Don’t be a back-seat business driver

Editor’s note: Michelle Stockman works with Little Rock-based Arkansas Capital Corp. to promote entrepreneurship development around the state. Stockman earned a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University-Chicago in communications and fine arts, and earned a master’s in entrepreneurship from Western Carolina University. Her thoughts on business success appear each week on The City Wire.

You are driving across town to pick up grandma with a few family members in the car. The drive is peaceful as you slalom your car down the main street, when a voice next to you starts telling you where to go and how to drive. We’ve all told jokes about back seat drivers and felt the urge to kick our own back seat drivers out of the vehicle.

What gives others the authority to tell you how to drive or even where to go? Sure they can see where you’re headed or have the turn-by-turn Google directions in their possession, but they are not holding the steering wheel in their hands. Imagine having one of these individuals butting in on your business?

It is fascinating to watch business owners manage the nagging voices of their “back seat business owners.” These are the people may be friends or family members to the entrepreneur who feel they can singularly save the business by their advice to the owner. In one moment they are your brother or sister, in the next moment they are Steve Jobs trying to save you from unprecedented business mistakes.

While business owners often need advice about business decisions at times (and know that customer feedback is extremely important for any business), un-invited business advice can be critically dangerous for an unsuspecting entrepreneur. Back seat business owners (in their minds) are simply trying to help, yet they can give poor advice or direction to a young start-up. When business advice is given to the owner, unless the source is without a doubt credible, then the owner needs to investigate (if desired) the advice and make an informed decision before acting.

Most anyone can look at a business and find potential weaknesses; however the problem with back seat business owners is they often make judgments without the full picture of what is occurring in the business. They push the entrepreneur in different directions when they do not know how to determine which way is forward.

Having firsthand experience in being blessed with the sound advice of a back seat business owner, I have felt the insecurity of receiving un-invited criticism about my business, the frustration of having the obvious pointed out to me, the laughter at advice that is given without the full picture of what is occurring and the numbness of not wanting to listen to one more request that seeks to distract my forward momentum with the business.

To truly support an entrepreneur, friends and family need to give the business owner space. Provide business information regarding resources that can offer professional assistance to the business. Feel free to give the entrepreneur business referrals or spread good news about the business to potential customers. If you really want to help the entrepreneur, ask questions to learn more about the big picture the entrepreneur sees in their minds. Be an extra set of ears to the business owner when they are ready to talk.

You can help an entrepreneur in many ways; however refrain from trying to sit in the driver’s seat of the business. The entrepreneur will thank you.

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Stockman can be reached at [email protected]