How do you keep going?

[WardrobeDesign]

I'm just here looking for some inspiration, a little spark. I've run my business for 5 years. Right now I'm down, uninspired, demotivated.
I recently bought a competitors website site, but I think it's a bit of a lemon, and not sure if I want to spend the money it needs. Then this week I made an expensive error with a customers order which will cost me in the region of £1500.
I'm sure every-one feels really down at times, I know being in business is hard and lonely, what do you do when the going gets tough??

 

[Twoscoops]

I think of how much food my 4yo boy eats, knuckle down and keep going!!

I posted to someone yesterday, if possible take a short break, don't think about work and come back with fresh perspective.

 

[BustersDogs]

I had some business coaching in 2013 when I was feeling a bit 'oh I can't be arsed' with everything (that was my 5th anniversary, wonder if it's a 'thing'?). It really helped, but it was someone who only coaches in my 'industry'.

Otherwise when things get crappy I remind myself this is what happens in business. We had an incident recently that started to get me down, coming just on top of a previous incident (and as I found out this morning, just before another issue that I now have to deal with), then I watched 'Car Crash Britain' and saw the lorry ploughing into the back of a car which shot off down a grass verge about another 5/6 car lengths - and thought to myself... well at least I haven't got that one to smooth over...

 

[HarveyIT]

£1500, that is one expensive error. What on earth went wrong? I also saw car crash Britain the other night. Couldn't have missed it. Not the first time I've seen that lorry one. Remember thinking either drink related or feel asleep or something. Makes you cringe though.

Sent from my HTC using Tapatalk

 

[tony84]

When I was first starting out and quiet I was getting up later and later. I joined the gym again and went in the morning. It was a pretty good way to start the day, you come out feeling full of energy wanting to crack on with some work.

 

[Pish_Pash]

I think of how much food my 4yo boy eats, knuckle down and keep going!!

I'm unfortunate, in that I live in an area where everyone is phenomenally successful (these people are too tight to send their kids to private school, so in our locality we have a 'virtual private school' by pushing the house prices up in the sought after state school's catchment...meaning only kids of rich folks attend - think houses at least £1.5M+ ...think actors, think city types, barristers, CEOs of BIG companies etc )...I'm talking seriously wealthy.

Me? ......CSE Grade 4 in metalwork. .....I rent.

What keeps me going is I have some young children who are (presumably) brow beaten with the lifestyles of the kids of the rich & famous (I don't want my kids to be braggy/spoilt, but it must be wearying for them...everyone else has a better this, a better that...does 'exciting' this, does 'exciting' that), what drives me, is to (hopefully) attain a degree of ahem 'success', such that when they get a little older they'll realise that their old man wasn't a loser!

Don't get me wrong, this isn't about 'keeping up with the Jones' (I don't do that...ever, I have an old car, like I say we rent, we take average holidays, we don't try to compete whatsoever), this is more about being able to look my kids in the eye as they start getting older & they think "yep, my old fella's cool".

On that basis alone...I'm full on, every day.

 

[Annoying Donkey]

I'm just here looking for some inspiration, a little spark. I've run my business for 5 years. Right now I'm down, uninspired, demotivated.

...I'm sure every-one feels really down at times, I know being in business is hard and lonely, what do you do when the going gets tough??

What inspired you to get into this business in the first place? Remember that, write it down in big letters and paste on your wall where you see it every day...

Then consider if you were to be put in a time machine and found yourself in Auschwitz
in 1942, would any problem you have now have any significance?

 

[vvaannmmaann]

Gin.

 

[WardrobeDesign]

Pish_Pash, tony84, HarveyIT, Bustersdogs,Twoscoops, vvaannmmaann and WeblinkPlus thank you so much for taking the time to reply, you really have made a difference. I've woken up this morning with a different perspective.

The error was a simple typo I made, although I do ask my clients to check and confirm all orders, he missed the error too, so really we are jointly responsible. It's not just the error, that was like the final straw as I entered 'can't be arsed with this any more land', maybe it's a '5 year thing'. So this is what I'm going to do:-

1. Get some business coaching or mentoring, I think I can get this free from the local council
2. Do some local networking, talking to other like minded people has to help right?
3. Remember why I got into this business in the first place and why I do this. Write it down. (definitely forgotten this one!)
4. Resolve the problem - I will never leave a customer unhappy. I will contact my manufacturer and explain what has happened, ask them if they will make me a another set at a reduced cost. Offer to split the cost with my client 50%. Then try and sell the set made in error and any money recouped we will split.
5. Change my ordering process so that this can never happen again
6. Get some exercise
7. Put things in perspective and remember the good things in my life

That looks a pretty good list of ideas to me - THANK YOU x

 

[Paul_Rosser]

Coaching can be really good provided you get a good coach as being a business owner can be very lonely so just having someone to talk things through with can be useful.

You also need to set some short, medium and long term goals which will help you stay focused on what you are working hard to achieve, also learn to say no a lot more (all successful people do) as your time is valuable and you only have a set amount each week so if someone asks you to do something and it isn't going to help you get towards one of your goals then the default answer should be no.

Networking can be good but a lot of groups are just full of people trying to sell you stuff, we find mastermind style groups a lot better where business owners get together to discuss their challenges as a lot of others will have been through similar times and can discuss how they coped.

Also read (a lot!) books as they will give you ideas on how to change elements of your business to make you better than the competition. Personally can't recommend anything by Joe Calloway enough and especially category of one as it's such simple stuff yet so powerful.

 

[Twoscoops]

I opened my current shop in 2012 and met a guy starting his own business who became a supplier. A couple of years down the line I started my own little B2B enterprise, supplying the same customers as him but with a different kind of product. We talk quite a lot and point each other toward potential customers, it is really useful having this mutual mentoring when you really need it.

WardrobeDesign your resolve to make the situation right for all parties will demonstrate in the long run that being nice to people who deserve it gets paid back in spades.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

To go into a little bit of coaching it's all about finding people with the same values as you.

Each of us has a list of values (Family, Money, Passion, Honesty etc.) and these are the things we value and we should also apply to our business.

People who have similar values to you then you will get on with and those who violate yours you will hate.

Some say there are bad values (greed etc.) but personally think that's nonsense as provided your only employ and deal with people who also have the same "bad" value then it will still work.

Problem is a lot of companies have a one day workshop and pick values which sound good to customers which is what they stick on their website, which is a waste of time.

You should always go into business (and employ staff) with people who have similar values or you end up with conflict.

If you can find other business owners with similar values to yours then you will get on like a house on fire and will support each other as there will be things you have been through (employing people, increasing sales etc.) which others will find useful and vice versa.

 

[Breaking Good]

I agree with Paul re values. A quote that's always stuck in my mind is "You're the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with"

It's always useful to have a few like minded friends.

As for what keeps me going? It's the fear of going back to being an employee. The very thought of it makes me sick! I'd much rather have my destiny in my own hands. The freedom of knowing that my business can keep growing motivates me. You will always have setbacks but losing battles doesn't mean you're going to lose the war!

 

[axionel]

Just imagine working for someone else, that tends to give me a reality check when things are down

 

[Paul_Rosser]

Love that quote and its so true.

Will send you a PM as looking for some promo stuff

 

[Paul_Rosser]

Just imagine working for someone else, that tends to give me a reality check when things are down

I worked "for someone else" for 20 years in the IT industry and some of the jobs I loved and some I hated. Now I've been through coaching I can rationalise why and again comes back to values, if you pick an employer with similar values to you then you will love working for them.

Always remember running a business is a choice and for most it's not an easy one, you have to deal with the uncertainty, cash, employees and a load of other stuff. It's also not for everyone and the biggest mistake most people make is thinking "I'm a good plumber, therefore I will be great at running a plumbing business". It's all covered in a great book called the E-Myth.

For some being an employee is a much better choice, but for those who want it bad enough and are willing to put the time and effort in then no job beats creating something from nothing and building it into a successful business........of course those people who never had the confidence to try it will put it down to luck not had work, but who cares what they think

 

[Chris34]

The key is to try and take yourself outside of the business and look at it from the outside. It's easier said than done, but one thing I found helped was to review my life as a whole with the view to 'my business is part of my life' rather than 'my business is my life'. I'm still in the process of putting this into practise but I have found it is helping both my business and my life as a whole.

I've always believed in the saying 'a happy worker is a good worker'. Have you ever done a routine job in a good mood and found that you flew through it in no time, faster than you normally would? It's because your happy, when your happy you work faster and better and this also applies to you running your own business, if your not happy then this affects the running of your business, if your business is not running how it should be then this makes you unhappy...and on it goes.

Goal setting is a good motivator. Don't over do it, set realistic achievable goals and make your business work for you. So if you don't like something about your business then change it to make it more enjoyable. If your working towards personal goals then the actual business can seem more like 'work' rather than 'life', you just get it done as if your working for somebody else as your mind is thinking about the goals outside of your business. Essentially you create more important goals outside of the business and use your business to meet those goals. I find it helps your mind look at the business from the outside and make better decisions on a more permanent basis.

This is a great read of goal setting and time management that I found the other week.

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2012/08/05/weekly-plan/

And one final thing I would say, it's normal to feel down at times, it's not normal to be happy and perfect all the time. But you have to keep things in perspective and just keep moving forwards to your goals that you set when you were feeling happy.


Chris.

 

[Breaking Good]

I worked "for someone else" for 20 years in the IT industry and some of the jobs I loved and some I hated. Now I've been through coaching I can rationalise why and again comes back to values, if you pick an employer with similar values to you then you will love working for them.

I think that's a good point. When I recall my experience, the superiors with similar values and views about the job as me were a delight to work for. I guess the issue is the lack of control employees have sometimes in who they work with. Will definitely put that book on my "to read" list!

I think business owners have to be able to have a dream or a vision. I've always figured many of my friends would have excellent business owner qualities but they've just never had that vision of running their own business and succeeding. So I guess when things are rough, it's important to revisit that initial vision that propelled us to start the business in the first place

 

[WardrobeDesign]

Wow, some fantastic replies here. They really have re-motivated me. I need to set some goals, organise some coaching, get down the library and make a list of all the reasons I run my own business.
I've found a Meetup group for entrepreneurs not to far away, that looks like a supportive group rather than a flog your granny type. None of my friends have their own business, so it's difficult to talk to any-one about my ups and downs.
I've also resolved the error with my client today, they suggested a solution that will cost £165, and even offered to pay half of it!! I will foot the bill, as I'm delighted not to be £1500 out of pocket.
There's some other stuff I'm going to change too
Thank you all for today

 

[Paul_Rosser]

Excellent stuff, sounds like you are going to have a good week. The meetup group could be really good.

Remember all successful businesses are constantly making changes and no matter how small they all help provided they are helping you reach your goals.

Hope it all works out for you and keep us posted!!!

 

[EpicWebs]

I used to watch the Will Smith video on Youtube, then I realised I was wasting a lot of time

 

[Tech4Homes]

I recommend business networking, not only does it help you look for more work but if you pick the right group then you're out meeting people, talking to others about your business, their business, you get ideas, advice and help (and a lot of people trying to sell you things if you go to the wrong group!)

I go weekly to a paid for members only group and have already received enough work to warrant the yearly membership (about £600p.a so not a lot really), in the first month....and it makes me a bit more enthusiastic about work in general, even if it does tail off quite quickly after sometimes!!

 

[Matthew1983]

I run my own business from home whilst at the same time holding down a full time job. Im married with three children.. they always keep me going, i strive to give them the life i never had..

When things get me down i stop and take a breather and remember a saying that i heard once 'in the world there will always be people in a better situation than you and there will always be people in worse off situation than you.' puts things in perspective.. Losing £1500 may be bad but it could be worse people lose much more.

 

[Simply Business]

Been a little while since your original post @WardrobeDesign, how's it going?

 

[jimley]

As for what keeps me going? It's the fear of going back to being an employee. The very thought of it makes me sick!

So true. Sometimes when I have flashbacks of that time, it feels like it all happened in another life.
Never again.

PS: Intriguing, that username of yours. Will there be a series?