Business Feast & Famine: How do you avoid the highs and lows when you run your own business?

Once your systems are created, you will discover that many of the processes you follow can actually be delegated to someone else. You don't actually have to be the one who delivers it. For those of you who are scared of delegation (and to be honest, I will be the first one to admit I have found this to be a very scary process!), delegation doesn't have to mean that you employ someone. By using cheap and easy to use web-based tools you can be collecting contact details for your database, gathering critical information from a customer survey, taking orders for products and services, selling tickets for workshops and converting enquires in to sales. Now, OK. I know, I know! Much of what I have written here can feel like a huge mountain to climb. And, I am not telling you this is going to be easy. Creating a successful (and profitable!) business is not easy. If it was that easy, everyone would be running a successful business from home, wouldn't they? When done well, systems can be created so that each step in the process can be ticked off and measured. For example, a personal trainer may set up an enquiries process that every enquiry goes through, from asking a set number of questions at the initial phone call stage which includes finding out how they got to know about them through to asking for a testimonial on the fourth session and two referrals when they are on their sixth session. Marketing is often one of the first things to drop off someone's to-do-list when business gets busy. As your inbox starts to build up and your phone constantly rings, it just makes it impossible to find the time to follow your marketing plan. And I think this is where a lot of the challenges lie with starting and growing a new business from home. I remember being told about "the feast and the famine" that would inevitably happen when I became self-employed. It's one of those stories that once you hear it, you start to believe it. And of course, you more you believe it, you more you live its story.