About once a year, since I started my own business, I’ve done a review of what I’m learning. This year’s reflections come from having made it through the lean start-up years and having moved into a more sustainable place.

Here’s what I know now:

• Make time for the creative muse. It’s easy to get sucked into the day to day tasks required to run a business. I’m the marketing, sales, accounting, R+D, and customer fulfillment departments all wrapped into one. When does the off-site retreat happen? The creative muse must have time to explore, dream, play, and create! This happens in my yoga practice, while I’m running down the gravel path to a local fishing pond, when I’m in my garden pruning the rose bushes and snatching leaves of lettuce for my lunch. It also happens on Sunday morning bike rides and late at night, blogging a few posts for the next week. I decided to take a cue from coach and entrepreneur, Andrea Lee, and declare a “creative hiatus” in August this year. Two weeks of no appointments, no client work, no business development. Only writing and time in my garden and fun with the kids before they go back to school.

• Move into action, measure and learn, then take more action. I’ve made the mistake of thinking I need to have everything lined up before taking action, whether it’s more research, the right number of participants, or a clearer picture. Take a few strategic actions and keep the detailed planning to a minimum. Make that group coaching program a pilot, test out a new marketing campaign with $10 of pay per click ads, try out that public workshop with a friends in your living room. Things will evolve. Trial and error is the solopreneur’s best friend.

• Focus on putting one step in front of the other. This is a corollary to the action/measure/action concept. It’s easy to get overwhelmed thinking about the work involved in developing a new product or building an audience. I recently spoke to a group of coaches about my experiences with podcasting. At the end of the call, participants had mixed feelings—some were inspired to get started on their own podcast. Others were discouraged by all the different pieces to pay attention to. If you consistently bite off small chunks, at some point, you’ll have created something substantial. When I started with my first podcast in April 2006, I focused on getting the first episode out. Then another. And another. By the end of the year, I had more than twenty episodes posted or in production. By keeping a tight focus on just the next step, I created momentum and ease.

• Niche to save time and energy. This is something I’ve heard for years but never understood fully. I discovered the power of niches after focusing on whole brain thinkers. It made it easy to write marketing copy to attract my ideal client. (For an example of this, see www.boundarycrosser.com). I’m clear on which projects to pursue, ones that build my expertise in my niche or get me in front of my ideal audience. I can tell quickly if a potential coaching client is a fit for me and if there’s no fit, I feel good about making a referral. I know which networking events to attend. I know who and what to say no to.

• Let curiosity and passion drive what you say yes to. The beauty of being self-employed is that you can say yes to the crazy stuff that companies and bosses would say no to. I spent hundreds of hours last year creating four different podcasts, requiring me to interview experts in their field. Individuals who have written books on branding, advised companies on innovation and started laughter yoga clubs. A dying friend who knew what it meant to live and die well, another friend who understands the essence of being a boundary crosser and a guru on using storytelling in companies. This love of interviewing others, to draw out their wisdom, came out of nowhere. But once I did a few, I knew I wanted more. Say yes to what fuels you.

Having my own business has allowed me to dream and to create, to be strategic and to be tactical, to use my intuition and my intellect. It has taken more of me than I knew I had and given me more than I imagined. I am independent, yet connected to many people. I laugh and cry and feel more deeply than ever before. And I’m filled with new ideas each day.

I can’t think of a better way to spend my time.