Procrastinating Entrepreneur

I have been a fan of 43Folders for quite some time now and a few weeks ago Merlin was kind enough to make the audio of a presentation that he and John Gruber made at this year’s SxSW conference.  Being a fan of Merlin’s site, I download the podcast to my iPhone and was eager to listen to it on my daily commute to/from the office.  I’ll be honest, I made the assumption that I was going to listen to a couple of geeks (sorry guys – I don’t personally know either Merlin or John) reading powerpoint slides about how to become a successful blogger (you know – the typical stuff).  Let me just say, that I couldn’t have been more wrong!  These two guys are dynamic speakers are passionate about the topic and must (I have to assume, since I only have the audio) have some serious stage presence.  I have since listened to their presentation 3.5 times (finishing the 4th time now) and have found myself re-evaluating my website(s) ever since.

After listening to the presentation for the 2nd time, I decided that I really needed to start making notes, there is just so much great inspirational content in their presentation and I didn’t want to miss any of it.

This post is a result of my notes.   I hope that you enjoy it, and I would strongly suggest that you grab the audio of the presentation and start listening to it NOW!
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Winters can be tough…I know that, but for some reason this one just seems to be a little bit tougher than the last few, wouldn’t you agree?  Don’t get me wrong, I am happy with the progress I am making with regards to my own business, but I just keep having this nagging feeling that I could be doing more, but my hypernate gene seems to be winning out lately.  Feeling the same way?  Have a look at the following video for some inspiration, you won’t be disappointed, I promise!

I know what you’re thinking – this is a cool video, but my business has nothing to do with photography – listen again. In case you’re not already aware, photography is my other passion (talking about my business to anyone who will listen, or discussing ways to improve other folks businesses is my other)

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After a particularly rough week (I’ve been sick with a bad sinus cold, and on top of that, I’ve had numerous technical glitches in my business) I came to the realization that even though I have read all Michael Gerber’s books, and am a huge fan of the E-Myth I too have fallen victim to the deadliest small business trap of them all – I am working for my business, not on it!  What’s scarier was the fact that I didn’t even realize it had happened until a client of mine mentioned how I seemed more stressed out than usual.

My business is technology consulting, and it just begs to be systemized and automated, yet even after preaching to my entrepreneurial friends on how to systemize their own businesses, I managed to drop the ball on my own.  The thrill of signing new customers and seeing the accounts receivable’s start to build up was just too much and I found myself quickly ignoring documentation and systemization, instead set on finding that next “high” of another new client.

I suggest that if you already own a copy of Michael’s book, you pull it off the shelf, and have another read, and if you don’t own E-Myth yet, go get yourself a copy today – you won’t regret it…

Now I am off to build some new systems into my business…

UPDATE: Came across this great post today…worth a read.

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I’ve mentioned several times how much I value Seth Godin’s opinion, and based on that I decided to pick up Jeff Jarvis’s book, “What would Google do” and I really enjoyed it.  Basically the book is split into two parts, the first discusses the “Google rules”, and the second part talks about what different industries would look like if Google was running them.

Overall, I found the book to be a great read, especially the sections about how Google would run specific industries, and I found myself thinking about how Google would run my business   Lot’s of fun.

If you are thinking about starting a business, or find yourself in a rut with your business, I would suggest you pick up a copy of What Would Google Do?, at the very least, your going to get some insight on how to think about your business differently.

I would also suggest catching out Jeff’s blog, buzzmachine.com.

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I love Seth Godin…his posts are short and get to the point!  His latest about goals didn’t disappoint.

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