Don't Get Strangled by Your Business

Like most small business owners, when you started your business, you were probably full of hope and excitement about what the business could do for you.  

Thoughts like these probably filled your head:

“ I will finally get paid what I am worth.”
 “I will finally be able to spend  time with my family.”
 “I will have security at last.”

Then something strange happens. A few years into building your business, an unexpected reality hits home. You have to deal with production issues, employee problems, taxes to file, bills to pay, and more customer problems than you could ever imagine.

So how did you learn to survive all this?  By motivating yourself, of course.Telling yourself things like, “I’ve got to get it done”, “Winners do what losers didn’t!”, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” And the ultimate  battle cry – “If it is to be, then it is up to me.”

The result: you arrive at home each night, totally exhausted.  And of course, thanks to cell phones, you can never get completely away from your business. We even take them into the bathroom with us! The last bastion of privacy in this country - Gone!

The dream doesn't match up to the reality.

Why is this? Why is this so common?

When you start the business it's just you, you do the marketing, you do the sales, the order taking, the production, shipping, customer service, and the accounting. It's all you. Then you invite someone else to join you. Now you would think that this would reduce your madness but if the business isn't ready for the new employee then really you are just inviting them to join you in the madness that is your business.

The reason for the madness is that it's just you doing everything, "ahh," but you say, "that's why I hired Jake, he is supposed to take some of this off my plate." But mentally, you as the business owner aren't prepared for Jake because you don't have the position ready for him and because it's not ready you're still doing a lot of the work that you hired Jake to do. You may start to think that Jake is the problem, when in actuality, you're the problem. You need to organize his position so that he has the systems, the processes, the tools in order for him to master the position that you brought him in to fulfill. If he doesn't have these in place then naturally he will be coming back to you, the business owner, again and again to both find out how to do it and to get approval for doing his job.

Unless he can truly take over the position (which means you're no longer involved), then you will still have to be involved in everything. As the business grows, you will become more and more strangled by your own business.

So as you grow, as you add on more people and prepare the position for the person to decrease the amount you will have to be involved. That is the only way you will every achieve any degree of freedom from your business.
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For more information, visit my page Who & Why or send me an email at sethgetz@gmail.com.