How you face adversity can make a difference for an entrepreneur between success and failure. If you’re looking for a way to move forward – even if you face a set back – we have tips that will help you be an entrepreneur who surpasses those who have a negative attitude. Is your attitude holding you back? If so, read on.
Is Your Attitude Holding You Back?
Don’t feel sorry for yourself. Yes, there are times when a setback hits hard and it’s all right if you need a day to wallow in the loss or setback. After that, though you need to stop feeling sorry for yourself, see what went wrong and course correct.
Don’t avoid change. Change is inevitable and you need to accept it. You don’t have to happily embrace it, but accept that it will happen and make the most of it.
Don’t give away your power to someone else or a client. You need to manage your responses to situations and people.
Don’t waste time on things which you cannot change. There are some changes you can make to some situations and other things – like the weather – are beyond your control. The weather is a BIG example, but think about those things that weigh on your emotions and see if you can change it or move away from it. If you cannot, then find a way to cope.
You can’t please all the people all the time. You can only do your best and deliver what you said you were going to deliver.
You need to sometimes jump in with both feet. Take a calculated risk and see what happens! Chances are, it won’t be life and death, right?
Move past the past. What’s done is done. Replaying a past failure or a past conversation or a client that got away will not help you move forward and in fact will drain your energy.
Is your marketing department struggling to engage with your staff? Do your staff and some of your vendors follow you on social media? Do they interact? Are they leaving comments on your blog posts? Does your business have a blogging culture? If you’re not sure, now is the time to investigate.
We have tips for how to get your staff involved in “helping” market the business by sharing your content with their friends and family. We know that not all content will appeal to everyone and their followers, but if you encourage your staff, you just might get more reach.
Does Your Business Have A Blogging Culture?
Ask them to get involved. If you don’t talk about your blog posts and social media with your staff, they may not even think about it – nor will they think about interacting and commenting. If you do a company newsletter, mention the blog and social media, give links and ask for interaction.
Information-sharing is what it’s all about. If you have internal teams that rarely interact with your other teams, now is the time to get everyone interacting and sharing info. You’re all in it together, right?
If you have staff who comment or even contribute to your social media pages or your blog, recognize their contributions.
Explain how to interact. Some of your staff may not even know how to interact. Offer a cheat sheet with suggestions.
Let them take ownership in a platform. “Hey, Susie, want to comment on our social media this week? We’d love it! John, you’re up next week.” Make it fun!
Can you be “too old” to be an entrepreneur? I would say no! Are you willing to put in the work? Do you keep up with trends in your business niche as well as in the technology needed to run a competitive business? Does age matter for entrepreneurs? We don’t think so.
Have you ever wondered whether you, as an older entrepreneur, are at an advantage or a disadvantage? We know there is age bias in many industries when it comes to hiring older workers. When you’re an entrepreneur you have control over our destiny.
We are seeing more older entrepreneurs because people are retiring, don’t want to or can’t afford to, be retired and are jumping into business ownership in greater numbers than ever before. Coronavirus has also been leading older entrepreneurs to look into side gigs as a way to bring in extra money and to have more satisfaction in their lives.
What are you waiting for?
Does Age Matter For Entrepreneurs?
Can you afford to open a business? Are you physically and emotionally capable? This is a question every entrepreneur needs to ask him or herself.
Here are a few points to consider on the road to becoming an entrepreneur:
What are the start up costs and how will you pay for them? You don’t want to drain bank accounts or take out a second mortgage or cash in a life insurance policy. How much cash outlay will you need? Can you operate on a shoestring until you are making enough money to expand?
Does going into business fit with any retirement plans you had? Were you planning to move down south after you retired or move to be closer to your children and grandchildren and will opening a business change that? Will opening a business impact your plans?
Do you have a dream or a passion you want to follow but never did because you were employed? Is it time to start your second act?
If you’re not yet retired, should your business idea be your side hustle until you know if you’re cut out to be an entrepreneur? Will your side hustle bring in the money you’d hoped for. More importantly, will your side hustle be as satisfying as you’d imagined? Owning a business may not be reality; a side hustle might help you figure that out.
What are you hoping for with your business? Do you want to grow it enough to pass it along to your children? Are you hoping to grow it large enough that someone will buy it and you can add to your retirement savings? Write down your goals and determine how you will meet them.
Where will you network? We know that coronavirus has put the kibosh on many in person networking events, but you can meet and network on Zoom. Do you know a business coach or a mentor from an organization like SCORE or your local Small Business Administration? Get your ducks in a row before you hang out your “open for business” sign.
Don’t forget marketing. How will you market your business? Do you have a website? Do you have a social media presence? Do you know how to set those up or do you know where you can find an expert who can help?
Write a business plan. Make note of the resources you will need. Enjoy your new endeavor! How can we help?
Losing a great employee can wreak havoc on a business. There are ways to ensure you don’t lose your best employees, but that starts before they have decided to give their notice. Sure you could offer a raise or match the benefits their new employer is offering, but if you don’t know the real reason they want to leave — it’s usually not always about the money — they will remain unhappy and will likely still look to leave.
In my coaching business I’ve worked with clients who shared, “I don’t want to train my employees in new technologies or offer continuing education because if I do, they will quit and I will have lost that investment.” Truly? Keeping your employees at their current level and never offering a change to move, change and grow will keep them?
Don’t be short-sighted. Don’t stifle growth of an employee and his or her skills because you fear they may “abandon you.” If they were going to leave they will regardless of the additional training. At that point, chances are they have already been scouring the want ads. Training and the chance for advancement may keep them with you longer –look at the flipside of that coin.
Don’t stifle a great employees’ desire for self-improvement. Your business and your employees performance will be of benefit to you. Also, you may keep a superstar if you encourage him or her.
Don’t Lose Your Best Employees
Offer feedback. Do your employees know if they are performing at or above what’s expected? If you don’t tell them, they won’t know. Schedule a time each month — at least — to discuss performance. Praise wins and offer constructive criticism.
Don’t overwork them. You may be doing the same work with a small staff but that doesn’t mean you can expect them to pick up all of the slack. Don’t make your employees feel they need to be available 24/7 — unless they are being well-compensated for that. Give them time off. Let them have a personal life. They may just work harder and smarter if they have time off.
Don’t promise what you can’t deliver. Don’t hire an employee and promise them the world if you know that isn’t going to happen. You will have a dissatisfied employee and they won’t trust anything you say in the future. AND they will likely leave your firm.
Don’t keep the big picture a secret. Share your vision. Even if your employee isn’t involved in the big picture, feeling like he is in the know is an empowering feeling. And truly, why not involve everyone?
Don’t stifle creativity. Ask for input. Listen to creative ideas. Have a suggestion box and truly pay attention.
Do your employees have a reason to stay? Are there more reasons for them to be inching toward the door? If you don’t know or if you know they are thinking of leaving take steps to keep those valued employees today!
There are many ways you can reduce stress and as an entrepreneur, you need to reduce stress to keep yourself healthy and you also need to stay healthy to keep your business running. Many solopreneurs cannot afford to take time off.
5 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Reduce Stress
We have some ways to help you reduce your stress. There is no one-size-fits all, but these may help.
Write down what’s bothering you. Sometimes the simple act of writing it down will take away the power the stressful situation had over you. You can take time every day to write down what is stressing you out. You can write down ways in which you could address that situation. Writing it down may also help you brainstorm ways to eradicate it.
Talk with someone. Talk with a friend, family member, colleague or a mental health professional. Stress can lead to suicidal thoughts and the isolation brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic is leading to more stress and higher suicide rates. When you talk with someone you are also taking away the power the stressful situation had over you and an outside opinion might help you see a solution you didn’t see on your own.
Get moving. When you’re having emotional or mental stress, taking a walk or meditating or walking the dog can help alleviate it. You may not find a solution to your stress, but moving will help release endorphins and a 15-minute run (or walk) will clear your head and help you sleep better at night.
Find comedy in your life. What is your favorite funny movie or sit com? When is the last time you indulged in it? Take time to simply laugh. Laughing also releases endorphins and tension.
Celebrate the small wins. You don’t need to conquer the highest mountain to celebrate. Walking up a small hill or completing a small task is reason for celebration. Clear your desk. Clean up your computer desktop. Any small win is cause for celebration and that can help you feel more accomplished and this is a great feeling when you feel you’re simply spinning your wheels. Take the wins where you can.
What do you do when the stress becomes too much? Reach out to a friend. Don’t go it alone.
