“Help–I’m Drowning”
Ron G: “I’m a small business owner who’s drowning, sinking, and suffocating in the day to day minutae, mess and distractions of paperwork, admin, operations and supplier issues. I work 18 hours a day, just can’t get my head above water and can’t spend the time I need on developing sales leads and managing customer relationships. How does a guy like me get out of this vicious circle?”
October 18th, 2006 at 7:07 pm
I have three words for you Ron. Systemize, Automate, Outsource! Yes, most small businesses struggle with the issue of managing growth with minimal resources. Do you know that over 17 million small businesses have no employees? Whether you are solo, small, or small-small, you should still do what the big boys do–find a way of streamlining and automating core processes so you can get onto the critical business of growth. Without it, you will wither and die. I advise you to look to your local chamber of commerce, or an organization such as this one (www.score.org) for some focused advice, but as a starter here’s a suggestion: outsource admin, book-keeping and secretarial by taking on a ‘virtual’ staff (see www.elance.com for hundreds of’virtual administrators’). Good luck Ron, and keep an eye on Businesswise because we’ll be coming back to this subject again.
October 20th, 2006 at 3:08 pm
Ron keep calm man. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the pressure but you have to remember the dream too, while being careful not to let it kill you! Stand back for a minute, and get some professional advice. But you have to be prepared to listen and hear what they say. Sometimes we’re too close to the businesses we create from nothing but blood, sweat, tears and passion to be objective.