I have clients. Clients have needs. I meet clients’ needs. That’s how it works in my world.
Yet it’s often a different story when I need to tackle projects for my business; “the cobbler’s children have no shoes,” I often joke. The problem is typically two-fold: (1) I’m so busy taking care of paying clients, I’m challenged to carve time for my own endeavors, and (2) it’s hard for me to get my head in the game when the effort is my own.
This year, the circumstances surrounding our challenged economy are leading to increased entrepreneurialism. Whether by choice or necessity, many of us are venturing into new businesses and/or altered work situations. For some of us, that means juggling additional responsibilities on top of existing workloads. That can leave us feeling a little, well, discombobulated—mentally disorganized, if you will. For those of us well versed in juggling the needs of multiple clients, the demands of our companies and even the tasks of our home lives, why is it so tough to not get weighed down by our own projects? It’s often simpler to default back to past habits than invest in new opportunities, though the new opps could bear the greatest rewards.
This is certainly true for me. I’ve built my career offering service to others, and it’s easy to forget that an investment is my endeavors will ultimately benefit anyone I do business with. This year, I’ve spread my wings a little into new ventures because some of my existing ones slowed significantly. Excited as I’d been to go for some of my dreams, I kept getting swamped with what was already on my plate.
However, one recent afternoon as I organized client files on my computer, I had a breakthrough. Ding! I realized “I” am the client, and I should take just as much time to organize my folders for my own endeavors. I should filter my own business projects into my priority list, no question.
Mind you, I’d often stated that I was going to treat my business and my projects like I would any other clients’. I even had folders already set up. But were they organized? No! I hadn’t followed up my statements with concerted action. That afternoon, as I polished the file folders for my business and created a fresh action plan for the many tasks I needed to accomplish, I knew I was at last taking action to assign my business its proper place in my workload. I’ve been so focused on servicing my clients, I’d all but forgotten how to be one.
It’s common sense, I know. But for me, this issue that’s often ‘easier said than done,’ became easier once I’d done something about it.
This truth is essential as you embark on the journey for your business. If you don’t take action to prioritize your own efforts, you’ll flounder to the point of exhaustion. Maybe you need to write out your own business plan. Maybe you should organize your file folders like I did. Perhaps you could invest in some training to educate yourself on the tools you want to incorporate for your business. Or maybe it’s time to get some help and stop trying to do it all yourself. You can do that by hiring a virtual receptionist or virtual assistant—someone for whom you really are the client and thus merit priority, service and attention.
If there’s anything I’ve learned this year, it’s that it’s always right to invest in myself and my business. When the economic hiccup became a full-on groan, some of even my most loyal clients—for whom I could not have worked harder—had to pull back out of necessity. The one constant in my career is me!
I’m my own client. And I’m pretty easy to work with as long as the service is good…
