Solopreneurs and Sports: Game-Changing Lessons for Success

How Competitive Sports Can Make You A Better Business Owner

With the first hint of fall and the return of football season, I’ve been observing that successful NFL players and solopreneurs have a lot in common. It’s brought to my attention how much success is based on habits and discipline, both things that can be cultivated to succeed in any field (no pun intended).

Similar to the business world, athletes experience extreme highs and lows, elements of luck, and the constant need to adapt and improve in order to stay competitive. Let’s take a look at how the two worlds overlap and lessons we can pull from competitive sports to help us grow our businesses.

The Importance of Teamwork and Collaboration

Yes, I know what many of you are thinking. What does being a solopreneur have to do with teamwork? But the truth is we can’t do it alone, nor should we. While we tend to wear many hats in order to start a successful business, sometimes these hats would fit better on someone else. For example, if you are running a drop shipping business you have a lot to focus on. If you aren’t great at bookkeeping or accounting, why not outsource this part of your business to well… a bookkeeper or accountant? Chances are, not only will they take time-consuming tasks off your plate, but they will know the ins and outs of the system and can end up paying for themselves many times over. This will also give you more time to focus your attention on higher-priority areas. That’s why it’s important to outsource weak spots to grow a successful business.

Similarly, in sports you quickly learn you can’t play every position. It’s important to surround yourself with a team you trust. Good teamwork requires everyone focusing and succeeding in their particular specialty while communicating effectively for the good of the greater team.

Using Failure As Fuel

Whether you are a solopreneur or athlete (or both), failure is inevitable. You aren’t going to win every game or close every deal. What’s more important, is how you react when you face these setbacks. In this iconic Nike commercial, Michael Jordan shared,

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

- Michael Jordan

Refusing to give up and dwell when he failed, MJ used failure as fuel to propel him to success. He used it as motivation to work harder and ensure he wouldn’t waste the next opportunity.

Similarly, how we face failure as solopreneurs will define our success. Each rejection can teach us a valuable lesson. Not every potential customer will be interested in what we are selling, not every product we launch will be an overnight success. With each failure, we can learn valuable lessons and continue to innovate and improve. The only way we can truly lose is if we give up.

Embracing Risk and Uncertainty

Every game is a contest of uncertainty and risk, and so is business. The weather can make the field slick, refs can make questionable calls, or the other team’s star player could get injured during warm-ups. While luck does play a part, you can mitigate risk by trying to prepare for every situation. Practicing when it’s warm, cold, dry, or rainy can prepare you for all conditions. Practicing every play or situation can prevent you from making costly mistakes or getting hit with penalties.

Similarly, there is a degree of risk and uncertainty with business as well. You might be launching a product right after a competitor launches a similar product, or you could be selling to someone who just realized they are in need of your services. Again, we can maximize our chance of success by doing our due diligence and making sure we are researching ahead of time. We can also ensure we are casting a wide net and generating lots of leads to give ourselves the best chance possible of making more sales.

We can’t eliminate the variable of chance, but we can prepare and practice as much as possible to minimize it’s effect on our performance.

Learn From The Best

In sports, coaches play a key role in an athlete’s development. They provide guidance and feedback that athletes may not be able to see on their own. It’s not just traditional coaches that make a difference either. Sometimes it’s a stronger player on the team or a professional athlete you look up to. There are many sources you can study and learn from to increase your skills.

Just as a coach can help athletes identify weaknesses and refine their skills, solopreneurs can seek mentorship from successful individuals in their industry. A good mentor can offer advice, share his or her own experiences, and provide a fresh perspective on challenges and opportunities. In essence, they act as coaches for solopreneurs.

Celebrate Wins and Stay Humble

When someone scores a goal they celebrate, often with the help of their teammates. It’s a great reminder to celebrate our wins. It can boost morale and bring your team closer together, however, there is a fine line between celebrating and showboating. It’s important to stay humble and not let arrogance or complacency lead to your downfall.

The same holds true in business. If you feel like you have achieved success you are more likely to stop learning and adapting. Plenty of companies that were once dominating an industry were replaced because they didn’t study market trends and adapt accordingly. Case in point, not many people still want to own a Blockbuster video store these days.

Staying humble is more likely to lead to long-term success and help you build and maintain strong relationships. So take a moment to celebrate success, no matter how small, but don’t let it get to your head and alter the way you operate.

Final Thoughts

Sports and business have a lot in common. And oftentimes the lessons translate to both arenas (again, no pun intended). It’s not just about the final score, but how you played the game. What lessons and experiences did you pick up along the way? Because in the end, it’s not about the game; it’s about the person you became while playing it.

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