I reckon that some people think I spend the day online, at my machine, waiting for stuff to do to come into my Inbox – at least my family does! I’ve always tried to be as responsive as possible with clients, and always will, totally, but as a business grows, so do the amount of things that need to be done, and the rate at which you can bring on board new people is never the same as the rate at which you can delegate work – there’s always a lag which you need to stump through.
Tonight is a case in point – It’s 23:24pm and I should have been in bed an hour and a half ago. I’ve got a colleague on some much needed holiday, so I’m working his load as well as my own, and frankly I’ve found it tough – there are just so many balls to juggle. Anwyays, I’m whining now – the point is that I’ve worked this evening, so that tomorrow I can be responsive and not have to spend 3 hours getting the better part of 50 emails out before I can be producive.
The hard part was that today was all about phone calls and meetings and followups. Call first thing, meeting for 2.5 hours, some emails to follow up on call and meetings, working lunch for 2 hours, project communication, multiple IM conversations, resourcing issues, for another 2.5 hours. Day over. House hunting, dinner with brother, evening in front of laptop on floor (no couches) doing more emails and catch up.
My biggest challenge today is that I have to juggle meetings with actual billable work. Meetings you can’t bill for generally, whilst billable work is what keeps projects ticking over, and cashflow coming in. Which one would you prioritise as more important? And what is your role within your business?
Anwyays, rant rant rant – I knew what I was getting in for, and I wouldn’t swop a second for something else, ‘cos I absolutely love what I do, and I think I’m at a point now where we have a great group of clients and client work (we’re going to do an office warming for them soon), and most importantly, a team of really cool, great people (ninjas).
I guess today, just like any other day, brought it’s own challenges, and I’m finding them a challenge! 
Anyone for a cuppa de-caf coffee?
