I’ve been blessed to have some amazing conversations in my profession that really flex the range of human experience. Sometimes the conversations delve into a spiritual place and sometimes more practical.
This week I was talking to a client who is in the final phase of selling off the pieces to their business so they can retire. We have had some cool conversations being business owners and the reality vs the perception. I don’t even remember exactly what I said, but the quote above was her response. After she said it, I wrote it on a post-it to keep. It’s the best description of what its like to be an entrepreneur I’ve ever heard.
When I bought my business, there wasn’t a class I took. Sure, people give you advice (they tend to do that about anything), but you don’t necessarily want to take it all, nor does all the advice apply to every business. Being a business owner involves a lot of putting out fires and dealing with the most pressing issues as they arrive…and they always do! It’s a lot of putting your shoulder into something to get it done and the time to be innovative or creative are not as frequent as you’d hope.
This concept also lends itself to hold space for business owners who haven’t encountered something yet. Its SO easy to sit back and say, ‘How did they not know to do (BLANK)?’ But until the person either self-educates and happens to read the right book or take the right class or talk to the right person at the right time, how are they supposed to know? And when the person trips over their shortcomings, all they hope for is a little grace to survive the situation and do better next time.
The business is as human as the person running it and adding ego is an unnecessary pitfall. Humility is the cure because humility gives the individual the power to admit when they don’t know.