The Reality of Business Owners Balancing Life and Work

As a business owner, balancing life and work can be a serious challenge. Unfortunately not all jobs are nine to five so finding an even balance between work and family/life… Well, can be very difficult.

First and foremost… When you own a business, essentially- you are always working every minute of the day, every day of the week. Business owners seldom get down time and if they do its usually interrupted by an item needing to be done “yesterday.” If you’re a business owner, you possess certain qualities and of course, hold yourself to very high standards. They can be categorized as motivated, passionate, at times a work-a-holic, selfless, curious and very action-oriented. Working is how us humans maintain a living, in order to take care of the essentials and do the things we love, the money has to be made- unfortunately it does not grow on trees and therefore the work must get done. Now, when you are a business owner it’s much different than being an employee. As an employee- you can go to work, most often have standard hours and collect a paycheck regularly, and even if you work outside of normal hours typically you get paid for that. When you are a business owner… there is no regular paycheck no matter the job you perform or effort your put forward, the money comes in if and only if you are selling and producing everything that you promise. Sounds intense, huh? It is. It is a stressful, challenging commitment, but if it’s done well- it can be very rewarding. Being a business owner does not mean you can’t have a life or that you do not have enough time for your family or the activities you enjoy…It means having your ducks in a row so that you can enjoy both.

If you’ve got complete control over everything in your life, work and family included, then you should consider that a luxury. Having full control is a rarity but there are ways to make it work. Have patience. You must possess this quality if you wish to be successful at work and at home. Patience is key, and you have train your brain to understand that not everything will always be perfect or work out the way it should… there will be times when you want to scream from the top of your lungs, there will be times when a client calls and has an emergency just as your about to walk out the door for family night- but have patience, in the end it will all work out. Establish a solid team. This is so crucial for business owners to be successful not only at work but home, too! You must have a reliable, proactive team that has your back. When you can count on others to get the job done, it’s a huge weight lifted off of your shoulders. If you can have faith in your team and your team is comprised of people who only bring out the best in you, are organized, challenge you, are proactive and… yeah- GET STUFF DONE, then you are one big step closer to achieving a happy balance. If you have a family, you know that the time you spend with them is even more important than the time at work but everything and everyone involved must “support the cause” or in other words, be on the same page. Family DOES come first but family must also understand that work is always there, especially when you’re a business owner and the job must get done in order to continue supporting the family. You as a business owner must always remember that yes, working hard and getting the job done, meeting deadlines is a MUST- you have to have the right team in place, be more organized than you can imagine and know that the work will and can get done in the hands of others just as you would do it yourself.

Balance isn’t easy and often times takes a long time to find, but it is possible and business owners can work hard, support their families and still be a very huge party of their family each and every day. A life DOES exist outside of work and in order for everything to fall into place maintain that positive balance, all parties including, you, your employees and your family must be on the same page. After all, a little patience and understanding can go a long way. Always keep things in perspective and know that achieving an integrated life is possible, there is just not a single formula for creating that balance.