Why Your Business Deserves Your Respect
Photo by Karen and Brad Emerson
Do you think of your business as an entity in its own right? If not… why not?
Many business owners find it difficult to separate themselves from their business, especially when they’re running a micro-business. But even in these cases it’s important to be able to accept that you and your business are not one and the same. Rather: you’re two separate beings that both deserve mutual respect.
I’ve shared a number of posts here on the blog that deal with ensuring you’re treating yourself with respect (if you could do with a gentle reminder, take a look at Why it’s Okay to Get Things Wrong, What’s Sapping Your Business Owner Joy? or Are You Being Eaten Up by Your Business?) …but what about making sure you’re treating your business with respect?
After all, our businesses are important things. They give us our livelihoods, our purpose, our professional satisfaction. Of course they deserve our respect!
Despite this, many of us are guilty of the opposite. Go on, hands up if you regularly:
- Skip strategy planning sessions to catch up with client work
- Take on projects that aren’t a great fit for your business values
- Put off investing in training or infrastructure to help your business move forward
- Let personal and family issues overwhelm your business space
- Get caught up in busy work instead of focusing on big business goals
- Work day to day and forget about planning for the future
I’m going to make a rough estimate here and suggest that most of us have our hands up here: me included! It’s so easy to focus all our energy on the short term issues in our business such as completing the next client project, emptying our inbox or dealing with social channels. Though these things are all important, they don’t invest in the future of our business.
Just about everything in life is a careful balancing act. Successfully managing a business is no exception. The key is to ensure you’re offering your business the respect it deserves by ensuring you’re setting time aside to focus on its growth.
This doesn’t have to be a huge time investment – after all, the day to day activities you do in your business are vitally important too – but it does have to be enough to show yourself, your customers, your colleagues, your family and friends that you truly value your business and therefore they should too.
Interested in finding out more about how you could show your respect for your business? Developing a relationship with a business coach could be a great way to invest in its future. If you think this might be a good step forward for you, take a look at my online questionnaire: Are You Ready for Coaching?
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