Being an entrepreneur is an equally rewarding and challenging experience. 

Where the feeling of helping others thrive, whether they are clients or team members, keeps many business owners going, the daily challenges and enormous workloads can make owning a business stressful.

In many cases, business leaders are so busy chasing their vision and their business goals that they forget to unwind and face the danger of a burnout. 

While most entrepreneurs are aware that they must look for more efficient ways to get things done, the race to chase the next target, to close the next client, to secure the next investment often restricts their vision.

Ask yourself, when did you just stop and analyze? When was the last time you took a break? How long has it been since you checked the efficiency of your processes and systems?

We live in the age of automation and the right kind of automations can not only free up your time, they can lower costs of operation while also improving output.

Can your business survive without you? Can it thrive?

I’m sure a lot of you reading this article are aware about the popular book “The Four Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris. 

In that book, the author talks about how they were spending inhuman amounts of hours in growing their thriving dietary supplement business. They were making handsome money, even outperforming competitors backed by enormous marketing budgets but they were not getting any personal time.

As a result, the author faced a burnout and ran off for a vacation, completely off the grid. This meant no communication with their employees, not ensuring orders are going out on time or that sales targets are being met.

When Tim Ferris checked back with this team, to his surprise, he found that profits were at an all time high. The lesson of this story was that Tim was the bottleneck that was preventing the exponential growth of his own business.

While it is an inspiring story, sensible entrepreneurs know that Tim Ferris got lucky. Not all entrepreneurs can abandon their business and expect it to thrive, unless they have the right kind of help. Before we start talking about that, let’s see how taking a break can benefit you as an entrepreneur.

Why it is Critical for Business Owners to take a break

Entrepreneurship is often associated with complete freedom of time, taking vacations on a whim, and letting other people make money for you.

However, most entrepreneurs will tell you that the reality is quite the opposite. Building a business is no joke and it demands consistent hard work coupled with a lot of smart work. Besides making sure things are getting done around the office, entrepreneurs have to think about administrative tasks, HR related issues, the growth of their team, sales figures, and countless other things. 

This leads many entrepreneurs to think that they cannot afford breaks. If you relate with the previous statement, here are five superb reasons you should consider a break:

• Take a Moment to Reflect:

Going to work every day and getting involved in projects often brings entrepreneurs so close to their business that they forget to look at the broader perspective. This leads to shortsighted plans that may cap the growth of your business.

Taking a break will allow you to reflect on where your business currently stands. It will help you gauge how realistic your plans for the future are. It will help you differentiate between the needs and wants of your business.

Take a break to revisit your successes and failures and come back with valuable lessons that will help you keep your business activities aligned with your original vision.

• Find Inspiration:

Ever heard someone say inspiration strikes at the most unexpected moments? Taking some time off allows you to think about more than just your business. Ours is a beautiful planet filled to the brim with inspiration.

However, in the race of entrepreneurship, we often forget to just stop and observe to find the inspiration we need to grow. A break does not guarantee you finding more inspiration, but it sure does increase the likeliness of the same.

• Social Refuel:

When was the last time you saw a friend that doesn’t work at the office? When was the last time you sat down with someone for drinks and nothing else?

Remember, before becoming an entrepreneur, you are a human and human beings are social. Taking a break will allow you to catch up with old friends and spend quality time with your family, while not thinking about work. 

This way, when you return to work, you will be at the top of your game, completely refreshed. This idea works even better for those who have other entrepreneur friends. Socializing with other like-minded individuals will help by opening you up to new ideas, perspectives, and innovation that may help you solve challenges that you are facing with your business.

These are just a few of the ways in which taking a break can actually help you become a better businessman and a better leader. 

With that said, in order to enjoy these benefits, you should be able to absolutely disconnect from work. 

As an entrepreneur, doing that can be extremely difficult as you probably are at the center of a number of processes and leading a number of teams.

The solution? Automation

Why Automation is Key to being Swift as a Business and to Growing as an Entrepreneur

Automation enables businesses to do more with less. It frees up resources, takes care of mundane and repetitive tasks and allows you to use your resources for better, more valuable undertakings. 

In this way, automation has the potential to improve the overall productivity of your team.

But that’s not all automation can help you achieve. Here are a few other advantages of automation in business:

• • Computers and algorithms can perform most tasks much faster than humans. Automation thus allows you to cut down the time taken to execute specific processes and get things done.
  • Unlike humans, computers don’t make errors. When you automate a task, you automatically eliminate all likelihood of a human error occurring.
  • With improved productivity and less time taken to complete tasks, it is not difficult to imagine how automation also helps businesses reduce operating costs and maximise profits.

Having said all that, in order to truly enjoy all these benefits, your business will need a personalized automation solution and we can help. 

Get in touch with us at TechNext for a free assessment on how and how much of your business can be automated.