After I finished my last post, I came across this article by Nora Dunn on www.openforum.com:
How taking a sabbatical can help your business
Interesting concept, and one I think is worth exploring.
As I mulled the idea of a sabbatical over in my head, I started to realize the reasons for my business have shifted over the last five years, and with the news of the baby, the reasons are going through another shift.
When I started CEDS, my reasons were simple: I wanted to create a business that I could be proud of, something that would stand the test of time and provide excellent quality products and services to my clients, but also provide me with a livelihood.
As the team started to grow, the “I”, “my” and “me” changed to “we”, “our” and “us” and my perception of what we could achieve together expanded. But with this growth in personnel came a new reason for existing: providing a livelihood for many, not just one. And these people, who had invested their time and energy in the company, had their own opinions about the reasons CEDS existed. Their reasons deserved consideration and inclusion, even when I did not totally agree with them.
The challenge of this latest shift is easy to define: the baby is part of my personal life, not my business. While I am sure the team is very happy for me, the company is no longer in a place where I can make business decisions based solely on my personal needs. And it shouldn’t be: if you want a company that can “stand the test of time”, then you better realize that one day the business is going to have to survive without you. Dan Clements (who was interviewed for the above article) says:
“Most small businesses can’t survive long without daily input from their owners. In order to leave our business, we had to put people and systems in place for the business to run without us. The sabbatical forced the transition from “owning a job” to a true business. When we returned from the sabbatical, those people and processes were still there, which created more time to work on the business, as opposed to in it.”
For a company in transition, when the reasons for that company existing have evolved beyond the reasons of the owner, maybe an owner sabbatical is good experiment. If I ever get round to trying it, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, any thoughts?
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February 1, 2010 at 12:14 pm
Love Your Business More Than Your Family? « parentrepreneur
[...] 5. Realize that time with your family is not a business waste: As entrepreneurs, probably our most valuable asset is our creativity and vision. And nobody can be creative and visionary 100% of the time. Time away from your business (both physically and mentally) gives you time to reflect, plan and recharge. I had my most creative period after a 1 month vacation to Europe, and my business is much the better for it now. I wrote about this here. [...]