I love the beach, yet I live in a cold climate. When summer finally does arrive I itch to get outdoors, preferably spending time on sugary sand next to large bodies of water.
But I have a business to run.
Is this a familiar dilemna? Do you long to be lounging on a beach towel listening to the waves?
Help is here!
Learn how to play in the sand and grow your business profit.
This is part of Bring Your Biz to the Beach, a free tour of tips and tools by small biz experts to help YOU to find your freedom, join in the summer fun, and grow your bottom line.
Since we can’t take the day to go to the beach, we’ll bring the beach to us instead. You’ll need two items to make this happen, however they are very inexpensive. They can be found at any craft store, and probably at most big box convenience stores.
- Clear Plastic Shoe Box ~ $1
- Decorative Sand ~ $3
Let’s Hit the Beach
Take the lid from the shoebox, flip it over, and place it on your desk or other flat surface. Pour the sand into lid. Presto – you’ve got a beach!
Run your fingers through it. Hold some in your hand. Gaze at your mini vista. If you’re really feeling ambitious prop a beach picture up behind it.
NOTE: If you have cats do not leave your beach unattended for long periods of time. It may be mistaken for a litter box.
Translating Play to Profit
I bet you’re thinking…
How is this going to help my business?
Good question.
Here are just a few ways you can turn your mini beach into a major profit booster.
Destress to Refocus
Stress is proven to reduce creativity and critical thinking. Stress saps your mojo, which is never good for an entrepreneur. Give yourself permission to take a break with your beach. I love to pick up the sand and then slowly let it fall back onto my “beach”. Try closing your eyes and simply placing your hand on the sand. You’ll be amazed at how it connects your mind to that relaxed beach mentality.
Give yourself 5 minutes, or perhaps the length of one fun summer song, and then return to work.
Change Your Perspective
No matter how brilliant we are (and let’s face it – we rock!), we still get stuck in a rut. Our wheels spin, but nothing goes anywhere. This can be particularly frustrating when we see the bustle, activity and vitality of summer around us.
Shake things up by adding an unexpected object to your beach. Don’t take long to pick the object, just grab and go. Use this scene to boost you out of that rut. In my case I picked a beautiful buffed agate stone (pictured on left). Life finance, it needed to be buffed and prepped before it was appealing to the masses. Hmm… lot’s of great insights to run with there.
Beach Analogies
Relate your business to a usual beach scene. What sells well on the beach? Why and to whom? How are people marketing things? Public beaches are a thriving economy, learn from them.
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That stone is gorgeous!!!
You can also draw a simple shape in the sand and then turn the box lid around to give yourself some new perspective on a situation!
I discovered the vendor at the Bead & Button show. They are The Gem Shop and their URL is http://thegemshop.com/.
Love the idea of drawing a simple shape and then turning for a new perspective. Thanks for sharing it Scraps.
Might be fun to take some mini clay pots and build a sand castle. I loved doing that as a kid. And as an adult, I still love castles! Castles and lighthouses, that is. 🙂
You’re SO right about beaches being a thriving economy. I visited Catalina Island some years ago and rented a beach cruiser for the day. I love riding a bicycle! That little bike rental shop was raking in the dough!! It’s the perfect business in the perfect location.
Castles – yes! I loved building cool castles with awesome moats right at the shoreline.
I am TOTALLY doing this… and I love the idea of an unexpected object. Hmmm… what to choose, what to choose…..
Don’t take long to choose it Tori. If it helps, close your eyes and just reach out randomly. Put the first thing you touch (unless its your dog) on the beach.
Tada! When #Biz2Beach meets the SyFy channel…
OMG. This is hilarious! Thanks for sharing Tori.
Very nice…Having a not so great morning and since I am not too far from the beach, I just may go do that today. I so love the theme of this as the beach has such great energy and soo many ways to use the flow to re-invent, invigorate…and more. THANKS for the uplift!
Glad I could help turn the morning around. I used to live right across the street from Lake Superior, and yes the energy of the beach is amazing.
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