Small Business Leadership is Better with Breaks

A very well-known pastor had many great saying that he would use to drive a thought home with the audience. Years ago I heard one that has really stuck with me. He said, “Come apart or you’ll come apart.” Generally he was talking about couples and marriage, but I know that the same applies to small business as well.

As small business owners our enterprises are on our minds 24/7, aren’t they? We may be at a soccer game with our child or watching TV with our spouse, but just about everything we do sparks an idea of something we can do, want to do or need to do in our business.

We can become so ingrained in our businesses that we are no longer on the outside looking in, but we somewhere along the line got swallowed up and are now on the inside. Concerns over small business taxes, employees and getting new customers color our thoughts and actions. We are so involved with workplace operations and committed to success that we don’t force ourselves to get away from it – ever.

And that’s not so good for us individually or our professional development – or for our business.

One of the things that I hear from business owners as they drop by the Payroll Department office for a chat or answers to payroll questions is that outsourcing their payroll has made a big difference for them personally and professionally. One owner even said that he thought the time he saved with our payroll services meant he actually took a vacation and he hasn’t had one in more than six years!

When employers take a break from employees and the business is not only good for your health – and we all know the reasons for that (read: stress!!), but it’s also good for the business. Stepping away gives us the opportunity to adjust our leadership perspective, let the creative juices reconstitute and be more objective.

If we don’t “come apart” from our business, we’ll surely come apart in our business and it could have huge ramifications. We need to take time away to refresh ourselves so we can come back into our environment with a sense of newness.

-Teresa Ray, owner, The Payroll Department