Why Work Life Balance Is A Serious Issue For Small Business
Why Work Life Balance Is A Serious Issue For Small Business
In his book “So You Want To Start a Business?”, Alan Williams wrote that the reason for about 55% of Australian small businesses failing is due to their owner's ill health!
A healthy work and life balance is vital to your physical and mental well being.
Perhaps the following story I received recently will make the point more eloquently…
The Tale Of The Fisherman
A tourist boat docked in a tiny fishing village. A vacationing business executive complimented one of the fishermen on -the-quality of his fish, and asked how long it took him to catch them. “Not very long,” answered the fisherman.
“But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the executive.
The fisherman explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.
The executive asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs... I have a full life.”
The executive interrupted: “Hang on here, I have an MBA and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch.”
“OK, what would I do with the money?” asked the fisherman.
“With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat”, enthused the executive. With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one, and a third and so on, until you have a whole fleet of trawlers...
“And then, instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants … maybe even open your own plant. Then you can leave this little village and move to the big city! From there, you can direct your huge new enterprise.”
“How long would that take?” asked the fisherman.
“20, perhaps 25 years,” replied the executive.
“And after that?”
“Afterwards? That’s when it gets really interesting,” answered the executive, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!”
“Millions? Really? And after that?”
“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends!”
Why Work Life Balance Is A Serious Issue For Small Business - To learn more about this author, visit Susan Regier's Website.
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While effective marketing is the main key to business growth, a proper work-life balance is the key to good health and long term prosperity and content.
In his book “So You Want To Start a Business?”, Alan Williams wrote that the reason for about 55% of Australian small businesses failing is due to their owner's ill health!
A healthy work and life balance is vital to your physical and mental well being.
Perhaps the following story I received recently will make the point more eloquently…
The Tale Of The Fisherman
A tourist boat docked in a tiny fishing village. A vacationing business executive complimented one of the fishermen on -the-quality of his fish, and asked how long it took him to catch them. “Not very long,” answered the fisherman.
“But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the executive.
The fisherman explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.
The executive asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs... I have a full life.”
The executive interrupted: “Hang on here, I have an MBA and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch.”
“OK, what would I do with the money?” asked the fisherman.
“With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat”, enthused the executive. With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one, and a third and so on, until you have a whole fleet of trawlers...
“And then, instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants … maybe even open your own plant. Then you can leave this little village and move to the big city! From there, you can direct your huge new enterprise.”
“How long would that take?” asked the fisherman.
“20, perhaps 25 years,” replied the executive.
“And after that?”
“Afterwards? That’s when it gets really interesting,” answered the executive, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!”
“Millions? Really? And after that?”
“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends!”
Why Work Life Balance Is A Serious Issue For Small Business - To learn more about this author, visit Susan Regier's Website.
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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