Posts in Operations
Survival Tips for Accidental Business Owners

Starting a business is an adventure, and it can be especially overwhelming for those who never intended to become business owners in the first place. If you're an "accidental business owner" who started a side business that is now growing, you might be feeling overwhelmed by your sudden success. Here are some tips to help you manage your growth and avoid burnout.

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Aim Your High-Performers

If your team members are working hard but still not getting the results you know you should be seeing, it’s time to pause and ask the question - do they know where they’re headed and how to get there? The best teams move quickly and that means they can get off track quickly, too. It’s critically important to set a clear company GPS through a strong operational foundation.

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Building OKR Buy-in

Nothing feels better to an integrator like myself than a fresh plan. The possibility, the promise, the productivity of it all. And then there are the people. The real humans on the team who may not find the same joy in metrics and lists and milestones that I do. Diverse teams of real experts in their seats will come to the OKRs process with varied levels of comfort and enthusiasm and it’s naïve to assume that everyone’s going to experience this process the way that you do.

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Accountability is a conversation

If you really want to see results and address performance, build communication rhythms that encourage ongoing and authentic feedback. Many studies have shown that annual reviews are a waste of time and do more harm than good for a company’s bottom line. Untangle your team’s communication with ongoing feedback opportunities.

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Just say it

You likely know your business better than anyone else - and that means that there's knowledge that you have that others do not. Unless they're mind readers, you have to get better at communicating your asks of your team members. Not everyone has the skill set or patience to communicate well but those who make the effort are the ones who see the real progress.

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Dust off that plan and get to work

How are those new company initiatives going? Ever write down a plan only to have it gather dust on a shelf, never having taken the first step towards the finish line? Writing down your plan is great but if you don't have strong rhythms in place to put it into action, you're never going to get anywhere. It’s just plans. How do you get to the finish line?

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