When we speak about the business roller coaster we speak about that feeling you get when you are on an actual roller coaster. First you might feel on top of the world seeing the beautiful surroundings and then suddenly you feel right at the bottom seeing only the approaching ground with no hope of surviving.
This is the exact feelings I had when I recently rode the Anaconda at Gold Reef City. What an experience!
In business, being an entrepreneur and operating a small business, we experience similar feelings to those you experience when you ride a roller coaster. The one moment you feel on top of the world. Your business is flying, the customers are happy, the staff are happy, the customers love the products and the bank account is strong.
The next moment you feel right at the bottom with unhappy staff and customers, an empty bank account, product returns and no hope of getting money in.
The next moment you are just coasting along like the start of the roller coaster ride up to the tipping point and it all seems like it will be ok.
The next moment you feel like a storm is approaching and you do not know what to expect and whether you should laugh or cry. This is the life of an entrepreneur, the life of a business owner, the life you chose and the life we all love.
The best part of the picture I painted above is that it is the start of your day and normally happens every hour throughout the day. If you are not experiencing these feelings at lease daily, you have not properly experienced running your own business yet. Having said this, it is not necessary to experience these feelings every day, day in and day out.
At some stage, you have to get off the roller coaster, and just get the ride over and done with. In your business, you need to do the same. You need to say, enough is enough and end the emotional torment.
The key to getting off the roller coaster in business is realising that you have people around you that can share the burden of stress, responsibility and performance. In most small businesses there are a few employees that can help carry the weight of the business. So, delegate some of the tasks to them.
Give the staff tasks to perform and give them the responsibility that goes with the task. Give them the stress of handling the task, but also ensure that you give them the reward that goes with it. This will ensure that they do not mind handling this task.
Most entrepreneurs have a support system in place. We all have family, friends, spouses or fellow entrepreneurs. Please do not be shy to ask them for help or advice. You will be surprised as to what advice they might have to solve that issue that you have been working on for days. Have a soundboard. Have someone that you can bounce ideas from. Have someone that cares. Just have someone there for you when you need a shoulder to lean on or just some comfort that in the end, it will all work out.
Running your own business is probably one of the bravest, most daring and smartest decisions any person can make. It takes a lot of guts to stop what you are doing, give up what you have and swap that for being an entrepreneur. I salute you!
But remember, you can make the roller coaster ride a lot smoother or just simply get off it by making smarter decisions. Realise that you cannot do everything yourself, realise you need help, realise you do not know everything and most importantly realise that it is perfectly ok to admit to all of these things. There is nothing wrong with admitting that you need help getting off the roller coaster.
And then there is also the Business Cash Flow Roller Coaster to understand and prepare for….
