6 Ways Entrepreneurs Sabotage Themselves

I get to meet, speak to, and work with a lot of top entrepreneurs.  I am always impressed by their ways of thinking, success routines, and the effort they put in to be the best in their business and in serving their clients/markets.

But, still, as good as these people are, they aren't perfect and have to overcome challenges.  Many times, those challenges are self-imposed.  I was thinking about this the other and I started to look at the most common ways I've seen that entrepreneurs sabotage themselves and hurt their success.  Here are 6 of the most common ones.

Self Doubt

This is probably the most prevalent.  Everyone goes through periods of doubting themselves and their abilities, especially entrepreneurs, but the key is someone's ability to pull themselves out of it and not let self-doubt create unnecessary destruction in your life and business.  The first place I always start when I feel self-doubt creeping in is to stop and ask myself if what I am feeling is really true or just an emotional reaction to current events, a bad day, etc.  Usually, it is a temporary outside event or influence that is short lived and in understanding it, I can change my thought patterns and gain perspective so that I don't let it sabotage me.  You can do the same.

Taking on Too Much and Not Delegating

It is sometimes tough for entrepreneurs to truly let go and remove themselves from the day to day tactical needs of their business - but they will not grow or scale unless they do so.  The hardest part is knowing that you can do all of these better and/or faster than those you delegate to, but that is OK.  You will never be able to have the business run for you unless you realize that there is only one of you and that is OK.  Others can get the job done.  They may do it differently, but they will get it done.  Trust in that and empower them.  Let go!

Trust Issue

To go with above, one of the biggest sabotaging habits of entrepreneurs is not trusting the people around them and questioning everything instead of empowering and trusting.  I've see another of great businesses ruined by an owner who could not and would not trust those they have worked hard to bring in to help them.  And typically either ends with good people quitting or leaving or the business owner taking the business down.  If you are going to have a business and grow, you must be willing to trust those you bring into help you.  There is nothing wrong with checking in and verifying things are being done how they are supposed to, but that is leadership, not lack of trust.  Don't fall into this trap.

Financial Literacy

A lot of business owners are incredible at creating and selling their product, but horrible at managing their finances.  I understand.  Financial education is not taught in any real good way in formal education.  Understanding cash flow and how to read a P&L, or how to understand the trends happening in a business is a different kind of financial literacy.  Entrepreneurs need to invest the time to understand the numbers and what they are telling them.  An accountant can easily help educate you on these things and you should self-educate.  I've seen a lot of businesses who are "killing it" fall apart because they could not manage cashflow.  Just because you sell something doesn't mean you have the cash yet and not understanding the expenses required to deliver what you sell can sabotage you very fast.  Get financially literate.

Understanding and Managing Risk

Great entrepreneurs, understand risk and how to use it well in their business.  They practice "asymmetric risks."  These are risks that when taken have a tremendous upside, but small downside.  In other words, if it doesn't work out, the business won't fail.  Many entrepreneurs do the opposite.  They take huge risks where almost all of the risk and consequences are on them if they fail.  They "bet the farm" and many times don't last because of it.  As entrepreneurs, we will always have and many times must take risks, but the key is to make sure they are asymmetrical and that the consequences can be mitigated or overcome if the risk doesn't pan out.  I'd rather take a number of risks and have a few workout very well than take one big risk and it bring me down.  I think you'd agree.

Lack of Focus on Two Key Areas 

Another thing that sabotages entrepreneurs has nothing to do with the business itself.  It is a lack of focus in two key areas:  Physical and Mental Health.  You cannot be your best in your business if you are not at your best physically and mentally.  You need to have the stamina to keep things going and pushing forward in your business and you need the mental capacity to handle all of the things that come your way.  The best entrepreneurs have a daily fitness routine and a daily mental health routine.  And it doesn't need to be anything crazy.  For me, it is my Ironman training every morning and my 10 minute prime that I do where I write our 3 things I am grateful for and my 3 most important things to do for the day, followed by a prayer.  This keeps me grounded, focused, energized, and healthy.  Everyone is different, so you need to figure this out for yourself, but you must figure it out and put it a physical and mental health routine into action in your life.

Avoid these 6 ways of sabotage and you'll find you reach goals even faster and will have a better business for it.