Cath Andrews — March 21, 2018 — March 21, 2018
As a brand new season awakens with the coming of Spring, small business owners are working hard on their new year goals to optimize growth and success in 2018.
New research from SCORE, mentors to America’s small businesses, shows that overall, 69% small business owners are optimistic about their growth over the next six months. For Millennial business owners — those younger than age 35 years — the optimism is even greater. As many as 82% report feeling very or somewhat optimistic about the year ahead.
This Spring-like positive sentiment remains true for micro-businesses (0-5 employees), businesses in both rural and urban settings, both on- and offline, and across a diverse group of entrepreneurs. There’s no statistical difference when comparing business owners’ ages, ethnicities or genders.
It’s not all a bed of roses, though. Small business owners report having some serious concerns when it comes to growing their businesses in 2018. The similarities and differences can be summarized in SCORE’s infographic:
Those differences apart, the overall mood is an optimistic one. Great news for entrepreneurs and solopreneurs alike!
So what is it, exactly, that creates an aura of optimism? Why does it matter anyway? And how might we all, as online and offline business owners, learn from it?
Let’s take a look.
Optimist or Pessimist: Which Are You?
Let’s imagine a situation. If you’re new to blogging, it’s one that might be familiar to you.
You’re quite happy with your blog about raising cockatiels. You’re adding content to it several times a week, and you seem to be creating a nice following both there and on your related Facebook page. People leave you nice comments!
Then, one day, you come across another blog, also about cockatiels, and covering other kinds of parrots too. This blog is wonderful! So colorful! So much good content! She has 25,000 followers on Facebook! And she’s written — gasp — an ebook!
Which of these responses is you?
- Well, that’s it. I might as well give up now. I can never compete with that. I have no idea about other types of parrots, and I don’t know anything about writing ebooks. And my Facebook community is nothing like that big.
- Wow! That’s a nice site. I wonder what I can learn from it? Cockatiels are my passion so I don’t want to stray into other parrot types, but her section on the problems with incubating the golden-collared Macaw has given me some ideas about raising cockatiel babies… Maybe she would be interested in my becoming an affiliate for her ebook — and we could share each other’s Facebook posts.
For most of us, we might swing from one to the other. Our immediate reaction may be a sweeping feeling of overwhelm — even despair. “That looks perfect and mine isn’t!”
Then, when the initial shock wears off and we think about it, a less pessimistic stance takes hold. Perhaps I could learn. Perhaps we could work together.
The question is, how do we move ourselves from one to the other more quickly, so that our business doesn’t suffer from our overwhelm freeze? What can we learn from the optimism of the Millennials?
And why does it matter, anyway?
Let’s start there.
What Happens If You Lose Your Mojo?
There is a saying in Tibetan:
Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength. No matter what sort of difficulties, no matter how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our real disaster.Dalai Lama
Sometimes, life sucks.
In our working lives, jobs are lost, income is reduced, roles change to something we never wanted.
If we’re fortunate enough to be solopreneurs or entrepreneurs, our businesses may struggle, our staff cause us problems, the changes in business legislation seem never-ending and utterly incomprehensible.
As the infographic demonstrates, barriers to growth at times seem overwhelming.
In our personal life, people move away from us, fall out with us, get serious illnesses, die. Tragedies happen. Floods. Hurricanes. Earthquakes.
Often, the only control we have in life, and in business, is how we deal with those things.
Have you ever spent time with a pessimist? Have you noticed what your own feelings do in their presence?
If so, you may have noticed feeling increasingly tired. Drained, even. The negativity is like a dark hole that sucks your energy. Your heart sinks when you see that person approaching. You dread the “day from hell” when you’re in a meeting together.
If you spend too long in their presence you start to feel even more stressed. Burned out. Apathetic. Their negativity becomes part of your mindset.
Maybe you eat more. Drink more. Get headaches — migraines, even. Succumb to illness.
Because yes: pessimism can be a killer.
And how will that affect your business? Those around you?
Let me give you a clue. It will not be a positive effect on you, your family, your colleagues or business partners. Pessimism tends not to lead to growth. It blocks development, hinders self-improvement.
Simply put, as a species, we are innately vulnerable to “catching” other people’s emotions.1
Can it really be that simple, though, for online businesses? Could people in the virtual world really be affected by how we’re feeling on any given day?
Christakis and Fowler’s study, published in the British Medical Journal3.
- To become the most successful vegan cookery coach4.
- To provide the most effective investigation and security services company in Maryland.A mentor.
Business & Finance Articles on Business 2 Community
(87)
