The Freedom to Choose

When people talk about freedom in business, I think they often get it wrong. There’s this image of entrepreneurship that gets sold online: private jets, fancy cars, working from the beach and having enough money that you never really have to worry about work again.

I think a lot of that is bullshit. I’ve worked from the beach before and probably taken a photo of it too, but I’m still a regular person who flies economy most of the time because business class is bloody expensive.

For me, freedom comes down to choice. I want to choose when and where I apply my time, who I spend it with and how hard I want to push at different stages of my life. Those choices have changed considerably over the years because my priorities have changed with them.

When I first started Social Star, I worked incredibly hard. I’d left my job fairly suddenly and although the business had been ticking away in the background, I didn’t have retainers or a reliable stream of ongoing clients. I had to get out there, have countless coffees and slowly build my first client list.

A friend had an agency in South Yarra and offered me a spare floor in his office, so I could work there or from home. I could organise my own day, choose who I wanted to work with and decide where I put my energy.

A few years later, the business became more established and I could have pushed hard to grow it faster. My kids were still young though, and family was my highest priority. I wanted to take school holidays off and have the flexibility to look after them when they needed me.

So I deliberately kept the business smaller. Financially, I probably could have earned more and built a bigger asset if I’d gone harder, but I was comfortable with that trade-off.

As my kids got older and became more self-sufficient, I changed gears. I grew the team, bought an office in Collingwood and put more energy into growing Social Star. I chose Collingwood because it suited my life. It was on my train line, between my house and the city, and somewhere I actually wanted to work.

I was also teaching at university and got a lot of fulfilment from working with students, so I started bringing young people into the business and mentoring them. I found a way for my work to support several things I valued at the same time.

That sense of fulfilment has become important to me. When I worked in IT, I was pushing computers, software and mainframes out the door. Every year the budget went up and we had to sell more. After a while, I started wondering whether any of it really mattered to me.

Today, I get to help people build businesses and see the difference it makes to their lives. I’ve had people almost in tears on coaching calls because they’re struggling, then leave feeling motivated and ready to have another crack. That gives me a huge amount of satisfaction.

Now I’m at another stage of life. My kids don’t need me in the same way they once did, and health, lifestyle and travel have moved higher up my list of priorities. I want to ski overseas, take proper holidays and enjoy some of the flexibility I spent years building towards.

I can take eight or twelve weeks off if I want to, provided I build the business to operate without me. That might mean employing more people or accepting that we win fewer accounts while I’m away. Every decision has a consequence, so I need to decide which trade-offs are worthwhile.

I recently took my team skiing for an offsite because skiing is one of my favourite things to do. One of my staff said, “Andrew, I’ve never seen you look so happy.” Of course I was happy. I was in my happy place, sharing something I love with my team.

Over the years, I’ve realised that designing a business around your life starts with understanding what you actually value.

Where do you want to spend your time, money and energy? Maybe family matters most right now. Maybe it’s health, travel, building wealth, learning or growing something ambitious. Your priorities will probably change as you move through different stages of life. Mine certainly have.

Once you understand those priorities, you can make business decisions around them. You might decide to grow aggressively for a few years. You might keep the business smaller while your children are young. You might hire someone earlier so you can reclaim some time, turn down clients who make your life miserable or accept a little less revenue so you can take a proper holiday.

For anyone thinking about leaving corporate, this is worth considering before you jump. Running a business can give you enormous choice, but particularly in the early years, you’ll probably work bloody hard. Do some education, build a plan, test your idea and prove people will actually pay for what you’re offering.

As your business grows, keep checking that it still supports the life you wanted to create in the first place. Growth can be exciting, but there’s little point building something successful if you end up with no time for the things you actually care about.

My priorities today are different from when I started Social Star, and I expect they’ll change again. The important thing is having the ability to adjust the business with them.

So if you’re building a business, ask yourself: what do I want the freedom to choose?

The answer might tell you more about the business you should build than any revenue target ever will.