Freedom! The battle cry of the business owner. “I wanted freedom from a boss so I started my own business. Now I need freedom from my business because it’s running my life.” Sound like you? Here are three tips to help you gain your freedom.

- Put your stake in the ground. Where are you headed with your business? Can’t answer because you’re too busy working on yesterday’s problems? Stop and do it now. Much of your freedom is being eaten up by activities that won’t get you where you want to go. Define where that is and work toward it.

- Set boundaries. Don’t take on work that eats away time you should be dedicating to focusing on sales of your core product or service. Sometimes you just have to say “no.” Be careful about performing business functions that “don’t cost anything.” Put a dollar value on your time. Outsource. It will cost you less in the long run.

- Take action. Talking and thinking about doing things that will further your business are necessary. Writing them down and making them happen is even better. Identify the critical steps you must take now to get closer to the freedom you seek and start doing them.

Do you have a good tip to share with me? Leave me a comment below.

Need More Help?

If you want to actually apply the concepts of operations development to your own business, especially if you have 0-20 employees, you’ll do well with Susan Carter’s book. You’ll find short chapters, with simply stated to-do items and an understandable how to guide for setting up business operations. Get your copy of How to Make Your Business Run Without You: Streamline Your Business Operations to Pave the Way for More Business, Bigger Profits, and a Business That Virtually Runs Itself from amazon.com.