I love snow storms. I can’t get enough snow, and even though we’re breaking records in New England for snowfall this year, I have to say that it feels like just the right amount to me. And I hope it keeps snowing through March.
Before you hit me in the head with a snowball, let me tell you some of the reasons why I love snow so much:
- I work from home (read: no commute)
- I live in a condo (read: no shoveling)
- I rent my parking space (read: someone with big equipment digs out my car)
- I can walk to my daughter Emily’s bus stop, CVS and several restaurants (read: I don’t have to drive)
But that’s only a part of the why I love snow. The other part is that I give myself snow days, and on snow days I play one of my favorite games. I call it the “If your business doubled tomorrow, what do you wish you had done today?” game.
As a business owner whose business has doubled overnight more than once, let me tell you what happens. It’s just as you imagined – you hear music, you are ecstatic, and maybe even giddy! This is what you’ve been waiting for, why you’ve been working so hard, and you think “Yeah, I’m on my way!”
This amazing feeling lasts until…
“IT” happens – and when it does, you can’t believe it. Whatever system you were holding together with band-aids and string breaks wide open. And it breaks open at the exact moment when you need it the most – when you’re busy.
So on snowy days, when the world seems to slow down, the phone is quiet and no one is returning my texts, I take a few hours and look around my business. And here’s what I ask myself:
- Are the documents that I use over and over organized so that I can find them quickly (proposals, contracts, client notes, pricing sheets, marketing information, etc.)?
- Are my books up to date and my expenses categorized so that I can tell where my biggest expenses are and whether or not I’m making money on a particular project or product?
- Is my network of contacts up to date so that if I needed, I can get help quickly from someone I already know?
- Are my systems ready to scale (can my computer network handle more computers, my phone system more lines, and my bandwidth more usage)?
- Do I have alternate vendors for my most important products and services (the stuff I absolutely need for my work)?
- What am I doing to continuously market my company so that it keeps growing (newsletters, phone calls, networking events)?
It’s a pretty eye-opening experience when you really think about it. No one in their right mind would leave their business exposed in such important ways, but we all do. The question is what should we do about it?
To successfully run a business that’s strong enough to grow quickly, it’s vital to have operational systems that are able to expand and contract easily. Imagine how great you’ll feel when you’re ready for exponential growth.
So now maybe we can all appreciate the snow for helping us find the time to get it done.
Photo Courtesy of Squirmelia, used under a Creative Commons License.