If you run a small business, you will often have to do things that you really don’t want to do. After all, in a little company the proprietor wears many hats, and there are things that you simply can’t delegate. Most people that have the entrepreneurial spirit for instance are not very good at accounting and they hate to do paperwork, unfortunately these are two of the things that business people often have to do. These are not things that you can procrastinate with or put off.
So the question you need to ask yourself and your mirror is; “Do I have the Self Discipline to run my own company?” Now it’s true that if you are going to be making a profit you might get a little more excited about doing those chores that you really don’t feel like dealing with. However, businesses don’t make money all the time, there are good times and bad times, and there even very harsh recessions. Therefore, you must have the self-discipline to see it through.
One way to tell if you have the self-discipline necessary is to consider all your other activities. Did you stick with the program if you played team sports, did you work hard in practice to play a musical instrument in the high school band, or did you study hard in school to get good grades; the answers to these questions will give you clues into your own psychological profile, and in understanding if you have what it takes.
Now, you can fool me, and you could probably fool those around you and have them believe that you are one with perseverance, dedication, self-control, and hard work ethic. But you can’t fool yourself, not in business anyway, because if you do it will cost you your profits. Indeed, I hope you will please consider this.
Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes in hard work ethic.
