Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 <silence>
Speaker 1 00:00:04 Hi guys. So I just want to talk about the power of your mindset when it comes to running a business. So I am an accountant, but I am a business owner and my mindset has probably been the single biggest thing that's had an impact in terms of how I run my business, how I've grown my business, and also essentially how I live my life. So it's the, it's the one, um, the biggest challenge that I personally see with a lot of business owners, and this includes accountancy business owners, because at the end of the day, accountancy business owners are business owners. So, you know, just 'cause it's in your industry, we all tend to look at our own industry and, and think it's different, but it's not really that much different, if I'm honest. Most people have the same challenges and mindset is one of the biggest ones.
Speaker 1 00:00:58 So the one, the first challenge I see with mindset is not being prepared to ask for help or search for help or, or actually admit that you might not have all the answers. So my, my dad, uh, unfortunately is not around it anymore, but he was a, uh, a business owner, I guess I can call him that he run a, um, an, uh, a building business, probably a few other things he sort of messed around with as well. But he run a building business for a number of years, and I was quite young at the time when I saw him sort of doing this, but since then I can look back and I can see lots of the, the things that my dad maybe did wrong because he, you know, he wasn't in the right circles. He didn't, you know, develop himself. He, he didn't network with other business owners.
Speaker 1 00:01:48 And you don't know what you don't know, essentially that that's the big thing. You don't know what you don't know. And by the way, that's not the biggest problem, which I'll come back to in a second. Um, but the mistake my dad made is he wasn't prepared to be vulnerable, to look for answers or admit he didn't have all the answers. And unfortunately, even it is not as bad today. Um, you know, with mental health and, you know, particularly men maybe being a little bit more open and vulnerable, but probably still a bit worse than women. It's not as bad, but it's still a big issue whether you are female, male, you know, there's this kind of, um, uh, this kind of armor, this kind of shield that people put on when they start a business because they start a business and they, I dunno if it's just convincing themselves as well as convincing other people around them, but they build this aura of confidence and I've got all the answers.
Speaker 1 00:02:41 I know what I'm doing. It might be, they might be scared to admit they, they don't have all the answers, but at the beginning that's probably quite natural. But where it becomes a big issue is when you've been in business a number of years, something's not working and you still don't ask for help. You know, running a business is pretty much like anything in life, you know, needing help in life in general. It's just bombing not to ask for someone for some help. Um, so that's the biggest hurdle I see is not asking for help. But I think the underlying problem to this is not actually being unprepared to ask for help. It's not having a growth mindset in the first place. So if you don't have a growth mindset yourself, you are not gonna look outside to grow yourself, if that makes sense. So if I don't look at myself and say, I need to be better, I need to learn more, I need to grow.
Speaker 1 00:03:30 And, and that's before we talk about other people showing weakness, that's just ourself. That's just looking at ourselves saying, how can I be better? If you don't have a growth mindset, if you kind of think you already know everything you need to know because you, like, whether you're an accountant, whether you are a plumber, whether you're a solicitor, you are good at what you do and you, and, and that's got a certain level of competence, confidence because you are experiencing what you do. Um, but you, you know, as a business owner, it's all kind of new to you. So naturally you don't have all the answers. So if you can't accept that you don't have all of the answers yourself and you don't, um, have a growth mindset, you are not going to look elsewhere. You're not gonna ask for help, you're not gonna look for a mentor, you're not gonna look for a coach.
Speaker 1 00:04:12 You're not gonna really, uh, be in any networking groups, any masterminds, none of that stuff. So that's the biggest problem I have. Um, just going back to the point I made, you know, 'cause we all kind of heard that expression, you dunno what you don't know, which is really true, really powerful, but there's something even more dangerous than what you don't know. You don't know. So even more dangerous, which affects people more than that. It's not what you don't know, it's what you do know, but you still don't do it. If you think of people that want to get in shape at the gym, they know they needed to eat healthy, they know they need to exercise, they know they maybe need to do a bit of resistance training, a bit of weight, a bit of cardio. They, they know they need to drink lots of water.
Speaker 1 00:04:51 They know all these things, but they still don't do it. So that's actually a lot more dangerous. And, and that can also apply to our business and some of the simplest things give us the biggest wins. So I would, I would challenge you if you are a business owner, to look at some of the most vital, important things that you do know, but you don't do. You know, a lot of accountants don't actually have a, a plan for their own numbers, but believe it or not, um, you know, um, uh, uh, people know they should maybe set goals and have a focus for the next three months, but they don't necessarily do that. There's all sorts of things. You know, my own business, we are not perfect. We're always growing. If you think you're perfect, it's pretty much game over. 'cause there's always growth opportunities, but sometimes there's some very basic growth opportunities.
Speaker 1 00:05:35 So we didn't have a proper follow up system in place with prospects to, to really follow up with them and just 'cause people got busy lives. You can't just assume that because people don't get back to, they're not interested. And, and it's so basic, it's almost one of the first things you should do. But it comes back to time, it comes back to priority, it comes back to focus and it, I mean, transformed our business is a strong word, but it's made a huge impact putting that in place and, and you can imagine in your own business, there's probably lots of things you do know, but you don't. That do. Thanks guys. Cheers.
