God... It has been four months now since I began working towards setting up a business. I am in the final stages but believe me it still feels like it could all be a dream. Weeks go by where the most I have been able to do is register as self employed, or Google equipment that I may need but can't actually buy just yet. Sometimes I feel like I am lying when I say I am setting up a business because a lot of the time I find myself sitting around dreaming, am I kidding myself or... is this actually happening?
Every Sunday night I try to go to bed nice and early. 'Things will probably start to get busy from this week, everything will be sorted and I'll have to get to work!' I think to myself, grinning from ear to ear. Then I spend all Monday and the rest of the week waiting for the postman to deliver those all important confirmation letters, and running to my phone every time I hear an email notification, only to find out it's yet another 'important update' from Google. No Google, new games for Easter is NOT important! *slowly exhales. God I hate waiting, I do. I'm a 'see it, like it, buy it' kind of girl. I decide I want something and before you know it I have it. I'd say I'm a go getter, however my gran much prefers to use the term stubborn, or 'ya too fass!'. (Some Jamaican Patois for you) But hey...to-may-to, to-mah-to.
Working as a visual merchandiser for the past 5 years has taught me the art of analytical thinking. There is always a best order in which to do things. A lot of it comes down to common sense, and then of course priority. Until major things are in place, I shall continue to play this good old waiting game. Sure there are lists long of things I could do in the meantime to help occupy my time rather then sleep in til 12pm because at-least three days of the week I literally have nothing to do. But I am wise enough to know that once everything is finally set in place the work load I will have to take on will most defiantly be immense, especially as I am not willing to have any help in the early days, I don't trust people to do things properly... OK so maybe I am stubborn, just a bit. Back to my point; there will be no time to re-do anything so remaining patient and executing the plan you have drawn up for yourself is quite vital.
One thing I have been doing recently which has been depriving me of my beauty sleep is building my own website. Originally I had planned to pay someone to do it for me, but Mr Budget said no. For anyone that is planning on building a DIY site for your business, unless you want a botched job, poor quality site then be aware that it is a painstakingly long process and as my fellow new entrepreneur and friend Alex said 'Trust me, it isn't easy getting use to all the software options ect. and because it's your baby the design will have to be exactly how you in-visioned it. It's going to take ages but when you get it, it's worth it.' He's so right. It is your baby, it's your business and livelihood. Who knows, you could be sitting on a multi-million pound company if you execute it properly. Call me spiritual but I am a believer in setting good foundations for anything you do in life. That being said you need to keep your attitude in check, think of the cup as always half full.
I think most people in western society are like me, we want things as quickly as possible. We're a spoiled nation and one of two things can result from a person that has this mind-set. Either you build a strong work ethic because you are so focused and passionate about getting exactly what you want in life. Or you are so expectant of things being handed to you that you are less than willing to work for it and deflate easily in the face of rejection. You're the person that has worked every job, never longer then a year and all in completely non related fields. One minute you're a salesman, then a painter decorator, and oh look, you just got a job as a dog handler... the phrase 'Jack of all trades, master of none' springs to mind. I won't lie I have my moments where the world is a horrible place and I completely give up, we all do. But for the sake of fate, sometimes you just have to snap out of it. All this waiting will be worth it, not long now before I can finally call myself an entrepreneur.
Setting up a business so far has been a long process. I think I expected things to go a lot faster, I thought, once I have my business plan perfect, the ball will start rolling. Looking back on my experience thus far there is one thing I would do differently. I would have put myself into part time employment. I was under the impression that I would be weighed down with work during this time, and made the decision to commit my energy solely to setting up the business. The good thing is that everything I have done so far has been done to an extremely high standard, because I have had the time to do so. However, I know myself enough to know that those days where I have had nothing to do were unhealthy. I would advise you, to make sure you are working during this period of setting up a business. It could be a part time job or voluntary work, anything to make sure you are out the house and doing something constructive. Ideally you want to do work with fixed hours so you can plan around your shifts and one where you can easily walk away when your business' workload suddenly begins to get hectic.
So to all you potential entrepreneurs out there, be prepared to play the waiting game, and surround yourself with positive energy. If you read my blog regularly you'll know that I don't half love a good quote, I'll end this post with one of my favorites; 'When things don't happen right away, remember, it takes 6 months to build a Rolls Royce, and 13 hours to build a Toyota.'
Anyway, Until next time? x
