Building a business is often considered the American Dream. Many people dream of branching out on their own, working for themselves and being their own boss. They want to build a business not just create another job for themselves.

 

When looking up “The American Dream” on the online Merriam-Webster dictionary, the result was ” a happy way of living that is thought of by many Americans as something that can be achieved by anyone in the U.S. especially by working hard and becoming successful.” 

 

In the search of the American Dream, many people are leaving the security of working for someone else to venture out on their own and start their own businesses. An important thing to realize is that there is a huge difference between building a business and being self-employed. Self-employed people are those who conduct business as a sole proprietor, independent contractor or are in a part-time business by themselves. Small business owners are those who own a business and hire employees, contractors or both. Often those who start as self-employed lead to having employees and building a business. Basically, business owners scale their income by employing other people in order to get more work done. Self-employed people rely only on their own skills and basically trade dollars for hours. 

 

Discouraged? Don’t be! Most business owners start out as self-employed without a staff. Many start their business while still employed elsewhere. Having a job helps maintain a level of security while exploring their new business.  

 

When I started my business, Scrapper’s Edge, I didn’t have any employees. I worked at the business six days a week while still working for my family’s business on nights and Sundays. Looking back, I’m not sure how I found the energy. However, I knew I had a dream and nothing was going to get in the way of my determination. I realized that working long crazy hours was what it would take as I grew my business. And, having the security of still working at my family’s business made good fiscal sense.

 

 

Building a viable business requires a team. You need to eventually leverage the talents and time of others to increase sales and serve more customers. While it may seem fiscally responsible to simply do everything yourself, especially in the start-up phase when your budget is tight, working long hours and doing everything yourself will lead to burnout and stress.

 

Instead of doing everything yourself, evaluate your tasks and separate them into two categories: (1) the things you love and are good at and (2) the things you dislike or not particularly good at. Next, develop a solid plan to get help with those things you either don’t enjoy doing or are not good at. If you cannot afford to either hire staff or outsource everything, start with the things that you tend to avoid the most. Even if you start by getting help a couple of hours a week, it will help you focus on more important things and will help energize you.

 

As your business grows and you have a team, re-evaluate your personal tasks. Strive to focus on working ON your business rather than IN your business. Gradually assign responsibilities, as it makes sense, to others. Ask yourself, “Do I really need to be doing this myself or can someone else do it just as well?” 

 

 

Whether your a home-based business or not, you’ll find that there is always work to do at home. It’s easy to find yourself working every available moment. This can be a disservice to your family and friends AND to yourself.  Plus, if you work too many long hours, you won’t produce your best work. 

 

Avoid working all the time by:

 

 

Most small business owners desire is to create a business that doesn’t require them to be at work every day. In the beginning, you’ll definitely have to be available more. But plan and work towards having vacations and downtime for extended periods. To achieve this, you may need to actually close your business for a small period of time. While this is not ideal, if you plan ahead, most customers will understand. Depending on your business type, you may be able to hire a contractor to take care of your business while you’re gone. Ideally, however, you will have staff that can operate the business in your absence. 

 

If you’re leaving your business in the hands of others, make sure to prepare lists of important duties/tasks. Also, leave an emergency contact list. For example, I have a list containing who to call for various types of unexpected issues including IT (computer), point of sale system, human resources, equipment maintenance, building maintenance, etc. These things will not only help those in charge while you’re gone but will help you relax and enjoy your time away from your business. 

 

Another tip is to use the autoresponder feature on your email with an appropriate message. It may simply state that you’ll be unavailable for a specific period and provide contact information for who can help those emailing you. Or, it may state that you’ll have limited access to email for a specific period and that you’ll respond as soon as possible. You may be even able to forward your emails to a designated person who can assist while you’re away. While you may not be able to avoid email for long periods of time, try to reduce your workload by only checking in once or twice a day.

 

 

 

Building a business is hard work. It’s also very rewarding. And, there’s nothing like starting with an idea and looking back years later at what you’ve accomplished. Outsourcing tasks and building a team will help you successfully run your business AND have a balanced life rather than creating a job for yourself. And, isn’t that what the American Dream is really all about?