EP 10: Whose Life Are You Building?
How to Build a Business That Fits Your Life Instead of Someone Else's Scoreboard
I was convinced I wanted Primavera in 40 different locations. That was the goal, that was what success looked like in my head.
Then one day I realized something about that goal that hit me a lot harder than I expected: it was never actually mine.
Where Did That 40-Location Goal Actually Come From?
It came from a conference, going around a table where every owner shared their big, audacious goal, and the stakes kept climbing.
So I made mine huge too.
I never sat down with my wife and asked what I actually wanted our life to look like, or asked myself how much I wanted to work, how much time I wanted with my kids, whether I wanted to travel, what I wanted my role in the company to actually be.
None of that happened.
I just picked a big number because I was surrounded by people building big things, and I assumed that's what I was supposed to do too.
Why Do Industry Benchmarks Mess With Your Head?
Home service business owners are especially vulnerable to this, because the industry runs on benchmarks: revenue, labor percentage, headcount, average ticket, recurring revenue percentage.
Those numbers matter, they're worth tracking.
But they can quietly become your identity if you're not careful.
You can have a genuinely great company, $2 million a year, profitable, solid team, no weekends, real vacations, present for your kids, and then meet someone doing $8 million and suddenly your company feels pathetic.
Nothing actually changed.
You were happy with your life yesterday.
My question is: behind what? Behind where?
There isn't one finish line in business.
Is This an Argument Against Growth?
No.
I love growth, I love building, I love asking what if we tried this.
The difference is between building because you're excited about where you're headed, versus building because you feel like you're falling behind.
One gives you energy.
The other just makes you tired, miserable, and cranky.
When an owner tells me they want to hit $5 million and I ask why, sometimes there's a real answer: a better team, getting out of day-to-day operations, paying people better.
That makes sense.
But sometimes the honest answer is "that's what everyone around me is doing," and then the real question is what happens when you get there.
You just need $7 million next, then $10 million.
That's not a goal, that's a hamster wheel.
What Question Actually Cuts Through the Comparison?
One of the best questions you can ask yourself:
If nobody knew, would you still want it?
If nobody knew your revenue, your headcount, how many locations you opened, or that you made a list somewhere, would you still want it?
Maybe yes, and that's genuinely fine, that's yours.
But if part of the excitement disappears the moment nobody else gets to see it, that's worth paying attention to.
Impressing people is expensive, not just financially.
It costs your time, your stress, your presence with your family, and years of your life, and the people you're trying to keep up with never pay any of that cost.
You do.
So What Should You Actually Be Building Toward?
Figure out your life first, then build the business to support it.
What do you want your mornings to look like, your weekends, your summers?
How much time with your kids or grandkids?
How much money do you actually want, how much responsibility, what kind of work, and who do you want to spend your time with?
Once you're clear on that, then you bring the business into the conversation.
Maybe it does need to be twice as big.
Maybe it needs more profit and less revenue, better systems, or you need to stop being the one answering every question.
Either way, you're making the decision based on your life instead of somebody else's scoreboard.
Can You Change Your Mind About a Goal You Already Told Everyone?
Yes, and I think entrepreneurs are especially bad at giving themselves permission to do that.
You say a goal out loud, put it on a vision board, tell your team, and then years later you're a different person with different priorities but you still feel obligated to chase the same thing.
You're allowed to say that used to be my goal, and it isn't anymore.
That's not quitting, that's being honest.
What scares me more than missing a revenue number is waking up at 60 with a giant business and realizing I built the wrong life, because you can always make more money or start another company, but you don't get the years back.
What Should You Do Today?
Build big if that's genuinely your vision, go after it, make a lot of money, do it all.
Just make sure it's serving the life you actually want, not somebody else's idea of what impressive looks like.
If you're in a season where you feel behind, maybe you're not behind at all, maybe you're just measuring yourself against someone headed somewhere you don't even want to go.
Resources & Links
Visit: https://bit.ly/JhonLeBaron
Download the free resource: https://bit.ly/Jhons5Reasons
Facebook: https://bit.ly/JhonLeBaronFacebook
Instagram: https://bit.ly/JhonLeBaronInstagram
Tags: Business Growth, Entrepreneurship, Business Leadership, Work Life Balance, Business Goals, Personal Goals, Life Design, Business Strategy, Success, Business Owner, Goal Setting, Family, Freedom