Does your business take time to breathe

When we go on holidays, why exactly do we do that? For most of us, it's about replenishing, relaxing, and doing something different. Another example. When we have the privilege of running a type of business, we can shut down for two weeks around the Christmas holiday. Some of us take the time to reflect on how the past year has gone and make some resolutions for the year to come. I am not talking about the empty resolution that we know we won't keep. We can be very serious about drawing up a list of 100 things to do in the coming year. For some, it's 10. For others, it's 25. We take time to reflect on our lives.

We take time to breathe.

When do we do that for our business? When do we allow our business to breathe?

Imagine this. You wake up in the morning and just dive headfirst into operational issues and operational procedures. Need to talk to a client or to suppliers, we have to fix this; we fix that. This is dealing with the crisis of the moment.

When does your business take time to breathe? Think about it this way: if you take the time to breathe and to reflect for yourself and your family, why wouldn't you do that for your business? Wouldn't that make sense? You know where you've been. Do you know where you are going? Do you have a roadmap to get there? If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there. Wouldn't it be better to understand what you need to do for the year and each quarter to make your business successful, and if your business is successful, then you will be as well?

I recommend doing this every quarter. Many businesses review only once a year, but that is often too infrequent. It is important to assess what is working, what is not, and which issues you may avoid because they are difficult or unpleasant. Those concerns may be understandable, but as a business owner, you have a responsibility to address them. By dealing with problems early and preventing them from recurring, you reduce risk and give your company room to grow.

When it comes to your business, when does your business take time to breathe?

We all do it in different ways. In my case, I do a lot of driving through the Canadian Rockies. I find the environment inspirational. I like to stop and just look and enjoy some of the best scenery in the world: the best sights of mountains and rivers, the best smells, and if you're lucky, you might see wildlife. It's all inspirational. After my stop, it usually gets my brain working on the future.

Take some time and figure out what would work for you.