As an entrepreneur, you?ll put a lot of effort into your business and there will be an outcome associated with your efforts. Maybe you strictly followed the advice of a business guru and things didn?t turn out the way you?d hoped.
Your business racked up credit card debt buying supplies, tools or courses and you?re starting to feel a little overwhelmed. Or maybe you were on track to bring in the profit you?d planned on, except that you had several customers ask for refunds and that threw your profits off.
Now it?s not looking too good as to whether or not you?ll come in on budget. What you must realize in order to be successful is that regardless of what happens in your business, you alone bear the responsibility.
You can?t blame the outcome on gurus you follow, customers who don?t like your product or change their minds – and you can?t sit back, waiting for someone else to step up.
You alone must take charge and accept the blame for whatever happens. It?s easier to look at others and say they?re the reason something happened that was bad for your business.
It?s also easy to say that what happened was outside of your control. But that doesn?t make it the truth. You have to acknowledge that the person in charge is you. That means whether your business succeeds or fails, you?re the driving force behind that outcome.
By owning the responsibility for your efforts, it will help you see what you?re doing right and what you need to work on with your business. Shouldering this responsibility means you don?t waste time looking for someone else to blame.
You don?t attempt to come up with a litany of excuses. You just say you?re responsible and then you get ready to deal with whatever the issue is. Part of taking responsibility means that you have to accept responsibility for failures, not just boast about your successes.
It means that you don?t waste your time trying to justify yourself when things go wrong. You just come up with a strategy that will change the outcome of your efforts if that?s what?s needed.
You don?t want to try to push responsibility for your efforts off onto someone else because when you do that, you not only fail to grow, but you stand to make the exact same mistake again in the future.
Only the consequences may be greater, because you haven?t stepped up and learned what not to do or how to do it right. Don?t be ashamed to admit when you?re wrong. This is how leaders are made.
They can see their mistakes, take responsibility and come back stronger. When you shoulder the responsibility, you can improve yourself and your business as well – and that can lead to an even greater success than you?d ever dreamed of achieving.