Here is a question: What is a business?
Why ask what appears to be such a simple, seemingly self-evident question? Well, I think it goes to the core of some of the major problems small businesses contend with on a daily basis. Much of the time spent as a small business owner (SBO) is trying to keep the dozen plus plates spinning that make up all the ‘stuff’ of their business. It surely can’t come as much of a surprise that the SBO loses sight, if not actually forgets, what he/she is doing every day and why they are doing it.
The next paragraph runs a serious risk of coming across a bit cold, possibly even unromantic but bare with me, some nice fuzzy stuff will come later (I hope).
A business is (primarily) a framework in which one generates profit and increases wealth through the exchange of a product or service. Is that all a business is? Absolutely not. But let’s bare in mind this primary function of business before we progress any further. Why? Because, without that clear understanding from the outset and being able to recall that ‘anchor’ from time to time, your business, in the words of Michael Gerber, “…becomes a job. And the worst job in the world”.
Your business is there to serve your needs; not the other way ’round.
I’m not totally sure how clear the point I’m trying to make here is but as someone who in the past, found himself working REALLY hard, putting in HUNDREDS of hours each month, I noticed that an occasional peering above the parapet would show that a. I was getting seriously burned out and b. I was not really making very much money. I had stopped owning a business and traded it for a over-working, underpaying job. Nuts! This in itself is a recipe for disaster but put that situation smack dab in the middle of one of the worst economic climates in generations and it became clear it was downright insane to carry on that way.
Ok, so where are we:
- A businesses primary function is to generate a profit
- Working on your business not in your business is a much more preferable place to be
- Times are tough
Brilliant. That’s that sorted. Let’s move onto fixing the environment.
No, wait. We’re not done yet are we. Ok then, next time, let’s get explore why I made such a big deal about the business/profit point.
Click here for: Surviving Tough Economic Times: Part 1
