When you're too sick to press reject on the phone ...

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I could hear my phone ringing. I glanced over and saw it light up with a client's name on the screen. All I had to do was lean forward, reach out to grab it off the coffee table. Answer or Reject. It's normally such a simple question. But instead, I just sat and stared at the phone until the ringing stopped and the screen went black. I then closed my eyes and tried not to think about what the client wanted.

You might be thinking I'm the absolute worst business owner, uttering words like lazy and unreliable. And you would be right. In a way ...

Back in 2010, I had been happily running my own little graphic design business for a couple of years, building up a great reputation and client base. I didn't have any helpers, and I didn't have any staff. I wasn't even in a business support network. After so many years of working for agencies, I was just enjoying doing my own thing at my own pace.

But that's until I was dramatically and without warning, thrown into the world of surgeries, chemo, radiation, and hospital stays. I went from being a fit and healthy, bright-eyed and creative young entrepreneur to a sick, unfocused mess desperately trying to survive the day.

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Although there were many days when running a business wasn't in the forefront of my mind, I did have my good days when I would be able to don the headscarf and catch up with clients. There were even some days while wired up to and being pumped full of "happy" drugs, I would work feverishly on a client proposal or website. And those 3am sleepless nights would turn into solo brainstorming sessions, as I did everything to try to keep my creative brain active. After all, your brain is a muscle that also needs to be exercised regularly.

But as soon as I was diagnosed with the big "C", I started building a backup plan for those days when I would be too sick to play. I quickly came to the realisation that I would not be able to work every day, I would not be able to make every deadline, and that I would not be able to push myself like I used to. I surrounded myself with a network of business friends who could and would help me keep my business going.

Because of this network of designers and business friends, and also because of my outright honesty to my existing clients, I can proudly say that while my business slowed it did not die.

So now I make sure everything is recorded, tracked and written down. At any point in time, I can walk away from my job, and a trusted someone will be able to access my diary, schedule, job tasks, client communications and accounts. I might still be proudly running my business all by myself, but now I am not so proud that I can't ask for help.

To the future...
AndyK.