Running a successful business is enough of a challenge in itself, but when you’re just starting out it’s a whole other story. You are all but guaranteed to run into more than a few hurdles on your way to success, and it takes a certain mindset not to despair in the face of ongoing stress and unexpected problems that it brings.
How you choose to approach those problems will ultimately determine how quickly your business is going to get where you want it to be. Those who have mastered the art of problem solving welcome any challenges and see them as an opportunity to test their skills and learn along the way.
Despite popular belief, you don’t need to be born a problem-solving genius to be good at it. Follow our advice and with enough practice (and some mistakes here and there), you too can develop your problem-solving ability and learn to approach any obstacles with confidence, rather than fear.
Stay Positive
Problems are a normal part of running a business. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or if it’s your first business rodeo, there will always be a million little things that can go wrong at certain points.
While that can be frustrating, getting angry about it will not help whatsoever. In fact, it can make things a lot worse. That’s why maintaining a positive outlook is so important. When you accept problems as just an integral part of the process, in a way you’re taking away their power over you, allowing you to deal with them just like with any other daily task.
Focus on Things You Can Control
Some things you just have no control over, like weather conditions, stock market, or currency rates. These aren’t really problems, they are just facts of life. So if you find yourself struggling with something that is totally beyond your control, consider directing your time and energy to issues that you can actually change.
Practice Transparency
Poor communication is at the root of most problems, and as an entrepreneur, it’s often not easy to swallow your pride and acknowledge an existing issue. As such, knowing when to take a step back, put your vision and passion aside, and listen to your team members and customers becomes an invaluable skill to have.
Great problem solvers are those who don’t make excuses, or try to cover up their mistakes. They take responsibility and solicit input from their teams, doing everything they can to deliver a timely solution.
Work Together
As clichéd as it may sound, two (or more) heads are usually better than one when trying to solve a problem. Do not hesitate to involve other people in your problem-solving process. This will not only help you stay objective, keeping your emotions and personal biases in check, but could also offer a fresh perspective and insights on the issue that you may not have considered otherwise.
Take Your Time
When it comes to problem solving, rash decision-making is one of your biggest enemies. Avoid jumping to conclusions and make sure that you have examined it from all angles, weighed all the insights and input from your advisors and team members.
Take time to define the problem and outline a number of possible solutions. Remember, it’s not about how many solutions you can come up with, but about carefully analyzing the options available to you to narrow them down to the most optimal one.
With a solution locked down, decide on a course of action and plan out the steps you and your team will need to take to implement it.
Keep Track of Problems
Leave a small problem unattended for long enough and you risk ending up with a bigger disaster on your hands. Which makes having a convenient and transparent system for reporting and keeping track of any ongoing issues so indispensable. It’s a great way to make sure that problems stay on your team’s radar and get enough attention from everyone involved until they’re resolved.
And, as tempting as it may be, avoid the one-and-done approach here. A detailed record of your past problems is a valuable resource, so make sure to take advantage of it by taking a closer look at your issues. When you track your project, for example, with time tracking software, log every issue that occurred and every solution that helped. With a little digging, you may be able to uncover a symptom of a much bigger problem, allowing you to be proactive and update your processes to prevent similar issues from popping up again.
Dealing with problems is pretty much synonymous with running a business. Ask any entrepreneur and they’ll tell you that 99% of their time is spent putting out fires. Needless to say, knowing your way around a problem is absolutely essential if you ever hope to get your business off the ground. Thankfully, with these tips and enough practice, you too can develop your problem-solving mindset and start seeing problems as opportunities.
