One of the biggest challenges facing business parents is to strike a balance between their personal lives and the demands of their business.
It applies, of course, also to women and business mothers.
Yes, it is possible to strike a balance between personal life and company life. It is a matter of priorities, habits and principles. You must make your business have a life of its own.
Having a small or medium business represents an immense level of demand for the owner. On his shoulders are great responsibilities, he is the conductor of the orchestra. The success of the business is in your hands.
I write this little article, on the eve of Father's Day celebration. I write it, from many angles:
• As a business consultant who has accompanied men and women who are fathers and mothers, whom I have seen debate about the time they spend with their children compared to the time they spend growing their business.
• As a proud and “repentant” parent at some point of having sacrificed time, for undertaking my own business projects; but happy that almost in time I was able to return to the true priorities of life.
• As a spectator and as a dreamer before the vision of the businessman who reaches the goal of achieving more wealth in his business; but also enjoy a full and happy life, accompanied by the people you love. What I call: "the true riches that life offers."
Company or family
At different stages of personal life, the responsibilities of every parent are to protect their family, give them the basic and desirable conditions in terms of food, shelter, shelter, health, and fun.
The businessman father sees his children being born and growing, almost at the same time that his business idea is being born, growing and becoming a company. On the one hand, the obligations to raise a family, to satisfy those growing needs and, on the other hand, the demands of a growing business, the commitments, the problems, the difficulties, the challenges, the fear of losing everything.
Regret gnaws at you inside
Arriving at your house, after eight o'clock at night, tired, full of problems of the day in your company and looking at the children sleeping is not easy. It gives nostalgia and remorse.
Getting up in the morning and having to go out when the children are still sleeping is not easy either. Or having to go to the races, urged to get to the company, short time to go to leave the children to school, is not easy either. Not being able to have lunch every day at your house, with your partner and with your family, either.
Many weekends, mainly for the owners of commercial companies or service businesses such as restaurants, hotels and others, it is also not pleasant to have to attend to the company and its obligations, while the children are free, wanting to go out to play, to the beach, to the cinema, to eat out. You just want the day to end to go get some rest.
When children become teenagers, things change. Now they are more interested in their peers, in their friends and parents are taking a back seat.
How to balance the time you spend with your family and the time you spend with your business?
It is about values, principles, being clear about the true riches that life offers. It is a question of priorities.
I have many entrepreneurs, parents practically all of them, who have marvelously lived their lives as parents and entrepreneurs at the same time. It was not easy for them; but they finally did it.
Today I do NOT want to talk to you about how to get those children of yours to desire, long for and prepare to take the banner of your business, someday. We will talk about that later. I want to give you just a few short tips for you to level the time you spend with your children and the time you spend with your company.
1. Think about how you would like to live when you are an older man, perhaps over seventy. Visualize your family life, your environment, your lifestyle. How would you like the relationship with your partner, with your children and with your grandchildren. What would be your greatest wish?
2. Be clear about the goals and limits of your company. To where you want to go? How much do you want to have? How much wealth do you want to accumulate? How far do you want to take your business? What are your business goals?
3. Be clear that you must start giving your business a life of its own. You must do it or you must know that you will have to do it at some point. You must be aware that the ideal business is the business that "has a life of its own", that is, it can operate even if you are not present. It begins by recruiting a committed and capable team, disciplined and responsible for the desired results. You must get out of every process flow. You can intervene in the operation whenever you want, you can make strategic decisions, maintain the most relevant relationships for the business, such as the launch of products, long-term negotiations with suppliers, openings, expansion, etc. because you should not be necessary in the operation.
4. Establish habits, customs, disciplines and activities that strengthen that family relationship. You must be firm and respect them. They should always be a priority, not "if there is time". Try to have dinner with your children two or three times a week. If you can every day great. Go out to lunch on Saturdays or Sundays with your family, have a picnic with them or cook at home on the weekend. Set up some iconic and memorable activities with your kids: maybe a campfire, a monthly lunch in the woods, a memorable monthly weekend. Do everything in your power to stay close to your family, to watch your children grow, to make them feel like parents.
5. Keep in mind that like siblings, children are forever. Friends leave, coworkers leave, business partners leave too. Even couples can become separated; but children are forever. The greatest illusion as a parent is that they always respect you, love you and want to be with you when they are older.
Start with this. Never forget that I speak to you from practice, not from theory. Every day I accompany and advise business owners, companies like two or three hundred employees, sometimes more, businesses that bill a million dollars or more each month. Those entrepreneurs are parents.
Each one has its own reality. Each type of business has different demands, some more intense than others. But the lifestyle you can afford owning your own business should include more time with your family, enjoying with children as much as possible when they are young, and staying close to boys when they start to grow.
It is all a matter of habits, discipline, values and priorities.
One last thing: Remember that as parents, you are offering our children "unconditional love."
