June is the middle of the year and it is certainly a good time to make changes in your business, review what you have done so far, define new directions, change plans. After all, old Einstein said already, if you want different results, you had better not always do the same things.
But, there comes a time in your life and your business when it is not so clear what to do. Are you there? You have no idea what is right and what is wrong, what you should change and what you should let flow? This exercise will help you then…
… To discover what you need to change in your business
Explanatory note: if you have been thinking about it but still do not have your own business, this exercise will also help you take the first steps and finally get started. Let's start!
First phase: Don't look forward, look around you.
Step 1 - What do you like about your business?
Where have you come to that makes you proud and of course you want to keep (and replicate!)? When I asked myself this year, the first thing that came out of which I am proud and of course I want to keep and replicate is to have written, published and sold my ebook "How to turn your profession into a profitable business?" . Not only was it an activity I enjoyed, but it was profitable (especially since it continued to sell for, for example, the time I took a leave of absence for the birth of my son). In addition, every week I get comments from people who have read it and have found it a great help.
What things have you done well in your business and have you been told that it has been of great help? How can you replicate them this year so that your business continues to grow?
Step 2 - What is not working for you in your business as it is today?
We all have to our credit for the year, activities that have not been productive. Why deny it. The important thing here is that you can identify them, recognize what caused their "non-productivity" and do something to change it. The problem is when you don't realize what really doesn't work.
A trick that I use when I know that something is not right but I do not realize why, is to ask myself… "What bothers me most about this situation?" In general, the answer appears immediately. Now, what do you do next with this info? Therein lies the key. Because perhaps certain situations will repeat themselves and what you should do is change yourself so that it does not leave you bitter again.
That you have spent a long time on a strategy and that the result has not been good, is the most common problem at this point. But now you know that you have to measure this frequently to rule out those that bring you less results. The important thing? Be realistic. No one can tell you if, for example, with this or that strategy you will get 3 new customers per month. The experience of another can give you an idea, but you will only know it once you apply it in your own business, with your products or services and with your own style.
Second phase: Look to the future.
Step 3 - What would you like to achieve in your business?
Most of the time you ask someone what their goal is this year for their business they say: "more income", or some variant of the style "more sales" or "more customers". The truth is that as a target it is quite silly (without offending) because I do not think there is anyone who can think of setting a goal that is “less income than the previous year”, and ultimately you have opened a business, not a charity office or a charity so it's kind of obvious that you must have income to subsist.
So let's get out of the obvious, which clearly does not help you go anywhere, and I invite you to think of other types of objectives that really make you feel satisfied with your business.
When I started my business I had (in addition to income, obviously) two very clear objectives:
Being able to choose the direction of my business (making all the decisions is what really makes me feel independent) and being flexible with my time. They are fairly general objectives, true, but they worked very well for me in the beginning. Now in 2016, starting the fourth year of my business, they continue to be very valid although I can be more specific in that direction.
Step 4 - What do you need to avoid on the way to achieving what you want?
In my beginnings, I had something very clear: for no reason was I going to work 14 hours a day. If you follow me since then (2013) you will surely have seen that I have mentioned it a lot. It was like an obsession. Well, it had to do with my history, and my beliefs. I used to believe that if you didn't work all those hours, you weren't going to be able to finish everything you had to do. If you still had things pending, it was very difficult to dedicate yourself to the important and the strategic. And without the latter, you could not achieve your goals. Over time (and a few bumps, I don't even bother denying it) I realized that it's exactly the other way around. You must first learn to make time for the strategic and important, and then the rest. And if you have so much work that you need so many hours to solve, something is not working well. You have to change.
In conclusion, if something was clear that I wanted to avoid, it was that tendency to work 12-14 hours a day, to work without thinking, only to execute, without stopping to think if it can be done differently, if I am dedicating the resources necessary to the correct activity or if you need to change course.
What is your case? What do you want to avoid because it would represent a great cost to you if you or your business went there?
Once you have the answers to these 4 steps, you can start drawing your own conclusions.
What do you tell me What conclusions have you reached and what changes will you make this year in your business? I would love for you to tell me below in the comments…
