At the beginning of the year, I took some time to map out my blog post schedule. In my effort to blog with more regularity, I sat down and planned what days and which topics would be published all the way through to the end of June.
When it came to this week’s post, my schedule read the vague and daunting subject of, “Emotional Support in Small Businesses.” I looked at this topic and immediately said to myself, “I do not know where to begin with this one.”
So, I texted Leonie, complained to her that I had delivered an impossible topic to myself, and lamented that I just didn’t feel like writing this one. After a bit of back and forth, I was more at ease, relieved that my friend was there to make me feel better and that she understood how tough it was.
And though she didn’t know it, she gave me my article with that one small gesture.
This is what matters when someone is working on a small business. I am a one-woman show, though I often enlist the help of my husband, my family, and my friends to make my various endeavours a success. I am in the midst of seeing my hard work over the last few years flourish and take off, but I couldn’t have done any of it without the wonderful people in my life.
Having a great business plan and a quality product are two of the cornerstones to a small business’ success, but when you’re a sole proprietorship, support from the people around you is just as important.
Having this emotional support takes so much of the weight off my shoulders and I am eternally grateful for that. For my part, I will always try to pay it forward as much as possible, because this is how we all get there. If Leonie had been too focused on her own business that morning and said, “Can’t talk. I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” I would probably still be sitting at the keyboard, staring at a blank page and feeling stressed.
But being a fellow business owner, she knew what this meant to me, what it means to my business, and she did what she could to help. That’s all any of us can ask for and offer back.
So when your friend is sitting there, maybe with receipts in hand, maybe stressing over how to calculate their taxes, you might not be able to help with the math, but you can help by just talking things through with them.
It will make the difference.
