It’s tough times out there, as a business or a consumer. Sometimes
doing business in an insecure world causes an adrenaline leak in the veins that
pumps like a 24 hour stress tap, and it’s easy to begin resenting the inherent uncertainty
of the entrepreneurial life we have chosen for ourselves.
As a contractor and small business owner, I too grapple with
these feelings from time to time. But that feeling is a trap and the only way
out is to dig in and find the creative joy in the business process. Whether
sales are up or down, here we are, for better or worse, and time ticks on
towards a future we can’t predict. If you’re feeling troubled by your business,
pained by a slump in sales that feels particularly foreboding in a gloomy
economy, turn that twisted gut into a source of new ideas. Often our most
out-of-the-box thinking occurs when we ourselves are out-of-sorts.
Play with new recipes. Come up with a fun promotion to
engage your stuff. Reassess your marketing. Explore new technologies. Research
a subject you’ve been meaning to find out more about. Review your business
goals and update if needed.
While we can’t ignore the grind bits of our business,
obnoxiously at the forefront now with tax season creeping in, we can keep
playing and having fun. Nobody is demanding that our attitude reflect the
subject matter of the six o’clock news.
And that in itself is something to smile about.
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