As a store manager, my favorite part of my job was being out with my team, helping customers, helping them, just interacting. I loved it. Then our back office gal quit and left a huge whole in our business that we all needed to fill at least temporarily. So I took over Quickooks. I hated it, but I needed to know how to do the books, pay the bills, take advantage of my discounts and learn how to read these important reports. So, very begrudgingly I took it on. I had to discipline myself to schedule my time so I could get back out on that sales floor. Well, wouldn’t ya know I actually enjoyed putting on that administrative hat for a few hours per week.
I’m sure there’s some time management or workplace guru out there that’s written a book on how to conquer your weaknesses, but I’ve found it so helpful to simply make a decision to dive into those things I didn’t enjoy or wasn’t good at, if only for a season. It’s so empowering to become an expert and it enables you to be the expert when you eventually do find someone to take over this job.
In a previous article, I talked about the importance of a business having an entrepreneur, a manager and a technician. Anything you can do to help yourself fill each of these roles makes you a better business owner or manager. I’ve found my sweet spot in training your sales teams, so please don’t reach out to ask me if I’ll take over your bookkeeping, but I’m very glad I know how to do it for my business. Your psychiatrist will tell you to conquer your fears by stepping into them, the same goes for your challenges in your business. Just dive in and conquer it and know that it’s only for a season.