Hi
We are working through a series of weekly thoughts based around change and around “getting things done” in order to support this change. We are calling this Big skies, Big vision and this is week 9: “Help and Hinderance”
If you have been following the series, you will now have your vision. You have also broken this vision down into more manageable categories in which to place your activities and for each of these categories you have an exhaustive list of activities. You have also now reduced this exhaustive list down in size to the essential “must haves”, you have now sequenced these activities and finally you have developed and documented your plan. And finally we have discussed various ways to manage this plan.
This week will be short but well worth remembering. This is all about help and hinderance. First, we will deal with help.
As a small business owner, it can be daunting that there are so many things you need to remember, do and deal with. It can be terribly isolating and feel like there are simply not enough hours in a day. To help with some of this we’ve already talked about the value of the clear vision you are striving for, a robust plan, priorities and some tips on managing yourself. But this many not always be enough. You may need further help.
There is a tendency to think that this will cost and you don’t have the budget. While that may certainly be true for some types of help - such as an accountant - it most certainly is not so in all cases and help comes in many guises:
Family and friends
Coach/Mentor
Industry connections
Fellow Tallulah students
Social media forums
Web/You tube etc
Think about the things that draw upon your time but either you do not enjoy or do not necessarily move your business forward. How could you then seek help for these elements and leave you with more time to add increasing value to your business. These needn’t all be directly related to your business but are all elements which require your time:
Could you get a bookkeeper to collate and document receipts, organise and administer invoices and prepare the details for your accountant?
Could you find someone to deliver your flowers and negate some of the early mornings?
Could someone else manage your social media and/or web presence?
Could someone else take the dog out for some of his/her walks?
Could someone else clean the house, decorate, attend to the car, do the weekly shop, etc etc?
And many more questions you could ask yourself.
As your business grows and you become increasingly busy you need to keep asking yourself these questions: could someone else do this for me, would it cost, who could do it, would I be happy relinquishing the responsibility?
The last point is key. You will not be able to do everything yourself and you need to understand that – the process of acquiring that understanding may be a little uncomfortable or painful. You simply need to understand which elements you will relinquish and which you will not. But please keep “help” at the front of your mind and ensure you do reach out for this help.
And then there is hinderance.
This is where others may get in your way. Naysayers, cynics and critics. This can come from friends, from family, from the industry or from others. There are plenty out there and some are simply looking for a small chink into which they would like to sow their seeds of doubt. You need to ignore these people. One way to do that is via your vision. With this you not only have clarity but you can articulate that clarity clearly and concisely to others. In doing so there will be no chink and thus nowhere to sow that seed. They will simply give up and move on (eventually).
Another way to help here is your plan. Not only your yearly plan but your weekly and daily. Here you can see progress. You can see development and you can see the business moving towards that vision. Any doubts in you are defeated by this understanding and again there is then no chink.
The final hinderance and possibly the largest and most difficult to deal with may well be you. Once again, your vision and plans help enormously as above.
If, however you are still in doubt please seek help. You can work with a coach who can help you see the positives instead of focusing on the negatives and help give you a “glass half-full” perspective instead of a “glass half-empty”. This once again can help defeat any doubt.
If this doesn’t work, you may have underlying issues which might need more professional help. We all carry baggage, and some is useful, but some is not and this may be so deeply rooted that it will take one who has the correct training to help. But help you they will once you have taken the decision to seek their help and to work with them. Please allow yourself to do that.
And so now you have pointers to look for when considering both help and hinderance. You may not use them all but please be conscious of them and when needed please return to this when the time is appropriate. Next week we will talk a little about failure and talent.
Good luck with this and see you next week. In the meantime, and as ever if you have questions please drop us a line.
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