John F. Kennedy said “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining”—a quaint colloquial way of touting the benefits of preparation. When it comes to our home businesses, few would argue that preparation is not a good thing—but how prepared should we be and when does it cross over into being a waste of valuable time?
Personally, I do have a line that once I cross it, my preparation becomes manic and obsessive OR I use “preparation” as a way of avoiding the work that I need to be doing today (how can it be procrastination if I’m being productive?). I really do believe that putting some energy and focus in to planning, goal-setting and making sure your office or work situation is able to meet your business capacity is a really good thing, which is why I write periodically about budgeting, planning and the like. But, some of us can get so wrapped up in budgeting and planning that we don’t actually do the daily stuff to make the business fly.
We need balance—stock those shelves, get the business supplies in order, design an annual budget, and hash out a five-year and annual plan—and then let it go so that you can focus on the daily tasks of building a business. A certain amount of the work can be done in advance but the bulk of it has to be done in the moment. Preparation is definitely good, but so is meeting the challenges within the context of the here and now. We can close ourselves off to networking and marketing opportunities if we don’t actually get involved in the daily doings of our community or our business and that is where I think we cross that line and our best preparations actually keep us from doing business!
Also: Check out the Be Prepared Blog