Procrastination Can Destroy Your Small Biz
August 2, 2009 by Linette Gerlach
Filed under Business
Procrastination can destroy your small business before it even has a chance to get off the ground. Many small businesses never get past the idea stage. You’re sitting there thinking about starting the next small business, with the product or service everyone is waiting for. Meanwhile, someone else is probably thinking about, or already starting something a business with a similar idea. The difference is they’re acting, and you’re procrastinating.
If you’re not acting on your ideas, someone else will beat you to it, that’s a guarantee. The time is already ticking down until someone else thinks of the same idea and runs with it. Procrastination can be your worst enemy when you’re starting or running a small business.
Procrastination can keep a business idea from getting off the ground, but it can also strike later. When it comes time to make major decisions for your business, or to complete tasks you don’t enjoy doing. Don’t put them off just because they’re a little tough.
When you run a small business you have many hats, and you have to do many different tasks, some of them may not be things you enjoy doing. You have two choices, and procrastination isn’t one of them.
- You can suck it up and get the task done yourself.
- You can hire someone to do the task for you.
I have a confession, I am a horrible procrastinator! I tend to procrastinate on difficult decisions, and doing things I don’t like to do, like paperwork. To get past my procrastination habits, I make a list of the things I’m putting off about once or twice a list. Then I set the timer and start working through the list.
I set my timer for one hour at a time, when it’s time to work on the tasks I’ve been procrastinating on, the rule is I can’t work on anything else but what’s on my list.
I don’t want my business to suffer because there are tasks that I don’t want to do, or decisions I put off making. The timer works great for me, but I’d love to hear how you keep procrastination away from your small business.
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