Why?
What’s your why? What did you start your business? Why do you do what you do? Is there any thought behind it? Or is it just a way to pay the bills every month?
My why has some different levels. But I’d say it boils down to two things…
Freedom
Don’t work for someone else
Like most people I had worked for someone my whole life, from the babysitting jobs I had in high school, to the retail positions I held for almost 10 years. Yes, they paid the bills. Yes, I enjoyed what I did, most days. But at the end of the day I had to do whatever “they” said to do.
My husband is in construction and therefore has a relatively flexible schedule. So when I tried the 8-5 Monday-Friday thing for 8 months I was miserable. I was up at the crack of dawn, meaning I went to bed when it was still light, my days off were spent doing housework I was too tired to do during the week & prepping for the coming week. Now I know plenty of people that do this routine for years & years...but it wasn’t what I wanted for my life. I wanted to be able to go with my husband on his jobs that were out of town. I wanted to be able to spend the day with my nieces & nephews. I wanted to want to have people over for dinner. None of those things were options with that schedule. So I wanted the freedom to work the hours I choose.
Then I had a part-time job for a mom & pop store. They offered a very flexible schedule, I could almost choose the days I worked each month. But, when I made a big sale, yes they said “thank you”, but it was the owner’s retirement I was building, not my own. And when I saw ways to improve business processes, it wasn’t my decision to make. And if I didn’t like the way they did something, too bad, not my business.
So...I looked at past jobs I’d had and tried to find what I liked most about them. One of my favorite past jobs was as a facility manager for a church/community center. I loved planning the events & coordinating all the calendars for the facility. So I started an event planning business. But I did not want to focus on weddings, even though I know that’s where the money is, I didn’t want the drama. That meant I focused on corporate events, banquets, fundraisers, etc. Unfortunately my local area wasn’t big enough to support this endeavor. No one wanted to spend the money on my services. So after 2 years of pursuing that business, I backed off. Technically I was still in business, I just wasn’t pouring hours & hours every week into it.
But I knew I still did not want to keep building someone else’s dream...and back to the drawing board I went. Then I looked at what frustrates me about my current part-time job...seeing ways they could be better and them not wanting to hear what I had to say. So why not find people that did?
And...RVS was born. I looked at the things I’m good at...organization, back-end logistics, processes. And I know that there are lots of small business owners out there that do not have those strengths, but need those things in their business to be more successful. So I combined my borderline OCD with all the other skills I’d acquired over the past 20ish years and made the leap.
And here we are, 5 years later. Multiple clients helped over the years. Made enough after 2 years to quit the part-time job. And loving what I do...like actually looking forward to pouring myself into this endeavor. I mean, I have to make myself put my laptop away at night...and it’s because I truly love what I’m doing.
So...don’t settle for the job that just pays the bills. Find a passion. Something that you can’t wait to work on the next day...even if that is working for someone else. But make it mean something to you other than a paycheck. Find your WHY? And own it!
