7th Birthday - Finding Inspiration

Last week we spent a few days in Sydney attending a conference. This is the first time we have attended an event like this and we found it very inspirational. Some of the talks may not have been relevant to us but the atmosphere and excitement was infectious.

The family tagged along and they caught the trains, rode on a ferry, gazed up at tall buildings, saw the Harbour Bridge, went to the Natural History Museum. It was nice to get out of the everyday routine of running the business.

We sometimes get caught up in our own little world. Our business is based in Inverell, a small town in regional NSW with a population of 16000 people. But even at that size we are kept busy with friends and family, business and community. I think as humans we tend to fit the environment we are in. It is great to step out of your regular world and get a new perspective. This process is good for your stress levels and a good way to consider the future direction of your business.

Later this month our business will celebrate its 7th birthday. Its always a time to take stock and see what we have achieved in that time. As the business gets older I become more aware of the opportunity cost of running your own business. Would my family be financially better off if I got a better paying job in the city? Or does the other lifestyle benefits of our business outweigh this?

We had a corporate consultant in last year to help us restructure to become more financially stable. That has worked well, but it is an ongoing process, we have again got caught in the day to day running of the business and maybe lost sight of a grand vision. It is always good to ask “Why did I get into this?” “What brings us excitement and job satisfaction?” As a business owner you have the ability to change direction, to pursue a new market, to reposition your business to better meet customers needs.

I think we need to make sure we do things to support the “working on the business” activities. Go to conferences regularly, subscribe to newsletters of people we find inspirational, follow them on social media, allocate time each week or month to review our business processes, meet or call fellow business owners to have the support of people in a similar situation.

Running your own business should be fun, it should be profitable, it should be a great lifestyle. Lets make some changes each day to point our business in the right direction. Lets surround ourselves with inspiring business owners. Lets make sure our vision does not get drowned in day to day busy work and we make sure we have time to dream and plan.