You know, I really love working for myself and by myself. I’ve always been the “tell me what needs to be done and leave me alone to do it” kind of worker and always worked for small companies - often where it was just me and the owner. I really do prefer it that way…most of the time.

There does come a point though where I realize I need help…and I’m not good at admitting it or asking for it. I have 2 great friends who both have offered to help, but…most of the time, I don’t ask. I think because it means I must have messed something up…did something wrong or am just not good enough to handle everything I need to do. Now intellectually, I know that’s not true - it’s just the that business is growing and more to do in the same amount of time means things get forgotten, messed up, or not handled as quickly as they should have been. Last night I finally finished step 1 of posting orders (every order goes into Quickbooks for accounting purposes and Quickbooks Customer Manager (for lack of a better program) to track them) and found a whole group of ones from EARLY FEBRUARY that should have been shipped by now! But with them not in QBCM, they weren’t in my “to order” list of items so the pieces didn’t get ordered from the manufacturers

So today is my catch up, contact those customers, and try to make it right day. All because I messed up and buried paperwork that should have been done already. Tomorrow will be my massive order those items from the manufacturers and try to get them in asap day.

I wish I could say this never happened before…but it has. And every time it has I think to myself that I’m going to stay caught up - I’m going to enter those orders in as soon as I process them! Every day! Without fail! And then things happen…like getting 10 shipments in all at the same time so I spend 2 days shipping and not getting anything else done. Or I get a super rush order that has to be taken care of NOW so everything else suffers. Or I just get so many orders at one time I cannot get them all done. Or I’m not feeling well, I get a flat tire, my cat has kittens, or something to get in the way and make me get behind again.

So then I promise I’m going to get caught up - and usually say Sunday is the day since there are no shipments that can go out that day so at least 4 free hours to do something else. But in the back of my head is my mother saying “Sunday is the day of rest” and you are supposed to take it easy, not work your ass off! So I find myself reading, or gaming, or just adding new items to the stores (vital work yeah, but not the most productive use of my time).

So what am I doing this Sunday after thinking about all the above? Blogging! Okay, I did clean the kitchen already today and its only 9:30 am so I still have a lot of productive time ahead, but … hopefully I’ll finish the day with everything done. I have to post all those orders I found last night into QBCM so I make sure everything gets ordered tomorrow. I have new orders I have to process (and post!) and an office that I really need to straighten up with some random pieces from manufacturers sitting around I have to match up with customers or put them in the warehouse til needed. I have to recheck stuff I ordered last week - some of which I have to email the manufacturers and say where the heck is it! And oh yeah…clean the rest of the house

Wonder if those friends want to see a movie?

Recently:

• Making navigation easier on our costume store - we hope!
• Flood of spam mail overwhelming my inbox
• New catalogs in and new items being added
• Rethinking Our Return System
• Being a 1 person business has its ups and downs
• Having internet connection problems
• Sites and email was offline this weekend
• Manufacturers doing inventory this week
• Got some data off my dead computer
• Christmas delivery cannot be guaranteed