Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Rewards

Some time back, perhaps about 8 years ago, a very knowledgeable person told me that a reward is only a reward when it is both wanted and valued by the recipient. At the time this made an impact. Truly, we need to value the reward for it to be important to us. However the part about it being wanted well that was another matter. After all, don't we all want rewards?

Having now passed the anniversary of my fifth year as an independent business owner, that concept means a lot more to me. To be clear, there are no employees here, just little old me. So the reward is both given and received by that one employee. Guess that makes me the employee of the month over 60 times. Anyway, back to the point.

My efforts for the past two weeks have been multi-faceted. In other words it has required a bit of a grasshopper mind. First work on promotion of one workshop. Then move on to service an existing client contract. From there it was time to start a total new promotion concept for a new avenue of business. This is not a complaint as that kind of environment is stimulating.

The issue is that it also means that rewards, i.e. cash in the bank, may be quite a way off. Therefore there was a need for some other type of reward. Not later but now.

Mine today was basic, took a little time to visit my daughter and pet her dog. He loves that so it was a treat for both of us. Then it was really basic, a chocolate dipped ice cream cone from Dairy Queen. No big deal in most people's eyes.

However, after that little break and treat I was ready to tackle another challenge and start yet a third project. Guess my boss is a pretty nice guy after all.

Each of us has a need to be treated once in a while. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs and small business owners hold the opinion that the rewards will come later. Sometimes later never arrives.

Think about it. When was the last time you rewarded yourself with a simple treat. Perhaps a walk in the park. Perhaps a ride on a bicycle around the neighbourhood. Or, like me today, buying an ice cream cone.

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