If I’ve said it before, I am going to say it again: it is exciting to watch a small business
grow! I wish I had started a business a
long time ago, back when Dad and I toyed with the idea of opening a
restaurant. Of course, it hasn’t all
been a joy ride. I personally have had
enough peanut butter sandwiches and chili dogs (with a side on indigestion!) to
last this lifetime. And my sleep
schedule is pretty screwed up, although I remember Mom’s doing the same thing
at about the same age, so I can’t really blame it all on entrepreneurship. But when I wake up for the abrupt bathroom
break in the middle of the night, something kicks my brain into high drive and
the break usually ends up at least an hour or two, and swirling ideas, hopes, and
dreams happily keep me a wide-awake hostage until they finally slow down for a
very peaceful and comfy slumber. I still
can honestly tell you I don’t regret a minute of it! We’re into February 2012 right now,
supposedly the slowest month of the year in the glass business, and we’re
working on a commercial job that will pull us through winter. We also got a surprise financial break from
what had seemed an unlikely source that is going to greatly help us reach our
most successful season yet (okay, so it’s just our second peak season in
business…I know, it’s supposed to be
better than the first!)
I am sitting on the edge of my chair waiting for spring,
when business comes out of the winter hibernation and is strong and healthy and
ready to run hard in the warm sun. It’s
gonna be good! I can smell it in the
chilly morning air; I can taste it in my first cup of coffee! Yet in the fervor and excitement of coming
into a very good year, I have to remind myself to hold the course. All those hopes and dreams and such must fall
under the mantra of keeping it simple.
The thrill of progress must be tempered with the reality of wisely
choosing the very best of the dreams and goals set for this business year. All of the bells and whistles that I could
add to Down Home Design & Glass to make it bigger and better (or bigger and
louder) must be in proportion to what is currently going on. It must be measured against the revenues that
are actual. If I get too overly zealous,
the business could get too big in oh so many ways. Overspending could result in debt too huge to
easily rein back in. Marketing and
aquiring the right team for the business has to be in proportion to each other,
or it could result in being too short-handed to adequately meet customer needs
in a timely manner. After all, the
ultimate goal is not creating a huge, successful company. The ultimate goal is nurturing and growing
our small business so it will become and remain a vehicle to nurture my family,
my staff and their families, and our community.
As an entrepreneur, I must remember that it is the business which will
serve us and not us serving the business for the sake of the business. I must keep my expenses in check, wisely
choosing how to invest revenue back into the business so that it will properly
care for the people it needs to be caring for.
No one can tell you specifically how to do that for your own
business. You have to take a good look
at what your own goals are, and manage your business finances accordingly. The Day of Peanut Butter Sandwiches does
pass.
