Why Entrepreneurs Need Vacations Without Email or Voicemail

I just returned from a one-week vacation at the beach with my husband and family. A whole week of lazing on the beach, swimming, body surfing, eating in hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and generally having a good time. How many times did I check voicemail and email? I checked email once just to make sure there were no major issues developing without my knowledge.

Many entrepreneurs don’t take enough vacations. They proudly tell me that they’re just too busy to take time off. This always amazes me, I mean, isn’t freedom one of the reasons you started your own business? Those that do take vacations take their smart phones and laptops along with them to let interruptions ruin their serenity.

What has happened to Work Life Balance? Or is it just a myth? Don’t we want to enjoy our lives and live the good life?

Many business owners miss out on living the good life. They reach a point where immersing themselves in the business without taking time off leads to burn out, lack of creativity, and high stress.

We all need to regenerate and recharge our batteries – a vacation without work can do this for us.

Don’t make the excuse that nobody can do your job except you – this just means you don’t want to delegate and give up control.

Don’t make the excuse that you can’t afford to go on vacation because you’d have to pay someone to do your job while you’re gone - this just means you aren’t charging enough for your product or service.

Don’t make the excuse that responding to email and voicemail on vacation is just the way entrepreneurs work – this means you are too scared to create the boundaries you need to enjoy your life.

If you’re ready to take a vacation without interruptions, I’ve devised a list of suggestions to help you live the good life.

Rules of the Road – Take your vacations the restful way

1. Plan your vacation in advance and inform key people as the time draws near.

2. Set realistic expectations with your clients and vendors. Let them know that you are planning a vacation without interruptions so that they don’t expect you to answer their calls or emails while you are gone.

3. Send an “Out of Office” Email blind copy to all your current clients and vendors advising them that you will have limited access to voicemail and email and that you will respond to their questions when you return. Give them a contact in your company who can handle emergency situations, or delegate to a Virtual Assistant.

4. Create an Autoresponder that will automatically notify those who email you that you are out of the office.

5. Create a Voicemail message that advises callers that you are out of the office. Let them know that their message is important, but if it can wait you will talk to them when you return.

6. Leave your blackberry and laptop at home.

7. Create a detailed week by week “how to guide” for employees or virtual assistants on how to handle possible issues should they come up. You can reuse this guide each time you vacation.

Grow Your Business and Prosper!
Suzanne Muusers
Business Coach for Entrepreneurs & Financial Advisors
Scottsdale, Arizona
http://www.prosperitycoaching.biz/

What does it take to Make it as an Entrepreneur?

Included here is the topic I spoke about to Club Entrepreneur on Thursday March 19th, 2008.

You might say it’s always been my dream to have my own business. And I’ve had several. My dad put me to work in his business on the island of Maui when I was 17 years old. By age 21 I was the General Manager of his business. At age 24 I started my own business on the island of Oahu selling fine jewelry to departments stores. At age 29 I started a retail business in Arizona.

I’ve found that many of us dream of owning our own business. In fact, according to a recent nationwide survey, 53 percent of respondents said they would like to own their own small business despite knowing that small businesses have a high rate of failure and bankruptcy.
I am often asked for Tips on how to "Make it" as an entrepreneur.
So, what does it take to be successful in your own business?

As a business coach I like to teach people to think for themselves. So I’ve listed some TRUE or FALSE statements about being an entrepreneur.

You’ll get rich overnight with your own business. FALSE.
You should be willing to work long hours for little profit for the first two to three years. I’m sorry to burst your bubble if you think you can hit the ground running with a six figure income the first year. The truth is unless you’re plugged into a referral engine right off the bat, you will have to build your business through hard work.

You can Bootstrap Your Way through slow cash flow. FALSE.
One of the main causes of business failure is underfunding. This is a no-brainer. You will need a cash reserve to see you through the tough times. You’ll need savings or a part time job to make ends meet for at least the first year.

You’ll have freedom when you have your own business. TRUE.
My father taught me that there is nothing better in life than having your own business. I learned that one of the great benefits of self employment is freedom. The freedom to set your own rules, control your own future, and decide what it is you want to create in your life. Ironically, you have the freedom to be successful and the freedom to mess it all up.

Freedom is a double-edged sword

You need to learn new skills to grow your business. TRUE.
Commit to lifelong learning. You will be much more likely to succeed if you are continually improving yourself. I like to say that “Readers are Leaders”. What do you need to learn to succeed? What books and magazines do you need to read? What conferences do you need to attend?

You can work 7 days a week to make the business profitable sooner. FALSE.
I have seen many clients burnout from overwork. Avoid burn out by taking at least one full day off per week. My husband and I call Sunday, Funday. If we’re not doing something fun on Funday, then what’s the point of having your own business?

You don’t need a business plan. FALSE.
A business plan gives the business owner direction and more importantly, MOTIVATION. If you’ve worked on a grand VISION of where you want your business to be in five to ten years and you base your business plan on achieving that vision, you are much more likely to succeed. It’s the business owner who has no vision that wanders aimlessly. For a great business plan template see my Entrepreneur’s Shop for the Two Page Mini Business Plan. It’s a great SYSTEM to keep you organized and on track.

You don’t need to do research to support your business idea. FALSE.
You need to ensure that the free market can support your idea. My clients are all over the united states. Recently I got a call from a woman in New Jersey. She wants to start a line of organic fragrances. When I asked her if she had done research to see if there was a market for her product she said she hadn’t thought to do that. You should be willing to create a focus group and test your idea before investing and taking it to market.

You can do this on your own without the support of friends and family. FALSE.
Surround yourself with supportive, successful people who care about your journey to entrepreneurship. If there’s someone who is not supportive, you may need to avoid them. You need a positive attitude to make this work. Get yourself a mentor or a coach who can help you stay on track.

You need to be accountable to someone in order to make it. TRUE.
Get yourself an accountability partner. You won’t do what you need to do unless someone is holding you accountable. Have weekly meetings with your partner to stay on track.

You can’t run your business without taking risks. TRUE.
Be willing to take risks. This is the most important characteristic necessary for success. If you stay safe inside your comfort zone you won’t realize near the success that‘s possible.
Back in 1990 when I moved to AZ I invested my life’s savings in a start up retail store. I got on a plane and flew halfway around the world to Asia and bought a container load of merchandise to start my retail business. Was this risky? You bet. It was terrifying. I had to meet with architects to plan my store layout. I had to sign lease agreements for 3-5 years out. I had to sign a personal guarantee that I would pay if the business failed. It was a hell of a risk. But I made it work. Does that mean I’m not afraid of risk? No. But like they say “feel the fear and do it anyway”.

So the phrase “where there’s a will, there’s a way” is certainly true when it comes to making it as an entrepreneur. If you’re determined to make your business work, and you make it your quest in life to succeed, you can learn to become an entrepreneur.

Thomas Edison said: “The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn't like to do.”

Grow Your Business and Prosper!
Suzanne Muusers
Business Coach for Entrepreneurs and Financial Advisors
http://www.prosperitycoaching.biz/

Business Goals and New Year's Resolutions – WHO do you want to BE in 2008?

I've written about New Year's Resolutions in a recent post and here we are almost to the end of 2007. Have you thought about your business and where you want to take it? I know exactly where I'm going because I just updated my business plan.

Here are a few of the questions I asked myself while working on my business plan:

What do I want to do differently in 2008?
This year I want to do more writing about things I'm passionate about. Being an entrepreneur in the business world; characteristics of successful business owners; the benefits of a positive attitude. I also want more time for reading. I have a stack of books with topics that range from internet marketing to learning to train our brains to be more efficient. I just need to carve out time.

What do I want to delegate?
I definitely want to do less administration. Less bookkeeping and reconciliations. Oddly enough I'm fairly good at accounting. This is all thanks to my best friend Laura Klump who taught me how to keep a perfect set of books. I will be delegating the PR side of my business especially since I'm not good at Public Relations. I can help my clients promote themselves any old day, but I don't seem to be great at it for my own business. I don't want to delegate marketing because I LOVE IT! My mantra is: Keep doing what you're good at and delegate the rest.

WHO do I want to BE a year from now?
I want to be a wiser and better-rounded person. For the past 3 years I've had my head down while building this coaching business and now that I have a smoothly running machine I can take my foot off the accelerator and ease up a bit. This means I can devote more time to BEING a better friend, sister, auntie, wife, and community resident.

What exciting vacations do I want for 2008?
I don't know about exciting, but I want to go to Rocky Point Mexico at least a few times this year. There's nothing better than staying in a house on the beach with close friends and cooking and drinking wine on the patio while watching the wildlife go by. While I love the fancy resorts, I also crave simplicity and authentic relationships. That's what going to Rocky Point gives me - Time, space, great seafood, sand, ocean, and sunsets.

Take some time in the next few days to do some business planning and thinking about WHO you want to BE in 2008.

Grow Your Business and Prosper!
Suzanne Muusers
Business Coach for Entrepreneurs and Financial Advisors
http://www.prosperitycoaching.biz/

The 4-Hour Workweek – Tim Ferriss - Book Review

This book review is about The 4-Hour Workweek, written by Tim Ferriss, a self-described serial-entrepreneur, scuba diver, tango dancer, and world traveler. The book is about how to live a meaningful lifestyle without delaying retirement and without wasting your life. This book has many "coach-like" tools and techniques which leads me to believe that Mr. Ferriss has at one time had a business or life coach who guided him in developing these principles.

As entrepreneurs we often dream about freedom – freedom to live a life of our own choosing, freedom to travel internationally to exotic locations, and freedom to create our own schedules.

Why should we wait unit age 65 to live the life we want? Why should we slave year after year to make someone else’s dreams come true when we can take control of our lives and live the dream now?

Ferriss breaks people down into two groups: the Deferrers and the New Rich. The Deferrers (D) work like the devil 80 hours a week to make the money to finance a highbrow lifestyle. They slave, save, and then retire. The New Rich (NR) design their business to finance a more meaningful lifestyle that includes travel, hobbies, and outsourcing.

What I got out of this book:

Does your Life have a Purpose? - What do you stand for? Are you working just to work? Are you buying new and better “things” but feel empty inside? Does your life have meaning? What are you contributing to the world? Figure out why you are on this planet and vow to live a life of meaning by contributing something of value to this world.

Create a Virtual Business and Delegate – create a company not a one person shop! Have others do the work for you. You’re a CPA that focuses on tax return preparation. A client is looking for someone to do their monthly accounting. Take this client and delegate or farm out the business. Put procedures in place for how your clients will be handled. Ferriss goes into detail about hiring Virtual Assistants (VA) to do much of your "busy" work for you so that you can concentrate on the important details of running a business.

Simplicity and Space – Did you buy a bigger house to hold all your possessions? Are your closets full of stuff you rarely use? What big-boy toys do you have but rarely use? Create space in your life to live. Clean out the clutter that prevents you from living a life of meaning.

Get Rid of Your Unprofitable Clients – when we've reached a certain level of success we can muster the courage to pick our clients based upon certain parameters, namely how much we enjoy working with them and how profitable they are. Some entrepreneurs chose to refer the unprofitable clients to someone starting out in the business, usually for a referral fee. The profitable clients are retained and used to grow the business.

Time Management – one of the major points of this book is how much time we waste by trying to "stay busy" rather than being "productive". Email is now our enemy rather than a tool to help us manage our business effectively. Ferriss points out that he checks his email only once per week. I'm not sure how easy this would be for the majority of entrepreneurs. I am certainly aware of how email is a time waster. I personally don't check or answer email on the weekends. I use that time to live my life. How often have you been "busy" the entire day, but when you look back you can't quite put your finger on what you actually got done?

Focus on Your Strengths, not Your Weaknesses – as a business coach for entrepreneurs, I support this notion wholeheartedly. All too often I hear about business owners who are trying to "fix" the things they're not good at. I'd rather see us delegate weaknesses, and do what we're REALLY good at – and do it well.

Conclusion:
The book also goes into depth about how to create a business that runs on Autopilot (MBA - management by absence) based on product creation and internet sales. Of course, automation is the key!!!

While I think this is an extremely beneficial book for entrepreneurs and small business owners, I also believe it proposes some out of the box solutions to common problems that will take some getting used to. However, I believe it will take some radical changes to "fix" our overly complicated, revenue-driven, valueless lifestyles.

This book is a good read and I recommend it for all entrepreneurs seeking a better quality of life.


Grow Your Business and Prosper!
Suzanne Muusers
Business Coach for Entrepreneurs and Financial Advisors

http://www.prosperitycoaching.biz/

Why do entrepreneurs risk it all to become become business owners?

They risk it all for one word: FREEDOM!!! Today I am reminded of why there is nothing better than being a business owner rather than working for "the man". One of my clients was laid off from her day job position without any notice, WHILE she was on vacation. There was no regard for her diligent efforts, long hours, and servitude. Just a hurried voicemail with a request for an exit interview. When you have your own business, you have freedom. You are in charge of your own destiny. You make your own hours and you are accountable to no one but yourself. You don't ever have to worry that you'll be laid off. On the flip side of course, your income is dependent on your own efforts. Is it worth the risk??? YOU BET!

Suzanne Muusers
Business Coach For Entrepreneurs and Financial Advisors
http://www.prosperitycoaching.biz/