Throughout the tax season, I felt like I spent more time in this space talking to my individual clients than businesses. This makes sense, for even business owners are filing personal tax returns, making it a topic with which everyone has some familiarity.

A couple of weeks ago, though, I got to mention National Small Business Week and express how much we love working with businesses, and the new worlds to which it can expose us. I want to continue to take the time to address businesses more now, and to do it with one question:

What do you want to do next?

I have mentioned similar ideas when it came to personal finances, urging people to take tax season as a time that can indicate where you need to make some improvements in your finances, record keeping, overall organization, or anywhere else. Just it is a time where everyone feels some stresses, so it is a good time to figure out how to combat that stress. And although I do think it is important for us to spend time thinking about ways that we can improve our personal lives – in every area – but it may be even more important for businesses to take this type of self-review.

After all, the health and well-being of a business plays a giant role in the health and well-being of its business owner. This connection happens whether your business is a side hobby or if you’re at the head of a multi-million dollar corporation. Many of those corporations rose from smaller entities, and they got there by knowing the answer to:

What do you want to do next?

I wrote recently about the passion that I love seeing in business owners, but running a business is also work, and like any type of work, there are times when it feels heavy, too much to handle, and we wonder if it is all worth it.

First, chances are that it is worth it, for you would not have started the journey if it was not. So when those heavy times come, figure out what is triggering those feelings: are you not profitable enough, do you need to hire more employees, do you need to fire old employees, do you need to contract outside help for some areas of your business? Find where the issues are, and envision how they can be fixed. In there is probably the answer to:

What do you want to do next?

I understand that not every owner has the means to immediately solve those problems. Finances do not always allow it, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid the answer. If you are not yet where you want to be, that does not mean that you shouldn’t envision where you want to be. In fact, because it’s not happening yet is why it answers the question:

What do you want to do next?

To achieve goals, one needs forward motion. There are rarely magic buttons that provide answers that get us to where we want to be in life or in business. The journey can be long, and it can be arduous. Do not let that frighten you away, for most of the things worth doing in life, the things that we look back on most fondly, are the ones that were difficult to achieve. They’re never achieved through giant leaps, but one step at time. So …

What do you want to do next?

And as always let us know if there is any way we can help you get there.