5 Beliefs That Can Block Innovation in Your Business
August 31, 2023 By Karen Layman, aka Karen
It’s perfectly normal to have self-doubt as a business owner. However, being overcome with these doubts can hold you back and inhibit innovation. These beliefs may also be holding you back from achieving your goals. However, there are ways to work through these beliefs to reframe your way of thinking. Here are a few beliefs that can block innovation in your business:
1. Thinking You Have to Compare or Keep Up With Other Entrepreneurs
It’s been said that comparison is the thief of joy. However, it can also be the thief of motivation. Thinking that someone else is doing much better only feeds into your feelings of self-doubt. Success is different for each person. Constantly comparing yourself to others can hold you back. Focus on your goals instead of what others are achieving.
However, you should be networking with fellow entrepreneurs. Having a solid network of people in similar situations is a great way to get advice and support. Building a network like this is an important tip for first-time entrepreneurs.
2. Believing Everything Has to Be Perfect
This is an unhelpful belief because it limits your innovation. To innovate, you need to try a variety of different things to find what works best. You won’t find that out unless you fail a few times first.
Behind every successful entrepreneur is a history of mistakes, bad ideas, and roadblocks. The ability to try and try again will take you much farther than perfectionism.
3. Thinking Success Should Be Easy
Thinking that success should come easy is a belief that’s definitely holding you back. If you’re disappointed your hard work isn’t giving you immediate results, it might be time to temper your expectations.
It’s important to focus on areas of small growth. For example, make a goal of gaining ten new followers on social media. This is a small, measurable goal that can be expanded in the future. Setting realistic goals is an important step if you’re not sure how to develop a successful business growth strategy.
4. Convincing Yourself That You Need to Know Everything Happening in Your Business
It’s important to have a solid grasp of what’s happening in your business. It’s even appropriate to double-check on some things now and then. However, micromanaging may be hurting you more than you think.
Firstly, babysitting every aspect of your company will overwhelm and overwork you. It might be manageable if you only have one or two employees, but as your business grows, it’ll be hard to keep tabs on everything.
Secondly, micromanaging employees often stifles creativity from your employees. If you don’t trust them to simply do their job, they’ll never have the confidence to try new things. That’s a lot of wasted potential.
Make sure your employees know you trust them. Also, encourage them to come to you with ideas. Even if you don’t end up using them, you’ll be fostering an environment of creativity. It’s important to hire people you trust. If you do that, you can channel your focus and energy into being a strong leader and growing your business.
5. Thinking Taking Risks is Too Risky
Never trying anything new is a common business marketing mistake to avoid. However, there’s a big difference between making reckless decisions versus taking calculated risks. Knowing the potential losses of taking a certain risk is just as important as knowing the positive outcomes.
Do plenty of research and have a backup plan in place. There are a few pros and cons of case studies, but they can provide some extra information and insights for determining potential outcomes and evaluating risks. This can make them powerful tools when making big decisions for your company.
These are just a few beliefs that can block innovation in your small business. It’s easy to fall into the trap of not believing you’re good enough or comparing yourself to other entrepreneurs. But changing your thinking will help you break out of a rut and start innovating!
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