Page 207 - The $100 Startup_ Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love

job she had just taken for a CPA. As she was settling into the job, she kept
tallying figures and wondering why something wasn’t balancing properly. She
finally figured it out: Not only was the firm in trouble, it wouldn’t have enough
to pay her when the very first bookkeeping cycle came around. Oops. Jessica
quit and decided to go it alone.

Right from the beginning, the business was profitable at a decent part-time
level, and Jessica was focused on raising a family without worrying about
making a ton of money. But one day, her husband, Michael, called and said he
was coming home early. “That’s nice,” she said. “Any special occasion?” There
was a pause before he told her the rest of the news: He had been laid off,
effective immediately.

Jessica’s business had been successful as a side project, but it didn’t make
nearly enough money to support a family, with their second child just three
weeks old at that point. After the shock wore off, they talked about options, and
Jessica decided to take the business to a higher level. Her husband became the
primary caregiver at home, and Jessica went to work. The business quickly grew
and all was well under the new arrangement, but then it started growing too fast.
“We had made major progress in the direction of growing revenues,” she said,
“but we had also experienced soaring costs, and our bottom line clearly reflected
the necessity for a major change.

“I just assumed that’s what you were supposed to do,” she continued. “As the
business improves, you hire people. Right?” Unfortunately, although hiring
people can sometimes help a business grow, it always creates much higher costs
and fixed obligations. Jessica made more changes, switching her business to a
sole proprietorship and returning to a one-woman shop.*

Don’t Be a Firefighter: Work on Your Business

Regardless of which path you take, as your project grows in scope, you can find
yourself spending all your time responding to things and little time actually
creating anything. The solution to this common problem is to focus on working
on your business as opposed to in it. When you’re operating the business, you
spend time putting out fires and keeping everything running as it should.
Working on the business requires a higher-level approach.

Every morning, set aside forty-five minutes without Internet access. Devote
this time exclusively to activities that improve your business—nothing that