After 5 months on my entrepreneur adventure with Debbie Allen, she sent me an email saying I had been nominated for her Rising Star Award. Could I come to her next Highly Paid Expert event in Los Angeles? How could I resist? I would be…
The middle of 2014 was a difficult time for me both personally and professionally. In addition to serious work aggravations, my aging father became seriously ill, and I had to fly between Seattle and Indiana to help care for him. I know that work and…
With effective tool maintenance, one can easily improve the life of the power tools and keep them in optimum shape for a long period of time. There are some simple tips and practices one can follow in order to do so.
In this article, we are going to take a look at some of the best ways through which you can maintain your power tools. Besides that, we would also recommend our readers to go through Power Tools Reviews and Pricing 2021 before they head out to but power tools.
One of the most common reasons why power tools breakdown is overheating. As these tools are built for long working hours, most of the users do not pay enough attention to the issue of overheating. This is why while using any power tool, you need to make sure that you provide the equipment enough time to cool down.
Secondly, to keep your power tools in perfect share and condition for a long time, you should clear them with the help of compressed air and lubricate them properly before you finish your work for the day. In terms of lubrication, you can check out the user manual as well.
When it comes to using tools like drills and saws, you need to make sure that the drill bit and the blades of the tools that you are using are properly sharpened, allowing the blade to function properly without any extra pressure on the motor. Moreover, it is also important that you are using the right drill bits or blades with your equipment.
Besides that, the calibration of the power tools also plays a vital role in the overall efficiency of the tool. You can again go through the user manual in order to learn about the calibration process as well as the time period after which your need to perform the calibration of the tool.
In the end, if you are not going to use the power tool for a long period of time, storing it properly becomes crucial. Using tool cabinets for storage will ensure that the tools are safe from moisture and humidity which can damage the tools over a period of time.
Yes and no. Perhaps the best answer ever, right?
Tradition, university classes, and most experts will tell you that it is a necessity to have a complete business plan before you start a business. I’ve been asked this many times as well and it is indeed a good question.
Having a goal in mind is a must. You need to be able to answers these questions before you start: “What need am I filling?†or “How am I going to create sales from this business?†I’m a big fan of Bobb Biehl’s “Masterplanning Arrow.†Bobb has created a entire business out of advising organizations on how to be strategic and fulfill a goal. His books and materials are worth the read, and the Master Planning arrow is a simple but profound concept.
On the right hand side of the arrow in the direction where the arrow is pointing, answer the questions above: What need am I filling? What am I deeply burdened by and uniquely qualified to do? On the left hand side of the arrow, you list ideas. In-between you fill in, from left to right, your milestones, roadblocks, 1 month goals, 1 year goals, 5 year goals, 20 year goals until you get to your ultimate need. You should always start filling in the arrow from right to left and work backwards from the big picture to the practical action items and then ideas.
When do you need a full business plan? When you need someone to read it: An investor, a colleague, a bank, a partner. I’ve wasted many hours on writing 30 page business plans at the start of an idea only to find a flaw in my own plan, or the inability to sell or materialize the first stage of the plan. I quickly learned that a lot of the leg work should be done at the strategic level before zeroing in on the details. That said, there are many times when a comprehensive plan is necessary.
As an entrepreneur, I would recommend starting with a Master planning arrow or something of that nature in order to get the concept for your business in writing. Different methodologies include a pyramid, mind mapping, etc. Do whatever works best for you. Figure out the need, the solution, the moving parts, and how you need to get there. Spend the time researching, talking, thinking and perhaps even testing or pre-selling the plan before you go very far with it. Once you have the overall plan in mind, then build the “business planâ€. There are lot of great templates available for free or for cheap online that will give your business plan a professional look and feel as well as walk you through the details of how to flush it out.
Most of my friends are baby boomers, and I fall at the tail end of that generation. As I looked closer, I realized that at my age, my friends had also started to look for a new career and lifestyle alternatives and most of their decisions led them down the entrepreneurial path.
My closest friend is in energy worker in addition to being a full time social worker. About 10 years ago, I encouraged her to seeing private clients in addition to her day job. As of today, she has a thriving word of mouth clientele, and will be on the verge of going full time as an entrepreneur soon. She let her business grow organically, at the pace that she was ready for.
I have another friend who has been an entrepreneur for most of her life but chose to refocus her energies from being a business consultant to writing romance novels. I reached out to her and found her motivations for her new career were about using her vast well of creativity in a new way. She has built a thriving business as a self- published author, using her well honed business skills to produce, publish, and market her books. She was quite the inspiration for me, and still is. Listening to her forced me to open up my brain and consider new possibilities for my future. After all, she went from being a business consultant to a romance novelist! She also told me how much fun she has speaking with other romance novelist on how many synonyms they can come up with for human genitalia…
I was beginning to see that a new life awaited for me if I could open my mind to it. There were definitely ways to transition into entrepreneurship, using creativity and intellect, and I knew I could do it too. But what would I do? What could I offer? What problem could I solve for others?
I knew I could do and become something else, but I didn’t know what. I’ve never been a specialist, but I am an awesome generalist. I’ve consulted an eight different industries, held positions in every corporate department you can think of, and a long time ago, I was one of the core group of people who helped design a global package distribution system that you probably use frequently. Let’s just say it’s difficult to put a label on me. The two best comments I received about my abilities are †you simplify complex problems “, and †you get s*** done “, and finally, “people trust you “. It’s hard to put a job description together for me, but I do love those comments about me.
I wasn’t sure specifically what I could do, but I just knew I wanted to do more of it, and work for myself, so I could create a career that was ultimately very freeing for me.
I did have some trepidation to get over while going down the entrepreneur path. And some days I still deal with it. It wasn’t the general riskiness of getting into my own business. It was getting over the disappointment of a previous entrepreneurial attempt that went sour.
About 20 years ago, I left a large consulting firm to move across country and start a business as an independent consultant. I was very excited, especially when 3 consulting contracts came forward the first week I was in business. This is another example of the Universe and the Law of Attraction making a step toward me as I took a risk in a new venture.
A former employer encouraged me to accept a long term contract with them. I would support their West Coast customers and business partners, and I was relieved to have the long-term work. It provided a consistent paycheck for both me and my then husband.
Company X was happy with my work and supported me for several years. But I became complacent and didn’t spend much time creating other business relationships that would support my business. I made excuses. I was too tired from working, I’d do it later, etc., but basically I was scared and didn’t know anything about sales, marketing, networking, or creating opportunities. I was a good worker bee, but didn’t take ownership of my business and run it like a CEO.
One day, company X disappeared. My contact no longer answered my phone calls or my emails. And my entire income dried up.
I was scared. I tried to get work as a part-time consultant, but the economy was in difficult shape and jobs were scarce.
At my all-time low, I got a job as an executive assistant at a consulting firm. I worked hard, proved myself, and became longtime friends with the women who hired me. That job started my next 10 years in full time jobs, where I continued to prove myself, build my income and security.
Those 11 years in my own business taught me a lot, and scared me a lot when it came to an end. I thought I’d failed not just in business, but had failed myself.
But I am in a different place now where I’m truly ready to be a successful entrepreneur and face those things that scare me. There’s more at stake now, but I like many of my fellow entrepreneurs of a certain age, am ready to take the plunge.
