“Think of yourself as one business with multiple components”

Apparently there are limits to what one person can achieve in 24 hours – not that I really like to admit this!! Being a very positive person and having lots of ideas and being reasonably skilled in a number of areas, and not feeling that being a single parent is an excuse to stop me working, I have started two businesses. What I failed to calculate into this pot of positivity and work frenzy was the fact that both businesses are customer driven, both are personalised products, both target a similar customer, and both are very labour intensive – and that there is only one of me, there are only 24 hours in a day, and I am a single parent – this is not an excuse, it is a fact.

The upshot of this is that I have spent the last week reassessing how to juggle the businesses and the kids. I think the school holidays has made me realise that there is only one of me, and I am not prepared to let my kids down or my customers, or my businesses, so I need to find another way of working – or maybe another way of thinking.

This is where the idea that Megan Auman suggests on her fantastic blog Designing an MBA comes into play – “Think of yourself as one business with multiple components”. If I put in the fixed parameters into the equation of how do I run these two businesses, I can start to see a more long term solution appearing:

1. There is only one of me.
2. There are only 24 hours in a day
3. I need to be able to support and parent my children
4. I want to have the time and energy to enjoy being a mum
5. I must get some sleep
6. Stress is a killer
7. I want to work
8. I need to work.

Now I look at my business goals and interests

1. My greatest passion business-wise is my art business – Love and Lemonade
2. Customer service and quality of product are paramount and cannot be compromised
3. I love writing
4. I love cooking
5. I love photography
6. I am a positive person
7. Love and Lemonade is customer driven, primarily in the daytime.
8. Potential free time is evenings, and when there is free time between customers.

So it would seem going forward, that if I focus on growing Love and Lemonade, there is the potential for ChoccyScrumptious to work as a Chocolate blog. Posts could be written in batches and posted on a time delay maybe? It can be monetised, and worked on in the evenings or when there is a gap in Love and Lemonade – and as it isn’t customer driven, the two won’t clash.

Seeing me as the business makes a huge difference, and I think will help me prioritise and grow the business of ‘me.com’ more successfully and less stressfully!

Some might say I have failed as the idea of having a Chocolate shop is not going to be realised at the moment – but I choose not to see this as a failure. I have to accept fixed parameters on my life as listed above, but not see them as reasons to fail or excuses, just use them in a practical and positive way to create a solution.

I am excited about September now too – a newly amended business plan, new products and services for Love and Lemonade, and a change in mindset for me. And if you are a creative looking to start or grow your business have a look at Megan Auman’s blog. It is clever, insightful and positive.

I’ll let you know in September how I got on restructuring the business of ‘me.com’!

“Think of yourself as one business with multiple components” is a quote from Megan Auman June 2013.

Tags: Business, career, customer service, Family, full time, gingerbread, Juggling, mum, self-employment, single parent, Small business, Work–life balance