Business Lessons by Way of the Kitchen

It was a wickedly snowy day today, here in New Hampshire.  It was a good day to stay in and make all manner of yummy homemade foods in between the acts of reading instructional materials for the business.  So, that is what I did, along with my roommate.

Now my roommate and I have, between us, engaged in some very interesting life experiences, to put the matter mildly.  While we sliced, chopped, sauteed, mixed, baked and stewed, we got to chattering a bit about our experiences back in the day, as women do.

Now, lost in the moment, I just started to cook pretty much on a loving autopilot, as I've been doing the cooking thing since I was old enough to see over the top of the stove, and so completely failing to realize at first, that my roommate, who hasn't had the benefit of either my years of experience, nor my practical instruction at the art of cooking, was losing some of the love for what she was doing.

When I finally realized that, I promptly, and hopefully not too abruptly, stepped in, solved the problem, showed her how to address the problem, explained why she had run into trouble in the first place, and how to avoid it going forward.

From there, she and I started talking about how sad it is, that some folks just don't have some of the necessary survival skills to make it in the world.  At the time, we were talking about basic culinary skills, but, wouldn't you know it, from there, the wheels in my head began to turn.

My business, still in its formative stages, originally started off as practical instruction about the basics of business and relationships, with a slightly sarcastic edge.  I can do sarcastic and edgy (and how!), when the occasion calls for it.  However, there was something about the sarcastic approach for the business that just didn't sit right with me.

 I know that I have never appreciated being responded to in a sarcastic manner by someone when I've had questions about a given thing, and I only rarely see the point in inflicting that sort of behavior upon anyone else.  Why I agreed to the sarcasm thing in the first place--well, it seemed like a good idea at the time it was initially posited.

It dawned on me then, standing in the middle of the kitchen, that what I wanted to accomplish in my business, could be much more effectively communicated with love, respect, kindness and a gentle sense of humor, and that what I wanted to communicate, had to be dropped down a couple of levels, back to the very basics, and built up from there.

I rather uncomfortably realized, too, that I simply did not want to do this by myself.  I could definitely use another set of hands, but also sadly, yet radically accepted that I might not get this other set of hands straightaway, if at all.

By this time, the active part of the cooking was done, so, with all the fresh realizations in my head, I started reading the manuals for putting together an Internet business, and started to put the information to work.  But not before emailing the person I'd want to be my second set of hands and at least respectfully giving them the chance to help.

Until next time..peace.