"Please DO NOT clog toilet with toilet paper"
So signs like this trigger the smart alec in me. Immediate responses include:
I now return you to your regular program…
Einstein is supposed to have said something about his achievements only being possible because he was able to stand on the shoulders of the giants who had come before him. Taking that idea & applying it to me, I figure the best way I can learn is to take the lessons of others (mistakes and successes) and try to apply them to my business.
Sorry for the break in postings: I’ve been really sick the last couple of weeks. One of the great joys about self-employment is that when you’re not working, you’re probably not getting paid, so there’s greater motivation to keep working. There was a great article I remember reading years ago about the cost of “present-ism”, that is, the cost to your business of employees turning up even when they’re sick and should be at home in bed. Yes, it’s more of a problem than you probably first realise! Far too many people do keep soldiering on, sharing their infection with the rest of the office, doing work that’s possibly below their normal standards, and so on. The costs mount up.
Anyway: for the self employed, I suspect that the cost is even higher. The temptation is to keep pushing yourself even long after you should have just crawled into bed, because there’s always more to do, and it’s fun! But, as any doctor worth their degree would tell you, that’s also pretty dumb: when you’re sick, you’re meant to stop, rest, recover and take it easy for a while. The costs of not doing that can be horrific in terms of your long term health and well being.
In my case, I suspect that I pushed myself for longer than I should have, and that I’ve been paying the price for the last couple of weeks. Lesson learned. Maybe.
Honestly though, I didn’t think I was that unwell. I’ve had colds before, and I’ve had a flu maybe once or twice before in my life, and I shake them off pretty quickly. What I wasn’t aware of was just how run down I was, and how weakened my immune system was. I’d been kidding myself that the whole redundancy thing wasn’t that big a deal, that I was over it anyway, and that I was okay. I guess I wasn’t. I did feel like I had an enormous amount to prove to myself, to my ex-employer (success is the best revenge), and to my friends. I need to learn to be at peace and to accept what is, and to realise that I don’t have to prove anything to anyone (including you), and to just enjoy the situation.
When I decided to start this business, I didn’t realise that there was going to be an element of self discovery on the pathway as well, but that’s okay, and I’m looking forward to the next insight.
In part one of what I suspect will be an ongoing series of articles about “things that annoy me”, let’s tackle the iPhone for openers.
Let’s start with: I love the iPhone. I think it’s a great device, really well put together, nicely integrated and it works brilliantly well. I’ve been using combination phone / PDAs for ages, and the iPhone is the first one that I’ve thought was done properly.
Having said that, there are still things that annoy me:
There’s bound to be more, but I feel better having got just those few items off my chest. Apple: pay attention!
I went out to lunch with some of the staff at my current client last Friday. They’re a great bunch of people, friendly, sociable and generally pretty easy to get on with. Before too long though, the conversation turned to consultant jokes.
When I started my company, I decided that it was going to be a “Windows free” zone. Not out of any particular anti-Microsoft feelings, you understand, just that I’ve grown really frustrated by Microsoft Windows as a product (nothing personal, Bill).
Before I started on this particular adventure, I’d always thought that getting my first piece of work would be the hardest, and everything would flow from there.
I was wrong.
I assume that as time goes by and this site has more content that the ads that Google helpfully serve up to the right might get more relevant, but at this point in time they’re just weird. Intriguing, but weird. If it wasn’t against my terms of service with Google, I’d click on some of them just to find out what they’re all about.
On a related note, have you ever looked at ClickBank? Apparently they used to be a good marketplace for affiliate marketing, but I find it ironic that now most of the products being promoted there are more methods for making money with affiliate marketing, rather than real content. There’s something horribly circular going on over there…
Update 8-Sep: Wow! The ads are getting vaguely relevant…
Pretty much everyone you talk to about starting up a business will wisely nod & tell you that you need to have a good business plan. What they don’t tell you is that writing one is about as much fun as sticking pins in your eyes.
It’s hard to believe that it was six months ago already.
In April 2009, I left a high paying job at a well respected global consulting firm. I had a huge mortgage, a wife (not working) and two kids under 4 years old (neither of them are working either).
At face value, that sounds like the dumbest thing anyone could do: depths of the “Global Financial Crisis” (I hate that term), world in turmoil, that sort of thing.
The truth is that I didn’t choose to leave: I was retrenched. I hate the phrase “lost my job” (sounds like I put it down somewhere with my keys and that it’s gone missing) but that’s what happened.
If it’s never happened to you, count your blessings. It sucks.
Truth is, I loved my work, but I really didn’t like the company that much. I hated the environment, I couldn’t see how to change or improve things, and going to the office each day was often soul destroying. But it was still gut wrenching to be told I wasn’t needed anymore. The oddest thing though is that I never realised how much I hated the environment until after I left. It seems to me that I was too busy to realise how unhappy I was. (Shades of L.A. Story here…)
I loved most of the people I worked with: they were (and still are!) a great bunch of people for the most part. I was continually staggered by the intelligence of the people I was working with. I loved the clients I worked with, and I loved the challenges and the problems that I got to work on with them. I was constantly humbled by the intelligence of my clients, and found that I learnt at least as much from them as they ever might have from me.
After I finished up (I got given a day to clean out my office, which was helpful) I spent a few days trying to unwind & figure out what I wanted to do. I couldn’t see myself going into a “corporate” (i.e., non-consulting) role, and I couldn’t really see the point of joining another big name consulting firm. Then again, if I was going to join a niche consulting firm, why wouldn’t I just start my own firm…
… And that’s when it hit me: time to start my own firm, doing the work I love, in an environment that suits me.
This is the story of creating that company. Read along if you’re interested. I promise fairly frequent updates of what I’m doing, what’s working (and what’s not!), and also a fairly frequent rant about whatever’s on my mind.
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