Welcome to the Cars For A Living! This show is dedicated specifically to help out those that would love to find a way to turn their automotive passions into a career, business, or life long journey!
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In this episode of Cars For A Living my co-host Dan and I dug into one of the biggest challenges we’ve each faced in being self employed business owners: managing our family time well, and putting it ahead of work time. In the restoration and aftermarket world specifically this is a constant juggernaut to deal with as this industry is (in effect) a lifestyle of it’s own. Our business world is fairly tight knit, and the networking and pleasure meetings all happens during (you guessed it) weekend shows and events. It’s not at all uncommon to work multiple full weeks in preparation for the real work that will be done on the weekends, and it you’re not careful a 100 hour work week can become the norm. That is obviously going to cut into your valuable family time, be that with your spouse, kids, friends, etc. Two words: not good!
With that established, as a reader and listener of Cars For A Living you’re also facing the fact that separation of your automotive bent from your daily life and work routine is likely impossible.
Since you genuinely have a passion for cars and this industry it’s somewhat hard to separate where cars end and you begin, but not to worry; your family likely already knew that. So, in the end, it’s all about finding the right balance that puts your family first and still allows your business to hit on all eight.
In this episode of the show we discussed how we handle the balance ourselves, and went into depth on what worked (and what didn’t). Here are the key discussion points we touched on:
1) This industry is different than many others in that it’s show & travel driven, and most events and shows happen on the weekend. How does this jive with a family schedule?
2) How much travel should one reasonably expect to do? (Is there a percentage of gross revenue that can be used, or is it totally a gut feel)
3) Since travel dollars are not unlimited in any business, how do you decide WHICH events to attend?
4) Can you bring your family with you on trips?
5) Following #4….what if your family doesn’t like to travel with you – or you can’t afford to bring them?
6) How do you “turn off” work while on vacation…..or (even tougher) at home?
Bonus Travel Topics:
-Travel is a legitimate business expense
-You can deduct your mileage, airfare, hotel stay, meals (but not for the family)
-It’s a great way to get a lower cost vacation!
We’d love to get your feedback on how you all handle your work and family schedule! Feel free to simply reply in the post notes below, hit us up on Facebook or Twitter, or shot us an e-mail!
-Rob Kibbe
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CONTACT US!
If you’d like to send in a question for the show for us to discuss, feel free to send an e-mail to the address below or leave a comment on our Facebook page or on Twitter. Be sure to sign up for the Cars For A Living newsletter as well and look for exclusive content to come your way there that WON’T be on the website!
E-mail Us at: robanddan@themusclecarplace.com
Click here to listen to all of the previous episodes of Cars For A Living!