Some business problems are not about money or clients. They are about how you work, what you avoid and the patterns you repeat. Hard to see from the inside, and worth looking at honestly.
Read the headings first. If one sounds like you, tick the signs underneath that fit your own business. Recognising the problem is the first step, and for some of these it is most of the work.
Is this you?
Why it happens
After a failure the instinct is to move on quickly, so the cause is never written down and the next attempt repeats it.
Read next
Guide coming soon.
Is this you?
Why it happens
Doing it yourself is faster the first time, and handing over takes an investment of time you never seem to have.
Is this you?
Why it happens
Every risk feels like it could cost everything, because nobody has worked out what it could actually cost.
Read next
Guide coming soon.
Is this you?
Why it happens
Excitement about the upside crowds out any look at what happens if it goes wrong.
Read next
Guide coming soon.
Is this you?
Why it happens
Paid software looks like a cost you can avoid, and the free alternatives are not always obvious.
Is this you?
Why it happens
Nobody is trained for every situation a business throws up, and not knowing where to start makes it easy to start nowhere.
Read next
Guide coming soon.
Is this you?
Why it happens
What worked is hard to question, especially when it still mostly works.
Read next
Guide coming soon.
Is this you?
Why it happens
Urgent work always feels more pressing than important work, so the work that would grow the business rarely gets the time.
Is this you?
Why it happens
An untested idea stays perfect, and a test risks finding out it does not work.
Is this you?
Why it happens
When the business is you, every problem lands on you, and exhaustion builds slowly enough to feel normal. If it does not lift, talk to your doctor or a counsellor; burnout is a health matter as much as a business one.
Read next
Guide coming soon.
Most owners who feel stretched have one or two jobs they should not be doing. Find the first thing to hand over.
Read: what to outsource firstMore problems owners run into: cash, pricing and invoicing, books and expenses, selling and leads, when things go wrong, tools. Or see every problem in one list.