Is It Your Business or Your Life? Big Island Business Owners Find the Critical Balance
By Grif Frost, Business Consultant
While a member of the faculty at the University of Hawai‘i Hilo College of Business and Economics I worked with my students to identify the key factors in creating a business lifestyle model that enhances the owner’s own quality of life.
We determined the key factors for a high lifestyle quality for a business owner are the balance between personal health, ‘ohana harmony and business. We also found that the business owners with the highest quality of life prioritized their lives by focusing first on personal health, because without health we can’t do anything; next on harmony in their ‘ohana, because without family harmony it is tough to focus on business; and, only lastly, on the business itself.
As owner of a number of different businesses myself, I learned early on that some of these businesses enhanced my quality of life, and many of them actually lowered what I now call my “LQ.” Since that time I’ve helped other business owners find balance in their business and personal lives and I want to share some of their success stories with you. Here are two stories, one from East Hawai‘i and one from West Hawai‘i.
No More 12-Hour Days
Scott Fleming, a leading architect in Hawai‘i and owner of the Hilo-based architectural firm, Fleming & Associates, is a good example of using these principles. He says he learned early in his career that finding a balance between business and personal life is dependent on establishing personal and professional priorities and time management.
“While working as an architect-in-training during college and immediately thereafter,” he says, “I was quick to notice that every single one of my employers was either divorced, obese, a workaholic, or a combination of all three. Long hours and weekends spent at the office were expected and encouraged, but it was obvious that the level of production was not necessarily proportionate to the time investment. When people are expected to work 12-hour days, one can only really expect that they will deliver eight hours or less of meaningful and thoughtful work. It’s better to invest yourself to an eight-hour day and maximize your efficiency and productive output by being fully committed to your work activities.”
For his own business, he said, “I do not expect, or even want, my staff to work overtime or on the weekends because morale, productivity and quality ultimately suffer in the end.”
A lucky few work simply because they enjoy doing what they do, Fleming says. “The great majority of us work because we need to purchase items required for the happiness and sustainability of our ‘ohana and for the ongoing attainment and fulfillment of how and where we choose to live our lives.”
Because we work for the good of our families, he noted, it doesn’t make sense to disappear into work and never spend time with your family. “And as we spend every day investing significant affection, time and money into our families and businesses, it doesn’t make sense to jeopardize them by ignoring our own personal health.”
“Rarely do I work more than an eight-hour day or on the weekends. This doesn’t mean that I’m not thinking about some element of work after hours but it does give my body time to rest and recharge and have fun with the kids.” Fleming is dad to four girls: Hannah, Anastasia, Lillian and Katherine. He also finds time for reading, landscaping and practicing his hobbies of oil painting and photography.
“Another way that I have helped improve my business-life balance is by surrounding myself with experienced, proactive and positive creative thinkers that love doing what they do, not only because they have to, but because they also want to,” he says.
What Makes Me Happy, Makes My Business Happy
In West Hawai‘i, Bob Brown, a professional photographer who owns Eye Expression Photography, told me: “Early on in my business, my biggest challenge was that the business was becoming all-consuming. I found that, even when I was not working, I was working. My personal health suffered and I wasn’t really ‘there’ for my family even when I was physically present.”
Brown said his breakthrough in finding better balance in his business life came when he realized that the business was a means to an end—to provide for himself and his family, and that he works to support his family and not to define himself.
Practically, as he learned personal boundaries and to honor his family, he decided to move his office out of the house and into their ‘ohana. “This allowed me to develop the habit of really leaving the office at 5 p.m. and not going back. Since I usually work weekends on photo shoots when most people spend time with their families, I cut my work schedule to four days per week so I could have three days to spend full-time with my family.”
Brown also realized that his health was suffering and just decided one day that he was going to do a triathlon. “It helped so much to relieve stress and, although it took time out of my work day, I found that my work day became more efficient and more pleasurable. I had more energy for photo shoots, was more focused and was getting more done.”
After applying these principles, Brown reports, “I did not realize that I was unhappy when the business was all consuming, but as the business has taken less of a priority, I am finding what it means to be really happy, what is really important—that my health and family have to have a priority in my life and in doing so it makes my business more pleasurable and more efficient.” ❖
Keys to Life Quality in Business
- Focus first on personal health, because without health we can’t do anything.
- Focus next on family harmony, because without that it is tough to focus on business.
- Focus on the business itself.
Grif Frost helps Big Island business owners “LQ” their Businesses (www.LQBusiness.com).
