As a small business owner I pay close attention to other small businesses opening in my community even in the cases where maybe I am not necessarily drawn to what the shop is offering. I like to keep a pulse on what is happening in my city and I think watching others helps one learn and grow as a business owner. Plus, even if I am not necessarily interested in the product I am certain some of my customers will be and I always want to help other small shops by referring folks to them.
A new shop opened in a little shopping area of Dayton recently and I was excited to watch their journey unfold leading up to the grand opening. The late nights, the little mistakes that throw one off their game momentarily, and all of the support they received when they needed it the most got me thinking about how life's struggles are character building. This is not something that is restricted to people who own their own businesses, although the challenges may be specific for them, I think if we all just sat for a moment and thought about some of our most difficult moments in life we would come to the conclusion that it is distinctly those times that taught us the most about ourselves. Often these moments are connected to loss and always they are defining moments that bring us to an opportunity to rise above the thing that is threatening to take us down.
Using the example of small shop owners I can honestly say that they are some of the hardest working people I know. All driven by a little idea that just wouldn't go away. Another shop that recently opened a second location in a little town nearby reminded me of this. When you have a ton of money you can of course pay folks to do all of the nitty gritty work like painting, building, and laying floors. But so many small businesses are working on shoe string budgets so they have to become experts on various things overnight to keep the cost of running a business down. At the end of the day all of this is character building. Not only because, well you learn so many new skills, but also because you find confidence in yourself that otherwise you would not have recognized.
I have watched many business owners struggle with managing people and this is another challenge of running a business that is character building. I don't know a small business owner that doesn't want to have an amicable relationship with their staff. I think they all understand that without them they would be dead in the water. Adding staff to your shop is a huge deal. Sharing space with someone, trusting them to represent your business and to work as hard as you to continue to grow that thing that is so important to you that you think about day in and day out is not something any shop owner takes lightly. And when there are issues, as you know there usually is when you are dealing with humans, there is no Human Resources department to turn to. It's all on you.
And when you finally finally say that thing that is on your mind it usually diffuses the anxiety instantly as you realize that perhaps you made it a much bigger battle in your mind. My husband had an experience just today where he overcame a fear of saying something to an employee. Realizing that if he wants to live an authentic honest life that means stepping up and being honest with his staff. Once that moment passed that he took the leap he realized that you know what, he can do hard things and he has the right to ask for his work environment to be a certain way that feels right to him. Character building at its best.
Running a small business that relies on people to support you by spending their hard earned money takes gumption. Sitting here at my little counter everyday waiting for a friendly face to pop in that door is sometimes a little trying. Every shop owner can relate. Every small business owner can relate. When you are the one signing the paychecks you become glaringly aware of every cent coming in and out. So the days where that front door doesn't open often or maybe not at all can be pretty unsettling. A neighbor shop of mine had one of those days earlier this week and she made herself really vulnerable by sharing this on social media. While maybe not the tactic I would implement I can definitely relate to the feelings she was having. Even when you feel your business is thriving a slow day can be a major curve ball. But again, it's all part of the character building. My advice to my neighbor was this: hit your to do list. Every small business has one and I assure you that list is never ending. The best thing I can do for myself and my business on a slow day is hit that list. Pick away at the piles. Send those emails you have been putting off. Get that project done that you have been dying to find time for. At the end of even a slow day you will have the feeling of satisfaction knowing you accomplished something. Slow days don't go on forever so you may as well take advantage of them when they come. Accomplishing something instead of allowing your anxiety to get the better of you is...you guessed it....character building.
Why am I talking about character building today, you may be asking? All I can say as it's been on my mind. I think it started the day that I had to spend outside to sand new shelves for both shops. I set up a work station in front of my garage where there would be at least some shade given it was one of those delightful 90 degree days. As soon as I got everything set up and ready to go I started to notice this bee buzzing around me. Next thing I know there is another and another. By the time there were four total bees swarming around me I started to actually panic a little bit. I am not normally one to worry about a bee as I know most of the time they don't really care about you. But this was weird. I was worried that more would come and that maybe I was near some kind of hive or something. My immediate reaction was to go inside and ask my husband for help but in reality what did I think he was going to actually be able to do. So I decided to move my work area into the sunny part of the garden and Luke did have an idea to put a fan near me so he set that up while I moved my space. This move got rid of all but one persistent bee that stayed around me the entire time. In the face of this challenge what choice did I have but to just push through my worries and get to sanding. The shelves certainly weren't going to sand themselves and nobody was gonna just walk up and offer to sand them for me so I just powered through and pushed my fear aside. When I got to the end I sure felt a strong sense of satisfaction and pride that I had done something hard. Like, you know I can do hard things and when I accomplish them I feel that my character is altered for the better.
Character building, as I said, isn't something that only small business owners can celebrate. We all do hard things every day. When faced with something hard I am sure most of us have the same types of reactions. We maybe feel sorry for ourselves. We can feel afraid. We can feel defeated before even starting to try to overcome the challenge. But truly when faced with the option of rising to the challenge or letting it beat us down don't you want to just step up and do it. Knowing that at the other end of that challenge is a new you, altered in the best ways by the challenge. It's character building.
Is there something going on in your life that you are avoiding? Has this made you think about a super difficult moment in life that was character building? I would love to hear about it if you feel like sharing. But mostly, my message to you today is that your future awesome self is waiting for you on the other side of that challenge. Go meet them!