Coming to terms with being the C.E.O – aka the Chief Everything Officer in the beginning

Welcome to Part 2 of my series about Starting Your Own Business: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. If you missed Part 1, you can click here to catch up. It’s all about the good things that you will love about starting your own business.

Today’s post, though, is all about getting real.

We need to be honest about some of the less-than-awesome parts about starting — and running — your own business.

It’s All You, All the Time

If I had to sum up the bad part about being my own boss, it would be that, well, it’s all on me. It’s a huge responsibility, and that can sometimes feel overwhelming. Sure, you have a flexible schedule, but at the end of the day, the buck stops with you. If there’s a problem that needs to be taken care of, no one else is going to do it, even if you’re sick or just plain tired.

Starting a business is hard work. In the beginning, it takes time to get systems in place, and you’ll put in lots of overtime as you learn all the ins and outs of accounting, marketing, internet nuts and bolts, and customer service. You won’t have the luxury of different departments to take care of these things, either. Instead, you’ll be wearing all the different hats yourself (though you can definitely get some great coaching and mentorship to ease the burden as you learn the ropes).

You’re absolutely going to be tired for a while, but the passion you feel for your new business should help give you the energy you need to tackle the early challenges.

Organizing Your Space and Time

I’m including organization in this post about the “bad” parts of starting your own business because for many women, it’s one of the hardest things to do. If you’re the type of person who has a closet packed with clothes or bookshelves overflowing with favorites — all because you love too many things too much to part with any of them — then organizing is going to be difficult for you.

And yet, you absolutely cannot skip getting organized. You’ll need to arrange both your space and your time in order to be successful. Here are some things to consider:

• Where will you work? A home office is the best choice, but if you only have room for a desk and a laptop tucked in a corner, that’s fine. It’s crucial to have a place to store paperwork, office supplies, folders for business receipts, and anything else you need to keep your business up and running. Invest in shelves, boxes, folders, and a label maker to make things easier.
• When will you work? A flexible schedule is great, but if you don’t commit to specific working hours each day, you won’t get anything done. Think about your family’s schedule as well as your own rhythms and try scheduling regular working hours. Not sure what your circadian rhythms are like? Try this quiz to find out.
• How will you work? Do you need silence and alone time to get things done, or can you work while your kids are playing in the next room? Would getting dressed and heading to a local cafe motivate you or feel like a burden? It may take some time to discover your best working habits, but you should experiment to find out what works for you — then stick to it!

Leaving Your Comfort Zone

Unless you’re an entrepreneurial superhero, there’s bound to be some aspect of running your online business that doesn’t come naturally to you. That’s totally normal! If you’re not great at math, learning to deal with your bookkeeping will be a challenge. If you’re an introvert, picking up the phone to make cold calls to drum up business may make you break out into a cold sweat. Everyone has her own personal kryptonite that feels impossible to overcome.

I’ve seen many women struggle with leaving their comfort zones, and it often has to do with promoting themselves. We’re taught from an early age to be quiet and polite and not to show off, so putting yourself out there can feel really awkward — and even flat-out wrong — at first. And it can be terrifying! But if you don’t take the risk to show the world your great product, service, or idea, your young business will never grow. Stepping out of your comfort zone is a crucial first step in realizing your full potential. Make the leap!

Planning Ahead

Often when we start out in business we are only thinking about short-term challenges when we really need to have the end goal in mind.  Building an online business which depends solely on your time won’t be scalable as there are only 24 hours in any one day.

If working 4 hours a day, 5 times a week is your ideal business model, then work out how much income you would like to have and divide it by those 20 hours a week.  There’s no point building a business that requires you to work 10 – 12 hours a day 6 days a week in order to achieve your financial targets as you might as well have stayed in that corporate job you hated so much.

Think strategically about future growth.  Are there processes in your business you can build that will allow you to later delegate tasks to team members or freelancers?  This delegation will allow you to work just 4 hours a day and doing the jobs and tasks that YOU love and push your business to the next level.  Delegation is something all business owners will have to manage as their business continues to grow so it’s important to keep this in mind from the very beginning.

Next Steps

If you need a boost in the right direction, check out our free information and get regular information where we deliver valuable resources and tips and tricks to get started in your very own business.

Or if you already have your business underway and are looking for a key partner in helping your business move forward, get in contact now.