It happened again. Sue had to finish sending an email to her client and she was late to her daughter's ballet recital. As she slid into the auditorium chair, she thought "There has to be a way to do manage my business than spending all my time on the most mundane tasks!"
If you're a business owner like Sue, you may also feel bound to your most basic tasks with little time for the things you love most (including your families). The reality is that those tasks absolutely have to get done. The proposals have to be sent to clients and orders to wholesalers. The flowers need to be processed and buckets need to be washed. The checks need to be deposited and the books need to be balanced.
And then there's the fun stuff. There's sitting down with a client and hearing their biggest, craziest dreams and thinking up ways that you can make it happen. There's stretching your creativity to build out an over-the-top installation. There's seeing the client as they get a sneak peek of their reception and realizing that you made every floral detail perfect.
As a business owner, you deserve a bit of independence. You've learned how to get through the nitty-gritty details of the business and now it's time to really soar. Yes, being a business owner takes a lot of hard work. But you need to be able to own your business, rather than allowing your business own you.
Here's a challenge for you:
Think through your weekly workflow. What things do you absolutely love about it and what things do you wish you could spend less time on? Seriously, make a list of these things! Some pieces may be able to be at least partially automated while other pieces may simply require becoming a bit more efficient in your existing processes.
As you plan out which business tasks you'd like to automate or streamline, you'll find that you'll soon have the independence to spend more time doing the parts of the business that you love.
Have you found ways to become independent as small business owner? Tell us in the comments below!