Defining and maintaining business harmony in your life

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As a small business leader, it is completely understandable that your business is your passion. You have poured everything you have into this venture, and you are completely invested in its success. As such, it can be tempting to dedicate your personal hours, in addition to your working hours, to furthering your business goals.

This can be a mistake.

At TAB, we don’t really like the term work-life balance. It implies that the two are conflicting when really work is just another part of life. A big part of life, especially for those who run their own businesses, a business venture often starts because it is something you are passionate about doing. Regardless of how you refer to the act of fitting all the elements of your life together, we know that this is something that owners and leaders of SMEs struggle with. In small organisations, owners and leaders are often still working at the coal face and thinking about the business's strategic direction. This leads to too many hours put in and too much responsibility on their shoulders, and can often lead to burnout.

Define it, then stick to it

To create equilibrium in your life, you must first define what that looks like for you. There may be a seasonal flux to consider or a period of high growth that requires more of your time, but overall, the pace of your work should feel sustainable, and the strategic planning for your business should support this pace.

You might be wondering: what does my strategic business plan have to do with work-life balance? The answer is a lot. Entrepreneurship comes with a list of inherent risks and responsibilities. But it’s difficult for a leader to be effective if they’re stressed, working nonstop and hoarding tasks that could be delegated to somebody else. You cannot steer the car with your head under the bonnet, and being burned out will only impede your decision-making.

If your company operates in an industry like retail or hospitality, where business comes in cyclical peaks and troughs, you can plan for these so you thrive in the cycle rather than being buffeted by it. Tailor your marketing to really seize on high-demand periods and echo the cycle in your financial planning. Peak seasons often require additional investment, and these periods can be financially draining if not planned carefully. However, these times are also your best chance to maximise profits. Seasonal lulls are often the perfect time for strategic discussions, with clients and prospects potentially more open to forging new partnerships. This makes it an ideal time for service providers to target marketing in that area.

Respect your team

You must also allow your employees to define their own balance. Hopefully, you will have a team around you who believe in your vision and are dedicated to their work. This needs to be nurtured. Working collaboratively with your staff and giving them the space to grow while offering support and learning opportunities will keep their enthusiasm high. If you believe in them enough to hire them, bring them along with you on your decisions and goals for the business.  This will make them share goals and ensure that you are all pulling in the same direction.  This is all fantastic for your business, however, remember family will come first for them, and to have their full attention during working hours, you must respect their private time.

This could mean allowing employees to leave early to pick up children and then log back in from home or structuring their working week around other commitments. Respect is a two-way street, and if you can strike the balance between high expectations at work and respecting your employees’ private lives, you will, in turn, gain their respect and foster a culture of hard work and mutual success.

To support your staff and yourself in splitting time effectively, encourage using time management tools like calendars, task management apps, and project management software. This will help you track deadlines and ensure work is completed on time.  This will also give you oversight of what is going on and where things are up to, meaning that if a staff member leaves early or is off sick, you are not left in the dark about their workload.

Delegate and trust your staff

This is tough for many business owners, but you can’t do everything if you want your business to succeed and grow. Part of showing respect for your staff is trusting them. One of the most common reasons for overwork in leaders is that they refuse to delegate. Completing a piece of work yourself may be quicker in the short term. In the long term, having no one else who can jump in for you will only mean that you spend a disproportionate amount of your time on small tasks. Train your team well and let them step in for you. Try not to let cost be a barrier. Directing your time to the right activities will give you a far greater return than the cost of hiring and training someone to help.

You must, however, delegate carefully. As a manager, you will need to match jobs to talents and remember that not all employees thrive in a delegation situation; always begin with employees who have demonstrated the ability to think on their feet and are prepared to take responsibility for their decisions. Once you find these people, be prepared to let go of some control. They might not do things the same way you would, but this doesn’t mean they are wrong. Delegating is about sharing responsibility, not micromanaging.

Let it go

Business owners often struggle with a lot of fear. Fear that their business will fail, that the people who work for them don’t fully understand the business needs, and fear that if they turn down an opportunity or make the wrong decision, those opportunities will never come back, or that bad decision will have a calamitous effect. Leaders tend to feel guilty when they are working and guilty when they are not.

I am not going to tell you that you shouldn’t feel conflicted. Life as a business owner is full of tough choices and conflicting priorities, and it is understandable that your decisions sometimes keep you up at night. The key here is not to let guilt dictate how you behave. You may feel panicked and guilty when focussing on one priority over another; acknowledge these feelings and finish the task. Do not try to do too much at once, as this will only lead to more stress.

You can use practical frameworks like the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritise tasks based on their importance and urgency. This is where you categorise tasks into four quadrants: important and urgent, important but not urgent, urgent but not important, and neither important nor urgent. This will help you fully commit to the task at hand and feel confident that you are sorting your task correctly.

Ask for help

Running a business is not something that comes easily and intuitively to everyone. Even though you know all about the product or service you provide, you may not know all about other aspects, such as accounting, marketing and HR. But fantastic support networks are available where you can draw on the expertise and experience of others who have trodden the path before you. Research government resources, support groups or organisations like The Alternative Board. With TAB, you can be part of a group of like-minded business owners and leaders, coming together to advise one another on their most pressing business challenges and working together to help you and your business thrive.