Who's in control? You or your business?
🎉Paul and I just celebrated our first month anniversary.🎉
While it may not seem like much, especially in the life of a business, I like to take the time to look back with my clients and ensure they're getting the value out of this relationship that they should be.
After a month, if my clients aren't seeing some kind of improvement, and can't point to some real benefit they have seen from our time together, then I know we need to either: change direction drastically, or part ways so they can find something that gives them a solid return on investment.
The grind of working for your business
I started my call with Paul by going back over some of his takeaways from our first month. (You can read over our previous calls in my articles.) We talked a little bit about his goals through this process, and I asked him if he felt he was accomplishing some of these goals.
After a brief pause to reflect, he came back with a response that made me so happy.
One of the main problems so many small business owners face is they get so caught up in the day to day jobs they *have* to do, that they forget to look at the big picture. Once that happens, all the sudden the business, and the entrepreneur switch places. Now, instead of the entrepreneur running the business, the business is running the entrepreneur.
And that's exactly where Paul was before we started our weekly calls. He had his head down and was trudging through the endless list of day-to-day chores that was starting to grind him down.
But now, after a month of calls where he had the space and encouragement to start looking at his business as the captain, instead of a galley slave, things were shifting.
He told me: 'I think the greatest takeaway from our calls is changing my focus. Before, I had hopes and dreams for my business, but no way of effectively chasing them. I was really hoping things would go my way, but had no way of knowing. Now, I feel like I've got my head up, looking for opportunities to take advantage of.'
The importance of assuming a leadership role
Paul is not a big business owner. In fact, he doesn't have a single employee. That means, he never thought of himself as a leader, just as a worker.
A lot of #entrepreneurs and #solopreneurs out there fall into this same trap. They figure, if they're the only one in the business, they don't have to take on a leadership role. However, just because it's a business of one, doesn't mean you can stop leading.
In fact, no business is a business of one – there's:
You
The business
And if you decide not to lead, then the number two spot (the business) is going to naturally take over leadership.
But, you do not want your business leading.
Your business is a bad leader
In a leadership role, your business has a huge stomach and no eyes. It will eat everything you give it, but will never move intentionally. Instead, the business will simple go where ever the work leads, moving like a ship without a captain. In doing that, it will constantly ask you for more time, more energy, more everything, and will never give you anything in return.
That's why, when Paul started talking about taking his head out of the daily grind, and looking to the future, I was so happy for him. As we continue, I expect that he will not only have a more successful business, but that he will be able to have a more fulfilling personal life as well.
What about you? Has your business taken on a leadership role in your life?