Family Business

Don't fool yourself. Being committed to more than one thing is not easy. If you are married, imagine being married to two people at the same time, and that they know each other really well, each demanding more of your time, with their own needs and priorities, neither understanding the others priorities.

Sound hard, well it is. Business can be relentless. Managing a business can just about consume your life if you let it. There will always be more opportunities, more staffing issues, cashflow issues, more crises to suck up your time and energy. Family can take a back seat.

Few people close to death have said "I wish I had spent more time at the office". At the same time managing a business can be extremely rewarding at a personal and financial level. Many times the family takes the stress, because it to some they extent can.

Take the Test?

If you answer yes to more than 5 of these questions, chances are you need to reconsider what or how you are doing, as your health, relationship with your family and general well-being might be at risk:

1. Are you overweight?
   
   
2. Are you overweight because you do not have the time to exercise?
   
   
3. Do you know more about your assistants personal life than your wife or partners?
   
   
4. Do you work when you get home in the evening, very often going to bed when you wife or partner is already asleep?
   
   
5. Do your kids misbehave when you are around just to get your attention?
   
   
6. You miss family birthdays ether because you or your assistant forgets, or your are out of town?
   
   
7. Reception desk staff at more than 1 hotel chain greet you by name when you arrive?
   
   
8. Even though you are at home, you are not really present?
   
   
9. Do you drink more coffee than you think you chould every day or take supplements to keep you "sharp"
   
   
10. Have you thought about what your funeral might be like? 

Tips to help you manage

Managing is up to you.Keeping yourself and your relationships will hold you in better stead and be longer lasting than any business, but at the same time, nothing is achieved without hard work.

Getting your life in control is critical, finding time for your lived ones, making time for yourself to stay healthy and then having enough time to work. Here are some ideas to help you manage this better:

• Never start work without a list of actions for the day, which have been prioritised, and try stick to it
  
  
• Limit your day
  
  
• Do some group exercise or get a trainer. Make sure there is a committment to train regularly
  
  
• Focus on your family when you are with them. Touch is extremely important to a childs development. Make your partner feel special.
  
  
• Take regular and proper holidays, away from the city and mobile reception
  
  
• Leave you Blackberry or iPhone at home on the weekends when you are out
  
  
• Go for a walk every lunch time, don't eat at your desk
  
  
• Get technology that works for you, be it laptops, mobiles, handhelds, iPads etc.
  
  
• Get a virtual assistant. Outsource the time wasting mundane work
  
  
• Constantly revisit your and your business objectives and goals to reassess where you are up to
  
  
• Never consult your laptop or other technological device during a meal at home
  
  
• Read non business books or magazines before you go to sleep
  
  
• Get 8 hours per night
  
  
• Eat properly, start with a good breakfast
  
  
• Limit the coffee and other stimulants
  
  

Your health is the most important asset you have and will ultimately give you the best return. The more you invest in it the better.

Read more business tips on our Business Blog.