Mandatory Overtime – One More Reason to be Your Own Boss

Saturdays are one of my favorite days because I can tell how efficient I was over the week… if I’m busy Saturday it means 1 of 3 things.

1. Either I wasn’t as efficient as I could have been
2. I chose flexibility on another day (perks of running your own business)
3. We’re in a growth stage, and I’m pushing myself and my company to do more.

And for the record, it’s usually #3, I’ve worked a lot of Saturday’s building my shops up to over 7 figures annually.

Regardless of the reason though, for 2 out of the 3 options… if I’m working on a Saturday, it’s because I chose too.

So why am I brining this up?

I told you yesterday that I wanted to talk about 3 common misconceptions about starting a business… and I’ve changed my mind. Some marketer guy told me one time you should do lists of 3.

But I’ve got 4. So here they are.

1. Business owners work a ton – I won’t have free time to spend with my family. I’ll miss soccer games, foot ball games, cookouts, BBQ’s etc.
2. You have to have a huge team to make REAL money.
3. I takes a special kind of person to run a business.
4. Working for someone else is more stable.

Let’s talk about #1. Business owners work a ton. What if you miss out on games? Plays? cookouts? lake trips?

Here is the honest truth.

Many of you are already missing out on a ton anyways. And you’re missing it because of a lack of flexibility, not a lack of time. This same thing used to happen to Charles before he started his business.

I’m a big supporter of the our police and armed forces. I was having a conversation recently with a Police Officer that really blew my mind.

He was talking about wanting to start his business, what he’d need to replace his income, and how it compared to what is life was like right now.

And through this he said “Between my salary and mandatory overtime, I do pretty well”

So I asked… “Mandatory overtime?”

And he said yea, “They let us know when we have to work overtime, it sucks because I miss a lot of holidays”

And to me, that is… insane.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve done my share of overtime, long weeks, 15+ hour days… I get working extra. But the idea of someone else telling me when and how that would happen is tough.

If I’m working a holiday, it’s because I chose too. Or If I want extra time off around a holiday, I can move my schedule around.

Here is the truth about the first misconception. YES, BUSINESS OWNERS WORK A LOT. But that doesn’t necessarily mean less time with your loved ones.

With the right business model and a valuable skill set, you can have the flexibility to choose.  (I prefer refinishing as the skill set).

That’s just the tip of the iceberg though. When you work for yourself, you will work just as much or sometimes more in the beginning… but you get the flexibility. And you get the ability to determine how much you work in the future.

Learning to set up teams, systems and growing your wealth creates the opportunity for time freedom in the future. 

If you’re working for someone else, your only shot at time freedom is retirement.

Think about that.

Steven “Set My Own Schedule” Jordan

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