OK, Let's Go There--Why Did My Business Fail?

I haven't really wanted to think about this. I was an independent consultant for 7 years.

So what happened? Why couldn't I pay my taxes? Why did I have to borrow money for business trips and computer equipment?

I can't blame the economy.

I can only blame myself.

I'm a procrastinator. I wait until the last minute to do a project. I do it well, but it may be late.

I put off billing my clients. Stupid, but I always felt somewhere down deep that billing them invited criticism of my work--kind of like having a performance appraisal every time you turn something in.

I was isolated. My clients didn't have time to participate as a team in my projects. If they had that time, they would have done what they needed internally, without me.

I wasted time. I wasn't aggressive enough about looking for new work. I got really good at Suduko.

I think I can say that nobody who ever hired me was sorry they did. But I didn't value myself highly enough.

And this effected my business, and ultimately my family.

What was I thinking?