Monday morning starts before the sun. Breakfast. Get the kids up. Everyone dressed, fed, lunches packed, backpacks loaded. And while the house is moving, my brain is already sprinting: today’s client schedule, payroll, a staff question that can’t wait, who’s doing pickup, what’s for dinner, which vendor invoice is overdue, and when I’m going to squeeze in bookkeeping and follow-ups between meetings.

If you’re a small business owner, you know that running the business is a second full-time job layered on top of the work you actually love. For us, it was healthcare. Seeing patients was the mission, but it wasn’t the only work. The day was never just “the day.” Staff had to be trained, supervised, and paid. Bills had to be handled. Client/patient issues had to be solved. And there was always one more thing.

And like many couples in our 30s and 40s, we were building a business and raising a family at the same time. Our family was (and is) the center of everything—soccer schedules, school events, making sure the kids feel steady and supported while life stays busy. Looking back, the one thing I would change is this: I would have gotten more intentional about our family’s financial plan sooner, instead of hoping the “right decisions” would add up over time.

We did what most busy families do: we made good moves in pieces. An investment here. An insurance policy there. A retirement account we meant to revisit “next quarter.” Meanwhile the questions kept piling up: Are we saving enough? Are we protected if something happens to one of us? Are our beneficiaries right? Did we plan for quarterly taxes? What happens if the business has a slow season—or a great year? And how do we make smart decisions without spending our nights buried in spreadsheets?

(Pictured to the left: Dawn's grandson showing the importance of spare time with family)