5 Challenges of Being your Own Boss & How to Deal with Them

Being a full-time employer is not for everyone and working for yourself isn’t either. Being able to enjoy the benefits of being your own boss does not come easy. This article will examine some of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs face while running their own company and provide you with some strategies to overcome them.

• Getting Work Done

The majority of full-time jobs come with a system put in place to create a routine that all employees must follow. There are specific number of hours you are expected to work for, and a place where you’ll be expected to be, during those hours every day. Apart from that, you would also have some colleagues and a boss, responsible for supervising your work and ensuring it gets done on time. Regardless of whether you like your colleagues and your boss or not, this set-up organizations offer, allow employees to develop a routine that allows them to meet deadlines and be effective.

On the other hand, running you own company does not necessarily require you to be anywhere or follow any specific routine to get the work done. In fact, you could work from bed everyday or go to a coffee shop every now and even stay in your PJs all day if you wanted to. Yet, there are many distractions at home and more often than not, we get lazy and do not get the work done as we had planned.

How to Eradicate This Problem?

Design a structure that works for you. This would allow you to set specific times to get your work done. You must think about what you consider to be the most productive hours of your day and use them accordingly. Designate a space that you can use as ‘your office’, free of distractions and somewhere you cannot be disturbed. These simple rules would allow you to be efficient and to have a flexible schedule, that allows you to get your work done in your own time.

• Deciding What to Work On

Full-time jobs also tend to assign employees a set of tasks that need to be completed. As an employee you would constantly have someone, whether it is your boss or a colleague, giving you things to do. One of the perks of being your own boss is that you do not have anyone telling you what to do. Yet, it could also be quite challenging, to decide what work should be prioritized each day, as well as to decide what projects to take on and which ones to decline, as you must ensure you are able to effectively juggle all your priorities on time.

How to Eradicate this Problem?

You must ensure you have a clear vision for your company, of what you want to achieve in the short and long-run and put a plan in place that would allow you to stick to it. In addition, you must determine what your biggest priorities are and come up with a plan to obtain the results you want to achieve. You should focus on one thing a day, as this would make you more effective, and ensure you include both personal and professional priorities to your plans, so you can feel satisfied on both aspects and be able to stay focused at all times.

• Know When to Stop

Having a schedule to follow allows you to spend your most productive hours at your workplace. Yet, you may still take lunch breaks with colleagues during the week days or go to the gym after work, to unwind from the stress work may cause you at times. That leads you to perceive your home mostly as a place to relax. Therefore,itbecomes very challenging to have a routine working from home, as the lines between work and play become somewhat confusing. There will be times when you will be highly motivated to work hard, especially because the income you will earn will depend mostly on the effort you put into your work.However, there will also be times when you would not be able to work, and such situations may create feelings of guilt, due to the idea that you would not earn any money if you do not work at all. Even though technology facilitates the process of managing workloads, you could still become slave to yourlaptop and/or smartphoneand eventuallymake work unbearable.

How to eradicate this problem?

Create physical boundaries by designating a workspace at home, as well as virtual boundaries to allow you to enjoy your breaks without interruptions. Ensure these boundaries are communicated clearly to your family and friends, so they can respect you working hours the same way they would if you were at out of the house. As long as you work hard during the designated hours, you will be able to have a good work-life balance and still be able to enjoy your life.

• Working Alone

Some of the advantages of working for big organizations arehaving someone who can guide you throughdifferent projects, as well as training programs tohelp you acquire the necessary skills to successfully deliver projects. If you do, you will be rewarded perhaps with a promotion or a bonus, depending on the organization’s policy. However, working alone does not only mean that you will have the final say in everything, but also that you will have no one to go to for guidance or for feedback. You would be required to be creative, as you would need to make all the professional decisions alone.

How to eradicate this problem?

You must put a support system in place. We suggest finding someone to guide you whenever you feel you might be stuck and give you a different perspective of each situation. You may also consider getting a small team, such as a virtual assistant, an accountant, or someone who you think might be able to take some work off your shoulders and still maintain the effectiveness of the business. It is also very important to celebrate your achievements and reward yourself for them, as this will help you to keep up the good work without feeling burnout or completely isolated.

• Understand That you Have Feelings of Loneliness and Learn to Manage Them

One of the best parts of working in an office are most probably the people you work with. Having a team who you can go on lunch breaks with or go for a drink after work with is always great. There may also be events where you can celebrate your achievements and having people you like around you is always stimulating and comforting. Yet, when you work for yourself there is no one to celebrate victories with, or to chat with after work. In fact, many days may pass without you having any physical interaction with anyone at all.

How to eradicate this problem?

It might be an idea to find a working space that can simulate an office environment. You may also attend to conferences or industry events for meeting like-minded people, as well as to build a network. Ensure you meet-up regularly with family and friends after work, so you can get out of the house and take a proper break from work.

Working for yourself has its benefits and its challenges, but as long as you set yourself up for success in a sustainable way, you will be fine. You just need to accept the challenges and use them as an opportunity to grow and improve both yourself and your business.