Getting A Life
One entrepreneur's tale of trying to have it all.
Entrepreneur Bernadette Williams did everything right. Wanting
to expand her fledgling Culver City, California-based Web site
design company--yet constrained by a limited marketing
budget--Williams followed the advice of mentors and began to
aggressively network. She joined local organizations for
small-business owners. She volunteered time to worthy community
causes. She gave speeches. She coached disadvantaged youth on using
computers. And, in the process of raising her company's profile
considerably, the 29-year-old Williams ended up feeling . . .
spent.
"It's very easy to get sucked in," says Williams,
reflecting on all the networking she's done to promote her On
Track Internet Strategies Inc. "Here I am, this young
African-American female in a technology field, so I'm just
sticking out everywhere I go. Everybody was after me."
Welcome to the downside of networking. Although entrepreneurs
are told they need to sell, sell, sell their businesses, too much
networking could be hazardous to the health of your business--and
you. For Williams, whose peak networking period lasted from 1993 to
1995, commitment overload revealed itself in all sorts of ways.
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"I started getting resentful," confesses the founder
of the 6-year-old technology company. Pouring 10 to 15 hours every
week into networking activities also made Williams physically tired
and unable to spend much time with friends and family. Although she
says her small staff enabled her to continue servicing clients,
Williams still found it increasingly difficult to wade through all
the administrative work she needed to handle herself. And, as far
as driving time went, Williams was ahead of the pack even by Los
Angeles standards--she estimates having put 500 to 1,000 miles on
her car during especially hectic weeks during her two-year
networking tour de force.
"There is a method to your madness," says Williams.
"You're doing all this to build your business--and my
business was growing. But what I needed to do was acknowledge the
business had grown, make sure it was growing in a strategic
manner and to take care of myself."
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