Running A Freelancing or Independent Consulting Business Is Touch & Go
I guess this is true with any business, but it's still fustrating to have ups and down's in a business. Running a small consulting business, I frequently only focus on moving the business forward. I have X number of projects that I'm working on, deadlines, goals for number of hours billed in a week, etc. The problem is, we usually only ever anticipate things going perfect...best case scenario. However, we know that Murphy's law likes to inject itself into our workflow from time to time and things never go as we anticipate.
Just this past week, I had a string of several setbacks:
- My server wouldn't reboot
- I switched DNS for a client and the mail quit working (this later turned out not to be a result of my DNS change, but still caused me to stop everything and deal with helping them get it fixed)
- My wife got the stomach bug and I had to take the day off to watch our kids
- Thanksgiving Holidays (not really a setback, but 2 more days things aren't getting done)
Think To Remember
I'm a cyclist and one thing cyclist hate is when their training plan / goal gets messed up. Work, getting sick, bad weather and more can interupt a training plan. The best cyclists are able to work with the interuption.
I believe the same is true with business, you have to realize those things are going to happen, embrace them, and plan for the interuption.