Entrepreneurship, or as they call it nowadays “the startup world” is a highly competitive and complex lifestyle. There are no bosses but yourself, and you must be extremely hard on yourself to become the worker your startup needs to switch from the “start” to the “up” stage. There are a million articles already that will give you some incredible insights as to how to push your limits and grow your company beyond what you imagine, but here we have decided to share 3 insights that are different. In our journey as Virtual CEO’s we have encountered that growing a business is not always as intuitive as we thought, and sometimes working hard is only a method, not an end.
1. Problems disappear with time:
This is one of the most counter intuitive things we have figured out. Did you have trouble figuring out how to do different tasks in your company? Or did you find out when you started crunching numbers that you are not making as much as you expected? Great, that is what this game is all about. And sure, you need to get busy and solve whatever you can, but remember that many of the things you find to be problematic end up disappearing on their own. One time we were super stressed because we needed help running our company and we had no way to pay an extra person. It was stressful because it is impossible and not ethical to push people to work for you for free. But guess what, we forgot about it and our Virtual CEO team posted on their Facebook a “volunteer with us” status and we could barely even read all the CVs we received. Problem fixed, without trying very hard, or in many cases, without doing anything at all.
Not all problems disappear, you have to hustle to make things work, but remember that several issues end up working out just fine without the stress of trying to fix it right away.
Focus on tackling immediate problems and letting go of future issues that might not even exist when the time comes. If you do this properly your business will grow because you are focused solving what matters, not what is urgent.
2. Promote virtual hygiene:
Do you remember that one client that sent you 25 messages at 10 pm on a Saturday night regarding your meeting on Monday? We all have individuals like that in our life, and believe it or not developing good virtual habits is essential to grow your company. Avoiding interruptions, mixed messages, important messages on social media, and checking your email on constantly are some of the things that will definitely help you grow your company.
Teach your clients and coworkers about these habits. If they send something important via text message or SM let them know you need that information in an email. And if they seem upset you did not answer their email right away remind them you check your email in the morning, after lunch and at 5 pm.
Be demanding about your virtual habits and free yourself from being constantly attached to a device to feel productive. Productivity is not answering emails, is getting work done. As a Virtual CEO doing less menial tasks and more important work is crucial.
3. Focus on self-growth:
Being a Virtual CEO is a mindset that requires you to push your limits and as such you need to focus on growing yourself. This means you do not only have to think about how to grow your company but most importantly how to be better than you were yesterday. A good way to think about it is to ask yourself “Am I in a better place than I was a year ago? 3 years ago? A month ago?” if the answer is yes then you are doing it right. Competing against yourself and constantly thriving to be a better human being will pay off emotionally, mentally and financially. Don’t become a drifter, waiting for the world to tell you who you are supposed to be or the path you should take. Take ownership of all your decisions and focus on adopting better habits, eat healthier, rest better, you get the drill.
