The Purpose of Owning A Business
The fastest way to burn out with your business is to stop focusing and striving for this one thing, that I will get to in minute.
What is the purpose of owning and growing a business?
For most people, we start a business because we want to make money, make an impact and have freedom. Right? At least that’s why I have started each business I have owned.
The fastest way to burn out with your business is to stop focusing and striving for this one thing, that I will get to in minute.
What is the purpose of owning and growing a business?
For most people, we start a business because we want to make money, make an impact and have freedom. Right? At least that’s why I have started each business I have owned.
For most people I think the biggest reason start a business though is freedom. Freedom to make as much or as little as you want to make. Freedom to work when you want to work, how you want to work and where you want to work.
Freedom to think, freedom to choose and freedom to decide.
But most entrepreneurs find themselves in a seemingly constant cycle of panic, abbreviated by sweet moments of success. The stats back it up 51% of small business owners have gone no less than 6 months without a paycheck at some point in their business, and almost 60% of small business owners make $50,000 or less per year.
So sure we get into business for money, impact and freedom but many only cage themselves into a prison they can never get out of.
I see a lot on social media, influencers, coaches and gurus who talk about how much they made in their last launch or last year, but you never hear about what their actual profits were. I don’t care if you did $1 Million dollars in sales last year if you had $800k in expenses.
A business is considered profitable when it makes money, after you the owner is paid, and all the bills are covered. If you have a team of people whom you support with a salary, but aren’t bringing home a salary yourself, you are doing something wrong. Plain and simple.
The purpose of a business for the business owner, is and always will be to make you money. PROFIT.
This means that if you can’t afford to hire someone without cutting your own salary, don’t hire that person, go it alone just a little while longer until you hit a number where you can afford to hire someone.
We must be diligent with managing our expenses in business, just because you think you can afford something, doesn’t mean you can. Just because you tell yourself your expenses are just you reinvesting in the business- doesn’t mean you actually are.
If your business is not profitable- do not spend any more and savagely cut expenses until you are profitable again.
Depending on the size of your organization truly dictates what your expenses should be, but cut cut cut, until you are paying yourself.
If you don’t take of yourself first you can’t take care of anyone else.
If the business can’t take care of you first, it can’t take care of anyone else.
A great resource for managing your expenses and finding more profit in your business is “Profit First” By Mike Michaelwicz. I wish I would have read it sooner, and you will wish you had too.
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The Most Important Person In Your Business
I will never forget the day that my mentor asked me, “Who is the most important person in your business?”
I felt totally and completely stumped. So I ran through all of my vendors, clients, and team members in my mind to come up with an answer to what was clearly a trick question.
I will never forget the day that my mentor asked me, “Who is the most important person in your business?”
I felt totally and completely stumped. So I ran through all of my vendors, clients, and team members in my mind to come up with an answer to what was clearly a trick question.
Was it my marketing person? They bring in leads and without leads we don’t have sales and without sales we don’t have a business.
What is my sales person? They sell to the leads who come in and without sales we are out of business.
Was is my customer service and customer service team members? They kept our clients and customers happy. Happy customers, mean more sales which means we stay in business.
My mentor looked at me with compassion in his eyes, as he said to me, “ Sara all those roles in your business are super important but, but woman, the most important person in your business is you. Without you, there would be no business.”
I was going to my mentor at that time, because I was stressed, anxious and really wasn’t my normal, fun, and enthusiastic self. It was like a cloud had descended over me, and all I wanted to do was take my ball and go home. So I went to my mentor to ask for help.
He proceeded to ask me a few more questions about how I had been taking care of myself… not good.
In life and business in general, I really don’t even like to think about my myself. I don’t see myself as important, sure I am valuable, but I am no better than any other person. If anything I think I struggle to even at times see myself as “THE BOSS.” Which is funny because this blog is called the Momma Boss- it’s a reminder almost to myself that I am the boss of my business and my life.
When you are a leader and business owner,
“You are seen under a microscope and hear through a megaphone.” -Alex Charfen
That concept for me has until recent years been tremendously hard to grasp, because how I see myself is a mom of 5 from Wyoming, a team player, referee, and friend. Not a leader or boss. The people who work for me, see me as the boss, and at times that has made me super uncomfortable. So when asked who the most important person in my business was, and the answer being me. I struggled with grasping that.
This mentor went on to tell me, the because I am the most important person in my business, I have to take care of myself life it’s part of my job.
Eat Right and in moderation
Hydrate- drink your water, all the water. You need it!
Move- get your heart pumping and your muscles moving.
Get enough sleep- for real though. You need sleep, not getting enough actually makes your brain deteriorate, and you end up making poor decisions when you aren’t rested. YOU the decision maker can’t afford to make poor decisions.
Get your mind right- get a counsellor, journal, meditate, do what you have to do to make sure the space between your ears is good.
… And for the love of all that is good…
Take a day off every so often!
You are a total badass! Starting a business, growing a business, and running a business are not easy, but you my friend don’t seek the easy life, but it can be easier when you simply take better care of yourself.
Your team doesn’t want to be walking on egg shells, because they are worried you may blow a gasket.
Take care of yourself, because if you aren’t good, the business will be operating at half power. You are the engine powering this amazing machine you have built from nothing.
Your team needs you.
Your clients need you.
Your family needs you.
Take care of you. If you aren’t good, nothing is good.
