Are you building a business of your dreams and enjoying the journey? Or are you working tirelessly toward building the business someone else said you should have?
Being a small business owner is tough; it takes guts and loads of commitment. There are a zillion things to learn and so many different hats to wear. Naturally, you absorb all the information you possibly can so you have the knowledge to create a better, more successful business, right? You clearly implement the advice from all the “experts.” You’re doing exactly what they told you to do. The result is your business is doing okay. And you’re absolutely miserable.
When you’re building your business to someone else’s expectations of how your business ought to be structured, you’re not building your business the way you want it. In most cases, the people you’re getting the advice from have built their businesses the way they want to and charging you for the advice based on what works for them. Which, let’s face it, doesn’t mean it will work for you.
Do not misunderstand me. There are certain things that work for everyone. Every business benefits from providing value, exceptional customer service, and exceeding expectations. However, the nitty-gritty details really are specific to you and your business alone. You absolutely cannot run your business the exact way someone else runs their business and expect the same results. Someone who sells software isn’t going to run their business the same as an eye doctor or a mechanic. Each business and industry has its own specific needs. Along the same line, each entrepreneur has their own specific needs.
Think back to when you started your business before you even gave it a name. You likely had a list of things you’d do differently as the owner and not the employee. Maybe you wanted to never work a Monday again. Maybe you wanted to give 10% of your profits to charity. Business coaches probably wouldn’t agree that these are your best ideas ever. However, do them anyway. Never sacrifice things that are important to you. Find a way to make them work. Trust those nudges, your heart. If you don’t, you’ll start to resent your business.
How do you make it work? If your dream is to take off Mondays but have too much to do, then get help. Bring on a trusty virtual assistant to do your Monday tasks. If you dream of blogging more but type slower than a one-legged turtle, hire a virtual assistant to translate your chicken scratch. If you would really love to go and network your head off rather than send invoices, your virtual assistant would be happy to do that for you.
See where I’m going with this? Delegate the miserable parts and enjoy the perks.
If you want your business to succeed, it has to light you up and make you happy. If it doesn’t make you happy, it’s more difficult to put the effort, focus and time into it to ultimately grow and succeed —- and have fun along the way. Never give up on your own dreams. You put your blood, sweat, and tears into your business (sometimes, quite literally!), so make it worth it.
Yours in the adventure,
Angie
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