If You Value Your Business No.7 – Take Time Out

Yacht "Time Out"

Beyond the well-being and contentment you and your family, little is more important than the success of your business. And its success is dependent on you and your actions.

As we approach the end of the year we need to start reflecting on how our business has performed this year and how much better or different we want it to be next year. If we don’t then next year will, at best, be the same as this year, assuming no change in things like, customer demand, competitive activity or economic circumstances.

If you want to make sure your business will be more successful you cannot hope it will be, you must do all you can to make sure it will be. To do this you need to take time out from the everyday running of your business and the daily demands it places on you.

Last week, I returned from Croatia, where my fiancée became my wife and we chartered a yacht and sailed around some of the beautiful islands. The name of the yacht was ironically called “Time Out”, which is exactly what we needed to do in order to re-charge our batteries and almost switch off from our respective businesses.

I said we almost switched off…during a week’s sailing and a few days lounging by a hotel pool, when the mood took us we thought and talked about our businesses, and what we want to achieve next year and gradually new ideas formed, were written down and added to as they grew and solidified.

You don’t need to take a week or two out but you do need to plan to take the time out to think about your business and your aims for 2014, or it’s unlikely to happen and you’ll enter the new year simply carrying on where you left off.

We’ve returned relaxed and ready to spend the next few weeks turning our ideas into strategy plans, which will take our businesses to greater levels in 2014.

You know it’ll be December in no time at all and the demands on your time will only increase. So plan in your diary when you will take time out and step away from your business so that you can make sure that 2014 will be a better year than 2013.