About 6 months ago I took James Wedmore’s “What Type of Entrepreneur Are You?” quiz and the results were less than ideal (LOL). Turns out I was an Overworked, Underpaid Entrepreneur. GREAT! But it was an eye-opener for me that I was taking on too many of the roles in my business on my own, and as a result was working tirelessly and incredibly long days, just spinning the wheels it seemed.
Looking back, this is absolutely part of the entrepreneurial learning journey. So what I did was take this as a lesson and get on track to put my time and energy towards what will help my business GROW.
In talking to other entrepreneurs, this is definitely a common theme. When it’s our passion, we treat it like a newborn; careful with who comes too close, not wanting to give up much responsibility and spending far too much time stressing about all the little hiccups.
But if you’re wearing all the hats, that means you’re not just the founder/creator, you are also the accountant, operations, designer, copywriter, photographer, editor, community manager, SEO & website person, etc. I mean no sane person has enough time to do all of those jobs in a traditional setting, what makes you think you can, without suffering from burnout?!
My valuable lesson in taking that quiz was that I needed to loosen the grip hold on my business and begin to hire freelancers, a virtual assistant, and lean on others for support.
I took an assessment of my weekly tasks and started getting really honest with myself — which items take up too much of my time, which slow me down, and which ones I need to can altogether. Turns out, I had a laundry list of things that I could pass off so I could focus on creating, connecting, and evolving my business.
I have since hired a website developer, a graphic designer, and virtual assistant who help me focus on what’s really going to generate the money in my business, versus my business running me to the ground. It’s given me more freedom, flexibility and I enjoy what I do so much more now!
So ask yourself, where are you trading time for money in your business?