Last December, husband and wife John Darroch (39) and Susan Compelli (39) launched Hurly Burly, a children's play and party centre in Finglas, Dublin.
The problem
John has had one day off since January 1st, and that was only to help his wife catch up with a backlog of paperwork. Susan has a slot between 9.30 a.m. and noon to do the paperwork, and then in the afternoon there are the three different pick-up times for their three children at various locations. She says they are working well as a couple and running on adrenalin but that the busy schedule means she lets the children watch more TV than usual and that they are spending less time with them.
"They've been asking why they can't go swimming with John, which they used to do every week," she says. "There is definitely room for improvement in our work-life balance."
John says none of what is happening now is a shock. "We knew what we were getting into, starting our own business," he says. "We are suffering in the short term for long-term success."
Before Hurly Burly started, he did GAA training on Saturday and played golf or five-a-side football four times a week, but he has no time for any of those activities now. The couple are currently looking for franchisees for the business and hope that eventually they will be far less "hands-on" than they have to be at the moment.
The solution
"Susan and John are capable, intelligent people who are going through the initial phase that everyone who starts up a new business must go through," says Hancock. "However, John admits he is working pretty much seven days a week and that situation can't go on. Everyone needs personal time, and if he doesn't find some way to take it he is likely to burn out, which is not good for business.
"John has studied time management in the past but now it's time to look at how much of what he learnt is actually being implemented. Susan's difficulty is squeezing all the paperwork into a limited time each day. She could do with some help with this and it wouldn't be too costly to employ someone on an occasional basis to help cope with the backlog.
"I would suggest that they make it a priority every Friday night to sit down and schedule the week ahead. With these plans in place at least they can relax to some degree. It's important that John looks at ways to take at least one day a week where he doesn't work. If he can't manage that he must try to find at least two days a month for personal activities such as football or golf or extra time with the children. I can't stress how important this is."
