Winter isn’t coming here at all. Although a Class 5 hurricane might be. Swings and roundabouts.
The leaves are starting to turn, the nights are getting darker and we are gently moving towards Winter. On the one hand it will be cold and gloomy. On the other hand, a chance to do all those things we said we would do but haven’t because it’s nicer to be outside during the Summer. It depends how you look at it. Of course we could move somewhere much farther south and enjoy year round hot weather, but then we would miss the long Summer nights and the bright Spring mornings. The changing seasons are important when you have grown up with them.
Even within Britain you can choose between country and city. Each having it’s pros and cons. One person’s peaceful relaxation is another’s boredom.
Personally, I love the quiet life. You could say it’s my age but I have always hankered after an escape to the country. I love walking, and being somewhere where I can just walk out of my garden gate and be out in fabulous scenery with a lovely old pub at the halfway point of my hike would be just fantastic. I think it really helps to have a passion to help you through the inevitable tough times associated with running a business. The tough decisions and the worries, about financing, cash flow, staff, sales, suppliers and so on. It’s great to escape the work (and don’t say you don’t have time, you need to make time: you are running the business not the other way round) but better than that: to have a reason to be running it in the first place.
I have heard many times that “You will be bored when you retire”. Rubbish. Some people are the driven type and they may well feel adrift when they give up work but the reason I work is to earn money to play, either now or later. If you are lucky enough to love your work more than anything else then that’s great but realistically that is unlikely.
The fact is that the number of things that you like to do has to be greater than the number of things that you like to do and that will also make you money.
So for most of us a business will be just a means to an end. It should be something you can believe in and get excited about getting to work on a Monday morning but it probably won’t be a lifelong passion. The trick is to be on top of the numbers so that you know where the money is coming from and just how much time you’re spending making it. That way you can put in place systems to increase the first and decrease the second. Have a great week
Paul