You probably went into business because you wanted to live the dream…
You were sick of having to do things your bosses’ way when you could see a better way. You were fed up with working your butt off when the company, not you, got all the rewards.
And you were tired of fighting the traffic in peak hour and missing out on valuable time with your kids.
So you told your boss to stick it (politely, of course) and left with a smile on your face and a whole lot of hope that things were going to be much better…
With no boss to answer to, you can do everything your own way. There are no set hours you have to stick to; you can work whenever you want. It’s a little scary at first, but you know you have made the right decision. You love the freedom of being your own boss!
You set up your office/shop, get some business cards and maybe even a website. Then you realise something… you don’t have any customers! That’s when it hits you. Bugger, all the hard work you did to set up your business doesn’t mean anything if you are not making any money!
So you sit and think about how you can get customers. The easiest way seems to be to tell everyone you know. You start making calls and send some emails to your friends and family. Maybe you start a Facebook page to get the word out there.
But, there’s just one problem… your friends and family don’t want to buy what you have to sell! Why? They aren’t in your target market. Ok, back to the drawing board…. Where will I find people who want to buy my products or services? You need to start advertising…. But advertising is expensive and you don’t have a lot of money… bugger again.
Eventually you get some customers and things start ticking along nicely. You have money coming in the door and you are getting new customers through word of mouth. You do a great job and people are happy to recommend you.
After a while, business is going so well that you are working 60-80 hours a week. Your partner is annoyed because you don’t get to spend quality time together any more. When you come home from work, you are so tired that you collapse in front of the TV. You know you should be looking after yourself better but you just don’t have the energy to cook, so you get takeaway… again.
Your health is slipping as you don’t have time to go to the gym any more. You snap at your kids because you are just so tired. Your friends have given up asking you to hang out with them because you’re never available.
Business is going well, but your life is falling apart…
If you have any spare time, it is spent doing paperwork – paying bills, doing quotes and chasing people who owe you money. You feel like you’re drowning in all the work and struggling to get everything done on time. You are doing your best, but your customers want more. You love your business, but it is literally sucking the life out of you…
This isn’t what you signed up for!!
You need to hire some staff, as you really can’t manage on your own any more. After a few interviews, you find someone who seems perfect for the job. Great, this will fix all your problems! They start working with you and you need to train them. But how do you find the time on top of your already hectic workload?
You ponder the idea that this person was supposed to make your life easier and right now they are actually making it harder. But you know that it will take time to train them properly and one day they will be a valuable asset to you and your business.
As time goes on, you hire more people and they get better at their job. They understand what is required of them (most of the time) and they are asking fewer questions now. But, they just don’t seem to put in as much effort as you do. They are not as experienced as you, they lack customer focus and they are simply not as passionate as you are…
You are frustrated because your expenses are more than they used to be and it’s affecting your bottom line. What’s even more frustrating though, is the fact that you don’t have any more customers than you did when you were on your own.
Now you have the additional stress of managing staff on top of managing your business, and you are earning less money than you used to. How did this happen? This is certainly not the dream you had when you started out.
You wonder if this is all there really is to business; and indeed, to life. I mean, you started this thing so you could have more freedom, more money and more holidays. But in reality, you are chained to your business, working all hours of the day and night… Your money goes straight out the door as soon as it comes in… and your last real holiday was years ago…
You desperately want to make a change, but you don’t know how…
Here’s how you can…
