We thought we would ask John, CEO and our leader here at Peachtree for some insights he learned as a business owner. We asked him three questions that touched on some of the most important topics for business owners- inspiration, challenges, and achieving work-life balance.
What inspired you to start a business? Do you still feel the same way? I cannot say that I ever had any life changing epiphany to start a business, but it was always in the back of my mind as something that I wanted to do. I was very lucky to have some great jobs with amazing organizations. When I parted ways with my last company, I was at a fork in the road. I had several offers to take the easy path of going to work for competitors in a similar role or I could branch off on my own. I knew in my heart that if I did not start something on my own at that time, I probably would not ever do it. That scared me so I took the leap. Looking back, it was a huge and daunting leap, and I may not have done it if I had known ahead of time how hard it was. What I now know though is nothing great ever happens from taking the easy path and doing this on my own has been the greatest professional experience of my life. I would encourage anyone that is thinking about it to take that leap. Things will be hard. You will have a lot of set backs and failures but hard work and a clear vision tends to be a remedy for almost anything you will face.
What were the biggest challenges you faced when starting your business, and how did you overcome them? When I started my business in 2019, there was not much of a plan. Starting a business was something that I had always wanted to do but I never really mapped out how I was going to do it and just kind of threw myself into it. Looking back, I wish I had been more strategic and formulated a better plan. In most cases, you need to be prepared to go for an extended amount of time without revenue coming in and to make personal investments to get the business up and running. This is one of the main barriers of entry that keeps most people from starting a business. I was fairly certain that I had a business model that could work and just needed to focus on the execution. My biggest challenge was getting all the systems and vendors set up. I did not have a clear road map for this and honestly just kind of did it on the fly. I was a one man show so I was wearing every hat which really held me back from focusing on revenue generating activities. If I were to do it over again, I would certainly have used a service like Peachtree VA. This would have allowed me to delegate tasks to someone that was more efficient than I was while concentrating on the things that I do best.
How do you maintain a work-life balance as a small business owner?
At the beginning, there was not a great work-life balance which comes with the territory when starting a business. When I started The Emerald Group, I had two small children with a third one on the way. Not an ideal time to do such a thing but I was at a place in my life where I knew I would never do it if I did not pull the trigger then. I started the business in 2019 and then Covid happened in early 2020. This was actually a blessing for me because it gave me more time with the family as the world and business slowed down a bit. As we were moving on from Covid I developed a solid stream of revenue and was able to hire more employees. This gave me the ability to delegate more responsibility and structure my days the right way. Now my days are very regimented, and I try to be home by a certain time each day to make sure that I am present with my wife and young family. It is a constant balancing act that never goes exactly as planned, but that is okay.
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