Be a "dad" to your business

I wonder what the card would have said...

Yes, in case you were wondering, this is a Fathers Day themed post today. First off, I want to wish everyone a Happy Fathers Day. I would also like to make a quick T-shirt recommendation for the future:


Because everyone's celebrating their fathers (or at least pretending to ;) ), I will keep this post quite short.

The reason I say you should be a "dad" to your business is that, in a lot of ways, your business is like your child. The younger your child is, the more attention you need to give it to make sure it grows up to be healthy and independent. As such, when you have an embryonic small business, you need to be there for it all the time until it can "walk" by itself.

As a "dad" you want to ensure that your business grows up with your values, but with the ability to be independent. A lot of entrepreneurs sometimes hit a plateau or wall in their growth because they get so consumed in their business, that they cannot start new businesses or just grow their current business beyond tiny increments. (See: "Don't be a helicopter entrepreneur")

At times, just like a child, sometimes you will need to stomp your foot and make tough decisions for your business (i.e. cutting employees, services, etc.). For entrepreneurs, "tough love" is sometimes a necessity to ensure your business' survival.

When you small business grows up to be healthy and strong, make sure to buy yourself a crappy T-shirt ;) Oh, and I know we have women in the audience here. You can be "dads" too, just PLEASE don't overdo it ;)

Happy Fathers Day!