Good bosses are concerned with their staff motivation. They will put processes in place to ensure that productivity is optimum, that workers feel supported and that staff are generally happy in their workplace.

But what about you as the business owner? Do you have processes in place to make sure you keep motivated? What is it that motivates you to keep moving forward in your business?

Often these questions are not answered by women business owners. They are too busy either dealing with staff motivation or get caught up in the daily tasks of ‘doing business’. And then burnout starts to appear on the horizon and they realise that they’ve neglected to take care of their own motivation.

Sometimes, all it takes is being cognisant of your underlying motivation for running your own business. You may be motivated by seeing positive outcomes and results. You may be motivated by the fact that you are the boss and don’t answer to anyone else. You might be motivated by the flexible lifestyle your business affords you.

However, for most of us, those reasons are not always enough to get us through the tougher times. You may need to put in place other external motivators that help to push you forward. This might be meeting regularly with a business coach. Or it might be booking regular weekends away so you have those to look forward to at the end of a stressful work period. Or it might be surrounding yourself with other female business owners who can rejoice or commiserate as required! Most importantly, make sure you take care of your own motivation first otherwise it will have a trickle down affect throughout your whole business.

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender