Years ago, before our business venture began, we had grand visions of what being a business owner would be like. Go into the office, check in with the staff, meet a client for lunch, cut out early and spend the rest of the early afternoon on the river; relaxing. After we woke up from that glorious dream, we realized that business would be a bit harder than we first imagined: that was 16 years ago!
Since that starry eyed view of business ownership so many years ago, I can tell you one thing for sure- we've logged tons of OVERTIME! Last week's blog talked about proper email etiquette and as I was pondering the topic for this week- these thoughts about how we thought it would be versus how it has turned out just sprang to mind!
So how has it been these last 16 years?
- Going into the office- that happened 6 years into our business, after we moved the business from our home to an actual office.
- Checking in with the staff- that still happens every day!
- Meeting clients for lunch- we used to do a lot more of that years ago, but with email, webinars, phone & fax; times are definitely changing!
- And that 'cutting out early and heading for the river' thing- let's just say it took YEARS and YEARS for the first trip to the river and now we have the good fortune to take a good vacation at least once a year....and yes, there is still plenty of overtime!
Overtime is simply a part of running your business and, if you are blessed with those who believe in your vision and the good you have set out to do, your team will log their share of overtime as well!
Small business ownership is the backbone of a healthy America!! Thank You for all you do!
(check out this great Southwest Airlines magazine article where they found that 98% of us work on emails on nights and weekends- and why)
