Are we speaking your language? That’s no accident. We choose our industries with intent—because no competitive advantage rivals experience.
This act of setting aside time from doing actual billable work to sit down and think, strategize, and act on how to further your own ends is for me one of the most exciting and stressful parts of being a small business owner. It reignites my passion for the business, why I started down this road in the first place: being able to invest myself in something that belongs to me, and follow my own instincts. It also reignites a few dormant ulcers as the number of billable hours I put in for that particular day/week/month start to dwindle. But it’s critical that we remember and experience that passion on a regular basis as more and more of our time becomes consumed by working in the business- the part that helps keep those ulcers at bay.
Integrity can be a scary word. It’s more than just common parlance for honesty or truthfulness, it challenges us to be true to ourselves and take a long hard look at how we may have compromised our own professional standards for the sake of advancing the business, rather than improving it. By working on the business you are keeping your goals, aspirations and ethos in front of you, not just the next job/gig/client. Sometimes this can mean saying no to a project, business decision, or client that is ultimately going to compromise the way that you’ve chosen to do business. Integrity challenges us to choose who we’re going to be, and stick with it.
These blog posts are a way to keep us accountable, and serve as a reminder to practice what we preach. So here’s a few things we’ve done lately to help develop our business:
Take a few minutes today and reflect- what have you done this summer to not just advance your business, but also improve it? Is there an area or task that you’ve been neglecting? The end of the year is fast approaching, how close are you to meeting your goals?