Did you start your business as a risk-taker? Me too!
You had an idea and maybe you deliberated on it some, but then you just took action in a quick-start kind of manner, right?
You did things when they needed to get done. You were just doing what you can – being scrappy, all-hands-on-deck, taking imperfect action, possibly flying by the seat of your pants and not really following any rules or any documented paths or processes.
If this sounds like your work up to now, it may have been a highly intuitive process for you.
While I can really relate and even admire your ingenuity and independence, the problem is…
…you are now likely overwhelmed and, if you continue running your business this way, exponential growth (and getting your life back) will not happen.
This pace just isn’t sustainable.
For you to grow your business, your income and your downtime, things in your business need to run smoothly.
Even though it sounds counterintuitive, for things to run with greater ease, a lot now needs to happen without you.
This requires that you leverage systems for absolutely everything in your business.
Although you’ve resisted systems before, they will now actually liberate you and give you freedom. But one of the mindset shifts that needs to happen is perhaps around this: in the past, you’ve resisted predictability.
You may have resisted structure, but now it’s actually time to embrace it.
The mindset of an overwhelmed entrepreneur is that of a rugged individualist: “I’m going to do it my way. Nobody’s going to tell me what to do. This is why I opened up my business in the first place, to have freedom and do things my way.”
In the past, you may not have wanted to answer to anyone…you really only wanted to do what you wanted, the way you wanted to do it. But that’s just not going to work for the challenges and goals ahead for you and your business.
Before even thinking about systems themselves, I suggest you take your journal out and look at how having a business without that many (or any) systems has been for you.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- How has showing up as a rugged individualist, doing everything intuitively, looked like for you in your business up until now? How has it helped you, but also, how has it become a detriment to you?
- How has ‘flying by the seat of your pants’ in the way you do business made things more difficult for you?
- What would change in your business and quality of life if things were running more smoothly, without as much daily input from you?
Remember, as you journal about this, you’re the only one who will see your answers, so be as detailed as possible and don’t edit. Just let yourself answer honestly and instinctively. There’s no judgment here; we admire any business owner who can get off the ground and keep going!
If you find that you’d like to make a change and aren’t sure where to start with systems, or just need some support and direction, reach out to apply for a free strategy session today.
Our loving and experienced Strategy Coaches would love to hear more about you and see if working together is the next best step for you. Let’s connect, ok?
