It’s February 14th, Valentine’s Day here in my part of the world. I hope that you all have someone special to celebrate with today.
While I’ll be spending a considerable portion of the day telling my wife why I love her, I didn’t feel that this was the right venue for that. Instead, I thought I’d take a minute to tell you why I love my business.
Being a bookkeeper has it’s ups and downs. So does working from home. Put them together, though, and what I’ve discovered is that I get a pretty darn good combination of the things I enjoy most about running a business.
1. Helping Others
More specifically, helping others’ businesses. Sure, I like numbers too, but that’s not the main reason I enjoy being a bookkeeper. Everyday I get to help entrepreneurs achieve their goals. Most of the time it’s really basic stuff: make sure the bills get paid, the government remittances are on time, and the employees get their paycheques.
But every once in a while I get to do something more significant. I spot a way to save them a lot of money, or a new direction to take the business. Whatever it may be, I get to take a little pressure off the business owners who just need some time to focus on what made them want to launch their business in the first place. That’s a great feeling.
2. Confrontation-Lite
Running a bookkeeping business (especially from home) comes without a lot of the stresses that other businesses have. I don’t have to argue with vendors over pricing. I don’t have to confront the jerk who keeps taking my parking spot. I don’t have to hire or fire anyone.
I have worked all sorts of jobs in my life. I was even the manager of a retail store for a (very long) year. All of these roles have taught me a lot about myself. I learned that, in a pinch, I could work in a wide variety of roles within a company. More importantly, I learned that what I’m good at is being behind the scenes. I’m a bit (read: a lot) of an introvert. Arguing with someone over the phone about my costs on Widget A is not my idea of fun. Neither is explaining to a customer why their shipment will be 3 weeks late. So, I get to let the owner know about potential problems, and then they get to make the uncomfortable phone calls.
3. Open Schedule
I know some assume that running a home business means you can sleep in and work in your PJ’s. Actually, for the most part, you’d be right. I don’t do either of those things, but I sure could. Bookkeeping in general isn’t really time of day sensitive. Sure, there are lots of deadlines to manage, but unless I need to get a deposit into the bank before it closes, most of my work can be done just as easily at 2am as it can at 2pm.
For example, as I’m writing this, I have a nasty cold. Do I have to drag myself across town to infect an office full of people? Nope, I can sit in bed with a jumbo pack of Halls and get work done while I rest. If my kids have a recital or a dentist appointment, no problem. I’ll be there, and it won’t affect how much work I get done today.
Aren’t there downsides to this?
I suppose. If I was more extroverted, I would miss being able to talk with coworkers. I guess I don’t get the chance to meet potential clients at networking events. But then again, I’ve never met most of you face to face either. Despite that, we’re still able to talk. If you have a question, you can still ask me anything, regardless of whether you’re across town or across the globe.
At the end of the day, I have a great job. Sure, there’s always room for improvement, but that’s the challenge.
So, what about you? Do you love your business? Share your business love in the comments.