There are so many people that are under the impression that being an introvert means that you are shy, unassuming and quiet. Quite the opposite. What it means is that you feel drained by people around you who have far more energy than you do; it means standing back and assessing a situation before leaping into it is important to you. Being an introverted business owner simply means that you aren’t in the face of those working around you, but you simply take note of your surroundings, analyse behaviours and work toward building a business that will thrive.
As an introvert, you’re expected not to thrive in the business world, but you don’t have to become an extrovert just to be successful. You can have just as much success in your business as someone loud and overly confident. Just ask Bill Gates; he managed it! From enjoying the ability to outsource to managed service providers for your IT needs and enjoying the solace of working from home, introverted business owners have an awful lot going for them to help them thrive. However, there are often times where working from home in a one-person team can be difficult, and you need the extra help from outside talent. You can set your business up to work for you and your introverted personality, and here are a few ways that you can do that:
- Your business model has to work for you. You don’t need to be the life and soul of a networking event, or speak on stage to thousands of people. What you need is to work out how to reach your customers in a way that makes you comfortable, whether this is invisibly through podcasts (heard but not seen) or you do it through blog posts and social media engagement.
- Partnering strategically and outsourcing functions of your business is going to boost your productivity massively. We mentioned outsourcing your IT services, but you can also do it for your sales, marketing and branding if you want to. This lets you focus on the things that are most important to your business and frees up your time.
- Don’t be afraid to take breaks. As an introvert, your energy depletes quickly and you need to remember that your brain will take longer to switch between tasks. If you need a rest, take one. Learn to listen to what your body is telling you and you won’t feel too overwhelmed.
- Automation is your best friend. Those tedious tasks that take up a lot of your time – such as administrative junk – can be automated. Emails, social media posts and even follow up sales text messages can be all automated to make life easier for you and help you to spend more time on the things that you love to do.
Being an introvert doesn’t mean that you can’t boss your business; you just do it differently to most. Focus, plan ahead and you’ll find that success you crave.
