Jennifer Brown in Women Entrepreneur Magazine
Any entrepreneur knows that starting a business to have more “freedom” is an illusion. A business can be a burden, a shackle and a drain on all your resources. When I started and ran my internet company, I always paid myself last. Soon my personal finances were suffering. Credit card bills weren’t getting paid. My rent was late. I began to resent the fact that all my hard work wasn’t paying off.
According to Jennifer Brown, president and founder of Jennifer Brown Consulting, a workplace consulting firm in New York City, “Knowledge is power when it comes to your company’s finances. If you are outsourcing your company finances, you need to know what is going on.
“Now is the time to make sure you know what money’s coming in and, just as important, what’s going out,” Brown says. “Are there certain expenses you maintained in the boom times that can be economized? Do you have the right people performing the right tasks, where everyone is as efficient and productive as she can be?”
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Brown, the workplace consultant, emphasizes the need to maintain a level of physical activity, even when you are in the throes of starting a new business.
“No entrepreneur is worth anything to her organization if she is constantly in panic mode. It has been shown that exercise reduces stress in body but also in mind,” advises Brown.
Entrepreneurs tend to be workaholics with the ability to focus in front of a laptop for 12 hours at a time, Brown says. “This is bad for your body, and may lead to mental inefficiency as well. Mix up your days,” she advises. “Schedule some meetings periodically, vary the technology, vary the kinds of people you network with, make sure to see friends, even during the day.”
Brown also suggests opening up to others you trust.
For me, reconnecting with my friends after years of isolation led me to identify a new business partner for my current business. Financially savvy, she takes charge of many of the company’s finances. She also takes the time to educate me every step of the way and doesn’t let me shirk my responsibility to be aware of and engaged in the company’s financials.
The greatest lesson to avoid that unending vortex of business demands is to ask for help and turn to others. Without the support of family, friends and trusted colleagues, I don’t think I’d have any balance in my life. I still struggle to pull myself away from my work each day, but I have others reminding me constantly of the need for balance. Without them, my business might be success, but the costs would be too great.
