Getting Honest With Yourself To Build Your Business: How Would You Rate Yourself as Your Own Employee?

I’ve been reading The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber and took away tons of helpful frameworks and questions to guide me as I try to build a small business of my own.

For me, the “small business” I want to build starts with this blog. What can I turn this into? How can I make Sharing Sparks a valuable source of information, resources and tools to help other people build the lives they want?

I have tons of ideas but when it comes to execution I’ve been way too lax about my writing and work schedule. (Even so, for my best advice see these posts: 10 Easy Productivity Tips: How to Get Shit Done When You Don’t Feel Like Doing Shit; Achieve Your Goals! 7 Tips to Make It Easier to Do Hard Things; 5 Quick Tips for Procrastinators: Start Building Your Dream Life Now.)

I’ve tried planning my time more carefully, scripting out how my mornings and evenings should go, telling myself I’ll reward myself, etc. But I’m still not getting anything done. So when I read this point in Michael Gerber’s book, it struck a chord with me.

Michael Gerber talks about small businesses starting off with very few people, or maybe even just one person. When the business is like this, you need to create some kind of structure and accountability to make sure that you know what needs to get done, and the person or people doing it know what they need to do. At a time when everything is fragmented and lacks clarity, this is a critical step to defining any kind of structure if you’re going to build this business up for real.

You need to have business meetings to work this shit out. You need to be clear about your expectations for the business and the people who are working on it with you. And you need to hold them accountable for doing the things they are responsible for doing.

As I read this and thought about how it applies to me, I had to be honest with myself. What would a business meeting with myself look like?

If I imagine myself as the boss of my own ideal business, and I had an employee to help me get it going, what would I require of them? What would be my expectations for them and their work?

In my case (building a blog) I’d need them to write frequently and consistently – maybe publishing 2 – 5 times a week. They’d need to create compelling content on interesting, helpful, and relevant topics for my audience. They’d need to write in a clear, concise, conversational, approachable style. They’d need to make it fun and easy and enjoyable to read. They’d write efficiently with a quick turnaround and not too much time lost on editing.

Now I turn this lens upon myself, bringing this exercise from thought experiment to reality. Because in reality the question is not, What are my expectations of my employee? (I don’t have an employee) but rather, What are my expectations of myself?

Because I know how I would look at it if I were observing someone else. I would think it’s so easy. I can see it now: Why can’t they write a short 600 word piece in 1 – 2 days? It’s not that hard. I could do it.

Oh, but can I? Why aren’t I, then?

So this is the true exercise: laying out the needs and expectations of my employee, which is in fact just me.

What would business meetings with myself look like?

If I hold accountability with myself as I would another person, how would I track and guide and manage myself?

Consider these questions for yourself if you’re having a hard time bringing yourself to do the work that needs to be done to build your business.