Feeling A Lack Of Control In Your Business? Here’s How To Change Things

There isn’t a single business owner out there who hasn’t felt like things are spinning away from them. The world of business can be the most difficult one to navigate, and so many things can affect you without ever taking your own thoughts and feelings into account. Local economy issues, being unable to find the right staff, customers deciding never to come back – these are all common problems you’re likely to have little to no control over. 

However, the moment this lack of control becomes chronic? A treatment program will be needed! The stress doesn’t have to rule you from here on out. You can pull some of the power back to you and put yourself at the helm again. And if you don’t really know where to start, we’ve got some ideas for you to try out down below.

Tweak How You Use Your Time

What does an average workday look like to you? Is it overstuffed with admin tasks, long meetings, and plenty of painstaking, time consuming work that feels harder and harder every day? Then you need to tweak how you’re using your time. 

The sense of your lack of control is coming from the pressure you’re putting on yourself. You don’t need to fill your days with everything you could possibly ever need to do. It won’t help the business, and it certainly won’t help you. 

Retrain your sense of time. Allocate your work hours equally, and make sure you always go home on time.

Rely on Your Team

Every business owner has tackled that sense of control inside them. You’re the one who started the business, and you’re the one who wants to see it succeed more than anyone else. You’re concerned about turning your attention elsewhere, just in case something goes wrong or is managed in an inefficient manner. 

But if you hired your team yourself, and made sure they were the best fit for the job required of them, you can rely on them. Delegation is key to ensuring you have more time, more energy, and more resources to make use of. 

And if you don’t have a team, consider outsourcing in the near future. This is where you bring in outside services to take charge of certain processes, the most common of which tend to fall in the financial and marketing departments. 

Outsourcing means you get the support you need when you need it, but you’re not paying for unnecessary staff you’re not ready for and/or can’t actually pay for.

Use Software to Keep an Eye

If one of your parents ever told you that they had eyes in the back of their head, it’s probably quite frustrating to find out that they were lying. As an adult yourself, in charge of a business, who could really do with an extra pair of eyes, you’ve only got the one to rely on! 

The right software helps with that. Staying on top of project progress, order location, and what your staff are working on right now, is essential to staying in the loop. A closer look into the way your business works will always make you feel more in control. 

Of course, it’s best to download management software that’s been made for you, by business owners in the same niche/industry as you. 

Someone working in the waste and/or logistics sector will benefit from the CurbWaste glossary, or someone who has a newly established business in the health and beauty sector will likely benefit from a booking app like Treatwell. 

When you can use tech to your advantage, you gain that second pair of eyes you’ve always needed. That will help with issues of time management and staff productivity too.

Take a Break

No one can do their best when they’re already pushed to the edge. It’s why those who are experiencing burnout need to be able to take time off; you need time to reset and recharge. 

Even as a business owner who already feels out of control and like they’re on the back foot, you need to take frequent breaks. This will ensure you come back able to give as much as possible, and have it count too. 

Take a break on a regular basis. The average worker in the US has around 10 days paid vacation per year, so you should get the same amount yourself at the least. Then, make sure your staff take breaks too. You want them giving 110% just as often as you are. 

Remember That You Won’t Always Be in Control

The idea that running your own business means you’re the one in charge is a nice one. However, it can give you false expectations around how much control you have over the way things work. After all, if a customer decides to visit your website, pop a product in the basket, and then leave without buying it, you can’t make them come back and complete the sale. 

As such, the idea that you’ll always be in control, or that you always need to be, can make you feel much more dissatisfied with the way your business is going. That’s why we recommend changing things when that lacking feeling gets on top of you. 

There’s always a way to put your hand back on the wheel. To start with, focus on what you can control, and how you can improve your service. I.e., use tech to get a more detailed overview of your company, if you’re concerned that you don’t really know what’s going on and when. 

But in the long run, it’s best to adjust your expectations. If something unexpected happens, you can only react. If a risk you took doesn’t pay off, you can only resort to your backup plan and/or run damage control until you’re back on track. 

Either way, you’re taking control of the things you do have influence over, and that’ll make you a much more successful and experienced business owner overall. 

This is a contributed post.