sjsmith.com.au - blog

Stress free self employment

No Worries

That good old Aussie saying, ‘No worries, she’ll be right mate!’  It’s really a variation on don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff.  While it sounds great in theory it’s often much harder to put into practice.

When you're self employed the buck stops with you - for everything.  From deciding on a company logo and brand identity to what your policies are regarding payment terms - its all up to you.  It can be daunting to consider how much responsibility a small business owner has when you stop to think about it.  

So heres my advice - Don’t.  Don’t think about the number of things you have to do, address or even fix.  Just think about whats the most important thing to do next.  Do you need to pay the staff first or deal with a returned item.  You only really need to make one choice, then the next, then the next.  When you consider it in those terms its much less overwhelming.

Dealing with problems is part and parcel of the gig but rather than seeing them as problems look at the opportunities they might present.  Some of our best policies have come from learning from dealing with difficult clients, late payers, and faulty supplies.  It has helped us define our corporate culture as well as crystallise our procedures.  How we deal with these issues is now in our company manual and included in our terms and conditions.  It has ended up making life much easier to have these things documented.

At the end of the day how you deal with difficulties is up to you and it all comes down to attitude.  You can decide that its a matter to be dealt with and maybe learn from or you can decide it will make you angry and upset.  Now to me, that’s an easy choice to make.

Till next time,

Sarah-Jane X