If you were to lose your job, your business, or the contracts that you are relying on for a steady income would you be crushed? What if the many people who you have acquired as friends, co-workers, and/or customers were all of a sudden removed from your life due to unforeseen circumstances that you have no control over? Would you be lost in depression? If so, then consciously ask yourself: “Is work your crutch?”.
In 2015 my wife and I listed our business for sale. We decided to try to sell the business because we both knew that once I had my hips replaced, I would likely be unable to continue in the same line of work due to the reality that it required me to climb ladders and go on roofs. We were unsure if our small owner operated business was even worth anything or whether it would sell because it was set up comparatively to the way most self-employed practices are; the owners (much like a doctor, chiropractor, or lawyer), are the face of the services provided. People were used to dealing with my wife and I. Would anyone want to chance buying our business? Meh!
Neither of us saw any way around the uncomfortable decisions we were faced with concerning our very successful niche market business. It wasn’t an easy decision for us! We entertained the idea of building the business bigger and training the right person to provide the same services that I was skilled at performing. We reasoned that we could share in the everyday duties of answering the phones, booking appointments, providing quotes. We also concluded that we could add to the mix and expand by acquiring new and bigger contracts.
Growing the business would have made sense to any entrepreneur. After all, expanding the business bigger could have been a great opportunity to free ourselves of the manual labour involved while still providing the great income we had grown accustomed to. However, while entertaining the options we decided to list the business with a broker and see what comes of it. If the business sold we would take the cash and consider the sale a doorway to other opportunities. If it didn’t sell, we would go ahead with the training and expansion while waiting for the bilateral hip replacement operation that was looming in the future.
In August of 2016 we finalized the sale of our business. The funds were all transferred on closing day and the terms of training the new owners had begun. It was a new beginning. My wife and I were excited about the future and what would be in store for us. We didn’t know what we would do, but armed with a mitt full of cash from the sale of the business, some profitable revenue properties, and the skills we had acquired being in business gave us a feeling of assurance that things would be ok.
While working with the new owner we began the quest for “new opportunities”. It was during this quest for opportunities that I came belly to belly with this probing question: “Is work your crutch?”. I have been in this game way too long to ignore the significance that work has in life, that it has had in my life. Whether you consider yourself a hard worker, a smart worker, or both; can we agree that there is a great degree of significance derived from work? Perhaps even prestige or feeling of self-worth?
What is the one question that is asked most frequently when we meet someone for the first time? Why do people ask,”What do you do?” Is it not a link that joins you to your worth in the mind of the inquisitive one? And if it is a link in their mind is it possible that it is a link in your mind? Do you derive your feelings of self-worth from the work that you do? Is work your crutch? Be honest with yourself. If your own conscience accuses you, are you willing to go through a renovation process?