Home » Business Advice

So, whats your problem? (part 2)

Submitted by on 27 Comments
Clip to Evernote

At the end of February we asked  So what’s your problem? where we  invited readers to share their business problems (based on the notion that a problem shared is a problem halved) for the commuity here on the blog to help solve.

I’m very pleased that 6aliens writer Ben Lumley rose to the challenge and I share with you his email detailing his problem.

Here’s my problem/s in more detail (feel free to edit this as you wish)

I have a full time job. I work as an educational trainer for a education company who specialise in delivering aspirational workshops to young people. This takes up a lot of my time – around 50 hrs a week. When I’m not in schools, delivering workshops, I’m usually working on the online marketing of our company in my home office.

I want to fully develop the following 3 ideas:

1. A service to assist bloggers getting online. This will include registering there chosen domain, supplying hosting, installing and setting up themes and plugins, a small bit of theme design, ongoing support and advice on running a successful blog via a free ebook.


2. A personal development book aimed at helping people to turn their lives around. This will be co-written with a friend of mine.


3. A set of online courses lasting around 6 weeks (6 instalments basically) helping people to goal set, achieve success in a particular area, or make a change in their lives.

My problem is time. With writing (and now recording) content, writing guest posts and regular articles for people like yourself, reading of other posts, commenting and general promotion while dealing with the load of my full time job I can’t seem to find the time to get to anything.

People may say I’m being lazy and that I need to sleep less or that I need to put more hours in after work but I’m also very conscious of wanting to spend time with my family.

I suppose I don’t know where to head to first. I’m not trying to work on all 3 of them at once or anything like that but I’m generally unsure which idea to run with first.

Any help would be very beneficial.

So, over to you then.

What do you think Ben should do first? What do you think he should focus on?


If you’d like to have your business problem shared, pleased use the contact form and outline your problem.

Empire Building Kit

Related posts:

  1. A Response to “So What’s Your Problem?”
  2. So, what’s your problem?
  3. Discussion Post: What’s The Biggest Problem Facing Your Business?
« Can you help...
How a tomato can help... »

27 Comments »

  • Eleanor Edwards said:

    Wow, those are three very great but quite different ideas. I can understand why you’re struggling to know where to start :) If you want a direct answer to the question of what to do first then I personally would work on number 1 first whilst aiming to write a certain slug of number 2 every day or every couple of days.

    The reason I suggest this order is that the first is very practical. It will use the part of your brain involved in problem solving. Tinkering with code, building the website that will bring your clients in, offering solutions to problems. I imagine that with these things, it will be relatively easy to see progress made which in itself will encourage you to move forward.

    However, your personal development book will use the creative part of your brain. Being realistic, there will be times when the writing doesn’t flow so smoothly or you need thinking time to mull things over. Doing parts of this along side the more practical things in the first idea should help your brain to work really well. I can’t cite proof of this but I do remember reading something about how two different types of activity like this work well together. I’m sure someone better read than me will be able to tell you the science behind that.

    The third idea has the potential to develop quite naturally from your book idea which is why I would suggest giving it lowest priority right now.

    As for how to fit this in alongside a full time job, family and current blogging commitments, it might help if you could tinker with your site a little. Think about why you set it up and how it will help with your dreams in ideas one, two and three. If the ideas above are where your income stream comes from and the blog is just a support to that, why not experiment with posting less to the blog?

    The book that Matthew gave me by Tim Ferris talks about the 80/20 rule. If the blog is taking 80% if your time but contributing only 20% to your income plans, maybe it’s time to rethink the priorities a little?

    As you know, I’m no expert at all this stuff so I could be talking total rubbish. It’s just how I would approach this if it were me.

    Hope it helps a little and good luck :) I look forward to hearing what other people think. Re-tweeting now.

    El
    .-= Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..Five seconds of fame and a massive thank you =-.

    Ben Reply:
    April 15th, 2010 at 9:14 am

    Thanks El. That’s really helpful advice.
    .-= Ben´s last blog ..A call to arms! Be Courageous =-.

    Matthew Needham Reply:
    April 15th, 2010 at 10:15 pm

    Thanks Eleanor for such a detailed comment. I know Ben has got a lot out of these comments here today. Thank you for adding to the conversation.

    - 15 April 2010 at 7:28 am
  • TheInfoPreneur said:

    Ben how many hours are you working full time (paid job) a day right now? and for how many days a week, then tell me how many hours you’re working on your site ventures (your 3 ideas too)

    From there I will tell you how I do it and how you can do it!
    .-= TheInfoPreneur´s last blog ..How To Write 6,000 Words A Day =-.

    Ben Reply:
    April 15th, 2010 at 9:16 am

    The day job ranges between 8 and 10 hours a day depending on where I am in the country 5 days a week.

    I’m currently putting in about 3 hrs a day working on my site, guest posts for other people, site ventures and other side projects.
    .-= Ben´s last blog ..A call to arms! Be Courageous =-.

    TheInfoPreneur Reply:
    April 15th, 2010 at 10:06 am

    Right,

    I’m going to come back and lay it all out for you and Matthew, in the mean time check my recent posts on this. I’ll be back, have your check book waiting!
    .-= TheInfoPreneur´s last blog ..How To Write And Sell Your First Ebook =-.

    - 15 April 2010 at 9:01 am
  • Phil Johnson said:

    Hi Ben,

    Focusing on your issue with getting something sorted to allow people to “blog easier”.

    I set up a hosting re-seller company (http://webhosting.pjbizservices.co.uk)… the actual cart and customer facing admin system uses a provided template. Its a set fee each month regardless of how many clients and traffic you have.

    The client registers their domain and a hosting package to go with it, its all auto registered for you and once set up (again, automatic), the clients hosting account goes live.

    Its a step-by-step process so dead easy to follow. And the great news is that WordPress is a one click install, so a blog takes literally seconds to set up and start posting. It took 3 hours to get Major-Business.net online and open to the world.

    If you want to know more/find out the reseller etc then drop me a mail on phil@pjbizservices.co.uk and I’ll be more than happy to point you in the right direction.

    Cheers,

    Phil

    Ben Reply:
    April 15th, 2010 at 3:17 pm

    Thanks for your feedback Phil. I’ll have think about it.
    .-= Ben´s last blog ..A call to arms! Be Courageous =-.

    Matthew Needham Reply:
    April 15th, 2010 at 10:41 pm

    Thanks for your input here Phil, much appreciated.

    - 15 April 2010 at 12:37 pm
  • Karen said:

    Hey Ben,

    My suggestion is to use the power of 80/20 to decide what to do. Of the options you listed, which one will give you the biggest bang for your time? Then do that one. The others can wait.

    Also, if you don’t want to do that, then I would go for the one option which has a definite end-date and just plow through until that one is done. Do what you have to do (sacrifice sleep, take time off work if you can, cancel personal appointments, etc) until that one is finished. Then you can start to re-evaluate everything else.

    Good luck and let us know what you end up deciding.

    Karen
    .-= Karen´s last blog ..The Number One Shortcut To Be Successful In Life =-.

    Ben Reply:
    April 15th, 2010 at 3:19 pm

    I think the book will give me the biggest “bang” for the time spent working on it.

    Thanks for the advice Karen. It’s got me thinking.
    .-= Ben´s last blog ..A call to arms! Be Courageous =-.

    Matthew Needham Reply:
    April 15th, 2010 at 10:39 pm

    Hi Karen, I agree with you. Focus on what gives the biggest return, which will then enable you to spend the time on the less renumerative activities. Thanks for your insights.

    - 15 April 2010 at 1:23 pm
  • Ralph said:

    Ben,
    Which one stirs your heart? Start there and the rest will follow.
    .-= Ralph´s last blog ..Wi-fi Coffee Shop workout =-.

    Ben Reply:
    April 15th, 2010 at 3:21 pm

    The book definitely stirs my heart Ralph. That might be where I start.
    .-= Ben´s last blog ..A call to arms! Be Courageous =-.

    Matthew Needham Reply:
    April 15th, 2010 at 10:36 pm

    Hi Ben, I’m glad you’ve got a way forward here.

    - 15 April 2010 at 1:42 pm
  • Moon Hussain said:

    Like Ralph,

    Start with something that you’re most passionate about. A book would be a great start. Something to do is not to make it a very long term goal. Get enthusiastic about it, post milestones on a board and keep it in check.

    Otherwise these projects turn into never-gonna-finish-this-project-kuz-it’s-gonna-take-an-eternity. We don’t want to be in that camp.

    Doing too many things, on the other hand, can burn you out quick when you don’t see results. James does it successfully but I think it depends on your personality type as well.

    G’luck Ben!
    .-= Moon Hussain´s last blog ..Fun Friday Round-Up: Delicious Blog Chowder! =-.

    Ben Reply:
    April 15th, 2010 at 9:15 pm

    Thanks Moon. I really appreciate your feedback. I think your point about starting with something that I’m passionate about is a really important one.
    .-= Ben´s last blog ..A call to arms! Be Courageous =-.

    Matthew Needham Reply:
    April 15th, 2010 at 10:35 pm

    Moon, thanks for your comments. I do believe that small successes give rise to bigger successes, so although the book may well be the passion, I would tackle the task that be completed quickest and therefore enable time to be spent to follow your passion.

    - 15 April 2010 at 3:26 pm
  • Kiesha @ We Blog Better said:

    I totally understand your problem. I’m in a very similar boat – and I’ve probably sacrificed far more of my family’s time than I wish to admit. There certainly needs to be a balance, so I try to set aside an evening (usually a Friday) and maybe a couple of hours on a Saturday morning to work on those writing tasks that I can’t get done any other time. I shut off all sources of communication so that I’m not tempted to procrastinate and then just try to either accomplish writing in batches or either simply getting my ideas on paper when I’m not totally inspired to write.
    Then I try to schedule blog posts a head of time and I try to minimize online socialization efforts, because I just can’t do it all.
    I suggest you choose which of those 3 goals you want to begin with first, and focus solely on that. Skip guest posting if you have to, or rather having a wide range of sites to guest post for, just choose one or two spots to post regularly.
    The key is focus – unfortunately the internet has such a wide range of distractions that it’s easy to loose valuable time doing things that seem important at first, but really aren’t.
    Focus on writing and those tasks that will help you accomplish one of those goals at a time. Cut all the excess fat.
    That’s the only way I can keep all of my marbles from escaping.
    Hope this helps.
    .-= Kiesha @ We Blog Better´s last blog ..The Simplest Guest Post Contest Ever =-.

    Ben Reply:
    April 15th, 2010 at 9:21 pm

    Thanks Kiesha.

    I batch posts and schedule a lot of my content. So much actually that I have posts scheduled until the end of the month at frequency of one over other day of the week. This has really helped.

    You’re right I need to get focussed myself, something I tell others all the time.
    .-= Ben´s last blog ..A call to arms! Be Courageous =-.

    Matthew Needham Reply:
    April 15th, 2010 at 10:31 pm

    Thanks so much for your insights Kiesha. I think we are all struggling with taking too much on.

    - 15 April 2010 at 3:35 pm
  • Joshua Black | The Underdog Millionaire said:

    Ben,

    The big key here is that it’s not a race. When you are starting a small business on your own, it’s very important to create a 10,000 foot view as you have already done, but you then need to back ‘er up a little bit and and put a few of your toys away before you play with the next one.

    This is a problem that I had when I first started developing my information product business. I had a million ideas and worked on ALL of them at once, never finishing a thing. Three YEARS later, I finally learned the big secret…

    Multitasking is very unproductive. All you need to do is start with something small, because you are going to screw up a lot. Finish that and move on to the next thing. Pretty soon a few months will go by and you have a pile of stuff accompished.

    I think that you should work on them in the order that you have written. Start with the carrot (the free book) and move all the way to your school idea.

    Once you make it to your big product, you will have much more experience and it will be easier to finish.

    As for wondering where to find the time, there is always a little time here and there. Just use it wisely. If you really want to do this and you are REALLY passionate about it, the time will always be there.

    -Joshua Black
    The Underdog Millionaire
    .-= Joshua Black | The Underdog Millionaire´s last blog ..My Gift to You- Join The Underdog Millionaire Movement =-.

    Ben Reply:
    April 15th, 2010 at 9:29 pm

    Thanks Joshua. I think from everyone’s comments that I need to get focussed.

    I really appreciate you taking the time to offer your support.
    .-= Ben´s last blog ..A call to arms! Be Courageous =-.

    Matthew Needham Reply:
    April 15th, 2010 at 10:26 pm

    Hi Joshua, thanks for commenting. I fully agree with you that multi tasking doesn’t work. You need to complete one task before moving on to the next as you never complete anything. Like you I have a number of projects that I want to work on, but I only work on one project at a time.

    - 15 April 2010 at 5:51 pm
  • Jeff Rutowski said:

    Ben;

    Time management can be one of the biggest challenges that you will face whether you are employed full time or working for yourself.

    Maintaining focus is huge. There are a couple of things that you may find helpful.

    I find that actively using a calendar in a disciplined manner is critical to moving projects forward. I schedule 6 of the most important things that I have to do on a daily basis. For big projects like the ones that you describe, I have time set aside each day during which I work on those projects. I may schedule 40-45 minutes per project per day depending upon how demanding it is. I find that my focus and enthusiasm dissipates after about 45 minutes so I need to move on to something else.

    Also, I schedule time in my day for email–I try very, very hard not to check email outside of those scheduled times. Email can consume an hour before you realize it.

    For projects, I start with a mind map or an outline. I use FreeMind for the mind maps–it’s free software and easy to use. It helps me organize the flows and thoughts on the project. Then I’ll work through a bullet point outline and that becomes the roadmap for my daily work.

    Whenever I’m working on projects, I find that other things are always popping into my head and I feel like I need to write them down or I’ll forget them. So to help with that I use Stickies and Omnifocus.

    I use OmniFocus to capture ideas and tasks, etc. I can activate it with a ctrl-space, quickly type my thoughts and it’s saved until I have time to flush out the idea.

    I use Stickies more for things that I need to do right away–like a sticky on my computer.

    Ben Reply:
    April 18th, 2010 at 11:25 am

    Thanks Jeff – those are some really useful and helpful productivity tips
    .-= Ben´s last blog ..Friday Homework: Time to work on yourself =-.

    - 16 April 2010 at 3:29 pm
  • A Response to “So What’s Your Problem?” | Big Red Tomato Company said:

    [...] Firstly I’d like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. The past few weeks have been very frustrating for me as I’ve wrestled with which path to take. Your comments, suggestions, support and advice have been overwhelming. Thank you everyone who has taken the time to offer help and also to Matthew for allowing me to share my dilemma here on bigredtomatocompany.co.uk [...]

    - 20 April 2010 at 6:04 am