Balancing An Online Venture And External Commitments

Balancing an online venture with external commitments can be a struggle, and you may feel that you are not able to give as much attention to a lot of areas in your life. It’s a balancing act, but managed effectively can be highly rewarding.

When i started out on my journey to create an online business venture, i was full of energy, excitement and optimism about the possibilities and my vision for the future. After all, the reason i went down the path to create an online business was to fulfill my long held dreams.

With a vision in mind, you naturally start thinking about your goals (short, medium, long term), before you direct your focus on the practical strategies to achieve those goals, for example;

• create a mindmap;
• develop a website;
• blogging and creating content;
• marketing
• follow-up/respond to leads/customers
• meet and network with like minded people

All of the above definitely requires investing in time and money, as well as following through on your tasks/goals to ensure you’re on top of your venture. However your loved ones will want your time, and no doubt you’ll want to spend time with them. I initially struggled to make time for my family during the initial, enthusiastic phase of the online business when I just wanted to continue on full speed ahead. Balancing an online business and external commitments was tricky.

I have a 2 year old son and i was leaving home early for work and coming back late in the evening. In the evening, i would spend half an hour with my son (if that) before putting him to sleep, then eat dinner, do bits and pieces around the house, and then spend time catching up with my wife. As you can imagine i was exhausted to work on my online business as enthusiastic as i was about it!

While working in a Wealth Management firm, it was tricky to do anything towards my online business at work- due to deadlines, meetings, requests from the boss, etc.

So here is what i learned about juggling my business and my family;

Get the support of family members, namely your partner.

Explicitly say to your partner that I will work on my business at such and such time in the morning/evening during the week, and at certain times on the weekend. This creates a level of expectancy and understanding when you are deep into your laptop, and when you might have forgotten to do a certain chore or task.

Having the support of your wife, husband, girlfriend or boyfriend also gives you the assurance that someone has your back and can pick you up if needed.

Use downtime effectively

If you’re serious about the growth of your business, you will probably be thinking about it constantly. Action is also vital, so always make sure that if you’re commuting, cooking, waiting at the clinic, i.e. you have downtime, then can use that time effectively. This may be in the form of learning, i.e. a podcast, a training course, a webinar, reading an article – or it may be a call with a customer or a mentor to seek advice. Technology has enabled us to do so much more from our phones, so my advice would be to make the most of it. For example, as a Six Figures Mentor member there is so much online marketing and mindset training content available, so while driving I will always training playing in the background and continue to feed my intellect.

One of my mottos is ‘Learn, Implement, Teach’, so if you can do any of those 3 during your downtime then you and your business benefits!

Whatever task you do, do it properly

How you treat any area of your life will usually be the same way you treat and manage another area of your life. For example, if you’re a procrastinator at work , then you’re likely to be procrastinating on your chores at home. The same underlying mindset is inherent across your life.

On that basis, even if you’re excited about your new online venture and will give it the focus to make it succeed, then also make sure you apply the same diligence and effort in other aspects of your life. You want a balanced life, and that means focusing on one thing at a time and giving it your all.

In other words, set time aside with your children and spend quality time with them, and don’t dip in and out of emails, or take a call. And when it comes to working on your online business – then give that your full attention.

Health is wealth

Balancing an online business and external commitments requires proper planning and a good physical state. If you’re not eating well, drinking enough water, exercising or getting enough sleep – it will not be sustainable for you to juggle all your tasks, and something will suffer.

Set aside time to exercise daily. Robin Sharma (writer of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari) states that best time to exercise is in the morning as it releases BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) that repairs brain cells from stress, and increases your metabolic rate to give you energy. So start sweating!

Stay Committed

Continue to believe in your online business, and know that you have the innate talent, self-confidence and work ethic to keep plugging away. Every little, every day helps and before you know it – you will look back to a year ago and notice a drastic improvement.

AND if you don’t move ahead, you’ll still be sitting in that same office in 10 years, doing the same thing, making incremental more money per year. And that’s fine, if that’s what you want to do – but since you’re here I very much doubt it.

If you’re interested in learning about the online business that I’m creating, please click here and I’ll send you a free video workshop series presented by my mentor.

Thanks for taking the time to learn how to balance an online venture with external commitments.

Best