I had the pleasure of talking with Angela Mattson whose business helps other business owners stay organized. She has more than 50 “how-to” videos on You Tube. Take a look at this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU40qlr6fYs
What is it that you do?
I help business owners get out of “overwhelm,” and I do that by having them look at how they’re using their time, how their offices support or hinder they’re use of time, we look at the systems and processes they use to get their work done or to delegate to a team.
What is your background?
I finished my BA degree in 2002 and I still didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, so I got a mentor in the business community. She helped me figure out what I wanted to be. When she saw that I wanted freedom, flexibility and variety she said, “You need to start a business,” so I did.
Why did you decide on this particular business?
I grew into this business over the last 10 years, paying attention to what I was good at. Since my degree was in organizational communications, I was able to talk with people, be with them where they were and help them look at things differently. I’m also very organized and I think in a real systematic way. My super power is my ability to organize anything, so that’s how I ended up with this business. Once I decided on this business I was able to take a class through the Kaufmann Foundation. It was a six-week class and they laid the foundation for what to think about, how to operate the business, marketing, so that was my foundation.
What surprised you about being a business owner?
I did not realize for a long time that business ownership equals sales. Had I realized it earlier I would have taken sales training much earlier on.
Would you say that’s your biggest challenge?
It’s not my biggest challenge anymore, because I did invest heavily in learning how to do sales and marketing well. My biggest challenge is to keep a work-life balance because I really like what I do and I could spend five days a week and two weekend days working on my business. So I make it a point to be careful not to work all the time, to close my computer at 6:00 p.m. or 7:00 p.m., to shut down early on Friday and go away for the weekend where I don’t take the computer with me. I do this about three weekends a month—we’re gone, we’re out of town.
So that helps you stay focused, fresh, motivated. Would you say that’s the advice you would give to business owners?
It is. I have found working with hundreds of business owners in the last 10 years that taking time off to not think about work actually benefits work more than you would ever imagine, so taking time to rest and recharge, and pray does amazing things for your brain.
What would be your goals for the future?
I have written two books (“How Your Disorganization is Stealing Your Time, Attention and Health” and “How to Organize Your Five Essential Business Systems”) and I would like to write more books and speak to more business owners on a bigger platform, rather than doing lots of one-to-one work. I’m looking at how to scale up to do one-to-many, so more teaching, more writing, more speaking.
Any advice for prospective business owners?
I think business ownership is the biggest self-improvement that someone can do, because you really learn about your limitations, your self-limiting beliefs and you have to burst through them in order to go out and sell what you’re selling, market effectively and work with clients in any challenging situation. It means huge growth individually.
