After many years in Small Business ownership it was interesting to review what it is about ownership that attracts me But also looking at those everyday annoyances that sometimes detract from the pleasures

1. Tony Paull Consulting
Supporting Home and Small Businesses

2. What I LIKE and DISLIKE about
being a Small Business Owner

3. • What I LIKE about being a Small
Business Owner

4. Being able to spend time with the Family
 Working from home allowed me to be present during my
children’s formative years
 Although a very special time, it was also frustrating, taking on
the home management tasks, caring for young children and
trying to run a business – but worth it.

5. Decision making Freedom
 I struggled with corporate decision making processes
 Being my own boss allowed me to not only assess the risks
and rewards but to be in a position to make the final decision
as and when I was ready
 Having this ability was the main reason I become a business
owner

6. Creating my own space
 Although I am as social as the next person, I enjoy my own
company and have never felt lonely when alone.
 I consider “me time”, an important ingredient in achieving
success as a small business owner.

7. The ability to be flexible and sometimes even
reckless
 I dislike routine
 I have found that probably the most exciting aspect of small
business ownership is the life changing challenges
 My risk management got better with age and experience –
and the help of a good mentor.

8. • What I DISLIKE about being a
Small Business Owner

9. • No matter how we claim to love what we do to
earn our daily bread, be it writing, blogging,
business ownership, corporate employee or
service provider, there are aspects of the job
WE HATE.
There are the tasks or activities we hate, there are those we don’t like
and then there are simply irritations that make an
already long day seem even longer.

10. I HATE Cold calling
 I absolutely hate (and every synonym applies) cold calling,
whether face-to-face or by telephone.
 It was the sole reason I never entered the sales profession,
even though there were several genuinely lucrative offers.
 I always employ the best sales folks I can afford

11. I HATE untrustworthy people
 As a firm believer in the acronym WYSIWYG I have little or
no time for individuals who deliberately evade responsibility
or accountability and struggle with dealing with the truth.
 Be they colleagues, suppliers or customers.
 Equally so with unethical people

12. I DISLIKE repetition
 I get really bored, really quickly with having to do the same
thing over and over, a necessity at times but an anathema to
me.
 In my early working career, I developed a reputation for being
a bit of a grasshopper, jumping from one unfinished project to
the next.
 Which is not a good habit to own, but fortunately for me, one
that my mentors hammered out of me.

13. I am UNCOMFORTABLE with accountants and Tax
officials
 They have a habit of asking me questions that either I don’t
know the answer to, or stayed awake all night praying they
wouldn’t ask me.
 But then they do look after the company finances and keep
us honest – or so I’m told.

14. I DISLIKE red tape and officialdom
 In my country, the real business of running a small business
is often side tracked and bedevilled by bureaucracy and
mindless red tape.
 Although I am in favour of structured processes and
legitimate checks and balances, it is sometimes difficult to
align the authorities desire to see the SMB sector growing
with the roadblocks a SBO encounters in complying with
Company and Tax laws.

15. Did I ever regret taking the plunge?
 Most definitely on occasions, but when the smog had cleared
and the turbulence subsided, my decisions at the time, to
persevere, paid off.
 Because of the support from the folks that matter, help from
good mentors and a personal determination to succeed no
matter what the obstacles, my entrepreneurial journey to
date, has been most enjoyable.

16. Tony Paull Consulting
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17. Tony Paull Consulting
Supporting Home and Small Businesses
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