WORKING specific hours set out in an employment contract and taking vacations increasing annually in line with your length of service can both be visibly overlooked when you decide to run your own business.
Small business owners quickly learn that where they wish to make a profit in their business, they must pledge to longer working hours and less time on vacation to provide the necessary commitment to their clients or customers.
An OnDeck Main Street Pulse Report suggested what most small business owners already know; only half of small business owners take a vacation away from the business and most will check-in with progress at work at least once a day, while they are away.
For those business owners lucky enough to find the time to get away the majority will only be away for one week with many taking just a few days. This compares poorly with employed personnel taking between two and five weeks away from work, as their contract dictates.
Where you are in the position of considering going out on your own and setting up a business, it is vital that you set yourself in the right frame of mind for your future working hours. Running a business might mean that you are working six or seven days a week and you can instantly forget the standard 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. schedule.
You will obviously need to consider how this will affect both your social life and the hours you cherish with your family.
Because employment, especially working for the government, is no longer a job for life, more people today, are considering setting up their own business. There is a range of motivations that include the want to be independent, to seek a greater income and also for a better sense of self-fulfilment. Whatever reasons you have for setting up in business by yourself, it is important to be prepared for such a large change in your lifestyle so that you will not get caught surprised by the change in your working hours.
To help you think ahead, statistics suggest that you are almost twice as likely to take a vacation once you’ve been in business for over 10 years. For those who stay self-employed without employees, you have to carefully consider how your business will carry on while you are not at the helm. This same consideration for organising a vacation may equally affect your business if you are ill and require being away from your business for a long-term.
Where you are able to employ a few individuals, it is necessary to strive to train them to run your business so that you can take time away from your business to replenish your own batteries and return to work with a fresh set of eyes to analyse any problems that exist, suggest changes to your business model and enhance your marketing activities.
You will be working longer hours when you start your own business and you must be prepared by sharing this information with your family and friends. Nevertheless, careful planning will help ensure that you can take vacations whenever it suits you and eventually take a longer time out of your business than an employed position would have allowed.