With anyone who starts a new business, you are likely to have some competition.  Clearly, there are some cases where this isn’t going to happen.  For example, if you are starting a business in an industry with no companies, yet even in this situation you will probably eventually have competitors.  But dealing with markets where there are companies who do what you do, you’re going to have competition.

This freaks a lot of people out.  I know when I started, I didn’t want to know what any of my competitors were doing.  I was like… no!  I need to focus on myself.  But if it you look at what was really going on, I was insecure.  I was afraid that I would look at them and see they were doing phenomenally and then I would be depressed.  So I used it as a rationalization for myself.  “I don’t care!  I’m not interested in what anyone else is doing.”  However, in the beginning, it was the opposite.  I would read their sites every day to see what they were doing.  I knew everything about them.  I didn’t want to bypass any information at all.

So something you have to deal with is the fact that other people do what you do.  I would like to write another post on this in the future about how to address this question, for example when a likely client comes up to you and asks what makes you different from this other company.  That’s a good question, but I can’t really address any psychology behind it in this post.

What you need to consider though is paying attention to what they are doing.  What is important is that, if they have any details you need to study, that you are aware of them.  One thing to notice is if they are changing anything that might have some effect on you.  For example, maybe you and everyone else in your industry have approximate pricing.  Let’s say you have a product and you charge $150 for it.  The other companies in your industry charge about the same thing.  Then one day, one of them drops their price to $120.  Theoretically, this might result in increased business for them which means they are taking some of your market share, which is bad news for you.  But you might not be aware of this, you might just think, did something happen?  Why am I getting fewer sales.

You later find out this other company lowered their price.  A-ha!  How could you have known?  Well, one option is to monitor their website.  You probably don’t want to do this every day, but there are tools available that track changes to website content, so this allows you to know what other people are doing but you don’t have to check it yourself.  It’s pretty helpful with businesses where you need to do this.

So, my back has been hurting recently.  I was going to a masseuse but it doesn’t seem to be doing the trick.  Well, let me rephrase; it doesn’t seem to be doing the trick as quickly as I would like.  Then, the other day I was online trying to find things that might work and of course there was a lot of stuff that I feel like realistically won’t do anything.  The few friends I have talked to were like, I dunno, I take aspirin.

Thanks.  No help.

When you read some of the research, it might suggest that CBD oil can help with pain.  I haven’t actually tried it before but I do live in a weed legal state so I’m pretty sure I can just go to the nearest dispensary and pick some eventually.  The problem is, I don’t know anything about it.  I know there is THC and CBD, and I know people like THC because it gets you high.  But I don’t want to get high.  Then, that might not be true, but I don’t want to get high all the time when I’m trying to make my back issues go away.  Here, there is CBD, which doesn’t have any spacey effects but could in fact be used for pain relief if you believe the research.

But I’m not sure I do.

I might give it a try.  There are like liquids and oils and pills and stuff.  I don’t even know if there are variations between them.  Like, a drink might be ok but I feel like if you are just using it like that it’s probably going to require you to drink a lot to get a good quantity.  There are pills, those are fine I guess.  And then I’ve seen a liquid oil that you just need a little bit of to use.  That’s probably the best option, honestly.

When I was making this post I was going to go into all the technical stuff about how it all works but I elected against it.  People probably don’t care and there are other sites that explain it way better than I can.  Perhaps a more effective use would be for me to talk about how I hurt my back.

I was bending forward the other day for longer than I should have been and when I raised myself it hurt.  I shouldn’t have done it and I knew it was bad but I wasn’t paying attention to it at the time and then I was just like darn, I errored.  The problem is, it’s just a muscle strain, but it’s taking a long time to go away.  Seriously.  Like generally when you hurt yourself it goes away, right?  Possibly I should tell my back that it’s supposed to feel better.  However, it will be feeling alright and then I’ll like bend a certain way and suddenly the pain comes back.

Oh, so I do want to say, CBD is supposed to be antiinflammatory.  That’s supposed to help with a lot of issues in your body.  So there is a chance I might notice other things besides just a reduction in back pain.  Who knows.  I’m actually wondering whether or not this is going to become more popular when pot becomes legal in other states.  The thing is, everyone seems to think that it’s a drug that harms people but I feel like people are going to learn how it actually works.  But now I sound like one of those people who endlessly talk about weed, so I’m going to stop.  I don’t think I know anyone who’s tried it, actually.

My husband Brett’s birthday is in a few weeks and this year is no ordinary run of the mill year. He is leaving the 20’s behind her as he turns 30 years old. He doesn’t think we are going to be doing anything special for it. What he doesn’t know is that I have had something planned for months and I can’t wait to tell him. The big day is on a Friday which works out perfectly for a big day like this. We both have ample vacation time left for this year so we are both off not only that Friday but the following Monday too. Can you say 4 day weekend?

The day is going to start out by going to his favorite spot for breakfast. It is this little café in town that we both love but don’t get to as much as we’d like. They have the best French toast and that is his favorite thing for breakfast so I’m sure he’ll be ordering that. After we eat we are going to come back home and watch some Netflix while we digest. We are then going over to his parent’s house for lunch as they really wanted to see him on his big day. They told me they got him something big as a gift but wouldn’t tell me what it is. I have an idea on what they got him but I’ll probably be just as surprised as he is when they give it to him. I thought long and hard on what to get him myself. He doesn’t really wear jewelry so that wasn’t an option. Buying him clothes is out too unless I get him a gift card but that seems too impersonal for the occasion. I ended up buying him two things. He is a huge Stephen King fan and The Shining is his favorite book by him. I tracked down a first edition print signed by King with a certificate of authenticity. I know he’s going to love it. I almost have given it to him early a few times since I got it last week because I’m so excited. The second part of the gift is what we are doing that night.

I booked a room at one of the nicest hotel rooms in the city and almost made reservations at a seafood restaurant that we’ve always talked about going to. They are known for their stone crabs and I can’t wait to try some.  After dinner I also have some of our closest friends meeting us for drinks at a swanky bar. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he sees them. I’m sure we’ll be there until they announce last call and from there we’ll go back to our nice room and spend the night. Saturday I don’t have anything planned but I’m sure we’ll find something to do in the city.

Sunday I am taking him to a pumpkin patch. We went last year but it was the weekend before Halloween and all the good pumpkins were gone. The place we go to is on a farm and they have other stuff to do there including a petting zoo. They have llamas there and sheep and goats. They also have food and a haunted hay ride that I want to go on this year. They also have apples there and we’re going to get some and bake a pie that night. It should be fun as long as the weather holds up. I don’t have anything planned for Monday either but we’ll figure something out. It will be nice just to be home together and not stuck at our respective jobs.

Right.  I’m not going to lie.  When you’re busy all the time working on a business, finding the right person to date can be hard.  I mean, you’re already doing all you can to keep your company afloat, do you really want to worry about finding someone, too?  Your friends are probably all dating someone, and they probably met them at the park, or maybe online, but they have someone.

And you don’t.

And it gets to you sometimes.  It’s not that you need more things to worry about, you just kind of want someone there sometimes.

So you go online and make an online dating profile.   Do you get any matches?  Yeah, but not from anyone you want to date.

This article is basically because I am totally in awe of Ladan Radafshar, president of FernDate.  Fern is a site that provides online dating help in Portland.  Essentially, for people that haven’t had any luck online, they will make a new profile for you so you can advertise yourself correctly.  You get a photoshoot, too, which will get you better pics than the ones you took on your device.  They will even evaluate the matches for you.  If you feel like outsourcing your dating life, obviously.

It all comes at a price, though.  How much would you pay to be matched with the right person for you?  It’s not cheap, but if you’re already successful in every realm except love, it might be worth it.

Actually, this is a great idea.  People outsource just about everything else already, why not have someone get you dates?  Maybe you still meet people outside in public.  Maybe you’re not even sure how this service is necessary.  Mostly, Ms. Radafshar just fits the idea of our blog.  Startupladies is dedicated to focusing on your projects and the issues that come with them, of which getting someone to date is a problem that many entrepreneurs face.  It looks like she is actually making this a thing of the past.  If anyone is having trouble meeting people online, this may actually be the thing for them.  It’s definitely something to consider for those of you who aren’t really where you want to be with your internet dating.  For those of you who think this couldn’t even be real, prepare to be impressed.  There’s one thing you can bet on, and that’s that people prefer love.  Can you put a price on love?  Maybe.

Many of the blogs I’ve written have been about starting your projects and running your own company. The thing I have realized is that there is a lot of stuff to do and if you don’t necessarily want to do it all yourself you can have other people do some of it for you. For example, when I am thinking about how to put together documentation to send to people detailing the fine points of their services, that’s not necessarily something that I am good at so I have other people do some of it. Another reason to do that is because other people will be able to do that while I am working on other stuff. The other thing I have been thinking about having other people do is manage some of my credits. I was looking at a few different businesses that will do this and seeing which ones I would choose. I was looking at smart books online because it seems like they have a lot of things that they do that I think would be great. The other treason is because that way I can just give them what I Need or what they need and I will be able to work on other things.

This is actually a big way that people do things and you wouldn’t necessarily think of it but it’s pretty beneficial if you think about it. When I learned I was like hey, that is weird, but it makes sense, because if one person is going to be doing everything then it would be less productive than having other people help some of it. So since there are other people at different businesses that do it for you, it means you can let them do it and then do the rest of the stuff yourself. At least I am going to see if this is something that I can do, I’m not sure as I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s something you should pay attention to if you are going to be overseeing some of the sections of your company. So that you will be able to keep an eye on things more easily and not necessarily have to worry about doing all of the little things that you would otherwise have to do yourself. And in this way it’s possible that you can have a decent understanding of everything that is going on rather than having to keep focusing on all of the individual projects alone.

I always thought it would be cool to have my own little cabin with my own little outside grounds where I could do whatever I wanted.  That may just be something that you think about when you have been in your workspace for too long and want to just go outside and then you go on out and realize that you are surrounded by buildings and people going to their places of preferred beverage creations so they can get their energy fix and then head back to their job.  It’s amazing really to think that when you are all around this kind of thing it kind of gets into your idea of what you are supposed to do.  There is nothing wrong with being steadfast about your job, but I think that maybe some people need to give some thought to if that is all they want to do.

However I probably shouldn’t be talking since I probably work as much as the people I am discussing here.

But wouldn’t it be cool to just be in your own little spot and have a stroll out back and take in the sights or whatever.  You could put up some things to give it your own flavor.  Having those kinds of breaks can help increase your enthusiasm for the work you’re doing, and I would set up my own little garden with some flower and stuff and I’d have cast iron garden furniture there and I would have some grass that would be all over the outdoors and you could make a point to notice how real everything feels.  That’s what I would do.

But of course, that’s like the opposite from where I am.  And that’s fine, because I like what I do but it’s not like I wouldn’t enjoy a little break every so often, especially if you are trying to get some details figured out that are just being confusing and you’re having to take on moped type construction in the way of all the things you are trying to do.  But that’s how we like things to be, isn’t it.  My entire point is that if you could have something to do to get your relaxation in it would make some substantial improvements in the rest of everything you do, and for me that would take variety of a scene like how I mentioned where I could be around things that would help me relax.

My friend has got that gotta-get-a-new-car-deal thing.  We were having lunch the other day and he asked if I’d seen the commercials for some new BMW or whatever and I said no.  He then started telling me how cool it was and how he wanted to go test drive one and he was wanting a new car.  I was thinking that his car is just fine and he doesn’t need a new one, but I guess it’s not always an issue of needing one if you happen to want one.  But really, my friend is really into cars and I am kind of the same way except I’m not quite as excited about all of that stuff as him.  So he was telling me he’s going to go try and test drive one and if he likes it he’s going to lease it.  Now to be fair, I don’t think that leasing is always a good option in many cases, but I think for him it might work out.  He doesn’t really keep his cars for that long so if he wants to drive it for a few years and then get another vehicle that’s actually a situation in which leasing may be more practical than the other options.

Any time I see a car commercial I think of my friend.  I figure he’s probably watching it, ignoring whatever he was talking about prior to that commercial coming on, and thinking about how much he wants that car.  He’s the guy who wants to get a big house with a big garage so he can keep all his vehicles in there and work on them or drive them or just go out there and be around them when he wants to.

Of course, I think he’s got a ways to go before he gets there since he only has one car right now and I don’t know that leasing vehicles is the way to amass wealth, but like I said it will probably work for him.  I know that he’s going to eventually get one of those cars he was telling me about.  He’ll go absolutely find the best luxury car lease deals and go with whoever is offering them and he’ll drive home one day in his new car and call me and be like “hey, come check this out” and I’ll head over there and he’ll be in the driveway next to his new car and he’ll be all silly and pumped up.  It’s just what he does!

My friend said that his girlfriend said she’s going to dump him.  I asked him why and he said it’s because she said he snores.  I asked him if he knew if there was anything else and she said no it was just that, and she doesn’t think she can get a good night’s sleep when they  are together.  I ask him if she snored, too, and he said no.  But I think that is must be bothering her or she might just be looking for an excuse to end it.  She’s kind of strange like that and I think that she would just want to break up with him and give him some reason so she doesn’t have to say that she doesn’t like him that much.  He tells me about the things she says and I have told him that he should break up with her but he doesn’t want to listen to me although I think he is starting to realize that she is a bit weird when it comes to some things.  I’m not really the kind of person to tell someone what they should do in their relationship unless they ask, but he has asked me before and I’ve told him that I think they should break up because she doesn’t seem like she’s really a good match for him and she is going to probably dump him anyway.  I guess she has mentioned it before and they tried to work through things or whatever but I don’t really like her that much anyway so if they broke up I wouldn’t really be upset.  My friend would, but I think he would get over it because he would realize that he can get someone who isn’t as mean as she is.  Seriously, she’s just like mean to me even and I’m not even her friend.  I’m like what is your problem and then she’s like what are you talking about.  Obviously we don’t get along that well.  I think that she’s probably just trying to end the relationship without actually having to end it.  It’s something that is easier than actually having to tell the other person that you don’t like them, although it tends to make things get a bit bizarre at the same time.  Alright, so I told my friend that he should check out this withoutsnoring website and maybe there is something there he can use, if in fact he actually snores and she’s not just saying that as an excuse.

I pretty much got nothing done today because I wasn’t feeling well.  If I had a normal job I would’ve had to use a sick day and stay home from work today. I wish I could say the reason is because I have a very bad cold, or the flu. But it was a simple headache that did me in–and it isn’t the first time, either.

I’ve suffered headaches on and off for as long as I can remember. I recall needing to go home early from high school because of bad headaches and being prescribed something for them, but I don’t recall what the medication was or whether it worked. I’m almost 33 now so that’s a relatively long history of them at my age. They have evolved over the years, as well. I was reading about this new thing called Migralex that is supposed to to help with different types of headaches. Certain things that never gave me trouble in the past (such as alcohol) will now trigger headaches in me, even after just a couple beers or a single glass of wine. I need to be very careful with alcohol for this reason, or avoid it altogether.

Which brings me to one major reason why I hate telling people I have a headache. If I mention the reason I’m staying home, then I feel as if people think I have a hangover, not a headache, and am lying about it. That’s absolutely not the case, and has never been. I drink maybe three times a year, and I don’t remember the last time I got straight-up drunk! At most I just get a little buzz and even that is pushing it–as I mentioned, sometimes one glass of wind will guarantee that I am crippled by a nasty headache the next day.

To further complicate this, I know some people who are well-known for partying hard and they can, and will, call in sick with hangovers. They sometimes try to pass the hangover off as a headache but it’s obvious they are hungover since they posted statuses or photos involving their alcohol-fueled shenanigans the night before. It’s insulting to people that truly do suffer from headaches when people do this.

My day off today consisted of applying a heat pad to the back of my neck and an ice pack to my forehead while watching bad horror movies on Netflix. I know many people and websites say that it’s better to lay in a dark room when you have a headache, but I can’t do this. My mind wanders and all I can focus on is the throbbing pain in my head. At least brainless television distracts me from this without requiring me to think.