Mixing Family and Business

The month of July has been quite a challenge for me when it comes to mixing Family and Business.  One reason for starting my own business was to allow me more flexibility with my family.  Working retail management often trumps events due to long hours and lots of weekend work.  Plans change often when employees call off, you have to cover the shifts, and handle deliveries that are ahead or behind schedule.  So when I planned my hours of operations I planned time with my family but still weekend and evening hours.  I also put in time after operation hours gathering items, marketing, and accounting but I schedule that when it best suits me.  Since I am owner and operator at this point (when I reach my next financially goal employees will come) I must close my shop for vacations, family emergencies, and other things that may pop up along the way. 

I am beginning to think balancing my business and family is like searching for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  I wonder if it really exists.  I have been struggling with this as a career mom, stay at home mom, and now entrepreneur and I still haven't found the time to do it all yet.  Something always gives so I try to make the best choices and live with the consequences.  Knowing that my career supports my family and I can not live without it that but my career will not love me in return and everything I do, I do for my family because they are my number one.  I am very blessed to have a large well blended family and I would never want to compromise them. 

What describes a good enough reason to close my business?  This month, I have closed down for 3 days connected with my 2 days off so that I could take a much needed vacation.  I have not taken a vacation except for 2 days close to Christmas since I have opened the store.  I know that the longer I am in business the easier it gets because you maintain your business but I am still in the building blocks stage of my business.  I closed early a day last week for a family emergency concerning a family pet and I may have to close a few days next week to help out a group that I support in need because it directly affects my kids.  Those all have been concerns that I have needed to address personally and when it comes to my family it is a no brainer of what to do.  Today is another example, my daughter got to do a once in a lifetime event and cheer with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders but I did not close to go since I knew my mom had her all day and would make it special.  I would get to see her perform at the game after I close.  As I worked all day, I really wished I would have closed to join her but I realize the more often I close the less reliable I am for my customers and that will have a negative effect on my building blocks that I keep placing trying to grow my business.  As a rule of thumb my plans are to close for a vacation each year and concerns that require my direct attention and I can not plan another route.  Unfortunately these many be more negative concerns than the positive ones like today.  I have closed before for positive events like field trips just not as often.  I try to address things via the telephone if it is not an extreme emergency but sometimes I need to find a better balance of phone calls too, since it hurts my bottom line of productivity at work. 

I am searching for others like myself and what they do to balance family and business.  I know everyone has to balance work and family but being an entrepreneur has more demands.  So please share your tips.

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving" Albert Einstein