I Am Special...Why

When I was a kid I was taught a song that was very simple, sung to the Frere Jacques melody, and basically just said I am special over and over. It obviously stuck. I remember it now, probably 30 years later. While we can argue about what makes people special and if everyone is special in their own way or some are more special than others but what’s important here is what makes your business special? Most small business owners do not have an entirely new concept. They see a window in the market and they fill it or they see something they think they can do better. We’re going to look more at the second one, what makes you better and if not better, different?

I am not the first person to start a dog walking company. Many people came before me and forged a path. I am not the first person to start a dog walking company in Denver but here I am almost 10 years later with at least a decent portion of market share. Why? Why do people pick my company and not someone else’s? This answer can be complicated but usually, there are some basic tenants that set us apart from the competition (as well as some things we don’t do that disqualify us from another person’s search). No company can be everything to everybody. If that’s your goal, you are going to spend a lot of time beating yourself up and a lot of time catering to everyone’s whim. Especially in service. Let’s say you own a concierge/assistant company. Your clients have you pick up dry cleaning, make appointments for them, and generally help their lives run more smoothly. What if they called you at midnight and asked you to come over and hang out cuz they had a bad night. That might be crossing a line you don’t want to see the other side of. It’s OK to say that’s not what I’m here for. Or maybe you do go over, but if you do, your client list isn’t going to be very long. You can only be that person for so many people. If you are available 24/7 for everyone, eventually someone is going to be upset because you can’t be in two places at once.

In our case, a huge challenge for dog walking companies is customer service. Most people who get into it love dogs, not people. They may or may not be organized and/or tech savvy. I have gotten so many complaints from new clients that whoever they had tried before was great with their dogs but just so hard to work with. I have a long history of working customer service before starting Pawsitively Pooches and I’ve made it a priority. Reliability is the other big requirement. While we are not perfect, I have worked very hard to ensure that if we say we’ll be there, we’ll be there and we’ll be within our time window. We have staff members who don’t have walks assigned and can pick up a walk if another walker is behind. Everyone knows that being on time is important and to ask for help if they get in the weeds. These are basic pillars of our company. If you hire us, you can expect us to be there, when we say we’ll be there, and take good care of your pooch. If for some reason that doesn’t happen, you’ll be notified, you’ll get and explanation and an apology and a promise to do better as well as a discount. This communication comes from me or one of the managers. There’s no online chat, no finding the right email address, just honest and humble communication. That’s what truly sets us apart.

More recently, I’ve been trying to come up with some ideas for ways to promote this mentality in a more straightforward way. Soon we’ll be adding welcome gifts for all new clients. Old clients will get them too. Each gift includes a letter with a little bit about the company and what they can expect from us and how to navigate our systems best, as well as a treat and some other goodies. We want people to immediately feel how good it is being part of the Pooch Family.

The other thing that sets us apart is that while we do believe customer service is important, we remember that our employees are people too. While we may discount a client’s walk if they were unhappy, we discuss it with the dog walker and get their side too. Even if the dog walker was in the wrong we try to give the client an idea of why what happened happened and how we’re going to fix it going forward. None of my employees have to worry if a client is being over the top or mean for the sake of it. I will always step in for them and I do not tolerate abuse from clients to dog walkers. If a client wants to yell and scream they can do it with me. The dog walkers don’t get paid enough for that and they have no legs to stand on because they aren’t empowered to fire or reprimand a client. It’s completely unfair to them. Keeping your employees happy and in the know will keep them around for longer and employees who last work for businesses who last.

These things work well for us, they might for you too, but really you need to take what makes you different and translate that into your business. I’m different because I’m good with dogs and people. Both of which I had to learn but my history has me uniquely qualified to provide that experience to my clients. What sets you apart and how do you weave it into your business?

You are THE Boss

The response I get to the statement: I own my own business is varied and sometimes kind of wild. A lot of times I get the, “I could never do that” like we talked about the last couple of weeks. Sometimes I get something much more like: “Wow! It must be so nice to be able to make your own schedule!” Or, “It must be so great to not have a boss!” In some ways, it is great. I am much more capable of tweaking my schedule than most people and I have the freedom to work when I’m productive and not just when someone tells me to but there’s a lot more to it than that. I’ve worked every weekend for 5 weeks in a row because of short staffing and new programs. I may not have a weekend completely off until my vacation in a month. I like to think it’ll be worth the time in the end which softens the blow a little. We all work harder to “pay our dues” in the early stages of our careers so that’s not new and at least for the most part I’m making the choice for myself. 

The tremendous difference to a small business owner is that ultimately, EVERYTHING falls to you. Printer doesn’t work? You have to fix it, or pay someone to fix it with money you don’t have. Client is angry because a dog walker made a mistake, you handle the call. Taxes didn’t get filed, your problem. Sales have gone down, you once again. Sales are fine but profits are down, all you. I remember one time one of my employees was learning a new software. We both had had the same training on it but she ran into a problem and didn’t know how to fix it. We both had the same access to the software’s help desk and the same amount of experience but it was still on me to mess around with it until I figured out how to do it and then explain it to her. It was that moment that I realized that everything, truly everything, was on me. 

It seems so simple, but take a moment and think about how many times you kick something up the chain. You say to yourself, “I don’t get paid enough to deal with this crap” and then you DON’T deal with it. You forward it up to your boss and then you forget about it. You might take a little note about what’s going on in case your boss wants more details, or follow up on it in a couple of days to make sure it got done but you don’t have to do it. This is a luxury that simply doesn’t exist for small business owners. Even with staff, there’s only so much you can turf away and if they have problems with it, it’s all you. When I am leaving my friends to their movie in a snow storm to drive what is already a 40 minute drive but is now over an hour due to the storm, to battle my way to a client’s house so their dogs can pee only to get a call as I’m finishing up there that they’re on their way home because their flight was canceled and I didn’t end up needing to go, there is nothing I can do but laugh. At least I don’t have to go back in the morning right? When a dog walker calls because a dog had a major accident and I have to go look and make sure the dog is OK and clean up so the dog walker can stay on schedule, I think to myself, “Yep, owning a business is so fancy.”

Some days, I have back to back meetings with different organizations to grow business, staff meetings with dog walkers and high level organizational work to do when I get home. Sometimes, I’m elbow deep in a printer trying to find a paper jam that the printer swears is there (it’s showing me a video) but that seems lost inside the magical printer gears never to be seen again. Some days, I’m writing about all the things I’ve learned as a business owner and giving start ups advice and reassurance while others I’m running out of Christmas dinner to walk a dog because a dog walker has a flat. When a dog walker makes a mistake, I can be mad at them or frustrated but ultimately, I didn’t train or manage them properly and I’m the one that has to explain to the client what happened, why, and how I’ll fix it.

Being the boss definitely has its perks but there are some things that you cannot foresee, you cannot plan for, and you cannot kick up the chain. You are the last, strongest link and if you don’t do it, the whole thing comes down.

Pain Points and How to Fix Them

Last week we talked about the dreaded finances. Old standbys like Balance Sheets and Income Statements leave many people running scared. If you want to be successful, at business or really just life in general, you need to understand finance basics. Whether for your personal finances or your company’s, knowing how much goes in, how much goes out, and how much is left, will keep you from digging a hole so deep it may take years to get out of. It seems like knowing what the problem is (expenses too high for example) would make the problem easy to fix. HOW is the next step and the one that’ll make the difference in the long run.

Recently, I’ve been assessing this in my own company. This is a never ending process. As the business grows, things that worked well before may not anymore and identifying them when they start to become a problem is the key to keeping things running smoothly (and profitably). What I found most recently is that key exchanges were killing us. It was frustrating for dog walkers to show up to get a key only to find that the previous walker hadn’t put it back or something had changed etc. It was also expensive. Paying dog walkers to drive to meet each other to exchange keys or drive to our central location every day really adds up. If we assume $3 for 15 minutes and all 15 dog walkers do that at least once a day that’s a minimum of $45 A DAY that clients aren’t paying me for. Like the difference between billable hours and not. This isn’t including having multiple copies of some keys (to prevent too much driving around) and all the time that’s spent tracking down keys and sorting out how to get them from one dog walker to another. Weekends were even worse because people were out of their regular zones and would forget to check for keys. They might get all the way to the house and realize they need to come get one and then would have to go all the way back to the walk. Now we’re late for at least one walk and we’re discounting them. That happens roughly once a week and we lose anywhere from $15-30 on it. So conservatively, we were spending around $330 a week on keys. There were certainly weeks when it wasn’t that bad, if the stars aligned and everyone had the keys they needed for the day we’d save a bit but even if it was happening half the days and the weekend wasn’t a problem we were looking at $150-200 a week. Profit margins in dog walking are razor thin and this was basically just lighting money on fire for us.

Problem found but now what? This is how I had always done it. I didn’t want to require lock boxes, what if people couldn’t have one? I looked into finding space around the city for regional lock boxes but I couldn’t find a good solution for it that way. Then I sat down with a couple people who I trust and who often help me think outside the box. Both said, why don’t you just charge for not having a lock box? Change is scary. I thought for sure I’d get a ton of push back from clients. I began texting the ones that had been the most challenging (usually because of location or time of day walked etc) and almost all of them said yes. Of the handful that said no, many agreed to the fee without trouble. Only one client said they may look elsewhere. They may, and that would be unfortunate because they’re a good client but the more I expanded the more that cost would skyrocket and eventually I wouldn’t be able to float it anymore. So it would have been built into the price already or we would be out of business. This way, instead of raising my prices $3 per walk I was able to raise them $2 and only charge people who are causing the extra work the fee. The fee is only $1 but it should be enough to offset most of the expenses and it’s more to encourage people to take advantage of a free lock box than it is to pay for the trouble. It also means less overall management. Going from 30+ clients with keys to under 5 will simplify things a lot. And yes, as a company we do anywhere from 350-400 walks a week right now. It was only 30 clients that had keys and were causing this much extra work/cost.

Diving into the nitty gritty is never fun. It’s time consuming, tedious, and solving the problems usually forces you to think outside the box. It’s a lot of work but when you discover something like this, after you get over the initial frustration from wondering why you didn’t see it before, you will feel like a champion. Like you can conquer the world.

What nuances make your business or personal life run more smoothly than others? Do you have a super cool bill tracking system? Did you reinvent the wheel or follow a path already forged?

All These Dollars Don't Make Sense

One of the most common things people push back on for business owning is finances. Accounting can seem like some kind of wizardry that us “muggles” will never understand and should be left alone. It’s true that I don’t entirely understand how everything comes out so nicely in a balance sheet or income statement but for the most part, what you need to know is your Profit/Loss. How much came in, how much went out, how much is left. When your business is starting, you can probably do this yourself. You just have to be diligent about using your business bank account for business only and then tracking everything at least monthly. I won’t say it’s easy but it is simple. As things grow, it can get more complicated. A good bookkeeper is an extremely valuable resource for a business owner. You still have to check and make sure everything makes sense to you but having someone track these things can be one of your best investments especially if, like me, you are not good at details.

What you should be spending your time on is WHY do your books look the way they do. If they look great, why is that. Industry standard for your business is a 30% profit margin and you’re hitting 35%. Awesome! Why? Your prices might be on the high side but your service is so good no one cares. Maybe you’re still doing a lot of work yourself that you’ll eventually have to hire out. Maybe you’re not paying enough. If the last one is true, rethink it. A healthy profit margin is great but if you can’t keep your employees (and you won’t if they find out they’re being underpaid) it won’t take long for that margin to tank and your headache to become never ending. Maybe your profit margin is low (either by averages or your goals). Why? Are your expenses out of control? Did something happen this month that doesn’t usually happen? Can you fix your expenses or is it time to think about a price increase?

Problems can be obvious or they can be sneaky. If you can’t identify it, find someone who can. A consultant, a friend, maybe your bookkeepter? It can be hard to see what’s going on from inside the problem. A second set of eyes will make a world of difference. They might not even see it but as you try to explain the problem to them, the root cause is suddenly clear. Whatever you do, don’t ignore it. If someone walked up to you right now and said how’s your month look, you should be able to give them an idea. And you should know what last month looked like and how this year compares to last year. Putting your head in the sand only hurts you and your business.

Owning Business Owning

I have been told, many times, “Oh it must be so great to own your own business but I could never do it.” When I ask why people say that they almost always say something like, “I’m not organized enough.” or “I’m terrible with money and accounting.” As almost anyone that knows me. I am one of the least organized people out there. I have a good head for numbers but I hate the act of accounting (I like reading the reports). The truth is, what you need to own a successful business is passion, and resources. While money helps, that’s not what I mean. Many people have opened businesses before you or me. Far fewer are successful at it. Of course everyone is different but there’s a few pit falls that catch a lot of people. For the next few posts, we’ll talk about some of them and how to avoid them for yourself.

One of the most common challenges to business owners is not knowing how to sell. You may have a great product that could help a lot of people, but if you don’t know who your market is and how to get it to them it does not matter. It really doesn’t. If no one knows about your product, no one will buy it. This does not mean that you can’t have a successful business if you’re not a good salesperson. You should have a decent “elevator pitch” (30 seconds on what your company does) but you don’t necessarily need to be the sales person and if you are, you don’t have to be great at it right off the bat. What you do need to do, is practice. One of the best things I did when I started my business was join a Leads Group at my Chamber of Commerce. Every week I was in a room with other business owners telling them what I did. I got to the point where I could explain why we mattered in 20 seconds and why we were different from the competition in another 20. It is a valuable skill that continues to serve me today. These groups are also great because you’re with other business owners. Ask for help. If someone has a somewhat similar business (same structure, different products), as them what they do for new business and if they’d be willing to let you pick their brain. Take them to coffee and chat about some of your challenges.

There are a ton of great, and often free, resources for new business owners. Your local Chamber or Small Business Development Center can help. They often run classes and lectures on all kinds of facets of business and can help you with whatever challenges your facing. If you don’t live in a metropolitan area, look for online resources. I’ve had great luck with SCORE in the past. The most important thing is, if you know that your weak point is sales, prioritize it. No one wants to spend time doing things they don’t like but it’s often what we need to do most. If you just really can’t do it, hire help. If you can’t get new clients, you don’t have a business. Whether it’s a social media consultant, a cold caller, or even just a closer for leads you find, business can’t thrive without sales. Learn your market, learn what other businesses like yours do and take your cues from them. It’s unlikely you need to reinvent a perfectly good wheel. You just need to find clients, and be able to explain why you’re different from someone else they might use.

How did you improve your sales skills? Is there something you wish you had done sooner?

Where Does the Time Go

Wow it turns out all those cliches are true, time really does fly. Last I left this blog I had several weeks scheduled out and a plan for the few weeks after that. I just needed to write them. Easy peasy. Yet here we are with a couple of blank weeks. I could go back and add them in and back date them (thanks technology) but I think it’s a good time to talk about prioritizing. I also think that it’s easy to make it look like you always have everything together and that it’s important to remember to be honest with people. We all get behind sometimes and pretending that it doesn’t happen to you doesn’t serve you or the people you work with. This sounds a little bit like more self care advice and it has some overlap but that’s not really what I’m here for today.

The truth is, I had more work than time or energy these past couple of weeks. Nothing was wrong with me, I wasn’t depressed, I wasn’t working through anything I just had too much going on and sometimes something has to give. This is something that’s true for business owners but also just humans. We make choices every day to prioritize different things. We might want more time with our family so we order takeout, or we want to pay off that credit card so we cook and miss some homework time with the kiddos. We probably do it at work too but it doesn’t feel as deliberate because often, someone told you what’s more important so you do that first.

When I’m trying to grow my business (which is most of the time), I try a lot of different things. I talk to other companies, I might make flyers, I might network, run referral specials, run ads. I don’t do one of these things, I do three or four. I try to stick with things I know work at least OK. If I’m working 4 different angles only one of them, at most, will be new or different. The rest are old reliables. The problem with this is that, sometimes, they all work at the same time. If one of them is new, I have to figure out how to best handle new business. In this case I’ve joined forces with a company that works in apartment complexes. I’ve been the one managing the project because I don’t know what it looks like yet and I can’t train anyone on it until I do. But that means I’m putting in extra time with them and I’m forced to work with people in a way I don’t usually have to. That’s OK but it’s challenging and it means I have to challenge my own behavior and also maybe remind them that I don’t work for them, I work for myself. There’s a balance between putting up boundaries and being willing to put in more time and energy to make something with a lot of potential work. This is a time sensitive project. If it doesn’t work it gets scrapped and we never try it again. At least not with the same company. They’re on a much stricter time frame than I am and they need to make magic happen. I need to help them make magic while also keeping expectations realistic and being able to deliver on my promises. This has been a huge and challenging project and position for me. I’m excited about it, but I don’t want to get in over my head and I want to protect what I’ve built. Because of this, that’s what I prioritized.

I have a friend (I talked about her last time too, she’s a smart lady: https://www.facebook.com/TheLeadingCauseofWellness/) who reminds me, you always have time, you just didn’t prioritize it. And she’s right. every day you have the same amount of time. You get to choose what to do with it. I know you’re probably saying, “nope that’s not true, I have to go to work, I have to feed the kids, I have to sit in traffic, I have to go to soccer practice, I have to make this phone call.” I mean you do have to feed your kids. Every day though, you make a choice to go to work. You make a choice to sit in traffic instead of taking a train or finding a job closer to home or a home closer to work. Ultimately you make a choice on how to feed your kids (going back to takeout or cooking or frozen meals). There is a bit of privilege woven into this and it’s not as easy as just move but more than likely, you could change some of these things if you really wanted to. Everything you do is a choice. What I learned in the last few weeks is that making a go at this new program is worth it to me, even though I missed out on some writing time.

What’s worth it to you? What’s something you almost always prioritize or maybe something that surprised you?

To Do List Trials

If you’re anything like me, you have written your fair share of to do lists and then promptly ignored them. Whether I forget where I put it, accidentally throw it away, or just literally never look at it again, to do lists have not been particularly effective for me in the past. I started trying again last month though, and for the first time, it’s actually working! It came about because I was struggling with some poor eating habits and buying food while I was out and about instead of cooking healthy meals at home. This was mostly because I had been working mornings more than usual and I’d leave the house to do visits, then I’d run some errands and then I was STARVING so I’d buy some quick breakfast. Doing this occasionally isn’t a big deal but it was becoming a pattern. I was talking with my health coach (You can find her here: https://www.facebook.com/TheLeadingCauseofWellness/) and telling her about the problems I was having and she came up with the great idea to plan my meals. Not meal planning like make 7 of the same meal on Sunday and eat one every day but plan where in my day to put my meals. GENIUS.

This sparked a whole new behavior change for me. Every night, before bed, I’d sit down with my planner (I use the Bossed Up LifeTracker Planner which you can get here: https://bossedup.org/product/limited-edition-2019-lifetracker-planner/). I write down all my planned appointments and what I wanted/needed to get done for the day and then I’d figure out where a meal would fit and I’d write it down. If it looked like I’d be out, I could plan to bring something with me. If I’d make it home, I could just eat there. It worked like a dream. I didn’t need to buy food when I was out because I had a plan. I didn’t need to worry about when I’d be eating because I had always written it down. Of course things still came up but I found myself much more in control than I had been before and I found that I was way less likely to make an unhealthy choice.

As an unexpected perk, I also was getting a lot more of my massive ever changing to do list done. Writing things in smart, intentional bullets really helps. An even bigger bonus is that I was sleeping better. Since I made my list before going to bed I was able to sleep without stressing about what I had to do in the morning. It was all waiting for me in my planner so I could sleep peacefully and hit the ground running in the morning.

I know a lot of you are thinking, “Yeah, duh, that’s what planners are for”. And you’re right. But I had never really used one effectively. I would love to hear what you do to plan your days, make your to do list, or use your planners. Share in the comments!

Forgive Yourself

Sometimes when I sit down to write one of these posts, I’m not always sure where it’s going to go. I start out with an idea or a framework and I usually try to stick to the plan. It can go awry and then I usually end up with two posts, one of which I did not see coming. Sometimes I don’t know what I’m going to write about but it’s getting down to the wire and I better pick something! Today was one of the latter situations so I’m going to write what I wish someone would tell me. I think in most cases that if we listened to our own advice we’d be in better shape but we are our worst critics and put up with much less from ourselves than we do from anyone else. My best advice today is to give myself (and yourself) a damn break. I have been working my butt off with moving, unpacking, business growth, a new puppy, all of it and I am just tired. I got some work done this morning and for the first time in weeks found myself with unscheduled time. You know what? I watched ER on Hulu and snuggled my pup. It. Was. Great.

I often don’t realize that I’m going too hard until it’s too late. It’s easy for me to get overwhelmed with work and life and fun and I come up for air to find that 3 weeks have passed and I haven’t had a night to myself or any down time to speak of since then. In some ways I thrive on activity and connection but everyone needs a break sometimes and I usually figure it out in the middle of an absurdly busy phase with no real end in sight. Yet somehow, even though I KNOW I need a break, when a night comes up where I could rest, I plan something else for myself. I say yes to something I don’t even want to do. I’ll tell myself I HAVE to work out because it’s been so long and I know it’ll make me feel better. And it might but I also might need to just rest. So here I am reminding you (but mostly myself) to forgive ourselves for not getting absolutely everything done. Take care of yourself. It’s OK to sometimes skip a networking event to go to the gym or sit at home on your butt. We’ve talked about self care a lot and we’ve talked about how it’s important to schedule it in and prioritize it but it’s also OK if the self care you planned needs to change. It’s OK if you just can’t do it anymore.

When I am on my game, I ask myself what will make me feel best. I find myself with a free evening, do I go to that dance class I like? Do I plan a happy hour with a few friends? Maybe invite one friend over for some company on the couch? Or maybe, I do nothing. I let myself stop thinking and planning and checking things off my list. What will make me feel BEST when I put myself to bed that night. The reality of being a business owner, and frankly, an adult is that there is never a time when you’re done. There is always something else, more yard work, more cleaning, more organizing, more planning, paperwork, more more more. If anyone ever gets every single thing checked off their list, let me know because I’d like to read your blog! If you find yourself at a stopping point and that next thing looks as daunting as building The Great Wall, put your to do list away and give yourself a beat. The world will keep turning and you will be able to contribute more meaningfully after you’ve recharged your batteries.

As always thanks for reading! Stay tuned next week for some tips and tricks to master your to do list. Or maybe, if you’re like me a month ago, start using them!

Your Secret is Safe With Us

Many of us have service providers in our homes regularly or occasionally. They may be there for a short time and never leaved the entry way (think grocery deliveries etc). They may see all kinds of pieces of your home with house cleaning or regular handy people etc. We probably like these people but don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what their homes might be like. We also probably don’t think about all the things they might know about us. Maybe the house cleaner saw the past due bill, the plumber saw some of your meds while they were fixing the sink. They don’t rummage but it’s your home, where you live, there are things that tell people about your lives when they are in it. You may invite these people into places you would never invite others. This is true for dog walkers too.

We are often one of the first to know intimate details of people’s lives. The first to see baby stuff accumulating, or maybe an ultrasound on the fridge. We are there when someone is home sick, often seeing people at their worst. I’ve seen people crying, fresh out of the shower, excited, hopeful, hopeless.

The most poignant and painful example of this for me was when a client called, voice shaking with emotion, and told me he needed to go home because his brother had killed himself and he needed someone to care for the dogs while he was with his family. It was clear he had probably just hung up the phone with whoever told him and saying it out loud to me made it hit home in a way that it perhaps hadn’t yet. I promised him we would take care of his dogs and did my best to be kind and patient which was the literal least I could do. That conversation remains one of the most memorable and heart breaking of my life. I wanted to make it so no one ever felt like that but I couldn’t. All I could do was tell him I’d make sure his dogs were OK and ready for him when he got back. As it turns out, he found a friend that could stay with the dogs, and we don’t see those dogs anymore. I wouldn’t be surprised if he moved home to be with his family or maybe he just didn’t want to call me again.

Most people think that dog walkers work exclusively with animals but the reality is a good portion of our job is working with people. Because of our proximity to their every day life we have to have a certain amount of discretion and often compassion. Fortunately, we are well suited to this since we are animal lovers but it is one of the things that surprises people when they ask what my job is like. Things like this don’t happen every day (thank goodness!) but we are there when they do.

The Freight Train Is Coming

You know when you sometimes feel like life is a freight train that is steaming through and will keep going whether you’re on it, standing by, or in it’s path. The best you can do is to try very hard to be on it and do everything you can not to get flattened by it. That’s how I’ve felt the last month.

In case you haven’t noticed, this isn’t what I promised in the post on the 11th, that’ll be next week. I missed a week too! So much happened and so much of it brought up feelings of inadequacy and fear so I wanted to share it with you. As I mentioned before, I recently bought a second house so I could rent out my previous one. I was, and still am, super excited about the possibilities this opens up for me but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever done. The thing with houses, like most things in life, is that you may have the best laid plans, a spreadsheet, budget, everything, and it still may blow up in your face. In this case, it did in some ways and didn’t in others. My budget was blown completely out of the water resulting in me resorting to credit cards again. I swore I would never do that but I needed to get the houses done because I certainly can’t float two mortgages for long. In this case though, I’m in a better position. There was still equity left in my other house and I was able to take out a Heloc (Home Equity Line Of Credit) which has a much lower interest rate and will allow me to pay off the card much faster and do a better job at tracking it. Last night I sat down with my planner and made notes and plans to both pay off the debt and make sure I’m facing it and managing it vs ignoring the problem like I have in the past. This morning I sat down with a very scary pile of bills and took care of them. This time will be different.

We can spend a lot of time saying we’ll never do “the thing” again but the reality is that we might. Sometimes it’s in your control and you make a mistake. Sometimes you have no control (maybe a medical emergency which in the states can be financially ruinous). Sometimes it’s a combination of both, which is what happened to me this time. I had both houses, I needed to get one rented, ultimately it was better than leaving it dormant but it’s a big risk and trigger for me. Regardless of what happens or how it happens, whether it’s financial, health, anything that might be a recurring issue for you remember, letting it happen again isn’t always a failure. it’s how you react to it. Do you bury your head in the sand again and let it run away with you. Or do you stop, reassess, move forward. I’m hoping for the second one and I’m working very hard to make sure that’s where I end up.

Dollars and Sentiments Part 2

This post is built of last week’s so make sure you start there. Let’s walk through a scenario. I’m using an example that I have experience with but the concept works with other industries.

You went to a dog walk and the walk went well, but something went wrong with the crate and the dog was loose in the house when the owner got home:

Client: Hi (you), what happened on the walk today? Spot was out when I got home and he tore through a pillow. It’s a mess in here now and I really liked that pillow! Why didn’t you put him back in his crate?

You: Oh Ms. Client I’m so sorry! I did put him back in but I must not have latched it properly. I’m so sorry about that! Is spot OK? Do you think he ate anything that might hurt him

Client: Oh, um, yeah I think he’s OK. He seems happy and really proud of himself and I can see all the stuffing. (I don’t know why but clients never think about this. What if the dog ate all the stuffing or got into some chocolate or vitamins on the counter?? I find asking this question puts things in perspective for them. And if the dog did get into something you can tell them to get the dog to the vet right away (and call you for a credit card) and now you’re the dog walker that let the dog out but you also (hopefully) saved its life)

You: I’m so happy to hear Spot is OK. I will waive the fee for today’s walk and I would be happy to replace the pillow for you. If you don’t mind, could we set up some time to go over how the crate works one more time? I don’t want this to happen again. (You might not need to do this. Sometimes you just weren’t focusing and you know exactly how the crate works. If you know you latched it and the dog got out, you can talk about ways to secure the crate. You also probably wouldn’t offer to replace the pillow if the dog Houdini’d out but I might waive or discount the walk fee as a nice gesture and then educate about carabeaners etc)

Client: Oh, thank you that would be great. I don’t want it to happen again either. Let’s set up some time. There’s no need to pay for the pillow. (They might not say this, but they often do. If it’s higher dollar like a couch or an iPad, they’re probably going to want you to pony up for at least a portion, but most of the time they know it’s their dog and things happen). 

I’ll admit, it doesn’t always go this smoothly. I’ve had people ask me how stupid a person could be if they’re a dog walker that doesn’t know how to latch a crate. Ultimately though, this process works. Even if they’re yelling and ranting. I do not tolerate abuse of my dog walkers and that client got a sound reminder of how to treat other human beings, but I did tell her that I understood her frustration and I would do some more training with said dog walker and make sure they were comfortable. Problem solved. 

Can you share a time when you made a mistake and had to flex your customer service muscles? What did you do well? What would you do differently? Stay tuned next week for a look inside some of the details you learn about people when you’re in their homes and how to manage it.

Dollars and Sentiments

I own a dog walking company. Your reaction to that was probably something like, “Fun!” or “oh that’s cute.” It’s sometimes hard for people to understand how a company that takes care of animals can be a legitimately successful business. How it can run smoothly with processes and systems to be successful, while also treating its two and four legged customers with the care and compassion they deserve?. How do you tell someone to pay you when you’re just taking care of their family? How do you tell them you can’t help them if they can’t afford you even though they need you? The short answer is: get over it. That’s, of course, easier said than done. Most people don’t get into this business to make money. We’re not here for charity but we started a care company because we care. 

So how can you balance running a successful, professional business with providing the best care for your clients and ensuring that your clients know their pets are loved? Let’s go through some ideas to help your business thrive.

The first thing I like to remind people of is that you need to be able to take care of yourself, and your employees if you have them. Like the old airplane adage, put your own mask on first, you can’t help anyone if you can’t take care of yourself. This means you need the basics: food, shelter, and a little bit of down time. Starting a business is intense and hard and down time is hard to come by. You learn to enjoy the random hours you get off. How to pamper yourself with less money. Those come with time, but you need to be able to make a living. If you can’t, you won’t be able to continue serving them, and they need you. So put your mask on first. The best way to do this is to figure out how much you need, every month, to pay your bills. This is easier than it sounds. List all your bills (include estimates for gas, putting something into savings, food, going out etc). I usually tell people to add on anywhere from $300-600 because you probably miscalculated, and if you didn’t, you can save some more money! Then figure out how much you make off each dog walk (tally your expenses, insurance you pay yearly divided by 12, gas, marketing materials, staff, etc). How much money do you get to put in your bank account after every dog walk. Let’s say it’s $5 and you want to make $2500 a month. That means you have to do 500 walks. Generally $5 would be what you would make off of a staffed walk, if you do some too (or all of them) you will probably make more per walk. This can get complicated. If you don’t know how to figure it, talk to a business consultant with book keeping/awccounting experience. They can help you do the numbers. If you need to make $6 per walk because you’re doing 400 walks a month, raise your prices. 

With pricing sorted, let’s talk about how to manage some challenges. No matter how good you are, you will make mistakes. And that’s OK, everyone makes mistakes. What will really set you apart, is how you handle them. The best thing you can do, is say I’m sorry, I messed up. Maybe you forgot to set the alarm. Didn’t latch the crate properly and the dog got out and destroyed some things. Who knows. I’m also not talking about BIG mistakes here. If a client went away for a couple days and you didn’t see their pet because you forgot, that’s a completely different situation. I hope that never happens to you. The basic tenants still apply here but if the dog is sick or injured due to something you did, it may be a very different story. 

Most people just want to be heard. They want to know that you understand that what you did messed up their day and they want to know that you take it seriously. My advice is to actually take it seriously. It would suck to come home after a long day and have to clean up after your dogs because your dog walker messed up. I’d want to be heard too. So it ends up in a lot of “I understand”s “I will take these steps to ensure it won’t happen again” and “I’m sorry”s. It’s tough to eat a big serving of humble pie when you’ve likely had a long day too, but it will keep that relationship in tact and will almost guarantee a referral the next time they know someone who needs a dog walker because you know how to handle problems. Also, if you’re actively running your business, don’t let your managers/dog walkers handle this on their own. You probably don’t pay them enough to be yelled at by clients and they have very little power. My managers can discount walks without asking (they do need to let me know) but if someone is out of control, it’s not their job, it’s yours. The client will also probably be nicer to you anyway because you’re the Boss

Thanks so much for reading! Stay tuned next week for a scenario where we walk through some of the advice in this post.       

Punched Right in the Self Care

The day is finally here. You kept your schedule open, you made a plan, you’re ready. All this work just so you can have a day off but you’ve earned it and it’s finally, finally here! You’re planning to disconnect at noon. At 11, your phone rings. It’s one of your dog walkers. They have a flat tire and can’t make it in. You spend some time trying to figure out if you can get a car to them but you can’t. And those dogs still need to pee. You look at your couch, or your hiking shoes, wistfully and get ready to go. If you own a business, or have a family, you can probably relate to this. It can be truly heartbreaking when it happens. You’ve probably heard someone say something like, “Well what would really happen if you just didn’t do it?” And sure, the reality is that in most cases, it’d be OK. It’s not that simple though. Skipping out on clients that are relying on you can have far reaching implications to your reputation. If it’s a real emergency of course people will understand but it’s definitely not something you can do every weekend. We just had two full posts telling you to prioritize yourself and your self care and now I’m here saying that sometimes you have to ditch all your best laid plans and work anyway. I get it. It’s complicated. This post is meant to help you navigate these disappointments and get yourself back on track.

Regardless of the reason, your self care was canceled. Now what? Well, first, get through it. Do the work you need to do and do it well so you don’t have to do it again. Second, be angry. No really. You lost out on something you were looking forward to that you needed. It’s OK to be frustrated and sad about it. Feel that, and then let it go. Don’t dwell on it and harp on it for days but give yourself a few hours, maybe a couple days depending on what you missed out on, and feel it. Finally, make a plan. What did you miss? Was it an afternoon on your couch? Hanging out with friends? A long hike? A concert you were looking forward to? Some of those things are easier to make up for than others. Reschedule the time off. If you don’t have a dedicated manager, ask a trusted friend to cover your phone for you. Put an Out of Office message up and only answer the phone if it’s the trusted friend. Everyone else needs to wait and hopefully your friend can handle whatever comes up on their own or with a quick phone call. Schedule the time again, enjoy it.

If you lost something that’s harder to recover, something that’s time sensitive like concert tickets or a trip. You may not be able to truly make up for it. Hopefully you can move a trip or see your favorite band the next time they’re in town but sometimes, it’s just gone. And that….sucks. It really does, but it happens. I’m not going to tell you everything happens for a reason, that somehow this let down will bring something awesome down the line. It might, it might not. Like I said before, it’s OK to be mad. It’s OK to yell into your pillow, call your bestie and rant at them about it for a little while. Let it out, then let it go. Go to the next thing on your list. Maybe it’s your second favorite band or a short camping trip instead of a full vacation but find something that will suffice and enjoy it. Don’t spend time thinking about how you missed out on your first choice. Know that you have your second choice and that it’s going to be great.

Missing out on your own time is a real drag. It always will be. The trick is trying to plan ahead enough that you get to keep it, and rolling with the punches when you can’t. There will be more time and there will be other options. Make the plan, stay with the plan, redirect when you need to. Don’t let one failed attempt ruin it for the rest of them. You can have your time, but you do have to fight for it.

When did you lose out on something you were looking forward to? How did you recover it? Stay tuned next week for how to manage a business that deals with people’s family members.

Penny Pinching Peace

“Take care of yourself!” “Put yourself first!” “You need some ‘me time’”. We’ve all heard it. Heck I wrote about it last week. When most people hear the words “self care” they think of massages, beach time, a fancy dinner out. That’s all well and good for everyone else but you just started a business, you’re on a budget. Maybe you don’t even like the beach. So what’s a girl to do? The truth is that self care can look however you want it to. Even if you do want the beach vacation with a full spa treatment but it’s not in the cards right now there are other options out there.

First, you need to let go of other people’s expectations and ideas of self care. This isn’t something that you’re going to snap selfies of (unless you want to) and post all about. Even if you do post about it you don’t need to explain yourself to anyone. This is your time, and you can experience it however you want to. I can’t tell you what you should do but I can tell you to sit in your thoughts for a little while and really think about what you need to recalibrate yourself a bit. There is just as much value in staying out late and dancing the night away as there is in sitting at home with a book and a cup of tea. What you really need is to find what works for you.

Now for the budget problem. Once again, this looks different with everyone so we’re just going to talk about some ideas that might work if you can’t do some of the more high ticket items. Beach vacations are great but they’re hard to manage on a busy schedule and for most people, too expensive to do more than once a year or so at best. One of the things I like to do is get into nature somehow. Maybe I can’t hear the crashing of the ocean but I can hear the wind rustle the trees in a neighborhood park. Most cities have massage schools where you can go get the massage you need for about half the price of a traditional massage. If you do like to go out dancing, you can find a low or no cover place to leave it all on the dance floor. Most of the high ticket options have a comparable lower cost plan available. I also highly recommend incentivising some of the things you really want so that you can work your way to them. Maybe once your business hits a certain sales goal or when you accomplish a particularly daunting task you get to do the thing you’ve been saving for.

Self care on a budget is challenging but it’s definitely doable. Sometimes the best self care is to stop and ask yourself what you want, then making a plan to get there. If you don’t know where to start, set aside some time to brainstorm. Set aside different time to make a plan. The switch from creative brainstorm to action plan is tough and needs a break. Prioritize a little self care every week. It can be short and sweet but take the time. Take more if you need it but even if you think you don’t need that once a week. You do. Learn to identify what your self care is and stop beating yourself up for taking it. If it’s draining your finances, spend some time thinking about what could help that’s more budget friendly but don’t give up your time. You need it.

Bite Sized Self Care

Owning and running a small business is hard, often thankless work. It can feel like you never get a day, or even an hour, off. Ignoring your phone might mean missing the big client that will change your life. Or, if you’re like me and your business includes caring for people’s homes and loved ones maybe there’s an emergency and you need to jump into action. Whatever it is, it can be extremely hard to give yourself the permission to let go. Then when you finally do unplug a bit, how do you let go of the anxiety and really get the relaxation you need?

The first challenge is learning that sometimes, your time is not your own. You may have the best of intentions. You’re going to take the afternoon and spend some time with yourself. It’s going to be great. Oh no, your employee called out and now you have to cover their shift. Your day is ruined. And there’s not another one on the horizon for who knows how long? Accepting that your control is limited now is one of the best things you can do. This isn’t just about business owners. The more responsibilities we have the less control we have. Learning how to go with the flow and let go of the little things will give you the freedom to roll with the times you lose and make the time you have more valuable.

This is hugely challenging and it takes practice and commitment but it is doable. Start by learning to accept that sometimes self care doesn’t always look exactly like you want it to look. Maybe you have an hour where you don’t need to do anything, perhaps an appointment canceled or you just have a gap in your schedule. You could, and normally would, continue chipping away at your to do list, maybe instead you take some time for yourself. The hour is yours, do whatever makes you feel good. Sometimes I want to zone out and watch bad TV, sometimes I want to clean my house or get something off my personal to do list. I might go to the gym or a yoga class or take a bike ride. Maybe I make myself a delicious balanced meal instead of whatever I was going to grab on my way out the door. Whatever it is, I do it, and I consider myself productive for it. That’s right, even if I sat on my butt and watched trashy TV the whole time, I’m proud of myself. That was what I needed. This kind of thing is important for everyone, not just small business owners. For me, it was most important in the beginning of owning a business specifically. Most of these things I could do at any time, for little to no money. Scheduling self care was extremely challenging when my business operated from 7am until 11pm and there was no one else helping. Even with employees, I often had to be available for them if they needed me. This method is perfect for anyone going through big changes. While I don’t have experience myself, new moms and moms of toddlers have told me the bathroom has become their sanctuary because they can shut the door. It truly doesn’t matter where you are or how long you have. Learn to enjoy the little moments and take a deep breath to live in them.

Self care is usually different for everyone. A massage would be torture for someone who doesn’t like to be touched. What’s important is to do what you need to do to feel good and to recharge. Don’t apologize for it, don’t justify it. It’s OK if people don’t understand how your chosen self care makes you feel better. I have a friend that runs for miles to feel better. That would make me miserable but it works for her. For me, sometimes the best thing I can do for myself is make a home cooked meal even though it’s often the last thing I want to do. I also want to recognize that self care is almost always a privilege. If you’re working two jobs to support your family, plus running a business to create a better future, you probably don’t have an hour anywhere. Maybe you can take that extra minute or two in the shower to just be? Or maybe you listen to a podcast on your walk or drive to work that motivates you or even just makes you laugh. Self care really does look different for everyone and that’s OK. Try to find the little moments that bring you joy and take a second to really experience them. One of my favorite memories happened nearly 15 years ago. I was outside with a big group of dogs at the dog daycare I worked at. It was snowing so hard the whole world felt silent. I remember taking a deep breath and soaking in that moment for all it was worth. It still calms me to think about it even now. These little moments will be what gets you through when everything looks dark. As the adage goes, life is a marathon, not a sprint. Pace yourself and make sure you’re fueling yourself along the way. What’s your favorite self care? Someone reading this might need to hear it.

Stay tuned next week for a post about self care on a budget and the week after about how to roll with the punches.

Imposter! Or not?

Imposter syndrome has always sounded like some kind of complicated spy disease to me. Like maybe you’re an imposter so long you don’t know who you really are any more. I don’t know if this is a thing that happens, I’m betting if you were undercover for long enough it might be hard to define where you end and your persona begins or at least that’s what Hollywood leads me to believe. Of course, Imposter Syndrome is a different and certainly more common beast. For the purposes of this post we’ll define Imposter Syndrome as “the persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own effort or skill”. It’s the feeling you get when someone says something like, “Wow, you're such a good artist!” or “your company is so successful, you’re doing such a good job!”. You know the one, you’re smiling back but really just clenching your teeth. You say, “Oh thank you so much that’s so nice!” Inside your head though, there’s that voice saying, “They don’t know the real me. The me that has no idea what she’s doing and has just lucked into the moderate success she has.”

Imposter Syndrome is so insidious because we’re taught that being modest is the way to go. To not worry about what people think of you and to not brag. In many ways, this is true. There is something hugely satisfying in knowing that you are strong, smart, and capable no matter what other people think. It’s only satisfying when you know those things about yourself though. Most of the time you don’t even notice that you’re down on yourself until you’ve been doubting yourself for weeks, months, even years. It’s easy to convince yourself that you’re just being modest. There’s a difference though. Of course, most people didn’t get to where they are in life on their own. We have help in the form of mentors, friends, family, teachers, etc who help point us on the right path and keep us on it when it feels like we’re spinning out of control. That’s the modesty bit. Most people’s success is a combination of skill/talent, luck, and determination. What we so often forget, is the skill/talent part. It’s true that a lot of people own successful dog walking companies. Many more successful than mine. This doesn’t take away from my own success and what I’ve built. I built something that no one else could. Because no one else is me. The experiences I’ve had colored every decision I made and since there’s no other me, there can’t be another Pawsitively Pooches.

Last week, we talked about trusting yourself, especially after the trauma of making bad decisions with big impacts on your life. During all the bad decisions I’ve made, or while I was living through the consequences of these decisions, someone has told me I’m doing a great job. I didn’t believe them. I knew the truth, I was a fraud. I didn’t know what I was doing and they just couldn’t see it because I had so cleverly disguised myself. This made it even harder to believe them when things were going well. If they didn’t see it before, what if now I’m just fooling myself too? The truth is that I was doing a good job, just not a perfect one. No one is doing anything perfectly. Even olympic athletes rarely get full points. Think about that for a second. The best of the best, are almost never perfect. So why on earth would you expect yourself, an excellent person but likely not the best of the best, to be perfect? Be your best, not everyone else’s.

Imposter Syndrome is a big and challenging state to live in and to overcome. In my experience it never truly goes away, but it does get better. We will talk more about it in future blogs. For now, I’d love for you to share your stories with me. Please feel free to email them to lauren@laurenpiner.com if you don’t want to share publicly. Our next Imposter Syndrome post will be a deep dive into a real life situation.

Thanks for reading as always! Stay tuned next week for Bite Sized Self Care

Trust Yo Self

I pull off the lot of a car dealership in a brand new car. It’s bright blue, has everything I wanted, and is at a payment that I can afford. I am living the dream. So why am I crying? Full on, heaving sobs, pull over in an empty lot, ugly crying? I should be happy! I just traded two cars that were dragging on me financially and could have broken at any moment for this perfect Big Blue bombshell. What was wrong with me? I’ll tell you: I didn’t trust myself at all. I had made a few very bad decisions with my finances that had gotten me into loads of debt (see the full story here: The Biggest Failure). I had made the changes I needed to, I was making progress on the debt but there was still a lot of it. How could it be possible to have gotten the car I wanted and have it be a good financial decision? I thought for sure I had made the same mistake I had in the past and I was destined to live this life forever. I had a good cry, I called my aunt before I was done. After she determined that I was ok and not in any danger, she very nearly laughed at me. She told me I had made a great decision and that this was good news and I was on my way to making even more progress on my debt. I believe my response was something like, “Really? Oh.”

She was right of course. I had done the research, gotten the right car for me, and negotiated a rate that worked for my budget. I had been completely willing to leave if they couldn’t make it fit in my budget but they had. Not only had I made a great choice and dropped my monthly costs significantly, I had gotten what I wanted. It seemed too good to be true but there it was. With my monthly costs lower and my income rising I was putting hundreds of dollars towards my debt every month, sometimes well over a thousand. So why then, was I so upset when I left? Why didn’t I believe that it was the right call. I could see the numbers. I knew it was the right call but I was panicking in a way I possibly never had before. Certainly not about money. I have always been decisive. I don’t like uncertainty so I make a decision and usually stick with it, even when it’s not always the best choice. Ultimately, the choice I make usually works. I have good instincts and usually make good choices. Finding myself in the position I was about 5 months before this experience was foreign to me. I had always been able to trust myself so knowing that it was my decisions that had led me to such a scary place made me feel like I had been fooling myself. Like all of the good decisions I had made before only worked well because of luck and that it had nothing to do with me and my instincts. This was not true but it would take me years to really believe that, even though I said it to myself every day.

Rebuilding trust with anyone is hard. It feels like rebuilding trust with yourself should be easier but it’s not. I’d argue that in many ways it’s harder. Most of the decisions we make every day are our own. Hopefully for you, they’re generally working out. From little decisions like regular or decaf coffee to big ones like should I quit my job and start a business are all decisions we trust ourselves to make. We get input from others but ultimately, the choice is our own. So what happens when a decision you trusted yourself to make blows up in your face causing damage that will have far reaching consequences? Decisions like this will happen to everyone, to varying degrees. Business related or not, we all make choices that affect the rest of our lives. Sometimes they’re good and sometimes they’re not. The kicker is, we never get to stop making decisions. When you break your leg you get off of it. You’re told to rest it until it’s healed to the point of being able to hold you again. When we make a bad choice we don’t get to just not make any more decisions for a while. We don’t get less choices or to “rest” our decision maker. We have to keep going, all the while remembering that sometimes, we’re wrong, and this might be one of those times. So how do we move forward with such a terrifying idea looming over us? It’s not easy, but it is simple.

First, you have probably made some good decisions. Write them down, or chant them in your head. Remind yourself of the good results that came from them. Remember that one, two, several bad decisions doesn’t mean you can’t make good ones. Learn from the mistakes and make a better choice next time. Even if it’s not perfect, it will give you information to put you on the right track going forward.

Second, remember that you are not alone. You might just say this to yourself but I encourage you to find other entrepreneurs or like minded people to share with. It can be extremely cathartic to sit down with people who have been through similar things and talk about some of the challenges you’re facing. Find people you can trust that will be honest with you if they think you’re making a mistake and will support you if it’s too late and you just need to connect with someone. These groups don’t have to be business related either, mommy/daddy groups, neighborhood groups, there are all kinds.

Finally, get yourself a couple barometers. I don’t mean literal barometers but a few people that know you very well and are willing to call you out when you need it and love you no matter what. I have about 4 people that help me with this. They are all very smart and accomplished in their own rights but completely unrelated to my chosen field. They are always willing to listen to me complain or vent about a problem, brainstorm solutions, and make sure I’m on the right track. These people are more valuable than gold. Cultivate these relationships and be there for them as they are for you.

Trusting yourself can be one of the hardest things to do, especially when you’re starting a business. It’s also one of the most important. How have you learned to trust yourself?

Next week we’ll talk about imposter syndrome!

Analysis Paralysis

You’ve probably heard, and read, a lot about analysis paralysis already. Especially if it’s something you struggle with. For the purposes of this article, we’ll define Analysis Paralysis as the state of over-thinking about a decision to the point that a choice never gets made. It’s a common pit fall of owning and managing a business. It can be small, like what color should your t shirts be? Or have far reaching consequences like how much should you raise your prices? They both seem like pretty straightforward questions of varying importance but if you’re a business owner, especially a fairly new one, even just the idea of them probably made your heart rate go up a little. It’s a catchy name but it can have serious ramifications to your life and your bottom line. Today we’re going to delve into some of my own experiences with analysis paralysis, what I learned, and how I got through them.

If you haven’t yet read the first entry in this blog, you might want to give it a look. A lot of this post will refer back to that and while I’ll give a short review, it would be helpful if you had the whole picture. You can find it here: https://www.laurenpiner.com/fts/fail-blog. As you now know, the 4th year of my business found me with crippling credit card debt and no way out. This, in large part, was due to analysis paralysis. I knew very early that my billing system wasn’t working. I immediately started researching. I needed a more advanced system that would track services, billing, maybe even do some accounting. I asked around, I looked at all kinds of programs. After a couple of months I made a decision that I thought would work. For 4-6 months my staff and I entered client info and tried to learn the new system and guess what? It didn’t work. I spent probably about $2000 in wages and paying for the service to find out it DIDN’T WORK. Plus I was still losing money! I was freaking out. And now, there was a complicating factor. I didn’t trust myself anymore. I had made such a wrong decision about this that I didn’t believe I could make a right one.

I had no idea what to do and I felt completely lost. I know now that this would have been a great time to ask for help (actually it would have been a good time to ask for help before I made the first decision). I had it in my head that it was my company and no one but me could make this decision. No one could understand what I needed for it. Some of that might be true. When I did ask people they would recommend things that definitely wouldn’t work because they didn’t know what I was looking for. Of course, I didn’t know what I was looking for. I googled pet sitting software and got very few hits. I wasn’t part of any professional groups. I didn’t have a business consultant. I was completely on my own and it was terrifying. I didn’t even know how to find someone to help. Finally, I went back to a software a friend recommended. I’m not sure if they had made changes since the first time I had looked at it or if I just was able to see its value but I went for it. The transition was painful but it worked! While the software I chose is not perfect it did (and still does) what I needed it to. Once I caught all the clients up in the system the money came in. I was finally, actually, running a successful business.

As far as pushing through the analysis paralysis going forward from this point, I did a few things. One was to make a list of all the good decisions I had made. When I didn’t trust myself, I could refer to them and remember that, most of the time, my instincts are good. I also began writing down my problems. Sometimes it looked like a pros and cons list, sometimes more like a to do list from the first blog post. Seeing it on paper helped me frame it in a more approachable way. If, after writing it down, I was still confused I would start asking around and getting input from people in my circle I trusted. I would go through the list with them and ask them if they thought I might be missing something. This weekend, I looked at 5 houses and before leaving my realtor I told her I was ready to make an offer on one. I didn’t overthink it, I didn’t call my friends or family, I just did it. It gets better.

Analysis Paralysis is challenging and often sneaky. It’s easy to throw yourself into the research and try and find all the answers before you have to make a choice. After all, if you’re gathering information you don’t have to make a decision right? Wrong. Doing your due diligence is important but there will always be another article to read, colleague to consult, internet search to do. Eventually, you just have to choose. This of course is easier said than done. When I think I might be stuck in a research black hole I like to stop for a minute and ask myself a question. Do I have two or three perspectives? I might write them down to make sure they make sense to me. If one seems highly detailed and another isn’t, I’ll search a little for more information on the lightly researched one. Once I have those perspectives, it’s deadline time. I give myself a day, maybe a week, and then I have to choose. It’s like when you were in school and had a big homework assignment. You had the best of intentions to do a little every day but then suddenly it’s the night before and you’ve done next to nothing. You need the deadline. You owe it to yourself to stick with it.

Thanks so much for reading! Please share a time when you went through analysis paralysis. What did you learn? How do you avoid it now? Next week we’ll be talking about bite size self care.

Fail to Succeed

I’m a failure. There, I said it. I have a secret though. The secret is that we’re all failures. No matter what is on your socials, what life you put out to the world. We are all failures. We try to speak long before we’re successful. We fall hundreds of times before we walk. The trick is how we get back up. We like to think that once we get past childhood, once we’re “grown up” we don’t fail anymore. We all know exactly what we’re doing and we know how to function in our jobs, in our lives. We make jokes about “adulting”, only admitting to our insecurities through a veil of humor. Why do we think that when we’re adults we stop learning, stop failing?

I’ve heard from a lot of people that they’re “lifelong learners’. They want to learn something every day, big or small. The only way we really learn something is to try it, fail, and try with more information the next time. Running a business means facing failure head on, learning from it, and knowing that you’ll make it through.

My first big failure was a few years into my business. Sales had been doubling every year for a few years, which was fantastic. I had hired some help which was going well. But I had a problem. My billing system had never been elaborate. I charged for 10 walks at a time. When the punch card was filled up, I asked them to pay me again. This was easy enough when it was just me but with other dog walkers there were clients I wasn’t seeing. The system no longer worked. I spent months researching a solution and in that time I lost literally thousands of dollars. I was paying my dog walkers but I wasn’t getting paid for the walks they were doing. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to change everyone over to something else that wouldn’t work. I was beyond stressed and my credit card debt was going up and up. I decided on something, and it didn’t work. I spent months and more money only to discover that it just wouldn’t work for us. I finally found a solution that did work but all told, I was losing money for about a year. By the end of it, I was paying $500 a month in credit card interest and I was lost. How was I ever going to pull myself out of this hole? Was this the end? What had I done?

As clients began paying their bills, things got better but I still wasn’t really making any headway on my debt. I tried to get a loan to drop the interest rates and consolidate it but I couldn’t. I was beyond stressed. I needed help. I called my aunt, who listened, asked if I wanted help and then jumped in with both feet. She went through every charge with me and gave me small tasks to do to start seeing the light. I will be forever grateful to her for that. I would not be where I am without her.

You’re probably thinking, well that’s great but she’s not my aunt so what the heck am I supposed to do with this? And it’s a good question. I probably can’t tell you how to get out of your specific problem in a blog post. What I can do is help you reframe your perspective. There could be any number of challenges standing in your way right now. The first thing I like to do is write them down, like they’re a to do list. Like Dumbledore and his pensieve, getting the thoughts out of your head gives you new perspective. Framing them like a to do list helps you prepare to tackle them. Some of the challenge here comes in how you word your obstacles. For example, one challenge could be: I’m broke. That feels like a hard thing to overcome but if you say: I don’t have enough money or I need more money. There’s a really obvious solution to that. If you’re a small business owner, maybe it’s as simple as raising your prices. You might need to get more clients, or streamline your processes and drop your expenses. Now you have direction. You can break that down into an actual to do list.

Here’s an example:

Challenges:

Need more money

Need more time

Want better company culture

To Do List:

Evaluate processes and streamline where possible

Research cheaper sources for supplies or call current suppliers and ask about bulk/prepay discounts etc

Evaluate if raising the prices is feasible

Survey staff about what they’d want to see for culture.

Create the culture you and your staff want (this is going to end up being another to do list)

Schedule some time off a month from now. You only get it if you’ve made progress on the list.

We started with: I don’t have enough money or time and I don’t know how to get it and I need to pay my bills and ahhhhhhh. It’s scary and overwhelming. Once we write it down though, the answers often make themselves apparent. Of course we all know that to make more money we need more clients but sometimes laying it out and making a plan is all you really need. Realistically, you might not be able to do all the things on that list by yourself. If you sell goods, ask your production manager what they think about cutting costs. Get the cold hard numbers. Figure out what you’re making on each item. You can hire someone to do this for you (I know, more money going out the door but I promise it’s worth it if you don’t know how to do it yourself). Talking to your staff about their ideas will also encourage a good culture. People like to be heard and often have ideas that would have never even occurred to you. Have a contest to make the best pitch for a new product. There are all kinds of things you can do here. All of these things will promote a better company culture and of course happy employees means less turnover which means...more money.

More time can be tricky but giving yourself a reward gives you a motivation to keep going. It doesn’t need to be a big expensive vacation. You might just take a weekend off and spend it with your family. Drive up to the mountains or out to the beach and take some time for yourself. You might even just get to watch the whole football or baseball game or whatever on TV, uninterrupted. Make sure someone can cover for you, you have a month to plan. When I didn’t have staff I would hand my phone to a friend and ask them to keep an eye on it. Give yourself clear goals to achieve your time off. You can continue breaking down your to do list from here so maybe you need to complete 5 steps out of 10 on each item. Whatever makes sense to you.

It’s true you don’t have my aunt, but you probably have someone who can help you work through this. Let them read over your list and help you make a plan. They don’t need to be experts but they do need to know you and to be willing to help you.

Share some of your to do lists! I’d love to see them. Next week we’ll talk about Analysis Paralysis.