Hobby vs. Habbit
I have worked with a lot of new entrepreneurs over the years, and I feel like there are really 2 types: those who treat their business like a hobby and those who create habits to build and grow their business into a successful and well oiled money making machine.
I’m not going to judge anyone on their priorities, or how they choose to spend their time, their personal desires or their goals. If having a hobby business is how you enjoy spending your time, and it fulfills you, then I think that’s amazing...this message is not for you. The entrepreneurs I want to speak to (again without judgment, but to help you move forward in your business) are those who are striving to build a big business, but have not created the right habits, and are treating their business like a hobby, but expecting bigger results.
I love that saying by Jim Rohn, “You don’t get paid for the hour, you get paid for the value you bring to it”. Many entrepreneurs do not start off in the business world, but in a world where we are hired and paid by entrepreneurs and we trade our time for their money. Every hour is then accounted and paid for, and if you want to make more money, you will have to fight for more hours. Or perhaps you’ll have too many hours and not enough time, but somehow it never really seems to balance out. So you decided to start living life on your own terms, and become a business owner, which I personally think is an excellent choice.
Some of us have realistic expectations of what that looks like. We know we have to work hard, we need to invest our time and resources to build and grow, and we know that the more value we offer, the more we will be rewarded. But not everyone we meet is going to need our products or service, so it requires consistent hustle to achieve our financial goals. Now consistent is the word I want to focus on, because I believe consistent action of the right kind, will beat out burn out any day. If you have a system in place for your business, and you know exactly what to do every day, you can avoid having to work yourself into the ground. It’s the daily actions compounded over time that give us the greatest results. It’s like dieting, you can’t eat well and exercise like crazy one day a week and expect to reach your fitness goals. You have to work those muscles and follow that diet every single day so you can create positive habits that will give you lasting change.
So the reason I chose this topic for today, is because I often witness when I’m out networking, in a facebook group, at a birthday party, or on someones social media feeds, is a lack of consistent effort and professionalism for what they do. Sadly they are not taking their business or themselves seriously, and they should be if they want others people to do the same. Too often I’ve heard someone say “ yah, I decided to put my business on hold right now because…”I’m too busy”... or “my kids started school”...or “our house is under renovation”….etc etc.
Now first of all, let me say, there are circumstances where perhaps this is the best and only option, but potential clients want to invest their time and money with doers, business owners who have vision and commitment to their purpose, so it’s going to create a lot of challenge for you to retain a client base if you put your business on hold when life comes up. You have got to plan your business around these obstacles, because we all know life comes up a lot. You can put your hobbies on hold, but your business needs to be consistently nurtured in order for it to grow and to keep its momentum. There is nothing harder than having to start and stop, and restart your business over and over, because each time you lose momentum, you also have to rebuild your credibility.
So what if instead of putting your dreams on hold, you took some time to evaluate a plan where you could still be consistent, but perhaps you build your business at a different pace. Set realistic goals that you can reach. Plan for success, and work your business around your life. Make your business a priority always, so that others will prioritize you. You can work your business full time or part time, but you can’t work it sometimes.
