Small Business Blog from Atlantic Canada

I am "CA" Atreya (PMP, MBA), the author of this blog. I help businesses in Atlantic Canada achieve their BHAG successfully. You may subscribe to this blog using a feed reader (RSS).

Dave Prouhet at Business Advice Daily tagged me for My Business Life Lessons. This is going to be a ten part series. For links to the rest of the series see the bottom of the post. Here is my fourth business lesson:

Have fun and work smart. Money will follow. When it’s not fun, move on. Take risks but do not gamble.

Are you having fun?
No, this is not a promotion for Nike. But the message is relevant. Business is not easy today. Your competition is no longer down your street or in your city. Your competition now lives 12,000 kilometers away across the oceans. The business of business is stressful in today environment. But it can be fun too. Do you have that attitude?

Think of all the fun tasks you like to do. You are the most productive when you are having fun. So why would you stick around a place that is not fun? But the money is good, you say. Huh, did I hear you right? What would you rather do; wake up every morning miserable and stressed or motivated and having fun? True, in business (and life) you will have to work at a job you do not like. You have a choice to stay or move on. But don’t cry about it. Have a positive attitude and get on with it.

Working hard or working smart

It is a different world today compared to even 10 years ago. Working hard is not enough. You need to work smart. Hard work will not build a castle of your dreams (or that early retirement dream or whatever you dream about - you are dreaming, aren’t you?) working smart will. I know you are going to call me on it and ask what is working smart? Simply put, it is doing the right things before doing things right. Think about it and once you have thought about it, you can read my earlier article on doing the right things. Another way to think is to ask yourself - Are you busy or are you productive?

Risks

You have health and/or life insurance, don’t you? Do you gamble with your health and life just because you have insurance? So why would you gamble in business? Risk taking and gambling are two different things. Let’s define risk. Risk is the probability that something good OR bad can happen. Good risks have a higher probability of a desirable outcome while bad risk has a higher probability of an undesirable outcome. Look at the payoff from the risk. Then look at the probability of a desirable outcome. If it is low stay away. There is always another opportunity around the corner. Each one of us has a different appetite for taking risks. Stay within that and you will do just fine.

Show me the money

It has been my experience that money follows. It is the result and not the cause. I do not work solely for money. It is a tool for trade, a means of exchange, nothing else. I am having fun at what I do - helping businesses execute their BHAG. Money has never stopped me from helping any small business. But I find that it follows. So do not make the money the end goal. The end goal is what you are passionate about. Just do it. Your passion will take you places and money will follow.

Other articles in this series:

• Business Life Lesson 1 - Conflict Resolution
• Business Life Lesson 2 - Relationships Drive Businesses
• Business Life Lesson 3 - You Are Your Attitude
• Business Life Lesson 4 - Just do it

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