Are you in the right business? Is your business the right size for you?

My passion is scuba diving and underwater photography. So much so that my other profession is as an underwater photographer and writer for diving publications. I don't do so much diving work nowadays, but it has allowed me to dive and travel and fit in with developing web sites. In a round about way its what actually got me into Concrete CMS. 

In the course of this I made many friends in the diving industry. Both the highly experienced old hands and the up and coming divers. A typical career progression was to train as a Dive Master, then as an Instructor, then open up a dive center - ideally somewhere with top quality diving. 

Evolving roles

Living the dream you may think, until I dig in to what a young owner of a dive center told me about his lifestyle. He had to organize guests, instructors, guides, boats, equipment servicing, shop staff, stock and anything to do with the actual building. He spent all day in the office managing the business. He was lucky to get out diving one day a month.

The high point of his day was a gelato from the ice cream parlor next door, then maybe a quick beer after work if he wasn't working too late and too exhausted.

He was working in the diving business, but he wasn't diving! There are many comments that could be made about the business. Ideally he could have delegated more of the management and done more guiding or instructing. But every business goes through a stage like this, where it has grown enough to need a full time manager, but not yet big enough to employ a management team. The owner fills the gap by becoming the manager. Its not unique to the diving business. I see the same in design agencies and pretty much any business. My friend's sticking point was that his business was at maximum capacity for the shop, boat and location. To grow further would require a big investment and the assurance of a bigger potential customer base.

Ice cream

A few years later I met him again and he was much happier. He had sold the dive center and bought the ice cream parlor next door. A more profitable and dependable business with less management required. It ran simply enough he could take time off and go diving. There was a dive center next door where he could moonlight as a guide!

So what does this all mean? Many web developers are self employed or run small agencies. Many feel pressured by the expectation that a business has to grow to be called a success, recruiting more staff, finding more customers, increasing turnover. All good if increasing turnover also increases net profit and you enjoy becoming a full time manager.

Me, I did the corporate thing years ago and left it to go diving. Now I am happy being self employed, trading my specialized skills as and when I can. I have found my niche and don't need to grow out of it.