Dealing with the Stress of Running a Small Business
Running a small business can be one of the most rewarding and stressful things in your life. You probably run on pure passion half the time and on pure necessity the other half. Doing too much just comes with the territory. You may think that it’s too expensive to hire an assistant, but how much is your sanity worth?
Ask yourself why you are working. Why did you choose to start this business in the first place? The reason probably wasn’t so that you could run yourself into the ground. You most likely really love what you are doing or you see potential for a great profit in the business. Reevaluating your goals and making your vision a priority can help you put things into perspective.
If hiring a personal assistant or taking on a partner is just out of the question, you’re not alone. Usually it isn’t the cost that turns business owners away, but the pressure that it will add to trust someone else to do things how you want them done. If this is the case, then you need to really ask yourself “Is it possible?” If you feel like you’re doing the work of two, three, or four people, then you may need to suck it up and really consider hiring someone.
You don’t want someone to mess things up and create more work for you, so you may be able to hire someone just to do mundane tasks that take up your time, but don’t necessarily take much expertise. For example, entering your mileage or receipts into your tax software. You can easily double check entered information for accuracy without spending hours sifting through receipts. Or, it may be cheaper to hire a tax person to do this for you, than to pay an employee. Some certified tax accountants are personally responsible for the accuracy of your taxes, so you can trust that they care enough to do it right.
You can find other ways to handle stress without spending money on personal assistants or more employees. Streamline your processes. Invest a little in software to handle things that take you the most time. Inventory, payroll, taxes, expenditures, and more can all be handled by specialty computer programs that free up your time. You can network your computers so that you can access the records from the office, your home, your laptop, or your cell phone. This will save you from having to go into the office when you don’t have time.
Another way to save money on directory assistance or a personal assistant is to use mobile concierge services. You will save so much time looking for restaurant recommendations, weather updates, turn by turn directions, flight information, phone directory information, and more. This type of service is perfect for small business owners because it saves so much time and money.
About the Author: Joe Smith is a Marketing Associate of OnCall, a leading online source of mobile concierge services that goes above and beyond traditional directory assistance. Get international personalized assistance with phone direcory information, turn by turn directions, movie times, stock quotes, sports scores, and more at http://www.askoncall.com.
Tags: business owner stress, dealing with stress, mobile concierge services, phone directory, reducing stress, small business, small business stress, work stress