| Getting organised
Start on the road to creating your own business. Lynne Franks talks about getting started. Preparing to start a business is like planting a garden. We have to nurture seeds, or ideas, while they germinate, and we need to know what to do to allow them to bloom into a healthy plant, or enterprise. Before any garden can be seeded, the ground has to be prepared. The stones and weeds need clearing, the earth has to be turned and the nutrients introduced. Starting a business is the same way. You have to clear the clutter from your life, internally and externally. You have to create the right environment to be able to grow your vision. You're about to make some major decisions that could affect the rest of your life. But until you've created some clean space, pulled out those weeds and removed those stones, you'll never really find the clarity of mind and focus that you'll need to move forward. For many of us, space and time are probably two of the hardest qualities to find in our busy twenty-first century lives. My own natural state is chaos, with millions of ideas and thoughts racing round my head. That's all very healthy during the creative process. But before I start a new project, I find it crucial to clear away as much of the internal and external clutter in my life as I can. Your desk area Clutter can come in many shapes and forms, and it's amazing how easy it is to accumulate old circulars, last year's Christmas cards and magazines you've already read. Often 'preparing the ground' is simply a matter of dealing with these bits of paper that we put aside because we're sure they are to be important one day. Why not go through all your old files, letters and junk mail right now and throw away everything that you know you'll never look at again? Then, organise what's left. Put papers into identifiable files (I always use brightly coloured ones, as they encourage me to be organised.). Put all your owner's manuals together - I've lost some important ones in the past - and be ruthless with the magazine and newspaper references you've been collecting for years. Spend an evening going through all those old press cuttings and throw out the ones youve no use for. Carefully file away only those articles that you may actually need as references for your proposed enterprise. Sort out your financial paperwork, too. Put pending bills in an accessible place, and file away your old chequebooks and bank statements. Now that you're thinking of becoming self-employed, start getting used to organising your receipts and bills in an orderly way. I'm sure you're getting the picture. Start with a grand sweep of all the paper clutter you'll never need again, giving a thought to the poor trees that are sacrificed to give us this overload of documents and information. Then start with your books. The shelves they're taking up space on will be needed for your new enterprise, and besides, clearing away obsolete materials is very cleansing for the mind. But what good does it do to straighten out your files and bookshelves when you have no quiet place to call your own? How can you focus on a vision of your new enterprise when you've got young children or noisy teenagers invading your space? It's important, however small the home you may have, for your family or housemates to support you in keeping a clear area for yourself. If you have got a large enough home, dedicate one room to your SEED vision. It's so important to create a living, vital space that reflects your energy. We're like plants. We need good space, light, plenty of water and fresh air. And if you have a window with a view, make sure you can see out when you're working. We need the appropriate environment where we can grow mentally, physically and spiritually. Read more from Lynne Franks' SEED Handbook: the feminine way to create business |