There is a phrase that I often repeat to myself which goes “I would if I could, but I can’t, so I won’t”.
It covers me for those times when I really want to help but I either do not have the skill, knowledge or experience to assist, and so could potentially make the whole thing a lot worse. It is where there needs to be somebody else.
It used to be, in the days when I still thought I could walk on water, that I could help anybody with anything. Experience has taught me that not only can I not walk on water, but I cannot do everything. Mind you, having parked my car at speed in a field a few years ago, I still bounce fairly well.
Mind you, I think that believing you can walk on water serves you well, barring accidents, when you are young because there are no limits to the jobs you will attempt and you learn all sorts of useful skills that you would otherwise missed. I wish I had learned more but I still have a reasonable quota. I don’t think I will be removing and stripping down any more car engines. My technical skills are from working on cars when I still recognized what I saw under the bonnet. No more!
Even now I don’t mind lying on the floor with a spanner working above my head, but the floor does seem a little harder than before. Is that the floor getting harder or me getting softer. I do know that getting back up is harder than I remember.
I suspect that getting a little older and actually having some spare funds, makes you lazy. I am happy to let a mechanic sort out my car. I also quite like getting a decorator into the house to do all the things I used to enjoy doing. I used to love papering. I have papered many rooms, stair wells and the rest, but I got lazy. I think I also came to realise that they did it so much better than me.
I once went home from university for a long weekend just to strip the engine out of one car and install it into another, which fired up first time, so I was happy. I did not drive it back to university, 500 miles away and just as well, as it would have leaked coolant on the way and I would have been stranded.
Life moves on and so do I. I now have things I think I cannot do well, and others I can do, but choose not to, because I got lazy! That leaves the things that I think I can do well and I want to do them. I am spoilt!
That does not mean to say that I don’t do things I don’t want to do or don’t like doing, but I have managed to get those down to a manageable percentage of my day.
There was a time when everything was new and exciting and every new day had its challenges in which we reveled. That’s what it’s like when you first start out in business. You work all hours to get everything done, and it’s all new and exciting. We have been lucky with both of the businesses because both have been moderately successful. I see many businesses where despite all the effort and time spent, they falter and that must be hard.
There is a saying that the only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary, but hard work does not guarantee success. However, without it, you are unlikely to succeed.
The other thing that is hard is the feeling that the government and the taxman do not want you to progress. The taxman needs you to prosper so that you can pay more tax, but government ties you up in so much red tape it is hard to feel that they are on your side.
I have heard it said that business is not about hunting for sales but should be more akin to farming. You look after and nurture your customers and clients, so that they are happy to do business with you, as opposed to hunting for the next sale and then moving on, without another thought to the customer. I think that works for many businesses but not all. I leave that one with you to ponder. Mind you perhaps government could learn how to farm!
Today I started by progressing our weekly newsletter, which goes to all of our clients and contacts to update and perhaps amuse. Later, there is tax and accounting to do, which is how we earn our bread and butter.
Now just need to find the jam!
