Welcome
back to my blog series on starting and running a quilt pattern business. If you
have missed any of this series, be sure to check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
Last week, I talked about the commitment to starting a business. First, I hit a
little upon the research that should be done before starting, then the
financial and time commitments that may be required. This week I want to focus
on what my average day looks like and the type of work I am doing.
Now
to start with, not every day is the same; it depends on what projects I have
going on and what stage any given pattern is in. However, there are a lot of
things that require my attention every day, which allows me to keep to a reasonably similar schedule every day.
On
most days, I try to get up between 6:00 and 6:30 am. Anna, one of my dogs, usually
is my alarm clock because she is generally getting restless by then. Now, the
first thing I do is get myself up and on the treadmill for my morning run. The
treadmill is new to my house. Before that, I would try to get up even earlier
and head to the gym for my exercise. However, that did not always work out, and
that is a story that does not belong as part of this blog. Anyway, I find that running
first thing in the morning wakes me up and clears my mind for the day’s
activity.
After
my morning workout, I am on my computer for at least the next several hours.
This time is spent handling the business side of things, answering any emails,
filling any orders, and anything else that needs my attention. I use this time
also to focus on developing social media presents.
After
taking care of the business side of things, it is time to get to work. Of
course, work for me is creating quilt patterns. That does not mean that I go
straight into the design studio and start sewing quilts.
My days can vary depending
on where I am in a specific project. Yes, some days, I will go into my studio
and start sewing to work on a display quilt. Typically, I spend most of the first
half of the day working on the computer writing pattern instructions, figuring
out cutting charts, creating graphics for the patterns. I also work on any
other elements that will go into the finished quilt pattern. If I was to take a
guess, I only spend about 20% of my time sewing and making quilts. The rest of
the time is spent on the computer.
Typically
around 5:00 pm or so, my husband will text me saying that he is on the bus heading
home from work. This is a 90+ minute commute depending on traffic, so I usually
continue working for at least a little while depending on the project, then go and
relax for a while until he gets home. Dinner is often a simple affair, and my
husband enjoys cooking, so I usually leave that to him. Then after dinner, we
both relax on the couch and binge-watch whatever current TV series or sporting
event catches our attention. It is usually about this time I either pull out a
quilt that needs the binding completed or my laptop and continues work on
pattern development. This lasts until bed.
On the weekends, the schedule is not much different, besides a little house
cleaning, food shopping, and general chores that need to be done to keep a
house functioning. Of course, on the weekends, my husband is usually home and
tries to help out where he can with varying levels of success. All told, I typically
devote several hours on Saturdays and Sundays working just to say on top of
everything and keep to the schedules I have set for myself.
Now,
if I were to add up my hours for an average week, I would average anywhere between
10 to 12 hours a day—an additional 7 to 8 hours a day on the weekends. This
adds up to an average workweek of 64 to 76 hours a week. Sometimes even more,
but rarely less.
Now,
again this works well for me and my current lifestyle. Everyone needs to take a
close look at their lifestyles and determine what would work best for them. I
have heard of people that run a small business from their homes set fixed work
hours to keep the business from takeover their lives. They will only start
working at a set time in the morning and will quit at a set time at night.
Outside of those hours, they will not read emails or accept phone calls related
to the business. There will always be more tasks that need to be done than time
to do them. That is where good time management comes in. There are thousands of
references devoted to time management in the bookstores and on-line, so I will
not get into the details. The only thing I will highlight is that it is up to
you to decide to set your hours and how much time you spend working. So give it
some thought, because if you don’t, you may find your business taking over your
life.
Well,
that is all for this week. Join me next week to cover one of the unexpected
benefits of running a business.
See you next Tuesday,
Tina
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