When you are a small business owner, every day brings challenges of its own. If the pandemic has shown anything, it is that chaos may be waiting around every corner. Having a plan for handling chaos as an entrepreneur can keep you grounded, focused, and better able to weather the storm, so that your business will come out on top.
Look Inside for the Source of Chaos
When you are just starting out or looking to expand your business, it can feel like there is chaos on every side. In fact, often, the chaos in these situations is coming from within. When entrepreneurs get anxious, they can often feel out of control. Their own uncertainty can be projected on their company. This can sometimes cause them to see chaos where there is complexity or barriers where there are simply obstacles.
To better handle the chaos that comes from owning and operating a business, entrepreneurs need to have a clear understanding of themselves, and how they respond to stress and anxiety. By recognizing when you are overwhelmed, you can move beyond the feeling that you are spinning out of control and focus on the solutions you already have built into your business model.
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Delegate to Share the Burden of a Growing Business
Unless you are a solo entrepreneur, you aren’t the only one responsible for keeping your business running. Even those who work in one-person businesses often surround themselves with contractors, specialists, and support teams to help them when things get busy, and time gets tight. Those teams – internal or external – are the key to handling chaos as an entrepreneur.
Yes, you are the business owner, but that doesn’t mean you have to have your hands in every pie. You may know the company better than anyone else as a whole, but if you have done your work and hired the right kind of employees or contractors, your team may know more about specific tasks than you ever could, or need to. By delegating tasks to someone with the right skillset, you can take those tasks off your plate. If you have hired wisely, there is a good chance those tasks will be done better, and more efficiently, by someone other than you.
Embrace Good Chaos
Chaos is a sign of growth in the entrepreneurial world. Yes, some chaos is bad. It can block you from progress and steal your time. However, other forms of chaos are an invitation to handle things in a new way. Try to reframe the way you think about the chaos in your business. Remember that, as an entrepreneur, you are already a risk-taker, willing to make game-changing decisions and take leaps to get what you want. Let yourself feel uncomfortable. Then, think creatively about how to resolve that discomfort. Take the time to explore not just easy or immediate answers, but bigger ideas that could lead to your company’s next big thing.
Focus on the Important Work First
When work becomes chaotic, it can be easy to lose sight of the most important tasks. You can quickly find your day eaten up by unnecessary emails, meetings, and notifications. Give yourself permission to unplug and focus on what is most important. Put a meeting with yourself on your schedule, if you need to. By taking some time each day to identify the most important work, you can stay focused and navigate through the chaos without getting knocked off course.
Work with an Executive Coach for Help Handling Chaos
One way to take this focus to the next level is by working with an executive coach. Setting aside time to meet with your coach regularly gives you the permission – even the obligation – to look up from the day-to-day chaos of operating your company and reexamine the bigger picture. An executive coach can help you identify the sources of the chaos in your company and brainstorm strategies and tactics to address them. A coach’s objective perspective can help you stay focused on your company’s long-term goals and priorities, so that you can overcome obstacles and handle the chaos.
David Stanislaw is a leadership and executive coach with over 25 years’ experience helping entrepreneurs take their business to the next level. Through individualized executive coaching, David helps small and medium-sized business owners manage chaos and keep their companies on track. Contact us to meet with David to start coaching today.
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