10 Mar Entrepreneur’s Tip of the Week: Avoiding Boredom

Yes, hard-charging entrepreneurs face a real risk of getting bored with building the business. When does this happen? When success hits, bureaucracy builds, and meetings and committees start interfering with a founder’s focus on vision, strategy and risk-taking. Or it can happen when a smart entrepreneur gets a great team around him or her and they do their jobs so fabulously it doesn’t leave much for the founder to do! Also, some folks start a business in the industry in which they grew up, only to find they never really liked their industry in the first place.

What to do when boredom hits? Obvious choices like selling or shutting down make sense. You can also just move on, remain as Chair without a day-to-day role, and commence something else.

Another option is to re-engage in some aspect of the business that interests you and/or requires some special attention. Steve Jobs focused on innovation. Sandy Weill on the next big acquisition. Bill Gates on acquiring or crushing everything in his way. It is possible to remain entrepreneurial in a business that grows large, just pick your right path!