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About This Author
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La Bene Vita
I am a professional musician  , worship leader , small business owner , songwriter , aspiring author and freelance nonfiction writer with a chemical engineering degree .
But that's just my resume.
My profile of qualifications is only one of the ways in which I am unique. Here I chronicle my personal and professional goals and my efforts to achieve them. Occasionally I fail. Mostly, I take daily baby steps toward all my long-term goals. Much like the stories I pen, the songs I compose, and the businesses I run, I am always a work in progress.
November 24, 2010 at 10:01am November 24, 2010 at 10:01am
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Just to journal our progress, MTMS l now has 87 (88 if you count Keith) students enrolled in private lessons and 33 students enrolled in classes. One day, when I'm writing my memoir, I'll appreciate having these little milestones logged away on a server somewhere in... wherever the heck WDC resides.
I feel like our enrollments have slowed a bit. We had a rockin' couple of weeks during October when I thought business was exploding, and now that we've "only" had like 10 new enrollments in the last couple weeks (our original business plan called for 10 per month), I feel a promotion coming on. I'm bouncing between a couple of ideas. I'm thinking of trying advertising just on-site, since we have so many drive-bys and walk-ins. We can hang a $100 sign in the window and get twenty times as much business as we see from the $300-$500 newspaper, magazine, and radio spots.
On a semi-related note, I discovered that our Office Manager, Chris, has a degree in English. This explains that growth attached to her right hand that looks suspiciously like a Kindle, but it doesn't give me much clue into her Quickbooks addiction. *shrug* I don't complain. I just go with it. Meanwhile, our business plan looks good, our break-even analysis looks good, and our cash flow pretty much kicks ass. I expect that we will raise Chris to full-time, hire a couple helpers, and (oh, hallelujah!) outsource our supply stocking and janitorial services very soon. I may have to do some minor price tweaking in 2011, but we even have a solid marketing plan for that roll-out.
On a completely unrelated note, I need to go to my house and get serving dishes, because we are apparently hosting Thanksgiving Dinner this year. But -snicker- somehow all the actual cooking has been delegated to family members, so Keith and I are basically just providing the oven, chairs, and a table. I did offer to prepare the peas and the olive, pickle, and cheese platter. And y'all thought I was an overachiever! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!! I would invite you all over, but that might mean more work for me. Alas, I am too lazy. On the other hand, if you'd like to learn an instrument, I can quickly overcome my laziness, because I would be happy to take your $74 per month and teach you (or your child) to rock out like <insert your favorite musician here>. One day soon, I might actually earn an income off of your tuition. You know, after I pay the lease, utilities, Office Manager, teachers, computer lab attendants, receptionists, supply sourcing, and cleaning staff. |
November 21, 2010 at 8:22am November 21, 2010 at 8:22am
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I have my first employee performance discussion pending this coming week. My teachers are great! ...when they show up. And to be fair, most of the absences were pre-arranged, even to the point that I was warned on hire that they would miss such-and-such dates. It isn't their fault that they all happened in the same week. But the two teachers who bailed with little or no notice (one teacher with three - THREE - no-call-no-show incidents) put me my blood pressure through the top of my head. I literally had an explosion of blood firing from the top of my heading like fucking Mt. St. Helens. It was a bitch to clean up.
And I'm still cleaning up. I think we can resolve the dependability issue. We shall see how much the worst offender values his job. Sadly, I thought this employee had management potential. I still do, but he needs to mature professionally first.
Meanwhile, Happy Birthday to Storm Machine  , Seisa-sleepingcatbooks.com  , and Crys-not really here ! I may blog more later. I'm starting to love Sunday afternoons. It's my weekly downtime. Last week, I took a four-hour nap. I'm not particularly tired today and would love to read a book, play a computer game, or just hang with Keith. We'll probably do laundry. And by "do laundry" I literally mean do laundry.
Well, there may be some euphemism in there, but if so, it's a double meaning, because we will also literally do laundry. Then we'll "do laundry" - you know, after we can see each other over the mountain.
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November 18, 2010 at 2:26pm November 18, 2010 at 2:26pm
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Post at MichelleTuesday.com at least once per week.
 WTF? I forgot this existed.
Business priorities for MTMS :
 Brainstorm list of projects I need help with: I'm just trying to keep our lessons going. I've had a number of teacher absences in the last two weeks due to performances, so I've been subbing constantly. I'm not getting anything else done. Fortunately, their shows are all this week, so by Saturday, my life should settle down. And then next week, we're closed Wed-Sun.
 Scheduling and retention databases
No activity.
Close October books and update projections and break-even
No, sort of, and yes. The break-even is updated. Projections are tweaked a bit. October books are still in progress. We're not sure where to move things.
 Fill Samplers
Tonight's guitar sampler is full. The next big projects: fill our December piano sampler and preschool class.
Drums and soundproofing.
The customer who complained has left the studio anyway, and we did not break our backs trying to keep her business, but I did manage to sound"proof" the drum room. It's a little better, but I have more work to do. Next weekend, we're closed, and we have plans to do a bunch of work.
Customer appreciation event or activity - Delegated to a customer. She came up with the greatest idea: to record a holiday CD of teachers and advanced students performing to mail to all our clients.
Launch one new performance repertoire song per week.
The next repertoire change will be moving to my holiday setlist. Meanwhile, I have four hours to fill for an event next Friday, so I'm signing up kids, calling old friends of the musical persuasion, and scheduling rehearsals like they're going out of style. I'll be set for my December Potbelly setlist. On a related note, I am reducing from six to five days a week at Potbelly.
One load of laundry per day.
NO. But it's Keith's birthday. I should do all the laundry. And wash the dishes, too. 
Achieve a weight of 150 by 12/31/2010
Weight: I actually weighed in this morning at 159.4. While I would like to be fifteen pounds lighter, I was pleased because I was sure I'd ballooned up from there, just based on my horrible eating habits. But in retrospect, yes, I've been snacking, but I've also been missing meals. I've been too damn busy to eat anything more than chips, candy, and coffee.
Meals: Leftover Jersey Mike's steak sammich, Potbelly sammich, chips, some Twizzlers.  I'll start counting again soon. You know, probably next Thursday.
TOTAL POINTS:? (Goal: 25) |
November 15, 2010 at 11:07am November 15, 2010 at 11:07am
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I had a horrible eating weekend. Ice cream cake, pizza, amaretto sours, Japanese steakhouse, and multiple trips through the McDonald's drive through to name a few. 
Damn, this is why I never blog anymore. I started this hours ago  and never got any farther. Now I don't have time to finish... at least I managed to earn my ass-kickings. *waits for the ass-kickings*
Meals:
8:00am Fiber bagel with cream cheese (2) and coffee (1)
11:00am Snickers (1.5)
1:00pm Sammich (7)
1:30pm Chips (3) and Snickers (1.5) |
November 12, 2010 at 5:26am November 12, 2010 at 5:26am
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Keith, my other half, is 40 today. Tomorrow, we celebrate at Butter's Bar. Yes, Robert Waltz  , you're invited, if you can handle the Ohio State game playing in the background.
Post at MichelleTuesday.com at least once per week.
but I'm trying to keep this in front of me. I need to create a weekly schedule that includes bank account reconciliation and blogging, probably on Saturday or Sunday afternoons.
Business priorities for MTMS :
Brainstorm list of projects for volunteers.
See below.
Holiday customer appreciation event or activity
Delegated to a customer who wanted to volunteer. She came up with the greatest idea: to record a holiday CD of teachers and advanced students performing to mail to all our clients. Then she came up with the second greatest idea, which was to have my photographer take photos of each student with his or her instrument at the recital, and send the photo to the parent along with a holiday/seasonal card. This woman is a genius.
Scheduling and retention databases
Not yesterday, but I have been working on this. Chris, our office manager, started working on her own elaborately linked and conditionally-formatted Excel spreadsheet, because she was tired of waiting on me. That's actually fantastic, because I didn't want to do it anyway it's easier to design a database that's been created in Excel and used for awhile.
Close October books and update projections and break-even
We're working on this. Quickbooks is stupid. Its accrual-based reporting assumes that your revenue is earned when the invoice is created. Granted, in most businesses, you pay for the service after you receive it. But I can't possibly be the only tuition-based advance-payment service out there.
Fill Samplers
We just scheduled our classes for December (6) and January (13). I hope we aren't being overly optimistic. I was thinking holding off on advertising for the month of December (?!?!) beyond our annually-paid campaigns. First, everyone advertises in December, so won't we be lost in the shuffle? Second, we can barely keep up with our growth. Third, I'm interested to see if I'm wasting my money, because a vast majority (probably 90-95%) of our customers drove by and saw the sign or found us online (or both, typically in that order.) As an aside, I find it hysterical that http://www.michelletuesday.com/musicschool has no pagerank to speak of and that its Alexa rank has plummeted from 400k to 740k in the last month or two, and yet I'm getting exponentially more traffic and sales conversions.
Drums and soundproofing.
In progress. I moved the drums to a different room and tried hanging the soundproofing blankets so they reach the floor. It's not done, but I think it may work.
Temporary goal: Plan Keith's 40th birthday party.
As far as I'm concerned, this is done. Although I guess maybe I should bring black balloons or something. And a cake.
Launch one new performance repertoire song per week.
Pending and unlikely.
One load of laundry per day.
NO. But it's Keith's birthday. I should do all the laundry. And do the dishes, too.
Achieve a weight of 150 by 12/31/2010
Weight:
Meals:
5:00am Ask me in a few hours. I'm thinking of going back to bed now.
9:00am 1/3 cup eggnog (2)
10:30am Coffee (1)
11:00am Baby Snickers (2)
1:30pm Sammich (7) and baby Snickers (2)
TOTAL POINTS: 14 (Goal: 25)
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November 11, 2010 at 8:18am November 11, 2010 at 8:18am
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Several of our teachers are involved in shows that were scheduled before we hired them. You know, operas, concerts, the kinds of things that music teachers might be involved in (praise bands?? community theatres?? local sandwich shops?? I get it.) The good news: We're saving a shitload on payroll.
See you tomorrow, and probably a little this weekend. And then maybe not at all next week. Oh, and I ate chips and candy yesterday.
Meals:
8:00 Half fiber bagel with cream cheese (2) and coffee (1.5)
11:30 Two Reese's cups (3) and coffee (1)
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November 10, 2010 at 11:10am November 10, 2010 at 11:10am November 8, 2010 at 8:30am November 8, 2010 at 8:30am
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Post at MichelleTuesday.com at least once per week.
Pending and overdue again (still?) I think I had an idea about this. I think I maybe even started a post.
Business priorities for MTMS :
Reconcile all accounts (every weekend)
Done, and the cash flow is looking decent.
Scheduling and retention databases
I worked on this in Access all afternoon Saturday. I was stuck on the recurring transactions (i.e., lessons recur every week), but I found some templates and instructions that rock the house. I think it might work.
Close October books and update projections and break-even - In progress.
I did look at the break-even. I tweaked some of my more simplified assumptions to better reflect reality, and since I always erred on the conservative side in my initial business plannin, the results were pleasing. I still have some validation work to do, but on initial evaluation, it looks like I'm about 2/3 of the way to break even. At week #6. (That's WEEK, not MONTH. Remember, too, that this is a brick-and-mortar business. No, I'm not bragging.  I'm thankful, actually.)
Fill Samplers - In progress.
Based an idea Chris (office manager) had when we made a scheduling error at our Grand Opening, we now have a Plan B for non-filled Samplers. It's genius, really. Although it doesn't make as much money as a full class or private lessons, it still makes a profit, keeps our teachers scheduled, and makes the client happy, too. Since our Samplers covert more than 90% of students into long-term private lessons, we like to bring them in when they're scheduled and not be cancelling classes on people. So I feel better about offering Samplers when I'm not sure if I can fill them. Which is good, because when they're on the schedule, they seem to fill the majority of the time anyway.
Drums and soundproofing.
(1) Moved the drums to another room. They're still loud.
(2) Is it Thanksgiving yet? We may need to address this sooner. It's not a problem when the school isn't full. But, holy cow, we are getting full! We need to weather-strip the doors.
Low priority items (pending):
* Update planner
* Customer appreciation event or activity
Temporary goal: Plan Keith's 40th birthday party.
Planned and evite prepared. I'm just waiting on a final guest list, which his sister and a good friend of Keith's are helping me compile.
Launch one new performance repertoire song per week.
Pending. I plan to take off sick again today. In the past, I would have tried to sing through a cold. But right now, I can't afford to be away from the school, so I need to take very good care of myself. It's not ideal, because I could use the income, but we're doing okay.
One load of laundry per day.
Not unless you count helping Keith fold the load the KEITH did. (I don't think he's entirely happy with my general busyness at work.)
Achieve a weight of 150 by 12/31/2010
Weight: ?
SUNDAY MEALS:
Waffles: 7
Coffee: 1
Cookies at church: 10?
McDouble: 9
Bowl of homemade white chili: 7?
Ice cream: 6
TOTAL POINTS: 40? (Goal: 25) This guessing stuff is not good. Nor were the stupid cookies.
MONDAY MEALS:
Waffles: 7
Coffee: 2
Chili: 7
TOTAL POINTS: 16 |
November 6, 2010 at 8:09am November 6, 2010 at 8:09am November 5, 2010 at 10:57am November 5, 2010 at 10:57am
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I'm  . I should get hazard pay. I'll talk to my boss about it.
NEW GOAL: Clean up my port.
*thumbdown* No activity.
Post at MichelleTuesday.com at least once per week.
Pending and overdue.
Business priorities
Compiled and prioritized the list below:
1. Take a nap and drink lots of tea
2. Reconcile all accounts (every weekend)
3. Close October books and update projections* and break-even
* We compared our November income to our projection and discovered that we were well above - in fact, our actual November income looks more like our projected January income. This wasn't really a surprise since we are so ahead of plan on enrollments, UNTIL WE REALIZED THAT WE HAD ALREADY UPDATED THE PROJECTIONS. We updated them after our Grand Opening a month ago. So, one month later, and we're two months ahead of our REVISED projections. If you're not a business person, I'm sorry if I lost you. If you ARE a business person, please find yourself a bib, because you're drooling all over your shirt.
...although, we did have a humility check yesterday. We had a very abrupt withdrawal from a family we liked a lot. They had paid through yesterday's lessons, but had not paid for November. They emailed to say they wouldn't be coming back. They didn't even come for their last lessons that they'd paid for. We were very sad, hurt, and confused. The children were delightful and the parents really nice. They were obviously unhappy about something, but we have no idea what it was. 
4. Fill Samplers: (1) Advertised at Google and (2) strongly suggested to several walk-ins and callers, emphasizing deadlines
5. Drums and soundproofing: (1) Need to move drums to an isolated room, (2) Soundproofing work over Thanksgiving
LOW PRIORITY:
1. Update planner: Pending mileage and day scheduling
2. Scheduling and retention databases: Pending Step (1) Research MySQL at GoDaddy.
3. Customer appreciation planning: Handwritten Happy Holidays cards. Maybe even religious, if I know the client's religion.
Temporary goal: Plan Keith's 40th birthday party.
In progress. Still bouncing ideas.
Launch one new performance repertoire song per week.
Pending, but it might not happen this week, because I'm off sick today and probably tomorrow.
One load of laundry per day.
and doing another today.
Achieve a weight of 150 by 12/31/2010
Weight: I'm just too damn lazy to get up off the couch and go stand on the scale. And, before you ask, being too damn lazy to get up off the couch has NOTHING to do with this goal.
Meals:
No coffee today. Plain tea.
7:30 Bagel with cheese (3.5)
8:00 Abby's leftover oatmeal (3) ...thank goodness I insisted on getting the fiber kind
10:00 Cauliflower with cheesy sauce (3)
11:30 Soup (2) and pretzel pieces (6)
12:30 Nerds! (1)
5:00 Caramel corn (4)
6:30 Spaghetti (6) with veggies (2) and buttered toast (2)
TOTAL POINTS SO FAR TODAY: 32.5 (Goal: 25) |
November 4, 2010 at 8:39am November 4, 2010 at 8:39am November 3, 2010 at 8:35am November 3, 2010 at 8:35am
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Look at me, blogging two days in a row!
If you're keeping up, I reported yesterday that Michelle Tuesday Music School had signed up its 61st student. Today, I report that we signed up #67 last night.  Chris (our office manager) and I are having SO MUCH FUN. We're playing in Excel now, trying to find ways to improve our scheduling process, because it's getting complicated. I see us moving to Access in the very, very near future. I've been threatening to database the process for months, but have had no time. Then I discovered that Chris digs this Excel stuff, so I'm pretty sure she'll dig Access, too. I figure we can work on that together and turn it into a training session, so she can design and modify on her own at any time. It's easier to find time for things when you have a buddy, because you hold each other accountable.
It's crossed my mind not to give away all my secrets when I blog, since I imagine Google might lead research-savvy competitors to the MTMS link above . But then I remember that I have an engineering degree, ten years of experience as a corporate manager, corporate-paid training on everything from leadership to Excel and Access to employment law, and a nerdy inclination to teach myself normally expensive services like web design and server setup. So if my secrets prompt my competitors to run out, get an engineering degree, find a good corporate management job for a decade, and spend a hundred hours researching HTML and CSS code, so be it. They deserve the success that will follow. 
By the way, that's only half of my secret. The other half is our office manager Chris, who brings eight years of experience scheduling and billing clients in this exact same business. She knows her shit, and the former employer who let her go should be kicking herself. But honestly, I don't think she gave Chris the creative license I give her, which serves to both make her happier and help my business grow. So the former employer was missing out even while Chris was on her payroll. Trust your employees and utilize their skill sets to their fullest potentials, people. That's how you create a successful business.
Points:
8:00am Coffee (1)
8:30am Fiber granola bar (2), so far, so good...
10:00am Peanuts (1)
11:15am Peanuts (1)
1:00 pm Roast beef sandwich (7)
4:00pm Peanuts (1)
6:00pm Chips with salsa (3) and cheese dip (1), beef crispy taco (5), beef enchilada (6), and Mexican rice (5)
10:00pm Jelly bellies, but only like maybe ten (1) (I FOLDED, OMG)
TOTAL POINTS: 35
I'm targeting a goal of 25 per day. Thursday will be a better day. |
November 2, 2010 at 6:24am November 2, 2010 at 6:24am
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It seems blogging has turned into a weekly activity. But because my weight has ballooned, it shall be daily once again. And I'm embarrassed to say that I already started my morning off with a "Block O" sugar cookie, which was probably four or five points, and it's only 6:00 in the morning. And with a studio full of leftover chips, pretzels, and candy from our highly successful Halloween Party, today is sure to be a test of my Willpower. Except that my name's not Will, it's Michelle, so maybe that's what I've been getting wrong all this time.
HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE, PEOPLE.
I picked a doozy of a time to start a business. First of all, it's clearly the apocolype. (yes, the 2012'ers among you already knew this, but I'm a slow learner.) Second of all, we're in an economic recession here in Ohio, which is always a good time quit a steady, high-paying, benefits-providing corporate job and spend a bunch of (mostly borrowed) money in hopes of "eventually" making a profit. Third, and DUH, it's National Novel Writing Month , so I should be writing, not  working .
On the other hand, I  my job; I've provided employment to eight people; and for some inexplicable reason, I PICKED THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME. I analyzed this a little when I selected my location, but this town has rendered my wildest dreams the saddest little fairy tales. We are in the midst of a business explosion. Yesterday, we signed up our 61st private student (in case you're not keeping up, we enrolled our 50th student a week ago  ). If I keep up this pace for the next month or two, we'll be making a profit before the snow melts, and my wallet will start to get fat again.
Which is good, because it needs to keep up with my hips and belly.
MEALS:
6:00 am "Block O" sugar cookie (5) and coffee (1)
8:00 am Half bagel with cheese (3.5)
11:00 am Jelly bellies (3) and two mini snickers (3)
1:45 pm Roast beef sammich (7)
2:30 pm Jelly bellies (1)
All evening: Jelly bellies (2) and another two mini snickers (3)
Late after work: Broccoli (3) and a bunch of Snyder's pretzel things (4?)
TOTAL POINTS: 36-ish
Shame on me. |
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Even better if she can whistle to the tune of Mozart or something. 
Comment • View 1 comment 
, also known as Michelle Tuesday, is a musician, educator and writer hailing from Columbus, Ohio.![Merit Badge in Music
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To a dear friend whose talent for writing music is sensational. May you have a fabulous New Year, (((Brandi)))!!! *^*Kiss*^*
Big hugs,
Sherri *^*Heart*^*](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Music-1050.gif)
![Merit Badge in Organization
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I don't know how you do it, but I assume there's magic involved *^*Bigsmile*^* I have really enjoyed this month of planning and preparation for NaNoWriMo and I love how organized it all is. Thank you for hosting a great challenge and for your dedication to helping so many of us prepare with confidence and trepidation for National Novel Writing Month (known to sane folks as 'November' *^*Laugh*^*) at your [Link To Item #1474311]](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Organization-1150.gif)
![Merit Badge in Leadership
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For your hard work, commitment, talent and innovation in running the October NaNoWriMo Preparation each year, which helps many of us get our scattered thoughts together for November's novel-writing. And also because this badge has ducks on it.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Leadership.gif)
Are you planning a party? A word of advice: Hold it at a bar and order pizza. It'll save you hours and hours of prep time. 
