It's been a year since I took the plunge leaving corporate America to owning a small business. Boy, what a year it's been.
To be truthful, I can be an idiot. No, not because I changed careers in mid-life and now own my own business. That's not it at all. As a matter of fact, I like the excitement and challenges Sails:
A Story in that a small business inherently I'm an idiot because I did not have balance when I started this adventure. Most of us think of balance as the constant struggle between our work obligations and personal freedoms.
Juggling the children's activities and your home life with your boss's unreasonable requests and the pressures of the job. hat's not the balance I'm talking about. Instead, I'm referring to balance in business.
The trusting of individuals weighed against the caution of wisdom. In my former life, I was insulated and protected by the processes that the corporation had in place. I would hire, manage and sometimes fire people.
I ran national programs and had all the reports I needed to make decisions, but my actions were under an umbrella of corporate policies and procedures.
There was structure and an infrastructure that supported the organization. That is not the case when one is a small-business owner.
There are no procedures or lifelines. You sometimes fly as you go. You try to build the processes, but you initially go by instinct. My instincts haven't been so good.
