In Case You Somehow Forgot You Are a Business Owner

“The struggle is real.”

Unlike the teens who say this as they’re trying to perfect their makeup in the morning, you, small-business owner, have struggles. Real struggles. Whether it’s managing your company’s cash flow, staying positive during a dry spell, or figuring out how to advertise for your business effectively, you are always on the prowl for potential setbacks. And as the person-in-charge, you are looking for ways to mitigate them before they even crop up on the horizon.

What are you, a fortune-teller? Can you predict the future? No, but you’ll sure try in order to minimize the issues that lie ahead, or better yet, eliminate them altogether.

You’re a time-management wizard (most of the time).

Considering your small business is just that– a SMALL business– you don’t have time to putz around or figure things out in a leisurely manner, the way larger businesses do. This means you have had to become hyper-efficient and super-aware of how and on what you are spending your time. Some might think this means “cutting corners,” but you know better. As the boss, you know what needs to be done, and you are on a mission to get those tasks accomplished with maximum speed and thoroughness.

Note: this also means you don’t have time for BS, or to deal with people who are way less efficient than you are, so you’ve also developed a heightened sense of discernment to vet those who are worth your time, and those who are not. Call it one of your superpowers!

You’re sleepless in Seattle. And Boston. And D.C. And…

The bottom line is, no matter where you are, when you’re a small-business owner, your work is never truly “done.” Sometimes, unfortunately, this reality invades the dream world, too, and you wind up wide awake in the middle of the night, wondering if you ever sent your client the finalized report for that weeklong project you’ve been working on together. Or you wind up wondering whether your team is happy or not, how you could be managing them differently, what strategies you might try,  and so on…and so on. Thus, when you’re a small-business owner, getting those z’s can be a bit difficult. But that’s only because…

You’re super passionate about your work, and nobody does it better than you.

Sure, it can be tough to walk the line and find a good work-life balance (let alone giving yourself some time off every once in a while!). And maybe it gets tiring, trying to manage everything from your company’s financials to dealing with how to delegate tasks to your team (yes, you do have to do that, and no, it is never easy). But it’s only because you care so deeply about your business and will do whatever you have to do, in order to succeed. Not everybody can handle it, and you know you can. And that is part of what makes you such a great business owner– go you!