Top 3 Accountability Strategies for Small Business Owners

What is Accountability in Small Business?

Accountability is more than just getting stuff done. It is about quality, strategic alignment, intention, and collaboration.

Managing a business can feel like a lonely parade some days, but with a few key strategies, you can utilize the power of accountability to turn things around and keep moving forward. We are accountable externally and internally. In your business there are external responsibilities to customers, vendors, and employees as well as meeting regulatory requirements.

One of the most important responsibilities I would argue is to ourselves. If we don’t show up in our highest and best capacity, our ability to meet our responsibilities can languish. The result? Losing customers, outdated systems and processes, employees unexpectedly quit, and dropping revenues. This does not feel good to a business owner.

How do you become a stronger, more aware, energized, and motivated you? How do you get past obstacles, see your blind spots, and find ways to accomplish your dreams? Your business can overcome hurdles as you learn and grow. Now let's roll up our sleeves and look at what you can do to turn things around via accountability.

Here Are My Top 3 Accountability Strategies

1. Get an Accountability Partner

Choose a colleague, friend, mentor, or coach to help keep you on track with your business goals. They don’t have to work in the same industry. The idea is to voice and write what you want to achieve over the next 30 days to 90 days with your business. Telling someone specifically what you plan to do gives focus, and provides support and motivation. 

What to look for in an accountability partner

• Committed to meeting with you routinely and being present to listen and be supportive 

• Provide objectivity, enthusiasm, and encouragement

• Avoid choosing family or friends who put worry ahead of encouragement or try to persuade you to take a path that is not true to you

• If sharing accountability, they participate and talk about what they are working on

• You can set an agenda for the meeting if you wish - discuss the previous month’s goals, and plans for the current and upcoming months. Each person generally shares equal time. This may naturally flow without an agenda too, as often accountability partnering is a more informal arrangement.

In my own business, I’ve accessed different accountability partners, formal and informal. Often this has been in the form of one-on-one coaching or group coaching sessions, but have also chosen to partner with a colleague in a different industry. Accountability is built into coaching, but you can find your own informally through colleagues and strategic partners. Maybe you've had a best friend who is your biggest cheerleader!

The result I’ve found? I am more creative in my business, I look for ways to improve my workflow and am more clear in identifying my goals. It has been hugely rewarding!

2. Set Clear Goals and Expectations

Having goals means you identify what you want and how you are going to be accountable and achieve them. Goals are specific, timely, actionable, and measurable. Keeping them realistic and in alignment with your vision helps ensure they get done. It gives you a roadmap, rather than ideas floating around in your head, which become “one day I will…” thoughts and don’t ultimately happen.

Accountability stems from knowing what you want and getting it done. Goal setting gets you there. It must be meaningful to you, to ensure you are motivated to complete them. Setting goals just to write something down and then forgetting what they are means nothing happens. 

3. Overcome Procrastination

What can get in our way is procrastination. Saying we will be accountable, writing down the goals, and knowing what we need to do but then not doing it, defeats the purpose. Yes, there could be a host of reasons for this, but often it relates to our fears. Fears can pop up subtly and derail you from achieving your business and personal goals.

Here are a few examples of how fear is disguised in procrastination

• You check emails, look out the window, rewrite your to-do list, get a coffee, plan your grocery list, watch a YouTube video, and ‘quickly’ check Facebook, all during the time you planned to work on your project

• You don’t dedicate scheduled time to get your tasks done

• Fear of success and fear of failure leads to paralysis. Anxiety creeps up, imposter syndrome descends and you are stuck on pause. This can flare up simply from sending an email to inquire about being a speaker at an event to writing a blog for your business. The end result is the task doesn’t get done and excuses take over.

Overcoming procrastination doesn’t happen overnight. You may never be completely immune to it, but in the moment you can do this:

• Stop, take a breath, and recognize you are distracting yourself from your tasks

• Do you really need a break? If so, set a timer and take a short break

• Take action and do something (not the laundry). Send the email, write an outline for the blog, make the phone call, design the system, and plan the project.

• You will feel good afterward because you took action and the to-do list isn’t staring you down. You got one step closer to your goal!

Ultimately what happens when you overcome procrastination is you become accountable to yourself.

Conclusion

Implementing accountability strategies for small business owners takes practice. Using strategies such as getting an accountability partner, and setting clear, specific, and measurable goals brings focus to getting things done. Plus they keep you in alignment with what you want for your business. You have support and methods to see yourself making progress. Further, working on overcoming procrastination helps keep you accountable to yourself because you are facing what is derailing you from your goals.

When a business owner steps up to the plate and challenges what is holding them back, you will see increased company growth, far fewer problems at the office, and a healthier, happier business owner. The world meets you when you show up for yourself.

Are you struggling and need some help? When I work with clients, I often act as an accountability partner, helping owners design strategies and solutions to overcome obstacles in their businesses.

Click the link here and let’s meet!