You’re Not Superhuman – Ask for Help

One of the most dangerous mindsets for new business owners is thinking they must do everything themselves. In reality, trying to be a “superhuman” entrepreneur often leads to exhaustion, errors, and financial problems.

You have a role within your business, and that role is what you should concentrate on. During the first year, you will, at some point, need to play the jack of all trades. We accept that, but we also see businesses slide into insolvency because they don’t remember that the next part of that quote is

‘A Jack of all trades is a master of none’

It’s important to recognise where you lack skills that are vital to your business, and yes, you will often need to make time in your first year to learn a few of them. It’s even more important to remember that you serve a very strict purpose within your business, and if you allow the Jack of all trades to take over your world, you will lose the time to do your own vital function… so

1. Delegate Early

Outsource tasks that others can do more efficiently as soon as possible and when they are financially practical.  Bookkeeping, website maintenance, marketing or administration are the usual ones. This frees your time for higher-value work like sales and client support or your specialist services.

Tip: Think of outsourcing as buying back your time; it’s not an unnecessary cost if your time is worth more.

2. Build a Support Network

Surround yourself with mentors, peers, and professionals who’ve walked the path before you or have the specialist advice you need (even if that means budgeting for it). Local business networks, online communities, and of course, resources like this one, can be invaluable.

Tip: Even a 15-minute chat with an experienced business owner can prevent costly mistakes. A few pounds a month to a network group or a mentor could well prevent you from making a business-breaking blunder.

3. Take Care of Yourself

Burnout is one of the biggest causes of early business failure. You’re full of energy and want to get on with it, but the burden of running the business becomes heavier as you grow. There is a warning sign to watch for. If the business is growing at a rate that is simply putting too much pressure on you, it’s time to think things through.

• Set working hours
• Take regular breaks
• Maintain some boundaries between work and personal life.

It’s OK to occasionally have to do that bit extra; it’s your business after all, but if that extra bit becomes a regular feature of your world, you may well have a problem.

Again, there is a financial issue here. Why, if your business is doing so well, can’t you afford to pay someone to help out and take some pressure off? Is it time to revisit the numbers to allocate some funds elsewhere? It also raises questions about your pricing structure if you don’t have the profit to relieve the pressure, are you charging enough?

Tip: A rested, healthy entrepreneur makes better business decisions.

There is a final part to this that is a little more difficult to quantify. While it is easy for us to warn you about burnout and tell you to look for assistance, sometimes, part of running a business is the development of those new skills we mentioned earlier. To finish up the whole of that old saying:

A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one!

Running a business means being a jack of all trades; successful businesspeople who have survived the first year have often learned a valuable lesson. You need to be a jack of all trades, but you don’t need to be a master of all of them.

What you really need to know is which functions are worth mastering, whether you actually have the time to do so, and which are worth getting someone who is already a master of them to do for you.