small business Archives - Page 12 of 28

The Big New Idea: the need for courage and clarity

Hi, my name is Jenny, and I’m mostly tired and not entirely sure what I’m doing.

Not necessarily what you’d expect to hear from a business mentor and coach, right? Being mostly tired and uncertain may not sound like what you want from a person whose job it is to help you run your business better.

I have turned these truths – that I’m tired, and that that might not be my best ever marketing message – over in my mind many times in the last few weeks. I thought maybe I’d just have an unintentional break from blogging while I’m in the difficult, murky work of setting up Copper Boom Studio (LIMITED!!), and then re-emerge when it’s all shiny and functional and awesome.

But then I realised that it didn’t feel right.

So many of my favourite writers and people do it differently. They share while they’re going through The Hard Stuff, rather than just looking back at it when they feel sane again. Elizabeth Gilbert continues to do it so elegantly and evocatively. Glennon Melton Doyle warriors on through difficult times. Brene Brown talks about this as an important step in Rising Strong.

So I knew I had to write about my progress, even though I don’t feel clear or enthusiastic. I had to share this messiness, in order to be as authentic as I believe myself to be.

Since I last wrote (over a month ago), here’s what’s happened:

Copper Boom became a limited company (yay!)
I got a loan to grow the business by moving into premises and adding people to the business (yay!)
The process of commercial lease and lawyer and long waits began (yay, and also bleurgh)

I’ve been, in turn, wildly excited and amazed at what I’m building, and then completely overwhelmed by what I need to achieve.

There have been tears, and moments when I’ve said, “I just can’t,” and, “I don’t know what to do” over and over again. I’ve shouted at my partner, as he tries to help me figure out what to do next, “Everything is important. There’s nothing that I can de-prioritise.” Yep. Glamorous moments.

These moments are when I ask (myself? some mysterious higher power?) for courage and clarity. For glimmers of hope, and for the way ahead. Because sometimes that’s all I can do. The weird thing is, once I sit and ask for clarity on something, it usually comes. Not because I sit there puzzling over it like a Sudoku, but because I stop thinking about it and follow my instincts instead.

After the “everything is important” conversation, I stomped out, walked around, had tea, and then realised that Ryan was right. In fact, he had given me the key to my mountain of work, my paralysis. He had used the phrase “Mission Critical”.

So I wrote up another version of my epic list. I labelled things Mission Critical, Very Important, Important and Less Important. (Because everything’s still important, y’know?)

It helped. It helped me see that having everything on the first day we move into our new premises (and I don’t yet know exactly when that will be) isn’t actually essential. We can survive without all the furniture for a week or so. We can borrow a vacuum cleaner from home if we need to, at the beginning. This clarity helps. Let’s keep it to absolute essentials: sign the lease, have a limited bank account, make a box of kitchen / bathroom essentials. Do the rest later. Keep the short term truly short term.

And, as we’re not even sure when the lease will be signed just yet, there’s no point buying furniture and booking it to be delivered. I can move quickly on that tomorrow or next week, when I have more information.

Which reminds me of something my mum says: “Where you have clarity, make decisions.”

Even today, this Tuesday, I have said I’m struggling. I have hoped, out loud, for some good news, because there are so many requests and questions. I have questioned whether this studio, this business is something I really want to do. Please understand. I am doing this. It is happening. But I want to show you that I, too, like all of us, question things even when I know that they’re good and will be worthwhile. It is always messy. There is always doubt. Even the best business plans require change and adapting to fit the reality. Because no one in the history of the world has followed an exact business plan. Predicting the future is still elusive.

This is courage. To continue, even when I’m not sure of every step on my path. To pivot in a direction I didn’t expect to take, knowing that it’s essential to do so, not a problem.

Do I feel like I’m failing? Yes. Am I actually failing? No.

I actually feel like I’m developing experience, resilience, and empathy that’s going to help me mentor clients and support others in the future. It’s already helping. My existing clients (who have had more patience and understanding for me than I could ever have expected) have already said that they know I get it, because I’m going through it. (“It” being the challenge of business, of decision making, of juggling conflicting priorities all the live long day, of desperately wanting a conversation that isn’t about money.)

So I have hope that this is the essential middle. That this is part of the purpose of Copper Boom – to teach me how to get through this building phase.

Two phrases spring to mind:

This too shall pass

and

The only way out is through

I will keep going. I don’t yet know what I’m going to do once I post this, but I know that one small step after another will get me through.

Before I sign off, it feels important to say, if I’ve let you down recently, I’m truly sorry. If you’re waiting for me to get back to you about something, please accept my sincere apologies, and nudge me if I can still help. I will, at the very least, let you know when I’ll be able to respond properly.

Courage and clarity, my friends, courage and clarity.

Until soon

Jenny x

The Big New Idea: over a month in

So, just over a month ago, Copper Boom Studio went live. We had a brilliant first month. I’ve been kind of blown away. Thank you to everyone who has supported, shared, and booked in with us. You’re amazing.

I’ve been thinking about how to update. About how to be honest about the struggles, as well as grateful about the progress. And, somewhere, optimistic about the future.

So let me start by saying this: it’s been really busy. Busier than I anticipated. There have been 12 hour days, weekends worked instead of played, and late, exhausted nights. Partly because I’m also running Christmas Support throughout August, and partly because so much of Copper Boom still hinges on me personally.

There’s a huge learning curve, which also adds to the tiredness and challenges. It’s hard learning new things! In the last six weeks, we’ve taken photos of balloons, mirrors, textiles, tea and much more. Things I’ve never had to style or shoot or plan before. We’ve been learning about how much time we need, the sorts of props and equipment we need. We’ve been working on lighting options and layouts. It’s all come up.

Plus, I’m training my assistant and other freelancers to write. This is a longer process than I remember! And it requires plenty of editing and teaching time from me.

It’s also been incredibly rewarding. I’m so proud of the photographs we’ve taken and the things we’ve written. I’m amazed that the business has broken even straight away. I love working with a team, and I’m excited about so much potential for the future.

But.

I’m thinking about balance. I’m thinking about why Copper Boom felt important to me. I’m thinking about going bigger or keeping things small.

It wasn’t my aim to create a second full time job for myself. Which is kind of where we’re at so far.

So I’m already working on the plan from here.

Some things aren’t working, and there are some things that need improving. There are things that are working great, and I don’t want to stop that from going forward.

Here are some examples:

Some products (or their set ups) take much longer than others (e.g. mirrors, balloons). We need a second pricing level for more complex products.
Booking full days of photography is much more reliable for my margins (paying photographers and stylist), but it doesn’t allow for accessibility of just sending in one product. I want to build in more full days, but make sure we’re always open to tiny businesses and start ups.
Lots of people have booked in photography with us, and then added copywriting and/or upload later. I want to make it easier to book in the full package at first.
We’ve been booking into photography days, but that doesn’t give us much margin for error if we do need more time to get a shot right. I’m going to shift to booking into a week (unless booking a full day) so that we can be more efficient.

And then there are big questions, which I hadn’t imagined considering yet:

When can we move into premises? Is that the right decision? What does the financial commitment of that do to the business?
Who do I need in the business? I currently have a full time assistant, plus freelance photographer, stylist and additional assistant. But it already feels like I need more in order to move back to my mentoring and main focus.
How can I get cash injected into the business to set up the next phase? Currently considering bank loans, crowd funding and potentially family support.
Is now the right time to build the business further? How long could I maintain at the current levels?
Is it right to build it bigger in general? Is that what I want? Will the effort and dedication and commitment and risk be worth it?
What about the other services I want to introduce? Marketing, social media, blog writing… Where do they fit in?

So. Lots to think about, right? I feel like, finally, after seven years, I understand in my own life what it’s like to deal with being over-capacity so quickly. And what it’s like to have to depend on other people.

I hope, as ever, that it’s helpful to read about my experiences, my thought processes, my outlook. And it feels important to say that mentoring, retreats and workshops are still the biggest part of my personal plan.

I’ve just got to figure out this thing first…

PS Would you be interested in investing in Copper Boom through a crowd funding campaign? How do you feel about the studio in general? Are you planning to use it? Would you be interested in our marketing and blog writing services? Feedback is so valuable to me while I contemplate all these questions.

Here's the thing: building something better

The last few weeks have been eventful. I probably don’t need to tell you that.

EU referendum results. Orlando. Shootings. Leadership battles. Demonstrations for many things. This morning, as I write, I’m waking up to news of Nice and Bastille Day attacks. A new wave of fear and violence.

As humans, I think we’re programmed to try and make sense of things. Except it doesn’t feel like there is much sense in the world right now! Politicians are imperfect, working for their own ends. Humans are flawed and hurt and selfish and, well, stupid. And causing other humans more hurt and anger and injustice.

We try to make sense of things, and yet life goes on, in its imperfect way. Orders still come in. Work still has to get done. People try to sell us stuff. School holidays come anyway, as if they don’t know the world has been shaken up over and over again.

I’ve been thinking about that song, ‘The End Of The World’:

Why does the sun go on shining
Why does the sea rush to shore
Don’t they know it’s the end of the world
‘Cause you don’t love me any more

Okay, so it’s about personal loss. But that sense of the world continuing, ignorant of our human chaos and pain, that certainly resonates for me.

It’s also been hard to make sense of things when there also seems like a disproportionate amount of personal loss or challenge for people around me. Friends and clients have lost family members recently, or had battles at work that have left them depleted, or been ill themselves. Add that to a general sense of fear and uncertainty (sometimes doom), and we’ve got a crisis.

I’ve continued to settle into a new city and live my life as best I can, which includes tears and worry anyway, even when the world doesn’t seem like it’s falling apart. I’ve had the emotional ups and downs of launching Copper Boom Studio. (I have SO MUCH to tell you about that and about a whole load of awesome Christmas Support stuff I’m working on, but it’s all going to have to wait until another day.)

Because today I want to share a few truths I’ve come to. Not a way to fix the world or to provide a guarantee of safety and happiness. But truths about what I see, ways to be in this uncertain world.

After weeks of tiredness and tears (okay, and a whole bout of them in the last 24 hours, too), I’m ready to stand up for building something better. On the other side of despair is hope. And I’m a big believer in hope. I seek it out often. I like to see opportunities for ways in which things can be better – it’s one of my inherent talents, honed over a lifetime.

So here’s the thing…

We can build better. In light of everything that doesn’t work. In light of bad decisions. In light of injustice and human error. What we see is ways the world can and needs to improve.

Okay, I’m not planning on personally figuring out any kind of Brexit plan for the UK. And I’m unlikely to overturn all the bigotry and racism in the world. Although I will speak up when I see it.

We need more love. More truth. More compassion. More firm voices doing something positive and different.

These are the things we can do. These are the things that I feel are essential to my work in the world.

And doing something positive and different are the unique traits of small businesses and entrepreneurs. We have an autonomy and a voice that allows for small battles to be won. Working in a meaningful way that values human life. Spreading messages that are compassionate and true and that lift up the world, rather than succumbing to fear.

Maybe running your own business feels vulnerable and hard and not of any value. Maybe you don’t feel like you can change anything. You’re just trying to make a living and there are commercial practices and rules and things other people are doing that prevent you from making a difference.

I hear your fear. Truly. But I also know that it’s not true.

On the other side of fear, you can find meaning. You can create products that are meaningful. You can sell in places that are doing positive work. Or you can sell in places that bring in all the cash so that you have resources to do the meaningful work. You can use your buying power and employing power and creative power to make people’s lives better. You can spread kindness, little by little.

This is my plan. Last year, it became clear that my work in the world is to lift people up, to support them in living their best lives, running the businesses they truly want, feeling better, often through healing old hurts and challenges.

This has never been more true or more important.

I have Copper Boom, chock full of resource to help people look better, feel better about about their businesses, and get more stuff done. It’s practical, and I’m proud of that. But we work in love. To be on a photoshoot with my team is to see unconditional love for products and businesses that will benefit from our care and attention and time.

And I have mentoring. The one-on-one conversations that have the opportunity to add clarity, to uncover something we didn’t know was there, to bolster against challenge and fear. This is what I’m drawn back to, over and over again.

I have retreats and workshops and writing. I have a Christmas Support package that will open for registration next week in which I will be bringing something new and different to planning for that busy old time.

I am committed to building something different, something better. As always, I am committed to healing myself and the world, because I honestly don’t know what else I would do. (Despair. Endlessly.)

I also know that, in order to do this big important work, I need to have a base line of energy. So self-care, even when I see the world full of people who need more care than me, is vital.

Here are some ideas:

Early nights. I’m an advocate for sleep, that’s for sure, but especially when the emotional strain is high. I’m endeavouring to get to bed early and winding down slowly.
Feeling the feelings. We can get caught in suppressing our feelings when they’re big and scary and vulnerable and uncertain. But feelings are meant to be felt, and then they move on. If I need to cry, I cry. If I need to be really angry, I find a safe space to let it out.
Connecting. I think one of the reasons Facebook is so addictive, even when it’s not actually helping, is because it gives us a sense of connection, which we really need right now. But rather than trying to find it in the numbed-out world of social media, try it in the real world. Call a friend, talk to a partner, spend time with real people. Make eye contact.
Write a list of what you stand for. I find this so helpful to clarify what I’m working for, what I’m living for.
Make something with your hands. I probably don’t need to tell creatives this, but physically making something can feel like it’s filling you up. Knitting. Drawing. Cooking. Painting. Whatever feels good to you.

Trust that self-care is vital. Trust that you can build something better than before.

And if there’s anything I can do to help, I’d love to hear from you.

This too shall pass

The only way out is through

So here’s the thing…

I hear your fear. Truly. But I also know that it’s not true.

Notes of Encouragement