Are you stuck in the solo entrepreneur trap?

Most entrepreneurs that we work with are very ambitious and driven – they work very hard and want to make a big impact in their community. However, being a business owner can mean you’re stuck with an endless to-do list. If you’re feeling like the proverbial hamster on the wheel and you’re not meeting your revenue goals – then you're probably stuck in the solo entrepreneur trap.

What is this trap? It's the mindset that entrepreneurs default to when we think we need to do everything ourselves. Marketing, HR, Admin, Finance – when you're wearing too many hats, and as we like to say, juggling too many glass balls, some are bound to fall! 

Here are 3 thought processes that are holding you back – and what you can do about it!

“Everything must be perfect – and I will take care of every detail!”

Stop! Does everything have to be perfect? The Pareto principle states that 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. This means that, most of the time, you can get to 80% of your result with less effort. 

Look at each task and identify the minimum that needs to be done to make it happen. Some refer to this as the ‘minimum viable dose’ for the maximum impact. Now convert that into a system that works for you.

For e.g. let's say you are trying to boost your social media following. The perfectionist way would be to manually collate and share content three times a day yourself. The efficient approach would be to schedule a few posts at the start of each week and boost one of them with a small payment. This strategy would increase your followers without you touching your social media page for the rest of the week (except for when you’re responding to all the lovely engagement you attract)!

“Everything will be perfect – only when I do it!”

Remember! Everyone has limits and no one can do everything. It's better to focus your time and energy on your strengths. You don’t have to struggle for hours doing something you're not good at.

Successful business leaders surround themselves with a team of people smarter than themselves. Find people with the skills you need and delegate to them. You'll invest resources and trust at the start and once your new team member is in place you'll start reaching your goals much faster. Imagine that, you’ve offloaded the things you don’t enjoy and you’ve cloned a little part of you by sharing your vision with a new team member.

So – with the marketing example, if you wanted faster results you could get yourself a marketing consultant or coach. Bringing in an expert is an investment, not an expense.

“Everything must be perfect – ALL THE TIME!”

Really? Is it realistic to have a perfect house, perfect family, perfect social life, perfect pets and perfect business – all at the same time? It’s ok to prioritise different things at different times.

To focus more on your business, consider getting help at home. To focus more on your family, get help with the business. What is the cost of a cleaner, secretary or virtual assistant? If you pay them $30 an hour while your revenue is $100 you're making $70/hour while keeping your sanity.

Be patient and kind with yourself - it's one path to success!

If you wish you could belong to a business community that gets you, where thought-provoking conversations happen every week, join us in The League. It's the place where resilient entrepreneurs meet.