Table of contents

PREFACE: HOW AND WHY I’M HERE xiii
1 THE EARLY DAYS: DON’T BUILD AN
UNSUSTAINABLE BUSINESS LIKE I DID 1
Too Many Offers 2
Weak Policies 3
No Self-care 5
Seek a Diagnosis If You Need One 6
Grieving While Running a Business 7
Find Community and Connection to Conquer 8
Don’t Give in to the Self-Doubt 10
2 SIMPLIFY YOUR BUSINESS 13
Are You Doing Too Many Things? 14
Streamline Your Offers 15
Standardize Your Offers 16
Be Clear about Who Your Customer Is 17
Avoid Scarcity Mindset when Limiting Your Scope 18
vi Chronic Profit
Find the Riches in the Niches 20
Be a specialist rather than a generalist 21
3 BUILD SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES 23
System Types 25
Documenting Your Systems 26
4 DELEGATE EFFECTIVELY 29
Making Peace with Asking for Help 33
How to Ask for Help 38
5 PERSPECTIVE SHIFT:
REFRAME YOUR STORY 39
How to Mitigate a “Disadvantage” 41
Find the Right Market for You 43
Find a Process That Doesn’t Need What You Don’t Have 44
It’s All in How You Choose to Do It 45
6 REFUEL: SELF-CARE FOR CHRONIC PAIN 47
Self-care Is More Than Bubble Baths 48
Self-care As Boundaries 50
7 GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK:
SELF-COMPASSION FOR SUCCESS 55
Pace Yourself 55
Be Realistic 56
Practice Gratitude 56
Banish Your Inner Critic 56
Stop Fearing Failure 57
Manage Emotional Pain to Reduce Physical Pain 57
8 COPE WITH BIG PROBLEMS AND
BIG FEELINGS 59
How Meditation Can Help Manage Chronic Pain 59
How to Develop a Mindfulness Practice 62
Develop Your Coping Toolbox 65
Build an Arsenal of the Things That Make You Feel Better 66
Contents vii
Exercise 66
Finding time 67
Focusing on What Matters 68
Too Much of a Good Thing Can Be a Bad Thing 68
The Benefits of Therapy 69
The Benefits of Coaching 70
Making Time for the People Who Matter 72
Write Your Way Out 74
Manage your expectations (and your symptoms) 75
Connect with your body more deeply 75
Get clearer about what’s going on 75
Learn to accept yourself 76
Track your habits, change your life 76
9 FIND JOY IN THE JOURNEY 77
Why Gratitude Matters 78
How gratitude affects the brain 79
Work-Life Integration versus Work-Life Balance 81
All Work and No Play: Rediscovering Play 86
10 PUT IT ALL TOGETHER 89
Conclusion 94
What I wish I knew 97

Description

Building a business is hard enough. Entrepreneurship while dealing with a chronic illness or condition is even harder. 'Chronic Profit: Building Your Small Business While Managing Persistent Pain' shares the story of how one entrepreneur sought freedom from cubicle life along with the flexibility to be a parent and a business owner, and learned to extend herself enough grace and compassion to excel in business while still taking care of herself.

This book covers business-building strategies that will work for any entrepreneur, such as the importance of building foundations and systems; why standardizing and simplifying offerings is something we often don’t do enough; and how to shift your perspective and reframe common business problems. Another important topic, especially for businesspeople dealing with chronic pain, is how to refuel and do self-care, and as author Alison Tedford shares, that can mean a lot more than taking bubble baths — it may involve developing a coping toolbox full of proven tools such as mindfulness, gratitude practices, and more.

Often, we struggle when asking for help but Tedford also discusses how to do that effectively, and leaves the reader feeling there’s hope and that anyone can find joy in the journey of creating their own sustainable business while managing diverse issues and persistent pain.