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Stephanie Do you run your franchise or does your franchise run you? For far too many people, the answer is the latter, and it is the wrong answer. Look, I understand that we are living in an age where the line between work, home, business, and recreation is blurring. Between cell phones, laptops, wireless Internet, and other mobility devices, it has become very easy - too easy really - to work anywhere and everywhere. Part of that is good, for example, when you are able to work late, take some time off in the afternoon to run errands, and so on. Personally, I like that sort of flexibility. But when I find myself answering business e-mails at 10:00 pm, or worse, when I recently caught myself checking my Blackberry for e-mails while inside the theatre at the movies with my kids, flexibility has a new name - stupidity. Just because we can work anywhere at anytime, it does not mean we should. This is similarly true if you have created a business or career that is so successful that it keeps you hopping. That's great, that is what you want to a certain degree. But look gang, sometimes you need to goof-off, get some extra golf in, take a day extra of vacation, play hooky in the afternoon with the kids, and so forth. If you are not doing that, if your franchise does not allow for that, then you are missing the point of this whole exercise. So how do you do it; how do you run your business life and not have it run you? Here are a few ideas: Re-think your Priorities: At the end of the great, old musical Oliver! Kinda-bad guy Fagan decides to go straight, and then upon review of what that actually would entail, decides that his old life is too good to leave, and so he sings, "I think I better think it out again, hey!" I don't want to sound preachy here, but if your franchise is running you and not vice-versa, you should seriously consider thinking it out again, hey! Set Some Ground Rules: If your problem, as mine was, is that you couldn't tell the difference between work and home, then it would behoove you to create some ground rules for yourself, such as
Hire a Manager: If your franchise is bigger, a trusted, valuable manager can similarly do the same thing, only with bigger results. I know a small business owner who rarely even goes to her store anymore, so much does she know and trust her manager. Instead, the owner spends her time traveling the world with her husband. Sure, she could save on labor if she were at the store more, but then her business would be running her now, wouldn't it? If you want a better work-life balance, then there will be trade-offs. Your overhead may increase, or some clients may not have access to you at all times, but the payoff, a more interesting, fulfilling, fun life, should be worth it.
About Steve Strauss Steven D. Strauss is one of the world's leading experts on entrepreneurship. A lawyer, author, and public speaker, his latest book is The Big Idea: How Business Innovators Get Great Ideas to Market. Steve's columns regularly appear on USA Today.com, Workz.com, Bizland.com, and Staples.com, among others. You can sign up today for his free newsletter, "Small Business Success Secrets!" at his business web site - www.MrAllBiz.com. Submit your question for Steve Strauss to answer. Please include your name, address, phone number and e-mail address. Selected questions will be answered every other Monday. Ask Steve a question
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