10 Ways to be More Accountable to Growing Your Business
As an entrepreneur, you’re the bottleneck and the driving force behind your business. You’re accountable for both successes and failures. Whether you feel the pressure like the weight of a thousand bricks, or embrace it like it’s your first born child - there’s one thing you must realize about accountability: it’s 100% necessary if you want to be a successful leader.
Taking responsibility and ownership of your decisions is one of the most important steps in taking charge of your success. Here are 10 ways to be more accountable for growing your business.
1. Measure Your Growth
Keeping track of your performance is important for gauging success. Make sure you have tangible goals in place, along with a plan for how to reach them, so that you can measure your progress over time. Take note of any unexpected successes or lessons learned throughout the process. That way, you can make informed decisions about where to focus either more or less attention in the future.
2. Set Deadlines
Setting deadlines will help keep you on track with tasks instead of letting them linger or fall by the wayside. Give yourself due dates and stick to them. This will also help ensure that each task is done on time and with quality so that your business continues moving forward every month, quarter, year — the timeline is up to you. If you’re a pen to paper kind of gal, check out my Morning Practice Planner to help you keep organized and on task.
3. Take Responsibility
Owning up to mistakes — whether they are yours or someone else’s — is a big part of being accountable as a leader. Not only does this show character, but it also helps prevent issues from happening again in the future. And if something doesn’t go as planned? Take responsibility but also use it as an opportunity to learn what could have been done differently next time around!
4. Ask For Help
Contrary to what we tell ourselves, no one expects you to do everything alone all the time! There are plenty of resources out there to help support small businesses during their growth phase, from online communities (like ours!) to freelancers, specialized services to crowdfunding for entrepreneurs like yourself! Don’t be afraid to ask for help when needed — it shows strength, not weakness.
5. Make Decisions Quickly
As Jim Rohn said, “You cannot make progress without making decisions.” Part of growing a successful business is making them quickly and decisively — even when those decisions may not turn out exactly how you had hoped! The faster you make decisions, the quicker things start moving forward — so don't let fear keep you stuck in limbo.
6. Take Action
It's easy enough to come up with ideas, but actually putting those ideas into action takes some real effort. If something needs doing but feels overwhelming then break it down into smaller chunks and tackle one step at a time until it's completed — seeing progress towards achievable goals will keep motivation levels high and make things feel much more manageable too! You’ll never regret taking action.
7. Learn From Mistakes
Growing up, you probably heard the saying “learn from your mistakes”. Fast forward a few years, and it’s pretty much the same lesson in entrepreneurship. Mistakes are bound to happen when starting any new venture, but don't let them discourage you from continuing onward towards success. Instead analyze what went wrong, figure out how best not repeat similar mistakes again in future endeavors — this way every mistake becomes an opportunity to gain valuable insight and knowledge which can only help propel your business further.
8. Hold Yourself Accountable
Even in difficult times, accountability is key for any budding or established entrepreneur. Don’t forget that ultimately, YOU are responsible for running your own business successfully – YOU are accountable for its successes and failures at every touchpoint. So hold yourself accountable, take responsibility for both wins and losses, and have accountability partners to help you stay in check. If you need recommendations for some great business mentors, reach out and I can point you in the right direction!
9. Delegate When Possible
Running a successful business isn't all about doing all the work yourself, especially in growth phases. Delegating tasks accordingly frees up valuable time and energy which can then be better spent elsewhere – whether that’s within your business or personal life. I just so happen to be married to an entrepreneur who’s all about buying back your time. He even wrote a book on it which we discuss in one of my top podcast episodes here. Using other people’s strengths also makes sure that everyone within a team is held equally accountable for reaching their goals together, that otherwise might not be achievable. See delegation as an opportunity to expand!
10. Celebrate Wins
No matter how big or small the win is, celebrating them can serve as motivational reminders and help us push through when times get tough. Every milestone — whether it’s launching a new product, signing a new client, or hitting a sales target — is a step in the right direction, so it’s important to acknowledge those moments along the way. Part of being accountable for your business growth is using your wins as fuel to keep pushing your ultimate vision forward.
At the end of the day, growing a business takes a tremendous amount of work and dedication. Taking responsibility for the success of your business starts with you, and works its way outward to ensure that everyone is held to the same high standard. Accountability is when you can stay in the zone between uncomfortable and achievable. So, go out there and make some decisions to move things in the right direction today — you need no one else’s approval but yours.
