by Peter Crocker

If you take your business seriously, then it may be time to lighten up. Adding a dash of humour can be a seriously powerful and often underestimated tool.When you’re wading knee-deep through a prolonged business drama or a nightmare project, it’s all too easy to get sucked into a humourless quagmire. Even the daily routine of business can stealthily drain your personality and turn you into a robot.

(more…)

by Peter Crocker

Elite sports people often have a routine they go through before a game to help them get ‘in the zone’ to perform at their best. This powerful concept can apply to business professionals too.

Also referred to as being ‘in the flow’, ‘in the groove’, or simply ‘completely absorbed’, the concept has been studied by psychologists for many years. (more…)

by Steve Manning

Working for myself and being able to do it from home is fantastic. But there are some downsides of course, and one of them is a lack of motivation on the odd occasion.

The surf might be calling or the kids hollering, but you know you need to bunker down and keep working. After all, that thing called ‘income’ is kind of important!

So in this article, I’ll share 5 tips that I use to motivate myself when lack of motivation strikes.

(more…)

by Peter Crocker

Okay, so they’re easy to make and virtually impossible to keep, but with every New Year comes resolutions. At Flying Solo we put our heads together and came up with these 11 ½ practical resolutions for micro business owners.

Here comes 2009! Go and put the kettle on and get set to make some big promises.
(more…)

by Peter Crocker

The other day, I caught the end of a radio report on recent research into career paths and happiness. The researchers asked: “Are you doing what you’ve always wanted to do?” and, “Given the chance, would you change careers?”

Unsurprisingly, the answers showed that most people don’t end up doing what they really wanted to do as a kid.

My almost seven year old daughter recently told me that she wants to be a part-time vet, part-time teacher and part-time flower shop assistant. She’d previously wanted to be a chicken holder, nurse and singer.

(more…)

by Peter Crocker

So your customer rings and says, “I need something fast, cheap and cheerful, nothing fancy. Could you have a quick look?” Don’t believe it. This is false economy and the result can be less than satisfying for all involved.

Having done quite a few of these small ‘favour’ type jobs over the years, I can tell you that often they cause the biggest headaches.

Quickies are often identified by language such as: “throw something together”, “mock something up”, “just give us your top-line thoughts”, “take a quick squiz”, “while you’re here”, or, “don’t spend much time on it!”

(more…)

by Peter Crocker

The philosophy of “Do what you love!” and “Find your passion.” implies if you’re not bouncing out of bed every day with fire in the belly then you’re in the wrong career. But seriously, are we chasing the impossible dream?

Whether you run your own business or work for someone else, I believe it’s unrealistic to think you can truly ‘love’ your job. (more…)

by Peter Crocker

When talk turns to starting your own business, there’s never a shortage of someone to tut-tut to themselves… “Most small businesses fail you know.” “Never go into business with family.” “Don’t borrow from friends.” “Don’t work with your partner.” And so it goes on.

True, it’s quite possible that it won’t work out. So based on this logic I’ll go one step further and suggest that you should never start your own business with anyone, never lend or borrow money and, definitely, never get romantically involved with anyone, let alone a business partner – because there’s a real risk of disaster. (more…)

by Peter Crocker

As soloists, we tend to have a fair bit of influence over what jobs we take on, and what jobs we let through to the keeper. This is one of soloism’s great attractions.

But deciding if a certain job is suitable isn’t necessarily easy. For me, it’s generally about the people. If you’re working with great people then the specifics of the job become less important. (more…)

by Peter Crocker

The one fundamental attribute you need to run a successful business as a soloist is to be good at what you do – good, but not necessarily great.

Yes, you need to be good enough that people will pay for your services or products, but you don’t necessarily need to be the leader in your field or a guru at your craft. (more…)