It’s not political unrest, nor exchange rate – nor is it competition. The biggest risk in business is its dependency on the owner.
If for some reason you cannot or choose not to work anymore, what could go wrong in your business? What department, function, role and duties will be the most handicapped? What will happen to the decision-making and direction of your business?
Let me share a statistic with you. You’ve probably heard that 80 percent of businesses close within five years. What you may not know is that out of those that survive, another 80 percent close before 10 years. So if we started with 100 companies, only four would be celebrating a 10th anniversary. Why? Owner’s burnout.
If your company depends on you, then technically you are permanently employed. Yes, you’re the owner. But day to day, you’re just a senior employee. I am also a business owner, and I don’t know until when I can keep working. What if something happens to me? Or maybe I just get tired of working and want early retirement? Or, as is the real case with me, I decide to move to Europe to live with my husband and leave my business running in Jakarta? Can you freely make personal lifestyle choices or is your business tying you down?
Why did you start a business in the first place? Most of us do it because we get sick of working for other people. Or we think that if we have our own business, we’ll have more money. The money part is usually not a problem. Most business owners have very profitable businesses and earn much more than in their corporate jobs. But is doing business just about revenues and profits? Here’s a thought: don’t work for money. Work for time. After you have money, start buying time.
Becoming a business owner is a mindset, not just a status on a legal document. There are many business owners who think like employees. They think more about the routines of their business rather than the strategies necessary to expand its potential. Are you trapped in the routines? Do you work mostly in your business, instead of strategizing on it?
So think about it: Are you really the owner of your business, or just a senior employee? Do your people have the opportunity to develop their careers in your business, or will the good ones leave because they know you will always be the main decision-maker?
We’ve been invited to contribute several articles on entrepreneurship in the coming months. Stay tuned and in the next issue I will share with you some proven steps to get your business ready to run on autopilot. My passion is to accelerate your success with proven methods. Let’s not waste time with trial and error. Let’s make working a CHOICE for you, not a MUST.
