You cannot grow your company if you are stretched too thin personally and trying to handle every important aspect of your business single handedly. You may have employees, but do you make all of the decisions and jump into fixing things, finishing things, or finding the new things on a daily basis?
The challenge of the small business owner is to find their personal strengths and keep their production in that arena. And, of course, build your team on people that have the strengths that you don’t.
The first step of letting go of some of the control is understanding our “control nature.” Why do we try to maintain control to begin with? Think about it. Usually when we are overly controlling we cause ourselves pain and stress in the process. Do we want the pain?
I don’t think so. I think the confused psychology in our head basically convinces us that holding on will reduce the pain. And it may short term. But the impact is cumulative. We don’t let go…..of anything. If we are growing, and our “control nature” is holding on, the weight is getting heavier to maintain. It sneaks up on us. And it does so quickly.
Which of these is behind your “control nature”?
- Fast growth. You grew so fast that you didn’t have time to build a team in the process. You woke up one day and are at capacity. Your own capacity. And you feel like you can’t find the time to find help.
- Money Hungry. You were growing and making money. Yay! And you were spending it. Rather than reinvesting in a team to support your business, you got used to taking it home. Now to hire people you will have to lower your own personal income in the short run.
- Lack of Trust. You don’t believe anyone else can do the work as well as you can. Maybe you did hire someone and they failed. But did you hire the right talent?
- Ego. You like “doing it all”. You feel in control and good at what you do. You didn’t anticipate getting tired.
- Fear. Running your own business is a delicate balance. You are making ends meet, but you are stuck. You can’t grow because you need help. You can’t get help because you are barely making ends meet. Do you step out in faith? Can the help create the breakthrough in sales you need to cover the added cost?
I think all entrepreneurs have a “control nature”. We want to create, execute, and keep things moving. But at some point in the development of our business, our “control nature” becomes the bottleneck. It eventually will be what limits our growth and keeps us carrying a burden too heavy to maintain for the long-run.
What is your “control nature” and are you ready to move beyond it?
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