Small Business owners, or those who run businesses GIH!

[El Jefe]

Do you have trouble disconnecting from work? Man as I assimilate deeper into our family business it gets tougher to leave work at work. I have enveloped myself into the intricacies of the behind the scenes of the business ie: bills, payroll, workers comp etc etc. I also run the front of the business, I run all the service writing, order all the parts, deal with the customers, set up appointments etc etc. I am sure there are many of you on here who do this. I am in my early twenties and man do I have trouble sleeping at night, worried about getting this job done, or that job done, or getting this part in, or getting paid for certain jobs. I have found it makes everything else harder also, it's harder to relax, makes all my school studies more difficult to focus on.

Those of you who know what I'm saying, how do you handle it/how have you learned to handle it better.?

[L.A. Chieffan]

I usually have a martini, maybe go box at the Harvard club.

[seclark]

"it's tough, but i manage."

[Bump]

I'm sure that it doesn't help that America HATES small businesses.

[El Jefe]

Originally Posted by seclark

"it's tough, but i manage."

lol

[El Jefe]

Originally Posted by Bump

I'm sure that it doesn't help that America HATES small businesses.

QFFT!!!!!

[Dayze]

Originally Posted by seclark

"it's tough, but i manage."

awesome.

[Buehler445]

I do too bud.

But it is what you do. If you don't you will likely fail. I try to disconnect though. My wife doesn't work in the business and I don't live on the premises, so I disconnect really well.

But it is part of the job and what you do for the opportunity to succeed. Hopefully it works out for you and you come out ahead of everybody else who works for someone else and takes no risk.

[ChiTown]

I'm smelling what you're cooking.

That used to be my issue for a good 3 years. I'd worry about this or that, and what if this, or what if that. I was a gawdamn wreck. I'd lay in bed for 2+ hours thinking about shit, and finally get up and go downstairs to my office and work for a couple of hours. I did this every night.

Then, one night after dinner, my youngest jumps up on my lap, who was 3 at the time, and said, "Daddy, how come you aren't happy anymore......" I just started bawling. I knew, at that point, I was either going to have to be happy with what I did at work and leave it there, or quit and find another job. Fortunately, I trained myself to leave it at the office.

My comment to you, is to gain or find some perspective - whether it's with your wife, child, etc. They are the most important things in your life. Your job is just a means to an end. Once I gained that perspective, I achieved more success (both business and within my Family) than I ever dreamed I would have. Good luck!

You have anxiety for any number of reasons. I've struggled with business related anxiety to the point I didn't want to leave my house at times.

I've tossed and turned for hours with my mind running 100MPH. I've found the best thing for me is to write down the things on my mind or send myself a text. Generally, the stuff I'm thinking about is loose ends or crap I'm scared I'll forget. If you document it, your mind will allow you to relax - at least that works for me most of the time.

Like, if I'm working a job in the morning and need to gather 30 different tools to achieve success, I'll lie restlessly trying to remember every single tool I need. Whereas, if I make a list then I can actually rest.

[ChiefsCountry]

Leave work at work is what I do. The ride home is the time to vent about the day but other than that just leave it at the office. Its tough to do but you have to train yourself to do it. One of my real estate books, the author summed it the best. You have 8 hours to work, 8 hours to sleep, and 8 hours to yourself. Don't let work take away from the time you have.

[Saul Good]

The only advice I would give would be to manage your own expectations and figure out what you want the business to become. Based on what you are telling me, you don't own a business. You own a job, and there is a big difference between the two.

Its great to put in 80 hour weeks if you have a plan and a path to evolve the business into something self-sustaining. It isn't okay if the only way your business will ever remain viable is for you to put in ridiculous hours just to keep the lights on.

You may need to do some soul-searching to determine what course of action to take. If you bust your ass for 2-3 years, can you grow the business to the point where it can run itself if you only oversee things from a distance while still being profitable? If so, you need to focus your energy on getting it to that point.

If you come to the conclusion that the business is only going to survive by working yourself to death while barely scraping by every month, you may need to let it go and find a more productive use of your time and energy.

Owning a business means that you can focus your energy somewhere else for months at a time while still earning a solid income. Owning a job means that the business has little to no value without your own labor. There is nothing wrong with owning a job if you enjoy it, it pays well, and it doesn't dominate your life. If any of those three conditions are not met, you would be better off pulling the plug and finding another way to make a living.

[El Jefe]

Originally Posted by ChiTown

I'm smelling what you're cooking.

That used to be my issue for a good 3 years. I'd worry about this or that, and what if this, or what if that. I was a gawdamn wreck. I'd lay in bed for 2+ hours thinking about shit, and finally get up and go downstairs to my office and work for a couple of hours. I did this every night.

Then, one night after dinner, my youngest jumps up on my lap, who was 3 at the time, and said, "Daddy, how come you aren't happy anymore......" I just started bawling. I knew, at that point, I was either going to have to be happy with what I did at work and leave it there, or quit and find another job. Fortunately, I trained myself to leave it at the office.

My comment to you, is to gain or find some perspective - whether it's with your wife, child, etc. They are the most important things in your life. Your job is just a means to an end. Once I gained that perspective, I achieved more success (both business and within my Family) than I ever dreamed I would have. Good luck!

Wow man, that is awesome, exactly the type of story I was looking for.

[El Jefe]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Leave work at work is what I do. The ride home is the time to vent about the day but other than that just leave it at the office. Its tough to do but you have to train yourself to do it. One of my real estate books, the author summed it the best. You have 8 hours to work, 8 hours to sleep, and 8 hours to yourself. Don't let work take away from the time you have.

Hmm, who would think such a simple concept can be so difficult to grasp for some, but reading it makes you realize how spot on it is. Thanks for the post.

[El Jefe]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

The only advice I would give would be to manage your own expectations and figure out what you want the business to become. Based on what you are telling me, you don't own a business. You own a job, and there is a big difference between the two.

Its great to put in 80 hour weeks if you have a plan and a path to evolve the business into something self-sustaining. It isn't okay if the only way your business will ever remain viable is for you to put in ridiculous hours just to keep the lights on.

You may need to do some soul-searching to determine what course of action to take. If you bust your ass for 2-3 years, can you grow the business to the point where it can run itself if you only oversee things from a distance while still being profitable? If so, you need to focus your energy on getting it to that point.

If you come to the conclusion that the business is only going to survive by working yourself to death while barely scraping by every month, you may need to let it go and find a more productive use of your time and energy.

Owning a business means that you can focus your energy somewhere else for months at a time while still earning a solid income. Owning a job means that the business has little to no value without your own labor. There is nothing wrong with owning a job if you enjoy it, it pays well, and it doesn't dominate your life. If any of those three conditions are not met, you would be better off pulling the plug and finding another way to make a living.

Very interesting, I appreciate you taking the time to post that. There is some sobering realization within your posts for me. It's always interesting to see what others see, because you can't see things when you have blinders on. That post about hit it on the head.