It is natural to procrastinate, to make excuses and find reasons not to get done the things one finds unpleasant. Entrepreneurs who want to succeed cannot avoid all hard, unlikeable and unpleasant tasks. A reality of business life is that sometimes there will be day after day of unpleasant tasks that cannot be avoided. It is important to understand that if you want to move from being a struggling entrepreneur to being a successful entrepreneur, you must find a way suck it up and take action now.
As an entrepreneur, the buck stops with you. When there is a payroll issue, it is your problem. When there is a supplier issue, it is your problem. when the restrooms are broken or dirty, it is your problem. None of the things just mentioned are fun, enjoyable or something people dream of handling. Calming down an employee with a payroll issue is not fun, it can be quite stressful and annoying. Suppliers not getting things to you on time is not fun and may well push you over the edge of niceness. Dirty and broken bathrooms, unless you are a janitor or plumber are not fun either! But, when you are the HEIC – Head Entrepreneur in Charge, all these things are your responsibility and you must find a way to suck it up and handle them all.
No matter what your preference or personality, you must suck it up and get things done at your business.
One of the best ways get things done in your business is to avoid as many problems as possible. In order to do this, you need a plan. Do you have a business plan that guides you in the day to day operation of your business? If you do great. If you don’t have a written business plan or your plan needs to be updated, check out my business plan series for guidance in preparing/updating your business plan. Each article in the series is designed to help you create a business plan that will enable you to run your business in an orderly, smart and profitable manner. After completing each of the five sections, you will have a business plan that can be used by you, your employees, potential partners, and investors. The sections are hyperlinked here so you can reach them with ease.
- Business Planning Part 1 of 5 Introductory Matters
- Business Planning Part 2 of 5 Personnel
- Business Planning Part 3 of 5- Marketing
- Business Planning Part 4 of 5 Finances
- Business Planning – Part 5 of 5 Financial Projections
Once you have your business plan in place, follow it! Then pay attention to the condition of your business. This means, on a regular basis, look at finances, employee relations, accounts receivable, taxes, accounting and customer service. By looking at each of these areas on a regular basis, you may be able to see problems before they arise or catch problems when they are new, before they have a chance to fester and grow. It is easier to tackle problems when they are small! One way to suck it up and get things done is to take care of problems when they are small.
At the same time, it is important to remember that problems can and will arise even if you diligently pay attention to what is going on with your business. For example, weather, illness, fires and problems at other businesses that you depend upon all may have ripple effects on your business. For the most part, these are things that you cannot predict and cannot control. When outside factors impact your business, take a step back, look at things objectively and create a plan for handling the situation. Put your plan in writing either with pen and paper or by using your favorite electronic device. suck it up and move does not mean move without a plan. Of course, make sure the electronic device is set up to store everything to the cloud. Using cloud storage means that even if all your devices are lost, stolen or broken. Move step by step through your plan and get things done.
If you are afraid to take action now and get things done at work, step back and remember that you are the HEIC and that it all starts and ends with you.
Here are a few steps to help you suck it up and take action now:
- count to five, panic, be upset or scared for 5 seconds and then move
- figure out the best case resolution and worse case resolution, once you identify that, you can handle anything in between
- channel your inner superhero or a woman you admire, pretend you are her and do what she would do
- be brute about it – stand up and force your way through to getting things done
All of these words and ideas will inspire you and help you to realize that you must get things done. At the same time, it is called work for a reason, it is not always a joy, but it has to be done. Sometimes there is no trick, no treat, no magic. Sometimes, you just have to push yourself and do what needs to be done. So, suck it up buttercup and get the job done. Keep in mind if you do, there will be time later for fun.
So, the question for you this magnificent day is, what business chore have you been putting off? What do you need to suck it up and get done?
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Lately I have not been sucking it up at all. I am so busy that my poor business is slowing down when it should be super busy
I want to be a full time entrepreneur! It is happening soon! Iw ill need these great tips and motivation!
All those tasks can be hard but it’s so important to follow through on getting them done. Especially with filing taxes. The IRS doesn’t play! Lol!
Yep, running a business requires a lot of work. It requires even more diligence when it comes to doing the less glamorous stuff like accounting!
Now isn’t that the truth! The hardest.part about being a business owner we have found is finding that balance between work and play. Sometimes the lines like to blur!
There are so many times that I want to put of a task when it comes to my business. But I also know that if I don’t do it then it wont get done.
I find it hard to dismiss employees. Or I did when I was working FT (not an entrepreneur). We had to fire college kids at the college too sometimes and that was really hard, esp. if their scholarship was tied to the work.
With someone who recently opened her own store I can absolutely a test that these are wonderful pointers and I will keep them in mind
These are really good points! It is very hard to run your own business and its very easy to procrastinate but have to push ourselves to get it done!
When you’re the boss you have to deal with everything that comes your way because essentially the business is yours and only you can make those final decisions.
These are definitely good points. I’ve never been fond of record-keeping but it is necessary!
I know first hand that being an entrepreneur is really time consuming and if I don’t do something it will not get done. I have to give myself the talk everyday.
You are so right. As entrepreneurs, we need to stop making excuses and just do it!
I lover running my own business, but I’m sure exhausted!
You’re so right that people don’t realize everything that goes into running your own business. There are lots of not-so-fun tasks that simply must be done!
I don’t run my own business, just my blog. But I totally run my household – without any help from my husband. that sometimes is not too fun – guess I can always train my kiddo eh?
Running your own business is definitely a challenge. It can be too easy to procrastinate the not fun things you need to get done.
Running My own business seem so time consuming but the rewards are worth it.
I am running two businesses at home and sometimes it feels impossible! For sure. And also so awesome.
It is not easy at all to run your own business. Though it is rewarding.
Suck it up, Buttercup is one of my favorite sayings. I agree – get it done.
You’re right! Being an entrepreneur is not all roses and chocolate drops! Sometimes we need to kick ourselves in the pants to get things done. 😉