GuardHQ Newsletter: Happiness AND Profit
This newsletter is dedicated to something a little different than usual, though it is an issue that will affect us all.
The GHQ Newsletters are dedicated to the internet business person, and while we often look at the financial side of things, we often miss the social and person issues that are raised.
This newsletter was inspired by a blog post by Jason Moffat in which he publicly and freely speaks about his relationship break-up, mostly due to his internet business.
I spent a lot of time in internet marketing and business forums, and it’s sad to see that we continue to see two things:
- People that have left things too late, and their business “obsession” has cost them their relationships.
OR
- People that are closing their businesses because the person cost of running their business is too great.
It often seems that we have to choose between our business and our friends and family.
But this simply is NOT true. We CAN have both.
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HAPPINESS *AND* PROFIT!
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I love my online business, and while I certainly don’t sleep on big pile of cash each night, I am able to pay my rent, buy groceries, and live a comfortable life.
And we all need that income. “Profit” is NOT a dirty word - it’s something we ALL need to achieve if we plan on staying out of debt.
Businesses must turn a profit to survive.
But the pursuit of profit to the detriment of everything else around us is what can render our efforts worthless.
There’s not point in turning a huge profit if you’re not happy.
And unfortunately there’s no point in making no money, but still being happy. It’d be nice if it WAS possible, but unfortunately we all have bills to pay.
So how do we strike the happy medium?
First we need to figure out what is really important to us.
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WHAT IS IMPORTANT IN YOUR LIFE?
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This can be a tough question to answer.
I believe, however, that deep down in everyone on this earth we would all like to be happy.
And how do we reach happiness?
I strongly believe personal happiness is found in making other people happy. Being loved, and loving others. Not just spouses or partners, but friends, family; even the family dog (or cat, or bird, or fish).
How many people have you heard about that lay in the hospital, dieing of old age, and look back on their life and say “You know I really wish I spent more time at the office!”
After you’ve lived a full life, what do YOU want to look back and say?
Personally I want to say “I’m glad I spent time with my wife, my soon-to-be-born son, my family, my friends.”
THAT is what is important to me.
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SO WHERE’S THE BUSINESS TALK?
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So, being a business newsletter (and not an episode of Dr Phil), how does this affect us in our business life?
It’s about moderation.
If you run your business full-time, then when you wake up in the morning you’ve got the whole day to work hard at your business. When you finish at the end of the day, make sure you really do finish.
This is a curse of mine - I have trouble switching off after a full day’s work. I sometimes wish I didn’t have to sleep.
If you run your business part-time, then balance can be a little harder to achieve. After your day job, spend time with your partner/friends/family after work. Relax, have some fun. Then later, set aside some time to work on your business.
Make sure you specify the amount of time you’ll spend. If it’s two hours, then make sure after 2 hours you stop where you are.
Does this mean you can’t do some late night work? Not at all. Late night work (or early morning if you’re a morning person) can be VERY productive.
But it’s about striking a balance.
It’s about pursuing what is really important in your life, and simply using your business as a tool to get there.
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CUSTOMER EXPECTATION
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The far majority of internet businesses are small business.
They’re the online version of the local butcher, or the local fruit shop. They’re run by one person, and they’re that person’s livelihood.
Why is it, as customers, we’re happy for Fred the Butcher to close at 5:00pm so he can go watch his kids play footy, or we’re happy for Jane the grocer to have half an hour lunch break?
And why do we not blink an eyelid when Fred and Jane go home for the night and sleep?
It’s because we realise that Fred and Jane are human.
But we often don’t make the same correlation with internet businesses.
Fred and Jane close at 5:00pm - why do we expect Tom and Mary, who both run internet small businesses to be available to us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?
I believe it’s because we often don’t realise that behind a website is one person who is working their butt off on their online venture, their online small business, and instead we see a faceless corporation that took our money.
The internet is so impersonal that we need to remember behind every website is a human.
And behind the far majority of websites is only one human who enjoys playing basketball with his son, or going to the beach with her daughter.
As customers of internet small businesses do we have the responsibility to respect a small business owner’s personal time?
Yes, we do.
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BUT MY CUSTOMERS WILL LEAVE ME!
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As small business owners we often believe that if we DO take time off, or if we DON’T answer an email within 15 minutes of it arriving then our customers will pack their bags and leave.
In a very small number of cases this is true - some people truly believe that when they buy a $10 item off you that they then own your life. You don’t need customers like this.
But you may be surprised that the far majority of your customers are willing to respect your time. They’re in the same boat as you - they’re balancing their business life with their personal life, and they know how tough it can be.
A business relationship built on mutual respect is a rewarding and profitable one.
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TAKING TIME OFF?
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So do you take time off?
I don’t work on Saturdays. On Sunday’s I will check customer support questions, but nothing further.
I take a number of days over Christmas off.
And when my son is born around 13th Jan, 2008, I’ll be taking some time off there as well.
And the brilliant part? My clients respect that, and they’re happy for me to do so, because they know that when I’m at work I’ll work my fingers to the bone for them.
It’s about balance.
It’s about deciding what is REALLY important in our lives and working toward that.
Best wishes with your business, and more importantly, with achieving happiness and balance in your life,
Sam Stephens
GuardHQ.com
DLGuard.com
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