How our entrepreneurs achieve work-life balance

Posted May 15, 2023

Meg Hoppert, life coach and owner of Metamorphosis Coaching and Consulting Co., says that clearly communicating her boundaries helps her navigate her work-life balance.

Defining success in work-life balance terms

For some people, work-life balance means spending equal time on their business and their personal life. For others, it means devoting more or fewer hours to business, like a traditional 40-hour work week or a more part-time 20-hours per week schedule.

The key is that there is no “one-size fits all” when it comes to owning a business. Every entrepreneur can define success differently and, most importantly, for the terms that best fit their circumstances. If you’re newly retired and starting a business, your time commitment may differ from a business owner who chose an entrepreneurial path in order to be free to be with their school age children in the afternoons.

Work-life balance doesn’t necessarily mean a total separation of work and life, but more like a harmony between the two.

According to our coaches, it’s important to remember that work-life balance doesn’t necessarily mean a total separation of work and life, but more like a harmony between the two. It is possible to successfully weave the two together to make it work for your own unique situation.

Setting realistic expectations for yourself upfront is important because you’ll be working both for your business and on your business. “I would venture that at least half of the work that is done by an entrepreneur happens behind the scenes,” Startup Alleghenies Cambria County coach Blake Fleegle said. “For every hour they spend day-to-day with their business, they spend at least an hour working on administrative tasks to keep their business running well. Recognizing that workload is important to developing a healthy work-life balance as an entrepreneur.”

Establishing boundaries between work and personal life while still working to grow

Life coach and owner of Metamorphosis Coaching and Consulting Co, Meg Hoppert–also a Startup Alleghenies entrepreneur–shared the definition of success she is working toward as she grows her business. “For me, success looks like giving myself support and grace for when I do fumble through situations as I am learning and growing,” she said. “It is communicating my boundaries at work and my needs and boundaries at home.”

Establishing clear boundaries between work and personal life can be difficult at first, especially as you put your energy and excitement into starting out; but our entrepreneurs said it gets easier to recognize when and where you do need to establish boundaries and how you can do so while keeping your business moving forward.

“We are conditioned to believe—and society reinforces—that being an entrepreneur means that we always have to be on and pushing harder to be successful,” Missy Kreutzberger, franchise owner of Firehouse Subs, said. “I quickly learned that I need time to enjoy life, be with my friends and family and have personal goals.”

Establishing clear boundaries between work and personal life can be difficult at first, but our entrepreneurs said it gets easier.

“As a restaurant owner, sometimes I will have to cancel or rearrange plans to cover shifts in one of the restaurants. It’s part of the gig,” she added. “But I work to empower employees, develop leaders and always be in training and talent development mode to minimize the need for me to always be onsite.”

As Missy pointed out staffing coverage in the restaurant business, remember that every industry will have similar unique circumstances to manage, like busy seasons and other patterns that you can plan ahead to manage.

Kelly and Melissa Kreutzberger emphasize employee training and development to minimize the need to always be onsite.

Avoiding burnout to stay motivated and energized

To be successful as a business owner, you have to take care of yourself so you can stay energized and motivated. Prioritizing yourself and your family, knowing when to call it a day, and recharging with relaxation, fun and personal hobbies can keep your passion for your business from starting to feel more like “a job.”

Whether it’s an hour of being unplugged from emails and cellphones or out-of-office hours to recharge, carving out time for yourself is absolutely necessary.

“It’s not only ok to carve out time for yourself, but it’s also absolutely necessary,” Kreutzberger said. “Whether it’s an hour a day of being unplugged from emails and cellphones or out-of-office hours to recharge, you must set aside time.”

Hoppert shared these 7 steps for avoiding burnout and maintaining energy and motivation:

Identify what drains your energy the most and address it
Set aside 5-60 minutes daily to support yourself and fill your own cup, i.e., movement, meditation, journaling, creating art, listening to a podcast.
Take a few moments to sit and journal through any struggles or strong, difficult feelings.
Take a break to recharge, even if it’s only for a few minutes.
Schedule a vacation each year.
Take one day off every week.
Have a solid “why”outlining your vision, or purpose statement. Motivation will get you started, but that powerful why, mission or purpose statement will remind you why it is worth it to you when things get rough.

Tips for staying focused and productive

Setting a routine and using a calendar are extremely worthwhile tools when you’re starting out because they can help you set limits on working hours, which in turn can improve your focus and productivity, and give you some predictability.

Carving out a specific day to get work done and batching it together to minimize the shifting between tasks helped Kreutzberger.. “At first, it was hard not to sit at the computer every hour I was home,” she shared. “Now, I carve out one day a week where I do most of my office tasks, which frees me up for building relationships with employees and guests.”

Hoppert suggested making a to-do list every day.

Today!
- Here, you will list the 3 things that, if they do not happen today, there will be a problem, i.e., my car insurance gets dropped, the power gets turned off, or I run out of gas driving.
As soon as possible.
- Write 3 things that need to be done that week, i.e., the laundry, the dishes, your business taxes, social media work, etc.
Bonus!
- Write 3 things that would feel like a major win if you accomplished them, i.e., filing that paperwork you have been putting off or meal prepping.

Remember that changes will occur and how you deal with change in your business can contribute to your success.

Remember though that changes will occur and how you deal with change in your business can contribute to your success. “Work toward finding peace in knowing that life is constantly changing,” Hoppert said, “and that even once you find balance, things can shift in an instant; adapting and flowing with it is almost always part of successful work-life balance success.”

“Establishing and maintaining a healthy work-life balance is essential for entrepreneurs to achieve long-term success without compromising their well-being,” Somerset entrepreneur coach Matt Reckner said. “By prioritizing self-care, delegating tasks and setting clear boundaries, entrepreneurs can effectively manage their personal and professional responsibilities, leading to sustainable growth and fulfillment in both aspects of their lives.”

Startup Alleghenies helps startup and emerging small businesses succeed by providing free coaching to entrepreneurs in Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon and Somerset counties. To access personal, one-on-one support from a coach in your county, including guidance, resources, tools and networking opportunities, sign up at startupalleghenies.com.