Cooking the Books podcast: How to run a small business and still have a life

Xero's Craig Hudson. Photo / supplied

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's what small business owners need to do differently for work-life balance, and retirement. Hosted by Frances Cook.

Listen to "How to run a small business and still have a life" on Spreaker.

A small business isn't just a business. There's a side that's all about the financial realities, but there's also a strong emotional side to things that we just can't ignore.

People often start their business in an area that they're passionate about.

Even if the choice is a bit more pragmatic, by the time you've spent years doing whatever it takes to stay afloat, you can bet that you're emotionally invested in your business continuing.

Of course, to come back to the financial side, you also need it to continue so that you can pay your bills, and put food on the table for your family.

So retiring, or even just stepping back slightly, becomes trickier when you're a small business owner.

Xero let me take a look at their numbers, and they've found that one in five (21 per cent) small business owners would like to retire in the next five years. Within the next 10 years, more than one in three (37 per cent) would like to retire.

But they're not sure how, as over half (54 per cent) of those small business owners say that if they quit, their business will keel over.

The stakes are high, because almost all of them, at 84 per cent, plan to sell the business, in order to fund their retirement .. but even though the clock is ticking, less than half (43 per cent) have an exit plan.

For the interview, listen to the podcast.

If you have a question about this podcast, or an idea for the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here, Instagram here and Twitter here.

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