Tony Paull Consulting

Supporting Home and Small Businesses

What I LIKE and DISLIKE about being a Small Business Owner

• What I LIKE about being a Small Business Owner

Being able to spend time with the Family

Working from home allowed me to be present during my children’s formative years

Although a very special time, it was also frustrating, taking on the home management tasks, caring for young children and trying to run a business – but worth it.

Decision making Freedom

I struggled with corporate decision making processes Being my own boss allowed me to not only assess the risks and

rewards but to be in a position to make the final decision as and when I was ready

Having this ability was the main reason I become a business owner

Creating my own space

Although I am as social as the next person, I enjoy my own company and have never felt lonely when alone.

I consider “me time”, an important ingredient in achieving success as a small business owner.

The ability to be flexible and sometimes even reckless

I dislike routine

I have found that probably the most exciting aspect of small business ownership is the life changing challenges

My risk management got better with age and experience – and the help of a good mentor.

• What I DISLIKE about being a Small Business Owner

• No matter how we claim to love what we do to earn our daily bread, be it writing, blogging, business ownership, corporate employee or service provider, there are aspects of the job WE HATE.

There are the tasks or activities we hate, there are those we don’t like and then there are simply irritations that make an already long day seem even longer.

I HATE Cold calling

I absolutely hate (and every synonym applies) cold calling, whether face-to-face or by telephone.

It was the sole reason I never entered the sales profession, even though there were several genuinely lucrative offers.

I always employ the best sales folks I can afford

I HATE untrustworthy people

As a firm believer in the acronym WYSIWYG I have little or no time for individuals who deliberately evade responsibility or accountability and struggle with dealing with the truth.

Be they colleagues, suppliers or customers.

Equally so with unethical people

I DISLIKE repetition

I get really bored, really quickly with having to do the same thing over and over, a necessity at times but an anathema to me.

In my early working career, I developed a reputation for being a bit of a grasshopper, jumping from one unfinished project to the next.

Which is not a good habit to own, but fortunately for me, one that my mentors hammered out of me.

I am UNCOMFORTABLE with accountants and Tax officials

They have a habit of asking me questions that either I don’t know the answer to, or stayed awake all night praying they wouldn’t ask me.

But then they do look after the company finances and keep us honest – or so I’m told.

I DISLIKE red tape and officialdom

In my country, the real business of running a small business is often side tracked and bedevilled by bureaucracy and mindless red tape.

Although I am in favour of structured processes and legitimate checks and balances, it is sometimes difficult to align the authorities desire to see the SMB sector growing with the roadblocks a SBO encounters in complying with Company and Tax laws.

Did I ever regret taking the plunge?

Most definitely on occasions, but when the smog had cleared and the turbulence subsided, my decisions at the time, to persevere, paid off.

Because of the support from the folks that matter, help from good mentors and a personal determination to succeed no matter what the obstacles, my entrepreneurial journey to date, has been most enjoyable.

Tony Paull Consulting

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Tony Paull Consulting

Supporting Home and Small Businesses

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