We're halfway through my list of "10 Ways Starting a Small Business is Like Starting a Family," and this week's reason is the most humbling: you're going to work hard, and no one may notice.
If you're a parent, think about all those times when you've put in a bunch of effort and your kids had no idea how much work it took to get there—they just enjoyed the moment. Holidays, birthdays—even the fact that they had clean laundry and dinner on the days it was particularly busy and stressful—so often, we put in the work for our kids and they don't know.
With small business ownership, there are two different ways this invisibility manifests. One is through the work you do to keep your business running day-to-day. The time you spend to research, set up, and test the systems and processes that will ultimately save you time and a few meltdowns—customer relationship management systems, accounting and invoicing software, project management platforms—if done correctly, the sweat and tears of set-up will pay off in the flawless orchestration.
Your clients will never know the hard work it took to get there. And that's okay. In fact, you'd prefer it that way.
Then, there's the actual work you do for your clients. You'll make them look good. You'll keep them organized. You'll ensure that the large project they're the executive sponsor for is a success. You're connecting all the dots behind the scenes, and you may not always get noticed or thanked. It can get tough sometimes, but you have to be okay with this. This is the work you do, and just knowing it was a success is sometimes thanks enough.
Small business owners: agree or disagree with this one? Anything else you'd add?
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