One of my old bosses had a favorite phrase that he used on me often, particularly when he thought I was demonstrating too much youthful exuberance. “Loftis!” he’d say, “this is a marathon, not a sprint!” My cocky rejoinder was typically, “Well, yeah, but you’re always asking me to sprint this marathon.”

This has been a really energizing time for me. I don’t have a routine yet, but for the last month I’m averaging about 6-8 hours a day at the computer and on the phone and 6-8 hours a day in the shop. I’m tired, but ‘good tired.’ I’ve got enough variety in my tasks that I’m getting to do lots of things I really enjoy (creating, figuring stuff out) which makes it bearable when I have to do the stuff that is painful (accounting, administrivia).

Unfortunately, I’m having a really hard time turning my brain off at night. I lie in bed and keep laundry-listing all the stuff that needs to get done. No matter how much I work, there are a ton of things I’m not doing… and a bunch of things I’m not doing well. I think that’s the nature of a mom and pop shop.  For example, I’m having a hard time reaching out to and ‘selling’ the concept of what I’m trying to do to other artisans. I’m procrastinating on that very important task, so it must be something I’m afraid of doing. I’m honestly not sure why.  Researching and starting to spend time and money on search engine optimization is another big one. It makes my eyes glaze over just thinking about it.

I’m getting several helpful pointers a day from friends and family, things they think I should be doing, things they think I should do differently.  Many times they are right.  They are all well-meaning, these F&F, and I try to take their counsel as such. I try not to say things like, “I’m just one guy here! I’m doing the best I can!” Sometimes I slip up on that part…

I’m very grateful to those of you who have been spreading the word about Lonestar Artisans. Almost all of my business so far has been from social networking, so that is an incredibly important thing. For those of you keeping score, since 11/1/2011, I’ve had about a dozen cutting board orders and 4 leads on custom furniture projects. Not exactly going to Vegas on those earnings, but it’s a start!

Ok back to the shop. I’ve got a couple of hours of sanding to do tonight.