Managing Business and Life? (Long)

[paigev71]

I need some advice from you seasoned consultants who have been there. When I started my business I knew I needed to make some extra money for various reasons. It isn't urgent really but we don't have a lot of extras in our house.

Here is the dilemma.....When I signed my daughter (who is 13) was away at her dad's, which she has been off and on since mid-June. Now that school has started, everything has gotten so demanding. My dad was in the hospital last week so between running back and forth seeing about him, feeding his dogs, getting dinner on for the kids, etc.....haven't had time for ANYTHING PC. Luckily for my business, my next show isn't until mid-Sept. I told my daughter when my business takes off running then I won't be able to have such busy weeks.

I took the 3-2-1 tele class a couple weeks ago and after it, I was so motivated to get on the phone. Then I went to a 2 day conference for work and my daughter came home so haven't made one single call yet.

I am doing a festival this coming weekend for which I expect to have in the neighborhood of 200 leads. I will HAVE to make the time to follow up. I am so confused as to how to make it all work. Between a teenager and a toddler (I am a single mom), work, my ailing father (Mom passed last year so he lives alone).....I don't know how to manage everything. I want my business to grow but it is going to go straight down the crapper if I don't figure out how to manage everything.

Any advice?

 

[Liquid Sky]

Sounds like you have it pretty rough right now. Maybe just start with baby steps. Can you carve out 20 mins each day for the next few days to focus on PC? Then, maybe inch that up to 25 mins next week?

I would use that time to make a few calls, organize biz stuff, look over PC calendar and THINK Maybe create a goal list for the month of Sept.

Good luck!!!!!!

 

[legacypc46]

Give yourself permission to first block time for family...so you don't feel like PC and family are competing with eachother.

Then take it in bite size pieces. Figure out what is realistic for you right now. Maybe 20-25 minutes per day or maybe one hour on Tuesday for calls and one hour on the weekend. If you try to do it all right now, it'll be too easy to feel like you're failing and then not do anything. Give yourself a huge pat on the back for all that you are doing right now!

Since you expect to have leads from the festival, plan for making the follow-up calls. Can you block 30 minutes the day after the fair to contact the ones who indicate interest in the business or hosting a show? (Think of it as 'dialing for dollars': every show booked is a future commission check. ) Afterwards, you can follow-up over the next week with the maybe's, etc.

Don't beat yourself up; the advice about baby steps is great.
Hope this helps.

 

[Bren706]

Some great advice in the above posts. I think the big thing is that it does not need to be done all at once.

To add to that, carry some of those drawing slips with you. Maybe you can make a call or two while you are out (for example, if you are waiting outside at school to pick your teenager up, or taking 5-10 minutes of your lunch break for calls).

I can't wait, because this is one topic (Managing business and life) that is going to be covered at our Regional Fall Kick-off meeting on the first Saturday in Sept.

 

[cmdtrgd]

I would even get your daughter involved. Pay her to watch the toddler while you are working. Make sure to set the timer, so she feels that you value her above PC. Get her involved in stickering catalogs and putting host kits together. You can pay her and write it all off, too!

 

[susanr613]

another component to keep you going is to remember why you signed. work with your director to identify your long term, medium term and short term goals...and for now just work on the short term ones. you'll feel a sense of progress when you accomplish them, trust me!

good luck and hang in there!

 

[paigev71]

I can't wait, because this is one topic (Managing business and life) that is going to be covered at our Regional Fall Kick-off meeting on the first Saturday in Sept.

When you get back from that meeting...can you share your notes?

 

[paigev71]

Thanks everyone. I felt it was a God thing when I got into PC and last night in bed, I was pondering how my business has been ok but hasn't really taken off as much as I thought I would have wanted. It all of a sudden hit me that perhaps God didn't give me more than I could handle yet because of all the chaos. It is a blessing I even have the money to enter into this booth thing this weekend (costs $50 for each consultant - 2 per 8 hour time slot) and that I got PC $ in just when I needed to buy recipe cards and mini cats for this thing. I think I will sit down with my daughter and explain to her that I will be spending 20 minutes after dinner every night planning (except for Wed when we are at church), making calls etc and will designate one night a week where I do nothing else but PC. As long as my 3 year old son can watch a movie or whatever so he doesn't try to bother me when I am on the phone, it just might work.

 

[pamperedpals]

Paige as I am not a single mom, but my DH work's night's, so I can somewhat understand the juggling issue. I have special movies that my two youngest DS' can watch while I am doing PC. There are also a couple of TV show's they can only watch when I am working my biz. I also have a special bag that has projects they can do also (coloring book's and crayon's, paint, etc).

There are times when they ask me if I am going to PC, because they want to watch the movie, TV show or do a craft.

 

[Stampaholic1961]

I highly recommend http://www.flylady.com She helps people get control of their lives. She says "you can do anything for 15 minutes".Bev

 

[gingertannery]

Also, take packets already made up to hand out to people interested in a cooking party or catalog party.. It'll also save you some postage. Do get their info so you can contact them. A few catalog parties are easy and don't require as much time. Carry consultant agreements too. God Bless you and good luck!! You are amazing!!

 

[JAE]

Try to find out on the contact slips when will be the best time to call. Then you're aren't wasting time calling people when they aren't ever home.

 

[PChefPEI]

I have known this all along, but have been bad at putting it into practice....if you have a call list that you can get ready, say Sunday night, for calls you want to make for the week, then you can have close by! I'm doing that with my open house I'm having Thursday...have a sheet with all 150 names with their phone numbers and it's so easy to just go down the list! You can make a lot of calls in a short time by being prepared that way and not wondering who you're going to call next!

 

[raebates]

Marie-France has a wonderful idea. Take a little time at the end/beginning of the week to gather your contact information. Set aside 15 minutes to make calls when it's convenient for you. (Now, if 3 a.m. is the only time you can find, you might want to rethink things. LOL!) You'll be amazed how many contacts you can get in 15-20 minutes.The hardest part? Actually doing it once you have the plan. Make it a habit, and it will get easier.Best wishes!

 

[paigev71]

I bought a little purse size planner that is a monthly and weekly calendar. I love it because I like being able to have the monthly to see everything I have going on and be able to know when I can schedule PC stuff. The weekly will be good for making notes of what I hope to accomplish that day. If I write down who I will call etc, it will help me plan and manage time.

Thanks everyone for your responses!!

 

[jcsmilez]

Another great resource is Belinda Elsworth's "The Power Hour" - she talks about finding an hour each day or just 2-3 days a week that you can devote to your business. She breaks it into 4 15 min segments in which you focus on customer care calls, booking lead calls, recruit calls, and host coaching calls. She says that if you can't do it all at once you can do 15 mins here and there - as long as you are consistently devoting that time. She also suggests keeping those lead calls in separate folders for each category then you can take your business on the road with you. I love that CD!! - she is so upbeat and has so many great tips about your all around business interwoven into the training on the power hour. Another great tip that I just love for kids - I think it was from Lyn Conway - is to get a roll of quarters - drop a quarter in the jar whenever you make a contact - when you've made it through that roll you've made 40 contacts and can go do something fun with that $$ to celebrate with the kids. She even talks about putting young kids on quarter patrol to get them involved. Sounds fun!Good luck - time management is a tough one