How to Lose $30,000 in 30 Days and Still Be Married

And, it was probably a lot more!

As an 18-year business owner, I have a pretty good idea what to expect for new sales every month of the year. My industry certainly has seasonal waves that can be predicted. December is one of three top months of the year for me in number of sales. In the past 30 days, I literally threw $30,000 (or more!) out the window in lost sales. Want to know how?

I got sick…TWICE…in the same month!

That’s right. A mere cold that my daughter brought home at the beginning of the month turned into an aggressive chest cold. I have had these colds before and stock prescription cough medicine on-hand for just those occasions. But, this round was different.

No matter what I did, that cough stayed dug in like a Rocky Mountain tick on an Irish sheep dog!

I was taking enough drugs to make a small rhino stumble, so I was only good for a cumulative couple of hours working per day. The leads came in. The proposals went out, late, if at all. Sales were lost…at least $20,000 worth.

One of the challenges of being a long-time sole proprietor is that there will always be that one function in your business that cannot simply be covered by someone else. For me, that’s the sales component. I’m in charge of deciding what projects and what clients to accept. I’m in charge assigning a value to those projects and creating the contracts to make them happen.

If I’m out for the count, no one is there to fill the sales spot.

It Was a Good Run!

Before this month (December 2013), for the first time in probably 10 years, I went almost an entire year without having a severe cold/flu or stomach bug. In the past month, the last month of 2013, I’ve had BOTH!

A week after my cough finally let me get back to work, Christmas was here. The sales opportunities were already lost and everyone was in Christmas mode. It seemed like more people than usual decided to take the week off. So, I too decided to take it easy so that I could make a big push for new business the day after Christmas. I’ve closed more than $20K between Christmas and New Year’s before, so $10K would be an easy, yet only partial, recovery.

It was a great few days of skiing, relaxing and memory making with family.

Myyyy how plans change

Some more family dropped in for Christmas Day dinner. I was talking to them about how I had been so sick a few weeks earlier. They replied with how sick they both were (mother and son) just last week. Thank goodness we were all over our illnesses!

Wrong!

The day after Christmas, it all started. My brother called and said he was up all night throwing up and thought it was the beef roast we had for dinner. I got a late start with my “big push” because I was just feeling groggy for some reason. My son was sick by 4pm later that day. He was up all night vomiting. I was soon to follow suit. My wife next and then the last hold out, my 9yo daughter. No, you don’t want me to post pictures!! It wasn’t pretty.

Almost out of the woods

Today as I write this, it’s Tuesday, New Year’s Eve. Yesterday was my first day back in public. I’m pretty sure I’m still contagious since the people that gave us the stomach bug on Christmas night at dinner felt well enough to attend at the time…and we still contracted the illness.

If I have another month like that, I’m simply going to have to turn off all of my websites and just go out of business for good and move into a box under a bridge somewhere.

NO! I won’t do it! I refuse! But, what can I do differently? After all, I wash my hands 20 times a day. I drink tons of water. Exercise. Heck, I’m a home-based web marketer! Sometimes I’ll go days without being in a crowd of people. There must be more to it.

I’m going to try three things in 2014 to stay healthy:

1. Supplement — One of my long-time clients is a nationally known pharmacist and pharmacist trainer. He’s used a supplement that he claims has kept him free from illness for more than six years now. At the risk of being labeled a spammer, I won’t tell you his product or website. My point is none of us are getting the right nutrients we need in our bodies from the bad OR good food we eat. We simply have to find a supplement of some kind that works for us. I’ve found one that makes sense to me and I suggest you do the same.
2. Sleep — Another one of my clients is a sleep therapist. I’m going to put his sleep method to use (no use of pills or hypnosis) and start getting a full night’s sleep. I’m sure my 20 years of 4 to 6 hours of sleep per night has impacted my ability to fight off germs. Age has a way of doing that. So, I need to change my sleep habits and be able to sleep when I want to instead of always working like a dog until midnight or later and then waking up at 5 or 6am to start all over again.
3. Succumb to vaccination — I would make a terrible drug addict. The smallest doses effect me more than most. With that known, it should be no surprise that I would wait until the last minute to take any medication; especially something as proactive as flu shots. But, I’m going to do it; I’m going to get a flu shot. It won’t help me much this season, but at least I will have gone through the motions so that I’ll know what to expect next year. Even if they don’t prevent you from getting the germ, flu shots do limit how bad the illness will get for you. That’s worth it enough for me.

So, those are the three steps I’m going take this year. I’ll let you know the results as the year goes on.

But what does all of this have to do with the rest of my title, “and Still Be Married?”

Haa, well, lose $30K in a month and see what your wife says! Fortunately, I have a very loving wife and family that support my successes and failures. And, we are all great nurses to each other when we’re sick. We’re all looking forward to making up that loss in 2014…and I have as much time as I need according to my wife, “as long as it happens in January!” (tongue in cheek)

My questions for you are these: How much will it cost YOU next time you are sick? What are YOU going to do differently to reduce your illness potential?

Being sick for a week or two might not have such a quantitative result in your bank account like it impacts mine, but, maybe it does and you just haven’t realized it. For those who understand that “time is money,” I’m betting you’ll agree with me that “healthy is money” too. So, stand with me this year and let’s eliminate that $30,000 loss by staying healthy!

Have a Happy New Year and a great start to 2014.