If you’re a new entrepreneur, the predominant emotion you may be feeling is anxiety. Having started with a clear idea, strong business plan, and great ambitions for the future, the reality of the situation suddenly hits you. Buying in business services such as marketing, secretarial, and cheap printing is often the default response to niggling self doubt. However, be careful you don’t confuse doing something with achieving something. At the point that you’re most anxious, the best response is often to spend some time contemplating the next step. Often the greatest strength lies in knowing when and when not, to act.
This is the point w
here most entrepreneurs start to desperately reach out for any support that comes to hand. This often arrives in the form of so called business gurus, or the many advice books on sale. Whether it’s online business mentors promising you the path to riches, or some other equally nebulous concept for finding wealth and happiness, there is no shortage of people happy to peddle whatever maxims and business services they can get away with. The best course of action is often to invest in marketing and printing services.
There are, of course, some fantastic books and coaching services out there, but for the vast majority of entrepreneurs, the problem isn’t about wisdom or insight, but taking the time to get used to a new way of working. Most new entrepreneurs have spent a considerable amount of time working for other people; the change to making all the decisions yourself can lead to a feeling of inertia, self-doubt and financial vertigo. Many respond by buying in increasing numbers of ‘soft’ business services, whether it’s someone to manage your SEO, a PR guru to guide your marketing attempts, or a consultant to help you get the best from your organisation. Yet cheap printing could be far more dynamic than hiring an expensive PR consultant.
Many business people are either ‘the visionary’ or ‘the person of action’. The former has no problem envisioning how their future business will work and the steps needed to get there, but has problems when it comes to putting these into action and feels stymied when having to make relatively minor decisions. The ‘person of action’ is happy to make bold choices, and is good at processing the day to day work. They are less sure about planning for the future and exploring new opportunities.
Success in business comes from realising your limitations and finding ways to overcome them, converting your weakness to strengths. The visionary entrepreneur, will draw on resources and seek the advice of friends and colleagues to overcome any reluctance in implementing practical decisions. If you want to know about how to design a business logo, for instance, ask us at Cardsmadeeasy. For the person of action, leadership means taking some time out to focus on the medium term, and learning to embrace the sense of uncertainty that can bring.
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