4 Simple Steps For A Thriving Family Life While Rapidly Scaling Your Contracting Business

It’s no secret that success with business requires a lot of time, energy and sacrifice. 

And if you have a family or plan on starting one someday…

You might fear that these two areas of your life could start to conflict…

That your relationship with your family might start to suffer because you’re working all the time…

Or that if you’re so focused on your family’s well being, you might not be willing to take the business risks needed to get ahead and put in those longer hours needed during challenging times.

But here’s the fact of the matter:

Your personal and professional life don’t have to conflict with one another.

And they can even compliment each other in a way where one pushes the other forward.

Like how making more money in your business can provide a better lifestyle for your family, and reduce stressors by allowing you to pay for help with the house or the kids… 

Or like how having a thriving family life can cause your employees to see you as more of a leader or attract more family oriented people into your business.

And if you’re going into work rested, recharged and happy…

Then it will be easier to crush it all day long and come home with an even bigger smile on your face…

Both areas of your life are progressing forward in a big upward spiral of growth.

And no one understands this better than Ryan Groth.

Because at 34 Ryan is now married with four kids and currently has a fifth one on the way.

And despite running a large, rapidly growing company like STG, which helps hundreds of contractors create their ideal businesses…

Ryan can still enjoy plenty of family time and has a great relationship with both his wife and his four kids.

So, how does he do it?

Well, it comes down to 4 simple steps that anyone can follow.

Create A Supportive Home Environment 

One of the best pieces of advice Ryan ever received from a mentor was this:

Your spouse and kids should know your goals in business.

Your business is a huge part of your family’s lives and can be responsible for creating an amazing lifestyle for them either today or in the near future.

So, by sharing your goals, you allow your family to get behind you, while also recognizing that when you leave for work each day… 

You’re not spending time out of the house so you can get away from them…

You’re going out to do something that is actively improving the quality of their lives. 

In the example Ryan gives, you could even go so far as putting your sales quotas on the fridge, so the kids can hope or pray for their Mom or Dad to meet those targets.

But it’s not just about hitting goals. 

It’s also important to set the expectation with your spouse that business is challenging and there are going to be times where you need to put in longer hours or make tough sacrifices. 

By doing all this, you create a supportive environment at home where your family is on your side.

So, then when times get tough and you need to work longer hours or you need to cut back spending at home – instead of giving you a hard time and adding more stress to your plate, everyone rallies behind you and tries to help you get through this challenging time, as a family.

That being said, it can NOT be all business talk when you are at home either.

So, it’s important that when you are with your family the main focus is on being fully present and spending quality time with them.

Recognize That The Calendar Is King 

You would never go into a new year in business without being organized or having a plan…

The same should be true for your family life too. 

That’s why Ryan makes sure all of his family time gets put on his calendar. 

Because as much as Ryan’s wife hates it – unless it gets put on the calendar, it just won’t get done.

So, he makes sure that the weekly date night with his wife, family vacations, and his kids’ summer camps or tournaments all go on the calendar with the events and meetings for his business. 

This makes sure that Ryan is planning his business around these important family events which automatically ensures that everything is kept in balance. 

If You Want To Multiply Your Free Time Just Use These Three Quick Hacks

If you’re a successful contractor you can probably wear many hats and do multiple jobs at a high standard. 

However, that doesn’t mean that you should.

Because the more tasks that you can delegate to someone else, or automate with a piece of software, or even just eliminate entirely…

The less time you are going to spend on non-important tasks… 

And the more time you have to spend with your family or on more important things that really move the needle for your business.

But beware.

Ryan warns that if you identify with your business and see it as a part of you and who you are, it can be really difficult to let someone else take over.

And handing over any job or responsibility can feel like letting someone else take your spouse out for a romantic dinner.

However, there’s a simple fix for this:

If you change your perspective and see your business simply as a vehicle or tool for achieving your personal and professional goals, then it will become 10 times easier to step back and allow other people to do things for you. 

And to make sure you are freeing up the most time possible in your schedule, you should regularly be asking yourself this throughout the day:

“Could the task I’m working on right now be delegated, automated, or completely eliminated?”

When you apply this simple step, you’ll be shocked at how much free time you’ll create throughout the week, which can then be reinvested more wisely into your business or family goals.   

Make It Happen By Asking This One Question  

Making changes to balance both your family and business life is not easy.

So, if you’re not committed to making this happen, you can fail to fully follow through and make any real impact on either.

That’s why Ryan motivates himself with this one simple question:

“What happens if I don’t get this handled?” 

This is something that really drives Ryan to make time for his family, because growing up he watched his mother go through divorce twice.

As the eldest child in his family, these tragic events had a lasting impact on Ryan…

So when he feels like it’s hard to balance both business and family, thinking about this outcome makes it incredibly easy to make sure there’s time for both.

But you don’t have to have lived through a divorce to adopt this mindset.

Because it’s easy to see how the stress of going through a divorce would have a devastating impact on your ability to work long hard hours, to think clearly, manage other people, put on a friendly face for customers, and just generally move your business forward.

Not to mention that a divorce could become incredibly expensive once it comes time to divide assets and pay for lawyers. 

Which could limit your ability to reinvest in yourself or in the company while making you think twice about taking the necessary risks in business. 

So, while it might seem difficult to take a few hours off for family when you’re trying to grow your business…

It could be disastrous for the health of your business in the long run if you don’t. 

And while it’s depressing to think about this bleak possibility (especially with the high divorce rates of today)… 

Here’s the silver lining:

If you focus on this now and use this as motivation to get things in order – then you can avoid this ever becoming a reality. 

So there you have it.

Follow these 4 simple steps and your family life can thrive alongside your growing business, allowing you to have the best of both worlds.

If you have any tips or advice that have helped you grow your business together with your family relationships – please leave them in the comment section below for others to see!