Starting your own business is an incredibly brave thing to do.
It takes a tremendous amount of guts and optimism to make the leap from working for someone else to working for yourself.
It's the ultimate in living life without a net.
But there's a problem.
Almost all business owners make one fundamental, critical mistake that sets them up for years of frustration, pain and disappointment.
They make this mistake the very day they decide to go into business for themselves.
It's a mistake that I've made, and it's almost certain that you've made it too.
Before we get to the mistake (and how to fix it), let me see if we're on the same page...
How many of the following are true? You started your business to give you: oMore Money oMore Time oMore Control oMore Independence oMore Flexibility oMore Freedom oMore Satisfaction oMore Fun oMore Opportunity These are the universal reasons people give for going into business for themselves.
And they're wonderful things! Unfortunately, for almost all small business owners, none of them ever come true.
Here's why; when we go into business, we start out with no concrete measure of success.
Everybody knows that a business is supposed to provide an R.
O.
I.
(Return On Investment), but is that all? If you'll look at the list above, you'll see that only ONE of those reasons you started your business focused on money.
Somehow the rest are supposed to just magically appear.
But let's take a second and really look at what goes into starting your own company.
It takes money, that's a given.
But it also takes an incredible amount of time, energy, emotional investment and forgoing other opportunities.
Can you measure these? Should you? The answer is "Yes" and "Absolutely yes"! The measurement of these things is called your R.
O.
L.
or "Return On Life".
A business must provide a positive and consistent R.
O.
L.
in order to be considered successful.
But that's something your Accountant can't measure...
only you can.
New, we're getting to the mistake that most of us make.
Simply put; we have no way to track our R.
O.
L.
And, as everyone knows, if you can't measure something you can't improve it.
What goes into your R.
O.
L.
score? All the (mostly emotional) reasons you started your business in the first place.
Some people reading this will get suspicious of using the word "emotions" and "business" together.
But let's be honest, business IS emotional, because WE ARE EMOTIOAL.
At least, I hope you are! I am.
The only reason we distrust putting "emotions" and "business" together is that we have no tools to measure our "Happiness Index" or our "Fun Quotient".
But what if you DID have an easy, reliable way to measure your total satisfaction and (more importantly) consistently improve it? Wouldn't that be great? Money is the easy measure, and frankly the most important one.
That's because as long as you're still making money, you can keep working on the rest but the day you run out of money, it's game over.
And we've got all sorts of tools to help us measure the money.
Not so with these "squishier" measurements.
Here's one very hard-nosed and "Bottom-Line" centric reality: When you enjoy what you do, and know that you're consistently getting more than you give, you make more money.
How to set up your own Return On Life Index.
Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle.
On the left hand side of the paper, make a list of all the things you enjoy about owning your own business.
On the right hand side, make a list of all the things that you don't enjoy about owning your own business.
This is your list, so be honest with yourself.
If you really don't like talking to potential clients about money, admit it without shame or judgment.
If you really enjoy sorting the mail, write that down.
Don't forget to consider the business's impact on the rest of your life.
If the business doesn't let you take enough time off, put that on your list.
If business worries are getting in the way of your most important relationships, make sure to list it.
The very first step in creating an effective solution is to make darned sure you know what you're trying to change.
In my live workshops, I find that some people resist this exercise, considering it too "touchy-feely".
They're wrong.
On the other hand, it's natural to resist, because it forces you to come to terms with your pain and frustrations.
Often, we try to hide behind a mask of "Positive Thinking" and just pretend everything's hunky-dory.
Psychologists have a word for this, it's called "Denial".
And no matter how many have tried it...
Denial doesn't work.