As a business owner, every now and then, you should take the time to look at the business you have created. Let’s face it, if you are a small business owner, your business is more then just a job, it is your life.  Often in the rush of the day to day, it is easy to get focused on what is going on in the business (downward sales trends, unhappy customers, and unrealistic project deadlines) and forget why you started the business in the first place.  But I remember.

I was tired of being a “roundpeg” trying to fit into a square corporate hole.  I was tired corporate politics and bureaucratic rules which got in the way of doing the right thing for customers and employees. I was tired of dead end projects which sucked hours out of my day, ended up going nowhere, sapping  my energy and joy. I was tired of  living my life out of a suitcase and trying to remember what city I was in. And mostly,  I was tired of being told my music was too loud and that I shouldn’t dance with the customers or hug them either.

Many people live their whole lives hating their jobs, hating the people they work with, and wishing for the weekend.  Not me, I love what I do and the people I get to hang out with when I do it.   I probably don’t tell them often enough how really happy I am they are a part of my adventure.

I got a chance to do just that last week, when we launched the new Roundpeg website, which by the way, if you haven’t been here in awhile, you should take some time to look around.  We wrapped up about around 6:30 and hung out for a few hours eating Chinese food, drinking Prosecco (I like it better than Champagne) eating cup cakes, and laughing.   The conversation drifted from the site itself, to office pets (no Allison, you still can’t have a pony or sand cat) to our next great adventure.  It was the perfect way to celebrate what we had accomplished.

After everyone else had left, and it was just me and the cats, I took a  moment to enjoy how incredibly lucky I am:

•  I get to make the rules.  Well most of them, because when a member of the executive staff (everyone else on the team) has a better idea I let them set the policy.
• I set my own hours (often much longer then my corporate days), ride my bicycle to work, and bring my best guy ( husband Andy) on the occasional business trip.
• I wear jeans, t-shirts, shorts, and sandals (when I have to wear shoes) to the office.
• I love the work we do and the clients we do it for (many of whom I am happy to hug when I see them).
  
• And best of all, I spend my days in a  building filled with music,  laughter, animals (cats & dogs), and people I like.