Article by Jane Tweedy, Business Advisor, Western Sydney Business Centre
Being in business can take its toll on yourself and your family if you don’t nurture the relationships in your life. Have you got a good balance in your work and the rest of your life? Although work life balance may be a bit of a fairy tale, we can at least identify the issues and try to improve the balance.
Business is not easy for any of us. Even big business struggles – just look at CBA and its $700 million + penalty for operational indiscretions. No one is perfect, and nobody’s business is going awesomely well all the time. Even people like Richard Branson have confidence issues, in his case with public speaking. Have you ever noticed he doesn’t speak on the stage? He will speak from a couch on a stage, but not just on stage, because he doesn’t like public speaking. He has worked out a way to cope with it and the demands of his world ‘I just sit on stage and have a chat’.
What issues are you facing in your world, and do you realise you’re not the only one! You are NOT alone. I went to a dinner with a group of business women, and some major issues came out on the table. Some minor, some major, some business related, some family related, but many issues were easily relatable to the others. Small business owners regularly struggle with family relationships, because they put their heart and soul into the business, and there is often little left over for their partners at home.
Making sure you look after other areas of your life is so important. If you fail to look after your health or fail to deal with your relationships, you’re never going to be happy or successful, no matter how much money your business makes. If your business struggles, there will be no people to fall back on for support.
When did you last do something for yourself or your family? When did you last have a date night with your partner? When did you last put away all your tech devices? We need to do these things on a regular basis. We need to spend quality time with those that we love and we care about.
Businesses will come and go. Friendships even come and go. When we look back from our deathbed what will we remember the most? We will remember the things that gave us pleasure, but more importantly the people who we shared pleasure with. [Where’s that number for a travel agent?]
If you need someone to talk to free up some time in your business, please book in to see one of our Business Connect business advisors through our centre.
Have you heard of the Business Connect service?
Business Connect is a NSW Government funded service helping intending or existing small business owners and key staff to address any concerns with their business, and learn new skills through workshops. Please make an appointment to see one of our business advisors for up to four hours business advice at no cost with no catches under the NSW Government Business Connect program! Book now!
