Walking your Business at 5 am?

The cries were incessant. I finally gave in and did what I always swore I would never have to do, just like my father did for me. Get my tired butt up at 5 am to walk my baby to sleep.

I did it because I love my daughter and would do anything for her. On a more practical level, I love my eardrums too and my wife's sanity is important to me.

In many ways, I realised this is the life for not only parents but owners of business that are too reliant upon them. How many times have you woken up at 5 am stressed about the latest fire you had to put out, or frustrated with the lack of progress or ability of your staff to step up.

You are up at the crack of dawn because you know that if you don't get this one thing done, the whole day will be a mess. You can't just stop and take a break, or you'll never get back on track. So you walk your business like a baby, hoping against hope that it will finally run so smooth so YOU can sleep like a baby.

This is no way to live, and it's no way to run a business. If you're spending all your time trying to keep things from falling apart, you're never going to have the time or energy to build something great. Something that can actually make a difference in the world.

So what's the solution? How can you break out of this never-ending cycle of stress and exhaustion?

The answer is simple:

Build a business that doesn't require your constant attention. A business that can run without you.

Yes, it's possible. And it's not as difficult as you might think. But it does require some changes in the way you think about your business.

Here are three steps to get you started:

Step One: Let go of the idea that you have to do everything yourself.

The first step is to let go of the belief that you have to do everything yourself. This is a trap that a lot of entrepreneurs fall into. They think that if they're not doing everything, it's not getting done right.

The truth is, you can't do everything yourself. And you shouldn't try to. You need to learn to delegate and trust other people to get things done. This is the only way you're going to be able to free up your time and energy to focus on the things that only you can do.

Step Two: Focus on building systems, not just products or services.

The second step is to focus on building systems, not just products or services. A lot of businesses are built around a single product or service. But if you want to build a business that can run without you, you need to focus on creating systems.

For example, let's say you have a product that you sell online. In order to build a system around this product, you need to create a process for taking orders, fulfilling them, and dealing with customer service issues. You need to have a system in place for marketing the product and driving traffic to your website. And you need to have a system for managing your inventory and dealing with suppliers. These are just a few of the things you need to think about when you're building a system.

Step Three: Automate as much as possible.

The third step is to automate as much as possible. This is where a lot of businesses fail. They try to build a business that requires their constant attention, but they don't take the time to automate the processes and systems they've created.

As a result, they end up with a business that's constantly breaking down and needing their attention. It's much better to spend the time up front to automate as much as possible. This way, you can free yourself from the day-to-day grind and focus on the things that only you can do.

Building a business that doesn't require your constant attention is possible. But it's not going to happen overnight. It takes time, effort, and a lot of hard work. But it's worth it.

Because once you've built a business that can run without you, you'll be able to live the life you want to live.

And that's what it's all about.