Business networking or notworking?!

Last week I was heading out to an after-hours business networking event hosted by the local Small Business Centre. As I was getting ready, my six year old asked where I was going. I said that I was going to a business networking event. He often repeats what I say, so he responded in his usual innocent voice, “A business not-working event daddy?” I chuckled and replied, “Yes I’m sure there are a few not-working businesses there!”

Sure enough, that night I met a few business owners with the same story. They wouldn’t say that business is “not working”, but things could be better. I often wonder if they truly own their business, or if their business owns them. These ‘business owners’ go to work at eight, and come home at six, if they’re lucky. Their routine looks strikingly similar to their life before they went into business. The promise of more freedom and more income by entering into business for themselves hasn’t quite materialised yet.

I wouldn’t be so bold to say that if you are “owned” by your business, rather than you owning your business, that your business is not working. You may thoroughly love what you do, and you wouldn’t dream of doing anything else. If this is the case, then sure, your business is working, it is providing you with exactly what you desire. If your desire is to own a business that provides for you, not you providing for your business, then it may be worth admitting to yourself that business is not working.
I’m not suggesting it’s time to give up, on the contrary. If you can front up to the idea that business is not working, then you are on your way to doing something about it. If your business is not working then reassess your goals, identify what’s getting in your way, and then make your business work. Grab some of that passion and determination that you first saw when you started out in business.

Well done for getting this far in business, you should be proud of yourself. Now look forward to the future of owning a business that works for you and provides for you.

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