Chris Peek
It’s that time again! Another episode of the One Thing Series. Where I have asked successful entrepreneurs and those doggedly pursuing their goal of self employment one question: “What is the one piece of advice you would give someone if they told you they were starting a business and you could only tell them one thing to help them out?” Today’s guest post is brought to you by Chris Peek, who along with his wife Karen started The Inspired Art of Cooking. Here is Chris’s One Thing:
I’ll be the first to tell you – I don’t have 1/10 of this business thing figured out. Our business, Inspired Art of Cooking, is still in its infancy. When I say “our”, I’m referring to my wife Karen and me. Yet, it wasn’t always “our” business.
As I’ve discovered, you never end up quite where you think you’re going. Of course it’s imperative to develop goals and have a bull’s eye that you’re aiming for, but you never know what’s going to work for you until you toss it out to the world and gauge the reaction. It’s an elastic process that consists of a ton of hard work, making adjustments, and perseverance. However, one major pitfall will keep that elusive success at bay: taking your eye off the ball and in turn, spreading yourself too thin.
While I developed a case of the entrepreneurial bug a few years ago, Karen discovered her own desire to do something unique about three years ago, after she became unable to work full-time due to health issues. I’ve always had an itch to develop my own video production company, and I’ve made a couple of unsuccessful attempts at it.
In the midst of laying the groundwork for my business, Karen became inspired to write a cookbook and develop a blog (inspiredartofcooking.com) around her own incredible recipes and inspirational thoughts. At first, I was resistant to help her, as I felt like that this was her passion, not mine. I didn’t want to take time away from my start-up.
Eventually, I realized that my selfishness was preventing both of us from moving forward. So, I began to reluctantly use my skills to help her write the book, build her website, take photos, shoot videos, and offer content. In the midst of this process, I kept coming up with other ideas the I could put together in my “spare” time – write a blog, write a devotional book, build an outdoor adventure website, and produce videos for outdoor adventure companies, to name a few. Ideas were spewing from my mind that I really wanted to accomplish.
Within two months of Karen’s cookbook, “Be Your Own Chef”, coming out, I realized that I needed to take a step back and spend the majority of my time joining forces with her. Karen’s story of living her calling in the midst of a chronic heart condition is a one that is worth telling, one that can change lives around the world. As I examined my own heart, I became passionate about getting her story to the world. My writing, video production, marketing, and technical background could best be incorporated into Inspired Art of Cooking and are a perfect complement to her skill sets. While I still write regular, inspirational blog posts of my own (trailreflections.com), I’ve put my video production business on hold because I was spreading myself too thin. Up until making that decision, my mind had been all over the place, and therefore, we weren’t sustaining success because of it.
In the meantime, we’ve refined Karen’s business focus and broadened it to include paid public speaking opportunities, with the purpose of sharing her cookbook with and spreading her inspirational message to new audiences. The bottom line: laser-like focus is imperative in building a business. Have goals and stick with them for the long haul. While your mind will continue to churn out creative ideas, it’s necessary to guard against chasing the new, shiny objects that prevent your goals from becoming reality. Always be flexible, but recognize when your elasticity turns to chasing rabbits.
