How Does ADHD Help Your Business?

Or Does It Get in the Way of Making Money? Take the Quizzes and Find Out

Entrepreneurs often have ADHD, even if not medically diagnosed. What are the advantages for their businesses? What are pitfalls that often spell failure? Find out by taking the two tests.

ADHDers Love to Try New Things: Like a business

ADHDers find almost anything interesting and are often willing to try new things. Some might call this behavior flakey and belonging to one who just can’t make up her mind. I think it’s a positive trait. Shows and interest in the world and willingness to try new things.

Seems like I’ve worked at everything but waitressing, prostitution, and assembling widgets on a factory line. I did it all. From delivering newspapers in Indiana and Colorado to transcribing interviews of survivors of an Alaskan earthquake. From cleaning houses to keeping the records of women’s pap tests up-to-date in a Denver hospital.

I taught kindergarten, edited for a university press, ghost-wrote a novel, cataloged materials in the Yale Divinity School Library, and sold vitamins in a health food store. I’ve written blog posts, newsletters and content of all kinds for internet marketers. I’ve had half a dozen websites.

After finishing work for a Master’s Degree in Musicology, I impulsively burned up my completed thesis due to an argument with my advisor over footnote style. Switched fields, completed another Master’s degree in Western European History with a certificate in Victorian Studies, switched fields again and got PhD in American History.

But once hired as a college professor, instead of teaching either music history or European and American history, I taught Women’s Studies.

I even spent a few months as a counselor/confidant/tutor at a Colorado branch of the infamous for-profit Corinithian College. The “college” that was sued for fraud and investigated for criminal activity. The schools shut down their campuses and filed for bankruptcy.

I loved the students I worked with but soon became unwelcome when the powers that be realized that I knew students were being deceived about the value of their 2-year degrees and taken advantage of financially. One afternoon without formally resigning, I simply picked up my purse and my coffee cup and walked out.

Eventually decided having a boss wasn’t for me and threw myself with zero experience into being an entrepreneur beginning with freelance editing and writing. After all I had the skills, had the experience, and was good at it.

From there I began taking self-development classes, getting therapy and counseling, and completing certifications in Brain Gym, NLP, and HeartMath and a bunch of stuff I can’t even remember. I was devouring books on everything from psychology to how to meditate. Not unlike getting another PhD! Began teaching workshops, for entrepreneurs, for teachers, for parents, for anybody who wanted to take a class.

I hadn’t learned yet that entrepreneurs need to focus. And given raging ADHD, I saw nothing out of the ordinary with working with business people, and school teachers and parents of kids with ADHD. On the side, I seemed to be frequently “coaching” friends, parents, even some teachers. Friends were telling their friends that they should give MaryJo a ring. She could probably help, not just with ADHD but whatever was bothering them.

Didn’t know what coaching was. Just thought I was helping people figure out their lives. It was fun and people were making positive changes in their life. Fast forward, I learned to “niche,” took an official coach training program, and began formally offering coaching to women entrepreneurs. Then life coaching for any woman who came along. Subsequently moving to a niche of women who are adopted.

Now with gray hair turning white, often using a cane, and celebrating 7 grandkids and 2 great-grands, I’m throwing it all out the window. Dedicating myself to being a full-time writer for myself. I repeat writing for myself. There’s no joy in writing for other people and not getting the credit.

Bottom line, writing is more fun than all that other stuff.

If you’ve got ADHD, I’m sure you can relate to this career path!

Looking back, my story is a typical ADHDers journey, many of whom will become entrepreneurs after having jobs in a wide variety of work places. We find almost anything interesting and are often happy to learn a new skill, take on a new endeavor.

And then we become entrepreneurs because we just don’t play well with bosses.

But entrepreneurship comes with big challenges for an ADHDer. Requires consistent focus, goal setting, financial skills, and time management. Also requires the patience to stick with it before the business gets off the ground and starts making money.

It also requires traits and skills ADHDers excel at. As a group, we’re creative, have a great sense of humor, think outside the box, often quite bright, enthusiastic, compassionate, like learning new things (especially when experiential).

We’re artistic, inventive, articulate, interested in everything, and can stay focused on things we’re passionate about. (Highlight this paragraph and come back to it when your ADHD behavior is annoying and you go into self-doubt.)

Although we have no medical or psychological proof for most of the people on this list, it is believed that the following wildly successful inventors, geniuses, artists, writers, and entrepreneurs had/have ADHD: Einstein, Michelangelo, Steve Jobs to name just three.

ADHD has more than its share of annoying, dysfunctional aspects. It also has plenty of positive characteristics, especially for entrepreneurs and internet marketers.

You can discover more about you, your business and ADHD by taking the two quizzes below.

Start with “How ADHD negatively Affects My Business.” Then, before you get discouraged by your score, take the quiz “How ADHD Affects My Business in Positive Ways.”

20 Questions:

How My Business is negatively affected by My ADHD or ADHD Symptoms

Put a 1 next to a statement that describes something that you do occasionally. Put a 2 next to a statement that screams “OMG! This is ME!” Keep in mind that there are many ADHD-like behaviors and traits that are positive for men and women in business such as creativity, ability to hyperfocus, enthusiasm, empathy toward a client or customer, risk taking — although that can backfire. So don’t get discouraged if you get a high score on this first quiz.

_____ I forget what my priority for today (or this week) is and start working on something else

_____ I’m not sure how much money I’m making each month. (If I have an accountant, I just let that person deal with it.)

_____ I often “lose” notes, workshop handouts, scripts for webinars I’m holding, lists of my products and their prices. My workspace, office, desk, dining room table, are all piled with mail, pieces of papers, bills, handouts from classes I’ve taken, magazines. (Even if I have a filing cabinet and a decent filing system.)

_____ Despite my best intentions and having collected business cards, I never follow up with people I’ve met at networking events.

_____ I decide to follow up from a networking meeting from two weeks ago but when I look at the stack of business cards I’ve collected, I don’t remember anything about anyone I met two weeks ago. I didn’t bother to jot down a note or two on the card jog my memory.

_____ I have at least a dozen fabulous ideas to incorporate into my business.

_____ I start working on something else before I finish what I’m working on.

_____ If something has a deadline, I don’t allow enough time or start early enough. I often live in “last minute panic mode.)

_____ I don’t have a business plan and/or clearly defined financial goals. (I’m gonna make $100,00 this year or $10,000 this month is NOT a clearly defined financial goal!)

_____ I often have trouble explaining how I can help a client, what I am selling to a customer. I stumble around and probably say so much that the potential client or customer is confused.

_____ I’ve started several businesses, changed from one thing to another, but never been very successful.

_____ I often feel overwhelmed by how much I have to do for my business.

_____ My to-do list is so long, I don’t know where to start.

_____ I have just one to-do list for the day and it includes everything from grocery shopping to cleaning my desk, to getting a proposal out to a potential client, scattered about in the list are the specific tasks for the proposal.

_____ I worry often that what I just completed isn’t good enough.

_____ I have self-doubts that I should even have a business. (Maybe I’m too dumb, or too flakey, or don’t know enough, or . . .

_____ I don’t have a VA or other help because I can’t figure out what to tell them to do. And I can do it all myself anyway.

_____ I often spend more on my business than I take in. I often think that a fancier computer, or another marketing program, or the best laser printer will help me make more money.

_____ I have trouble scheduling a routine for working on my business. If something comes up in the middle of a time I’m working, I accept the interruption.

_____ I’ve started podcasts, weekly webinars, daily blog posts, 3 times a week Facebook Lives but can’t stay consistent with them.

10 or below: Why are you reading this post? 15–20: Get an ADHD coach or counselor to help you get your biz under control, find an accountability partner, and hire at least one person part-time to help you. Even hiring a professional organizer would be helpful. Be sure you have a money person on your team!

How My Business is Positively Affected by My ADHD or ADHD Symptoms

Put a 1 next to a statement that describes something that you do occasionally. Put a 2 next to a statement that screams “OMG! This is ME!”

_____ I often have creative ideas.

_____ Friends ask me for advice because they appreciate that I think outside the box.

_____ I like my clients or customers and feel empathy toward them.

_____ I enjoy knowing more about my clients and customers.

_____ I often hyperfocus on a project in my business that I’m passionate about.

_____ I am at ease taking the risk to have my own business. (Or to start a new business even if my first one wasn’t all that successful.)

_____ I love talking about my business even when talking to people who aren’t my potential clients or customers.

_____ My friends and family think I’m enthusiastic about what I’m doing.

_____ I get excited when a customer loves a product she bought from me or a client has a breakthrough.

_____ I’m inventive. Easily imagine different programs and products.

_____ I love to take my dog to work with me.

_____ Although I may not have done well in school, teachers described as a “bright little girl.”

_____ I easily explain my product or service, what it does, what its benefits are.

_____ I had a lemonade stand (or other business) as a child.

_____ I like the freedom to do my own thing.

_____ I appreciate not having a boss.

_____ Most of the time having my own business makes me feel happy and fulfilled.

_____ If an old boss offered to double my salary, I’d turn her down.

_____ I know that businesses have ups and down, and I don’t freak out when my business isn’t doing as well as last month.

_____ I had the courage to quite my job and start my own business even when my family and friends thought I was crazy.

So how’d you do? A score of 15 or more indicates you’re using, if even unconsciously, some of the gifts of ADHD for entrepreneurs. Congratulations!

P.S. If a parent had a business, you are more apt to be a successful entrereneur than having parents who worked for bosses.