You’re a business owner now and it’s time to start thinking like it.
John was a plumber. He was tired of watching the company he worked for charge $150.00 an hour and only pay him $40.00 an hour. He decided to start his own plumbing company and charge $100.00 an hour. He’d still offer the same quality of work. The customers would love the savings. And he would make a lot more money or be able to work less and make the same amount of money!
John purchased a work truck and enough tools to get started, called a few of his friends and was on his way to the glorious life of business owner!
Within 6 months John realized that he had bought himself a low paying, high demand, stressful J.O.B. And he was exhausted from the daily demands of his new job. Answering the phone calls. Scheduling the appointments. Driving to every job. Stopping what seemed like every 5 minutes to answer another call. Handling customer complaints because he finally decided to ignore the constant ringing in his pocket.
By the time he got home every night all he wanted to do was sleep. But there was no rest for the weary. He had to finish all of that paperwork from the day. Figure out how he was going to handle all the customer complaints, schedule new jobs, and pay the bills.
All because he didn’t let go of his employee self. John still thought like and acted like an employee: a paid plumber.
If you’re going to own and run a successful business you must think and act like a successful business owner!
Build yourself a business, not a job!
What if John had
- Calculated the overhead cost of running his company.
- Calculated what he would pay a plumber and the return that plumber would provide.
- Created and followed a plan.
- Started his company with one plumber.
John could have drove the business, generated the leads, scheduled the appointments while his plumber, the employee, did the work that generated the revenue.
Yes, there was more to John’s story and there’s more to being a business owner. However, I can’t help but believe that if John would have let go of his employee self he may still be in business today. Instead, he’s back to work for his former boss, the business owner who did let go of his employee self.
Let go of your employee self:
- Build a real business
- Work smarter