It is hard to believe that the holidays are already upon us. This year has flown by for Missoula Bookkeeper and you are probably feeling the same. As we head into the end of the year, it is a time to plan for your business but also to connect with family and friends in meaningful ways.

As a small business owner, there are a lot of different hats to wear, and not all of them will fit just right. On any given day, you may shift from CEO to janitor to HR specialist to cashier to handyperson and back to CEO again. Somewhere in all of the back and forth, you will have to take on the role of social media manager.

Before starting my business, I had spent most of my career working in non-profits. There were a lot of hours for pretty measly pay but your reward was supposed to be supporting a cause or organization you believed in. It was supposed to feel great to help out, but often you felt burnt out, overworked and underappreciated. And you rarely got to do the “fun” work that the organization represented because you were doing your desk job to support that work.

Usually, when you hear people talk about red flags, they are referring to their latest Tinder match, but red flags are all over the place if you are paying attention. When it comes to your small business, here are a few things you should be looking for that lets you know you may be in for some trouble down the road:

Making authentic choices is scary. We spend so much time worrying about others opinions and trying to please everyone, that we end up watering down the very thing that makes us unique. We abandon our own needs and vacillate on our core values and boundaries. When we make a commitment to being authentic, we communicate to the world who we are and what we stand for.