Before that I was...
How I Made my Small Business so Small it Disappeared
January 2, 2000, the appropriate legal papers were filed and without further ado I became a small business owner. I didn't throw a celebratory champagne gala as the decision to hang out my shingle was solely the result of getting a good glimpse of the wolf as he swaggered towards the door rather than any romantic life-long dream I'd had. I never had any illusions that Mary Kay Ash and I would be extolled in the same sentence. That said, going into business was not a hare-brained scheme for me; I actually knew how to do what I said I could do and had years of experience successfully doing it as an employee of another firm before becoming a sole proprietor of my own.
The first thing on my business owner's agenda was to spend a bloody fortune on engraved business cards and stationery. Projecting the right image has always been important to me. Call me shallow, superficial, frothy, trite; that fine. Le me ask you though, if handed a cream colored engraved business card with just the critical contact data and a tasteful border or a white business card with a huge logo done in primary colors (all of them) and the critical contact data altered to show a change in area code by crossing through the old and hand entering the new, which business card would you choose to pursue? It is probably fair to add that since my business was totally done on the telephone, my personal appearance didn't matter to the success of the business. My business cards implied a smart suit and fashionable heels while in actuality Costco blue jeans and tee shirts were do rigueur.
Next was the critical step of hiring a certified Feng Shui consultant. I knew that there were traces of bad juju in my office because I was very familiar with the life and times of its former occupant. There was no need to risk financial freedom (isn't that a great saying?) because of leftover bad energy. Time to get the chi flowing positively.
By the time the consultant had been paid her handsome fee and I had hung my reputation-enhancing red crystal and re-arranged my career section of the bagua, my office was downright magical! Between the tinkling of two desktop fountains, the profusion of green plants, the comfortable chairs and the intriguing artwork and wall hanging, it was just a place you wanted to be! I loved going there every day. It was so comfortable and soothing that I often forgot my purpose for being there, work. I finally resorted to the Feng Shui principle of intention and hauled a rock, a big rock, from my creek-side walking path into my office and put it part way under my desk where it was half-hidden. Now when I opened the door I saw the beauty but I also saw the rock and that rock had meaning. You, missy, are here to emulate Sisyphus. Get busy pushing that boulder uphill and when it rolls back down over night come back tomorrow and start pushing it uphill again. Repeat the process until you have something in your pockets besides your hands.
As the years rolled along, my business enjoyed a modicum of success. It had the possibility to be a lot more successful but there were three influences that kept it in the moderate range. First, I was blessed with a substantial amount of income flowing into the coffers by way of "found" money. It is so much easier to just hold out your hand and have it filled than roll that boulder uphill. Secondly, I would rather dangle by my toes on a 10th floor window ledge than make a sales pitch to a prospective new account. Just the thought gives me the heebie jeebies. Lastly, and most importantly, doing something solely because you need the money will never make you anything more than moderately successful; that is all you can expect if you are not doing what you would do for free for the pure joy of doing it. Attitude matters.
So, one day in 2006, I walked out of my office, locked the door, went home and stayed home for seven months thinking. From time-to-time I got a pang of conscience about handing my plants a death sentence but other than that and the office manager reminding me that my rent was overdue, I never thought about returning to the job that went that place. Over those seven months I realized intellectually what my business results had been telling me for a long time. I didn't want to be a small business owner. I hadn't been living the proverb, "Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life." Changes were made and today I never work a day in my life.
Annette LaSelle, a former corporate senior executive and small business owner who gave it all up for the right to write tall tales, half truths and other forms of chicanery.
January 2, 2000, the appropriate legal papers were filed and without further ado I became a small business owner. I didn't throw a celebratory champagne gala as the decision to hang out my shingle was solely the result of getting a good glimpse of the wolf as he swaggered towards the door rather than any romantic life-long dream I'd had. I never had any illusions that Mary Kay Ash and I would be extolled in the same sentence. That said, going into business was not a hare-brained scheme for me; I actually knew how to do what I said I could do and had years of experience successfully doing it as an employee of another firm before becoming a sole proprietor of my own.
The first thing on my business owner's agenda was to spend a bloody fortune on engraved business cards and stationery. Projecting the right image has always been important to me. Call me shallow, superficial, frothy, trite; that fine. Le me ask you though, if handed a cream colored engraved business card with just the critical contact data and a tasteful border or a white business card with a huge logo done in primary colors (all of them) and the critical contact data altered to show a change in area code by crossing through the old and hand entering the new, which business card would you choose to pursue? It is probably fair to add that since my business was totally done on the telephone, my personal appearance didn't matter to the success of the business. My business cards implied a smart suit and fashionable heels while in actuality Costco blue jeans and tee shirts were do rigueur.
Next was the critical step of hiring a certified Feng Shui consultant. I knew that there were traces of bad juju in my office because I was very familiar with the life and times of its former occupant. There was no need to risk financial freedom (isn't that a great saying?) because of leftover bad energy. Time to get the chi flowing positively.
By the time the consultant had been paid her handsome fee and I had hung my reputation-enhancing red crystal and re-arranged my career section of the bagua, my office was downright magical! Between the tinkling of two desktop fountains, the profusion of green plants, the comfortable chairs and the intriguing artwork and wall hanging, it was just a place you wanted to be! I loved going there every day. It was so comfortable and soothing that I often forgot my purpose for being there, work. I finally resorted to the Feng Shui principle of intention and hauled a rock, a big rock, from my creek-side walking path into my office and put it part way under my desk where it was half-hidden. Now when I opened the door I saw the beauty but I also saw the rock and that rock had meaning. You, missy, are here to emulate Sisyphus. Get busy pushing that boulder uphill and when it rolls back down over night come back tomorrow and start pushing it uphill again. Repeat the process until you have something in your pockets besides your hands.
As the years rolled along, my business enjoyed a modicum of success. It had the possibility to be a lot more successful but there were three influences that kept it in the moderate range. First, I was blessed with a substantial amount of income flowing into the coffers by way of "found" money. It is so much easier to just hold out your hand and have it filled than roll that boulder uphill. Secondly, I would rather dangle by my toes on a 10th floor window ledge than make a sales pitch to a prospective new account. Just the thought gives me the heebie jeebies. Lastly, and most importantly, doing something solely because you need the money will never make you anything more than moderately successful; that is all you can expect if you are not doing what you would do for free for the pure joy of doing it. Attitude matters.
So, one day in 2006, I walked out of my office, locked the door, went home and stayed home for seven months thinking. From time-to-time I got a pang of conscience about handing my plants a death sentence but other than that and the office manager reminding me that my rent was overdue, I never thought about returning to the job that went that place. Over those seven months I realized intellectually what my business results had been telling me for a long time. I didn't want to be a small business owner. I hadn't been living the proverb, "Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life." Changes were made and today I never work a day in my life.
Annette LaSelle, a former corporate senior executive and small business owner who gave it all up for the right to write tall tales, half truths and other forms of chicanery.
An exciting adventure, following the thoughts and works of a budding author!
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I love it! Attitude does matter, and I love yours, missy!
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