When you own a business you get to be the top dog, things run “your way,” and you get to decide what you want to do, when you want to work, everything about your business is yours to decide.

It also means that when things go wrong, it’s your fault.

• When your team members drop the ball and don’t deliver assignments on time, that’s your fault.
• When your clients fire you out of the blue, leaving your team short of work and your bank low on cash, it’s your fault.
• When the bank deducts a check from your account twice, which means your payroll doesn’t go through and your staff is pissed, it’s your fault.

You get the idea.

How can it be my fault when the bank screws up, or the employee flakes, or…

Because it’s your business.

• You hired the employe who flaked-out. You trained them, you managed them, you assigned them the project.
• You had a forecast for your financials, right? You knew how much that client meant to your profitability even if their decision was a surprise!
• And the bank? That’s your decision too! You picked that bank, you knew that it was a close call to make payroll…

I’m not trying to make you feel worse.

I’m bringing this up because the only way to make progress in your business — to improve your business outcomes — is to take 100% total responsibility for what your business is going through.

If you believe that it’s your fault, you’ll find a way to fix it. If you are blaming it on someone else, then there’s no need to fix it.

Just because it’s your fault, doesn’t mean it has to be on your to-do list!

• You can brainstorm some potential fixes with your team member to make sure they won’t flake again and then ask them which fix they feel confident in implementing.
• You can find a consultant who can help you build a plan to reduce your dependence on that big client.
• You can task your bookkeeper with creating a plan to build a better cash cushion.

Just as you get blamed when you assign things to your team, and they go poorly, you get the credit when you assign things to your team, and they get fixed!

Is there something that “happened to” you or your business in the last month that you need to take responsibility for? What would happen if you decided that it’s 100% your fault?

P. S. If this concept is still difficult for you, click over and listen to Nick’s story about how taking responsibility for his business failures dramatically grew his business and reduced his workload. It’s a 15 min video, but if you watch from 1:20 – 5:20 you’ll hear the heart of the story.