3 Things I LOATHE About Owning A Small Business
Ok that title was to get your attention…I love my businesses…I love the people in them and the people I have met along the way that last 15 years…AND it is true…I also loathe some things about owning a business. The things that I loathe, I never saw coming when I first started 15 years ago…of course haha.
Here are the top 3 things I loathe that I have discovered along the way:
1.Having to fire people.
It really never gets easier guys. It sucks. It sucks no matter why you have to terminate someone’s employment. That decision, although it is correct for your business and the rest of the team, hurts someone and affects their life and perhaps their family’s lives. It is no fun to do. I remember VIVIDLY the first time I had to terminate the employment of one of the team members at the salon. Afterwards I was sobbing uncontrollably and I could barely walk home (I lived a half a block from the salon at the time). It truly broke my heart and it also truly had to happen to honor the brand and the rest of the team. Even when it is a good decision for the business, it is a huge bummer and yes…it hurts.
2.Not being able to justify myself because it is “oversharing”
To continue the thought of firing team members…sometimes you have to fire someone or make another big decision and you are unable to share why you had to make that decision with your team. This sucks. My least favorite thing after firing someone is dealing with how you tell the team. In order to remain on the “up and up” and not defame the individual or disclose confidential information, you often can say very little. It can be really tough when the team feels confused or blindsided by the decision. Sometimes the team can feel like you are omitting information and leaving them in the dark…which you are…because you have to to honor the business and the individual. When I have overshared in the past in order to justify myself, it ALWAYS came back to haunt me or bite me in the "you know what”.
3.Not every decision makes everyone happy.
I am a people pleaser by nature…if you follow me on social media you know this about me. This fact alone has made my voyage as an owner so difficult at times. For example, there have been times that we have to change product brands because they aren’t selling and I stress that someone is going to be upset. I have come a long way but I still feel that twinge when I know we have to change something for the greater good of the business because inevitably someone on the team isn't going to love it. In order to survive this I have had to remind myself that not everyone is going to love everything but my job is to make sure everything is fair, equitable and for the greater good of the team and the organization. It is hard for me when I know someone is critical of a change - I just want everyone to like everything haha!
I am a firm believer that we MUST do things we don’t want to do in order to grow. The more uncomfortable you are, the more times you feel “imposter syndrome” creeping in the better…that is what levels you up. As an owner, I have to do things I really don’t want to do pretty regularly but I am getting more used to it and I like the person it is forcing me to become. I have been really into listening to studies about how our brains benefit from adversity, struggle and doing the hard things we don’t really want to do.
I am typically inspired and pushed to adapt on a regular basis and that brings me so much joy and truly fills my cup. I also have especially loved getting to work closer to my managers over the years and have allies within the business…it has helped the feeling of isolation SO much. Working closely with a leadership team has changed the game for me in SO many ways and it has made owning a business far more enjoyable.
Thanks for reading along 🙂
Melanie
xxoo