How Straight Is Your Perfectionist Streak?

Are you a perfectionist? I was wondering the other evening, what is the relationship between perfectionism and business? Does a perfectionist have the edge on their business competitor? I think not.
Don’t get me wrong, nothing should stop you doing your best and going that extra yard for any or all business customers. But how much is at cost when you tinker, tweak or finesse to reach your best?
The problem is, from the eyes of a perfectionist, nothing reaches their ideal (perfectionism is more slippery than a politician’s promise) leaving them in a permanent place of “not quite there yet”. You know you’re in the company of a perfectionist, when they look at a final version of their service or product and say, “I’m pretty happy with it but…”
To the observer, or customer, it probably looks fantastic or is, at least, perfectly acceptable. Your time spent fixing the “yeah, but…” factor could be the cost of starting another customer’s job and possibly half finishing it! And that of course, has a serious impact on the bottom line.
I know everyone’s perspective on this is both subjective and unique; we’re talking about a tradeoff between commercialism (less than perfect) and some elusive place where flawlessness resides. Who then are the happiest, most successful people in business? I have noticed they are:

People who love what they do; it’s not work for them because it’s fun and it’s an extension of who they are.

People who have created the space and free time to maintain a balanced, happy lifestyle.

People who have managed to shift their entire way of thinking, they no longer seek to be personally perfect in business.

But how have they done this?
The focus is on continual improvement on the systems and procedures of the business. In this new place of thinking, the business becomes much more than just you. A perfectionist will tell you, only they can do the job right.
At this stage, you have let go of focusing on personal perfection and instead become clearly focused on continual improvement of the training, procedures and methods for a successful enterprise.
One way of telling if you have achieved this is when you can take a break from the business or, better still, a holiday! Meanwhile, the business successfully continues to tick over. The business now resembles a living organism (several peoples efforts and not just an extension of your own individual effort) and here is the really, really great news – your earnings are no longer limited to your personal output. You might even become seriously, seriously wealthy! Let me know your thoughts.