing machine that is now not running again because the power is out.

The benefits of working from home are that, you don't spend time commuting, and you can mix up your working hours if needed.  It is not that you now have the option of doing 250 things at one time.  Focus on one task at a time, and know realistically what to expect from yourself in a work day. 

The day that you became an entrepreneur, didn't mean that you were given a super hero cape and magic wand.  Now you have to play the roles of being a good boss and being a good employee ... evaluate yourself daily.  Would you hire yourself as your employee?  and Would you work for yourself because you are being a good boss?


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

So, You want to be an Entrepreneur - Turning your Idea into a Business - Part 4 Targeting Markets

I hope you enjoyed yesterday's post!  Thanks for following along with the "So, you want to be an Entrepreneur" series!  Today is Part 4, and in case you missed Part 1 , Part 2 , and Part 3 follow the links! Yesterday we talked about narrowing down your target market, and today we are talking about marketing to the target markets you already know of and/or the target markets you can easily find. Perhaps you are a teacher, and already know a large network of teachers, and provide a product or service that can be useful for teachers.  Adjust your pictures and text to target those markets you already have. Think about the similarities that you have with existing friends.  Perhaps some of them would generously provide you with feedback on your items to give you new ideas or descriptive words that you can use to promote your product or service. Think about your hobbies and other groups of people that you are already interacting with.  Is there a product ...
2 comments
Read more

So, You want to be an Entrepreneur - Turning your Idea into a Business - Part 5 Advertising and promoting

Today is the last post in the "So, you want to be an Entrepreneur" series, although really this is the tip of this iceberg!  This entire blog is about being an entrepreneur, but since I must break things up into topics and weekly focuses, we are wrapping this one up!  Today is Part 5, and in case you missed Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , and Part 4 follow the links! So, now, hopefully you have narrowed down products and product lines, and thought about at least one target market for each one.  When you start doing the things I am talking about in this post, you may find that you must go back and redo each of those.  I cannot stress enough that product lines and target markets need to be narrow for this step or else your advertising dollars or your hunts on where to advertise are going to be impossibly large!  Please remember again, you are not excluding shoppers, and you really don't have to exclude products, but you do need to have a target market that is fin...
2 comments
Read more

Managing your expectations - part 2

What are your expectations of yourself?  What are your expectations of your business?  Do these expectations match?  Do you have the skills needed to meet your expectations?  I saw a very lofty post yesterday.  From someone that has zero social media experience.  Admittedly, they just set up a social media account a week prior and they are looking for information and advice on how to be a social media manager.  They do not know anything about social media platforms and are asking for any advice.  They want to become a social media manager and, in 6 months from now, be making $10,000 per month running social media accounts for businesses. They have high expectations of themselves, high expectations of their business, and no current skills to meet those expectations.  They do, however, have the guts to admit all of this and start seeking information.  Do you think that their expectations can become a reality?  I answer, maybe....
Post a Comment
Read more