Building a Business is Hard

Things I've said: 

“I don't want to cash checks I didn't write.”

“Get with me or get out of my way.”

“Just do the work.”

What I've heard others say:

“What books are written for people to be better employees?”

“I don't like people, so I work with cows.”

“Working with people is so hard.”

“Work would be great if it weren't for the people.”

“We just can’t find good people.”

“People just don’t care anymore.”

Building a business is hard work. There is so much to it, and for many, it's trial by fire and learn by doing. What seemed like a great idea can turn into a nightmare.

For Lindsey Huettner, my podcast guest this week, she rationalized, “I can be broke working for someone else or I can be broke working for myself, I might as well work for myself (at least I’ll like my boss!).”  I added the parenthetical statement as I thought it was fitting! Ha

Often, people start a business because they see a market need or have a great experience with a service provider and think, “I can do that.”

I've yet to hear someone say, “I want to start a business to hire, fire, and train people.  I want to start a business so I can create a place where others can make a living doing work they love, while working with and for people that they enjoy being around.”

But that is precisely what happens when you start a business.  Depending on whether you go at it alone or with others, at the beginning, the founder wears ALL the hats.

So, while the actual running of the business isn't why most people start a business, that is what someone ends up doing, and for a good portion of the time, that person is usually the founder, because they have been around the longest and are often the visionary.

What makes building a business challenging is the transition, often overlapping, between working ON the business and working IN the business.

It's the transition from doing the work one set out to do at the beginning, such as finish carpentry, to now leading other carpenters, managing client relationships, etc.

Working ON vs Working IN

Working ON your business involves creating systems, training, hiring, coaching, and marketing.  Working IN involves doing the work that provides value to customers.

In many ways, the two actions start the day a business begins.  The founder(s) do it all.  IN and ON.

At first, it can be exciting, and all the hurdles, obstacles, and challenges.  But eventually, the excitement can wear off, and the hard work takes over.

All work in a business can be and is hard.  However, almost universally, the “people work”-employees, partners, clients, and potential customers - is the most challenging work.

Back to cows.  When I worked with dairy farms, it was often said by me and others that all the problems on the farms were two-legged.  The four-legged took care of themselves.

Embrace the Challenge

It took me a while, with some difficult experiences, to learn what I truly loved about starting and growing businesses. The People.

The people I work with and the people I get to serve.  That is why I worked so hard to grow myself as a leader.  Because the people around me deserved it, they deserved to be led by someone who had them as the focus and not the P&L or whatever else it could be.

No matter the business, the work is the people.

When I worked as a nutrition consultant, I believed I was working for the cows.  Yet they never wrote me a check.  While they made the milk to earn money, the farm owner paid me.  Yet I was never focused on them.

Hence the disconnect.

Years after I left that business, while operating other businesses, I finally learn the entire reason why I was doing the work I did.

“To help others accomplish what they never thought possible.”

That's my purpose in life.  That's what excites me. It's why I do what I do now. And to do that, I had to get over myself: my fears, insecurities, and limitations to embrace linking arms with others to accomplish anything.

Help Others Do What They Do Well

The objective of any leader can be summarized as follows: help others do what they do well.

It's what makes great coaches great, and also the best leaders, the people we want to follow and champion.

The best leaders aren't there to prove their worth by their abilities to complete tasks or make it rain.  The best leaders help and allow others to be the best version of themselves.

Because we are human, have fears, insecurities, and blind spots, this is hard.

It's hard to break from the push to prove, to embrace the journey.

It's hard to receive all the glory for success one day and hand the trophy to others for winning.

It's hard, yet so worth it.

When you think of the best leaders you have read about or been around, undoubtedly, the thoughts are of how they made you or others feel about themselves.

They make people feel valued.  Great leaders help others find and express their value. Great leaders pass the baton before they are exhausted, because they know the only way the team can win is when someone else runs their race.

People aren't robots.  They have feelings, dreams, desires, fears, and insecurities.  These qualities make the entire function and purpose of work worthwhile and meaningful.  When you love and support people, they will love and support others!

Did you catch this podcast? If not, listen to it here.