There comes a time in the life of all business owners, that you have to start learning to say No! Yes, that big fat no that upsets others, makes you think that you are losing out on opportunities and ultimately makes you feel uncomfortable on many levels! However, saying NO is critical in helping YOU stay on YOUR path towards business success.

So, why start saying no at all? Why not remain a popular, albeit stressed, tired and unhappy Entrepreneur! Why? Because it does not serve you as an Entrepreneur to be a serial yes person. The truth is that saying Yes all the time is NOT good for business. Research has shown that people just simply cannot operate at their best, when doing too many things at once.

The proof is in the pudding, no one person can be all things to all people and as an Entrepreneur, one of the most fundamental elements of true and lasting success is in understanding your strong points and indeed your not so strong points. It is true to say that as a startup an Entrepreneur / business owner, needs to be all things to all people, purely from  lack of resources and  the need for diving in towards pushing your business forward as quickly as possible.

A successful entrepreneur needs to wean his or herself off of this deadly habit of being all things to all people as quickly as possible, because ultimately it makes for poor business decisions and often results in stress and health issues, which will eventually affect the business too.

Entrepreneurs need to understand that they are “The heart of their business” and if they want to succeed in business they need to be true to themselves and learn to say ‘no’ to projects that are not in line with their business vision. Otherwise, they can become stressed, irritable, spend too much time and energy on projects that are not their own or that won’t move their business forward in their efforts to be nice.

In the long term this causes stress and a general lack of concentration on their own business. Research shows that doing multiple tasks at once, results in being LESS effective and that ultimately nothing gets done right in the end.

In my own experience, learning to say no, was hard at first, because I felt I was letting people down. Nowadays, I am a reformed ‘yes’ person and it serves me well.

In the past I was getting constant interruptions from a variety of people, looking for essentially free advice! Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind helping others, however at some point you need to draw the line and gently withdraw from anyone who consistently calls you at the last minute looking for last minute, albeit critical advice. In the end it serves you, neither you or them.

It is far better to work with someone in a proper context, where you can fully support them in their marketing goals by setting aside time, specifically for them and their business. This allows the now client an opportunity to truly delve into their marketing and business issues and allows me an opportunity to understand the complexities of their business and  properly help them by being made aware of all these complexities.

The result is a situation which serves us both, as it allows us both to have the time, to fully explore all of their options and affords me an opportunity to give the most informed and best business and marketing advice possible.

photo source: pixabay

Has this happened to you? If so, I would love to hear from you in the comments below.

Emma D MSc BBS