Killing Yourself As An Owner Is Probably Killing Your Business
Posted on April 24, 2024 by Bob Graham, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.
Owners don't want to face those things they want to do or think they need to do because the alternative is far more troubling. Unless they get help.
Almost every small business owner I coach is killing themselves to get everything done that they want or think they need to.
What’s really going on are challenges with time management. (Hey, I should know. I struggle with time management, too. Who doesn’t?)
As I write this article, t I should probably be returning phone calls, prepping for a meeting, revising my website, sending out marketing emails, dealing with invoices, rescheduling a meeting. And I am a one-person company.
My clients with 50 or 100 employees have about 10 times as many issues competing for their time.
Not to mention the open-door problem that sees employees constantly interrupting with questions that in most cases they could probably answer themselves if they felt empowered enough to take the chance.
They spend their day dealing with this nonstop parade of issues like my cat swatting at a toy I hold just out of reach.
And they fail miserably. Because a lot of things are working against that leader.
As humans, we tend to do the things we are good at or enjoy. (I like writing, a lot, so look at me speedwriting and article before a coaching call. Keeping books, not so much.)
Those things we are good at invite our time and attention, while they may not be the best use of company time.
The solution, you see, is that often the owner needs to find someone else to do things they don’t want or need to do. Yes, it may cost money, but I have yet to see a case where the additional expenditure, including the time it takes to train someone, does not lead to a greater amount of savings.
That savings may be in dollars or it might be in time. Almost every owner I talk to has something they want to do outside work, but cannot imagine finding the time to actually do it. By delegating more work, they actually become freer — to plan, to focus on what only they can do to grow the business, or to get away.
The question is whether an owner really wants to deal with this issue.
Owners aren’t immune to procrastination. In fact, some are downright masters of it. They say they are busy, they really think they are busy, but they often aren’t doing important things to scale their business.
They want to do things because it makes the feel good. Or “I have always done it.”
They also tend to think they need to do some of the things that almost always cause unnecessary bottlenecks. This one comes up a lot with statements like “I can’t trust anyone else to do it” or “I tried to let someone else do it and they screwed it up. I can’t afford that.”
Payroll, invoicing, planning meetings, food orders, meeting with vendors are just a few things I have been told that only the owner can do.
Hogwash.
Their need isn’t to do those tasks, but to feel useful.
They want to feel like they should be doing those things. They need that feeling.
Otherwise, what are they going to do all day?
Hard and scary stuff that’s going to drive real growth. Things like calling prospects, encouraging employees, building partnerships, planning future growth.
Those things are new and foreign, and so rather than seek help from a coach to find strategies to overcome their fear, they just keep doing what they have always done.
And their company stays where it’s always been.
If you are ready to move past this limiting belief, I am ready to help you. But only if you want to and need to, which you probably do.
Even if you don’t want to admit it.
