Entrepreneurship means signing yourself up for a constant learning curve.
Despite having almost two decades worth of experience running my own businesses, I’m continually faced with new challenges and changes in my career — whether I’m ready for it or not.
Over the years, I’ve come to find that the majority of the obstacles that entrepreneurs experience stem from within the walls of their own company. This has included challenges such as a leader’s own pattern to self-sabotage, bad habits from employees, or low productivity levels, all of which can slowly start to impact your path to success.
Internal threats may not seem like a top success deterrent, but entrepreneurs need to be able to spot these issues when they arise and learn how to put an end to them before they get out of hand. Here are some of the ways that negative actions could be hurting your business, and what you can do to manage them in the workplace.
Your negative thoughts, or the fact that you’re overthinking them, could be the reason that your company is suffering. Constantly comparing your firm to its competitors, or stressing about failing your team, will drag your business down more than any actual threat — and will pile on unnecessary stress to your already full plate.
Worrying about something that may or may not happen is a detrimental mindset to have, and won’t make it any more or less likely to happen. Most of the time, we simply overthink things that we’re insecure about or try to figure out a way to control the outcome. Taking a more productive approach, put your energy towards finding ways to improve the situation (in lieu of overthinking or self-sabotaging yourself in the process).
2. Your employees’ bad habits.
Occasionally an employee’s attitude or your company culture can turn toxic, and it can sour the environment of everyone involved. The issue could be something small (like your staff avoid asking questions or miss a deadline), or something on a much grander scale (like spreading rumors or even stealing from the company).
Despite the specifics of the situation, the problem should be nipped in the bud as soon as you catch wind of it. It may seem immature and a waste of your time, but when you’re managing people, sometimes you have to step in and referee. It’s vital for everyone involved, and especially for the success of your business.
3. Your company’s productivity.
How productive your team is, and the quality of work that they produce corresponds to the kind of environment that they’re surrounded by at the office. This tone is always set by your own attitude and behaviour, and will then trickle down to your employees. As a leader, by bringing in a more optimistic outlook, you will be setting the model standard for the expectations at your company.
Productivity levels could also be affected if goals, promotions, or expectations haven’t been communicated successfully between yourself and your staff. Ensuring that everyone is on the same page, and is coming into the office with a purpose, can give your staff the motivation that they need to work towards a goal and feel accomplished once it has been achieved.