Who Am I Kidding?
Lesson Learned #1: Don’t Kid Yourself
I debated whether or not to write this one, but as I’m just getting started with the blogging, now is the best time to admit when I screwed up so I can blame it on my inexperience.
Originally, this was going to be a blog advising people and businesses about new internet and wireless applications for business. In addition to reviewing said business solutions, I was also going to consult on the side. My initial rationale for doing so was as follows:
- Consulting would give me some side money while my business grows
- I’ve always enjoyed learning new internet and mobile apps
- It would tie in nicely with FYIndOut and allow me to use some of our widgets in the future
Let me say that in my last few months of running a business, I have met some awesome entrepreneurs, both in person and online. Some of these people are crazy overachievers and almost all of them have much more experience being an entrepreneur then me. So when you talk to some of them that have two companies, a family, major hobby, and three blogs, your initial thought is “That’s impressive. Obviously, I can do more.” That’s where I got the plan in my head about the side consulting and the additional blog.
I immediately went to task. I stayed up a few hours even later to work on the other blog. I started researching new internet and mobile apps. During the day, I took some time to call people in my network for some short term gigs.
Two weeks into it, it hit me. I just went from working 18 hour days and weekend days to 20 hour days and weekend days and nights. If I did get consulting opportunities, they were going to be more then sixteen hours a week and would probably grow if we did them right. So while I may be able to make some money now, it will be at the cost of my business I believe in and take that much longer for it to succeed or it may fail altogether because I missed an opportunity. And oh yeah, I have a girlfriend that expects to see me more then two hours a week and I enjoy being with her and my friends. Who am I kidding?!
I quickly realized that while the other people I have met are truly impressive, I’m not them. I need to focus on my business full time in order for it to succeed. I like being with my girlfriend and friends and having quality of life. I like more then four hours of sleep a night. I can’t pull this off and I need to stop kidding myself right now and get back on track.
And that lead’s us here to this blog, which went from “What’s In IT For B” (I still liked the name.) to Manley’s Blog. One business, two blogs; with one not requiring any preparation other then doing my best for my business, screwing up along the way, learning from it, and moving on.
