On 5 Months of Biz-Building {A Trail Mix Tale}

Your entrepreneurial mix: is it satisfying? Is it sustaining you?

This weekend marks the start of my yearly beach vacation with my boyfriend and his parents. I am more than ready for some surf, sand, and what the incomparable Jen Louden calls a “digital sabbatical.”

You see, this will be the first getaway I’ve had in five years where I won’t have to have my cell phone duct taped to me {slight exaggeration} at all times. In years’ past, I even felt guilty about going to play in the waves, because when I did, that was when the girls back at the shop called me with a Point of Sale glitch or a rare but ugly customer meltdown.

I want this vacation to be about the following: chilling out, breathing more deeply, noticing nature, feeling small and in my rightful place {rather than too frantically important}, soaking in Vitamin D {don’t worry — I’ve got sunscreen}, making preliminary notes on the novel I’ll be writing this November, and most importantly, open heartedly strategizing for the future of Abby Kerr Ink.

On Business Planning & Trail Mix Recipe Writing

Sometimes I wonder how far out other people plan their businesses. Five-year plan? Ten-year plan? Even a one-year plan? Admittedly, as I sit here typing this, I’m only sure what I’m doing tomorrow and that’s because I put it on a To Do list.

The first 5.5 months of Abby Kerr Ink has been like making trail mix.

Are you with me? Imagine that my blog posts are like peanuts, my YouTube videos are like raisins, and my Facebook updates are like…banana chips?

I’ve been experimenting with all sorts of sweet and salty, flavorful components, trying to find the perfect recipe to sustain myself for the long, upward hike — knowing that every entrepreneur likes their recipe a little differently. Some like more nuts and others go heavier on the M&M’s. {My entrepreneurial trail mix has M&M’s. Yellow No. 6 be damned.}

So I know I can’t just duplicate someone else’s recipe. I’ve got to find what sustains me, what gives me energy, what I can sell for a darn good price, and what I can share with my right people. {The mix has got to taste good to them, too!}

So, these first 5.5 months have felt sort of…snack-y. I’ve been grazing, subsisting, never truly feeling satisfied but taking in enough sustenance to fuel me for the next leg.

Now I want to really eat.

I want to cook great meals. I want to plan seasonal menus. I want to have something wonderful waiting back at the camp for other creative entrepreneurs who are coming in off their hike. I want to go for five Michelin stars in the “roughing it food” category.

All entrepreneurially speaking, of course.

I’ve been hiking a while. I’m hungry. I want to get my entrepreneurial grub on.

How about you? Are you ready to kick your business up to the next level? What entrepreneurial food are you craving?