Here’s the scenario.
A while ago I was talking to a friend who asked me to do some “proper” copy and stuff for her web site. I had one or two ideas and I asked her to call me when she had a moment to talk them over.
And I waited.
And waited.
She did message me to say that she hadn’t forgotten, she’d just been busy.
Then she changed her Twitter name and it was starting to look like something was going on and my little bit of work was flying out of the window.
This is the story of my life!
Then she did call me. She explained the hand ringing she’d been through. It seems like her business was at a crossroads and she didn’t know what to do. “I want to be able to do this and not that”‘ she said, “I want to be in control”. I can relate to that.
We talked about her area of expertise; she’s a dental hygienist
She knows about teeth and mouths. She really cares about what she does and gets really wound up about the lame excuses people invent for cancelling their appointments. You really should be more careful about saying your grandmother died. Especially if she didn’t. It could get you into hot water. And imagine how you’d feel if she did topple off her mortal coil soon afterwards. Guilty?
I asked her a simple question, “OK, it seems like you have a loyal customer base AND you know where they live!”.
“How can you help them?”, “From what you’re saying it seems like they’re screaming out for your help. Gagging for it”.
“Oh but I’m not qualified”.
You what?
If you can you the job, you’re qualified. “Did I ask if I was allowed to be a translator?” No, I was penniless and sick of pasta. I just did it.
If the world’s greatest entrepreneur’s waited to be “qualified” to do what they do, no-one would ever make any money.
If you do the job already, you’re qualified.
With a little gentle suggestion from me
She came up with her new business idea. I won’t say too much about it because it’s a little hush, hush at the moment but it just seems so obvious now. It was standing right in front of her. She was so blown over that she rang me back later to tell me.
I get a kick out of that.
So what’s the moral of the story?
- Don’t sit around all day stewing in your worries or worse, your self pity. Running away is not the answer and will only lead to you making matters worse. and probably making you broke.
- Idle chat is sometimes a great thing because it can have unexpected outcomes. And even if it doesn’t, you’ll probably feel better because you won’t be thinking about your crap for a while.
- Share your challenges with people. They all have different areas of expertise and experience and will probably be able to help
- Clean your teeth twice a day or I know someone who’ll be after you!