One Thing I Learnt From My Business

 Alhamdulillah, i was blessed with the opportunity to do online businesses in clothing and skincare.

Of course, there were loooooooooots of lessons, but here, imma be real and share one big thing i discovered about myself.

I had never done any sort of business bigger than a Yard Sale when i was a teenager (it was really fun!), so to have a real business that required real non-negotiable prices, material, labour, packaging etc etc's costs were really new, and harder. And then there was the marketing part of it......... fiuh!

It was a HUGE learning experience, being my own boss.

But if there's one thing about me that i come to discover was that i am not the leader i thought i was.

All my life, i thought i was a good leader. 

I can delegate tasks, i meet datelines, i strategise and manage, BUT...

I'm not a good leader. And the number1 reason is that I'm such a people pleaser.

Me trying to lead and then wondering "Was i too b*tchy?" 😑

Photo source

I felt bad 'boss'ing. When i have to inconvenient someone, i felt bad. I used to wonder if my staff hated me because i asked them to do something else that day... padahal it was in line with their job scope 😣

Even when they do something super wrong, i still would talk to them gently, laugh it off, or do it myself (to avoid confrontation)... I also micro-manage so that i can lighten their workload 😓 

It was actually during PKP Covid 19 time tu when i realised this bit of myself...

That time when the business had no choice but to halt, i had time to reflect on my business and that led to me realising how i was as a boss.

And i kinda sucked at it. I'm too nice.

My husband and i talked about this and this is our conclusion:

My strength is executing. Give me a task, and i will do my best, and i will try not to inconvenience anyone while at it. If i believe in an idea, i will do it even if it requires learning it. I will experiment, research, practice, etc, whatever it takes to make the idea happen.

So if you want to start a business, know that you need to be a boss to your team. Being a boss doesn't mean you have to be mean, angry or strong all the time, it just means you need to learn to teach your staff/team members to do their jobs that meet your standards, and that would sometimes require you to be stern and unlikeable. It also means to give them the trust they deserve so that you, as a good leader, could use their efforts and strengths to grow your company. 

And so forth and so forth 💪💁

Just know the difference between being a good leader and a nice person. YOU CAN DO THIS! (If you're doing this la...)