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What’s The Most Difficult Business Task For You? And How Do You Handle It…Or Do You?

July 30th, 2008 · 10 Comments

Once again - some lucky random poster will get a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate just for posting!!

Business success folklore says that you should find your ‘passion’ and use this as the foundation for starting and building your business. That’s a great idea, I agree, but what about all of the crud stuff that goes along with running a business?

No matter what the core of your business is, or how much you love it, there are always tasks that have to be done…..that you simply don’t like, or aren’t especially good at doing. Maybe you’re an artist who hates the marketing side of business, or a chef that would rather eat nails than do the billing…

So - what do you do? Do you grit your teeth and tackle it? Do you outsource it to someone else - even when you really can’t afford to, just to make sure it gets done? Or does the marketing or training or accounting go undone until you simply cannot avoid it any longer?

Personally, I have gone through all of the above, and while I really prefer to hire some things out - I find that it’s not always been a good experience, and I often seem to wind up taking the chores over again - and cleaning up the mess that was left behind. So, I have pretty much accepted the fact that some business duties that I may not be terribly thrilled with doing, I still do better than anyone I have been able to hire to date.

And part of that is simply that my core business is not an ‘easy’ business to pick up, there are legal issues to be aware of from the marketing standpoint, and correspondence is often something that I have to handle personally due to the nature of the client’s questions. So, some of the things that take my time and not necessarily the best use of my time are quite difficult to hand off.

So, I cope as best as I can - and try to learn more patience with some things!

How about you? What do you dislike about your business? What do you outsource? What would you like to get off your ‘to do’ list?? 

Melody, aka The Netlady

Stumble it!

Tags: Work At Home: Pros and Cons

10 responses so far ↓

  • 1 SJohn // Jul 31, 2008 at 12:53 pm

    I am an accountant, so I do like that part, but I do not like the other admin stuff like the mailings, filing, copying, shredding, etc. I can come down to my office and work for four hours straight and not have completed one billable task! Now the admin tasks are easy to have someone else do, but it’s just a matter of finding someone that will really take it seriously and do it. Unfortunately, I’ve had some bad experiences. I had a person who liked to staple my pages in the upper RIGHT hand corner. I also got the person who wrote everything in lowercase in spreadsheets. I end up re-doing a lot of the work. I know there are some good admins out there, but if I could only find the time to find one. In the meantime, the filing continues to remain undone for weeks at at time.

  • 2 Melody, aka The Netlady // Jul 31, 2008 at 10:04 pm

    Don’t you just love the fact that you are paying someone to do the job the way THEY want to - rather than the way it should be done?? I do recognize the fact that there are times when an outsider might see a better way to do things but I have to admit that I have lost an awful lot of income producing time cleaning up messes left by people I have hired or services that I have outsourced to.

    I hate to admit it but I finally hired someone to clean house and do laundry, since I couldn’t find good office help! I figure that work is work - so at least I got rid of part of the burden and it has been a big help!

  • 3 Dawn // Aug 1, 2008 at 5:21 pm

    My least favorite thing about my business is cleaning up after promotional events. It seems so petty and lame, but when you are surrounded by lovely, relaxed women all night long, after they leave, the cleanup can be unbearable. For example, just last night, we spent 2 hours cleaning up after a beautifully stress free evening..

  • 4 Danielle Foxx // Aug 5, 2008 at 3:18 pm

    Hello Ladies,

    I am blessed to own two different businesses. F’nique Enterprises consist of F’nique Modeling & Talent and F’nique Expressions Wedding And Event Planning. It is very hard to keep up with the demands of both businesses. I am having a hard time finding good reliable help. Both businesses are doing well. They could be doing much better, i am determined to see them both be sucessful.

    Thanks,
    Danielle

  • 5 Danielle Foxx // Aug 5, 2008 at 3:37 pm

    Hello Ladies,

    When it comes to doing the task that i don’t like.
    Such as billing, cleaning and marketing, I do it any way. I could contract it out but i choose not to. I made the choice to be a business owner. I have to take the good with the bad, the fun with the boring.

    F’nique Modeling & talent is very stressful. Every parent wants their child to be a star. Parents are disapointed when their child is not chosen for a part or modeling job. Not only am i a agent but i am a person cares about my cliants feelings.

    F’nique Expressions Wedding & Event Planning is just as stressful. I am working on a $65,000.00 wedding and everything has to be perfect, and our staff has to see that it is perfect.

    Everybody wants the glam of being a business owner, but know one wants the stress, the lost capital or the bad business choices. It all comes in one package, you can’t pic and choose. Business owners are creative savey people. Our make up is different from other people. Most people are afraid to take chances, we thrive of of it.

    Danielle

  • 6 Allison // Aug 11, 2008 at 6:32 pm

    My least favorite thing is collecting unpaid bills. All of my clients have turned into friends of sorts, so asking money from your friends can be hard. I know I need to be more “business-like” when it comes to money, it’s just always harder than it sounds! I am a horse trainer by trade.

  • 7 Melody, aka The Netlady // Aug 11, 2008 at 8:35 pm

    Unfortunately, as small business people we usually have to ‘befriend’ our clients since much of what we do is based on ‘relationships’ - and you are so right when you say it is tough to collect from friends.

    Too bad so many friends don’t seem to have a problem not paying THEIR friends

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  • 9 Andrea Klunder // Aug 27, 2008 at 12:58 am

    The good news is I am getting over one of my most dreaded aspects of starting a new business… attending networking events and self-promotion. I’m a naturally social individual with a background in acting, so I’m not sure why I have such a fear of “networking”.

    I went to a new member orientation at my Chamber of Commerce and headed straight for the pastry table without making eye contact with anyone. BUT… thank God for Chamber “Ambassadors” who make it a point to walk up to struggling new members and start conversations. During that meeting I managed 5 or 6 enjoyable conversations and have started to develop some great professional relationships (and get some discounted and free advertising!)

    So for me, it’s a matter of just making myself do it, walking in with a purpose (a goal of how many business cards I will hand out or how many new people I will meet) and remembering how delightful my services are and how many people would want them if they knew about them!

    Another key is listening and asking questions. Don’t try to do all the talking. I find out a lot about what other people have to offer me and my business this way, and also how to frame what I am going to say so that each person will be interested.

    Finally, it really helps to have a 10-second “elevator pitch” that intrigues people about your business and provokes them to ask you a question.

    I attended a networking event for young professionals interested in theatre, before which I vowed to introduce myself and have a conversation with at least 3 people and hand out 3-5 business cards. I did the introduction part, only to get blank stares and one-word answers… hmm… maybe I haven’t completely mastered this fine art yet…

    Well, I’m off to a good start. Now on to the even more dreaded… bookkeeping & financial reporting…

  • 10 Belkis // Aug 27, 2008 at 11:02 am

    Our most difficult task is finding financial assistance. I have an Engineering firm and when our contractors get paid, they don’t always pay us in a timely manner. I have joined multiple groups to find assistance and I am hoping something will come through soon! Without extra assistance, I can’t expand. Part of my solution to the problem was getting certified to do sub-contracting work through the goverment. They have the money at hand before a project is even bid on, so we are guaranteed a paycheck. As for the rest of the problem, I will keep doing my research.

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