My recent work within the Tourism Industry in New Zealand has highlighted to me just how hard it can be for small businesses to achieve any kind of work/life balance.  Tourism, and particularly the activity sector, is a classic example of an industry that is dominated by small businesses.  Often the founders of the business want to live and work in a beautiful location that enables them to pursue their own hobbies and passions.

These individuals use their personal savings and collateral to establish their business and rarely factor in the value of their own time when developing a business plan.  Tourists want to enjoy their holidays 7 days per week so that’s when these small businesses have to be open and operating – evenings too.  Paperwork gets done in the wee small hours and a change to health and safety legislation or taxes can be a nightmare lasting months.

Many of these individuals wake up, several years after embarking on their brave enterprise, to wonder where their life went and what happened to the ‘lifestyle job’ they thought they were creating for themselves.

In this kind of situation, when faced with a business challenge, the tendancy is to duck inside the shell, turtle-like, and think frantically about what costs you can cut.  Once again, the value of your own time somehow gets lost in the equation and you ‘save’ your business at the expense of what little time you still had left to yourself.

Of course, sometimes, the business and the ideal are simply not viable and maybe it is still worth it to you to be able to look out of the window at the scenery or guide visitors doing a simple version of the pastime you used to be passionate about.  But perhaps there is a way of acheiving all of your goals for your business and for your life.

Whatever you do, don’t withdraw back into your shell to focus on the purely defensive ideas.  That is one sure way of missing the possibilities available in the world around you.  Discuss the situation with your partner and friends.  Look for a business mentor to help you work through your options.  Be creative about engaging with your competition, your suppliers and your distribution channels – opportunities for mutually productive collaboration can often be the biggest surprise once you start to look around.

After all, you won’t be the only one who wants to find a work/life balance.