The 3 Main Business Owner Archetypes Explained & The Implications…

As business owners, we wear many hats at any given time and we tend to have 3 main archetypes fighting for our attention and time:

1. The Architect
2. The Visionary
3. The Mechanic

The challenge we face is that we tend to give time to any one of these archetypes without structure or careful consideration. If we keep doing this on ‘auto-pilot’, we can find ourselves burnt out, exhausted, frustrated and ultimately, throwing in the towel.

Now there may be more than three Business Owner Archetypes according to other research and studies, however, these three were the most common we’ve seen in over twenty years of working with businesses of all shapes and sizes. As a business owner, we have all three of these archetypes in us in varying degrees of dominance.

Let’s talk a bit about these 3 archetypes:

#1. The Architect:

The Architect is pragmatic and loves to have order in the house. You thrive when you have a plan in place. Everything that you do is done systematically, and jumping the gun is not something that you do.

As an Architect, change isn’t always welcome and keeping the status quo is ideal so there’s no need to change the way you do things. Without the Architect, there will be no order, no plan and no structure.

This trait means that you’re everyone’s ‘go-to’ person when there are troubles on the horizon. The Architect sees a mess and cleans it up.

Because you crave order and discipline, you have the tendency to see more problems than opportunities. This usually conflicts with the entrepreneur in you as your pragmatic nature fails to see the entrepreneur’s visions and dreams.

#2. The Visionary:

The Visionary lives by the principle that ‘Everything is possible, if you dare to dream it, you can make it happen.’ You’re very often found buried in your own thoughts as you let your imagination take flight.

Living very much in the future, you are a catalyst for change. You love constructing images and scenarios of the ‘What If’s’ and the ‘If-When’s’. The Visionary thrives on the freedom and adrenaline rush of dreaming big and loves creating opportunities!

You’re not one to run away from problems, in fact, you embrace problems and see them as opportunities to do better and to do something different. Innovation is what gets you excited.

As a Visionary, life can be chaotic but you like it that way. You can get bored easily and are always on the look-out for the next big project, or the next big idea. Being constantly on the move and wanting to move quickly, you can get annoyed when others do not share your vision or level of passion.

The Visionary prefers to lead from the front as a person with the ideas but doesn’t like being bogged down with actually knowing the nitty-gritty of the work that needs to be done to achieve your vision.

You are, however, very specific about the way you need things done, even though planning and project management may not be your strongest skill set.

The Visionary needs a great team behind them to help keep them interested and motivated long enough to see the idea to reality and avoid chasing the next shiny thing.

#3. The Mechanic:

The Mechanic is always on the go. You’re usually found behind your desk, churning through that seemingly never ending daily list of ‘to-dos’. The Mechanic believes in hustling and that success is equivalent to how hard you work.

As a Mechanic, you love getting your hands dirty and prefer to do everything yourself so that you can get full visibility and be in control of every aspect of your business. You may often feel that you could and should be doing more, even though you’re already doing a lot, if not all of it!

The Mechanic feels guilty for taking breaks, every second needs to be put into doing the work.

The Mechanic feels that they are the business, and the business is them. Your theme as a Mechanic is focused on what needs to be done for the business.

You thrive on doing, and love tinkering. Pulling things apart and putting them together again is what you’re most likely to enjoy doing the most. As a Mechanic, you’re the happiest when you’re in control of the workflow.

The Mechanic’s theme is focused on what needs to be done for the business, rather than spending time thinking about the bigger picture and the grand vision.

They are mostly interested in how to get things done rather than daydream about ideas or spending time thinking unless it’s thinking about ways to get the job done.

The Implications of your 3 Business Owner Archetypes…

As mentioned at the beginning, we wear these many hats at any given time and we tend to have them fighting for our attention and time, all the time.

We tend to give time to any one of these archetypes without structure or careful consideration. If we keep doing this on ‘auto-pilot’, we risk getting burnt out, exhausted, frustrated and ultimately, throwing in the towel.

By that burn-out phase, we’re wondering if all of this was worth it. Whatever happened to that passion, drive, self-confidence and determination that was fueling the birth of your business in the first place?

Here’s What You Can Do About It…

Fortunately, there are ways that you can learn how to create that balance between the 3 archetypes. You’ve already taken the first step by identifying your dominant archetype.

As Michael E. Gerber, Author of the ‘E-Myth’ rightly puts it, “A mature business knows how it got to be where it is, and what it must do to get where it wants to go.”… “Companies like McDonalds, Federal Express and Disney didn’t end up as Mature companies, they started out that way! The people who started them had a totally different perspective about what a business is and why it works.”

In order for this to happen, we need to start our businesses with an ‘Entrepreneurial perspective’, this means that we start by asking the right questions.

We need to ask the questions of ‘how’, instead of ‘what do we need to get done?’

We need to see a well-defined future, return to the present and then make changes to match that vision.

We need the discipline, motivation and deep passion to break through the hustling and focus on ‘just getting as much of the work done.’ We need to learn to let go, focus on our zones of genius, hire a great team to help fill in the gaps and who share that same drive and belief in your vision in building a successful and healthy business.

What Business Owner Archetype Are You?

You may well have an idea by now “What Your Dominent Business Owner Archetype(s) Are“.

That’s Great Information But What Are My Next Steps…

Now you might be wondering where to next, how you can get help in identifying those gaps in your business, fire up or re-ignite that entrepreneur in you and be on your way to building a healthy, profitable and sustainable business.

Jumpstart Collective is made up of a growing team of specialists covering every facet of a business. From Operations to HR, Market management and development, Finance to Marketing and Sales, we’re here to help.

Our specialists have been specifically chosen as experts in their relevant fields to coach, mentor and guide you in the areas where you need the most help. They’re here to help you every step of the way.

All you need to do is to book an obligation free, no cost 45 minute chat to see if we can work together and match you with the right specialist. It’s never too late to kick some Entrepreneurial a**!

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