As small business owners we are excited one minute then knocked down the next minute. It’s the nature of our business. We get a new big client. Yay, we are up. The new big client doesn’t pay us for three months. Boo, we are down. But then, they pay us right when the rent is due. Yay, we are up again.

Somehow we manage to pull it off, over and over. We are survivors. We make it happen. We make it work.

Yes, there are more struggles than normal these days. Yes, the economy is scary. But we are still the same people. We still have the same drive, desire, and guts we have always had. We still ride that small business wave up and down. We hang on. We move forward.

During these tough times we need to step it up. I know. I hear you. You are already doing everything you can. Step it up? You hardly have the time now to do what you are already doing. I hear you.

Now is the time.

I went to Laughs Comedy Spot in Kirkland recently. Greg Behrendt was there. He is a famous comedian who wrote the number one bestseller, “He’s Just Not That Into You.” He talked about his book and how surprising it was to him the book was number one. He told the crowd he didn’t really think he was the right person to co-write the book. But reluctantly he did it.

He said, “Everything I have ever been successful in, someone has had to drag me into it.”

How many of us have things we know we should do to help grow our businesses or improve the business but we just don’t do it? We don’t have time. We don’t have the money for it. So we skip it. But maybe, just maybe, that thing we dread is the one thing we really need to help our small business grow during these tough times.

What do you dread? What do you put off over and over in your business? What is the last thing you want to do in your business?

Are you avoiding networking groups or events? Are you not calling potential clients or customers because you are unsure what to say? Is your accounting piling up in the back office under a desk?

Behrendt did what he didn’t really want to do. He had someone drag him into it. For most small business owners, it’s just us. There is no one to push us but ourselves. If we don’t push ourselves, who will?

Now is the time.

Push yourself. I dare you. And watch what happens.

If you have any topics you would like me to write about, e-mail me at Diana@businesswithFlair.com

Diana DeAndrea-Kohn is a small business owner and writer in Kirkland. For writing projects, you can reach her at www.WritingIlluminated.com or her business Web site is www.businesswithFLAIR.com.