In 2016 more than ever, people are looking for jobs that offer flexibility. Whether they want to be able to leave early to pick up the kids from school, work from home as much as possible, or even just work on a per-project basis, I totally get it!
And ya know what? Wine Shop at Home literally offers all that and more.
Here’s the deal: this year my family moved from Florida to Virginia. Since my husband works full time for the military, it was my job to get there before him and oversee the renovation of our new home so it would be ready for the family.
I don’t mind doing it at all – and in fact, I’m pretty good at it. This is the 9th time I’ve renovated a house, and for the most part things have gone really smoothly in the past.
Not this time. This time, renovating the house was like trying to give a cat a bath with one hand tied behind my back (okay maybe not quite that bad, but close!).
Flexibility Was Key for Success
Everything that could have gone wrong, did. Really. This house has completely occupied all my spare time for months and months AND MONTHS.
Every single week I had to fly up to check up on the process, oversee the work being done, hire, fire and troubleshoot when things went haywire. Which they did. Constantly.
Midway through the process I realized something: if I held a “normal,” 9-5 job, there’s no way this would have worked. Truly, it was stressful enough just having to run back and forth – but knowing that my business could survive despite the chaos and stress, and knowing that I would still have a reliable source of income? That was incredible.
How many jobs can you think of that are truly that flexible?
How I Managed My Wine Shop Business During a Stressful Time
Before this process started, I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to be able to spend quite as much time on my business as I usually like to. Anticipating the challenge, I took a few steps to make sure that things wouldn’t completely fall apart.
Here’s how I did it:
Clarity the bare necessities. I asked myself, “What are the most important priorities?” The first, of course, was to maintain enough of a personal business to make my numbers. I also knew it was super important to be available for the consultants who needed my support, whether that meant setting aside time to have a weekly phone call or email support; whatever they needed. With our business structure, when one of my team mates makes a sale my bottom line will benefit. So if they’re taken care of, it helps me, too.
Set aside active recruiting. Over the last few months, I haven’t been bringing on new consultants and I let my Wine Club members have a couple months to themselves (absence makes the heart grow fonder! Well… actually, that’s usually not a great motto in sales, but when you’re really in a pinch, it’s a fine justification).
Hosts get priority. During this time, I did have a few tastings scheduled, and I knew that my hosts would need to hear from me. So I made it a point to stay in touch. I knew I couldn’t drop off the face of the planet, because if I did, chances are they would have followed suit. Along the same lines, I knew it was still a priority to reach out to the customers who like to purchase wine from me directly. I wanted to stay on their radar.
Honestly, I can’t brag about a Million Dollar Month, but I earned enough money to keep things going, and that was the whole point.
Gotta love working for Wine Shop and their flexible business model!
So, if you’re taking a little break from your business, maybe to have a baby or do some traveling, it can absolutely still be there for you when you come back. Just make sure you handle all the important pieces first, and then, go enjoy your flexibility!
Would you like to learn more about how Wine Shop at Home can make your flexible job dreams come true? Let’s talk. Click HERE to connect with me directly and let’s get the ball rolling!