As I walked through Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport last time I flew to San Francisco, the Southwest Airlines credit card hawkers were there, as usual.
I already have a Southwest card, but this one saleswoman was particularly persuasive. Not only was she going to let me sign up for a business card, but she assured me that my business name would appear on the card. (And I got a free T-shirt, X-large, which made a great pajama top for the hubby.)
As a restaurant critic, I always hope the server is too rushed to notice the name on my credit card. I never looked at the names on cards when I waited tables. But it's always something that bugs me.
I dutifully filled out the application using "60 Percent Enterprises" as my business name. And I was disappointed but not terribly surprised to find that the business name doesn't actually appear on the card.
Meanwhile, hubby was critical of my choice of business name. His take is that calling my business 60 Percent Enterprises makes me sound like a slacker. Um, guilty, to a certain extent.
On the other hand, is it so bad to give 60 percent? I give my all to every job I take. Everything I write has my 100 percent guarantee that I've given my best. It's just that I don't want work to get in the way of that precious other 40 percent of my life, which includes, yes, taking care of hubby and all the things he can't do because he's too busy with his job.
Don't get me wrong -- that 40 percent also includes spa days, weekend trips, Tuesday night happy hours, Spanish lessons and long hikes. I'm not slaving away here. But I take care of the mail, the bills, the pool, the house, the shopping, the laundry, the yard, the cats and anything that must be contracted because it is outside my scope of work or skill level, including painting, heavy landscaping and car repair.
We came to an understanding on this. I agree that some people might misunderstand the concept of 60 Percenters, and he is OK with the fact that I probably don't want to work for anyone who would judge me harshly before hearing me out on it.
Any thoughts?
4 comments:
I say amen! Americans work harder than any other country of people. They all see the value in taking time to have a balanced life. But our great American Work ethic is driving us all into the ground. Let's take back our lives!
Check out http://www.iwantmyvacation.com/
- Ann Videan, APR
www.videanunlimited.com
You could put on the back of your business card:
"The other 40 percent is none of your business." Cuz it's not.
But I hear what your hubby is saying; he's just reading it the wrong way. You don't mean you're not giving your all. You're just not giving IT all.
I think the business name is creative. If people don't get it, that just means you get to have a conversation with them about it. I'd think up a quick 30-second commercial on that (if you don't already have one) so you don't have to go into the long explanation.
And I agree with you and Ann; work isn't everything there is in life. Sometimes, it's not even a full 60 percent.
Jackie
Did you actually file this biz name with the Secretary of State? I did for Jolon Indian Publishing, but my credit card still lists both names [mine and the co.] Also, Jolon Indian Pub. has its own checking account, and I'm thinking that maybe I should also look into doing an LLC just to protect myself and my assets...
For me, that 60 percent wavers depending on the time of year (summers when the kids are off usually limits the assignments I can take) and I've taken a secondary "survival" job to supplement this year. But I love writing and I think editors can recognize that we give 100 percent on each job, though it may not take up 100 percent of our life. I'm grateful that I can continue my freelance work even with the occasional dry spells.
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