Standing Out

Have you ever read the article "In Praise of the Purple Cow"?  The title sounded familiar, but when I read the article it didn't sound familiar.  I learned from this article that we need to find a way to stand out or be different with our companies.  But in a way that people will say "wow".

I took a class at work many years ago about providing "Wow Service".  We were split into groups and someone mentioned that Disney Cruises gives Wow Service.  At the time I wasn't so sure, however, since then we have gone on two Disney Cruises and I can definitely say that they do give Wow Service. Both our room attendant and our wait staff were so kind.  On our last cruise our son got sick on the last day and so we told the room attendant that he wasn't feeling well, but we wanted him to try to eat something so we went to lunch and when we returned the attendant had fixed his bed up with "Cars" sheets.  This is not normal; they usually just have the plain white sheets that most hotel/cruise rooms have.  While our son was quite sick he was so happy to see the Cars sheets and snuggled right into the bed for a long nap.  It was the special touches that made us feel special.  It also makes us want to return again and again.

I thought about the wow service this week as I was working on some repairs at one of our rental properties.  I thought that I really needed to pay attention to the birthdays of our renters and their children and send a birthday card (or maybe even a little gift).  I think that would help them know we care and hopefully make our properties a Wow experience for our tenants.  While there is more that I think we could probably do, I would definitely like to start doing some things to help us stand out from other landlords.  Hopefully by doing that also it would have the renters be willing to refer their friends or other people they know who may be looking for a place to rent.

As for my $100 challenge this week, with the repairs on the rental property and then going out of town for the holiday weekend, I did not have time to work on the $100 challenge project this week.  I hope that next week I will be able to get another party set up and start selling my bread again.  I do have some people who have said they are willing to have a bread party so I need to follow up with them one the repairs are finished on the rental properties.

Debt

Debt weighs heavy on my mind personally and in our rental property business.  This week in class we have read three talks in reference to debt and more importantly getting and staying out of debt in addition to paying tithes and offerings.

The first talk was by Elder Robert D. Hales called, "Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually".  I really liked this quote about being a provident provider. "To provide providently, we must practice the principles of provident living: joyfully living within our means, being content with what we have, avoiding excessive debt, and diligently saving and preparing for rainy-day emergencies. When we live providently, we can provide for ourselves and our families and also follow the Savior’s example to serve and bless others."  How true is that?  You cannot provide for others if you do not have the means because you are overrun with debt and have not learned how to save.

President James E Faust gave the second talk titled "Opening the Windows of Heaven".  Who doesn't want blessings?  Who doesn't want to be successful?  I would be surprised if anyone you spoke to said no to either of those questions.  President Faust tells us we may obtain blessings by paying our tithing and offerings.  For those that have not lived this law it is quite difficult to "give away" your money when you feel you are barely making ends me.  But if you live the law of tithing, not only will you make ends meet miraculously you will have more than you need, you will be blessed, maybe not just financially, but spiritually and temporally and emotionally.  Honestly, I don't know how people can afford NOT to pay their tithing.

The last talk was by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin called "Earthly Debts, Heavenly Debts".  Elder Wirthlin talks about the five steps to financial freedom.

• Pay your tithing
• Spend less than you earn
• Learn to save
• Honor your financial obligations
• Teach your children to follow your example

These steps are also covered in the Self-Reliance program The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has put out and also by Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.  

While I believe we have gotten the majority of our personal debt under control, we have one credit card left to pay off and our house.  We are lucky enough to not have a car payment and have been able to pay off almost $34k in debt over the past year.  Our personal debt does not weigh me down like it used to. Even with quitting my part-time job, I know we will be okay.  I know somehow we will make enough money to cover our bills, finish paying off our debt and be able to financially be self-reliant.

However, our business is another story.  We have two mortgages on the rental properties and because there were far more repairs than we realized on the new property we purchased, we have been saving and doing our best to try to get the repairs done without going into debt.  But then we found out that two of the three units the renters are going to be moving out within a month of each other and if we have two properties without renters then we will have to come up with the money to pay the mortgages on those properties and it could be a huge disaster.  So we have decided to put the supplies for the repairs on the credit card and then hopefully we will get the units rented quickly and will not suffer loss of rental income.  I hope and pray that once we get through these three repairs that have to be done then there will just be small maintenance to keep up with it and we can quickly pay off the credit card we put the supplies on.  Owning your own business is stressful as the debts still weigh heavily on your mind.  I hope that we can use the Dave Ramsey method in our business going forward as much as we do in our personal lives.

For my $100 Challenge business things are going really well.  I used my $20 capital money to purchase ingredients and supplies for my bread business.  I made a batch of each kinds of bread to take to my friend's house for a bread party.  I had my first bread party on Wednesday and I sold all the bread I had taken with me (6 loaves) and have orders for 4 more loaves.  We also set up a day to have another bread party the first part of June. So far I have not yet made a profit as I had to use the majority of what I made with these sales to buy additional ingredients.  But I think these ingredients will help me start turning a profit on my business.  Time will tell.

Goals

This week has been about looking at what we want our business to look like.  There are two things that help us do this.  First is having goals and the second is writing those goals down into a business plan.

We have to know what our goals are, what we want to accomplish with our business, to be able to know where we are going.  If we can't see our dream and our goals then we muddle around doing not much of anything.  While not all goals can be accomplished and life gets in our way, if we don't at least have goals to give us direction on where we want to be, we won't make it out of first gear. On one of my assignments this week there was a quote by Elder M Russell Ballard that said, "I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don't set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential.  When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life."  Goals give us the ambition and the drive to get us where we want to be.  I certainly don't want to look back on my life and say "what did I actually accomplish?" or "was I happy?"  It is no way to live just waiting for each day to be over.  I want to get up in the morning with things to accomplish and be working towards goals that I am proud of.  This is true in business and in my personal life.

Once we know what our ultimate goal is and several short term goals we can create a business plan to give us the directions and steps to reach our goals and dreams.  I have never created a business plan before, even though my husband and I have had our rental property business for over 3 1/2 years now. However, I am excited to use the business plan model we are working on this week in class to make a business plan for both our rental property business and my Etsy store, in addition to the $100 Challenge business.

I haven't had a lot of extra time to work on my $100 challenge, but I did make arrangements with my friend for when we are going to have the "Bread Party".  We are going to do it next Wednesday, May 17.  The other thing I did was work on the pricing.  I found a couple of websites that you can use to calculate the cost of the ingredients.  I need to do the final pricing this week so I can make some business cards that have the price and my information on them for people to use to order.  I also need to be prepared with everything so that I can be ready for the party.  It looks like the first part of next week is going to be a busy one.

Time Management, Business and Readings

Time Management
This week has been a huge struggle.  First, I am still trying to get used to permanently being home and so feeling like I have all the time in the world to accomplish things.  Second, wanting to be helpful any chance I can get.  Third, learning how to say no.  Forth, getting on a schedule.

This week I have had at least three fairly large "appointments" for lack of a better word each day, which has taken me away from homework and working on my business.  I know some weeks will be like this, but it felt very disheartening.  At first I was saying, "I love being able to help people all the time."  However, as the week went on I felt like it was so much that it was becoming a detriment to me.  It felt frustrating.  I believe that if I can make and KEEP a schedule I will not only feel like I accomplish more but I WILL accomplish more.  I know there are going to be days that I will want and need to help others, but I would like to limit it at least right now because I am really trying to focus on three things all at once and it makes things hard.  I need to get my homework done for school each week.  I need to work on my business/internship and getting it up and running.  I need to begin working on my $100 Challenge business for my school class.  All three things are quite demanding and so interruptions make it frustrating to me.

I know I can do this, it is just sticking to the schedule for a few weeks until I get over the initial start up hump and can move more into the auto pilot/cruise control mode. What I have learned this week is that I really need to stick to my schedule, as if I really was going to a regular job, so I can accomplish a lot in the time I have and not have to cut into family time all the time to make up for what I didn't get done earlier.  My goal going forward is to get up at 7am when my husband and son leave to go to work and school, get ready for the day and by 8am begin working on my tasks for the day.  Then I can be done by 3pm when it is time to pick up my son.  I realize that is not a full day of work, but it is better than what is happening now and I can really accomplish a lot during that time if I stick to my schedule.

Business
For my $100 challenge, a lot of background stuff has been happening with it.  I initially shared my ideas on Facebook with my friends and most of them thought the bread business would be the best. My friend and I went out on Wednesday evening and we were talking about it.  She asked me what kind of breads I was thinking and I told her, but as we talked I thought of a few other kinds I could do.  However, then I had to reel myself back in and realize for now I need to keep it to just a few and not create more work for myself.  One of the breads I talked about our family has made for years but we always just called it "Yummy Bread".  So I explained some of the ingredients in it and she was all excited.  I said, "I guess I need to be like Sams and have a sample to give out."  She said, "why don't we have a bread party at my house?  I could invite some people for a brunch type get together and you can have your bread there for people to sample and then take orders."  I thought it was a fabulous idea!  The next day she told me her daughter has appointed herself as my marketing director and is going to make bread invitations with a cute saying on them about "rising to the occasion" and the party would go until at "yeast" noon. I am glad to have friends who are willing to help out and make this successful!  Next week my goal is to work on the pricing and make the final decision about which breads I am going to make.  I also want to see if one of my other friends from church might be willing to have a bread party at her house as well.  Then I could have the sample to share with that circle of people too.  Or maybe I should just have the party at my own house and invite church people but also those from my previous job.  Or do both!  All of it is a work in progress.

Readings
We have been asked to read E-Myth for my class.  I was interested to read the first few chapters and the author stated that within a start-up business the owner needs to have three personalities.  The Entrepreneur, The Manager, and the Technician.  It was interesting how the author explained each one and why each are needed.  I believe that right now I am more of a technician with a manager thrown in.  While I am doing a start up, I don't necessarily believe that I am an entrepreneur.  I don't always see things in a new way, but I tend to think I can probably do something that is being currently done in a better way.  So I guess that is where you would see the Entrepreneur side in me.  I hope that as I continue to read, I will find ways to bring all three sides out in me so that I can be successful at both businesses we currently have and any that we may open in the future.