Just working harder the way you have always worked is not the solution.

This week I am hosting 4 Facebook Lives looking at the opportunities that will arise in 2021 together with the challenges business owners will face taking advantage of them.

Reflecting on the conversations I’ve had with business owners who have started their own business, there is always a strange dichotomy.

On the one hand, they started their business because they wanted to have the freedom to do their thing, their way. On the other hand, they discovered that being a business owner suddenly requires great discipline, or to quote Bo Eason, author of ‘There is No Plan B for Your A Game’, “…successful business owners commit themselves to a life sentence”.

There is no escaping the fact that being a business owner is a great responsibility. Far too often, business owners sacrifice the elements of their life that they most value and then struggle to make their business work. They sacrifice the very things they started the business for in the first place – more freedom – more time – a better lifestyle.

If one good thing has come out of the pandemic, it is this…

Just working hard at something is not enough. Instead of waiting to get back to how it was before COVID-19 disrupted our lives, we need to take different actions. For that, we need to be different and live our lives differently.

There are three truths that every business owner has to recognise if they want to succeed in building a business that works for them and delivers the results they originally intended.

1. You will never succeed on your own.
2. It will cost you money to get a business up and running successfully. 
3. You have to create the right environment in which your business can thrive.

People, Money, Environment.

The mistakes business owners make fall into one or more of these categories.

• They avoid hiring people for a multitude of false assumptions.
• They believe they can bootstrap their business and do not make enough investment.
• They make do with an unsupportive environment.

Add to this the challenges thrown at all businesses by the pandemic and recurring lockdowns, 2020 has been the year of ‘weaknesses revealed’.

The question is: 

“what will you do differently in 2021 to change the fortunes of your business”?

In reality, it will come down to either people, money or the environment. Here is why.

People

You have to consider the people element as more than just the person. From a business perspective, it comes down to two things. The skills and talents the person has and the contribution they can make to your business.

Money

In 2020, many businesses have had to burn some of their reserves to survive. Some companies will not have enough cash to restart successfully. They will need to take advantage of bounceback loans or find new investments. Money is the fuel that powers commerce. Without adequate supply, you will not create enough momentum to carry your business forward, and you will starve to green shoots of recovery. A priority must be to build back up the reserves.

Environment

We have felt both aspects of our environment this last year. The first element, the mindset element, controls how we perceive our business – how we think about it, the narrative we have about what is possible, and what is not.

The second element is the physical element of the environment – our working space, the systems, processes, technology and behaviours we use to make our business work.

The link between the mindset and the physical elements of the environment are held together by the network of relationships that make up your business.

Creating a Better Outcome in 2021

To run a business successfully, the foundations have to be in place. The foundations for every business are the same – marketing, sales, operations, finance, people and you. The thing that makes every business unique is how those foundations are applied.

Your business is unique, and that uniqueness comes from YOU. You are responsible for the environment. You select the people who provide the talent, and you orchestrate their behaviour to deliver the vision you have for your business.

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic’s book, “Why do so many incompetent men become leaders?”  identifies some key traits of good and incompetent leaders.

The traits that good leaders will need in 2021 are the ability to: 

• Elicit respect and pride;
• Effectively communicate their vision;
• Empower and mentor their team;
• Flexible and creative problem solving;
• Objectively evaluate direct reports; and, I would add,
• Have the ability to collaborate.

So many business owners have experienced incompetent leadership in their previous job roles. Therefore it is not surprising that leadership is not one of their strongest suits.

If you want to create a better outcome for your business in 2021, start with you — specifically, your behaviour within your business. If you can then engage your organisation’s talent differently and more effectively and get the investment you need, you will have more chance to have an outstanding outcome in 2021.

Just working harder the way you have always worked is not the solution.

As business owners, we must admit to ourselves that we do not know all of the answers. We need talents outside of our competencies to be the success we imagined in our dreams.

This week’s series of four Facebook Lives will help you identify the different actions you can take to make 2021 a success for your business and for you. 

It is not going to be an easy year because we are going to have to overcome some big challenges. We are going to have to put in the work, we are going to have to take charge of our own destiny and we are going to need to be relentless.

I hope you join me on this week’s Facebook Lives series and if you have any specific questions you want me to address, please post them in the comments below and I will make sure I address them.