CAROLINE MADDEN BUSINESS 2000Entrepreneurs typically enjoy their work but many also sacrifice a lot of their free time
PURSUING THE dream of setting up your own business can be uniquely fulfilling, but it almost always requires sacrifices along the way. Although entrepreneurs tend to have huge job satisfaction, a healthy work-life balance is much harder to come by.
A recent survey carried out by personal systems group HP Ireland and the Small Firms Association (SFA) revealed that 63 per cent of owner-managers don't take their full annual holiday entitlements, while 47 per cent have missed important family events due to work commitments. The study also found that almost of half of small business owners regularly work weekends.
"The results of this survey clearly demonstrate that small business owners are working longer and harder than ever before," commented Martin Cullen of HP Ireland. "This is a trend that is mirrored across all businesses."
"We have long recognised the commitment and the sacrifice that is involved in running your own business," says Patricia Callan, director of the SFA. "However, as the results of this survey clearly demonstrate, running your own business is still a lifelong ambition for many people, with 80 per cent of [small business owner-managers] enjoying the work that they do."
As an entrepreneur working in the gruelling service industry - she owns and runs Ballyknocken Guesthouse and Cookery School in Wicklow - Catherine Fulvio identifies with these findings. "It does involve long hours and sacrifices for all the family but the end result of owning your own business and carving out your own success story makes it all worthwhile," Fulvio says.
"The phone will still be ringing at 11pm as much as it'll start ringing again at 8am when you're trying to get the children out to school," she explains.
However, having trained in Ballymaloe Cookery School, she is passionate about food, cooking and teaching, and gets great fulfilment from her work. This balances out some of the negative aspects of running her own business, such as the long (and often antisocial) hours, and the lack of holidays.
Nevertheless it can be hard to switch off when you live at the business premises, as it's not possible to lock the door and walk away. Although Ballyknocken Guesthouse closes for half of December and all of January each year, there is no respite from work as there are always renovations and other tasks to catch up on.
Fulvio realised things had to change when she was forced to bring her VAT returns on holidays. "I had my laptop and all these pieces of paper and I spent about three solid days inputting my VAT returns into the laptop," she recalls. "I knew I'd hit an all-time low."
When she returned from her holidays, she spotted an advertisement for a book-keeper. "I phoned him and he still does my books to this day," she says, adding that handing over this task was a huge weight off her mind. She can now concentrate her energies on parts of the business that she can add more value to.
And this year, by organising her diary better, Fulvio has managed to block off times when she is unavailable, for example every Monday afternoon. "You get your better ideas when you have time off," she remarks. "You can think more clearly."
She is also getting to grips with the difficult task of delegation. "I still find it very hard to let go and I find it very hard to actually manage, because I'm not a trained manager," she observes.
However, as a business grows it's impossible for one person to micro-manage everything, so despite being a very "hands on" person, she is learning the benefits of handing over responsibility to others.
The key, she says, is to recruit the right people who can take on some of the management tasks, rather than trying to run everything yourself. "You can't do everything yourself or you will be run ragged."
Human resources is one area that absorbs a lot of her time, as the business now employs 15 people during high season. Fulvio has dedicated a lot of energy to complying with regulations, and in fact has done such a good job that the business won the SFA Best in HR Development Company award last year.
However, the crowning glory came when Ballyknocken won the prestigious Cordon D'Or International Cookery School of the Year 2007 award (the "foodie" equivalent of an Oscar), proving that in business, hard work has its rewards.
