An entrepreneur – Beata Drzazga – a woman awarded with hundreds of awards, e.g. for his contribution to Polish entrepreneurship, both in Poland and abroad.

How did you come to be as versatile and engaged entrepreneur as you are? How much do you need from yourself and how much from others?

First of all, our commitment from the very beginning and focus on hard work is very important. We must remember that this should be done on at least two levels. First of all, it is necessary to increase the involvement of the owners, because they decide what the company will do. Without the daily, systematic participation of owners in setting operational goals and controlling the degree of implementation of individual projects, the chances of winning decrease. Second, we need to increase employee engagement. But it may not be easy because people are different. In order to encourage them to cooperate better, we have to show them our own passion and make them feel that we will not be able to do it without their help. We should also celebrate the successes of successful projects together, and share these moments. Employees need to feel that the workplace is their place to which they want to come back, you need to be fair to them and reward them properly. And the most dedicated and committed employees should be distinguished and motivated with bonuses and even unexpected gifts. We also need to set ourselves from the beginning on perseverance in achieving the set goals. This requires unwavering self-confidence, not succumbing to obstacles and, of course, the commitment of resources such as time, money and knowledge. I also emphasize the fact that staying engaged is much easier when we do what we love, not what we have to. When our work is our passion, the chances of success increase.

Does this commitment mean that we have to accept the fact that we will spend most of our time in the office and that the family will suffer until we are successful?

Not necessarily. Increasing engagement doesn’t have to mean spending 16 hours a day in the office. Often it is enough to organize our projects and tasks. For this purpose, we can use work organization applications – many of them provide basic functionalities for free. It is important not to forget that we should also reward ourselves, even if only with extra time for rest. After paying all the bills, taxes and salaries, entrepreneurs often forget about the heart of the whole enterprise – themselves, or simply lack the energy for it. Meanwhile, achieving goals must be associated with good associations – with reward and self-fulfillment, and not with ticking off the next task on the never-ending list. I have observed that career-focused people often feel that time spent with family or playing sports takes them away from achieving their business goals, that the time for such things will come later. However, this is a mistake. Maintaining a work-life balance not only gives us more satisfaction, but also allows us to work more efficiently.

How can an entrepreneur look at his “child” from a different perspective?

It’s good to look at our company from a different perspective. For example, I get a lot of energy from going to Miami, where I run several companies. I like the positive attitude and the Latin energy you can feel everywhere in Florida. After my return, I always look at problems in a completely different way. I have a lot of new ideas that make companies grow faster. Thanks to this, it is possible to stay ahead of the competition without falling into workaholism. When I look at my own companies from the sidelines or observe the companies of my friends, I am convinced that it is impossible to achieve much alone in business. A company is made up of people and its fate depends to a large extent on a good team. Therefore, we must take care of both our employees and contractors. They all need to feel satisfied with what we do together. We should rejoice in achieving our goals together.