Do You Own a Job or a Business

Do you work longer hours and take home less pay than your staff? When was your last vacation? Does your business continue to make money when you are not there? Do you even really own a business- or to be honest with yourself- is it just a job with overheads? Here are some tips to turn your business around.

In my experience, too many owners, after investing their time and money, have not got a fair return from their business. Half the time they are not even paying themselves a decent wage. But are they getting what they deserve for the effort they make? Think about it this way. Take the money you have put into your business, and take the time you have put in as well. If you had invested those funds wisely, and got a nine-to-five job, would you be better or worse off? And how about all the sleep loss?

So what should be a reasonable return on your business? After you pay yourself a wage, you should be making at least 25% of your investment in your business. What that means is that your business should be worth over 4 times your annual earnings. But too often, the business owner is the business, and if they were to leave it for even a short time, there would be a sharp fall in profitability. Who would buy a business that is totally dependent on the current owner being there.

Does this sound like you? Then consider this plan as a way of freeing yourself from the day to day grind, and at the same time, increase your productivity:

-Firstly recognise that if you change nothing- nothing will change.

-Make a commitment to yourself that you will act now to make a difference to your business and your life

-Start to separate yourself from your business

-Set goals for your business, create a business plan

-Set in place a regular formal review of your progress against your goals.

-Map your workflow process and seek opportunities to make it more efficient

-Re-organise your business to reflect your processes

-Look for ways to outsource parts of your business

-Manage your business by reports

And last of all- don't try to do it all by yourself! Everyone who has achieved success in their business or their life will freely admit that somewhere along the line they have received assistance from somebody else. They may have paid for assistance, or else have found a friend or associate who was willing to guide them.

These steps are about creating a Business System. By systematising your business, you make your business more efficient, reduce your costs, and ultimately, make your business run without you. Even if you are a one-man-band, there is still a lot you can do to separate yourself from your business, by creating passive income streams, and leveraging your knowledge.

Business Owners who own a job, already know they do. (Don't you!) They know they spend all their time working in their business, not on their business. It is actually easier to do that, because you don't have to leave your comfort zone where you just do the same things, getting the same results, if you are lucky. But, guess what, if they knew that by taking a particular course of action they could multiply their profits, do you think they will make the effort! So, work out what the benefits, both financially and personally are for you when your business runs without you, and then the time WILL become available. If they still can't find the time they should never again complain about their business running their lives, as it is clearly not that important!

What would happen to your business if you were not there? Do You own a Business or a Job, and what should you do about it if it is a job?

Dr Greg Chapman is the founder and editor of the Australian Small Business Blog and the director of the Australian Business Coaching Club where you can get more great business information.

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