If you’ve ever raised kids, you know the inescapable stress of comparing your baby to every other kid at the playground.  What ‘s their percentile in height? Weight? When did they say their first word? Sit up? Crawl? Walk? Sleep through the night?  We were proud when our kid met or was above the norm, worried that there was something wrong if they were below. Regardless, we were always comparing.

Over the years, we realize that the constant comparing is ridiculous; our kids are all unique and grow and develop at their own pace.  The average is just that, an average, and while it can provide a guide, it’s not a rule.

For many of us, our businesses ARE our babies too!  And just like with the human ones, we can’t help but comparing what we’ve created with what others are doing. Did they sell out at their last market? How did they land that stockist or client, and I didn’t? How can they afford XYZ?!  It’s impossible to stop, and somewhat inevitable.  Be honest – you’ve totally cyberstalked your competition!  I know I have – and every time I see them post on the gram, launch a new program or service, or talk about someone they’re working with – I feel something in the pit of my stomach.  I don’t know if its jealousy, envy, anger, or resentment, but I know it doesn’t feel good.

But really, should I be feeling this? The answer is obviously no, but how do you reframe this?  The truth is that like our kids, we, and our businesses are all at different stages of development, but unlike the charts and grids that our paediatricians had, we’re stumbling in the dark.  So I’ve come up with a not-so-scientific roadmap we can use to put our entrepreneurial development into context.

The first thing we want to gauge is the stage of your business – are you a freelancer? solopreneur? Or a full-on entrepreneur?  Let’s take a look at what these are.

FREELANCER

This is the gateway to entrepreneurship.  At this stage we are essentially technical experts that decided we don’t want to (or aren’t able to) work for an employer.  We’re looking to take our skills or passions and build a business from it.  Whether you sell a product or service, you’re working one on one, turning your talents to profits. This is where most of us start, and many still are. 

SOLOPRENEUR

This is basically like it sounds; you’re a one-person machine that takes care of EVERYTHING.  You’re CEO, Operations, Finance, Procurement, Shipping, Marketing, Sales, Customer Service and all the other hats you wear to run your business.  This differs from the freelancer stage in that you’ve made the decision that you want to grow your business beyond yourself.  You may have bit the bullet and outsourced a couple of things that a) you hate, b) you have no freaking clue how to do, or c) you just don’t have time to do!  This is often things like bookkeeping & taxes, or social media & marketing.  They may be casual or part time employees, or subcontractors helping us out a few hours a week.  This is the first time you’ve likely needed to deal with managing someone, and it may or may not be going well – or you might have no clue if it’s going well or not, cause you really don’t get what they tell you half the time!  We’re still technical experts, working with other technical experts, and hoping for the best.

FULL-ON ENTREPRENEUR

At this stage you’re no longer operating as a technical expert, you’re a business owner.  You’ve built a team and are the puppet master, not the puppet, of your business (hopefully).  You may wear a few hats, but not ALL the hats.  You’ve hired staff (contractors or employees) to take on more of the “doing”; they’re technical experts and you rely on their experience to get the job done. Being a “Full-On Entrepreneur” doesn’t mean that you’ve got some mega-conglomerate.  Small but mighty still counts!

 The second piece is your LOC – level of chaos.  This one’s a bit easier to explain, it’s essentially a sliding scale: at one end, a Hot Mess, at the other, Rock Solid. While your Stage of Entrepreneurship represents where you’re at, this looks at how you’re feeling about things.  Is everything running smoothly? A complete shit show? Are you calm or stressed? Worried or confident?  It might seem a little woo-woo, but I really believe that our guts guide us more than we think (or they should anyways!!).  We need to start trusting our gut to know when something isn’t working out, and especially when something IS working (I’m talking to you, you pessimists – stop always thinking the worst!).

 So…if growth charts and comparisons cause angst among parents, why do we want to do this for our businesses?? Well, first and foremost, our businesses, while unique, are not developing, evolving humans.  There’s nature & nurture at play with our kids, our businesses, it’s just nurture.  It’s what we do that molds our businesses to where they are; the decisions we make, and the efforts we take.

 The entrepreneurial journey allows us to see where we’re at and learn from others that have gone through it already.  We can learn from their mistakes, their struggles, their successes, so why not?  I’ve created a quiz to help you figure out where you land on this journey and get some some quick hints on what to focus on at your current stage & level of chaos.

CLICK HERE to take the quiz and get your personalized assessment.