Opening and running a business is a great responsibility. The financial future and stability of your family’s income depend on whether you are successful or not. With this idea in the back of their mind, permanently reminding them that they must not fail, a lot of entrepreneurs get lost in their own business. They spend long hours and weekends, and cancel holidays just to make sure that they have everything under control and that their business is running properly.
Do you recognize yourself in this quick sketch? If the answer is yes, then you are most certainly working in your business, not on your business. You do not believe there is a difference between the two concepts? Then you are completely lost in your business, if you cannot see it.
Working on your business means thinking a few steps ahead, planning the growth of your business, developing new, innovative products and services, and enjoying your private life as well, with your family and friends. Working in your business means spending every waking hour at the computer, on your company website, writing emails, checking on everything going on in your social media pages, trying to do everything at once and accomplishing very little in fact.
Still not convinced that you are working in your business? Here are the warning signs:
1. The Business Is Your Life
Every single thing you do revolves around the business. When you are eating breakfast, you are already scrolling through your emails on the smartphone. You sit up mid-dinner to do “just one more thing” for the business at the computer. On holidays, you are mostly immersed in your laptop, doing business-related activities. Whenever you meet with friends, all you can talk about is your business.
This is a clear sign that your business has completely taken over your life. Instead of helping you find financial independence and creating a good work/life balance, it keeps you prisoner in your home office and your business activities.
2. Surrendering Control? Never!
Have you received the suggestion to hire a virtual assistant to help you deal with paperwork and you simply shuddered in horror? It is not about the costs it would involve (virtual assistants charge you by the hour and their services are quite affordable) it is the thought of giving up control over a portion of your business, no matter how small. Here is a sobering thought: control freaks never make good entrepreneurs, managers or business owners. What makes them strong leaders is the art of identifying and recruiting talent and delegating responsibilities.
3. What Priorities? Everything Is Urgent!
No, not everything is urgent. Filing your taxes on time is, indeed, urgent. Answering an email which came in at 9 in the evening while you are watching a movie with your family can wait until tomorrow. As a business owner, you need to learn to differentiate between tasks which need to be done now, and tasks which can be scheduled for later. You need to learn how to plan your day, schedule tasks by their degree of importance and not allow disruptions, except for very rare and truly urgent occasions.
4. Being Jack-of-All-Trades
Trying to be everything in your company will result in not doing anything right. You cannot be the owner, manager, accountant, marketer, delivery guy and secretary at the same time. Some tasks are not within your competence. Others, less critical, should be delegated to allow you to focus on the core elements of your business. What makes your business special is the idea behind it – the products or services you developed. Focus on them, become the best at making or supplying them, and your business will prosper. Try to play every role in the business, and you will never find either success or a peaceful and fulfilled family life.
5. Forgetting about Yourself
When is the last time you indulged in your hobbies? When did you last enjoy a meal with all the family around you? When did you see your friends last? Can’t remember? Then you have put your whole life on hold for your business idea. How long will it be until you become bitter and disappointed? How long till you realize that sacrificing everything is not worth it? No matter how enthusiastic you are about running your business, it cannot replace your regular likes, hobbies and interests – and it should not do so. Never forget why you are in business: in order to have a better life.
Have we given you enough food for thought? Then you should start thinking about what you need to change in order to work on your business, not in your business.