We are business owners.

Someone asked me about paychecks recently.

"Paycheck? What paycheck? We are business owners, we don't draw paychecks."

Once you've owned a business before, it becomes nearly impossible to revert and think of work-life in terms of five-day work weeks, the concept of weekends, annual leave days and monthly paychecks.

The definition of work is not about clocking hours in the office and just getting stuff done. It's also not purely about meeting sales targets and looking forward to that big bonus payout at the end of the year. It is about managing resources - both people (talent) and money (financial).

So we don't live paycheck to paycheck, have no golden parachutes and no notice periods / "gardening leave". We also do not 'cash-in' any unused leave days (no leave days to speak of really), have virtually no possibility of getting fired from employment or taking severance pay.

An entrepreneur is constantly kept on his toes not because he is afraid of losing his job but because he fears for his survival, he fears for cash flow as well as the supply of the resources around him - both people and money.

That constant worry is what keeps him alive.