This guide outlines strategies to avoid feeling overwhelmed. If you are a business owner then chances are that you have a ‘genius zone’ – that is, the one thing you excel at that everyone else is in awe of but that comes naturally to you. It could be that you are a wonderful artist or a marketing gun or an accounting expert. But what about the aspects of your business that you aren’t an expert in?
Even the most accomplished entrepreneur is unlikely to be a ‘jack of all trades’, and needs to bring in help when faced with tasks they aren’t experienced on. Sometimes you can outsource these – whether it’s hiring a PA, appointing a bookkeeper or taking on a digital agency.
But most small business owners don’t have endless funds to build a team of experts around them, so sometimes we just have to crack on and figure this out ourselves. Very often it can feel really frustrating and overwhelming when we feel we can’t do something – and for whatever reason, women seem to suffer from this more than men. I work with thousands of female entrepreneurs and I’m only too aware that unfortunately, this is a recurring challenge for many. When did you last hear a man say ‘I can’t do this, I’m not clever enough’?
So this is why I want women in business to adhere to my mantra: ‘everything is workoutable’. When I started out, I came across a new challenge every day, usually related to technology. I may be a digital marketing expert now but this wasn’t something I was born with or taught at business school. Before I started building online businesses, I’d never designed a website, never learnt how to write code, or even used a DSLR camera.
I remember one particularly painful incident – my first attempt at video marketing. It was horrific. It took me seven hours to work out how to use the camera, set the scene and frame the shot, use the teleprompter, sort out the audio and get enough footage to scrape together something that kind of resembled a homepage video. And throughout that working day, I was constantly fighting the urge to throw it in and concede that this was something I just simply could not do.
What I’ve learnt is that being out of your depth is normal and that everyone feels this way. And furthermore, no-one actually expects you to be an expert in everything.
The key is to not let it defeat you. Recognising that you can’t be a genius at everything separates those who are successful from those that give up. Even if you are tearing your hair out and fighting the urge to throw your computer at the wall, don’t give up!
Everything is workoutable.
It might take some time, patience, and numerous cups of tea, but remember, nothing worth doing is easy. When building a profitable lifestyle business you need to go where your competitors aren’t going and sometimes this will be really difficult! If making money was that easy, we’d all be millionaires. We’re lucky to be living in the age of the internet where pretty much all the information we need to solve tricky work problems you can be found online.
I know it sometimes feels easier said than done, but if you hit a brick wall, take some time out, have a cup of tea (or something stronger if the situation calls for it), look again with fresh eyes and get back into it – and don’t move until you’ve worked it out!
When I’m frustrated I sit back, tell myself, ‘you’re a strong, clever, intelligent woman who is capable of getting stuff done’ and without fail, figure it out. Obstacles are just that – problems and challenges – but not insurmountable.
