Tom Dooley ACG- Professional ADHD Coach
Reach out to Tom Dooley
  • Welcome!
  • Testimonials
  • About Tom Dooley
  • Tom's Blog
  • ADHD Coaching Questions?
  • MY STORY
  • Contact Me!
  • Understanding YOUR ADHD
  • Skills
  • Useful Links
  • ADHD Coaching for Self-Employed, Entrepreneurs, & Small Business Owners

Tom's Top 1 List for the Current and Future ADHD Self-Employed, Small Business Folks, and Entrepreneurs

8/24/2014

2 Comments

 
Picture

1) Be Your Own Boss, but Get the Help You Need When You Need it

Advice sometimes given to ADHD adults, or what we tell ourselves- If you can’t work for anyone else, work for yourself, start your own business, be a solo entrepreneur. Be your own Boss!

This is yet another ADHD double-edged sword. We often have trouble fitting in to traditional, linear-structured organizations
-  We have a different working pace than our co-workers
- Sometimes our impulsivity causes us to respond or react in ways that may seem a bit, well, odd to those around us, or even get us fired
- We seem to ourselves like the Odd One Out (that’s also the name of a great book about ADHD by Jennifer Koretsky- hi  Jen)


The answer-Be your own boss! This can actually be a VERY good thing, IF you understand what you’re getting into and take a proactive stance re: possible challenges.

In the book  The E-Myth Revisited, author Michael Gerber explains how often a small business owner is three people in one- “The Entrepreneur, The Manager, and The Technician, and how conflict can develop between these three roles within the business person” (It’s an eye-opening read- check it out). This seems to me to be true whether you own a small business or you’re a self-employed company of one.

You may have the global view- ( “What if we sliced the bread?”) , or you may just want to make bread and to hell with the sales, paperwork etc.  Or you may get into buying the ovens, the slicer, etc. the cake boxes, and running it all, but the other jobs in the business are not what you’re about.


Simply put, where are you the strongest? For example, is it the global view- the vision? If so, you need to have or need to learn the skills to clarify the vision, develop the plan to realize the vision, and then handle the day-to-day un-stimulating stuff like bills, taxes, ordering supplies, etc.? Maybe that’s stuff you need to outsource, but you try to do everything yourself- a typical ADHD approach, and one that can get us in trouble.

A few tips:
- If you’re busy busy busy, and the bills are chronically unpaid,  the taxes are undone, and you’re running out of supplies and patience, GET HELP
-  If you want a clear business plan (and you do), but you’re hopeless with Excel, OUTSOURCE it.
- If you’re great at sales but lousy at marketing, create a strategic alliance with someone good at it, or pay someone to help you.

These may seem like obvious solutions to problems that anyone would be aware of, but as an ADHD coach, I often work with folks who are accustomed to not seeking help, and are stuck on trying to go it alone. DON’T GO IT ALONE. For more info, check out this link on my website about ADHD business coaching to help you succeed with your new or established business.


2 Comments
Andrew D.
10/14/2014 02:40:03 pm

Excellent points! It's great to see that you don't carry the "one size fits all" idea, but rather each of us can and should find our own particular strength/passion. Re: " DON'T GO IT ALONE" -- a lot of us don't seek help because of our personal vulnerabilities. You make a sensible case for simply "asking for it" because it will ultimately serve us if we do. It's just the smart thing to do.

Reply
Janelle S link
11/22/2020 06:54:25 pm

Nice blog postt

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    About Tom

    Tom Dooley- is a Professional ADHD Coach. He has over 13 years experience coaching ADHD adults, students, entrepreneurs, creative and business  professionals to master the skills and awareness to successfully manage their ADHD.

    Archives

    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    September 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014

    Categories

    All
    ADHD
    ADHD Adults
    ADHD Brain Wiring
    ADHD Business Coaching
    ADHD Coach
    ADHD & Procrastination
    ADHD Self-Employed
    Building/sustaining Momentum
    Entrepreneurs
    “If At First You Don’t Succeed..."
    Iphone Brain/ADHD Brain
    Manage Your ADHD
    Movies I Like
    Prioritize
    Prioritizing
    Relationship Challenges
    Small Business
    Time Management

    RSS Feed

    Newsletter Signup Below!

Subscribe to Newsletter
Photo used under Creative Commons from capt_tain Tom