At Beyond Common, our mission is to inspire and empower women business owners to look and feel their best so they can make more money and improve their overall quality of life so that they can have a greater impact in the world. 

 As a business owner myself, I am aware of the great pressure business owners often feel.

How Successful Business Owners Handle The Responsibilities of Owning and Operating a Business

Today, I want to take a look at those issues and address and discuss an important topic that impacts business owners -- the great responsibilities and obligations on their shoulders. Most of us start businesses because we have a dream or vision of how we can do something new different or better than how it has been done before. We go into business ownership knowing everyone else is getting paid before we do and that puts a tremendous amount of pressure on our shoulders.

Yes business owners can have a lifestyle of freedom and flexibility not offered to an employee, this is the part that is often glamorized in the media today.

However, being a small business owner also carries greater responsibility with many more things to take care of and juggle. One of my mentors John C. Maxwell always says with great reward comes even greater responsibility.

Most small businesses have limited resources when launching, which means that, as the owner, you have many hats to wear, including:

• Staffing and HR management;
• Cash flow planning and financial management;
• Business planning and strategy;
• Running day-to-day operations;
• Including training and professional development;
• Directing sales and marketing programs; and
• Ensuring excellent customer service.

In addition to a full plate of operational challenges, small-business owners taking on debt or signing a lease often end up providing a personal guarantee, in which they promise to be responsible for the payments if the business can’t pay.  According to the Wall Street Journal, these guarantees weigh heavily on business owners, and I know from personal experience that financial stress weighs you down, reduces creativity and productivity. 

Nearly 60% of small businesses with employees that took out loans used personal guarantees to secure business debt, according to a survey released by the regional Federal Reserve Banks in 2020. Forty-four percent of small firms with employees have more than $100,000 in debt and 8% owe more than $1 million, according to a separate regional Fed survey released this year.

Transforming a startup into a successful enterprise, or growing a small business into a larger one requires business acumen and creating a system and a platform for growth.  But you can't do everything yourself, and my background in business allows me to help you achieve your goals -- while also freeing up your time and reducing the endless pressure many business owners face.

I have often found that you can use this pressure to get clarity on what you really want as long as you have the best people partnering up with you to help you achieve your dreams of business success.

I encourage you to take a step back and evaluate areas where you need a hand, or identify specific challenges that are impediments to your personal and professional growth.  Let's talk about how we can help you, and which of our tools is the best fit for you and your organization. 

As a starting point, send me a direct message or an email with any questions or challenges you currently have, and go get our 

Beyond Common Goal Setting Guidebook Training and tune into my podcast Beyond Common Business Secrets! 

Thanks for reading our blog, from the bottom of my heart I am so grateful that you are here and I hope you find our information and tools valuable and useful.

With Gratitude,

Tracey Watts Cirino

 P.S.  Thanks to FreePik.com for the image!