There are many factors to consider when you’re starting a new business. That can make it easy to skip over key considerations. So when you’re evaluating different business opportunities, don’t forget to think about your work/life balance.

Many entrepreneurs underestimate the importance of this balance when searching for the best new business. Others believe that if you’re starting a business, there’s no such thing as a healthy work/life balance in the first place.

Both of these assumptions can be dangerous. Without a work/life balance, either your personal life or professional life will start to feel strained. Problems with one will almost inevitably lead to problems in the other, and your overall well-being will suffer.

But if you can find an opportunity that allows you to own your own business and maintain a healthy work/life balance, both your home-life and work-life will benefit.

Finding Business Opportunities with a Healthy Work/Life Balance

Finding business opportunities with a healthy work/life balance isn’t easy. But you can make the process a lot easier by evaluating businesses against these 3 questions…

1. Where Will You Work?

If you’re like most working Americans, your daily commute adds nearly an hour to every workday. So if you’re looking for a better work/life balance, you can start by reducing your commute time.

This might mean starting a brick-and-mortar business that’s nearer to your home than your current job. But for many entrepreneurs these days, it means looking for home-based business opportunities.

While working from home presents its own work/life challenges, it saves the typical worker 20+ hours a month. If you’re starting a business, you can choose to invest that time in your company. This will allow you to additional work hours without sacrificing any personal time.

Alternatively, you can choose to invest those extra hours in your personal life. This will allow you to maintain your workload while giving you extra time with friends and family.

2. What Kind of Hours Will You Work?

Most entrepreneurs work unforgiving schedules. Many work 50+ or 60+ hours a week, with frequent late evenings and working weekends.

When you’re looking at different business opportunities, think carefully about how many hours you want to be working and when those hours will take place. As an entrepreneur, it can be tempting to prove your mettle by working 12-hour days and 6-day weeks.

But it’s one thing to work long hours every week. It’s another to shorten the hours you spend with your family and your friends or focus on yourself. This kind of schedule will tax your relationships and your well-being, which may lead your work performance to suffer as well.

While there are fewer business opportunities that offer regular schedules, it’s worth pursuing these opportunities. Working a more traditional Monday-to-Friday schedule, might not feel entrepreneurially glamorous. But it’s much healthier, more sustainable, and usually better for your work performance.

3. Will You Always Be “On Call”?

Smartphones have made doing business much easier. But at the same time, they’ve eroded the boundaries between our professional and personal lives. This is particularly true for entrepreneurs, most of whom end up “on call” 24/7.

As with trying to find business opportunities with regular hours, you may have trouble finding a business that doesn’t keep you “on call” after-hours. But there are a few different ways that you can narrow down the scope of your search to limit this issue.

Specifically, you should focus on business opportunities with regular hours. If you work as a residential real estate agent, for example, your hours will need to be flexible, since your clients may not be available during the workday.

At the same time, you’ll want to find a business with few urgent situations. If you work B2B digital security consultant, you might be able to keep regular office hours. But if your customers suffer a security breach, they’ll expect an immediate response, no matter the time of day or night.

Work/Life Balance with a Murphy Business Franchise

At Murphy Business, our brokers work closely with small business owners across a wide range of industries. So, we know the importance of a healthy work/life balance when running your own business. And with our franchise model, we’ve created a business opportunity that makes this possible.

To encourage a healthy work/life balance, the Murphy Business franchise model does the following…

• Makes it easy to work from home or out of a virtual office
• Encourages a traditional Monday-to-Friday schedule
• Limits the amount of after-hours work you need to perform
• Minimizes urgent situations to which you’ll need to respond

This makes Murphy Business an attractive business opportunity for any C-suite executive or existing small business owner who’s looking to own a business with a healthy work/life balance.

Learn more about business opportunities with Murphy Business by calling (727) 725-7090 today!