“I believe in business.
I believe in YOUR business dreams.
I believe in you.” — me
I just returned from a business conference that rocked my business world.
The one thing that stuck out about this conference, put on by InfusionSoft, was the focus on HOW you do business… HOW you escape overwhelm, having no time, being TOO busy with business. It’s this overarching message that led to this post.
While there, I sat in on Melinda Emerson’s breakout session on how to be a social media ninja — which, you all know, I am not. lol… (Btw, did you miss me on her SmallBizChat blog? If so, click here to see the transcript from our interview.) Anyway, she said something that I loved:
Profit is how we keep score.
Indeed, it is. Truer words were never spoken. However, how we play the game is also important, a belief that Melinda and I definitely share. Because the lure of high profit quickly fades away when I have no time to LIVE. I don’t care for a bunch of money when I have to turn down my kids invites, when I have to skip dinner in favor of a client meeting. In fact, my clients & members are simply not granted access to my home hours — ever.
You see, I don’t believe in balance. I believe in boundaries. And, if you are in business feeling overworked and underpaid… feeling overwhelmed, behind, at capacity… hating your business but feeling like you have to “stay the course” anyway… THIS DOESN’T HAVE TO BE YOUR REALITY. This isn’t why you went into business, right? You started this journey because you loved what you did and the FREEDOM of entrepreneurship lured you in.
Busy-ness works against you in business. When you are too busy, you’re OFTEN tripping over profit. You’re simply hustling too fast to see it.
This is good news. You see, small incremental changes won’t be enough to rescue YOU and your business from the ball-busting grip of business-as-usual. Consider an overhaul. Take a 1/2 day AWAY from the circus you now run and follow the agenda below, because if #icon15 taught me nothing else, it was that ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. That business you INITIALLY dreamt of? Yep, the one that gave you profit AND freedom. That TOO is possible, for you.
P.S. Don’t think you have a 1/2 day to focus on this? That’s your sign you NEED it. Call in sick. Play hooky. Pretend you’re on vacation. Fake an injury. Do WHATEVER you have to do to re-invent your business. Because I believe in your business dream. Now, more than ever.
BUSINESS OVERHAUL AGENDA
30 minutes: HARD TIMES BRAIN DUMP. It’s plaguing you anyway, so go ahead and make a list of everything you hate about your business. Get it out of your head.
1 hour: IF ONLY BRAIN STORM. New sheet of paper. Now that you’ve acknowledged all that’s making you hate your business, it’s time to dream and scheme again. Write a narrative of how you want your business to function, work, perform. Be sure to include your ideal hours, work environment, employee attributes, fees, prospects, etc. In this ideal scenario, define WHO is coming to you as a lead and how they find you. Detail what they should know — ideally — before getting into a sales conversation with you. How do they respond to your fees — ideally? How do you spend your time? Be specific. Don’t edit yourself. This is a brainstorm of YOUR ideal.
1 hour: SOLUTION STORM. Go back to your hard times brain dump. Create 10 possible solutions, fixes for what is wrong with your company. Do you have whine-y clients you need to fire? Do you need to reinvent your planning process? Do you need to re-train your team — or your clients — on how to interact with you? This — again is a brainstorm. You may not be willing to do any or all of these “fixes” — yet. Write them down anyway.
30 minutes: SOLUTION SAVVY. Now, I need you to look back at your solution storm and figure out WHICH solution or solutions you’re willing to implement, starting NOW. Keep in mind, it may be only a PART of ONE solution you can implement now. That’s okay. Small hinges swing big doors. The key is that as long as you can find ONE thing to do to fix your business, you’re no longer a VICTIM of your business. You’re back in the OWNER’s shoes. This is YOUR business. YOUR beast. It is YOURS to fix, grow, re-invent, drive.
30 Minutes: ACTION PLAN. Now you’ve got the reigns of your business firmly in your hands. Create an action plan based on the decisions you made. Make time to look at your “IF ONLY BRAIN STORM” each week. Make a small change or fix each week. REINVENTIONS happen in such ways.
If I can help, let me know. Because I believe in business. I believe in your business dreams. I believe in you.
