Main Categories

The Inconvenient Coffee – 29/09/2015

Many of us have limited working hours for different reasons. Childcare is often the biggest reason but certainly not the exclusive one. When you‘re juggling running a business with nursery, playgroup and school runs for example, you envy everyone who has 9-5 Monday to Friday to work. Trust me, i‘ve juggled this way for 3 years!

You long to be able to book meetings on any day (not just Mondays), for once have an empty ‘in tray’ and are desperate to mark something (however small) off the ‘to do list’. So when someone says “fancy a coffee?”, you don‘t know whether to laugh at what you believe to be their absolute ignorance of your workload, be jealous that they clearly have time to drink coffee or be sad that they obviously don‘t think you are busy enough in your business. However……….turn those thoughts around………

What if having that #InconvenientCoffee is the best decision you make? I‘ve had a few coffees that really have completely messed up my day and taken up what I believed to be precious time but in fact, they have moved my business forward. The joy of being self employed means you end up being wrapped up in your own business and sometimes forget that you‘re trying to sell to your customers, not yourself. They are different to you! By having an #InconvenientCoffee you actually are looking through a different window to your business than the one you usually see through.

These coffees can be with friends, family, customers or fellow business people. All offer the same thing, a view of your business that isn‘t yours. You‘d be surprised how different it looks through the eyes of someone else. The ideas and changes they offer make you think “Why didn‘t I think of that?” The truth is, we can‘t do EVERYTHING! We can‘t sell our business, field enquiries, do the admin, the accounts, marketing and answer the phone along with coming up with the best and most successful ideas. We are humans with lives, and we must remember that more often!

Don‘t let your business take up all of your time, it‘s easier said than done (insert personal #EpicFail here) but have that #InconvenientCoffee, talk to people, ask them opinions and harness their enthusiasim and praise. These words will get you through the days you just want to curl up with a duvet and hide!

Let me know how your next #InconvenientCoffee goes, i‘m booking one for next week!