Boundaries… where do you draw the line as a business owner?

Posted by Martina Iring under Self-Development
From http://martinairing.com 4163 days ago
Made Hot by: sophia2 on July 7, 2013 3:44 pm

When you're running your own small business, you're bound to run into all kinds of situations that test your limits. Some of my thoughts on the importance, and the very personal experience, of setting boundaries in your biz.

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Comments

Written by tiroberts
4155 days ago

Great piece, Martina. It's important to have clear boundaries that you're certain you can stick to. You don't want to hurt your business by having too many or too little.

Thanks for sharing your insights with our bizsugar community.

Ti

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Written by Martina Iring
4154 days ago

Thank you for taking the time to read the post and leaving a comment! Appreciate it Ti :)

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Written by AngelBiz
4159 days ago

Martina - Very useful point to touch on. In personal, and especially small business, life you have to learn to say NO - whether it is to customers that demand too much, product enhancements that deviate from core principles or overall strategy that will not help you reach your goals. The company that demonstrates this best is Apple. They clearly know what they want to be and set boundaries accordingly.

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Written by Martina Iring
4159 days ago

Absolutely learning to say no is a crucial business skill. As you say, it all comes down to your goals and sticking to what will help you achieve them. Thanks for your comment Harry!

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Written by Stingraybiz
4160 days ago

Martina, you've hit on some universal ideas here. The productivity drain of "brain picking" sessions can be substantial. Maybe it's worth putting a price tag on those sessions from the start, at least for the garden-variety requests. You could always make the decision to waive that if you think the session would be mutually beneficial.

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Written by Martina Iring
4159 days ago

Yes, that's a very good idea! If you make your fees clear right from the get go, you reduce the likelihood that someone will cross the line when it comes to "brain picking". When I'm doing an initial meeting/sales call with a potential new client, if things start to veer into the brain pick territory, I gently let them know that that kind of information can be delivered with service x. I find that really effective :)

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Written by HeatherStone
4163 days ago

Hi Martina,

Gosh. Boundaries. Where to start. There are so many places in your business and professional life this becomes an issue, and for every one you mentioned in your post, I can probably think of a few more (as can everyone else out there, I'm sure.) I think a tough economy can makes these questions even harder for a small business owner to sort out. But the bottom line is that you are responsible for your business and failing to draw the right boundaries, even in an effort to grow your business and maximize opportunities, will likely bring diminishing returns in the end.

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Written by Martina Iring
4162 days ago

Totally agree with you Heather! Boundaries crop up in all facets of running a business. And as you say it's a very personal responsibility to decide where to draw the line, both for your own personal benefit and for your business success.

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