A weekly dispatch on the three things every small business has to get right: Operations. Marketing. People. Real stories about the structural breakdowns that keep good businesses stuck — and what it looks like when you finally fix them.
i only meant to go around the block
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Hello Reader, An hour after I told myself "just a few laps around the block," I was still walking. Yesterday I hit the 4pm wall. Hubby usually walks with me, but he was away at a conference, so I made myself a little deal. Some steps are better than none. Then I opened the front door. It was sunny and in the low 70s with a soft breeze, one of those early fall days that feels brand new. One lap turned into a longer loop down a street I haven't walked in a while. I didn't put on a podcast or call anyone, and all that quiet filled me right back up. The hardest part was getting out the door. It's just like this in our business. Think about the welcome email you've meant to rewrite since spring. Or the contract you hunt for every time someone signs. Those feel huge from the couch. From the sidewalk, they're usually one small step: fix the first line, or save one clean copy where you can find it. And the tired days count too. I'll admit I push through twelve-hour days more than I'd like, and it happens most when I'm on the verge of a breakthrough. Then I feel bad that the big project didn't move. Ted Lasso put it best when he told his team there is crying in football. You don't have to hide what you're feeling. I included the clip on my blog if you want to check it out - grab a tissue! On a low day, one small step still counts. So I made a list of ten tasks owners put off, each with a first lap you can do in 15 minutes or less. Grab the Stuck Task List ← the PDF, no opt in The longer version, with Ted and the whole walk, is here: Feeling Stuck in Your Business? Start With One Small Step What's the task you keep walking past? Hit reply and tell me. I read every one. Shell, Yes! Here's to your success, _______________________________________________________________________ “It’s Just Like This in Our Business”A weekly dispatch on the three things every small business has to get right: Operations. Marketing. People. Real stories about the structural breakdowns that keep good businesses stuck and what it looks like when you finally fix them. |
“It’s Just Like This in Our Business”
A weekly dispatch on the three things every small business has to get right: Operations. Marketing. People. Real stories about the structural breakdowns that keep good businesses stuck — and what it looks like when you finally fix them.
Hello Reader, "We're so busy and I'm all by myself and I can't help you now." That's what the woman at the grocery store told me on Saturday. I'd come in to rent a carpet cleaner, with a storm on the way and the whole town of Pacific Beach stocking up. I said I'd wait. (Cue me settling in by the registers like I lived there.) She came back three more times to tell me she still couldn't help. Meanwhile I could see stock people and a couple of cashiers with nobody in their lines. Then the shift...
Hello Reader, By Saturday night, there were twelve apple pies cooling on my stove. Every fall, we go apple picking. We've done it for as long as hubby and I have been together, and even before that. When he was a little boy, his family built a cute cabin in the Shenandoah Mountains with apple trees right on the property. My mother-in-law even wrote an apple recipe book. These days I bake at least a dozen pies every year, and a few of them are gluten-free. Pie day starts with bowls. I line up...
Hello Reader, Hubby and I were talking this week about lasts. We think a lot about firsts. We barely think about lasts at all. There was a last time somebody carried you up to bed. You have no idea when it was. Same with the last tree you climbed, and the last night you stayed outside playing until the streetlights came on. Nobody stops you on the way out the door and says, well, that's the last one. He brought it up because of his parents, and the last time you drive a car. We're getting...