It is hard enough for people who work traditional 9 to 5 jobs to maintain the proper work-life balance. For entrepreneurs who routinely rise before dawn and return home long after the sun has set, maintaining a good balance between home life and business can seem like an impossibility.
So how do successful entrepreneurs build their businesses and their brands while still keeping their marriages intact and their kids happy and healthy? It can be done, but it takes a lot of hard work, and no small amount of soul searching. Fortunately, entrepreneurs are no strangers to hard work, and their self-awareness and self-assessment skills tend to be strong as well.
One challenge budding entrepreneurs face is finding enough time to please their families and build their businesses. Startups demand a great deal of time and attention, and successful entrepreneurs live and breathe their businesses 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Whether they are in the office or having dinner with the family, they are thinking about ways to make the business more successful.
The Balancing Act for Emerging Entrepreneurs
For those who possess that rare entrepreneurial spirit, there is nothing more exciting than starting a business and watching it grow. Entrepreneurs go to bed dreaming about their businesses, and they wake up with ideas for how to make it grow. It is all too easy for the business to consume the entrepreneur, and that single minded devotion can cross the line into obsession.
When that happens, the personal life of an entrepreneur often suffers. Marriages can be shattered; relationships with children can be lost and emotional lives can be scarred forever. Smart entrepreneurs are always on the lookout for such problems, and they are willing to work hard to avoid those conflicts.
How the Rising Entrepreneur Can Maintain Balance
In some ways, the business press is to blame for problems with work-life balance. Magazines and websites dedicated to entrepreneurs repeatedly stress the need for sacrifice. They run cover stories touting entrepreneurs who sacrificed everything – and everyone – to get where they are. It is no wonder emerging entrepreneurs think they have to give up their personal lives and sacrifice their families to get to the top.
The reality is not so simple, or so harsh. Successful entrepreneurs can have great family lives, and there is no reason to sacrifice personal happiness for business success. Every sacrifice comes with a reward, and those rewards can be personal as well as professional.Entrepreneurs who have built and launched businesses understand that taking time for their personal lives and families can actually make them more successful. Sometimes the most inspired business ideas happen at home or on vacation – far from the stuffy boardroom or busy office.
How Can Entrepreneurs Find the Right Balance?
Maintaining the right balance between business life and family obligations is hard work, but entrepreneurs have already shown that they are willing to work hard and put in the effort they need to succeed. Whether you are building your first business or toying with an idea for a new enterprise, these tips can help you maintain a happy personal life without sacrificing your dreams.
Manage your time effectively. Entrepreneurs need superior time management skills to succeed, and those skills can be just as useful for family matters.
Schedule your family and friend time the same way you schedule your business. The right schedule can help you maintain the proper balance. . Make time for family and friends. No matter how busy you are, you have time to grab a cup of coffee with an old friend or take your wife to dinner.
Stay in touch with your friends and colleagues. It only takes a minute to pick up the phone and ask how your friends are doing.
Go on dates with your partner. Establishing a regular date night can reignite the romance and allow you to reconnect with your spouse or partner. Something as simple as dinner and a movie can have a remarkable impact on your relationship.
Maintaining the right balance between home life and work can be extremely difficult, but there are ways for entrepreneurs to cope. There is no point in building a business and amassing a fortune if you have no one to share it with. You can use the same skills that make you a successful entrepreneur to keep your personal life on track.
