| |
| |
|
Small Business Information |
|
|
|
A Day in the Life of a Self Employed Professional
It's Monday morning and Connie the Consultant sits in her executive office chair overseeing her business empire. Her desk is strewn with half finished projects, several weeks worth of to do lists (none of them completed), scribbled post it notes, and a permission slip for her daughter's field trip to the Planetarium that should have been turned in last week. Somewhere, buried deep in the rubble is Connie's business plan. The last time she saw it was during the Clinton Administration. The phone rings. She checks her caller ID and groans. It' Dee Dee Demanding calling again, wanting to make one more change in the project that should have been wrapped up a month ago. Connie scribbles Dee Dee's current list of demands on yet another post it note. She hopes this will be the end of the changes so she can finally get paid for the project. She sure won't be making a profit on THIS project. Connie picks up the Joann Marden file to find the notes from their last meeting. She looks through the entire folder twice-no notes. She starts to dig through the stacks on her desk muttering, "I had it in my hand, where did I put it, I just saw it, where can it be?" The phone rings again. This time it's a telemarketer wanting to sell Connie a vacation trip. Connie laughs and says, "No sense calling me, I'm self employed. I don't get vacations." She thinks back for a minute to when she became self employed. She actually believed she'd be able to take time off whenever she wanted to. What a joke! Every time she thinks she can get time off, something comes up with one of her clients. Or the check she was expecting to receive didn't come in. Or, she didn't dare spend money because she didn't have any new projects lined up. Her email dings and she stops to check the new message-a notice that her online credit card statement is ready. She clicks through and signs in. She sits back stunned, "I spent HOW MUCH?! Shaking her head she goes back to work looking for the notes from the meeting with Joann Marden. Instead she finds the estimated tax payment that she should have sent in a month ago. She groans and checks the clock. It's nearly lunch time and she's accomplished nothing so far. Another email comes in. It's a newsletter from a small business expert telling her she needs to work "on" her business, not just "in" her business. "Yeah", she says, "I've got all kinds of time to learn about working "on" my business. Right after I find the Marden notes, make the umpteenth change on Dee Dee's project, and get these proposals done that have been sitting on my desk for three weeks." She hits the delete key and goes to lunch? Caroline Jordan, MBA helps self employed professionals find the cure for "business as usual". Visit http://www.TheJordanResult.com for strategies and resources to help you Get Knowledge. Get Focus. And Get Results.
MORE RESOURCES:
Small-Business - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
The Step Zero Effect The key to organizational focus and helping those who need what you do is knowing, precisely, what you do well -- and what you don't do well.Once there was a semiconductor company in financial trouble. More Rules for Franchising? The FTC- Mighty Federal Trade Commission has unilaterally decided to change the franchise rule. They changes are sure to hurt American business, Franchisors and the over 400,000 Franchisees in the United States today. Effectively Completing the Operations Plan Section of Your Business Plan The Operations Plan is a critical component of any business plan as it presents the Company's action plan for executing its vision. The Operations Plan must detail 1) the processes that are performed to serve customers every day (short-term processes) and 2) the overall business milestones that the company must attain to be successful (long-term processes). Business Debt Collection Letter Writing Secrets Debt collection letters--an overview"Debt collection letter" in the singular may be an oxymoron, since unfortunately, one is rarely enough. You should have a series of letters to send to deadbeat clients, each one becoming a little more insistent. Franchise Buyers from Hell I ran a franchise company for many years, a car wash franchise, and we use to get the most ridiculous franchise buyers who thought they wanted a franchise. It seems we had to deal with these Kookoo birds because they have consumer rights and the Federal Trade Commission, which looks over franchising goes out of their way to let these consumers get away with these tall tales. 9 Things You Must Do To Maximize Your Chances Of Obtaining A Small Business Loan To get approval for your small business loan application, you must be able to meet the lending criteria set down. Some organisations are more risk averse than others, and will therefore have more stringent criteria. 6 Ways Small Businesses Can Survive In A Crazy Economy Contrary to popular belief, small businesses can survive a crazy economy by taking some proactive steps. Provide spectacular customer service -- every time. Excuses Franchisees Make; When They Violate Exclusive Territory Agreements One of the biggest excuses franchisees of home based and serviced based franchises make when violating their exclusive franchise agreement with their franchisor and fellow franchisees is: My Family Works There. As a franchisor, I cannot believe how many times neighboring franchisees steal each others clientele or work outside their exclusive franchise area. FTC Adding to the Franchise Rule Last summer the FTC put forth a report and then asked for comments on modifications of the franchise rule. There has been no real significant changes since the 1970's, but lots of opinions and case law along the way. Small Business Mistakes: Are You Making Enough of Them? That's right are you making enough mistakes in your business? Some of you are probably annoyed at my question; others are thinking "Geez, Rose! If I made any more mistakes I'd have to run screaming back to a day job!"If you went to school in the public school system in America, you were culturally trained to avoid and hide mistakes, after all; your teachers and professors didn't give you a great grade for your efforts unless those efforts produced great results. So, too, if you were an employee in corporate America you were rewarded for chasing perfection and penalized for making mistakes. 7 Card Tricks That Improve Your Personal Networking Power CARD SHARK7 Card Tricks That Improve Your Personal Networking PowerThe humble business card has been a mainstay of business and industry for years. But despite it's small size and cost, it's one of the most powerful marketing tools you will ever possess. Why Small Businesses Need Both A Logo And An Identity System Experts urge small business owners to "brand" their business - to use a logo and a set of consistent marketing materials. But, they rarely go into the reasons behind this advice. Making a Donation to Bring MORE Business How a donation is different from a sponsorship and what is the advantage to you?Donations are different from sponsorships, as a sponsorship is more likely to headline you for an event whereas a donation will let you be listed as one of the many donors. You do not need to headline every event to get business attention; you can simply donate an amount of funds and be listed. How Your Habits Control Your Small Business Success Habit: A consistent behavior you perform so frequently that it is automatic. For example, if you learned to drive a car with a standard transmission, the first few lessons were pretty jerky while you learned to synchronize the clutch with the accelerator pedal. How to Sponsor an Event for Fun and PROFIT How do you sponsor an event and get personal introductions at the same time?So how can sponsoring help you to be visible to the business community and gain the right contacts? It is actually quite simple, you need to find events that are visible to the audience you are interested in.Find out: Whom you wish to do business with Which sports they like What community events they like Where the upper management families live and their community involvementThe events that they watch are the ones that you should sponsor. Mini-Blind Cleaning Business, Case Study Sometimes the simple businesses are the ones, which make good money. Take mini-blind cleaning for instance. Creating Time the Virtual Way Time. As a small business owner, it's the commodity you covet most but never seem to have enough of. There Is Security in Change... But Use Caution It has been said that the only constant is change. That statement, while true for everyone, it is especially true for those engaged in business activities. Mission Statements: More Important Than You Thought If an organization lacks a mission statement, it is worthwhile to at least try to draft one. Even if it does not yield an acceptable final draft, the exercise will be rewarding for the hard work which must go into figuring out the company's direction and putative purpose. Advertising - For Small Businesses (Part 2) How to do itPeople skim through newspapers and magazines and they aren't necessarily looking for information on products or services (unless they're reading the classifieds) It's therefore absolutely vital that your advertisement grabs their attention and encourages them to read more. Many ads are designed merely to create awareness of a product or service, however, small to medium size businesses need a result.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
