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Eating alone..
How’s everyone’s week been?
Mines been a blur.. couldn’t tell you exactly what I’ve achieved, it’s just been one of those weeks where I just haven’t felt on top of anything! and now it’s Friday!
@sl007 spoke about loneliness in business and totally felt that this week. As some of you are aware I work evenings/nights and some weekend shifts down at Tiverton Hospital Booking in patients to the Urgent Treatment Centre (so…with all due respect – I hope I never see you!😄).
My hubby works in the day 8-5pm, 5 days a week at his place of work.. and then comes home and often has our own clients booked in which will take him up till 22:00….we are ships passing in the night at the moment – and its tough! Especially when you’re a new business and we more than ever need time together to collaborate and be singing off the same song sheet when taking next steps with our business.
Has anyone been in this situation? What have you done to help free up time? and when did you know it was time to reduce the day job?
Stuart Morrison and Christina Relf8 Comments-
Morning Josephine. I agree – it’s tough. My situation when I set up my own business was slightly different from yours – at least my (then) husband and I both worked during the daytime. But I also started studying for an OU degree at the same time, so when I wasn’t working, I was ‘working’! There is no perfect recipe… particularly in the early days. You just have to put your shoulder to the wheel, which I’m sure is exactly what you’re both doing. Perhaps you should carve out 40 minutes each day for a business check-in with your husband. And of course you’ll be trying to sort out times when you can just relax and be together. I wish you luck! (PS: I have somehow kept my business going through two divorces and becoming a single mother and sole provider when my son was just 3 and a half.)
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@christinareal-word-com wow that’s pretty impressive Christina! Thanks for responding :-). 40 mins is doable I reckon. It got me thinking about time and where we could utilize it, for example we often talk when he’s on lunch in the day but we’ve now decided to have a little mini business meeting for the first 20 mins – not long as I feel lunchtime should at least be a time for rest and sustenance but it’s progress. Studying alongside a new business sound intense!! and with a toddler too!? hats off to you. 🙌 – did you have a moment when you knew it wasn’t all in vain? and what was your mantra?
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@JoRoweOffice Good luck with it all, Josephine. I like the idea of having a mini business meeting for the first 20 minutes of your lunch break. It’s difficult to say exactly when I knew it wasn’t all in vain. Working for myself was all I ever wanted to do. I’ve definitely had (very) lean periods but I’ve always loved being my own boss. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a mantra as such. It’s true to say that my business really took off when I became a single mum, though. So even though it was super hard (particularly as I had to pay for everything), I guess I was modelling myself on superwoman (or is that supermum?)!
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Hi Josephine. I am fortunate that I also do some part-time dog walking and I always meet people that way – but then chase my tail all day catching up. I often work into the evening. I am widowed, and whilst I have a partner, I do live alone and it can be difficult. What I have done is join a couple networking groups that meet face-face so it gets my out, gets me slightly more dressed up and ensures I engage and laugh with others. I also do not feel guilty now if I decide to pop out for a coffee or do a bit of gardening because, owning a travel business, often means clients call me in the evening – so I need to ensure I balance my day so I can be the best for me, for my clients and for my business… Hope this helps a little.
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@sarah-daniels Thank you so much for taking the time to respond ☺. yes Networking groups are vital arent they! – I need to actually make the coffee morning at signal in Tivvy! sorry @sl007 😅 i keep saying i’ll come along!
That’s great advise actually and yes I guess that’s the luxury of having a business isn’t it? that you can have that flexibility. As you can see I naturally a night owl but feel guilty if I’m not up and logged in(so to speak) at 8:00 but what you’re saying is that time really has to work for us not against us.
We have a google account with shared files and now have a google task list, which we share and can assign tasks to each other on. I am also able to chat through google chat (god I sound like an AD for google haha!) while I’m at work in the quiet times and this has really helped. We’re not collaborating face to face but its a solution to a problem right now.
Living alone is tough at times, thank you for sharing. Dog walking and a travel business – I feel like you’re a very sociable person who likes to get out and live life! what got you into travel? 🙂
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Life certainly moves fast when you’re head down building, striving and succeeding. My wife and I have never had FT jobs, and the businesses we have run in that time have been quite varied and as kids came along obv. focus and time shifted. But the one thing that kept us upbeat, even during the tough times, was having a mission we both were working towards, Our mission; happy, healthy kids, time to enjoy life, family as a priority over work. We also would check-in, no matter what happened, we’d have at least an hour of adult conversation and very open discussions about where we were, and how we were feeling. No judgement, or resentment just an honest inventory of the interior landscape. It helped release the pressure, just knowing you were both struggling and what with, meant nothing ever built up, and we genuinely understood what was going on for the other person.
Sounds like things are quite exciting though, what is the biggest win you have had recently and what’s on the horizon?
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Ah The hidden truth behind many a small businesses.
Why do we do it. On paper it sounds ludicrous to give up a paid job where you work set hours and can come home and not think about it till next day for a 24/7 commitment and stress without overtime!!
It’s good to remind yourself of why? The passion you have for it, the reason you do it or why it truly matters to you or the people you do it for.
Use your network, (just as you have been doing here) reach out, book 121’s and chat with others who get it. They’ll support you, challenge you, maybe even inspire you and remind you you are not doing it alone.
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Yeah, it can get lonely. I tried setting up a Gather Town once for peeps to hang out in, other businesses in the same spot who could chat to others in the virtual space when they needed a human. Got too expensive, but perhaps something to think about again. It’d need to be a membership, or perhaps a bolt-on to the SiGNAL Accelerator, where peeps can pay a little more to have a Gather Town Seat. @garethturner @signal-emma ?
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