As an immigrant to the United States I am occasionally asked
why I came here. What was it about America
that lured me across an ocean to a place which, while familiar to some degree was nevertheless, very foreign, strikingly different and
thousands of miles away from the friends, family and traditions with which I had
grown up. The answer is difficult to
distill because I had wanted to come to the United States as long as I can remember. That being said, I think it comes down to an innate
sense that in America, opportunities were unlimited, that the future was a
blank slate which I could fashion into anything I wished. Upon further consideration it occurred to me
that these are the same reasons that I left a good job to start
my own business.
However, there is a deeper question here. What is it about writing your own story,
building your own future and doing it on your own terms that resonates with
some people? The answer is that such
freedom allows you to create the life you want.
In short, it is a way to truly pursue happiness. But it requires a lot of hard work and, as a result the happiness that is pursued,
the freedom that is sought is
often eclipsed by the grind, the deadlines, the worries and the risks. Too often small business owners lose their
freedom and become slaves to their work.
Today is Sunday. My
wife is busy preparing for a pool party which my daughter’s youth group is having
at our house. The games are set, the pool is open, and the snacks are laid
out. We have a beautiful home which sits
on five acres of what used to be farm land.
It is a wonderful setting for such a gathering. It is in considering this setting that I am reminded of why I started my own business. It is to allow
me the freedom, and the ability, to provide and enjoy moments like this with my family. The point is to enrich my life, that of my
family and those around us. If the
pressures of business become so exhausting, so stressful and so demanding that
I am not able to enjoy a moment like this, then the means has swallowed the end
and the vehicle has become more important than the journey or the destination.
In business there are many things that can distract us from
the reason why we are in business, and from the business mission itself. Sometimes it is the drive to succeed,
the need to make payroll, importance of making a profit, etc. But all too often it is legal issues which distract us. Issues such as: concerns about liability; whether new lease will be signed in time; whether
that employee you had to let go will sue; or whether the customer who hurt
himself in your shop might seek compensation. The resolution of these issues, and the task of preventing them from arising, can be out sourced.
All businesses have an array of legal needs. Sometimes the business owners try to figure
it out themselves. Sometimes they use
generic forms and solutions, sometimes they just ignore these issues until they become
a crisis, and sometimes, the wise business owner is haunted by the knowledge
that he simply does not know what legal issues might need to be addressed.
If the pressures of getting your legal "house in order" are distracting you from enjoying the fruits
of being a business owner or attending to the things which motivated you to go
into business in the first place, consider outsourcing your legal needs.
At The Maughan
Law Group LC we provide out-sourced
general counsel services to small / medium sized businesses. Our mission is to
provide custom legal advice, counseling and guidance which is integrated with our
clients’ strategic business objectives.
This allows them focus on the why behind their decision to go into
business for themselves.
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