Business baby steps: you can do it!
This weekend while I was finishing painting the last set of storm windows on my house I was thinking about how pretty much everything in life, and especially growing a business, requires taking baby steps.
My husband and I have been repainting the outside of our house by ourselves, and it’s not exactly a small house. We started this whole painting project back in April with a gang-busters week of painting. We sprayed the body color and the railings for our 2 porches and balcony in 3 days. We were all fired up about getting the job done and were willing to put in long days.
But we didn’t get it done. It rained one day, and before we knew it, spring break (my husband is a teacher) was over and real life had to begin again.
So we just kept plugging away. We spent many afternoons and weekends painting trim and windows, sanding and painting storm windows and reinstalling said storm windows. And finally, this past weekend, we made a mad dash race again the calendar and the coming of cold weather. By the end of Sunday, we found ourselves at the end of the project.
And that’s how it is with growing your business, or doing anything in life. You have a grand vision for how it will all end up, but you’re not quite sure about all the little things you’ll have to do to get there.
But you don’t let that stop you. You keep doing the little things that need to get done today, while keeping in mind how they’re helping you get to your grand vision. It’s all about taking business baby steps!
When we started out painting our house, I had no idea that I would have to sand, clean, prime and paint 27 storm windows. If you had told me that at the beginning, I might just have cried from feeling overwhelmed. But, it had to be done and I attacked them in batches of 6-8 windows at a time. Sure, it was boring and tedious, but it feels great now to step back and look at my house, knowing that we did everything necessary to get to this point.
As in business and in life, getting to “the end” isn’t even really the end. There’s still one more exterior door to strip and paint in the spring (it’s gotten too cold to take the door off the hinges now), our back porch and stairs are going to be rebuilt (and will then need to be painted) and we still want to replace all our storm doors.
I’m sure we’ll never be “done” with our house, as you’ll never be done building your business. There will always be something you need or want to change, some new direction for you and your business to grow. But that’s what keeps life interesting, isn’t it?
So I try to look at my business the way I look at my house: sure, there are still things to be done, but it gets better every day. And before you know it, all the “have to” jobs will be finished and the “want to” jobs can start.
What about you? How business baby steps are you taking?