The Top 5 Signals That Your Business Is Running You

Starting your own business is a great undertaking but running the day-to-day aspects of your business is the true challenge you will face as an entrepreneur. Do you find that the business you started to suit your lifestyle somehow taken over your life and home? If this sounds familiar, then your business is running you. Learn how to run your business again with these top five warning signs and helpful tips.

Stop Complaining And Take Control.
A common lament of the entrepreneur or SOHO business owner is if they knew then what they know now, they'd never have started their own business. The truth is that if they thought then about what they're buried in now, the story may have been quite different. It's never too late to take control. Here are five signals that your business is running you - with a quick tip to combat each.

1) You Find Yourself Ignoring Your Inner Voice.
You know, the one that keeps saying, "I'm too busy" or "I'm swamped". Listen to your inner voice. It's usually got a clearer handle on things. When you make a plan to change things you'll feel more in charge. Clients entrust you with their business daily. Learn to respect yourself and your clients by delivering on your promises.

2) Your "Creative Space" Has Become Your Procrastination Pit.
Creative space is a great thing. It's the zone where you develop and brainstorm new ideas. Next time you're procrastinating, do something useful. Go for a walk. Make a call. Play with your children. Don't acknowledge procrastination and it will cease to exist.

3) Hearing Your Cell Phone Ring Is Annoying.
The same goes for the other bells and beeps in your busy life like email or call waiting. These technologies are all very well, but you need to establish boundaries. Set-up reasonable times for your own life and stick to your decisions. Boundaries are only respected when people know they exist. Raise your boundaries and you'll raise your standards.

4) You See Clients As Alien Invaders.
If you're not relating well with clients, you're probably not working with the right people. Getting clear on your ideal client is pivotal to creating a business you can love. Go through old records and note the characteristics and attributes of the people you enjoyed working with. How can you attract these types to your business? What do you need to change?

5)You're Reading The Want Ads.
Let's face it, not everyone can run their own business, but since you've read this far let's assume you want to stick with it. First you need to acknowledge two simple facts: You're only one person and you can't do it all. Accepting this simple fact can be the key to formulating a new and productive business pattern.

Outsourcing As A Solution.
Sometimes the best solution is the obvious solution: hire more help. However as a small business owner, this may not be the best answer financially. Hiring an employee requires overhead. The solution is to hire an assistant but not an employee; hire a Virtual Assistant. By outsourcing, you can control costs and pay per task basis. Some of the things that can outsource include appointment setting, marketing, writing, web design, customer service and research.

Take Heed And Good Speed To You
So now that you know the warning signs, take note and heed them. By using our quick tips and in combination with outsourcing, you can gain control of your business, become more productive and be happier while running your business.

© Yvonne Thompson, Assistance For You All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use this article, as long as the entire article is posted and the "About the Author" section and all links remain intact.

About The Author Yvonne Thompson owns and operates Assistance For You, a Virtual Assistant Support Service where our motto is: Run Your Business, Don't Let It Run You! For more information visit http://Assistance-For-You.com

Latest News


New York Times Blogs

UPDATE 1-Owners battle over fate of 65 Steve & Barry's stores
Reuters - 2 hours ago
... the new owners of Steve & Barry's -- investment firms Bay Harbour Management and York Capital Management -- filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday ...
Steve & Barry’s to liquidate Bizjournals.com
Steve & Barry's again files for bankruptcy Newsday
Steve & Barry's to begin liquidating stores The Associated Press
Bizjournals.com - Bizjournals.com
all 258 news articles

Founders & Former Executive Management Team of LCA-Vision Seek ...
MarketWatch - 3 hours ago
The three of them worked together as the executive management team of LCAV to grow the market capitalization of the Company in excess of 1000% from ...
LCA-Vision Names Michael J. Celebrezze CFO MarketWatch
all 28 news articles

MassMutual Announces Promotions for Two Co-Chief Operating Officers
MarketWatch - 7 hours ago
Bill has also proven his exceptional capabilities as a leader in the asset management business and in building strong financial services organizations," Mr. ...
MassMutual Life promotes COOs Bizjournals.com
OppenheimerFunds Names CEO Markets Media (press release)
Shake-up at OppenheimerFunds, MassMutual Pensions & Investments
InvestmentNews - MarketWatch
all 37 news articles

Microsoft Plans Subscription-Based PC Management
PC Magazine - 3 hours ago
by Mark Hachman Microsoft said this week that it will extend its subscription-based offerings into desktop PC management, although details on the new ...

PAR Technology Corporation Releases Next Version of SpaSoft(R) Spa ...
MarketWatch - 10 hours ago
With a unique booking engine, advanced resource inventory, scheduling, yield management and reporting tools, SpaSoft is the system of choice for today's ...

Angiotech Terminates Note Repurchase Agreement With Ares ...
RTT News, NY - 8 hours ago
TO) said it terminated the note purchase agreement with Ares Management and New Leaf Venture Partners. Earlier, Angiotech said it had notified Ares and New ...
Private equity firms pull out of Angiotech financing agreement The Canadian Press
Firms pull out of Angiotech agreement Toronto Star
Angiotech announces termination of note purchase agreement with ... Trading Markets (press release)
all 41 news articles

AFP

Treasury to Buy Reserve Government Fund's Holdings (Update3)
Bloomberg - 11 hours ago
3, according to statements today by the department and New York- based Reserve Management Corp., the fund's owner. Shareholders can expect their money by ...
Treasury Will Help Liquidate Reserve Fund Wall Street Journal
Treasury to Support a Frozen Money Fund New York Times
Treasury to backstop mutual fund The Associated Press
MarketWatch - Bloomberg
all 101 news articles

TOWONA Strengthens Management Team; Li Jieling, Lin Ming, Kong ...
MarketWatch - 9 hours ago
The TOWONA group formed the complete management framework headed by Zhang Zhenzhong as Chairman of the Board and CEO, Zhang Leyang as president, ...

NTN Buzztime, Inc. Announces Management and Board Changes
MarketWatch - 10 hours ago
... will be comprised of Terry Bateman, Kendra Berger, the company's chief financial officer and other members of the management team. ...
PCTEL Board of Directors Authorizes Stock Buyback WELT ONLINE
Wi-LAN Appoints New Chairman of the Board MarketWatch
all 43 news articles

Innerscope Research Strengthens Management Team With Three ...
MarketWatch - 4 hours ago
... healthcare and service sectors, brings to Innerscope significant experience in marketing, customer relationship management and operations. ...

Resources