My Life is Playing Second Fiddle to My Business
3 minute read
What’s good for you is not necessarily good for your business. And vice versa. Why make yourself ill doing something that does not make you happy.
That’s my Enterprise Agony Uncle topic today.
Dear Enterprise Iain
I have been running my business for twelve years and it is going well. We produce good profits and I have a staff of 18 people. What I have noticed is that I am actually no longer enjoying what I do. I’m not sure if I have got bored with running the business or whether the market I am in has changed, and it’s now very much harder than it was before.
We have good retained profits and very good customer base so I am wondering if it’s time to sell or possibly bring in someone else to run the business.
My reason for this is that, quite simply my life is playing second fiddle to the business.
Any suggestions?
Andrew
Dear Andrew
Here’s a point that I make to both start ups and to growing businesses. “What’s good for you is not necessarily good for your business and what’s good for the business is not necessarily good for you”.
When you start the business, you and the business are one and the same thing. You are the business and the business is you. As the business starts to grow it takes on a life of its own and the fact that you have grown it to 18 employees and good profits is a real credit to you.
It’s not uncommon for entrepreneurs to get bored with their businesses. Actually it’s a good thing because it says you are ready for another challenge. The interesting thing for me is your suggestion that you bring somebody in to run things. This could be a really canny move. If you get the right person – and that takes a lot of careful consideration and planning – you could end up with an even bigger and better business than you had before.
So, can I make a suggestion as a starting point? Ask yourself where you want to be in five years time? Personally and for the business. Write your ideas down on two separate bits of paper and then compare them.
Chat up your thoughts with family and very closes friends. What do they think? Very often the people closest to you are aware of the changes you are considering without you even knowing about it, and you may well be surprised by their reaction.
So clearly it’s time for change and the change will be based on two things.
- What’s good for you.
- What’s good for the business.
Enterprise Iain
The world’s first enterprise agony uncle
