It Doesn’t Need to be Lonely in Business

It Doesn’t Need to be Lonely in Business 

Now, some 16 years down the path of business ownership, one of the things that I have recently been reflecting on, is the differences between the corporate environment and the being in business for yourself environment.

In my experience, there are 2 key differences in these different environments that have had a direct impact on my journey in life and business. When I look back on those experiences, both good and bad, the best thing about working in corporate environments is that there is an abundance of support that is immediately accessible to you.

The other key difference was that I never felt like I was in control of my career, as there was always someone else pulling the strings on the direction that my career could or would take. In other words, I felt I was not in control of my own destiny.

The corporate support comes in the form of Superiors, Peers and in some cases Subordinates and being able to have someone that you can directly communicate with regarding the business ideas, activities and direction. In the corporate world you are part of a large team of people who have different responsibilities which are generally specialised in different silos within the Organisational Structure. My field of specialty was Operations and Supply Chain at senior management level in the corporate silo.

There was always someone in place, albeit your superiors or peers, to hold you accountable in your role for the achievement of the business goals, objectives and results within your silo of responsibility. There were always other people around that you could use as sounding boards for different ideas that you may have for improving efficiency, productivity and results.

At the top is the CEO or Managing Director (MD) who reports directly to a Board of Directors who set the overall objectives, strategies and direction of the company. The CEO/MD then has a hierarchy of Managers who specialise in the key functions or silos within the business, that they in turn can turn to for additional support.

As a Small Business Owner, unless you have a great network of experienced business people around you, it can be quite lonely in business as you do not have that immediate corporate type of network and support around you. When you start out in business you are the one that is directly responsible for everything in the business, the strategies, the purpose, the direction and most importantly the decision-making processes that are associated with the What, the How, the Why and the When.

When I first decided to go into business for myself, it came as a great relief that I was finally going to be in control of my own destiny. It was a big decision to make, especially from a financial position of moving from the comfortable position of a regular monthly salary to an unknown or even irregular monthly generation of income.

My wife and I decided to make the sea change move from rural Victoria to Port Stephens on the Central Coast of NSW. Here we opened a membership-based boating business which aligned with my passion for luxury boats.

Very quickly, I learned just how lonely it can be being in business for yourself. Whilst I was very experienced and confident in my field of operations and supply chain and getting the boats in place and the systems for operating them documented, the key thing that I wasn’t properly prepared for was the Sales and Marketing stuff that was going to generate the revenue that was going to be essential for the success of the business.  Even though I was part of a franchise in this business, the systems and support was somewhat lacking, but that is another story.

So, I found myself having to make decisions and using trial and error in areas that were outside my fields of experience. Using the trial and error method meant we often took big risks and made many mistakes that cost the business TIME, ENERGY and MONEY. Looking back, I could have avoided much of this if I had the right support network around me.

Fast forward eight years of being in business for myself. After the boating business I sold myself back into the corporate world as a personal brand working on fixed-term projects. This meant I was living away from home for extended periods. In 2013 I made a decision to look for a business that was close to home that I could invest in that did not require the travel component.

This is when I came across the ActionCOACH franchise of Business Coaching. As I researched and completed my due diligence on the business coaching industry, I quickly realised that this is exactly what I needed when I first went into business for myself and one that would have provided the support I needed at that point in time. It would have helped me minimise the risks I took and avoided the mistakes that cost me Time, Energy and Money.

And so I became an ActionCOACH Business Coach.

The one thing that I have really noticed as a coach, is that the business owners who I work with are exactly like I was when I first went into business. And that is, great at their trade or profession that they are experienced in. Yet it is the other aspects of running a successful business that are often lacking, things such as business leadership, business management skills, and more importantly business mindset.

Without these overall business skills and business mindset, a business will become stuck at a level where the business owner is ’The Business’. They are responsible for everything in the business, they have no time, are not achieving the financial results that they dreamed the business would achieve when they first went into business.  They are missing out on important family time, not seeing their friends or doing the things that are most important to them. They have become stuck working IN the business and not ON the business.

Almost without fail, every business owner tells me that they first went into business to achieve some personal goals. Build a business that would give them the financial freedom to live the lifestyle that they dreamed of. A nice house, a nice car, regular family holidays, investments that would secure their future financial freedom, and free time so they could do the things that they most enjoyed doing e.g family time, fishing, golf, playing with toys they have acquired, I think you get the picture!    

The reality of what they experience can be quite the opposite. Over time the business starts to consume all the business owner’s time and the real reason for going into business to achieve their personal goals is often lost or forgotten.

If any of this sounds familiar, do not despair. It doesn’t need to be like this.

What is important is that it is essential to build a business support network around you. Think of it as a community of like-minded business owners who are available to support each other in all aspects of business. It is important to build a network of people who have different business experience levels that as a business owner, you can tap into. Be open to learning the things that you don’t know, that you don’t know, about business.

Think of the different ways that you can tap into a network of business support.

• Local and state business chambers
• Business networking groups (i.e BNI)
• Mastermind groups
• Business Coaches

One thing that I am very grateful for as a Business Coach, is the amount of business experience that I have been exposed to and garnished over the past 40 years. In looking back, it is the great things that I have been exposed to that have worked, it is the worst things and/or situations that I have learned from for ‘what NOT to do’.

These life and business experiences are what has enabled me to be in the top 10% of business coaches around the world and assisting my clients to implement the Systems centred around TIME, TEAM and MONEY so that they can achieve the results in their businesses that allows then to do the things that they most enjoy doing.

It does not need to be lonely in business, start building a network around you that can support you, be your sounding board for the different business ideas you have, assist you in troubleshooting any issues that you may have identified. Most importantly, build the network sooner than later if you really want to be successful in business and have a business that works without you.

Phil Badura