OPINION
Finding balance from your business
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As your business grows you have more people that rely on you. This creates more stress and provides less balance.
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86 INCLEAN September / October 2021
inding balance in the current pandemic is more elusive than ever before. Yet it is the biggest challenge that successful business owners face in their lives. The reality is that as your business grows you have more people that rely on you. Staff, customers, even suppliers. This creates more stress and provides less balance. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Let me explain using a recent case study. Bob came to me because he had lost the love in his commercial cleaning business. He worked six days a week, 10 hours (or more) a day. The business was doing well but the long hours and frustration weren’t sustainable. Bob needed to make a change. Sound familiar? As a business owner there are three key groups of people that you must keep happy to be successful: • Staff • Customers • Business partners (including family, shareholders, etc) As your business grows, you start to run out of capacity to manage all three groups. • Weekly dinner and drinks with staff change to monthly 30 min catch-ups (if you can manage it) • That one-on-one relationship with every customer dwindles to the top 20, or even top 10 • Weekly business partner catchups replaced with monthly management meetings. You start to feel like you are losing touch, with everyone. Your time is consumed with the daily firefighting, problem-solving. No time for; strategic vision, casual customer chats, or to focus on the future of your business. Bob had an issue with two key groups: staff, and business partners (in this case his family).
The staff did not clearly understand Bob’s vision and goals. They were working hard but their decision-making wasn’t aligned to the business goals. This had a negative impact on customer service and profitability. Bob’s family was not happy. His mind was always at work even when he was at home. This in turn created more work for Bob. He was constantly setting staff straight, apologizing to customers, making promises about spending more time with the family... tomorrow... He was exhausted from the constant firefighting. We’ve all been there, and it’s hard! The solution was clear. Bob needed to get everyone on the same page. He needed his staff to make the right decisions so he could focus on the bigger stuff. We implemented our proven business operating framework. His profit went up by 32 per cent and he wound back to working four eight-hour days a week (from six 10-hour days). The solution is simple but not easy. Let me explain. The freedom pyramid (top right) shows the two components needed to get balance in your business. 1. Financial stability: In the words of billionaire Glen Stearns, “You can’t build a successful business when you’re worried about where your next meal will come from”. You can’t get a balance until you have your basic finances in order. You must have good profit and cash flow practices in place. (Read more about this at: www.lucrature.com/content-hub). 2. Emotional stability: Having confidence your staff make the right decisions, even when you’re not there. Adopting a proven business operating framework is your best bet in achieving balance and freedom from your business.