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No 91                                                                             September 2006

Cabin Fever Taking Over Your Small Business?

Have you ever wondered how other home-based small business owners deal with being stuck in the house all day long?

And remember, just because you have a home-based business doesn't mean you have to stay home all the time. Get out and get involved with at least one group in your community -- perhaps a chamber, a community group, a civic group or industry group. These are also great places to meet people who may need what you have to sell.

On top of that, remember that there are still plenty of people in the world who don't spend all their time on the internet or chained to a computer like a lot of us do.

What do you think? Take a minute and think about how you deal with home-based business cabin fever.

Balancing freedom and discipline

One of the main reasons I am in business as a portfolio worker, and I imagine it would be for you too, is the freedom and flexibility that self employment offers.

Just yesterday I took off and for a couple of hours just did lots of nothing.

I can’t really imagine explaining that to a boss, “Hey boss, would it be okay if I came into work at lunch time today? I want to fluff around at home” I think I would be forced into being self-employed quick smart if you know what I mean.

Freedom however, can be also become your downfall unless it is balanced with some discipline. Freedom requires a framework to contain it.

Take the caged bird metaphor. A bird sits in its cage wishing the bars were not there so it could fly and be free like the birds on the outside.

Then one day the cage door is left open and the bird has its chance of freedom. Out it flies, free at last. The first thing our friend notices is flying further than one side of the cage to the other is hard work. The bird’s fitness is low and so flying makes our bird exhausted pretty quickly. Then it starts to get hungry and realises it doesn’t know where to find food, except in the cage. Then another bird swoops on it and our bird realises it doesn’t know how to protect itself.

“Geewiz” the bird thinks to itself, “This freedom business is much harder in reality than I ever dreamt of! Maybe I should head back to the cage and reconsider it all.”

Sound familiar? Having the freedom of being a portfolio business owner is a wonderful thing, provided you have the discipline to place the framework and parameters around it.

Consider taking a look at your business and the areas that could do with some improvement. Is there a lack of discipline present in these areas? Maybe not enough discipline in managing your time, or your workload, or your ability to say no or yes, or the discipline to do the tasks you don’t particularly enjoy.

How is your balance between freedom and discipline?

'No!'

As NEWORKers do we have to say "Yes" to our clients. While carrying out a task, to we add to the stress that we pace on ourselves by being amenable to the requests that come to us. We are there to do a job and yet we can be our own and the client's worst enemy

One of the most important skills NEWORKers need to master is the ability to say ‘no’ to certain requests.

Most NEWORKers are fortunate, in that they are surrounded by clients and suppliers who respect their boundaries. However there’s always one or two of them are likely to try and push their luck.

Rather than just agreeing to put yourself out for your client when they ask you to “go the extra mile” for them, take a minute to decide the impact of taking it on.

When doing this, put yourself first and ask ‘how will agreeing to this short-notice job affect me/my business/my other clients?’ This is as opposed to automatically being empathetic with your client’s predicament.

The problem is you may decide the job’s not right but still find it hard to say ‘no’. This is a really common issue, especially for portfolio workers, many of whom acquiesce to unreasonable requests because they worry their clients will think badly of them if they turn them down.

In reality, their client’s reaction is more likely to be “that NEWORKer’s really got his/her act together” than “it’s unprofessional of him/her to turn down work”. With any luck they will take on board a fact your saying no has taught them, e.g. “Next time I need him/her to do a job I ought to bear in mind he/she needs more notice.”

‘Yes’ often means you want to be amenable and to please, whereas ‘no’ shows you’ve taken control of your business. Bending over backwards to please not only sends signals that you’re a pushover, it ultimately saps your energy which is obviously counterproductive for all concerned.

If the thought of saying harsh-sounding ‘no’ distresses you, surround it with a comforting phrase, like '”I'm going to have to say no to that, but thank you for asking me” or “I'll have to say no on this occasion as I'm double booked already, but please ask me again.” This way you'll find that you can still sound positive or open to an idea, even when declining someone's suggestion or request.

It’s liberating when you realise that saying ‘no’ doesn’t mean you’re a negative person. Having the confidence to say ‘no’ is a real asset, so take control, be clear-headed about your policies, know your limits and when you need to… just say no!

Can you make a difference?

Being socially responsible depends on making careful choices. From the phone and electricity providers you use to the food and clothes you buy to the airline you fly with. Each choice has an impact, no matter how insignificant it may seem.

Business-wise, being socially responsible can be some of the best advertising you can do. However, for it to be effective your SR action has to actually connect to your solo business. It's really no different to the approach large corporations take; it's just on a smaller scale.

The trick is to take actions which aren’t only socially responsible, but which help to reinforce your brand. So before agreeing to sponsor a local school event or donating to a fundraiser, assess what good it will do for your brand.

If you are a florist, consider starting an initiative that brings light into peoples lives. If you are a gift shop yours could be 'give the gift of friendship' - something for the lonely of the community. Initiatives like this reinforce what you do more than sponsoring a local fair, unless of course you run a hot dog caravan.

Are you getting the gist of what is and isn’t brand reinforcing? Here are some more examples.

If a self employed personal trainer donated to the Red Cross, he wouldn’t notice as much brand reinforcing growth as if he were to hold free fitness session at a local park/community centre once a week for people with illnesses.

If a proof reader volunteers at a food bank every month, she wouldn’t notice as much brand reinforcing growth as if she volunteered to teach reading to kids with special needs.

Beyond the feel-good factor, studies prove that businesses that are SR achieve higher profits than those that don't. Maybe it’s from having a happy conscience!

It's not just about charity - it's about realising that as humans we need to create the kind of world we want - not sit around hoping that crime, war, poverty and global warming will fix themselves.

Getting out there for the good of the world will give you the opportunity to talk, think, act and be socially responsible.

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