In November last year I sat through a presentation by business coach David Wilson at the Small Business Expo in Adelaide. His concept of the ‘business of you’ struck a bit of a chord with me because it resonates with the netpreneur model that I am trying to follow.
So what is it? The ‘business of you’ is a way of looking holistically at the various components of your life – business, family, finances, hobbies, etc. – as having equal importance, instead of considering the income-generating component to be the most important, at the expense of all other components.
Many small business operators pour their heart and soul into their business, often toiling up to 100 hours a week to get ahead. Family, friends and hobbies become a subordinate priority to the needs of the business. The small business operator makes promises to his/her family that the situation is only temporary and that the time commitment will reduce when the business is successful – but that time never comes. Often burnout and a broken family eventuates long before the promised financial success and the freedom.
Wilson’s thesis is smarter – the ‘business of you’ sees the small business as a component of the greater business that is ‘you’. Instead of devoting 24/7 to the small business, Wilson argues that this time should be devoted to the ’business of you’, of which the small business is but a component. The other components – family, friends, holidays, hobbies, etc. – need to be given an equal footing and factored into this time. For example, Wilson plots his holidays on the yearly calendar (and he takes 11 weeks off a year) before he plots his work commitments.
Effectively this model challenges the norm that ‘the business comes first’.
Of course, sceptics will argue that this is a utopian theory – how can we focus on the ‘business of you’ when our small business doesn’t make enough money to sustain our livelihood? In many cases, it will be a question of time versus money, and money doesn’t always bring happiness.
Wilson appears to live a fairly fulfilled life – he does plenty of pro-bono work for small business operators that are in strife, he’s involved in many charities, and he seems to be involved in every school committee possible (he even does canteen duty). He also seems to do quite well financially through his various business interests.
Something for the budding netpreneur to aspire to.
David Wilson’s website is www.davidwilsonbusinesscoach.com.au
Tags: me inc, work life balance