Duct Tape & Dopamine: ADHD Entrepreneurs & Business Chaos, The Real Story

ADHD-friendly strategies to turn business chaos into sustainable success

Your ADHD traits don't have to sabotage your business. With the right mindset and ADHD-friendly strategies, your neurodivergence can become your entrepreneurial strength.

How ADHD Traits Show Up In Business Models—and What Founders Can Do to Work With, Not Against, Their Brains

Have you Been Told You Have The "Fun" Kind of ADHD? Think Again.

I recently chatted with my friend, and fellow ADHD’er Diane Mayor. What started as a conversation about impulsivity and "fun ADHD" quickly uncovered a much deeper, more nuanced look at how neurodiversity in business can both turbocharge and tangle your entrepreneurial journey. If you've ever felt your business is a rollercoaster—with bursts of exhilarating momentum followed by chaos and burnout—the true culprit may not be your ambition, but the unseen influence of ADHD on your business model.

The "Dopamine-Driven" Business

ADHD brains are wired for novelty, stimulation, and reward—which makes entrepreneurship a natural fit. But as Diane Mayor describes, this same dopamine-seeking behavior can turn businesses into ever-expanding playgrounds of new offers, platforms, and ideas. While this "fun" side of ADHD can make you the life of the entrepreneurial party, it also brings risks: inconsistency, lack of follow-through, and organizational chaos that many an adhd business owner knows all too well.

"We tend to go for dopamine: big ideas, lots of fun things in the marketing. But then we want to change direction really quickly, and we want to make a lot of money, and we can't understand why our team can't keep up with us," Diane explains. The result? A business that looks, from the outside, as messy as your ADHD-impacted desktop: dozens of screenshots, half-finished projects, and a constant scramble to catch up. This illustrates perfectly why understanding neurodiversity in business is crucial for sustainable success.

Executive Dysfunction and Open Loops

A core ADHD challenge is adult executive dysfunction: difficulty with planning, prioritizing, and completing tasks. For founders, this manifests as decision paralysis, endless tab-switching (both literal and figurative), and open loops that sap creative focus.

Diane notes, "Your entire job as the CEO or founder is to make decisions, especially decisions that others can't make. As someone with ADHD, this is an area to pay attention to. And throwing your hands up and being like, 'I just can't decide'—well, I get it, but it's not an excuse." This reality of adult executive dysfunction is one that every adhd business owner must learn to navigate strategically.

The Danger of "Multi-Passionate" Permission

Both Diann and Diane voice concerns over the current trend in business coaching: selling ADHD entrepreneurs the idea that having forty-two offers and running in a hundred different directions is the path to freedom. Spoiler alert—it's not, especially when considering neurodiversity in business best practices.

"Yes, you can do that," Diane says, "but it very much depends on your goals. If your goal is to have 92 offers because that's exciting to you—congratulations. If your goal is creative and financial freedom, that's probably not the way to go about it."

Neurotypical Systems vs. ADHD Systems

Cookie-cutter business advice often fails ADHD entrepreneurs. Systems and structures designed for neurotypical brains can feel stifling, leading to frustration and self-blame. Worse, coaches who don't actually understand neurodiversity in business may unwittingly weaponize impulsivity and rejection sensitivity—encouraging risky decisions that end in burnout and shame for the adhd business owner.

Build ADHD-Friendly Structure Into Business Strengths

ADHD doesn't mean you can't be organized or systematic—it just means you need custom-fitted processes. Diane recommends simple tools like idea parking lots (a dedicated place for future projects), checklists (instead of lengthy SOPs), and "sandbox" time to safely experiment. The goal is "structured flexibility"—enough system for consistency, with room for creative autonomy. These strategies directly address adult executive dysfunction while honoring the adhd business owner's need for variety.

Compensate—Don't Just Complicate

Scaling a business requires self-awareness and honesty. To grow, you'll need to supplement your weak spots—whether that means hiring support for systems, marketing, or decision-making. "If you want to scale, you have to compensate for how you have built ADHD into your model," Diane advises. This approach recognizes that adult executive dysfunction isn't a character flaw but a neurological difference that requires strategic accommodation in neurodiversity in business.

Resilience Is Your Secret Weapon

When asked what advantage ADHD brings to the entrepreneurial table, Diane's answer isn't creativity or risk-taking—it's grit. "We have learned how to cope in a neurotypical world that expects things we can't always deliver. We know there are seventeen solutions to every problem, because we've had to find them all our lives. That can so easily translate into our businesses if we just allow it to."

Your ADHD traits don't have to sabotage your business. With the right mindset and ADHD-friendly strategies, your neurodivergence can become your entrepreneurial strength. Whether you're dealing with adult executive dysfunction or simply trying to build systems that work for your unique brain, remember that every successful adhd business owner has learned to work with their neurodiversity, not against it. This is the future of neurodiversity in business—not accommodation, but optimization.

If you'd like to hear the full episode on the ADHD-ish Podcast, you can do that here.