If you have two businesses, some might count you very fortunate. However, splitting your time between two things that you enjoy can be a real challenge. I love both of my businesses: Virtual Work Team and Lons Designs. However, if you have two businesses and don’t love them both equally, which should you focus on. This question was asked of me during a business consultation. My answer is focus on the business you love the most! What you love doing, really won’t seem like work. You won’t feel drained when it’s done, you’ll feel energized. You can then do what you have to do when it comes to your other business. If you work on the business you like least, you’ll feel drained and less likely to have the mental energy to devote to doing what you love.
The euphoria from starting the day working on your passion can also serve as a catalyst for outsourcing as much as possible on the business you like least. I took my own advise today and it worked! Even though I love both of my businesses, designing gives me the most pleasure; so I took time to write a long overdue blog post and “Wow” I feel great! Writing this post came next and was even easier than normal. The words just flowed. If you have two businesses, why don’t you give it a try and see if my advice will work for you too.
This is Shilonda Downing, signing out for Virtual Work Team.
For my two businesses I have a set time of the day that I spend for each one. I run a baking business from home so that’s kinda as the orders come in or if I just want to work on something new and a lot of time is spent on that on weekends. I’m also a consultant with Thirty-One so I make sure to set aside 31 mins of each day during the week to focus on that. I write everything down, use a planner, set alarms..that’s basically what works for me.
Jacquelyn:
Thanks so much for chiming in and sharing your tips. Setting a timer works wonders. Mine actually just went off; time for my afternoon meeting LOL! Thanks so much again for sharing your tips!
Shilonda
Hi Shilonda!
I can understand your dilemma. Although I’ve never run two businesses at the same time, I am a mother who has simultaneously earned a Master’s in Public Health and owned a health-based business in the past. The thing that further tore me into multiple directions was that my business was so multi-faceted. Not only was I marketing and promoting nutritional supplements, but I was also doing the same for quarterly community and corporate weight loss challenges, nutrition classes, personal wellness evaluations and even personal fitness training sessions. So, as you can imagine, I was literally like a “chicken with my head cut off” most of the time. However, like you’ve stated “What you love doing, won’t seem like work”. This was very true for me, as I learned that my passion was truly for health promotion. So whether I was learning in the classroom or working my business, it all seemed enjoyable to me minus the multiple pages of research manuscripts and literature reviews I had to submit for school. Above everything else, my #1 priority and true love was the business of my family. Whenever I felt like the demanding nature of my business got in the way of that, it was an easy decision for me to put my family first. After 4 grueling years, I put my business to rest. I wish I would have seen your blog post prior to, because perhaps I would have had better guidance on how to manage my life.
Designing happens to be your passion and what you personally get enjoyment out of doing, while your Virtual Work Team is a service you choose to provide to others based on skills you have acquired over the years. Passion and love will always win the battle! However, it is a strong truth that if we begin our day on our passion the euphoria can and will transmit high amounts of energy to be able to accomplish whatever else we have to achieve in the remainder of our day.
I’m so happy you decided to share your experiences with us LaTanya. I’m sure many people will benefit from your thoughtful post. Thanks so much for sharing!
Shilonda
Sure, anytime!
Also when considering taking on an additional business or job, to choose one we have an interest in. The more passionate you are about what you’re doing, the easier our schedule will be. Work really don’t seem like work when we’re doing something we really love. I bake and decorate cakes on the weekend and the time flies because it’s something I really enjoy doing. Then I spend necessary time at my other job.
Hey Michelle!
I couldn’t agree more “Work really doesn’t seem like work, when you truly enjoy it!” Thanks for sharing.
Shilonda