Business not growing fast enough for you? Not getting the results you want? Read on for Part 2 of the typical bad habits of small business owners.
- Ask for everyone else’s opinions before you make a decision. Doing your homework or research is important. The thing is, you’ll always find people who agree with you and just as many who disagree, which can make you feel even more stuck. Know your own point of view, and use it.
- Spend all of your time putting out fires. Operating in crisis control mode all the time can become habitual, yet often the things we perceive as urgent fires to be put out aren’t really all that urgent or even important. Learn to allocate time to big picture thinking and business building, and let some of those little fires burn themselves out. They will, eventually.
- Play it safe. If you want a sure thing, you might want to get a government job. Being self employed involves taking chances and taking action even when there is no guaranteed outcome. Get comfortable with risk.
- Wing it. Without a plan, you’ll get somewhere—but where? Know what you are aiming for and how you will go about getting there. Your plan doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does need to be clear to you. Goals, strategies, action steps—you know this stuff. Get it down on paper and keep it within eyesight at all times.
- Say Yes to everything and everyone because you need the business. I know, I know…when money is tight, you just want to be working—so you take on any customer, any job, any project that’s remotely close to what you do, even if it doesn’t really make your heart sing. The problem with this is you end up doing all kinds of work you resent, and build a habit of tolerating things you wouldn’t otherwise. Bad practice, I tell you. Do work you love—it’s one of the reasons you chose to work for yourself. Even when the money sucks, it feels way better.
