HOW MUCH IS YOUR FREE TIME WORTH?

By Sandra Stepan

HOW MUCH IS YOUR FREE TIME WORTH? HINT: POTENTIALLY MORE THAN YOUR CURRENT BANK ACCOUNT.

As entrepreneurs we most often talk about net worth in the language of dollars: in the bank, in assets, in clients, in units sold. We attach our entrepreneurial self worth and identity to dollar figures and as a result, we are willing to trade so much in the pursuit of more money: time, peace of mind, nutrition, health and wellness. We work, we grind, and we hustle because we want to create more, deliver more, earn more. We don’t stop because stopping means less money and less money means less success.

I’m the only one who can get it done. Even as our business grew and we hired help, “that’s fine I’ll do it” was part of my daily vocabulary. For years my work life has been tied to anxiety, hustle, a never ending hamster wheel. I didn’t take time off and work was always on my mind. Time for myself was not a priority.

Of course, that led to nothing good: burnout and revenue cap. There was only one of me and when I couldn’t take care of everything anymore, things fell apart. I lost my clients, I lost connections, and I lost money. I found myself stuck, in debt and with no clear plan on how to fix it. Finally, my ego took the biggest hit. After all, I considered myself an entrepreneur, capable of doing anything yet here I was. Failing.

That’s when my partner and I came up with an e-commerce brand idea that changed our, and many others’ lives. We’ve had many ideas before, some were successful, many failed. This time was different. This time, we have freed up mental space to create, breathe and take our time. As with any business, the grind started again - but this time I stopped myself before the rabbit hole. The moment we saw growth we decided to keep our jobs for a while, not only so we can reinvest our profits but also to hire for the role that started taking out a huge chunk of my time: customer support. It was so uncomfortable. Me, a sales expert with extensive experience in dealing with people hiring out for customer support? How could someone represent my business better than I can?

It turns out I’m not the best at everything, not even in my own business. When we started hiring for the roles that others have expertise in and we kept our focus on the things nobody else could do in our business, my partner and I ended up with a team so committed to success that not only our new ecommerce store turned into a 7 figure business within the year, but our success story case study brought us 6 new clients for our marketing agency in the middle of a pandemic.

Never before have I had the chance to sip my coffee in peace every morning and feel comfortable to take a day completely off.

Sandra Stepan

Sandra is a Canadian entrepreneur with a passion for helping people and businesses operate at their fullest potential. She loves dancing, playing with her cat, and travelling to keep her inspired and relaxed. Right now, her main focus is co-owning two ventures: SnapAdvantage, a boutique marketing agency that helps businesses sell more by leveraging the power of digital marketing, and HearGift, a leading hearing device brand that offers the gift of hearing for a tenth of the cost.

Read more about her story in this issue.