Do you feel your business activities allow you to be flexible enough to promote a satisfying balance between work and your family? Do you have any special techniques you use to create quality time with your family that you'd like to share with others?
I have a very tight, but well organized schedule. I realized at the beginning that time management and prioritizing were very important. One of my top priorities is my family and I try to work my schedule around them. Sometimes that means I’m working at midnight or getting up at 4 in the morning to complete a project, and I’ll do that. It frees me up to be available in the evenings and I also take off Fridays with my son. I usually work part of Saturday, which gives my husband time with Jake.
How many people are currently involved in the day-to-day operation of your business?
BeYohnd is made up of me and contractors that I call on when necessary. Kevin helps me with the financial side of the business and is a great sounding board.
I depend on top-notch equipment and excellent resources. I take time to maintain and service my equipment and computers. I’ve built a network of reliable resources that I pull from for printing, supplies, manpower, etc. Good, reliable equipment and resources mean that I can take on more projects and devote time to what it important to my clients - one-on-one communication and service.
Is your business run completely from home? Do you have an office in your home?
My business is run completely from a large room in our house. It fits perfectly because that space is open and unused anyway. I love working out of my home. All my equipment is networked and I have a great workflow.
About how much time would you say you spend in an average week running your business?
Do I count all the time I spend awake at night too excited to sleep? It depends on how hard I want to work, and I really mean that. I have a lot of repeat work and it can also depend on the time of year. I get busy in December when people want to have projects out at the beginning of the year, i.e., the fitness center that wants to sign up all the weight loss candidates, and at the start of school when the nonprofit fundraising activities start. I’ve doubled my business this last year and become better at optimizing available resources. I expect I’ll double it again this year because I’m getting better and better at multi-tasking projects. I love what I do and love the challenges because every one has taught me an invaluable lesson.
What was it that enticed you to start this particluar type of business?
I was looking for something that would help even out the workload. Working on a marketing project for a client can be very time intensive. So now, I have two types of clients: those that I’m working more one-on-one with who need help putting together their piece from concept to design to print, deciding on a target market and purchasing or developing a list, automated bulk processing and drop off at the postoffice; and those that have a complete project who just want to use my indicia, have the mail processed and dropped off at the postoffice. Obviously, the latter client is less time consuming and is more of an in-and-out type project.
This works really well for me because I need both types of clients. Knowing myself, I need the challenge and stimulation of working with a client to come up with their campaign and then, on the other hand, sometimes it’s nice just to push a job out the door. I am well suited to this business.
Is your website a substantial business driver for you? Did you create and do you maintain your business website yourself or have you hired someone to handle it for you?
I did put together my website which has not been a huge source of business for me…yet. The business I’ve gotten from it is from folks who went to it as a result of seeing it referenced in an article. It could and should be a business driver especially from the international market and for list sales. My marketing plan this year includes some website ideas.
Besides the web, what other marketing tools do you use?
My business has been built on networking, my activity in various organizations and, obviously, direct mail.
