While we miss our loved ones, we’re actually seeing more of our immediate family than ever before.
Have you taken the time to reflect?
- Perhaps you’ve been thinking about the times you missed meals at home because you were working for small margins.
- Or all those weekends you worked; missing out on time with the family, to get your business to where it needed to be a success.
- And how; during lockdown, you’re now reaping the benefits of feeling healthier compared with beforehand when you found no time to exercise.
Before the pandemic broke out, was your business on its feet? If you could ask your ‘startup self’ if they’d be happy with where you are now, would you say yes? If so, why have you, up until now, been continuing to work in that way?
It’s time to pivot your business and your life. Why? To make sure you can continue to enjoy everything you appreciate right now and previously took for granted.
Family
For the first time ever, I can eat two meals a day with my two daughters and my wife. I love it.
I’ve watched my daughters, aged four and six, bond so much over the past couple of years. Even though we were close to begin with, we’ve grown even closer and I’ve seen first-hand their development.
That, to me, is priceless. So, I’ve pivoted my attitude and outlook.
I thought I was missing out on these moments because of ‘work commitments’. In reality, it’s taken this pandemic to show me that it was actually because of the decisions I made as a business owner.
Not anymore.
Work
I work long hours. I bet you do too.
Why do we do it? To provide for our family and our team. If we hated it, we wouldn’t do it. My job is a hobby to me, and I’ve got no hesitations in telling anyone that I absolutely love it.
Most of my clients have the same mindset, but because everyone’s working the hardest they can for their own business this presents a unique challenge: everyone is working ‘too ethically’.
What this looked like for us was we let certain clients ask and expect a service they could not afford or were not willing to pay for. We tried too hard to please.
You want to do your best and keep everyone happy, so it’s an easy trap to fall into.
Don’t get me wrong, we will continue to go above and beyond for our clients. However, we pivoted our business to start working how we wanted to work, with the people we wanted to work with.
Did that mean letting some clients go? Yes. Was it scary? A little. But was it best for our own business? Absolutely.
The ultimate goal is to run your business, and not let your business run you. Now we’re in control of the margins we want to make. It’s a work in process, so we’re using the downtime to give us a chance to explore this further to find a fit we’re happy with.
You
Fitness has always been important to me.
I’m approaching 40, so I had been going to the gym three times per week (on top of other weekly sports) for a while now. Mentally and physically, it’s an escape.
If you work out, you’ll have made the switch from the gym to home exercises, and like thousands of other people across the UK you might’ve taken up running.
This testing time has made me appreciate this more than ever.
If you’ve recently started, ask yourself why you haven’t done this before now? What was it that put you off?
Going Forward
There’s a real risk that once the pandemic passes, you’ll fall back into the bad habits we’ve discussed.
Perhaps you’ll have less free time than ever before. The demands of your business may outweigh the demands of your family and health as you try to recoup the time lost.
So how are you planning on stopping this? If you’re enjoying this time with your family and are feeling better for it, what are you going to do to maintain this?
If you’re unsure, it might be time to contact us. We will help you rebuild your business without sacrificing the work/life balance you’re now enjoying.
There’s one thing you can never get back – time. So how do you save more of it to spend on the things you love?
Technology is just one of the ways to achieve this, but there are many other ways dependant on what’s right for you.
Contact us today to put measures in place now that you’ll enjoy in the future and never take for granted what you had previously.
