Why Friday is Good

 
Remember why you love your business

Have you heard the story of the cobbler's children who had no shoes?  I would hate to be the marketer who forgets to market her own business.  So busy helping others businesses grow, I let mine wither.  Whether you sell services or goods, it is important to have one day a week that you work on your business.  

Enjoy this day, remember why you chose to be an entrepreneur as your career path over working for someone else. Step back from the daily minutia and look at your business with a fresh set of eyes.  Where do you really want to be, how should you get there and are you on the right path?  Relish in that week's successes, and if something did not go well, determine how to learn from the situation. Schedule lunch with your mentor, friend or colleague.  A business/social lunch  is a good way to connect with others in your field; it can be a great way to get your creative juices flowing.

Be Creative

Do you remember when creativity made you think of construction paper, glue and crayons?  Now with the likes of Goggle, Facebook and Twitter, creativity is no-longer thought of as child's play.  

In the book Creative Confidence, Tom and David Kelley give this example, "An Adobe Systems poll of five thousand people on three continents reports that 80 percent of people see unlocking creative potential as key to economic growth. Yet only 25 percent of these individuals feel that they're living up to their creative potential in their own lives and careers."

Think of how much creativity could be unlocked if we took the time to stop and allow the ideas to flow.  The ideas for your business may not be as revolutionary as the Apple Watch, but they may be enough to help an entrepreneur gain a competitive edge.  The one thing sure to extinguish any creativity is exhaustion.     

Energize Your Life, Energize Your Business

For years I started my Friday with a yoga class.  It helped me feel centered and reduced my stress. Now, I realize yoga is not for everyone, nor is every yoga class a stress relief.  However, there is something to be said about starting the day dedicated to working on your business with the correct frame of mind.

It is difficult to think creatively, with the stress of deadlines and to-do's in your head.  Friday should be the day you feel energized so that you can put that energy into your business.

If the thought of spending a Friday working on your business feels impossible, it may be time to rethink your business strategy.  As entrepreneurs, we wear many hats, but the most important hat that we wear is the one of leader and visionary of our own business. If leading seems impossible due to all the tasks on our plate, it may be time to delegate.  
Delegating can take two forms: giving tasks to employees who can do the job as well as you can; or outsourcing to a reliable source.  For years I have outsourced my payroll, many people outsource their HR function and my clients outsource their marketing function to me.

What is most important, is to make sure you have time set aside to allow yourself to enjoy your life as an entrepreneur, to be creative and energize your soul so you can continue this path for many years to come.

What will you do this Friday that is an investment in your business?