The Business Owners' Bill of Rights

Don't settle for less than what you, as a business owner, deserve.

Business owners, why are you doing this?

Why are you putting yourself through all of this stress?

Why are you taking this responsibility when it would be so easy to quit, walk away, sell it, and find a job?

It's because you're a bit of a psycho. Yes. We know this.

So, if you're going to endure all of this, ensure you are reaping the benefits. All the "pain and suffering" has to pay off. Otherwise, you'll grow resentful, burn out, and walk away.

Let’s call these benefits the Business Owners’ Bill of Rights.

We must fight for these things if we're going to take the risk of running businesses. And these are things you should expect if you run a business. Don't give up on these. Don't settle for less. Don't be a martyr. Demand the following.

The Right to Earn Significant Profit

So many business owners are embarrassed by profits. They foolishly don't even want their customers to know they make a profit. This is absurd. Profits are a business's most crucial byproduct, and the lack thereof means imminent failure. Never apologize for this. Those who misunderstand that profits are your justified return are not worth an iota of your mental capacity.

The Right to Choose Your Team

You should never, ever be "held hostage" by a team member. And this is hard. So hard. It's so tempting to take the easy way out and keep a C-level player on your team to avoid the "pain" of letting them go. That pain is usually temporary, but sometimes it's in the form of lawsuits and such. But fight for this right. And fight hard. Let the chips fall where they will. I'd rather fight a lawsuit with my chosen team by my side than sit peacefully among the mediocre.

The Right to "Fire" Bad Customers

You and your team provide a product or service. Your customer needs that product or service. It's a "peer" relationship. Therefore, no one has the right to treat you or your team poorly. No one. So, at the first sign of this, you should issue a warning. And at the second sign of this, you walk away. It's that simple. It's not worth it to do otherwise.

The Right to be Served By Your Business

Your business is yours. It's your tool to accomplish your goals. We live in a culture where the pendulum has swung WAY too far on this. It's as if a business exists purely for the benefit of the employees. This is wrong. The business must serve ownership first and, of course, also provide an excellent environment for the team. But it's in that order. Don't switch them.

The Right to Wake Up Smiling

For the first many years of running kitchen & bath CRATE, I'd wake up feeling ill. It took years to realize this was because I was not in the right seat on the bus in my company. Once I was in the right seat, it became a joy. 99% of the days I wake up, I literally look forward to getting to work. The people are great, the tasks are interesting, and the results are satisfying. If you don't feel like this, talk to me. We can figure it out together.

The Right to Not Settle

"It is what it is." But is it? Sometimes it is, but usually it's not. Usually, it "is what it is" because we're letting it "be." So, as a business owner, you have the right not to settle. You have the right to demand better (of yourself first, then others.) You have the right to require continuous improvement. In business, standing still is falling behind. Don't stand still...

The Right to Grow Organically

...but you still have the right to grow at the right pace for you. Hustle culture wants to tell us it's all about the grind. And sure, if that's what you want, then grind. (And getting something off the ground ALWAYS requires the grind...) But once you stabilize and land on a "Profit Island," you have the right to let it grow organically at the pace you see fit.

The Right to Leave a Legacy

Your business doesn't have to be disposable, something tossed aside once you get tired or things get too complicated. You have the right to leave an "imprint" on the market. How? It's simple to say and hard to do: be a company that customers would miss dearly if you were gone from the market. Yes, be that good. Thirty years from now, you want your local market to remember you as a great company and you as a great operator. Let that notion guide your leadership.

The Right to "Live in the Clouds"

Gary V. always talks about "the clouds and the dirt." The "clouds" are the big-picture elements of your strategy that will impact the long-term future. The "dirt" is the day-to-day execution; doing the "thing" alongside your team. As the owner of your business, you have the right to "live in the clouds." Surround yourself with people who genuinely love the day-to-day details. Free yourself to dream about the future (like conducting a Think Week!)

The Right to Consider Your Work Your "Art"

I never considered myself an "artist" until I realized that business is my art form. It's the method by which I imagine something and then deploy it into the real world in an effort to impact others. The desire to acquire a real estate portfolio by the age of 30? That led to a for-profit development company that killed it during the 08/09 downturn, leading to a portfolio held to this day. Putting "a kitchen into a box?" That's what started kitchen & bath CRATE. A hunch that multi-family housing in California would boom in the coming decade? I give you Trinity Builder Solutions. As business owners, we can "think things into existence." It's art in its most useful and productive form. Don't think of yourself as anything other than the artist you are.

Let me leave you with this: you have the right to every one of these experiences above. You have the agency to make them happen.

Now, on Monday, go out and do it.

Thanks for reading this post. I appreciate you. In return, please share this with those you know who may be interested.

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