Almost 70% of small business owners put in more hours than the average nine-to-five job – and a quarter exceed the guidelines set out in the EU working time directive. Despite this, the majority told us they lovewhat they do more than punching a time clock for someone else.*
But is it possible to love your business a little too much? If any of these telltale signs sound familiar, drop your tools, step away from your desk and hug someone close to you this Valentine’s Day.
1. You run out of business cards quicker than you can print them
“Oh my God, it even has a watermark!” Patrick Bateman has nothing on you.
2. You like to holiday in… wait, what’s a holiday?
The only way you’ll achieve a golden glow is from the glare of your computer screen.
3. You refer to your business as your ‘baby’
This goes down especially well at Baptisms, Christenings and Bar Mitzvahs.
4. Grooming takes a backseat
Every month is Movember.
5. It’s official (Facebook-official, that is)
You are bang-on-trend and the ‘likes’ keep rolling in.
6. When you hear a ring or ping, you grab your phone
Which you immediately regret on realising 99% of the people around you also have a phone.
7. You take your brand image very seriously
You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
8. You brag about your multifunctional desk
“It’s a breakfast bar, a dining table and a place to rest your head.”
9. It’s dark when you start and dark when you finish
What’s Summer Solstice?
10. Business insurance gets you really excited
Well, we didn’t expect you to take all of this seriously, did we?
While business insurance (we admit) isn’t the most fun thing to talk about, it is certainly worth spending your valuable time on.
Business insurance – such as professional indemnity, public liability and employers’ liability insurance – can help to protect your business from costly compensation claims (as the result of a minor slip on your property, for example) and protect your pocket from expenses related to unexpected incidents (like a damaged or stolen laptop containing irreplaceable customer data).
With the right cover in place, you’ll have more time to get on with business.
*AXA Business Insurance survey of 350 micro-SME owners, December 2014.