Many people dream of working for themselves, being their own boss, and having the freedom to only take on clients and projects they love. What they may not realize is that there is a huge difference between building a business and being self-employed.
- Business owners scale their income.
- Self-employed people trade dollars for hours.
- Business owners leverage the skills and talents of others.
- Self-employed people rely only on their own skills.
Discouraged yet? Don’t be. Every business owner started out self-employed. The key is to not stay there!
These tips will help you build a sustainable business instead of just another job.
Don’t Do It All Yourself
Building a sustainable business requires that you leverage the talents and time of others. While it might seem cost-effective to simply do everything yourself—especially in the start-up phase when you likely have more time than money—it’s a path to burnout and stress.
Instead, separate your tasks into those that you love and are especially suited for (such as marketing) and those you dislike and aren’t good at. Make a solid plan to get those that you aren’t good at off your list of things to do. If you feel like you can’t afford to hire or outsource it all right now, start with what you tend to procrastinate the most on, even if it’s just a few hours each month.
Don’t Work All the Time
Many new business owners work from home. The problem with that is you live at work. And that means that there can be a blurry line between your work day and your home life.
Since there’s always work to do, it’s easy to find yourself working every available moment—often to the detriment of your family relationships. You can help avoid this by:
• Setting—and maintaining—clear work hours
• Having an office with a door you can close when you’re done
• Scheduling time for family and other activities
• Taking time for yourself
Look into leasing a small office space or a co-working space. After 18 years of working from home I decided it was time to lease an office to separate my work from home. It was one of the best decisions I could have made for my business and personal well being. I work there a few days a week and at home a couple days.
Time Off is Important
Don’t create a business that requires you to be “in the office” every day. At the start, you may need to be available more, but you should definitely be planning for the day when you can be “off the grid” for extended periods of time.
• Have trusted employees in place who can handle things when you’re not available
• Leverage automation tools such as autoresponders and autowebinar systems
• Create repeatable systems so you’re not always re-inventing the wheel
While you might not be able to hit the road with no internet access for weeks at a time, at the very least you should be able to reduce your workload to a daily check-in.
Sound impossible? It’s not. With some forethought and planning, you can create a team—and the systems they need—to successfully run your business without becoming overwhelmed and overworked.