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I’m a week behind  for my deadline for this diary entry. Even though I told TRO that I would be late, I still feel guilty because I am a stickler for being on time. It would appear that I have succumbed to Shiny Object Syndrome (S.O.S.).  I sometimes wonder if this happens more often to those of us without a storefront. As a home based travel consultant, I can set my own hours. I can let the phone go to voicemail, I can check email at a time of my choosing. In other words, I can get easily distracted.

Often I feel that I am not seeing the success I envisioned for myself because I have been taking my eye off my goal. I am not sure exactly where I thought I would be at this point almost a year after having signed on with my franchise, but I just know I should be at a different point.

As the summer is upon us, I am balancing my role as a stay-at-home dad with someone trying to run a business. My six year old daughter is learning to live with the fact that her father cannot play at every waking moment. I struggle daily with the knowledge that when I am old(er) and gray(er) I will never look back with regret that I spent too much time with her. It is a true exercise of my time management skills as well as a large shiny object drawing away my attention from my business.

Since my last diary entry, I have spent three days involved in my neighborhood’s annual member/guest golf tournament. About a month ago, I was called by the tournament director asking if I would be willing to sponsor a hole-in-one contest at the tournament. I jumped at the chance to get in front of 120 golfers who might have the disposable income to travel or at least would refer me to their friends and co-workers who might be interested in a cruise.

I learned a costly lesson in my sponsorship. The next time I sponsor an event like this, I will insist on receiving a complete list of names and addresses of those who enter. I also will not sponsor both days of the tournament as doing so made for a long, hot weekend. I keep reminding myself that I am in the relationship business and that the payoff for my investment in both time and money may not happen until sometime in the distant future. I am confident that it will offer a good ROI because the last time I offered a free cruise for a hole-in-one I saw a 7-to-1 return on my investment.

From those who chose to donate for the hole in one, I managed to raise $375 for the local chapter of Meals on Wheels where I am a volunteer driver. I am matching those donations dollar for dollar when we present Meals on Wheels with a check.

My other latest news is that my host agency/franchise is changing its name, logo and branding to match that of the Cruise Holidays brick and mortar outlets. I will be detailing the steps I am taking as part of my “new” grand opening in my next entry.

Chuck Flagg is an independent owner/operator of SeaMaster Cruises in Canton, GA. For information contact Chuck at cflagg@seamastercruises.com or by phone at 770-355-9569.