By Paco Collazo

As we round up our last quarter of 2022 and begin to plan our goals for next year, I’m greatly surprised by everything that worked out for my company this year.

I was expecting my small business to have a slower recovery. Even if we had solid prospects for the first few months, we had an uncertain outlook for the second quarter. The future of the industry remained unknown, thus making me unable to predict the amount of work I was in for. Our best bet was to have a full recovery by the end of 2023.

Not only was the industry in full swing and my business thriving; however, my family of three was soon to become a family of four. I can’t even recall a time when I experienced as much excitement and anxiety as when I learned that I was going to be a dad again. 

 Summer arrived and I became a father to a lovely girl, and meanwhile, my company was turning three years old. Over the moon is an accurate expression of how I felt.  

Our team was making a great effort bringing in new clients and securing future projects. But as the days went by, a realization struck: A much faster expansion was greeting me and I was in need of more help. 

Navigating this personal and professional growth brought many challenges. At the office, I was facing simultaneous changes: rearranging daily tasks and project management strategies, supervising the revamp of our social media channels and web page and going through the process of hiring more people. 

With the sudden increase of responsibility both at home and the office, I was compelled to reevaluate my work-life balance. 

I made adjustments to the work schedule before going out of office for a self-ordered paternity leave. But then I decided it was time to permanently adjust the company’s work schedule to a four-day week.

You are probably wondering how it’s possible to give clients the best experience and deliver everything they need on time with the reduced schedule. Well, I may have an answer.

The change in schedule led the team to feel more productive and in a better mood, and this translated into better service for our clients.

Reducing our working hours per week seemed like the right decision, and the quick rise of the company during the first few months after the adjustment is indicative of the incredible work that the team performs every single day.

I have dedicated most of my career to building a company I’m proud of. Now, I somehow feel like I accomplished it. And I have a very loving and supportive family that drives my motivation.

I’m not going to lie; being a parent for the second time around and having a growing business was unnerving at some points. Still, nothing makes me more fulfilled than knowing that I’m contributing to creating new industry standards from which future generations will benefit. 

Although some business decisions have come intuitively, the learning curve continues to challenge me and help me become a better leader and father.