In my last column, which was my first as a BizBox contributor (thanks for all the supportive emails!), we started talking about the “entrepreneur’s lament.” I noted that in my law practice representing business owners and my experience running businesses, it seems that entrepreneurs tend to lament, or feel sorrow or regret for, the following:
- Focus. Pursuing new ideas to the detriment of the core business.
- Work/Life. Missing out on real life while pursuing business passion.
- Employees. Inability to find great help and keep them.
- Partners. Challenges in finding or maintaining good business partners.
- Money. Inability to find necessary financing for growth or survival.
- Burnout. When one morning you just can’t do it anymore.
- Boredom. When there’s not much more to build.
As a lawyer, I have never put in as many total work hours as I have in the last few years. This is for many reasons. As a published author, I am in demand for speaking around the world (I also spent a bunch of Saturdays recently preparing the second edition of my book). I am running a growing law firm. I am overseeing my client matters and practice group.
Additionally, I do something that is often hard for entrepreneurs: I delegate. Yes, I know many entrepreneurs hate the “D” word. But it is critical not only for helping a business grow, but also for creating some semblance of a true work/life balance for the entrepreneur. In the next column we will talk about the challenges of finding the right people to work for you--briefly, accept that no one will do things as well as you do, and work on finding ones who can do them well enough.??
Lastly, try to work from home every once in a while. These days, virtually all that I do can be done remotely, and that is typically true for most entrepreneurs. Not always, just occasionally. You’ll like the 12-second commute and be even more productive than when everyone in the office needs your attention. Oh yeah, and you’ll see the family.
David N. Feldman, founding partner of Feldman Weinstein & Smith, is the author of Reverse Mergers and blogs atReverse Merger & SPAC Blog. He can be reached at dfeldman@fwsllp.com.?
