Today, on Your Caregiving Journey, Terri Brukhartz, a small business coach, joined us to share tips on how keep your small business open when caregiving becomes part of your day. (You can listen to our show via the player at the bottom of this post.)
Terri suggested creating a vision for your life. Ask yourself: What do I want from life? What do I want my life to look like? Then, list all your answers. You also can make a list of what you love in your life. Look for similarities in those activities, experiences and relationships. That common denominator (security, challenge, family, well-being) becomes your North Star. During those times when you find yourself out of whack, look to your North Star for guidance.
And, there’s nothing like caregiving to throw you out-of-whack. Consider all the “What If” questions and then put plans in place to keep your business going and your caregiving covered.
If you worry you’ll lose business because of your caregiving role, consider hiring sub-contractors. Sub-contractors can be a great way of increasing your revenue base and your service offerings.
We also talked about managing your client expectations. Perhaps prior to caregiving, you were available 24/7 to your clients. Now, you’ll have to keep an afternoon during the week free for caregiving.
Terri shared how a recent client, a web development firm, changed their hours of service. First, they determined the days and times when most clients needed to reach them. Based on that information, they adjusted their hours. New office hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m., with the office closed on Sunday and Monday.
As you review your hours of service, take the opportunity to review your fees. Do your fees match your expertise and value? As you set expectations for your hours of service, perhaps now is the time to implement a slight rate increase for current clients and a larger increase for new clients.
We ended our discussion with a special offer from Terri. Terri will offer a free, 30-minute, phone consultation to anyone who emails her by 11:00 p.m. Central Time, on Friday, February 19th. For details and Terri’s email address, please send a note to offer@caregiving.com.
In addition, visitors to Terri’s website, www.LetYourselfFly.com, can download a free special report, “How to Create More Income Without Working Harder.”
