You started your business because you wanted to be in charge of your own decisions. Or you thought you could do a better job without the constraints you were previously working under. Or you had a dream.
Now you’re working for yourself and you are run down by a zillion tasks, often making deadlines by the skin of your teeth, or being pulled in too many directions trying to make money somehow… somewhere.
You get drawn into joint ventures that don’t go well – perhaps causing stress and worry. Or you are tempted by the security of part-time work or the seemingly higher potential of referral marketing schemes. Let’s face it, times are tough.
Has your business taken you over?
Imagine you’re a CEO and you see your own people constantly firefighting, lacking any kind of direction. What would you do? Would you not only be expected to take charge but want to, in order to improve business results and boost morale?
So what’s keeping you from doing the same for your business?
Some people cling on to things that aren’t working because it’s what they know, find it hard to change with the times or don’t like asking an outsider for help.
Others like to be busy, or to be seen to be busy. Being busy for them may equate with being important. This can be a dangerous trap though – when you are so caught up in seemingly important stuff there often isn’t time to step back, see the bigger picture and give yourself a much-needed reality check.
So if you’re being run by your business, what’s stopping you from taking charge – which, if you are working as a solopreneur, means taking charge of yourself?
All you need to do is ask yourself how the things you are currently working on contribute and bring you closer to your real purpose. And how will they impact your results in 3 or 6 months time?
Once you know clearly why you are in this business and what its purpose is (in addition to financial success), it becomes so much easier to figure out whether or not you are doing all the right things.
So if you are spending valuable time on projects that haven’t given you the desired results, it will be easier to say no. Likewise, it will be easier to deal with – and ultimately avoid – bad collaborations and joint ventures. And you may find that you can say no to time-wasting projects (and people too).
Difficult times require difficult decisions and a visionary boss will be ready for that.
Once you decide that you are a boss rather than an employee, your first step ought to be to look at the business plan. You know that forgotten document you once created which has been ignored for too long? Or maybe the one you never got round to writing?
Give that business plan some time and some TLC and allow yourself to take charge and become the boss you’ve always wanted to be.
So why not seize the moment? Think ‘Carpe Diem’. Your business is like your life – if run well, it can give you lots of satisfaction and make you and others happy.
Isn’t that worth being the boss for?
Ute Wieczorek-King is an experienced trainer, mentor and success coach who specialises in helping busy women to be more connected, visible, efficient and profitable in business. Connect with Ute via Twitter, the Success Network Community on Linkedin, or Success Network Recipes on Facebook. Or sign up to her monthly newsletter on the Success Network website.
Copyright 2011, Ute Wieczorek-King
