When I look back on my original business plan from 15 years ago, only one thing I wrote still deeply resonates with me to this day. 

“What genuinely fulfills me is helping other people.”

That may sound too warm and fuzzy, but it’s really true. Helping owners make positive, radical shifts in their business is a major passion and driving force behind what I do. 

Many times in my career, though, I’ve made the mistake of trying to help people who simply couldn’t be helped. And this mistake came at a cost.  

For the owner I was trying to help, the cost was their time and money, spent on services that made little or no impact on their business. 

For me, the cost was my time and my sense of fulfillment. Every minute spent with a client who couldn’t be helped was time I could have spent improving my business. And every client I took on whom I couldn’t successfully help meant leaving out a client who I could have helped. In other words, in these cases, I wasn’t fulfilling my mission.

Now you may be thinking, “Tom, who are you to decide who can and can’t be helped? Maybe you’re just being too picky. You know people can change, right?”

That is exactly why I want to share these four signs of business owners who can’t be helped. These are not unchangeable traits — they’re mindsets. These are not insurmountable circumstances — they’re perspectives. And after 15 years of advising owners, I’ve learned that almost anything can be overcome or improved upon. 

But whenever any of these signs are present, they will hold business owners back and keep them and their business from achieving true success. 

In this post, we’ll take an honest look at these signs. You may find that one or more of them resonates with you. If so, don’t despair. We’ll look at how to reframe these perspectives, so you can shift your mindset and become a business owner with maximum growth potential. 

Sign #1 — “I’m not the problem.”

The first sign of a business owner who can’t be helped is the thought, “I am not the problem.” They don’t believe they have any responsibility for the problems they experience, and they fail to recognize their own contributions to their difficulties. 

Their mindset assumes that the problem is always external. So regardless of what the issue is, this business owner never feels the need to change themselves at all. Instead, they try to change — or blame — everything (or everyone) around them. 

Identifying this sign is what led me to believe that you can’t change other people; you can only change yourself. 

When I see this trait in owners, I know that unless they change their perspective, their current issues will never go away. The problems will evolve and adapt, but they will never disappear. 

To achieve real growth and handle the issues you’re struggling with, you must be willing to put yourself under the microscope, and you must be willing to change. 

Sign #2 — “But what about…?”

The second sign of a business owner who can’t be helped is being unwilling to shift or refocus their strategy. 

This most often occurs when owners are given the chance to improve their business, but turn it down because they’re too concerned with “what-ifs.”

A classic example of this mindset is when an owner believes all buyer are good customers or all income is good revenue. They try to service both rental clients and event clients. They take on project-based customers and outcome-based customers. They try to do anything for anyone who is willing to give them money, which will undoubtedly result in stagnation. 

“What about?” comes from a place of fear. They say, “If I do that, then what about this?” And they do nothing. They’re afraid of what they might leave on the table. They’re afraid of missing out on a big project. This fear of missing out keeps them from pursuing a strategy they can optimize and scale. 

Sign #3 — “Only I can lead.”

The third sign of a business owner who can’t be helped is that they insist on leading the company themselves when they’re not suited for the job. 

The truth is, not everyone can be a suitable leader. Being a leader requires long-range thinking. It requires creativity and the ability to develop and manage people. And not every business owner possesses those traits and skills. 

Leadership skills can certainly be developed over time. But every skill that’s required can’t necessarily be acquired. It’s not uncommon to find owners who fail to recognize the limits of their leadership ability. 

Sign #4 — “I don’t have the right people.”

The final sign of a business owner who can’t be helped is that they think their problems are always the result of their people. 

This can be a byproduct of the first sign. An owner who isn’t willing to change anything about themselves will often blame others for their problems. But this sign can also appear on its own.

Some owners will admit to their own shortcomings and even be willing to change, but still blame all problems on their team members. This typically manifests as, “I don’t have the right people on my team.” 

When the owner jumps to this conclusion without considering any other factors, it’s a major sign that they can’t improve. They see fault in other people without asking some important questions: 

• Do I have the right processes in place for them to follow? 
• Have I created the right environment they need to be productive? 
• Do they have the resources they need to be successful? 

How To Reframe These Limiting Perspectives

These signs are red flags I take seriously when looking at owners. Any one of them is a disqualifier for a potential client — and a combination of two or more is just an indication of how fast I’ll run away. 

But it’s important for everyone to know that these mindsets don’t have to be permanent. They’re not life sentences. They’re simply perspectives that need to shift. 

The most dangerous thing about these signs, though, is that they’re hard to detect in yourself. To keep yourself from falling into these traps — or to get out of them if you’re already there — it’s important to take time every so often to reflect and reframe. Here are several questions to ask yourself: 

1. Am I self-aware? 
2. Am I willing to become more self-aware, even if I don’t like what I find? 
3. Am I willing to accept new paradigms and new truths? 
4. Am I willing to let go of sacred cows? 
5. Am I willing to seek out long-term success and let go of immediate gratification? 
6. Am I willing to invest in others on my team to help them become better? 
7. Am I willing to get people the training they need to succeed?
8. Am I willing to invest in coaches and leaders who can help me guide my organization?
9. Am I willing to believe the positive attributes of employees will be helpful if I give them the right resources and training? 

Taking the time to reflect on these questions won’t instantly make you a better owner. But it can provide some honest insight and a mindset of growth, helping you become the best owner possible for your business and your team.