Yea. Only took me about 7 years to get so irritated with wearing every.single.hat. that I threw down the penalty flag, bought a book and went heads down on all things work flow, work systems, pricing structures, hiring, training – and more…including teaching myself how to be a leader. (what??!!)

It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time – especially when an issue pops up and I think “oh, that’s right….I should hire someone to help with that!” or “oh yea, we don’t have that line updated in the client contract. oops!”. Can’t even recount how many times I’ve wanted to shut down all projects for a period of a few weeks to nail down the flow and systems and contracts. But truth is, it’s too hard for that to happen. Clients want you when they want you and I am motivated to help when THEY are motivated to declutter.

Anyway, behind the scenes for the last 4-6 weeks, since school went back, I’ve been in the thick of working ON this business. Not only in it.

While it is incredible running a business and having the flexibility of running it around your children / their schedules…on the other hand, it sucks. Specifically ALL the business stuff. I’m not a business person, I’m not a trained leader, didn’t attend business school. And what’s worse? I’m not an accounting major, never took business finance classes, have no idea how to do quarterly taxes (it’s a goal!), and I’m not a lawyer. Finally (but not really finally, because there are so many more hats to wear in this monster I’ve created), I’m not a PR person and have no idea how to negotiate those types of partnerships / contracts.

Have I managed to get through all of the above (and more!) for the last 11 years or blogging and starting the business? Yes. But I certainly am NOT doing it well. Honestly, I’m seriously bombing it in a lot of areas – big time. haha!

I know who I am and what I do best and anytime I’m working outside those lines, my creativity takes a nose dive. My mood turns. I lose motivation and get side tracked quickly. I’m not me when I’m not focusing on the things I am meant to focus on. And the things I should be focusing on are meeting with new clients, working on their designs, creating video content, writing on the blog, and a few other things. Most everything else can be handed off.

But how do I do that? And where do I find them? And what if they mess up? What if I finally delegate something and have to redo it?

Well, guess what Sam – YOU TOO have made mistakes and have to redo something. Everyone has to learn.

All that said – and all that’s been left unsaid too – I’ve been listening to podcast for a long time. This isn’t news to long time readers. In the past I’ve shared my favorite podcasts. A few months ago I stumbled across an interview which led me to a podcast….which then led me to a book. This book…

It’s called Clock Work and it’s all about how to design your business to run itself.

This IS NOT a sponsored post guys. I’m sharing this book because there are a ton of aspiring professional organizers who read this blog. Whether that’s you or you’re running a totally different type of small business – don’t miss this one.

If it can be helpful to someone else, I’m going to share it. And so far, this book has been awesome! And the podcast!

I started this business so I could be my own boss, contribute to my family and be available to my kids. But more and more as the business grows and my dreams grow even bigger, I find myself bogged down. I’m less available to my kids. I’m involved in every little decision. I’m totally stuck if I’m being honest and dream of one day having a business that runs itself. At least to the extent I can pick up and take off on a 1 week vacation while the business is still churning, clients are being served, and money is coming in.

Right now if I’m not there – the client projects are going / making an income. Is the blog making an income on its own? Yes. But the professional organizing business isn’t making an income unless I am there designing, decluttering, managing, and more. That needs to change. I’m going to burn out…sometimes I think I already have.

I couldn’t wait to purchase the hard-copy of this book so I could write in the margins, flag important pages and then have it as a resource to refer back to.

I’ll share more insight into the book and things I’m editing in the business as I keep digging in. But I wanted to at least share the book with you guys as a starting point. If you are a business owner and facing the same struggle, definitely check it out!

Back soon!

xx,

Sam