If you've been following me for a while you know that I was born into an entrepreneurial family.  We've built many successful businesses from the ground up.

One of my mentors is my Dad – and some of the best advice he gave me was to know whether I had a job or owned a business.

Here's the difference…  Having a job means that you basically work for your business.  You can't take vacations because things won't get done in your absence.  Running a business means that the business can still function even if you are out of the picture for a while.

Running a service-based business vs. being a freelancer for hire is not an easy place to get to  — especially if you absolutely love what you do.   Recently, due to some life events (everything is fine!)  – I had to take a week off from my business.  No looking at the computer, no typing, no sending texts.   Would you survive if you had to unplug?

If you are horrified at the thought of untethering – even for a moment – you need to do some work on your mindset.  As a business owner, you need the freedom not to be bound by the day to day work in your business.  By developing systems so the work gets done, you can focus more strongly on your income producing activities (IPA's).

So… are you wondering how to get started on your path to freedom?  Here are three ways to start creating a business instead of running on the job treadmill (even if you have a service business).

1.  Get some help.  The first thing I tell my clients to do is to hire a virtual assistant.  You can start very small and grow the number of hours as your business grows.  Just having another person in your business will help you because someone else can “hold down the fort” if you need to be away.

2.  Live in the Cloud  Keep you business files in Google Drive, or Dropbox, or Evernote – anywhere where multiple people can access them.  It is safer than ever to use the cloud – and everything is backed up in case something happens to your computer.

3. Create Systems  Ideally, a checklist needs to be created for any task that you need to do more than once.  Of course, you need to systematize the tasks your team does — but you also need to create checklists for what *you* do so someone else can fill in if needed.  Make sure all of your systems are in a central place where people can find them.

Your Action Step:  Start trying to find ways to make your business run without you.