Much has been spoken about how to make money, how to find customers, how to make conversions on your marketing material or how to manage your business effectively. Does anyone actually advise small business owners on how to deal with the running of a business on a personal level?
I see people making milestones of business success in terms of money. I’m wondering if we can itemize some aspects of our business life that business people can be happy while doing what they love to do.
1. Practice time management
If you work 10 hours a day because you can never ‘find the time’ to do a consistently adequate job of operating your company setup a system of time management and/or hire more people to help. I used to use notebooks to keep my appointments in front of me until my wife ‘told’ me to get into the habit of using Google Calendar – ok, so agreed she is the smartest person I know!
A friend complained last week that he has reached his company’s sales limit. I was shocked because I know this guy works long hours and he had told me recently how he wanted to expand across the country. I told him he needed to hire a manager and a personal assistant. He agreed and told me he couldn’t afford to hire anyone. Really? I pointed out that a combined salary of about $80k could get him two employees who could manage his work and personal time management. I told him with administrative duties off his plate he could make another $300k per year in sales himself. Not only short term thinking but poor time management. He is still weighing the options.
2. How much money do you really need to earn?
Is pure materialism the absolute goal for your business life or can you live a more meaningful and fulfilled life by slowing down that driving urge to have all the toys? In my life I am totally enjoying having time for myself without having tons of employees, a huge office and people demanding my time. I can allocate time to those things I enjoy, people who I want to see and still make the same money.
As my closest friends and I get older, we are starting to ‘stop and smell the roses’ a bit more. Living in Vancouver, it’s more of a lifestyle city than a dynamo like NYC or Toronto. People relish the outdoors, have coffee meetings and conduct business in a very laid back manner. It’s tough if you absolutely have to get something done because procrastination is built into the Vancouver psyche.
Having said that, many entrepreneurs I work with know how much money they ‘need’ to earn every month to keep the wheels of their industry turning and don’t kill themselves to make more than what they need.
3. Love what you do
Every business I ever started was a lifestyle choice or something that I loved or was passionate about. I always feel that if it were otherwise, why do it? I ran a successful photography business for many years because I had a real passion for photography. One day I woke up and realized I had made it more work than fun so I closed the studio and ad agency – next?
I tell my wife I have a business vocation (professional mentoring) and I have an avocation (my social media). I guess I have convinced myself somewhere along the way that instead of working 20 hours a day I’d work 4-6 hours a day at my business and a few hours having fun at my ‘hobby’ – social media. Hey if you have to trick your brain so be it! Going back to the money thing, I’d rather make a lot less money than give up having fun at what I do.
4. Keep the people in your life who are important to you happy
Ha, does that even need to be said? Of course; because how many businesses were made in the ruination of families and relationships? Don’t allow yourself to be controlled by those emotions that will take you out, alienate your family, lose your closest friends and cause you to end up divorced. Ask any wealthy person who made their fortunes that way and they will have regrets.
Recently, Visa CEO Charlie Scharf announced he was stepping down, saying he needs to spend more time with this family on the East Coast of the United States — and away from Visa’s San Francisco headquarters. Family matters.
I make time for my family and close friends every day and if asked I am sure they would say they could call me anytime and I would be there for them. Business should not grow at the expense of your family or friends. You can judge what is more important to you but you will need to figure it out sooner than later
5. Be Honorable
Duh, does anyone actually start out to be a sneaky, conniving, dishonorable fraudster? The answer is that no one, but if you run your business ethically, have an abiding concern for your clients/customers and run your business with honor and respect others will see it. People will come to you and your business will thrive. There is so much truth to the saying ‘with good service people tell one person, unhappy customers will tell ten’. Make it your goal, make it your mission to be honorable in all your dealings whether it is customers, employees or suppliers.
6. Keep learning while you run your company
From experience I can tell you that if you are in a state of constantly finding answers, learning all that there is to know about your business and searching for new alternatives to old problems you will never burn out. I find education fun and have spent over 17 years in post secondary education. I have a need to learn and it keeps my game sharp.
One of the best benefits you can offer employees is access to courses, workshops and conferences where they can learn how to be better at what they do for you.
7. Take care of your health
If you lose your health running your business you have nothing. Guys who constantly move the ‘cocktail hour’ closer to noon, the guys who eat fast food to ‘save time’ and don’t exercise because they don’t have the discipline are creating problems that will blow up in their faces.
I have a 30-year-old friend who has hypertension from the stress of running his small business. I’m very worried for him if his company grows even ten percent; it will kill him. Go back to item one above, time management, take two aspirins and call me in the morning.
All I’m saying is run your business like it is your child, face problems immediately, take care of relationships and make sure you are going to be around to see your kids go to college – and enjoy what you do!