I think the time to stop is when you are happy with how things are running, it all comes down to getting written procedures in place and training staff to take on roles that you have been doing.

Being young and energetic I think that spending the time now developing something for the future is well worth it.

I am looking forward to retiring at 35 as I can then do whatever I like, by retiring I don’t mean the usual “get old and sit on the porch” type of retiring, my idea of retiring is being in a stable financial situation where you dont HAVE to work, it would be a life choice rather than a necessity.

Cheers,
Dean
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Thanks for the comment buddy!

JB

I do agree that you have to put the hard yards in to begin with – without a doubt – I’ve done my fair share of working weekends and the long nights spend coding for hours but at what point do you stop and shift things in the direction that you want to go in?

Establishing such routines now are bound to stick with you in the long term. Trust me. Its the routines you create for yourself now that determine how you’ll act in the future. I know entrepreneurs who run successful businesses and they still work every Saturday and Sunday and they still whinge about it. They hate it but they can’t (or won’t) change it.

I do see your point though. It is utterly important to put the hard yards in early on. You have to establish your business, your network of associates and simply get your work/name out there. But at some point you have to stop and start doing things for yourself.

As for retiring at 35 – I don’t think any of us want to retire at 35! What a boring life we’d have! We all have to work – thats life it seems!

Thanks again though – Good to see you guys commenting on here!

JB

Thanks for the tips JB!
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Sure if you are freelancing or running a small business with little to no overheads then it is fine, but if you are really committed to building a business for the future and something to be proud of then there is going to be sacrifices.

Sure you don’t want to be working weekends for the rest of your life, but wouldn’t you prefer to have a couple of hard years building a dream and then sitting back with “a hot cup of tea in one hand” after retiring at 35? I know I would!

From personal experience running a business that is undergoing solid, steady growth I have to ensure that not only are the clients happy, but that there is money in the bank to pay 6 staff, rent, suppliers, utilities, etc.

I also think that simply outsourcing tasks you cannot/do not want to do is a recipe for disaster! You really need to have your finger on the pulse of every aspect of a business to be able to help it grow and to shift the focus where and when it is needed.

We do outsource some of our daily tasks such as book keeping, copywriting, cleaning, etc but we always ensure that every week we are over everything that is happening in our business and that timelines are running to schedule, if that means there needs to be some additional then so be it. Our staff also appreciate this and have no problem working a little extra to get a job done.

You need to think of your business as your child, sure you could just outsource all the boring/tedious bits of raising them and just be around for the good bits, but the risk of missing an important moment would be too high. You would also lose the connection that is built up over time, built up through the good AND the bad times.

While I see where you are going with this I feel that it is aimed more at the freelancing side of design/development and not at the business development sector at all.

Cheers,
Dean
Dean´s last post: Lithium Released!

@Kiryn, haha, yeah the wife thing can be challenging *ducks @marnieb’s blow*. Definitely worth trying to squeeze a full weekend in now and then. Heck, I take an extra RDO off each month to recoup. As small business owners, we’re always crazy busy, so you have to know when to take some time out!

@Anth, take the weekend off mate! Just do it! I think points #1, #2 and #7 are some of the most important. The checklist really helped me to stop thinking about work over the weekend and the time management plan made sure I was focusing on what I was meant to when I was meant to. As for Marnie – you know as well as I do that its quite a juggling act

@Logobird/Duane, I agree! Although I probably wouldn’t take all Fridays off. I do take one Friday off a month also (see my comment to Kiryn) to try and catch up. I work like crazy during the week and I think I deserve it. Why are we running our own businesses if we can’t make such decisions yanno?!

As for standard work times, I agree. Its the web. Its the age of online business. We basically can work whenever we want. I’m looking at chopping things up a bit in that regard too. Why not? Times have changed. We no longer have to work Monday-Friday to do business.

@Sonja, Hahaha. Classic. That one will definitely need to be included! We don’t have kids yet but I’m sure once we do, all of this basically goes out the window.

Thanks again to everyone who has commented so far!

JB

#8: Have babies. You’ll never find a spare moment to work on weekends… ever again!

Some great points that you raised though. I could certainly do with taking note of some (or all) of them.
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