October 1, 2024 - Part 13

Hello, hey, hi! Welcome back!! I planned on releasing every Monday buuuuut….I don’t even have an excuse. I just didn’t do it. I’m distracted, tired, lazy, and feel completely stagnant. Feeling lost, questioning this small business stuff. Trying to follow my energy but not sure where my energy is guiding me. To be completely honest, I’ve been exhausted.  

If you are new here, welcome, thanks for stopping by. If you have been here, welcome back. Confessions is where I share my experiences as a small business owner. Hopefully sharing these experiences inspires you in one way or another. Remember you are not alone as a small business owner. We all go through things, struggles, ups and downs, wins and losses. 

It's Q4. Let’s finish 2024 strong. It's crazy that its’ Q4. Where did Q1, 2, 3 go???  What are your Q4 goals? Don’t forget to write them down along with the task necessary to accomplish them.

So let's go back two weeks, I got a new planner from Amazon. I think it's my new favorite planner for helping me get organized and stay organized. I used to use multiple planners but I think this one will be it. 

Do you find yourself having a hard time focusing? What do you do when that happens?

Tips to stay focused:

-turn your phone off

-work in 90 min blocks

-focus on one task at a time

-do the most important/most tedious task first

You know we live primarily in an electronic non-verbal society. Especially with my business, everything is done online unless I'm doing a pop up. I had someone email me and wanted to talk to me about something. Her email said she wanted to do a custom order and needed to speak with someone. I was definitely struggling with that. For a few reasons, why did she need to speak with someone about a custom order and the fear of what she wanted. Really there is no need to speak to someone. In my eight years, I have never had anyone request to speak to someone. It’s moments like that that I really miss my assistant. Missing my assistant made me realize how much I've grown without having an assistant because I now have to take care of so many things on my own, so do you have an assistant and your business? Do you feel like? Do you feel like having an assistant is hindering you?  Because they know more of the inner workings of your business than you do.

I had my mom call her. Come through mom. I really didn’t feel like talking to her. I didn’t have the mental energy to talk to her. So mom talked to her and she wanted to order 500 bonnets, which I won’t do (I am brand, more on that in YouTube video). Mom talked to her and got everything handled. Buuuuuuut (a week later) she called my mom back (more in the YouTube video).

Things have been super slow but I am so grateful for every order. Make sure you take time to appreciate every win big or small. 

Do you ever have days where you feel like you accomplished so much and you want to repeat that day. Like if you had days like this everyday, you’d get so much done?

Vacations and Running a Small business.

Do you take vacations? How? For how long? Prior to starting my business I traveled all the time. But now I barely go anywhere. One reason is I am not financially in a place to go to the places I want to go, but two, who is going to take care of my business while I am gone? I am planning a trip soon so I have to plan for it on the business end. How long in advance do you plan for a trip? Make sure you are setting your out of office email and don’t leave anything unattended.

These past two weeks have been such a blur and have flown by. I have a love-hate relationship with weeks going by fast. Everytime a week goes by you're closer to death. Life is really fleeting. Are you making life count?

In the last blog I talked about selling on Amazon. I have actually started getting sales. Thank you God!!! And they are prime shipping!!! So dope to see your product on Amazon and shipped with prime. Celebrate all of your wins.

So this past week I realized I made a mistake with an order I had already shipped. The thing is I wasn't 100% sure if I made the mistake.

I got a payment from Meta (Instagram), 90 whole cents. Let me go put a down payment on that G-Wagon!!

Omg you know what kills me? Family and friends wanting the homie hook-up. This is my business. This is how I survive, how I pay my bills. 

That’s all for now. Thanks for being here. Love ya and remember to be the you that makes you the happiest.

Drink your water and mind your business.