What were the reasons you started your business?
If you’re like most entrepreneurs, your intention was to create a situation where you have greater control over your destiny. Perhaps you wanted to build something meaningful that could be sold for a profit or passed down to your children. You may have also sought more freedom, financial abundance, and the ability to travel frequently. Maybe you wanted to make a difference or genuinely enjoy what you do for a living.
- How often are you so excited about your business that you can’t wait to engage with your day?
- Conversely, how often do you dread even the thought of working on or in your business?
- Be honest: Does it feel like a burden, or are you inspired and energized by your work?
When you love what you do, there is no sense of burden or drudgery—only enthusiasm, passion, and joy. You will often feel better when you are “working” than when you are not. You will constantly seek to improve yourself and your business; ideas will flow readily, and it will be fun to be you in your business.
More often than not, people start a business based on what they know—what they are good at and comfortable doing—not necessarily what they are passionate about. Sometimes, entrepreneurs choose a product or service they believe will make them rich, but they don’t genuinely believe in it or would even use it themselves. This creates a disconnect that even riches cannot compensate for. If you sell useless, low-quality, or defective goods and services—and you know it—your lack of integrity will eventually catch up to you, potentially destroying your business and any professional satisfaction you once felt.
Believing in the products and services you provide is a necessary ingredient in enjoying business ownership. Integrity not only feels good, but it also attracts and retains talented team members and increases the number of loyal customers you serve. Integrity enhances the fun, pleasure, and success you experience in running your business.
Another key ingredient in the satisfaction you derive from your business is your leadership style and ability. If you don’t like to be a leader, don’t understand what effective leadership entails, or don’t know how to perform this responsibility well, your enjoyment of your business will suffer tremendously. Ineffective leadership is one of the major pitfalls to happiness and success in business.
Effective leaders provide a consistently empowering example, utilize the best tools for hiring true talent, and invest in the development of their team members. They aren’t perfect or infallible. They are human, authentic, and strive to be their best while supporting others in doing the same. This behavior results in greater job satisfaction, increased productivity, loyalty and retention, exceptional customer service, and improved sales. Becoming a good leader takes time and effort, but as you develop your leadership skills, your business will run more smoothly, become more successful, and your enjoyment will increase exponentially.
The quality of your team is also essential to your happiness and success. All business owners understand the unending stress and challenges that poor-quality team members bring to the business culture. This is a situation worth avoiding at all costs.
The more qualified, well-trained, happy, and committed your team members are, the better it is for everyone involved. People who enjoy their work perform at much higher levels than those who do not. Hiring talented individuals is a science, and a qualified professional can provide proven strategies that will dramatically improve your success rate.
Through my work as a professional development coach and consultant, I have met many business owners who are financially successful yet not thriving. Financial success is only one aspect of your business.
When you are passionate about your business—when you truly love and believe in what you do—and are an effective leader who has built a capable, happy, and loyal team that offers exceptional products and services, greater financial rewards and enjoyment will follow.
