Comments on: Am I the Lazy Entrepreneur?

By: wifey

wifey — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:59:54 +0000

my husband would say life has to be a balance. after many years of marriage I realize he is self-emplloyed really cause he doesn’t work well with others–not because he enjoys running a business. he wants to be in charge for the sake of being in charge but that doesn’t mean he has the skill set to manage. he has failed miserably at being self-employed. for over 15 years, he hasn’t been able to make a profit unless he doesn’t draw a salary. it took me a long long time to understand what was going on. he is good at the core competency of what he does but not running a business–he acts more like an employee including shutting down or pouting when things/people don’t go his way. we’ve lost major clients because he didn’t feel like working on vacation–even though it meant borrowing money to pay the mortgage.

my point–its fine to be a lazy entreprenuer provided that you can give your family minimumly a middleclass lifestyle. Money is NOT everything and a family should not demand one member of the family kill his or herself so the family can qualify for tlifestyles of theRich & Famous. On the other hand, be sure your are not hurting anyone else by your laziness.

By: Terry Dean

Terry Dean — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:49:29 +0000

You have me cheering for, “and don’t give a hairy rat about what others think I should or shouldn’t do.”

By: Terry Dean

Terry Dean — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:48:32 +0000

Excellent points on the difference between effort and results.

Everyone should take a look at their business regularly and decide if their time is spent primarily on the most important activities (no one I know hits 100% here so focus on a majority of your tmie here).

Taking one week and keeping a diary/journal of how you spend your time for the week is often very revealing for most people as they found many hours wasted or spent on activities they could have easily outsourced or even left undone completely.

By: Terry Dean

Terry Dean — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:44:46 +0000

But you said it there Michael…”If it wasn’t for the wife, kids, and church” you’d do 60+ hours. This means you have at least 3 priorities over business which means you value those 3 elements of your life more than business.

I’d add in people’s health there also as it seems when work hours increase for most people (not all) their health, exercise, and nutrition starts to suffer somewhere.

By: Terry Dean

Terry Dean — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:42:45 +0000

Another good point. A lot of people talk about paying themselves first…but what good would that be if you don’t have the freedom and enjoyment from a life you love. Good point!

By: Terry Dean

Terry Dean — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:40:48 +0000

One of elements I’ve been working on is maximizing my time in business for the activities I enjoy best. This isn’t always the most profitable activities 100% of the time, but it does always include the activities I enjoy and find fulfillment from.

By: Terry Dean

Terry Dean — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:39:05 +0000

Very similar to my own style. Don’t really mind working late a few days, but I want those weekends!

I’m glad you made it through the surgery, but that’s not a fun way to learn the message. Glad I picked it up early.

By: Terry Dean

Terry Dean — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:30:32 +0000

I like the comment earlier about integration instead of balance. And that definitely fits here – we integrate each element of our lives in together.

By: Terry Dean

Terry Dean — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:27:26 +0000

Another great quote…A lazy person looks for the shortest distance between two points. A smart lazy person looks for two points that are close together.”

I think a lot of times it’s easy to overcomplicate what we need to do or to look for challenges…instead of finding the best and easiest solution for both you and your customers (our customers aren’t looking for the most difficult approach – they’re looking for a simple solution to solve their problems).

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 20:17:03 +0000

I really think you hit the nail on the head when you said define your success. Time with family and freinds and ghaving the money to do things with them is great. Ask ten people and you get ten different replys. Balance with work,family and God is always a must. Doing it on your terms is always the best. Looking forward to the next post. Thanks