Build A Business, Not A Job

Build a Business, Not a Job

Many people dream of working for themselves, being their own boss. They’d have the freedom to only take on the pets they love while turning away the clients that frustrate them.

What they don’t realize, though, is that there is a huge difference between building a business and being self-employed.

Business owners scale their income. Self-employed people trade dollars for hours.

Business owners leverage the skills and talents of others. Self-employed people rely only on their own skills.

Discouraged yet? Don’t be. Every business owner started out self-employed. It’s a very personal choice if you want to continue to stay there. These tips will help you build a sustainable business instead of just another job.

Don’t Try to Do It All Yourself

Building a sustainable business requires that you leverage the talents and time of others. While it might seem cost-effective to simply do everything yourself—especially in the start-up phase when you likely have more time than money—it’s a path to burnout and stress.

Instead, separate your tasks into those that you love and are especially suited for (such as marketing or customer service) and those you dislike and aren’t good at. (like cleaning kennels or book keeping) Then make a solid plan to get those that you aren’t good at off your list of things to do. If you feel like you can’t afford to outsource it all right now, start with what you tend to procrastinate the most on, even if it’s just a few hours each month.

Don’t Allow Yourself to Work All the Time

The trouble with working for yourself is that you live to work since there’s always work to do, it’s easy to find yourself working every available moment—often to the detriment of your family relationships.

You can help avoid this by:

• Setting—and maintaining—clear work hours
• Having “groomer” hours vs “office” or “manager” hours
• Scheduling time for family and other activities
• Taking time for yourself, and not making excuses why you can’t get any YOU time.

Vacations and Downtime Are Important

Don’t create a business that requires you to be “at the shop” every day. At the start, you may need to be available more, but you should definitely be planning for the day when you can be “off the grid” for extended periods of time.

Have trusted employees or possibly a manager who can handle things when you’re not available. Leverage automation tools and systems that don’t require a person to be there. Create repeatable systems so you’re not always re-inventing the wheel While you might not be able to hit the road with no internet access for weeks at a time, at the very least you should be able to reduce your workload to a daily check-in.

Sound impossible? It’s not. With some forethought and planning, you can create a team—and the systems they need—to successfully run your business without becoming overwhelmed and overworked.