Dr Jeff Cornwall

Inc.com has a story that just made me shake my head.

About two-thirds of small business owners are satisfied with how they have balanced their personal lives and work schedules, despite the fact that they work an average 52 hours a week, according to a new survey released by the Wells Fargo/Gallop Small Business Index.
The survey also found that over half of small business owners work six days a week, with more than 20% working all seven. Fourteen percent of surveyed small business owners reported taking zero vacation days in a year, and almost 40% of those who do take personal time off said that they still answer work-related phone calls and email while on vacation.
Nonetheless, 67% of small business owners said they were satisfied with their personal life-work balance and almost 90% said they were satisfied with being a small business owner in general.

I’ve been there and I know what they are going through. During the first couple of years of your business you often can’t take much time off. Even if you do, you are thinking about the business. You are running on adrenalin, excitement, and fear. And even with all of this, it is still fun.
But, at some point what was necessity can become a bad habit. And that is the dark side of entrepreneurship. When the business can take over your life and cost you much more than you ever anticipated: your family, your friends, and your health.
Here are a few thoughts on how to avoid the dark side:
– Keep control of your business and your life, even in the early stages.
– Set goals for your life as well as your business in your business plan. Life goals are as important as financial goals over the long run.
– Engineer time for the other things. It may that you make it home for dinner every night, have a date with your spouse once a week, or never miss your kid’s games or concerts. You may need to go back to work afterward, but take the time.
– Make sure any breaks you take are both physical and mental. That will be hard at first. My wife and I tried to meet for lunch when I was building my business. The first few times I know my head was not there. But, I worked at it and eventually learned how to get away mentally. Believe me, it took hard work.
– Set goals for separation. I met an entrepreneur who had been able to build up to six weeks of vacation a year. And she was trying to add a week a year! She became one of my role models. I tried to learn from her how to build a business that could run itself when I was away.
– When life gives you a break, take it. When we sold our business I immediately was mentally working on the next deal. But, my wife tugged my sleeve and said “take a break and make sure what you really want to do next.” At first it drove me crazy. I was used to running in overdrive. However, that break gave me time to reflect and contemplate where I should go next. And surprisingly to me, it was not the next deal, but into teaching.
Entrepreneurship is in my blood. But so is being a husband, a father, a friend, and now a teacher. Learning how to sort out all of the conflicting demands takes hard, conscious work. It never just happens.