It’s great to be the boss – you can work any hours you like, right?

Unfortunately, for many business owners, that means long hours, plenty of stress, and very few breaks and holidays.

A survey done by Statistics NZ found that:

• 21% of employers work 60 hours per week or more

• Only 45% employers said they were satisfied with their work-life balance, compared with 76% overall.

After lockdowns and restrictions due to COVID-19, you might find yourself thinking about your priorities – at least, that’s been the case for a lot of business owners. This year work-life balance overtook salary as the main consideration for job-seekers, in this survey.

Running a business and having a life

Can you run your business effectively and still have enough time left over to do the things you love? You’re the best judge of how much time your business needs, but don’t neglect your wellbeing. If you would like to take back some personal time, you could consider:

• Delegating – don’t try to do everything yourself

• Saying no – not every project is worth taking on

• Investing in systems – to reduce time on admin or paperwork

• Taking all your leave – find ways to have breaks and holidays

Working towards a balance

If you really can’t work less right now, try to build your business with a better balance in mind for the future. It’s important that you can step back at some point to take a holiday, travel, or spend time with family. Being tied to your business for more than 60 hours each week isn’t a sustainable way to take care of your health and higher profits aren’t worth that sacrifice.

Also, any business that doesn’t allow the owner to step away is very hard to sell and worth far less than one that can run independently!

We might have some ideas

Whether you want to improve your work-life balance now, or build your business to achieve it in future, we have ideas. We’ve worked with plenty of clients who need to reclaim their time, and we know it can be done.

Give us a call, drop us a note or come in for a chat – we’re here to help.