A common refrain directed toward future entrepreneurs is that owning is harder than being employed. 80 hour work weeks, the heartache and headaches of no days off sick or vacation, etc.
However I know that's not always the case. What are the keys to avoiding the miserable fate that so many warn of?
Define what you want, and then reverse engineer the process to create that.
Here's what I know:
1) I want to travel in Sweden and Denmark for 10 weeks next summer.
2) I just signed a 2-year lease on a warehouse
3) I have a growing business, and I don't want that growth slow down while I'm gone.
4) I want to spend tons of time with my family, always.
1 & 2 & 3 - Simple logic problem. If I want X, then I need to do Y and Z.
I need to define processes well enough that can be carried out by someone else. I need to find someone that I can trust absolutely to do the job with no supervision. I need to be profitable enough to be able to pay this person.
I need to schedule my manufacturing, so that the big summer order comes in a month before I leave, so that all bikes can be assembled, tested and tuned, and palletized under my supervision.
Instead of generating traffic and sales from methods that require my time and physical presence (trade shows, events, touring the country), use marketing methods that can be scaled independent of my time: Paid advertising, facebook ads, display advertising, print advertising, social media. That, or hire a sales rep to do the travelling and events, which might be worth doing as well.
4 - Work 4 days on, 3 days off. Take off afternoons, and replace that time with early morning and late at night work.
Generally speaking though, the hours input will be much higher upfront, and then you can scale back later as things start rolling.