I talk to a lot of small business owners and while not all of them go out and ask me the question above, most are hinting at it. After years of sacrifice and hard work, they don’t see a clear light at the end of the tunnel. In many cases they are reliving Groundhog DayScheme examples of the repetitive cycle of routine business work. They suffer from the “I have to get up and do it all over again” syndrome. They have long lost the excitement and passion associated with the concept of starting a business. Another day seems more like a prison sentence than an opportunity. I call this feeling sleepwalking.
We are all guilty of some form of sleepwalking in our lives. Just go in your car and take a trip. If you’re like me, most of what you see and experience while driving will be forgotten. The day to day becomes familiar, and we navigate each week, absorbed by the urgent and too tired to be open to change. Sleepwalking and complacency walk hand in hand, leading us down a dangerous path. Your business is killing you, because there is no end, no goal, and no exciting ending to all your hard work. And that’s not a fun place to be.
It does not have to be this way! Our business is a place designed by our imagination that has the potential to give us everything we need and want. I know it sounds silly, but stick with me. You made a conscious decision to start a business, didn’t you? You could make a conscious decision to hit a wall, but that would hurt, right? My point is that your decision was made because you wanted pleasure, not pain. So why are we so willing to accept pain as a result in our business?
The remedy lies in re-committing to your vision. Go back to the beginning by asking yourself these questions:
- What will my business look like when it is finished?
- What do I love about my company?
- What do I hate about my company?
- What do I have to add to my company?
- What do we offer that has little real value to our customers?
- How do I want to interact with my creation in terms of time?
- What would a better work-life balance look like?
Sleepwalking is dangerous. For your sake and for the well-being of the entire company, wake up! Everyone wants to feel that the owner has a vision, is excited and committed to the future. It is difficult to convey that passion if your sleepwalking every day.