Saturday, 30 September 2017

There's nothing quite like heading up a ski hill early in the morning after fresh powder snow has been cascading from the heavens all night. It's a double bonus when the previous night's clouds have all cleared away and it's a blue bird day! A day of potentially unlimited fun - if you a skier then this is as good as it gets.

Of course if we are also a business owner still involved in our business then we need to balance fun times with responsibilities to our paying clients. So a few tips:
1. Nothing good comes from trying to hide from clients what it is that you are doing. If you are on the other side of the world from them in a skiing resort they really won't mind - as long as you fulfill your business obligations. At the same time no need to rub their noses in it. Personally, I put on a business shirt whenever I skype my clients. I always call on time and I don't remind the client of where I am unless they bring it up. (Many of them are skiers too, so they do ask.) 
2. Don't schedule client stuff when there's the chance of some crackingly good fun stuff! If you go out when you should be working you'll feel guilty. If you stay inside working when its the best pow day of the season you'll begin to resent your client and your work will reflect that. So schedule carefully and leave plenty of time for the fun stuff. You can work hard when it's dark and the lifts have stopped running.

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Well, the aim is not to "run your business into the ground". The aim is to structure your business so that it leaves you with plenty of time for discretionary activities - like downhill skiing.

Now, there's really two ways to get that result:
1. Get your business performing so well that your participation in it is basically voluntary. Your systems and your team run the business without your day to day involvement.
2. Arrange your business activities so that you can take part in those discretionary activities when you don't need to be at work. For example, if your business allows you to work from home and you only need to interact with customers and clients during business hours in Australia, then you can live in Canada, ski during the day and work in the evenings.

So this is a blog about taking either of those approaches and applying it to your business. And, yes, it's skiing focused because so am I.

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