The Entrepreneurial Trap (and How to Avoid It).
Like anything in life, being an entrepreneur and business owner is all about perspective. It can be risky or the safest way to earn a living. It can allow for freedom or be more constricting than any 9-to-5. It can be filled with failure or learning experiences. One thing is for sure—there’s an entrepreneurial trap that captures its fair share of owners.
The Trap:
The owner getting consumed by everything that needs done within the business.
It’s nobody’s fault. We are educated and trained to think this way:
“You just have to work hard and you’ll get it done.”
“There’s no money to hire anyone at this stage of the business.”
“If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”
And on and on it goes.
Sometimes, it starts with the mindset of: “I’m the only one who does it this way—it can’t be taught.” Other times, it comes from a perceived time constraint: “There’s no time to hire and train anyone.” A lot of times, it just sneaks up and becomes normal. Entrepreneurs are independent, clever, and resourceful, so they figure out how to be mediocre at bookkeeping, web design, social media, inventory management, operations, and selling, just to get it done.
And that’s the trap.
Full focus and time go into thinking about what needs to get done, and the rest of the time is spent doing it themselves.
Avoiding the Trap:
To grow a successful business—and for an owner to thrive as a human throughout the process—their focus needs to remain on what they love to do and are highly skilled at, while someone or something (software) handles the rest.
Michael Gerber calls it “working ON the business, not IN it.”
Dan Sullivan refers to it as, “Who Not How.”
Dan Martell calls it, “Buying Back Your Time.”
All based on the same premise—keeping you out of the entrepreneurial trap. The trap that drains your energy, fills your headspace, and slows your development.
Exponential growth comes from getting the best people to do their best work for a common cause.
3 Steps to Escape the Trap:
Be Honest: Identify what you’re an expert at, then find a solution for everything else.
Get Creative: You may not be in a position to hire full-time staff yet, but short-term commitments from third parties, independent contractors, or even the teenager up the street can be a solid place to start.
Focus on the System: You may be doing it now, but you’re the scientist working on the experiment—not the expert executing it. Define what success looks like, why it’s important for the business, and start building systems with the expectation that someone or something will take it over soon.
Whether you reframe your approach to ask “WHO can get this done the best?”, dedicate your time to working on the business instead of in it, or continually evaluate where your time goes and how best to buy it back—it all leads to the same result.
Avoiding the entrepreneurial trap means escaping the cycle of overwork, stress, and stagnation.
Stay inspired, remain in an abundant mindset, and let that entrepreneurial spirit thrive.