Sometimes owning a business can feel like too much of a burden for one person to bear. It’s in these moments that owners will seek support, only to find that those they have reached out to have no interest in sharing their burden – they will do the work that’s asked of them, but they won’t engage personally with the business owner.

For the owner, they are left with questions which must go unanswered – questions that might be keeping them awake at night.

It’s high time that owners are able to enjoy tangible benefits from seeking support – benefits that are personal to you as well as your business.

Here’s why business problems and solutions need to be considered in the context of the business owner:

· 38% of business owners say they have struggled with personal finances (Telegraph/OMD UK)
· 42% of business owners say finances are their biggest source of stress (Haines Watts)
· 35% of business owners lose motivation to continue running their business at least once a year (Haines Watts)
· 38% of business owners say that their relationships with their partner have suffered as a result of running a company (Haines Watts)

As the research makes clear, as a business owner, it’s impossible to set work aside from your personal life, and nor should you attempt to. Therefore, you need to ensure you seek help from people who are prepared to try and understand all the implications of your business predicaments.

For example, if your business is struggling with poor cash flow, it’s likely that it won’t just be the company that is suffering. Perhaps you have business loans secured by personal assets or insufficient cash inflow is leaving you with no funds to provide a quality standard of living for you and your family.

It’s not enough just to consider the needs of the business – you need someone who is going to consider your needs, too.

Here are the tangible benefits you will enjoy from partnering with people who help you achieve your vision in a way that works for you as well as your business:

1. Clarity

It can be hard to see the wood for the trees when you are living it, day in, day out. First things first, a partner with a financial background will be able to give you some quantitative clarity, documenting the vital numbers so that you can see where there is a deficit. That’s the easy bit. True clarity comes in knowing how to move forward, in terms of having both a business plan and a personal plan.

2. Confidence

When business starts to go awry, so too does the owner’s confidence. They start to question the viability of the business, whilst also doubting their competency as a leader. By partnering with someone you know you can trust, who has a high degree of empathy, who is able to manage the relationships which you don’t have the confidence to right now and then build a team to get things done, your confidence will start to return. You can also take confidence in the knowledge that your partner can be sought out for advice at any point.

3. Freedom

Often owners will say they started their own business so that they could ‘be their own boss’. However, many often find that their business starts to dictate them. Being your own boss means shouldering a burden – something you were under no illusions about – but sometimes the strain can take its toll, causing you to lose any of the freedom you set out to achieve.

We say that having a trusted partner on board is the equivalent of having a Sherpa help you climb up a mountain: at certain points along the journey, we all need to be reminded not to look down and to just keep walking. We might also need someone who is prepared to pick up the rucksack from time to time, due to exhaustion. After a while, you begin to regain the strength to carry the load yourself – but this time it feels a bit lighter.

4. Courage

It takes courage to start a business in the first place. But as the business grows, your decisions no longer just affect you but your family and your staff. Your need even greater courage to be able to make these decisions which will impact the lives of others. Courage comes from a place of confidence and knowledge – if you haven’t got the experience or support to make a decision, it’s very difficult to have courage in your convictions. Having a partner who has ‘been there, done it’ for support will provide you with the courage to make the necessary and right calls.

5. Energy

To take your business to the next level or even just steer clear of the danger zone, requires energy and passion. But these qualities can quickly desert an owner as the business takes its toll, either due to the concern it is placing on the individual or the time it is absorbing.

The good news is that it often doesn’t take long for the passion to return once a partner comes on board to manage and release some of your time and energy. They can take on a functional director role, if that’s what you need, whilst also providing coaching and mentoring so that you are left in a position to resume complete control once you’re in a position to.

A true business partnership involves both parties becoming invested in the company’s success, not just the business owner. Our partners at Agnentis are prepared to get their hands dirty to ensure that you are left with tangible benefits that are personal to you as well as your business.

Sources:
https://www.hwca.com/for-love-or-money/press/business-owners-pushed-breaking-point/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connect/small-business/what-worries-entrepreneurs-the-most/
https://www.businessleader.co.uk/1-6-business-owners-become-ill-financial-worries/35508/