You Think You Know It All, But Still You . . .
It always begins with an individual experiencing a moment in which they have come up with a solution to a problem or are disgruntled by their lack of financial gain and worth from the work they do. What’s worse than that is the feeling you get knowing you have gone through many years of schooling and/or work experience to only be overworked and underpaid. Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before, you ask yourself. Why can’t they see that I’m worth so much more? Why did I go to college or university all those years and get so far in debt? Why, why, why? All of these questions, plus many more, come into the minds of entrepreneurs and small business owners everyday. So you quit your job knowing that you have a solution for a problem that seems major enough to go “all in” to help you fulfill your desire to solve this issue and make some money if it is successful. You tell yourself that it’s simple and as long as you just do it, right!?
Many entrepreneurs have had life changing ideas and quite a few of them have even implemented the concept only to find themselves running into one challenge after the next. Some of these challenges are very complicated, while others can be minor hiccups along the journey of following that dream. How you react to the challenges that you are faced with are key to the types of results you get. Launching a startup business can’t be taught completely from a book or a few articles. As a matter of a fact, many of the important lessons come from the real life experiences that you encounter while creating this new venture. From clarifying who you believe your clientele may be, to finding out who your clientele truly is. Understanding what the market needs and is willing to pay for, in comparison to what you believe is the missing piece of the puzzle in a specific marketplace. Research and discovery becomes your closest friends, as you quickly learn that our perception may not be the reality, especially when the sales don’t reflect it.
Many entrepreneurs make the grand mistake of believing that they have the perfect plan of execution from the beginning of their journey. They are usually wrong. In addition, because of the strong passion most entrepreneurs have, it is difficult to get thru to many of them with helpful insight and knowledge from experience because of the belief that “they know.” I would caution heavily against allowing ego and pride to claim it’s place on your journey, so that a great idea or life changing product doesn’t die. This sense of success from the small wins in the beginning can create a false reality that the obstacles have been overcome. When blinded by this you start to truly dig your path down the road of self sabotage. Many entrepreneurs and first time business owners do it.
From not valuing individuals who come in to help evolve a business from a stagnate position to one in which it is noticed again and the product or service has been resuscitated due to that individuals experience and knowledge. Or whether it be a simple branding remake and overhaul. The individuals that contribute to these revenue generating changes are equally deserving of recognition, credibility, compensation and in some cases even equity. It must be recognized that this is a contributing factor to the long-term success of the business, the brand, the product and/or the service that a company and the entrepreneur may have thought of in the beginning. Denying individuals, teams, organizations the notability, refusing to commit to the compensation of their work and even in some cases equity valuation for the worth and value that they may have brought to a paralyzed position, only sabotages your character, not just in their minds and direct experience with you but also, among others that may ask about your brand or you as an individual. Sadly, many of these situations develop around greed, false success, desperation or a trauma.
So what are some tips to help you prevent these types of situations from happening. Well, there are many ways to go about it. I’ve listed a few suggestions below.
Be aware of self-destructive behaviors.
There are many habits and behaviors that we practice daily that become fixated in our subconscious. We go through our day to day routine without thought. Many times we self-sabotage this way because we are doing things and making statements that we have come to be comfortable with and make part of our norm. However when building out a business, you must be able to change some of our thoughts and actions so that we don’t destroy something before it’s done being built. More importantly, you must be willing to listen and learn from those around you. Believing just because it was your idea does not make you the subject matter expert on how it can become a success. Ideas, come a dime a dozen and are worthless unless executed effectively. It takes a team and trust to do that. Don’t get in your way or in the way of your team and keep the trust strong among them. Many entrepreneurs destroy by using individuals and trying to get rid of them and finding others to replace that skill set. This has been detrimental for many entrepreneurs as they destroy relationships, reputations and outright opportunity because of this selfish mindset.
Reflect on your actions.
Too many times through the journey of life and in the midst of building a business an individual will exhaust themselves by being completely focused on success. That is great unless you don’t take time to reflect on your actions of your day, your week or your month. Taking a few minutes out of your day to think back on the decisions made for both business and personal objectives can help you understand the impact of those actions more clearly. Keeping a journal is a good way to successfully track these thoughts.
Even small goals make major impacts — Set them.
Not setting goals is a sure way to sabotage your dream business. By setting goals, no matter how small or large they may be, will help you stay focused. It will also make very clear the challenges that you have set before you, in which you know are key to your overall success. They are motivations that create the fire for the continued ambition of success. Therefore, set goals, no matter how small they are because you never know the major impact they will have.
Again, these are just a few of the ways to monitor some of the subconscious self-sabotaging habits you may have. Remember, even our very body has a team within, that allows us to wake up and breathe every day. Without that team working together, sickness happens, illness fall upon it and it weakens and eventually fails. Look at your business, the same as you do your body. Keep all parts of it healthy.
