Having owned my own small medium enterprise (SME) I understand how difficult it is to seek or ask for help. Why is it so bloody difficult? It’s all about pride, not wanting to be seen as a failure or being seen as being incompetent - well guess what your NOT!
I can say from experience I was one of those SME owners who didn’t, wouldn’t or couldn’t ask for help! I’d be up before the sparrows had started to fart and be still going well into the next morning, before my day would be due to start all over again.
I felt I had to do it all myself and this was back in late ‘90s, well before technology played such a huge role in how we worked or managed our day-to-day operations. Everything was still done ‘manually’ and I felt I had to do it all!
I was also a woman, making her way in the hospitality industry and while there were more of us making our way in what had been up until then a male ‘dominated’ world, I was determined to do it ALL myself! Well guess what, I couldn’t, and neither should I. I wasn’t an expert in finance or accounting, I had little to concept about HR or legal requirements, what I was good at was cooking, creating menus, ordering food, and creating an amazing hospitality experience for my customers. Sure, I could ‘balance the books’, employ someone and fumble my way through employment contracts and make half arsed attempts at navigating local council requirements - it was a wonder my SME survived the first year, likely good luck, rather than by design!
I survived those first years on little sleep, little time off, good luck and great support and encouragement from family and friends, in hindsight I was lucky to get out alive! How did I do it? Well, I eventually asked for help! Not to cook, not to create menus, not to order the food, but to do the things that were ‘foreign’ or not ‘natural’ to me, that then allowed me the time and head space to do what I was good at and that would allow me to create a profitable and sustainable business. But by gum, it was hard to ask for that help and even to know where to go for help.
So, putting aside that this was back in the late ‘90s, technology was very much in its infancy for SMEs and I was ‘treading water, rather than swimming’, what did I do?
I paid others to do, what I knew was not part of my ‘strong’ skill set. I brought on board an accountant, I worked with my banks SME customer support advisor and used tools available to me through industry associations. They became an important part of my team!
What did this do for me, it gave me time and head space to focus on what I was bloody good at, being a chef. I worked with these experts and used their expertise, I learnt and put in place new systems and processes that meant I got days off work, I could focus ‘working on’ my business using my expertise, rather than ‘working in’ my business and use my ‘god given talent’! Did my business survive my futile attempt as a ‘start up’, why yes, yes it did. Not without a lot of heart and headache and would now be called ‘burn out’.
So, with me sharing my story with you, what are you going to do differently when it comes to your business? Ask for help or ‘drown’ in all the unknown, because of your pride, not wanting to be seen as a failure or being seen as being incompetent?
Don’t be a ‘numpkin’, be bold, be brave and be courageous and ask and seek help - you’re not expected to be an expert in everything and neither should you be.
How about as a first step, why not reach out to me for a virtual coffee to discuss how I can help you as YOUR Business Plus One and if I don’t have the skills, I can coach you to consider where you need to put your energies into seeking and asking for help. What have you got to lose? BTW, the virtual coffee will cost you nothing but your time. Invest in yourself and your business and make the time to explore the possibilities with me.
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