Does that ever feel like a statement that describes you? It describes me sometimes. I have a theory - Most of us as business owners know what we need to do to grow our businesses; we simply do not want to do it. It is not that we do not want our businesses to succeed, it is that many of the tasks we need to do are not natural for us.
We need to take the time to plan and set goals. This is second nature for me, but for many of my friends that is the hardest part. They like the excitement of jumping straight in the deep end without knowing if they can swim. I am the type that is going to wear a life vest on a cruise ship.
We need to treat our business like a business and not our baby. This was a little hard for me. After my first 10 months in business I took a long, hard look at all my purchases for that time and realized half of them were useless fluff and my business owed me money. I paid for those purchases out of my pocket because it was my baby business and that is what business owners do. Hogwash! I closed Bank of Me right then and "magically" my business started to grow up and support itself.
We need to sell. Once again, this is a little easier for me than many of the business owners I know. It does not matter if your business is interior design or medical equipment - a business that does not make money will die (even though it is NOT your baby, you do not want it to die). I use networking as my primary source of potential clients, however I am creating marketing materials and making marketing plans that include speaking to promote the new programs I am working on. That takes time and once in a while I get frustrated that I am not using that time for a task that makes me money now. In my head I know this will generate a lot of revenue in the future, but my bank account is screaming, "Feed me."
We need to follow up. I have a pretty good follow up system - when I actually do it. I have the tendency to let "real life" get in my way and I get home from my networking event and I do not send that "nice to meet you email". Three weeks later those cards are still sitting on my desk and then I am thinking, "they probably do not need whatever we spoke about anymore." and it might be a couple of months before I contact them with a "sorry I did not get back to you yet" email.
I am a loner. I like to be alone. I do not naturally reach out to people so follow up is an effort for me. I still attend events about creating a follow-up system. I do not really expect to learn anything I do not already know (I know what to do; I do not want to do it), but I might get more motivated to want to do it so in the future I can say that I took one of my less natural tasks and made it second nature.
What is it in your business that you know you need to do but just can not embrace?
Until next time…
Have a great day,
Susanne
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