Page 94 - The Magic of Tiny Business

Chapter Five  Be Ready for Takeoff

Instead of creating forecasts to project our cash needs
and cutting back staff hours, I signed up everyone in the
office for weekly yoga. I approached what I thought was
just “financial hysteria” with mindfulness and stretching.
It’s what I thought we needed to survive. We were still
doing great. Our sales were strong. I was even entertain-
ing the idea of expanding amidst the ensuing chaos with a
group of interested partners. I ignored my gut instincts to
cut back and save. It all felt just too hard, way outside my
comfort zone, so I avoided dealing with it.

“If you love stress, practice avoidance.
”

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In the span of a year, I watched the business sputter to
half its gross revenue. We were still way above sales
prior to the Oprah spurt, but we were now dipping
below our comfort zone. We started devouring cash
because we hadn’t reduced our expenses quickly enough.
We were in a downward spiral. Goodbye profit, hello
hole. We didn’t have a cash reserve to rely on or finan-
cial resources to tap. The sky was getting dark.

I went off on vacation, leaving my struggling company
to fend for itself with an outward appearance of joie de
vivre. I was working under my “vacations first” Tiny Busi-
ness priority. Anyone who knew me, however, could see I
was preoccupied.

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