Running a business with ADHD: what goes wrong and what helps

Why ADHD and business ownership go together

Starting something new is exciting, fast and full of problems to solve, which suits an ADHD brain well. Working for yourself also means nobody's forcing you into a job that doesn't fit. I built an open-air cinema business from scratch and grew it to more than 40 locations, and the building part never felt like work.

The trouble usually starts once the thing exists and needs running.

The patterns that cause the most damage

• Ten things started, none finished. New ideas feel better than finishing the current one.
• Admin left until it's a crisis. Invoices, emails, tax and paperwork pile up until something breaks.
• Money that isn't chased. The work gets done, but invoices go out late or not at all.
• Hyperfocus in the wrong place. A whole day on the logo while the proposal that's due sits untouched.
• Decisions that go round in circles. Months spent weighing up a choice that needed a day.
• Everything held in your head. Which works until you're tired, ill or away, then it all falls out.

What helps

Get it out of your head

One place for everything: one list, one inbox, one calendar. It doesn't matter which app. It matters that there's one of each and you trust it.

Give money a fixed slot

One hour, same time every week, for invoices, chasing and checking the bank. Short and regular beats long and rare.

Use someone else's presence

The admin you've avoided for three weeks often takes twenty minutes once you start. Doing it with someone on a call, known as body doubling, makes starting far easier.

Automate the repeats

Invoice reminders, follow-up emails and onboarding steps can go out on their own. Anything you do the same way every time is a candidate.

Hand off the bits that drain you

A bookkeeper or virtual assistant for a few hours a month often pays for itself in invoices that go out on time.

Set a finish line before you start

Decide what done looks like for the current project before you let yourself start the next one.

Where I come in

I work with business owners to find what's causing the chaos, get priorities in order and put a practical plan in place. If a system or automation would help, we work out what it should be, and I can build it afterwards as separate work.

More guides

• ADHD coaching in the UK: what it is and what it costs
• ADHD coach vs therapist vs counsellor: which do you need?
• Body doubling: what it is and how to try it
• ADHD overwhelm and burnout: signs and what helps