Here at Brave New Bar/BeerMenus we have a life- and family-first attitude about work. The approach isn't something we've ever put a name to, but an article that made the rounds here last week summed it up nicely: what we aim for is "chill work."
With chill work, you work hard and do what you need in order to build and carry on your business, but you don't sacrifice things like seeing your kid's first steps in order to do it, and you don't push your employees so hard that they start hating you and hating work.
This got me thinking about an interview I did last year with Nick Wendowski from Stone's Beer & Beverage, a beer store in Philadelphia, PA.
"I'm not obsessed with growth as a business owner," Nick said in that interview. Instead, his goal is to just get to a point with his business where "it's all good," meaning everybody involved in the business—from him to his employees to his family—is in a decent spot.
In other words, obsessing over growing, growing, and growing isn't his priority, because it isn't worth the sacrifices it would take to get there. Getting stable, consistent, and comfortable is the sweet spot.
Check out the interview for more from Nick about his atypical approach to business:
Watch interview clip