A New Restaurant

One of my jobs was working for a church camp, first as the Food Service Director, then later as the Camp Director. During the summer camp season, it wasn’t unusual for me to work 16 hour days.

My wife would half jokingly tell people that she was the camp widow. I would give her a kiss goodbye before I left for work, and I would be home to kiss her goodnight. In between, we had very little contact, and I had even less contact with my two sons. I was always afraid one of them would look at me and say “Hello mister.” Even though it was only for 8 weeks during the summer, it still took a toll on our relationship.

As the owner of a small business trying to get off the ground, it’s not unusual to want to spend all of your time and energy handling all of the details. After all, there’s no one else there to pick up the slack. If you don’t do it, it doesn’t get done.

The danger lies in pouring so much of yourself into the business that other areas of your life fall apart. If it goes on too long, one day you’ll wake up to find that your business is all you have left. Everything else that you said was important to you has gone away.

The good news is, it doesn’t have to be that way. Very early on in the process you must set some boundaries. You have to figure out what things are important to you, and make those things a priority. If your family is important, make time to be with them and let them know they are important. Schedule time to be with them, especially for important events.

That doesn’t mean you should neglect your business. It will take a lot of time. It will take a lot of energy. But it doesn’t have to take all of your time and energy. Set your boundaries. Make the things that are important a priority.