Building Your Relationship with Your Business

Today I want to talk about the relationship you have with your business, is it a healthy relationship, or do you suffer from one of the following issues?

Do you have a love-hate relationship?

One day you’re in love with your business, the next you hate it and wonder why you started it. We’ve all been there. An exercise you could try would be to brainstorm what you like and what you dislike about your biz. Then, come up with ways to minimize the parts you don’t like. It could mean hiring some outside help, or getting rid of a service or product that causes you more grief then profit.

Are you co-dependant?

You are always thinking that you should be working when you’re away from your computer.  You get distracted when you’re spending time with your family, wondering if you have new email or thinking of what you want your next marketing promotion to look like.

If you can’t think of anything else you’d rather do then work, it may be time to take up a new hobby or join a book club. Make an effort to talk to people as people, and not just for the sake of business networking.

Do you cheat on your business?

If you want to be efficient at running your business, you have to commit to working hours. Do you spend time away from work when you know you should be working?

How’s your accounting? Are you borrowing money from your business account to get your hair done (and trying to justify it as a business expense)?

If you create content or material for your business, how much of it is 100% original and how much is “borrowed” or inspired from your competitors?

Take a look at your habits. If you don’t feel like you’re getting much out of the business, perhaps you aren’t as committed to succeeding as you should be.

Are you Growing Apart/Have you lost the spark?

If every day you dread working in your business, it’s time you take a look back at the reasons why you started it in the first place. Pull out that dusty business plan. What did you write as a mission statement? Did you set goals for the business? How far have you come to reaching those goals?

It may be time to re-assess your plan and make new goals. Re-word your mission if it is no longer meaningful to you. What? No business plan? Well, it’s high time you put in writing why it is you’re in business. This exercise could very well get you out of the rut.

Are you jealous of your business?

How can you be jealous of your business? Look at your relationships. Are you closer to your clients and talk to them more often then your friends? Maybe you’ve built a strictly business persona for yourself and are afraid to let your real personality shine through? Or, you could be at a loss to converse about anything other than business.

Consider what aspects of your personality make you good at what you do, and then think about how those same aspects make you an interesting person outside of work. What other traits do you possess that don’t necessarily apply to your job? Give yourself credit for having a broad range of gifts and talents in addition to your great business skills.

Like they say in couples counseling – being open and honest about the problems in the relationship is the only way to overcome the hurdles and strengthen the bond. What better time than Valentine’s Day to take your relationship with your business to the next level?