Building a home business means increasing the number of customers we serve, finding more clients, selling more products and/or offering more services. We have to continue adding work if we are going to go from nothing to a viable business. As a small, one-person operation, however, it is possible to push ourselves too hard, too fast and end up being stretched far to thin to provide good service to anyone.
This is a very pertinent topic for me and I know from talking to some other home business owners that managing work and how much time and resources we have to give is a big issue for many as they experience the growing pains of building a business. In the early stages, many of us are just trying to get our fledgling businesses off the ground but as we experience some success, we attract more business and we WANT to say yes to everything that comes our way. Many of us feel like we HAVE to say yes and it is so exciting when the business starts to take off! Before we know it, however, we are feeling exhausted and over-extended and we know we are stretching ourselves way too thin.
Remember “Balance”? When you work a traditional job, it can be easier to keep things compartmentalized and set definite work hours. Our time away from “the job” can be spent rejuvenating, relaxing and tending to other tasks and pleasures. As a home business owner, we might have a more flexible schedule, but it is hard to get completely away from work to rest and rejuvenate. How many of us squeeze in a “little work” here and there throughout the day so that we never really take any extended time off? It is up to us to figure out when we are doing too much and learn how to say “no” to work when it puts us beyond our capacity. Keep in mind that when you stretch yourself too thinly, you do not have the reserves to deal with the unexpected. It does not take much to upset the whole apple cart if you are over-extended.