Why do entrepreneurs not ask for help?
Asking for help does not always come naturally for people. It comes down to pride and an ego issue. This is unfortunately been my experience.
We don’t like people to think that we don’t know what we are doing. We like it when people think we have all our stuff in order. We like it when people think that we are winning.
But guess what.
99% of people don’t have it together. We are still trying to figure things out. We are trying to win at this game called life. We are all simply just trying. I do not think that anyone has it all figured out.
If anyone is telling you otherwise, they are lying. Ask them to phone me up and prove that they have it all figured out.
Running a business is the same as this game called life
When running your own business, the exact same is true. No one has it all figured out. We are all trying to win at this game called entrepreneurship. None of us knows everything about entrepreneurship. We are all amassing knowledge as we go along and build our businesses.
If anyone believed that they had it all figured out, then the current pandemic definitely opened their eyes. (I made a pact that Vitalis will not post or use the current pandemic in any of its marketing. I don’t think its right that a company uses or abuses this dire humanitarian situation to gain market share. Period. But to explain my rant, I have to use the current situation to explain my point of view.)
Having said that, we need to realise that there is no going back to normal. There will be a new normal once all the countries have lifted their national lockdowns.
Anyway, the current pandemic proves that no company in South Africa has it all figured out. Edcon, SAA, Truworths, Kulula just to name a few of the big guns that are struggling. One would think that these guys have it all figured out, right? They aren’t big for no reason. Well, this proves that we are all sitrying.
In a recent speech I gave at the Diamond Chamber of Commerce, I stated that even I have people I use as mentors. All mentors have mentors. We all need someone to talk to. Someone to springboard our ideas. Someone to give us a wake up call when an idea is bad. Someone to help us grow that 1 brilliant idea.
Ok so let’s get to the crux of this rant of mine. Ask for help. Ask someone to assist you. Ask for guidance. Ask for some light in your dark room. Get a business coach. Get a business turnaround practitioner. Get a business rescue practitioner. And get your business back on track.
Now you might not agree with me, but I believe there is no shame in asking for help in your business. When you ask for help you show that you are ready to grow and that you are ready for the next step.
The benefits of asking for help
1. It helps you to grow as an entrepreneur.
It might sound weird when you hear it for the first time but asking for help helps you to grow as an entrepreneur. You gain new knowledge, new insight and a new way at looking a problems and hurdles in your business. You then learn all these new skills and can apply it when you need it.
2. You move out of discomfort.
So, allow me to be myself in this paragraph as I never sugarcoat. When you do not ask for help, you are deciding to stay in discomfort. You are deciding that your pride is bigger than getting your business back on track. You are making that choice. Read this paragraph again. Then change your decision.
3. You are preserving your greatest asset
Your business might just be your greatest asset. So why not decide to protect it by asking for help to preserve and grow it. It’s as simple as that.
Until next time!