Sometimes being in business can feel like you're stuck on an emotional rollercoaster.
Up one week. Down the next. A great month followed by a terrifying one. One phone call that makes your day and another that ruins it.
If you've ever felt like that, you're definitely not alone.
I think part of the reason is school. In all the years we spend there, we're being trained to be employees.
Think about what school rewards. Turning up on time. Following instructions. Doing the work you're given. Getting the right answer to a question somebody else has set. Waiting for the bell.
Those are useful skills. They make good employees.
But nobody sets the questions when you run a business. Nobody tells you what to do next. There's no bell. There's no marking scheme. You have to decide what matters, set your own homework and mark it yourself.
Very few of us were ever taught how to do that.
An expert in the job, a rookie in the business
Most businesses are started by someone who is an expert in their job.
A brilliant plumber. A talented designer. A great accountant, hairdresser, developer or builder. They're so good at what they do that someone eventually says "you should do this for yourself". So they do.
And suddenly they're doing a completely different job.
Being great at the work is one skill. Building a company that does the work is another. Sales. Marketing. Cash flow. Hiring. Managing people. Systems. Pricing. Planning.
So you end up as an expert in your job and a rookie in building a company. No wonder it feels like a rollercoaster.
It can be lonely
Being in business can be a lonely place. When you're employed, there's usually someone to ask. A manager. A colleague. A team. When you're the owner, people come to you for the answers. And it can be really hard to put your hand up and say "I don't actually know what I'm doing with this bit".
Lots of owners carry that around quietly for years. They assume everyone else has it worked out. They don't.
The good news is that building a business is a skill, and it can be learned. There are tried and tested ways of structuring a business for growth. You don't have to make them up yourself, by trial and error, on your own, at two in the morning.
I use a simple six step framework with the business owners I work with. It gives the rollercoaster some rails. At the time I first shared this, I was running a free session on Zoom to walk people through it.
So, honestly. Which part of building a business were you never taught, that you've had to learn the hard way?
