I wrapped up work on Week 27 of the Empire Building Kit today. This week featured a series of questions from my Emperor-in-Training colleagues. While all of the questions were interesting (as were the responses that the program’s author Chris Guillebeau gave), one question in particular felt apropos to where I am.
The question…
How do you manage the evolution of a business and how do you recognize when are you forcing something that’s not working vs. directing and creating what you want?
I’ve been living this evolution for the past 5 months or so. I don’t think that my growing pains are entirely unrelated to the major changes in my life (a cross-country move, house sale and scrounging for work in a fast-paced new city), nor do I think they are unrelated to the work I’ve been doing in this course. Over this period of time, I’ve had to figure out how and if I want to set up a jewelry studio in my new home (a one-bedroom apartment), and if what I’ve been trying to create really fulfills my passion and my desire to connect with and help others.
Odd how you can slave away at something for over 3 years and then suddenly find that letting go of it isn’t so hard after all. I guess that is one of the tell-tale signs.
Other signs, as Chris explains are:
When you are forcing yourself to do something, you’ll notice that a) you don’t look forward to it, b) you keep putting it off, and c) when you finally manage to do it, you feel relieved.
The good news is that like the horses above, even if my business seems like it might be going in what seems like an opposite direction, my passion for design and for creating beauty around me will always be at the center of any business I create. Please visit my new shop at Etsy – more designs and products are being added regularly. And, it’s not too late to snatch up the jewelry remaining in my Joana Miranda Studio shop.
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