Are you Ready for your Fourth Quarter Assessment?

Good evening friends.  I trust that all is well. This image to the left of the text is what I feel like most days. Owning a business with multiple facets and working on adding to each entity is so challenging.  Often even if you have a partner in business, silent or moral support only, you always seem to be the one who wants the success by any means necessary.  It seems that you are the only one who will stay up late nights and then rise early the next morning to get to it, or maybe that's just my story. 

Enough of complaining which is nothing more than making statements about something that you are unwilling to change but have the power to change. 

Today's lesson on multi-tasking begins with what else, creating a list.  Easy enough.  This is the middle of week two of August what have you been able to accomplish?  How can you take advantage of the remainder of the month which gives you 20 more days? 

The list should start like this:

Fourth Quarter Assessment

1. Winter is coming am I prepared?  
2. What should I stock up on?   
3. Will I need to get a part time job or add an additional source of income?  How much do I need?
4. What are 10 things I can do easily to get extra money coming in if the business is slow or not moving temporarily? This is a helpful list but it is not exhaustive use your mind to think outside of the box. Look for things that won't tie up a lot of your time and won't commit you to a long term trap:

• Lyft/Uber you can even rent a car or lease from the company if you don't have a car.
• McDonald's open 24 hours
•  IHop also open 24 hours
• Waiter/waitress/host/hostess at any restaurant try to choose one that serves liquor it will increase the amount of tips you can generate
• Deliver newspapers/ deliver phone books (yes, they do still make them)
• Temp job agencies they have both skilled and unskilled workers
• Get your lawnmower out and seek a few clients (start with your neighbors) to cut their grass and rake leaves through the end of fall.
• Run a few fundraisers like Krispy Kreme doughnuts which only works if you get donations along with the actual purchase of the doughnuts.  In our area there's Joe Corbi pizza's they do very well if you have a few friends and family you can even run them back to back since people will love the food and ask when you will be doing another one.  There is nothing wrong with hosting a few fundraisers to keep your lights on or to put some petrol in your fuel tank, just plan them so that they are successful.  They don't work if you work at home, have no friends or family or no access to at least 20 people.  
• If you happen to work at an office setting open a store, small scale, purchase from Costco, Sam's or B.J.'s and become the vending machine for your co-workers. 
•  If you have access to a location and you are a chef or a cook, set up small samples of your work and then create a small lunch time menu visit places where the employees can't or won't leave for lunch like a car dealership, always speak with a manager first and give a sample and ask for permission to offer to the employees. 

         5. Have I put aside 4 to 12 months of reserve to cover my living expenses to include eating?
         6. What are my business goals for 2018?

The purpose of this list is to get you thinking and not waiting until things occur, it's too late at that point.  Big business owners plan day's weeks, months, and years at a time and so do we.  I have a major background in sales and that's what makes the world go around every second someone is selling something and in that same second someone is buying something and with the internet it's probably every millisecond.

This is enough for now, get busy planning 2018 is coming soon, let's get at least two things going for your business that you didn't have going this same time last year you have 4 whole months left in this year.

To your success,

D.S. Woodard