From embarking on the online business of photo to painting in 2013 until now, one and a half years have flew without mercy. I still remember vividly the initial time of building the website, when I had to work more than 10 hours before computer, until exhausted. I kept reminding myself, if I am not able to make money, I have to go back to the horrible work environment once again. As a foreigner, it is always not easy to start a new life of an immigrant in the United States. Overtime and overload working in a multinational company is no more than normal phenomenon. Nine to eight is not uncommon and you have to take the driving time on the way to work into consideration, then it is eight to nine. I understand that in many big firms like multinationals, the complaints of overload are very much prevalent.
Such work habit of overworking under the state of exhaustion and fatigue extended to my initial work of founding the company. I took for granted that I should have got rewarded for my overtime and overload work. After one year and a half of work, although not every day acting this way, but the majority of weekdays had been a toil for me. The stories of enjoying life and work are permeating every website and the concept of vocation for a career sounds very attractive but I would say, I have no luck to taste such sweetness of founding a company like that. The rewarding from my establishing the first company in China was that I was able to find a decent job in local public security bureau. The reward of my second company is that I got enough fund to migrate to USA and free time to study English during my work. I haven't seen the new reward for establishing my third company here but I know one day I will encounter. This is a macro perspective of reward for the company founding. However, from micro perspective, does the market reward you because of my overtime and overload work? Throughout my experience, the answer is NO, NO, NO. Most of time the message conveyed through email communication, website building, blog writing, SEO article writing, and order processing, needs a focused and clear mind under healthy body and mental condition. Overtime and overload, if a little dose, might be helpful in solving the problems and daily work with a more efficient manner but when the increased dose is threatening your health, it has never a real benefit to your business. First of all, you are the owner of your business and sustainability is more important than one or two more orders of current date. Second, the benefit of small business is to break away from the mentality of exploitation of your previous company and give yourself freedom to decide work schedule but you are foregoing the biggest benefit to trade some additional money. After reflecting my previous experience, most of time, an exhausted brain and body will not generate energetic and creative content or even productive work to flatter your customers. And I have never seen Google, Yahoo and Bing rewarding me because my article written with fatigue. Trust me!
Online business signifies plenty of eye-straining work before computer. Take good care of your health and you are now in control of the helm. Take care, buddy! We are all on the same boat.