Are You Ready For A Work/Life Balance?
Take Control By Losing it
Nobody needs to tell a sole proprietor or busy individuals that they don’t have enough time to accomplish their daily “to do list.” One would then wonder why 32 percent of these same people would spend freed up time thinking of new ways to generate new business or other things to do? According to Visa USA and SCORE “Councilors to Small Business” this is exactly what sole proprietors and other busy individuals do.
So, what happened to this work/life balance thing that everybody is talking about? spending more time with the family, getting more exercise or just sitting and thinking. Isn’t this what everybody wants?
Supposing that work/life balance is what sole proprietors want, why don’t they just hirer a few people to do what appears to be taking up all their time during the day. This would let them “build the business” or just take a walk on the beach and think.
Controlling Issues
As it turns out, these folks have already figured out where they need the help. It’s just that they aren’t ready to let total control of their fledgling operation go. For small businesses and sole proprietorships 28 percent of those surveyed would delegate marketing duties, 26 percent sales and 25 percent operations. None would let the financials go but it does leave 21 percent for the financials, work/life/business growth issues and the always ubiquitous “other” category.
So, there does appear to be some “wiggle room” in there for work/life balance, but is it taken or just plowed right back into the business by not letting go? And then there is the expense. How does a sole proprietor or busy person pay for these services that are supposed to make business or life easier? Not to mention that there’s the question of how one keeps an eye on these services.
Making a Decision and Letting Go
It might be here that the stress part of running a business/family/event comes into play. At some point, however, the fact that the person involved cannot do it all and still maintain some semblance of sanity remains. Only the individual involved can make the decision to implement a new strategy. But then again, isn’t this at the heart of the entire matter, you as the individual making the decision?
The real question arises for this group of people. What level of work/life balance in terms of control, lifestyle, sanity and profit are you looking for and what are you willing to do to achieve it without driving yourself, and those around you, into the ground?