The 25th Hour of the Day
By Mary Aviles
You’ve heard it before. The life of an entrepreneur is a vortex of chaos and extreme multi tasking.
New challenges dawn each day. A blog feed address needs to change since it’s still not working. A liquor license is stalled in a seemingly infinite approval process. The electric company is digging up the sidewalk in front of the new storefront two days before the soft opening. There’s an unexpected opportunity that absolutely MUST be explored, but with absolutely NO time to do so.
Most hard-working people feel the pressure to multi task, but entrepreneurs have to bend time. They have to fit the scenarios above into the cracks of their lives.
In between getting the kids to school.
On their lunch hour from their day and/or night job—the work that’s paying the bills for now.
Late at night, when everyone else is finally asleep…and the laundry’s finally done…and the notifications have died down…and it’s finally quiet enough to think.
Every business owner we know is trying to make magic in the 25th hour of their day.
Business ownership is isolating. At first—and sometimes for a long time—there’s an idea alone. We’re head down, chipping away at the day-to-day, well aware of the gaps and endless list of to-dos. Self care feels perpetually unattainable.
A small business needs help to thrive and grow. And, that help needs to be an arm’s length away, because really, that’s as far as we can reach for a while.
Mentors, collaborators, and trusted tribe members can serve as that elusive 25th hour.
They have our backs. They practice every day radical generosity when they:
Make an introduction
Recommend a resource
Teach a new skill
Share their precious time
“Culture changes horizontally. Person to person.”
- Seth Godin
There is a gap in the entrepreneurial service market related to providing tailored support to help small businesses prioritize their marketing efforts most effectively. In response, we’ve developed a technical assistance offering called the 25th Hour Package. The key services in this package are:
A digital “binder” of strategic marketing tools with tailored instructions for use
Personal assessment, prioritization and documentation of the most pressing marketing opportunities
Referrals, supported by warm hand offs, to appropriate marketing execution resources (e.g., web development, media relations, photography, etc.), with periodic follow up on those referrals
Subscription to a quarterly e-newsletter full of industry trends, tools and other actionable information
We feel especially fortunate to be evolving and growing our business here in the midst of an incredible network of business support. In Detroit, there is so much tangible proof of belief in each other. This business community is a cooperative. It’s the opposite of cutthroat. And, it’s key to the region’s future prosperity. If your organization provides technical assistance to entrepreneurs, let’s talk.
