Dear Abel & Sofi: Forced To Make A Life Or Death Decision To Take A Medical Leave, But Can My Business Survive?
About Dear Abel and Sofi: While our Q&A Forum addresses 1,000+ public questions weekly, we wanted to give our small business owners an outlet to anonymously share the kinds of frustrations, fears and private struggles few people express openly. Father-daughter duo Abel and Sofi co-author the column, bringing diverse perspectives to both professional and personal problems. A serial entrepreneur and counselor, Abel, 65, is known for his empathy and his uncanny understanding of many issues. Co-owner of a salon, Sofi, 28, has a younger, more candid approach to life’s challenges. To submit your anonymous questions, click here.
Dear Abel and Sofi,
I have owned my business for 11 years next month. My company converts vintage visual media into digital formats and performs photo restorations. In 2008, when I started my company, I could drive and my eyesight was correctable.
Less than a year into my business my eyesight started to change for the worse. Yet I continued building my business, while holding two additional jobs to support myself during the startup phase.
In early 2010, I had to give up both additional jobs because my eyesight, in the preceding 6 months, had gone from correctable to legally blind (not totally blind). I didn’t stop. I got training to use a white cane, obtained assistive technology to enlarge everything on my computer screen, got rides from family to attend Chamber of Commerce events (since I could not drive) and built my own website.
In December 2012, I had my first of ultimately 4 major head injuries each causing severe concussions. The two most recent head injuries were 10 days apart in May 2018. The first two concussions caused severe memory and motor issues. I had to relearn how to speak, walk, and use my hands, along with everything I had ever mastered to run my business. I never took a break besides what medical issues mandated.
Pushing myself at 110% for 11 years has taken enormous toll on my physical health. My doctors have ordered me to take a “medical leave of absence” to allow my body and brain to heal as it is now a matter of life and death.
How do I implement a “medical leave of absence" as a solopreneur (pause my company for an indefinite length of time, yet able to reopen it), while managing my obligations to the active and “waiting list” clients?
Sincerely, Exhausted and Determined
ABEL: Dear Exhausted and Determined, One of the most wonderful aspects of the Alignable network can be found in its community of very diligent, determined, and caring people. Though we’re all on our own journeys, when we connect here, we’re really all in this together.
Based on your note, I’m sure you’ll see that kind of support in the comments that this post evokes. I have to say that your persistence against all odds is very inspiring and shows how you’ve translated your troubles into strengths with each setback.
Sooner or later, though, we have to listen to our bodies (and our doctors) and we have to pivot to promote both our own health and our business. You have definitely reached that point and it’s good you’re seeking help and taking your doctor’s guidance seriously.
For me, it took falling asleep behind the wheel, hitting a tree head-on going 40 mph, and walking out of my totaled car with (only) two broken wrists to realign my priorities and come up with more creative life and work strategies. I also learned that I had severe sleep apnea as I was in the hospital after surgery to reconstruct one of my wrists. Two days after surgery, I was back at it at work, but I used voice technology to complete some of my writing, allowing my one functioning hand to make the edits. I also was given a CPAP machine to handle my sleep apnea and it has made a world of difference for me.
Of course, my setback was nothing close to what you’ve experienced, but we all have them and there are many strategies to help get us back on our feet.
In terms of suggestions, I have a few, because you likely want to keep your business going to some extent, while you’re putting most of your focus on healing. Your doctors (and the rest of us) want you to heal and get healthier, so that you’re around and thriving for a long, long time!
To that end, I would try to find a temporary store manager for at least the next six months to handle the work flow, keep the lights on, and perhaps hire a few local interns to assist. That way, you can be tapped for any major questions, but someone else is carrying the day-to-day burden. And when you’re in better shape physically, perhaps you and the office manager can ramp up your business together, bringing it into growth mode when you’re ready.
I would love to open this up to the rest of the network for their advice, especially if they’ve been through something similar previously.
Exhausted and Determined, thanks again for that very heartfelt letter and for giving us the opportunity to share our thoughts with you.
Sending you many prayers for rapid healing. I know you’ll bounce back and be stronger than ever!
Best Wishes, Abel
SOFI: Dear Exhausted and Determined, I am so sorry to hear of the situation you are in, but I am also truly impressed by the courage and determination you have. Not only in getting well and teaching yourself how to live again, but also how committed you are to your customers, even when you are experiencing severe personal trauma.
I think the universe is telling you to slow down. You need to learn how to put yourself and your needs first. Your business can’t succeed in the future if your own health and well-being are wavering.
I agree with Abel… it makes a lot of sense for you to hire someone. Instead of having them manage the whole store, though, maybe have them manage your existing clients and stop taking on new ones. Update your website, letting people know that currently, you’re not accepting new customers due to a medical emergency. But ask them to leave their email address, so you can reach out in a few months once you are well.
You can also use our Q&A Forum to see if there is someone nearby who is an expert in photo-restoration and might be able to help you.
If you aren’t able to find someone to fill in, send a note explaining the situation to your current customers who are waiting for you to take on their orders. I am sure, given everything you’ve been through, they will understand and will eagerly await your return.
Please listen to your doctors and give yourself time to heal.
Warmly, Sofi
Comments (1-10)
The answers are nice and correct as far as they go but the probability is your business will never be the same if you go on leave. The idea is to outsource the work for a commission on sales so you receive revenue per transaction.
My heart goes out to you. There are some great answers here to your question so I want to comment in another way. The eyes are an extension of the brain. When you feed the brain you are also feeding the eyes. Have you taken or researched foods, herbs, supplements that regenerate the brain & eyes. There are many and it is important that supplements would come from whole foods. May I suggest that you research Brain Octane MCT Oil, and Coconut Oil along with the other nutrients that feed the eyes. The diet & supplements that reverse early Alziemhers also helps the eyes. My prayers are with you....Blessings, Pam Love
This is where I was with my business around 5 years ago, even though I was a business owner I was doing most of the customer work and when I was sick customers suffered and our business also suffered. I finally decided to hire employees and delegate so I was running my business not working my business, there is a huge difference. My satisfaction with life has greatly improved and I am having more fun being a mentor and cheerleader to my employees rather then being "in the trenches" everyday. YOU CAN DO IT TOO !
I have been a realtor for 14 years. Six years ago, my son joined me and we formed the team - Team AZ Real Estate. Then, four years ago my daughter joined the team. I have trained them with everything I know about real estate, but more importantly, I have taught them how to treat our clients. I love having a family team!
Paulette, Duke & Hope Davis
Team AZ Real Estate
Realty ONE Group
xxx-xxx-xxxx
I hate to hear of your problems. This happened to my Dad at one time and he was blessed to find an honest competitor who did not have enough work. The man performed my Dad's services as well as his and kept them separate. My Dad was able to work i again in a little over a year and we are still open many years later. I would try to find an honest competitor that will take care of your clients, pay you some sort of fee, and not try and steal your client base. I will be praying for you and wish you luck.
David Day, Jr.
All of that being said, I've found that staying in touch with people, keeping them "in-the-loop" on sometimes personal, and business issues through whatever our regular methods are, (newsletters, email, social media updates, website posts, company annnouncements and other ususal contacts and assistance), can go a long way toward remaining connected with our larger world. When we share the challenges of our lives more broadly, we infuse all of our relationships with the genuine; and we blurr the striict lines of business, social, and personal interactions, encouraging a shift in everyone's perceptions away from often rigid compartmentalizing that may be counterproductive to not only our businesses, but to our whole-life aims, goals.
People want to cheer each other on; people want to know they are recognized and valued in more than only one nerrow "compartment" of life. Knowing that our struggles are so often also siletly some part of others' struggles, is a recognition of our shared journey, and how, often unkowingly, we touch each other's lives beyond the ususal insolating, isolating commercialization that's often promoted as the prime premise of all daily human experiences.
All of the answers here help us with this extension and expansion of inclusiveness that adds immeasurably to the kind of world we create with all our interconnective building blocks as we each add to each others daily-business, whether we are sticktly business customers, or aquaintances, or anything in between. In practice, we are all more important to each others' sense of Life's business, than we may know.
Even in the limbo of life threatening, life changing illness, we still have the power of our choices about what we want to stand for, and how we will conduct our daily life... inclusive of all of the prescribed compartmentalizing we may have been following.
Indeed, as Sofi voiced, please take care, and do what is needed and best for your own healing.
I had a heart attack 8 years ago. Quadruple bypass. Fortunately I had people in place that were able to continue the business and teach while I was gone. On the other hand I have had students quit when I expanded my business to two locations. They stayed with me knowing that I would return but they didn't like the idea that my services would be limited. I decided to do one location because I was like a dog chasing its tail. In my situation keeping it small was a better option for me and my students.
I also had to face the reality that sometimes, you must listen to the doctors and your body. My failure to do just that caused me to lose even more time from my usual eight-day-a-week efforts (business owners understand my math). After the second go-round, I did just what I was told, and worked out a new weekly in-office schedule. I also resurrected my home office (where I started my business), and this has given me the ability to sleep later, and be more relaxed four days each week.
To all reading this, any form of uninsured disability is a major financial stressor, so consider the purchase of both personal and business overhead disability insurance policies. They are lifesavers. Also consider the purchase of long term care insurance should you need in-home nursing care or have to go into a nursing home for a time. No plugs, but if you live in New York State, I can help you with those policies, no pressure.
In the meantime, make yourself take time off, away from the business. Since making my schedule changes, I've improved and so has my business.
Best of luck to all.
Many of my business owner clients utilize various forms of disability insurance to protect themselves from the "What ifs".
These policies can replace loss income, pay for overhead expenses, etc.
If you would like to learn more, feel free to send me an email and we coordinate a phone conversation.
I wish you continued success.
I would look for a hungry partner, tech savvy and young. That way you can retain part of the business, benefit from their skills, maybe do the paperwork end. And in that industry, he/she can move the business forward into alternate areas that you may not have thought of and may have marketing / streamlining ideas beyond what you've done to date. There are so many entrepreneurial types out there just looking for a hand up or a place to start.