Balancing ALL Your Priorities

Taking Time Off From Your Business

Jim Blasingame
Jim is host of The Small Business Advocate® Show. Find Jim online at SmallBusinessAdvocate.com and AskJim.biz.

A small business often looks like a whirlwind being ridden by its founder who is attempting to exert some control over it. And while this effort takes on many forms, including managing cash flow, leading people, and increasing sales, occasionally the owner asks with an almost rhetorical lament, "How do I get off of this thing for a while?"

Perhaps the greatest long-term challenge of a small business owner is not sales, profits, or personnel but, rather, how to dismount the whirlwind and find better balance between professional and personal life. So how do you dismount without creating a casualty list? Consider these best practices.  

Define success. Webster offers two definitions of success: (1) a favorable outcome and (2) gaining wealth and fame. To take more time off, embrace both definitions as twin goals of equal value; in the process, you'll recognize that living long enough to enjoy the fruits of the second definition—with your loved ones—must be part of your success definition. 

Hire quality. Taking time off requires being able to leave your business with a trustworthy team. If you're not comfortable with the idea, your instincts are probably good, but your hiring practices probably aren't. Next time you hire someone, part of your criteria should include contemplating this new person as a contributor to that trustworthy team. And to hasten taking time off, don't wait until there's an opening; start looking now for weak links and begin the process of strengthening the team chain with higher-quality replacements.

Delegate. Now that you've assembled that trustworthy team, their usefulness is limited if you don't delegate. Delegating probably won't come easily because you've done all the jobs, and you know how you want them done. And even as employees have assumed some of these tasks, you've found comfort in knowing that as long as you're nearby, things can't get too far off track. But there's an old saying that successful delegators embrace, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." In 21st century terms, if you cringe at the thought of things not being perfect in your absence-get over it.

Leverage technology. There is plenty of affordable technology to keep you plugged in and to serve as your security blankie by helping you watch the store without actually being there. If you're good, no one will notice that you checked your iPhone or BlackBerry® while rolling over to tan the other side.

Finally, your business weaves a fine seam between it and your personal life. If you don't accomplish a balanced life, you may acquire the "wealth and fame" part of success, but the celebration may involve others toasting you posthumously.

Write this on a rock—Remember to balance the twin goals of success.