Entrepreneurs’ dilemma of outsourcing the work and the reasons not to do it
Businesses targeting entrepreneurs (including yours-truly) often talk about the importance of being in ‘the zone of genius’ or in flow.
From there the argument goes along the lines of ‘you should get someone else to take care of anything that distracts you from your zone of genius. Imagine being able to focus solely on what you’re good at!
Does this sound familiar? Anxiety and overwhelm is often caused by the mistaken belief that there are so many things to do and not enough time to cram it all into your already busy schedule. Such beliefs lead to nights of lost sleep and, perhaps, an existential crisis along the way.
The reality?
If I could spend an hour or so being in flow in a day (more on the day when I’m shooting or being with my clients and students), that would be a great day for me. Most other times, my life is as mundane, distracted and annoying as everyone else’s.
I’m not in any way suggesting that getting external help is a bad idea. After all, the service I offer to entrepreneurs/professionals is indeed external help.
What I’m cautioning against is the wishful thinking that outsourcing assistance could take away all your problems in one fell swoop.
Most people, even the most successful among us, often spend a lot of their time dealing with stuff that is outside of their zone of genius because running a business also requires trouble-shooting and mundane day-to-day stuff that’s just got to be done to keep things running smoothly.
What might be helpful is to accept that feeling antsy to get moving (faster) is normal and you don’t have to know/do it all. The acceptance of that reality leads to a calmer state of mind. That is the place to begin the consideration of what your next step needs to be.
Your next step might be understanding what part of the business process you’re not particularly a full bottle on and finding out what is involved. More often than not, it’s something you already know more than a bit about or something you’ve already been doing. The point is not to expect someone to take all your problems away. Accept that being an entrepreneur includes dealing with problems and that’s more than half the fun of being an entrepreneur.
What often helps is having someone to talk to – ideally someone who is in a similar situation with experience around the problems you may be facing. Perhaps that is why being part of a group of people with similar interests and experiences is popular (aka mastermind group).
In fact, that is why I built Brand Build Mastery – my flagship program helping people launch/relaunch businesses. It provides a roadmap to grow your business and a one-stop-shop of skills for hard-working entrepreneurs. It, of course, isn’t for everyone. My students and coaching clients tell me that it’s intense and requires quite a bit of emotional labour (sometimes more than they’ve ever had to do), but the results can be spectacular and life-changing.
If what I shared in this dispatch resonated with you, it might be time for you to level up and learn to master your brand and business building.
