Balancing Business and Breaks: A Small Business Owner's Journey

Hi Friends!

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I hope you guys all had a great 4th of July. This year for our 4th of July celebrations, my wife and I decided on a last minute trip to Mexico City. We chose Mexico City, as it was within a reasonable flight distance, we wanted a culturally different experience, and we heard that the food was amazing.

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Balancing Work and Personal Life

As many of you guys probably also experience, as a small business owner, finding time off is difficult. If we shut down our office, we might lose our momentum, and most likely cause a cash-flow issue in the near future. I think it’s worked for me that taking a couple of extra days off around federal holidays is the best middle ground right now. This works well in dentistry as most patients also like to take a couple of days off around federal holidays, so those days have a lot of cancellations.

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One perk of running a small business, is that you collect a lot of credit card points from all the bills that you end up having to pay. We were able to redeem a hotel in the Centro Historico of Mexico City. We were also able to redeem a couple of activities, which ended up being some of the most fun I’ve had while on vacation.

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We visited the Templo Mayor museum on the first day, as this was the religious center of the Aztec Empire of the pre-Hispanic era. Amazingly, it is located right in the middle of Mexico City, and the ruins of the temple are right in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the metropolis.

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We also took a hot-air balloon ride over the historical pyramids of Teotihuacan. This was probably the most unforgettable moment, as it was the first time we travelled in a hot air balloon, and the weather was just magical. As it was a sunrise ride, the clouds were just starting to part over the pyramids. As we got over the Pyramid of the Sun, the clouds parted, and we were able to clearly see the majestic pyramid poking through the clouds.

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Importance of Building a Self-Sustaining Business

As a practice owner, these small trips around federal holidays seem to be the only time I can find some time to take vacations, as a lot of my patients like to go away during these federal holidays as well, so our office tends to be slower around those times. Taking a week or more long stand-alone vacation currently is too harmful for the cashflow of my business as it currently stands. This reinforces my desire to build a business that can run without my direct input. Right now, it’s difficult for me to go on vacation without worrying about the practice.

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Do any of my fellow business owners feel similarly when they go on vacation? I want to take more vacations, but finding the time for it is difficult. When I am able to go on vacation, it’s difficult to be fully present as I will always be worrying about the practice! It is such a catch-22, and I’ve been looking into some reframing techniques to help me overcome the mental hurdles. Will be excited to share them with you in future episodes!


Stay tuned for more updates on our journey!

Best regards,

^{Kevin Ng, DDS}