I’ve been thinking about how to handle some of the mental swings that come from being self-employed…. You know some days its all going well, you feel successful, its all going your way, and then others……… well, I think we all know how that feels !

So what’s the best way to stay motivated. Well, this is a blog about stuff few self employed people talk about and I think its really important to get the conversation started.

When you start your business you want to do it all yourself, set the standards, do the window, hire the staff, choose the products, make the advert, do the accounts, you want to do it all.

But its not a great idea for the following reasons:

Building a business can be lonely

Its really important to have someone that you can share your successes and failures with (that understands what you’re feeling) Don’t get me wrong, family and friends are great, and long-suffering in lots of cases, but they’re not standing in your shoes, so they don’t have to deal with the feelings that come from nowhere…

You need someone that understands your excitement when you make progress. You need to build a relationship with someone that can understand….

Trying to do everything yourself

This can work in the short term, but its not a long term plan, because you’ll exhaust yourself and lose your enthusiasm. Of course it’s great to learn new stuff, but there’s no way you can be good at everything… If you’re great at the accounts, its unlikely you’ll also be marvellous at selling for example, they’re different skill sets.
The fastest way to growth in your business is to find someone who’s done it and model them, that means go and talk to them about the pitfalls ahead of you, learn from them, take them out for a pizza and ask them questions…. They’ll mostly be glad to share their experience with you.

Accountability

There’s nothing like having to report on your progress to provide the impetus for action, we’ve all heard the old adage “If it wasn’t for deadlines, nothing would get done” and its true, but if you’re self employed how can you find someone to hold you accountable?

Well, my suggestion is to make a friend ! Someone in business too, with a shop or a service provider, hairdresser, accountant – whatever, doesn’t really matter and partner up with them.

Decide that you’ll hold each other accountable for things you say you’re going to do in your business and at the end of each day or week call them with an update on your list – or email them, or drop in for coffee and run through them. You could make it a weekly event and work on each others businesses…. A fresh pair of eyes see things that an owner is blind to.

Try it today, create your list of four things you’re going to achieve today and find someone to be a partner – ask them for their four things and then hold each other accountable – no excuses, no whining…. Good common sense and support and advice and experience and accountability –

What do you need to learn, what can you teach? How can you help?