Are You Running Your Business Like a Horror Film? V

Now you are working more hours than you ever would in a "regular job". So why is that?

1. You are afraid that if you stop for even one day, this precarious tower you have built will come crashing down.
   
2. You feel guilty because you should be working hard. If you took time off that would be slacking.
   
3. You don't actually know what you have to do or when it has to get done so you just keep working and hope it all happens when it is supposed to.
4. You truly believe that working 24/7 is the only way to make money in a creative business.
   
5. You are stuck in a cycle of too much work and then not enough.

Last but not least, #5.

This is so common. You market and get a bunch of work. You get caught up in the jobs. One day the jobs are over and you have no work. You market feverishly for more jobs, you get them and stop marketing. One day you run out of jobs so you start marketing again...

Ugggggggg!

This is a fairly long discussion and you can read and hear all about it in The Hearty Artist Toolkit. Here are the nuts and bolts of it all.

You have to balance your work and marketing. There will always be ups and downs but if you consistently market, even during the busy times, you will consistently get work. This does mean taking 2-4 days a month for just marketing but it is so worth the more consistent cash flow.

Marketing is part of your business, just as much as creating and doing your books and meeting with clients. So set up a schedule to market yourself and you can spread out your work time and down time.

Are You Running Your Business Like a Horror Film? IV

Now you are working more hours than you ever would in a "regular job". So why is that?

1. You are afraid that if you stop for even one day, this precarious tower you have built will come crashing down.
   
2. You feel guilty because you should be working hard. If you took time off that would be slacking.
   
3. You don't actually know what you have to do or when it has to get done so you just keep working and hope it all happens when it is supposed to.
4. You truly believe that working 24/7 is the only way to make money in a creative business.
   
5. You are stuck in a cycle of too much work and then not enough.

And now for # 4...

This is a common issue for many business owners, not just creative ones. Let's face it, it is scary to own your own company and depend on yourself to pay the bills. This fear sends many business owners into a working frenzy.

There is always something to do and you have been told over and over again that you have to work hard, really hard, to earn money on your own. This goes back to what I discussed in #2 to a certain extent. But it is even more than feeling like you are slacking. It is a true belief that if you are not working on the things on your list at all times, your business will fall apart.

Don't get me wrong, you do have to get those things done and in a timely manner but "timely" and "right this second" are not the same thing.

This is not emergency surgery, it is a business. No one will die is you don't call them back in the next two hours or if you take a Saturday with your family and wait until Monday to work on your website.

Many successful business are run with people taking vacations and the office closing over the weekend. Your business can too. You just have to let go and let it.

Are You Running Your Buiness Like a Horror Film? III

Now you are working more hours than you ever would in a "regular job". So why is that?

1. You are afraid that if you stop for even one day, this precarious tower you have built will come crashing down.
   
2. You feel guilty because you should be working hard. If you took time off that would be slacking.
   
3. You don't actually know what you have to do or when it has to get done so you just keep working and hope it all happens when it is supposed to.
4. You truly believe that working 24/7 is the only way to make money in a creative business.
   
5. You are stuck in a cycle of too much work and then not enough.
   

And on to #3.

Between your business and your life it can often feel like your head is going to explode and just the thought of writing out everything you need to get done can make you nauseous. Well, get the bucket ready because here is what you need to do.

Write down everything you can think of that needs to get done. I mean everything. Just purge your brain of all of it. Do not put it in any particular order or try to organize it, just get it down. (You may need a big piece of paper for this.)

Now you need to decide what categories your life fits into. Examples: marketing, kid time, personal time, paperwork, client visits, home time, and finally creating ( you know, the thing you say you do for a living). Then get a bunch of different colored highlighters and color code each category. Yeah, color!

Get out your calendar and color code sections of time for each category each week or month and start plugging the stuff on your purge list into their proper color codes.

Here is the big trick, once a section of time is color coded, it can not be changed. I mean it. If you have marketing time set aside, you can not deal with the cable guy. If you have personal time scheduled, you can not meet with a client.

You will mess this up at first but the longer you do it the better things will get.

P.S. Re-look at you schedule every few months to make sure the current configuration still works for you.

Are You Running Your Business Like a Horror Film? II

Now you are working more hours than you ever would in a "regular job". So why is that?

1. You are afraid that if you stop for even one day, this precarious tower you have built will come crashing down.
   
2. You feel guilty because you should be working hard. If you took time off that would be slacking.
   
3. You don't actually know what you have to do or when it has to get done so you just keep working and hope it all happens when it is supposed to.
4. You truly believe that working 24/7 is the only way to make money in a creative business.
   
5. You are stuck in a cycle of too much work and then not enough.
   

I tackled #1 in the last post so here goes with #2.

Anyone who has decided to run their own company is already a bit of an overachiever. Think about it, it would be kind of nice to go to work every day, work 8 hours and come home and not think about it again until the next day but then again...

That would also make you NUTS!

Here's the problem. You believe, for whatever reason (you can go to therapy to figure it out), that you are nothing if you don't work hard, really, really hard. You also believe that success can only be achieved by spending every available moment working. This is so ingrained in you that you actually feel guilty when you are not working.

You feel guilty if you get your hair done or go to the doctor or watch a movie or visit a spa. Your time off isn't even time off because you spend the whole time thinking about what you should be doing for work.

I am giving your permission right now to take time off. In fact, you don't have a choice anymore because you are actually hurting your company if you don't. You are not slacking if you take time off, you are investing in yourself which is an investment in your company.

You must take time off and be ok with it or you will burn out. If you burn out all this work you have been doing will have been for nothing because you won't have a company anymore.

Learn what makes you guilty and why. The Business of Creativity Retreat.

Are You Running Your Business Like a Horror Film?

Time off? No, I must work. I must work all the time or I will never make enough money and I will never be successful. I am running my own company here, everything will fall apart if I don't works nights and weekends and holidays and when I am sick.

Wait a minute. Why did you decide to create your own company? I bet one reason was so you could control your own time and now you are working more hours than you ever would in a "regular job". So why is that?

1. You are afraid that if you stop for even one day, this precarious tower you have built will come crashing down.
   
2. You feel guilty because you should be working hard. If you took time off that would be slacking.
   
3. You don't actually know what you have to do or when it has to get done so you just keep working and hope it all happens when it is supposed to.
   
4. You truly believe that working 24/7 is the only way to make money in a creative business.
5. You are stuck in a cycle of too much work and then not enough.

I am going to tackle these one by one in the next few posts. So let's start with #1.

I could write about this forever but lets boil it down to the essentials which

are fear and lack a knowledge.

It is like the woman running in a horror movie. The minute she looks back, she trips and the killer gets her. Many creative businesses are run the same way. Just keep moving forward and something good is bound to happen but don't ever look back and try to figure out what did and didn't work in the past. It is just too scary.

I have coaching clients who have been doing this for years. At least it feels like movement and if you don't stop, you can't take time to reflect on your success or happiness or lack of either.

Lack of knowledge has nothing to do with your artistic ability. Most creative people take classes in their art form all the time. They are always learning new skills and techniques. I am speaking of a lack of business knowledge.

I am not suggesting you go get a business degree, I am suggesting that you learn how to run your company. What you need to do and why. That may mean not taking another creative class and instead investing in your

success as a business owner.

Throw yourself forward by attending The Business of Creativity Retreat.