The Profitable Horseman: You’re the Boss but Who is Keeping Track of You?

From the movie Napoleon Dynamite:

Kid on bus: “What are you going to do today, Napoleon?

Being in charge of your own business allows you the freedom to do whatever you feel like doing.  You choose what you work on hour by hour each day.

But, since you’re the boss, do you give yourself preferential treatment? Preferential means things like: deadline extensions, permission to not follow up, relaxed standards of conduct, shirking leadership roles, ducking out during the business day with no notice to team members and failure to keep track of your business financials.

A small business owner has to rely on personal accountability to do the things that help the business grow. A concept which works well for some but is challenging for most.

Here are some ways you can foster your personal accountability.

1. Join or form a mastermind group of like minded businessowners and meet virtually or in person on a regular basis to share goals, progress and seek solutions and feedback. This can even be accomplished with a two person “group.”
2. Plan your day the night before or first thing in the morning to do the important things for your business first each day.
3. Create an accountability worksheet to fill in and review at the end of each week. Here is one you can download immediately and use or modify for free. It’s published on my blog at www.HorseBusinessSchool.com

Enjoy the freedom of choosing to do whatever you want each day, but gosh, do the important stuff first!

Now get your boots on and get to work. You’ve got people to answer to!

Doug Emerson helps professional horsemen struggling with the business half of the horse business.

Visit his website:  www.ProfitableHorseman.com for more articles like this one and to subscribe to his free electronic newsletter about being profitable in the horse business.