At what point did being a small business owner become doing everything yourself, by yourself?
When you take that big step into entrepreneurship, it feels like you’re ready to do whatever it takes to make your vision a reality. And then you figure out that it’s really hard to do that when you don’t even have time to eat lunch.
You decided to start this business, so it’s your responsibility to get the work done. But at what cost?
The Challenges of Doing It All Yourself
- Overwhelm and Burnout
When you’re running a business, you’re not just doing your craft. You’re also an accountant, a copywriter, a salesperson, a manager, and a website designer. You know how to leverage your talents and skills for revenue, but you just don’t have experience in every aspect of running a business. You’re watching YouTube how-tos, asking your friend who once made their own website for advice, and staying up late taking online quizzes to figure out what type of manager you are.
With a lot of new information to learn, new skills to implement, and a ton of pressure to get it right, it’s no wonder that 62% of small business owners experience burnout.
- Limited Resources
Limited resources means limited growth. Growing a business requires just that – growth. Expanding your mindset, skillset, capacity, and vision. But restricting yourself to only your resources will limit your potential personally and professionally. And it will take a lot longer to get where you want to go.
- Lack of Accountability and Support
I know how badly you want this business to succeed. You wouldn’t have started it if you didn’t. And at the same time, keeping yourself accountable to an endless to-do list is exhausting. And who is reminding you of the big picture? Of why you’re doing this in the first place?
This isn’t the business or the life that you dreamed of having. So, what can you do instead?
The Benefits of Support in Business Ownership
- Growth
There’s nothing wrong with you if you don’t know how to do everything in your business. Working with someone who has different skillsets and experience from you means that you get to combine superpowers. It becomes a mutually beneficial partnership that speeds up your growth and reduces your stress levels.
- Efficiency
Getting help from a trusted expert means a clear set of eyes on your business. As the owner, you’re often too close to see the strengths and limitations of your current operations. Finding efficiencies, streamlining processes, and learning new skills sets your business up for productivity, increased revenue, and increased satisfaction.
- Sustainability
Here’s the truth: we’re just not meant to do everything alone. With access to support, you eliminate isolation and feel understood and energized so that you can actually take action in your business. Being able to share your concerns, brainstorm ideas, and get support from someone who cares about your business as much as you do means that you’ll be able to keep going without falling into burnout.
In my corporate era, partnering with the finance leaders in my organization helped me to boost my career and meet the company’s goals. They taught me how to read the data to find the problem. As an operations leader, I knew which problems we were able to address and how to solve them. Alone, our departments struggled to create change. But together, we made a dynamic duo that enhanced one another’s performance.
How to Hire a Partner
To be clear, by partner I mean someone who you invest in to help you in your business. This might be a coach, a contractor, or an actual legal business partner. The idea here is to find someone who aligns with your values, understands you and your business at a fundamental level, and truly cares about your success. Because no matter the size of your company, we all need partnership. We’re only so successful on our own, and only so happy on our own.
By far, the strongest objection to hiring support is money. Small business owners believe that they should be able to do it all, and that that’s the only way to make money. But if you’re struggling, unhappy, burnt out, and not seeing the revenue you want, something has to change.
We tend to make an investment based on a result that we want. But results are not entirely within our control, ever. So before you invest, here are a few key questions to consider.
- How committed are you to do the work needed to create change? If you’re committed, and you have a partner that is committed, what can that combined commitment produce?
- What are your weaknesses? Identifying the gaps and limitations will help you focus your search for a partner. When you find someone who excels in these areas, you get the help you need without the help you don’t.
- Will you regret the investment if you don’t get the revenue results you want as quickly as you want them?
- Outside of money, what is it that you really need from this investment to make it worthwhile?
Before I invested in my coach, I determined that what I really wanted out of the investment was peace of mind. I wanted a clear plan of action and an accountability partner to ensure my progress. Yes, spending the money was hard. But I knew that if I had these things, I’d be in a better place to achieve the revenue results I wanted for my business.
Once I started working with my coach, I immediately felt like everything was going to get better. I had someone that could help me make decisions, manage my mindset, offer insight and experience where I lacked it, and be there to support me no matter what. My partnership with my coach has reduced my stress and overwhelm and helped me to grow my business on my own terms.
I can confidently say that my investment was worthwhile. It feels so good to be in the fight with someone who cares about your business as much as you do.
Is a high-ticket partnership for everyone? Definitely not, which is why I offer support at different price points in my business.
If you’re looking for help to figure out if I’m the partner you and your business need, I’d love to chat with you.
Michelle Nicole Martin
The Business Owner’s Coach
Top Small Business Voice on LinkedIn
Resources- Walmart Business Survey on Burnout