For a small business owner, the delineation between work hours and personal hours is sometimes blurry. This is quite understandable as the brunt of the responsibility rests on the shoulders of the small business owner. After all, it’s his career – and livelihood – that’s on the line.
Small business owners, picture this scenario: it’s a Friday afternoon and you’re all ready to unwind. Suddenly, a client calls you up wanting this and that. Or maybe, an “urgent” e-mail comes in. The office is closed. You’re done for the day – for the week, for that matter. What do you do?
This is not an uncommon scenario, really. A lot of small business owners have to face this on a regular basis. On the one hand, you probably would want to ignore everything, and deal with it on Monday. On the other hand, you don’t feel right ignoring the call/e-mail.
Here’s the tip: from the outset, make your expectations and rules clear to your clients. In spite of the fact that you may be offering web-based services or that you are running a small personalized business, you do have a life. Make it clear that you have working hours and that they are to be respected. This way, there will be no issues (hopefully) if you leave things to sit over the weekend.
You should also arm yourself with tools to take care of requests after work hours. Make sure you have voicemail. Turn it on to deal with the after hours calls. Turn on your e-mail autoreply. Last, but most important, make sure you have separate numbers for your business and for your personal use.
Don’t let your business run your life! Set boundaries.
Originally posted on March 27, 2010 @ 6:54 am