As someone running their own enterprise, you will often have to do more than one role as the company grows. From cleaning the loos to making the teas, to making investment decisions and business development, some days, it may seem as though you’ll never get on top of all the things you need to do to move things forward.
It’s common for the founder of a business to have a vision of where they would like it to go, to have ideas of new products/services they could offer and new markets they could tap into. Ideas around successful collaborations and methods in which to promote what the company offers.
You must be a visionary to even be in business—after all, if you have no desire to achieve more, or you’ve never dreamt of steering your own ship, you’d be working for someone else.
We all have strengths and weaknesses, and though it’s not guaranteed that every visionary will be far less enamoured with doing what’s needed to achieve business growth, there will certainly be some entrepreneurs that will excel at creative thinking but who will feel overwhelmed or turned off by the ‘doing’.
The details, the nitty gritty…this is where some business owners become unstuck. And, when they feel bogged down by the detail, it’s common for some to actively avoid what needs to be done as they get caught up in a perpetual cycle of new ideas. We call this ‘shiny ball syndrome’, where business owners flit from one great idea to another, but fail to implement any of them past the initial stages.
As I’ve said, you need both the doing and thinking elements to help a business grow—if you get bogged down by, or you can’t see past, day-to-day operations, you’ll struggle to form goals and spot opportunities.
It doesn’t matter too much if you’re a thinker or a doer—and most people will feel more comfortable in one camp than the other—but rather than spending time adapting your skills, learning preferences, and even your personality, to become proficient in both areas (which could take some time, if you are able to do this at all), it’s quicker and more profitable to simply concentrate on the things you find effortless and bring in experts who can plug the gap(s).
I’m a doer. I can take complex instructions and reams of detail and filter these down into easily understandable and easy to follow steps. I’m not fazed when faced with a plethora of different tasks and I find it easy to organise what others struggle to juggle.
Don’t get me wrong, I can be wonderfully creative, at times. However, as a business mentor, my speciality is to remove the overwhelm from the business owner and reduce the burden they’re feeling, so that their minds are clearer. Without necessary-but-niggling tasks clouding their brains, they can return to being the captain of their ship and they will once again be able to plot how they can steer the business through choppy waters towards brighter horizons.
Every vision needs a plan, and every plan needs a doer to ensure tasks are completed—and that the ‘I’s are dotted and the ‘t’s are crossed. Even if you enjoy ‘doing’ to some extent, you may still need to be held accountable to ensure those tasks are done when they need to be done, and that they don’t slip down your list of priorities if something unexpected crops up in the business. Regular progress checks can make both doers and thinkers thrive…after all, how satisfying is it when you can tick things off your to-do list?