Why you should keep your business small

I’ve been a fan of Simon Baker since I saw him in The Devil Wears Prada, so when I glanced up and saw an episode of The Mentalist, I left the TV on. This episode featured a vineyard owner framed for murder by her business partner because she wanted to keep the business small.

The topic resonated so well with the book I’m currently reading. The Big Enough Company (by Adelaide Lancaster and Amy Abrams) details the virtues of starting a company and keeping it at a size you are comfortable with. For North American society, bigger is better. When you’re big, you’ve succeeded. We extol so much the virtues of going big, that we fail to consider if it’s actually what we want, or if we can deal with the consequences of having a big business.

Here are the virtues of keeping your business small:

• A more balanced life
• An opportunity to reflect on what value your company adds to society at large
• Personal relationships with clients
• A chance to test out your ideas
• Less investment of time and money

Starting small, or staying small is not indicative of failure or timidity. It’s a practical way to ensure you actually plan out your life and stay in balance. For most women in business, going big means you have to sacrifice some elements of your life, whether it be time, relationships or money. I feel it’s more realistic to know that you can’t have it all, all at once. Starting small gives you that opportunity to grow, and learn at a pace you’re comfortable with.

And also, don’t forget to pick the right business partner!

Do you have to risk your life savings to start a business?

Steve Chou of My Wife Quit her Job has written a comprehensive article about how little money it takes to start a business. Steve has an online store selling wedding linens, works full time, has a blog and two children. He and his wife started their business when his pregnant wife decided that she wanted to stay home with her child.

This article is an outline of what you need to start an online store quickly:
1) webhost: $7
2) free shopping cart software: free
3) digital camera: $200
4) computer: $100
5) inventory: $323
6) shipping: free (applies only if you’re in the States)

For a total of $629.90 you could get your business started. Click here to read more.

Should you tell your boss about your side business?

Click here to read the debate going on in this forum. Some readers are all for telling the boss about your side business, others strongly advise against it.

My take on telling the boss? A solid NO for the following reasons:

1) My personal life is my own business
2) It might lead my boss to assume I am less than committed to my job
3) It might lead the boss to become more wary about whether I’m actually working or not
4) The boss might fear that I’m going to be in competition with their business

In the end, it all comes down to your relationship with your boss and co-workers. If it’s the sort of environment where everyone is completely open about their lives, without any judgment or repercussions, you might be able to take the risk. If it’s the sort of environment where you are expected to live, breathe and think only of your job, it might be better not to risk telling.

Here are a few different takes:
This article from the Sydney Morning Herald suggests that you could use your side business as the reason to negotiate a shorter week.

Read the Consider the Conflict section of this article

The key to productivity? Work in 45 minute increments only

Carmen Sognonvi wrote a guest post on Pam Slim’s Cubicle Nation entitled “Confessions of a Runaway: The Stuff Nobody tells you about escaping Cubicle Nation”. In it, she points out when she had a side business and a full time job, she was so much more productive than when she actually quit her job to start her business full time.

What was the reason? Carmen deduced that the less time you have to work, the more productive and efficiently you become. It’s the pressure factor – you know you have no other time to get the work done, so you get it done, at all costs. When you have a longer period of time in which to work, you’re more likely to drag it out.

A lot of time management experts suggest you bring that same concept to all your projects. Work on them for about 45 minutes only. Any more time, and you’re less productive and not achieving much.

Carmen covers other myths about working as an entrepreneur – read more here.

How to get young kids to play alone while you work

It’s always quite annoying when educational pundits declare that TV is bad for children. If you’re working at home with children, you’ll know that TV is about the only thing that can occupy kids so thoroughly that you can actually get a few hours worth of work done.

Unfortunately, in aspiring to be a good parent, I realize that having the TV be a babysitter is not the best for them long term. I don’t want TV teaching my kids my values. I want my kids to be able to use their imaginations. I want them to be fulfilled mentally away from TV — to think their own thoughts and come up with their own play.

But it can be very hard to find activities that will give you even an hour’s space, especially if they’re still young.

This website at About.com might help. If you have kids below the age of 5, here are some activities that they can do by themselves. It might be a lifesaver: Independent activities for young children.

Being a chicken entrepreneur can be a very good thing

The term chicken entrepreneurship started off to describe entrepreneurs who keep their day job while starting their business on the side. I’ve read different takes on it — some condemning such entrepreneurs for being too chicken to chuck their means of support. Other thoughts laud this form of entrepreneurship, as a way to test out your market, before fully jumping into a risky venture.

This was the case for Ed Gandia of  International Freelancers Academy. The following article provides proven advice for balancing both a side business and a day job.  Before starting his copywriting business, he had a family to support, so he couldn’t just throw off his job and start his business. He covers how to find time for your business, how to manage client expectations and how to increase your productivity. He’s not afraid to be a chicken, a successful one!  Read the article here:

“Run a successful side business with a full time job”

Real Housewives of Orange County: You’ve got to admire Vicki

I’ve watched enough episodes of the Real Housewives to see Vicki start an insurance company from a spare room in her home, to now owning a business that spans multiple states, and multiple employees. She could arguably be the most successful housewife. What drives her?

I believe Vicki is motivated by a) a love of money b) a need for security. She mentions in an episode starting the business when she was newly divorced, feeling insecure about a lack of education and not knowing how she was going to support her children. And even though she’s been married for years now, avid viewers will agree that she’s been more married to her business than to her husband.

Vicki has a laser eyed focus. She’s passionate about insurance (it takes all kinds in this world!). She loves her work, and has no problem working all hours of the day at it. She’s an evangelist for her work — remember the cruise where she taught others how to get into the business?

The other housewives don’t have this much focus. Lynne has a business selling cuffs, but she seems to dabble in it. Laurie started a jewelry line, but that got sidetracked once she found husband #3. Of late, Gretchen wants to start a makeup line. We’ll see how that goes.

Is Vicki a role model for would-be business women everywhere? If you want an example of how hard work and focus can pay off in business, of course. On the other hand, if you want to see how successful Vicki has been as a wife, mother, or friend, turn the other way. Her need to be in control (a superb business trait), works against her in her marriage, as a mother and as a friend. Her daughter often complains when her mother considers work first. Her husband is grateful when she has some time to spare for him. Her “friends” resent the number of times she jabs them about how hard she works.

Vicki is a prime example of how hard it can be to find a balance between owning a business and having a life. Now that she’s expanded, has more money (so she can relax and feel more secure), has a staff she trusts, you see her spending more time with her husband and travelling more. She seems to now realize that working hard for the sake of working hard is pointless. I’ll continue to tune in to see how she figures out that balance.