Every day is different for entrepreneurs, but there are some constants that make up a typical day. In this interview, we’d like to ask entrepreneurs some questions to get a better understanding of what a day in the life of a business leader looks like. From meeting with clients and managing employees, to dealing with challenges and staying motivated, read on to find out what it takes to be successful in this career.
We hope this gives you a better idea of what to expect if you decide to become an entrepreneur yourself.
The question we our interviewees is – As a business leader, what does a typical day at your company look like for you? What do you like most about it? And conversely what are the biggest challenges?
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Imoro Abdul Rahim
Title: Founder, Editor, and Content Creator
Company: Imoro Online Marketing
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamimoro
My common day is specially full of writing content for my blog and making films for my youtube channels, I do not get time to go out to have fun, I wake up early, pray clean up and begin work. I can say the boom has been gradual however as a small company like mine, I do not complain. I love my company or work as it offers me freedom and place meals on my table. My biggest challenge is the workload due to the fact that, currently, I work on my own and I typically do not get a great deal performed in a day. I will get help very soon to assist me with some of the work.
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vincent amodio
Title: CEO/Founder
Company: Icon Medical Center
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincent-amodio-0b881381/
Issues of Identity and Belonging
Even though you’re employed by a company, it doesn’t mean you’re immune to problems with organizational culture. A dysfunctional office is one in which people don’t get along well, in which there are problems with communication, in which there are rumors and in which there are people who try to undermine the team’s efforts. It doesn’t matter what it is; you’ll have to handle it as the leader. Change in an organization’s culture is difficult, but you can set the tone. if you don’t want people to gossip about you, don’t gossip about yourself. You must be able to work well with others in order to improve team performance. By your actions, you are determining the overall tone of your company’s culture.
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Rohit Bimbra
Title: Founder/CEO
Company: homehealthcareshoppe.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohit-bimbra-4673814/
My days are spent focused on ensuring that our company is delivering the best possible experience to our customers. I start my day by reviewing customer feedback and working with our team to identify areas where we can improve. I also spend a lot of time researching new ecommerce trends and evaluating how we can incorporate them into our business. In addition, I work closely with our marketing team to ensure that we are effectively promoting our products and services. And of course, no day would be complete without spending some time on sales, interacting with customers and getting their feedback firsthand.
I love the variety that my job provides and the opportunity to make a real impact on our company’s success. The biggest challenges that I face are staying ahead of the competition and continually finding new ways to improve our customer experience. But at the end of the day, it’s all worth it when I see our customers happy and engaged with our products.
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Marty Ford
Title: President
Company: BulletpRoof Roof Systems Ltd
Linkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/marty-ford-0b74535b
I oversee all aspects of the business, from sales and marketing to production and operations. I might be in the office dealing with paperwork and attending meetings, or out on a job site supervising workers. I also do a lot of sales calls, both to drum up a new business and to check in on existing clients. I also work closely with our team of estimators, project managers, and field supervisors to ensure that our projects are on schedule and within budget. I’m fortunate to work with a great group of people, and we’ve built a strong team that is committed to providing the best possible service to our customers.
The biggest challenge in my job is it can be physically demanding work, but I really enjoy it. The sense of satisfaction that comes from a job well done is unlike anything else.
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Andrei Kurtuy
Title: Co-Founder & CCO
Company: Novo Resume
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrei-kurtuy/
A day in my work life:
A typical day at my company starts with me entering my office with my freshly brewed coffee, which improves my mornings drastically. I begin my work day by answering all emails and scheduling any meetings I need to have with my employees. Then I conduct daily morning huddles with my employees so we are all on the same page regarding our goals and can encourage each other to complete our tasks.
After catching up with everyone, I sit down to work on my tasks till lunch break while attending the scheduled meetings. I also spend time with our customer care team to see if our customers have been facing any unique problems. At 1:00 PM, I proceed to take an hour-long lunch break with all our colleagues. This gives me time to catch up with everyone in a more personal space and find out about their activities.
Once lunch break ends, I ensure that I have completed at least half of my tasks for the day. During this time, all the members in our office try to wind up any remaining work for the day. We also try to have evening huddles in our teams so we can hold each other accountable regarding work.
If anybody would enter our office around 4:00 PM, they would witness multiple small huddles around the office and see everyone engaged with their teams. By 5:00 PM, I try to leave the office if all of my work has been completed so I can spend the remaining day with my family and indulge in self-care.
My favorite part of the day:
As the business co-founder, my favorite part is definitely the team huddles where I get to find out what my employees have been up to. These huddles help me in encouraging the demotivated employees and appreciate the hard-working people. Moreover, I believe our daily huddles create a sense of togetherness for everyone in the office since we feel connected.
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Josephine Lee
Title: CEO
Company: Cicinia.
Linkedin: https://twitter.com/CiciniaC
I always start by talking about the objective of the project and the purpose of it. After that, I delegate specific responsibilities and due dates to each member of the team. My experience has shown that when a team is aware of the objectives of the entire project, they are better able to comprehend how the role that they play contributes to the achievement of those objectives. When we are working on a project, I will hold full team meetings in order to provide each member of the team the opportunity to report on their progress. I make it a point to acknowledge the efforts that the team has put in so that they remain motivated. I also check in with every member of the team to see how far along they are, discuss any potential risks or problems with the deadline, and provide any further clarity that may be needed. The members of the team may feel more at ease discussing their needs for further assistance if they are given the opportunity to check in outside of the meeting. The process of making myself available to my team and cheering on their successes enables them to maintain their concentration and gives them the impression that they are supported.
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Gary Hunter
Title: Director
Company: CompareGolfPrices
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-hunter-b6451918/
Because I encourage my staff to develop goals that are clearly aligned with the goals of the firm, I believe that I possess the qualities of a transformational leader. When I was in my former role, I had quarterly meetings with my team in order to discuss and track the development of overall team goals, as well as business objectives. During one of our meetings, we came to the realization that our most recent objective was very department-oriented, and that we had lost track of the ways in which it benefited the firm as a whole. We shifted the focus of our team’s mission to more directly target the quality concerns that were impacting our business.
I also had one-on-one conversations with every member of the team to assist them in formulating specific objectives for the workplace. For example, one of the members of my team initially planned to generate twice as many deliverables; but, through collaborative effort, we were able to alter her objective to produce fewer deliverables that had higher quality assurance scores. My team was able to address an overarching company goal and increase the quality of our work as a whole because to the transformational leadership style that our team’s leader utilized.
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Dean Lee
Title: Head of Marketing
Company: Sealions
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanleeseo/
My team works best when they know exactly what they need to do and when they need to do it. My team’s productivity is guided by the SMART goal method, which I use to set daily, weekly, and monthly goals. When it came to inventory, for example, I wanted to ensure that my staff could complete it by the end of the month. In light of each team member’s unique strengths, I assigned daily duties to them. For the sake of keeping track of our weekly goals as we approached our deadline, I designed a visual progress tracker.
It was also important for me to check in often with my team to make sure our time frame was still reasonable and change weekly targets when necessary. My team was able to complete inventory ahead of schedule thanks to the SMART objective system. This technique aids me in providing my staff with the direction and inspiration they crave. I believe that SMART goals may be used for a wide range of team situations.
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Paul Bowley
Title: CEO & Managing Director of Abbeycare Group
Company: AbbeyCare Foundation
Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/paul-bowley-723056101
As the Managing Director of a rehabilitation facility, my typical day doesn’t look the same as a normal business. I always begin the day by meeting with staff and sharing the schedule of the day, any new residents and their necessary information, a handover of the current residents, and re-iterating the expectations of the team. Luckily I have a fantastic team that is the sole reason the facility is always running so smoothly and I cannot credit them enough.
I then usually have a few meetings, such as with prospective residents and their support systems, stakeholders meetings, any recruitment will also go through me provided I have the time and any administrative work that needs to be done. But the best part of my day is the time I specifically make sure to carve out to spend with the residents in the activities room. It’s probably the most fun and interesting part of my day, and it makes all the boring admin worth it. Then I’ll leave around an hour after the evening shift staff arrive, making sure to be a part of their handover and staying for the hour to make sure everything is running smoothly.
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Arthur Worsley
Title: Founder
Company: The Art of Living
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthur-worsley-8b9b4423a/
Most days start with me reviewing our progress and goals for the month and quarter to make sure we’re on track, especially when it comes to marketing and sales. I’ll then go through my emails and respond to the most urgent ones from clients, as well as any important internal emails.
Next, I make sure my team has everything they need to get started on their tasks for that day. Then, I move on to the core part of my business, which is productivity coaching. I usually have about 2-3 coaching calls every weekday with my productivity clients. These can take anywhere from 2-7 hours per day, with a few breaks in between.
Once these calls are done, I check in with my team again and see if they need any assistance from me. This usually takes about an hour or two, after which my workday is done, and I can then wind down for the night and prepare for another busy day.
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Maciej Dziergwa
Title: Founder & CEO
Company: STX Next
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maciejdziergwa/
Time is everything to me.
As an entrepreneur for several years, I normally get asked the same question: what’s it like being an entrepreneur and what does the typical day of an entrepreneur look like? Honestly, a typical day for an entrepreneur isn’t much different from a typical day for an employee, but there are small activities business owners take that make a huge difference.
For me personally, time is everything, both in my personal and professional life. As a CEO with 17 years of experience, I have had better and worse years in terms of planning my work. I’m a morning bird; I get up between 4 and 5 a.m. everyday depending on the season of the year, and devote the first few hours of the day to self-development. This is especially important for my mental health, but also for my desire to be a better leader for my co-workers.
I start the day with yoga and meditation to clear my mind and set myself up positively for the day.
I try to read books with my morning coffee and breakfast. Then I drive to the office, and on the way I try to listen to an audiobook, a podcast or learn a foreign language. It is also not uncommon for me to work remotely from home, but the morning ritual and getting up looks similar.
Normally I would begin my work by checking emails and progress of projects that my business is involved in. Personally, I don’t like checking emails first thing in the morning, I prefer to start off on some positive.
I tend to work on the most important activity first. It could be making a phone call, it could be working on the report or project. The most important and usually most profitable project is worked on first.
I’m normally seen on the phone with a customer or business contact. I’m always amongst people and networking with people. Part of my time at work is spent meeting with a large group of employees to help them develop and listen to what’s bothering them.
At the end of a day filled to the brim with chores, I calm down, heading home, where I eat dinner with my family and spend time with my wife and children. After a long day at work, I would unwind at home and unwind by reading books, articles, watching movies, spending time with family, or engaging in a pastime. Some business owners even take advantage of this downtime by playing golf and building relationships with their clients or other business associates. A better use of time, once more.
You can always ask for more money and volunteers, but you will never get more time, so my advice is to rethink what you invest the most time in. Communicate very clearly what you will spend it on.
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Devika Shallivan
Title: Entrepreneur
Company: Enjoy Fruitz Ltd
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devikaglobal/
When I had a job I didn’t have time to go to the Bank or look for a better job. When I started my soul searching I tried to do lots of classes and went to lots of workshops.
As an Entrepreneur, I like that every day is different and yet the same. I have structures which help me to do different work at different times. I am highly self-motivated and eat my frog first or work towards it. I work from my Home Office – Kitchen Table, Workspace, Restaurants and Cafes.
I most like being Entrepreneur because I want to have the flexibility to work on my own hours and be more flexible for my family. To get up at my time and sleep at my time. Now, I run 7 Companies and I run them on 7 different days. I also sometimes concentrate on 1 Business more than the other 6.
As expected from a hardworking Entrepreneur I do not get up at 5 am or 6 am or 7 am. I am not an old White Male Baby Boomer. I do not believe in early bird catching the worm as who wants their mouth with the worm anyway? 🙂 I am Proud Night Owl and I like the Flexibility what Entrepreneurship gives like travelling, spending more time with the family, etc. I start my day at 11 am and finish at 2 am to 3 am or 4 am. I sleep approximately 9- 10 hours as my Beauty Sleep.
I am sometimes like Tim Ferris in ” 4 Hours Work Week” in that you are spending a lot of time thinking in the background while watching TV or something inspirational or watching a movie in Cinemas, or exercising in the Gym. I stay away from the negative news but would try to know from Google articles what is happening.
I mainly deal with UK clients or global employees via email or maximum phone calls. I do not expect you to reply immediately. I do not micro-manage them. I want them to have that time to run their errands and still are motivated to do the work. I do have tax deadlines that I take seriously, and perhaps that is the only deadline I keep.
The challenge is, Normally you are an Entrepreneur you are expected to wake up early by trend- By Venture Capitalist or Entrepreneur tribe. I am not able to and I am not ashamed about it despite it being ground-breaking and many people seeing it as laziness.
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ren hong
Title: CEO
Company: HarryLimited
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.cn/incareer/in/%E7%BA%A2-2jewellery-b4b53121b
My typical day is to find the issues in my work and fix it. I like my job; I will work until I can not work anymore. The big challenge is to take care of my work and my child simultaneously because I believe both are important.
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Jonathan Maharaj
Title: Founder
Company: AuroraFinancials.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanmaharaj/
As a business leader, my typical day has tasks that vary between three areas – growing the business, managing service delivery, and continuous improvement.
In the morning, I review emails and provide updates to my team. I also respond to queries from clients and my team so that work keeps moving forward.
I also use the morning to review my team’s work and communicate with clients.
In the afternoon, I spend time in meetings with my team or clients. There may also be ongoing projects that I need to be involved in.
If there is something urgent and important, I rebook meetings and redirect my time to the priority event.
There is time in my day for other commitments, such as family appointments, continuing professional development, and networking. I think it is important to keep learning as businesses continually change.
I like that my team is fully remote and that we work flexibly.
I enjoy that we have time for family and life events, and that we can organise our work around our own individual availability.
Managing a global team that is working remotely in different time zones can be a challenge. This requires good coordination and communication.
Working flexibly means that if you work less hours during the day, you have to offset this with working in the evening or in your own time.
This makes it important to keep track of your competing priorities. Don’t confuse flexible working with being on a holiday.
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Keith Terell
Title: Founder and CEO of Backpacks Global
Company: Backpacks Global
Linkedin: N/A
As the CEO of a company that’s entirely remote, this is what my typical day looks like. First, I wake up and go to the office (my living room), and make sure my colleague (my dog) is fed, then I log on and the real work begins.
We use numerous apps to stay in contact, like Zoom and Slack, and use Gmail and its calendar for scheduling. So the first thing I do is check my messages, see if any meetings are scheduled, and look at the workload. I also schedule meetings with whoever needs a one-to-one, and field calls and meetings with clients. I love the control that I have over my own schedule. Though that also does present the challenge of knowing what I should be doing. I know that if things get suspiciously quiet or calm, then I’m probably not working as hard as I can be.
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Rafal Mlodzki
Title: CEO
Company: Passport Photo Online
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafal-mlodzki/
My day as a CEO can be very different. What is constant, however, is the huge number of meetings. I am someone who gets a lot of questions because the final check is on me, so in addition to catching up on business matters and meetings with clients, I also have a lot of this in-house for organizational and decision-making purposes. Interestingly, this is both something I love about my day and something I find most challenging. On the one hand, making decisions and having a huge input in shaping the business is something I’ve dreamed of, and I love those arrangements, and on the other hand, it’s easy to get lost in it and make the days very unproductive. Meetings tend to become the disruptors of the day, and more than once, I’ve caught myself realizing that other duties didn’t get done because of them. One must learn to manage time very clearly and firmly.
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Alex Savy
Title: CO-FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Company: Comfy North
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-savy-68681354/
When potential employers ask you this question during an interview, I believe it’s because they’re interested in learning about the challenges you’ve encountered in previous employment and how you overcame them. They are also going to test your ability to come up with solutions to problems, which will give them a sense of how you would handle similar obstacles in the job that you are interviewing for. Consider any situation in which you were confronted with a problem that you were able to resolve or get through in order to determine the kinds of problems you’ve encountered in your previous roles.
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Daniel Foley Carter
Title: Director
Company: DanielFoley
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-foley-assertive/
Operating a business
I feel one of the greatest challenges of today, and one that is getting worse, is operating a business under the crushing weight of government rules. I believe that the greatest leadership problem is locating managers and staff who will act ethically. The issue of business ethics is the “elephant in the room,” and too many managers are willing to disregard ethics in order to maximize profits. A good leader understands his business and runs it at peak efficiency and a decent profit within the standard for his product. And he brings down the Hammer of Thor at the first evidence of unethical activity among his management team. It would be ideal if this were uniformly true, but greed and the pursuit of profit frequently undermine ethical standards.
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Marcus Clarke
Title: Founder
Company: Searchant.co
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcusclarke82/
I wake up early every morning, shower, make coffee and have breakfast. I usually get to the office by 8 or 8:30 a.m. My day is typically filled with meetings and email correspondence, along with a few phone calls. It’s hard work, but I love it because I’m able to affect change in people’s lives.
That being said, the biggest challenge for me as a business leader is getting everyone on board with my vision and making sure that they’re energized—motivated and excited—about what they do every day. That’s where I feel like I need to be the most adaptable and flexible person in my organization.
On a typical day at home?
I spend time with my family – dinner together, playing games and just hanging out.
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Aleksandr Duchenchuk
Title: CEO
Company: Moai Team
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aduchenchuk/
My day starts with a quick overview of the status of all projects. To provide effective software solutions, we involve both the product manager and the technical architect from day one. This allows us to provide our clients with a more comprehensive solution. I make sure that everything is going as planned and that the team has everything it needs to get the job done.
I’m always on the lookout for new clients and ways to expand my team. Also, I spend a lot of time in finance and accounting—ensuring the company is running smoothly financially and that we’re making good decisions about allocating our resources.
I have an open door policy—anyone can come to talk to me about anything at any time. This helps me stay connected with everyone at the company, which is critical for building strong relationships and maintaining good morale.
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Colin Toh
Title: CEO
Company: Headphonesty
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-toh-b3878117/
A typical day for me is spent balancing time between working on long-term business development and taking care of the business’s immediate needs. To do this successfully, I often spend the morning working on long-term planning and brainstorming. I like to get an early start so I can have a bit of time to do this uninterrupted. Once the workday officially begins, I’ll meet with my team leaders for a quick rundown so both I and they know what to prioritize for the day. From there, I’ll take care of any urgent matters, reply to emails and messages, and then prioritize what else needs to be done for the rest of the workday.
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Justin Marshall
Title: Founder
Company: Desky
Linkedin: –
“On a typical workday, I begin the day by monitoring my emails. I can respond to clients in this manner and plan everything at the beginning of the day. I then review my to-do list and begin working on the tasks that are most important to me. After that, I will just meet all my employees in order to have a pleasant day for them. I write and create the images for my social media activity the majority of the morning. I begin working on the more technical portions of my profession after lunch. Despite the fact that I like my current position, I’m searching for a chance to develop new abilities and work with more significant clientele.”
I enjoy visiting various office divisions throughout the day since it allows me to keep up with my team and encourage and take part in a team building event with my steering committee. Managing a group through change, which may frequently feel frightening or unclear, is a huge challenge. Employees will look to leadership for direction and certainty as the way we work is changing like never before.
It’s critical to acknowledge the emotions of your employees and give them the impression that their worries are understood. Lowering resistance to the change can be accomplished by assisting them in seeing its advantages.
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