“Business Owner”, is such a proud and noble title. A cornerstone, symbolizing your vision and commitment to independence and financial success.
Tomorrow is Labor Day and usually a good time to sit back and think about your business, career and/or job. I would be willing bet that you had the best of intentions for yourself, your family, and your community when you started your business. You harbored personal dreams of achieving greater freedom, fortune, and fulfillment. You made promises to your family and friends of your eventual success, ultimately resulting in a better quality of life, more financial freedom, and perhaps most importantly more free time.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, your life has become part of your business rather than your business becoming part of your life. Your time with your family, friends, and other activities that are supposed to be the embodiment of your life have diminished. The fortune that your business was supposed to produce may not have come to fruition, or it has begun to seem that the financial success you have attained may not be worth the drain on your life.
Did I write this piece to try and scare you with all the ugly statistics I know, telling you the percentage of businesses that don’t make it to their five or ten year anniversaries? Would I do that? Those of you that know me understand my passion for helping people and know my style of coaching. None of us really got into business for ourselves per se; we got into business for what it could give back to us. Instead of scaring you with the statistics, I want to begin to share with you a couple of key ingredients for not becoming one. Are you up for that? I hope so, because these tips could not only save your business, but also rekindle those dreams you have for your ideal life. The steps I am going to walk you through are going to adjust the focus of your business, back to what is most important to you and to what business practices offer the best quality for the trade of time, money, and energy you put into them.
Always remember that the intended purpose of your business is essentially to give you more life. That being said, the key component of creating and sustaining a successful business is leadership, provided by a strategic business owner/manager that knows how to work “on” their business and not strictly “in” their business. Another is a good dose of luck, but we will concentrate on the part that you can control! Business isn’t Vegas!
Let’s start this life lesson by clearly defining how a Strategic Business Owner/Manager functions:
- They understand that their business was created to be a valuable asset to their lives. It is NOT a glorified job/position to which their lives have become an asset.
- They have clarified the overall goals for their lives and understand how their business is there to help them achieve those goals, not control them.
- They spend the greater portion of their time on controlling the direction and momentum of their business, not on the day to day technical tasks and services their business may require to operate.
- They leverage their leadership position with an emphasis on sales and marketing, seeking opportunities for their business to provide solutions and communicate benefits and do not simply push a commodity.
- They realize that delegation is the key to being strategic and effectively leading, avoiding being a bottleneck of all decisions and activities within their organization.
If you already know and understand all the above and put it into practice on a regular basis, I want to congratulate you. You are in the minority.
On the other hand, if you read the above and realize you are not currently practicing Strategic Business Management skills, I’ve got some good and bad news. Let’s go ahead and start with the bad news. You may have wasted time, money, and other resources building your business. You may currently feel deep down like you’ve failed. You could potentially be on your way out of business. But here is the hook, just listen to the good news! Chances are you’re not alone-as I stated previously, only a small minority of us are Strategic Business Owners/Managers! The best news of all may be that, if you are ready for a change, you can in fact get the help you need. Are you ready for assistance?
I believe that B.C. Forbes may have stated it best when he said, “Don’t forget until too late that the business of life is not about business, but about living.”
Need help? Give me a call!
Dave
Dave Ferguson is an internationally recognized executive coach, mentor, speaker, trainer, and author in the areas of leadership and personal development. Dave helps business owners, executives, top management leaders, and political leaders transform how they communicate, connect, and grow as leaders. He equips individuals, thought leaders, and organizations with high performance solutions to ensure continuous improvement in personal growth and business results. Reach Dave at 704-907-0171 or Dave@LivingToLead.com
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