“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place, and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!”

The immortal words of Rocky Balboa…

When we small business owners speak honestly with each other, there is often what seems to be an unspoken pact, unconsciously shared between all small business owners, a sense of ‘blitz spirit’ that utters it’s hard, I know exactly what you mean, I’ve been there too’, five times I’ve started and sold businesses. And in my experience, its only other small business owners who can truly relate to this, from the outside looking in people may say ‘owning your own business must be great, you don’t have a boss telling you what to do, you can pick and choose your own hours, you’re doing what you love, all of which may be true, but what they don’t see are the blood sweat and tears that go into making your business a success, the hard times when you’re worried if any customers are going to show up today, manically phoning round when an employee calls in sick, or not being able to take holidays at certain times of year because that’s your busy period. Unfortunately, those conversations between business owners are often few and far between, owning a small business can be a lonely, stressful place.

This is why as a business owner the most important thing is to look after your mental health first and foremost, your business is nothing without you, and you are its most important resource, when you are motivated, so is your business. Below are some tips to help keep motivated, from one business owner to another:

1.   Stop being so hard on yourself!

Business owners often overwhelm themselves by thinking that every single thing that they do in their business has to be perfect. It doesn’t. Most of the time it simply must just get done. Of course always do your best, but remember, doing your best is better than doing nothing at all.

2.   Don’t become overwhelmed.

Motivation for anybody can sometimes be a struggle. In my experience when I feel so overwhelmed with work, often I literally have no idea where to start. If you also struggle with this, then it’s time for an honest assessment of what you are spending your time on each day, to start with just pick the items from your ‘to do list’ that will make the most impact in the least amount of time.

3.   Manage your time more effectively.

A killer for motivation is sometimes that you’re spending hours and hours working on your business, but don’t seem to be getting the results you were hoping for. A reason for this may be that those hours may not be as productive as you think they are. Explore the time management strategies below and find one that works for you.

·        ABCD analysis

·        Pareto analysis

·        The Eisenhower Method

·        POSEC method

·        Pomodoro

·        GTG (get things done)

If chores like phone calls and e-mails are eating away at your workday and not doing anything to really help your productivity, consider assigning certain times of the day, such as morning, lunch and evening before leaving for the day, and see how much more of your work sessions can be spent on things that will make your business a success.

4.   Treat Yourself, you deserve it.

It doesn’t have to be anything spectacular, it could be a break, a coffee, or five minutes of online shopping. Try to avoid working every hour under the sun and especially working every weekend. Set holidays for yourself and take them. Take a mental health day and do something you really enjoy, I guarantee that you will feel less burned out, and more in control of your own life.

Try to get plenty of rest, and at least eight hours of sleep per night. Sleep deprivation of even just one lost hour per night can cause burn out.

5.   If a task drags you down, outsource it.

There are always going to be tasks that you love doing and look forward to each day, they’re interesting. Then there are those ‘other’ tasks, the dull ones, the boring ones, and the ones you hate. You might even be so bad at them that you dread them and procrastinate until things come to a standstill in your business. The truth is, don’t be too afraid or proud to look for help, can your employees do these tasks? Or if not, there are literally millions of freelancers online who can take these tasks off your hands, so you can happily spend your time doing the things you love. To simplify this point, you’ll never be able to earn $100 per hour if you’re spending all your time doing $10 per hour tasks.

For me personally, I have always outsourced finance administration. Whilst I understand the importance of being up to date on finance and I constantly use finance as a basis for my business strategy, I find the finance process boring. Not difficult, just not interesting!

Free up as much of your time as you can and make the hours you spend on your business more positive and productive ones.

As I said in the introduction, being a small business owner is hard, sometimes you need to speak with a person who understands.

Everybody at the Business Enterprise Centre NT can honestly say ‘we have been there’, because we have, and the support is there, so if you need help, whether it’s with digital marketing, growth strategy or finance (some of the team are accountants), we can help you grow your business.