Work life balance
Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em
Here’s a business tip I learnt the hard way:
If you get a gig, job, order, project, piece of work or commission, do it NOW.
If you don’t, it may not be there tomorrow.
For several reasons.
Unkind Cut
A large IT firm gave me 100 recruitment ads to critique.
I toiled for much of Easter, getting 50 done.
Then I rewarded [...]
Should We Tell Them about Nanna?
Disease is visiting my family.
I’ll spare you the details; it’s life and we all must live it.
The question is, do our private lives concern our customers?
Family Feud
Fonnie and I differ on so little, it’s significant when we retain opposing views.
Hers is that family affairs have nothing to do with business.
Mine is that clients appreciate candour [...]
Time In
Do you have hearth-and-home holidays?
As Easter and Anzac Day coincide, Fonnie’s taking three annual leave days for ten days off in a row.
We both sorely need this break, but we’re not going anywhere.
We’re spending our holiday at home.
How about you?
Freedom
We’re so knackered from early starts, long days, big projects and weekend work, we need [...]
Kids in the Kitchen
Last week I beheld a new level of business torment.
A woman devoid of support and overrun by systems, elements and offspring.
How do people manage to combine kids and commerce?!
Hot Mama
I was visiting a packing-and-sending place.
It was hot out and not much better in, as a loading bay countered the office air conditioning.
After a while, a [...]
Balancing Act
Time to mix it up, so this week I’m in the hot seat and I thought I’d take a look at life outside work.
While it’s important to slow down and create a positive work-life balance, how many of us are actually achieving it? I know I struggle with it!
This post is not to preach to you [...]
Achieving the balance in business
Today we welcome back Malcolm Owens to Small Business Owner…
Working in small business can lead to feeling apart from the wider world. Time and achievement demands weigh heavily. Always frantic, balancing current workloads with the flow of new business, time at work and home. Never relaxing, always busy, trying to get ahead. A [...]
What Clients Do You Want?
When I first went solo, my answer to this question was ANYONE!
As I got established, I gained the power to choose.
I’ve since sacked a few clients for wilful misconduct and worrying affiliations.
But it took me 12 years to sit down and describe my preferred client.
I should’ve done it at the start.
Opportunity Knocks
This wasn’t one of [...]
Ten Tee Tips
When I cashed in my super and went feral, the first thing I did was create T-shirts.
Their design, production and sale yielded many lessons whose pain far exceeded their value.
I reproduce them here, in case you or a loved one are mad enough to contemplate a similar path.
1. Nobody cares if it’s local.
I spent weeks [...]
Surrender to Drama
Have I mentioned that I’m busy, really busy? Well, now I am REALLY REALLY busy and life is so hard, and it’s not fair, and I will never get all this done, and it’s all my fault for taking on too much, and are there really only three weeks to Christmas, and why doesn’t anyone ever [...]
Then and Now
Today we welcome Judy Oldmeadow to Small Business Owner. Like many small business owners, Judy’s experienced the underbelly of self-employment: back-breaking hours, loneliness and isolation. She’s come out the other side as an inspiring example of persistence; today she shares her very poignant journey with us.
Dark days
Last day of school holidays. It’s nearly dark as I [...]
