Holding one another to account as Entrepreneurs, Freelancers and Creatives
An invaluable aspect of having a tribe of small business owners to help support you, is that you can hold one another to account.
This is especially useful for those tasks that you put off doing… financial planning, creating a business plan, hiring people (I’ll cover these in more depth in future posts.)
There are elements of running a business that may feel daunting… but we can’t bury our heads in the sand. You’re the boss! This is your show. Don’t tell yourself off for having put things off, please trust me when I say that it won’t help – but do figure out strategies for how you can motivate yourself going forward. One of the best things you can do is to communicate your plans, dreams and ideas to others.
The more specific you can be the better, as this will really help others to hold you to account. As so often in life, it’s helpful to start from the deadline and work backwards. A deadline we all have to work towards is the date of our tax return. What do you need to do before then… find the receipts in your shoe box? Collect them from members of your team? Figure out how soon you need to start all this and then set yourself mini deadlines. Those deadlines are where your tribe can really help.
For some, casually mentioning them when you catch up may be enough. The fact you’ve told someone you’re going to do it may be all you need to make sure it actually happens. For others, you may need to ask for them to reach out. Don’t be afraid to ask for help! Who could you go to and say, “ok, by X date please can you ask me if I’ve done Y because I really don’t want to, but know I have to”?
This doesn’t have to be a big deal! To go back to the tax deadline, could you buddy up with another small business owner and send them a ridiculous gif of money flying everywhere when you’ve finally got everything sorted? This will a) make them laugh b) remind them of the tax deadline themselves and c) make sure you’re holding yourself to account because you’re communicating what you’re doing to someone else.
So much of running a small business can feel like it’s happening behind closed doors. It’s freeing, but actually quite challenging, to feel that you’re not accountable to anyone but yourself. Sometimes, we need that external feeling of accountability to motivate us. I’m not suggesting you find a replacement for that old boss you hated, but just someone from your tribe to check in and show up for you.
Take a moment to consider 1) what are the things you need help being accountable with? What do you put off or not do at all? 2) Who could you go to ask that they check in on you? This often works best as a two way street and most people will really appreciate the offer that you also check in with them.
You may have someone who needs help with the same thing. For example, you may know a fellow entrepreneur who also hates social media so you check in with each other on Monday morning and tell each other what your goal is that week. Perhaps you also commit to liking and commenting on each other’s posts as a bit of a boost?
But it could be for something totally different! We all have our own challenges. The great thing about building up your tribe is that you’re expanding the network of skills and experience you’re surrounded with. Something I’ll be exploring more in this next post on swapping skills to grow in a more financially stable way…
MY ACTION PLAN:
- Make a quick list of things you need help being held to account with in your business e.g. social media.
- Message someone (or a few people!) to organise check ins to support one another with these things.
